April 21st.  Tuesday.

Early start.  Meditate, grab a coffee and walk over to the Magic FM building.  Live press is always nervewracking as hell - will I remember to say everything?  will I talk too much?  will I have a flop sweat and forget to say anything?  But it never comes off badly.  Interviewers are experts at moving things along, keeping things upbeat.  There's no time to fuck up.

While I'm waiting to go in for the int., I nonchalantly pick up the Star Phoenix to see if Cam got us a little blurb - HOLY SHIT - Front PAGE of the ARTS SECTION - Full FEATURE ARTICLE WITH 2 HUGE color pictures of the KIDS and Me and Ingrid!!!  Wow!!  Cam!  Thank you!!  An awesome article, practically shaming the audience into coming - talking about how I've been there doing Q & A's for days.   Awesome!  I wonder if it will help?

The radio spot is great.  Short and sweet and hitting all the right info.  The interviewer's daughter is a rabid SAW fan, so he gets a picture taken with me.  His on-air cohort, Shannon, tells me the world can be divided into dingbats and asshats.  An asshat is someone with their head so far up their ass that it's a hat.  That's funny.

Back to the hotel.  Gotta pack, check out, leave my bag at the front desk, then walk up to the CTV interview and back down to get a ride to my next hotel.  All goes well until I go to pay my bill...

AND REALIZE THAT MY CREDIT CARD IS MISSING!  FUUUUUCCCKKK!  Bad timing...

They run the charges based on the imprint and I try not to freak out - tell myself that it has to be somewhere.  In the meantime, i have to clear my head of paranoia and get to this interview in a calm frame of mind.  

I get there, refusing to think about credit cards.  Sit down in the green room.  There is a TV show on.  I find it distracting and turn it off.  Collect my thoughts.  Rehearse the one-line synopsis - think about the other points to hit - mainly show times, location - how this may be the ONLY chance to see the film, Q & A's, etc, etc.

Jeff comes to get me.  I'm treated now to the inner machinations of Live television.  This is a news/weather/entertainment program - about 15 minutes long - with Jeff and his partner as anchors.  Now they are reading the news - now he's doing the weather - everything is counted in like in the old days on TV.  It's cool.  I reflect that all television used to be like this.  It's scary and fun.  

After the weather spot, Jeff comes over to the 'lounge' area and we sit together for the interview.  They start by playing some of the trailer - we are counted in and start talking - it's great.  I say lots of good stuff to get people out.  I hope it works.

I walk back to the hotel tearing my hair out for a lost credit card.  Get there.  Cannot find it.

Ransack the room.  The maids ransack the room.  Look through jackets, jeans, papers, books.

Nowhere.  I convince the hotel to give me keys to a room where I can spread all my shit out

and really look.  They reluctantly agree.  

I spread my whole pack job out on the floor of a room.  After 45 minutes of looking and relooking, I finally locate the card caught in a jumble of papers inside a folder.  A folder.

Uuurrrggghhh.

Oh well.  Now it's on to the next hotel - a divy place called Heritage Inn.  Nice people, but I feel

like I'm walking into a Twilight Zone with this decor.  A strange disinfectant smell in my room.

Time to eat and then head off to the screening.  Cab is the only way out of here.

At the broadway.  Yes!  20 people!  Then 25, 30, 38, 40.  In the end, we have a screening with

45 people in it!!!  Media works!!!  A great screening - a responsive audience - a long and amazing Q & A afterwards.

I walk around for awhile before taking a bus back to the hotel.  This is a wonderful last night to 

this week of screenings.  I now understand firsthand the value of publicity and media.

Sayonara.