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09/20/2006
Posted by: Jeff
Surprise, Matilda has more mechanical
issues! As we headed North on I-75 toward
Louisville Wednesday morning, we
heard the most awful belt squeal. We pulled over, popped the hood and realized
that the smog pump had locked up. This meant the belt was spinning over a stuck
pulley and burning up rapidly. We got to the next exit about half a mile away
and were then towed via
AAA to Bingham Tire in
Clinton,
TN. I was informed by our tow truck driver
and the guys at Bingham that just bypassing that pump with a new belt was the
best solution. That was taken care of and we were back on the road in less than
two and half hours again headed to our next interview. Only about 15 minutes
into the drive, the temperature gauge buried itself to the right, and I mean way
past the red mark, and giving it any gas at all sounded like a terrible pinging
in the motor. It was actually coolant spraying everywhere. The bright green,
sweet liquid had covered the entire engine compartment, both sides of the RV and
the grass and asphalt where we pulled off. After waiting a good two hours on
the side of the interstate, we were then towed a second time to a different shop
where their on-call mechanic gave his best guess that it was either a blown head
gasket, a cracked cylinder head, or “God forbid” (Ralphie May) a cracked engine
block. Due to these recent difficulties, our trip now consists of 20 – 40 mile
spurts of driving and 2 – 4 hours of sitting and waiting for Matilda to cool
off, then it’s off for another short 30 mile leg of this journey en route to the
next destination as this vicious cycle continues. Luckily we have internet
service through Siricomm, which is transmitted from all Pilot and Love’s truck
stops, to keep you all informed of what is to come. We will not stop, and we
will finish this film!
As of September 20th,
we had a major engine disaster (details are elsewhere on this site,
so I won't go into that here), and we are able to travel about 50
miles a day until we work something out. No
matter if we have to change our strategy, our approach, or whatever,
we are coming to interview every cast member that has joined the
"Dream States" production! Matilda may not make it, but we will!
Fortunately, we are the investors and are responsible to ourselves.
Therefore, we do not have to meet some big studio deadline. We do,
however, only have so much available funding, and that is depleting
faster than planned with these mechanical issues which we have been
dealt. We are hard enough on ourselves, truthfully, and are both
unwilling to fail at things, especially this. So, if all
of the remaining interviewees can PLEASE bear with us, we will work
with each of your schedules to make the interview time as convenient
as possible. It may take us time to get there, but we are coming,
and appreciate all of you that are able to stick with the highs and
lows of making a movie! Things DEFINITELY happen, and it is so much
better when you can just go with the flow.
If you or anyone you know can help out, we are not too proud to
admit we need it!!
09/22/2006
Posted by: Jeff
3:00 p.m.
We are sitting at a garage in
Corbin,
KY, as we wait to find out what exactly is
wrong with Matilda. We are currently listening to police radio chatter over the
loudspeakers here at the shop, no radio just a police scanner. So, apparently,
there was a break-in in progress of a double wide trailer. A few officers and
the dispatcher discussed the location over the radio, and as the cops showed up,
they began to chase a red Toyota
pick-up with one maybe two males inside. The guy(s) ditched the truck and took
off into the woods. The pursuit was a bit harder to follow, but it sounded like
they caught one as they chased the other though the woods. A few more minutes
of looking and the other was in custody, Back-up was informed and crisis over.
I wonder what they took or tried to take … I am wrong. He’s still loose and in
blue jeans and an orange jersey. They have him at a church and trying to
“contain the area” as best they can. He is going down. More cops are being
radioed in. Okay, now it is finished. They grabbed him as he headed up some
hill. That was fun!
Currently at the
Baymont Inn & Suites
in Corbin, Kentucky . . .
while we wait for a local repair shop to take care of whatever is ailing
Matilda!
OKAY,
UPDATE AS OF 2:06 a.m.
Wednesday, we got Matilda back ALREADY!
THANK YOU, ROBERT & JASON of T & H Towing & Truck Service, here in Corbin,
Kentucky!
You guys REALLY took on a big task with Matilda, on short notice, too!
Turns out the radiator was ridiculously clogged! Also, needed a new fan
clutch.
Took care of that, plus Jeff bought & installed a new battery & alternator less
than a week later.
So, we found a dog . . .
and we're going to need some help.
Yeah, of course, there is a little story that goes with this.
You'll have to wait to get that later. Right now, we have to check
out by noon & get this dog to the vet that will take him at 11:45!
We've taken care of the
dog since finding it last night, despite it having to stay outside.
Jeff, especially, went to great lengths to search out an owner or someone that
cared.
Long story short, for
now, Jeff asked this morning if the hotel would hold off calling
anyone while we packed up, we were going to take the dog. For some
idiotic, rude
reason, the assistant manager -- we're guessing her name is Heather (Baymont Inn
& Suites, Corbin, KY) --
promptly called the Humane Society!!! What the hell? Jeff came up &
told me, & I had to
call down to ask why they would do that. She claimed the dog had been here
since last night
and that nobody told her not to call . . . I explained he had JUST told all of
them.
She then claimed nobody told HER. Oh. On top of that, why be RUDE to
US?
We are actually being
treated poorly for being GOOD SAMARITANS!?!
Plenty of the older
couples here have spoken to us about the dog AND about our work.
They all are so happy we are taking care of the dog and think our work is pretty
thrilling, too.
The Humane Society DID come and Jeff had already gotten the dog on the RV.
The "dogcatcher" was apparently VERY KIND and also glad we were taking the dog!
I'd posted a message on
MySpace, and the general consensus was for us to keep the dog.
Of course, being animal lovers, we are cool with that.
It's just going to take a little effort & some sacrificing to do so.
Any outside help, in any way, would be greatly appreciated!
This afternoon, after our
interview with Michael Fey in Louisville, Kentucky,
we will post some pictures of the new dog! He's really cool!
We're going to ask all of you to help us come up with a fitting name.
In addition to this new
dog stuff, we've also got some REALLY EXCITING
new contests, giveaways and other fun promotions starting soon!
We're already getting some great photo submissions from people in their
IslandHippie or "Dream States" gear, and soon we'll pick all of our favorites
for
the upcoming FAN PAGE! If you want to be included, take a picture of
yourself or a friend
WEARING IslandHippie or "Dream States" merchandise (available
through the IslandHippie Hut),
and email it to fans@islandhippie.com
right away! We don't have ALL the details just yet,
but we'll be picking the COOLEST photo each week to win some great prizes!
09/30/2006
Posted by: Jennifer
Man, oh man! Things are about to change,
big time! Matilda is out . . . Matilda 2 (for lack of a better name,
currently) is in! That ends, or at least temporarily stifles the
continued fun of "The Sticker Program," BUT those already submitted HAVE been
already filmed and photographed, for inclusion and exposure on the film and/or
website. Wait until you see Matilda 2! We've taken a couple of
photos of her & the cool salesman, Matt Henahan. We'll take plenty more
tomorrow, of the outside, the inside, . . . who knows?! We can't tell you
where we got it, because we're waiting to see if the owner will be kind enough
to throw a $500-$1,000 sponsorship our way (as an advertising cost write-off for
his company!), in exchange for exposure here on the website . . . actually, we'd
probably post shout-outs to them on at least five of our websites . . . and MUCH
exposure in the film, considering Matilda 2 IS replacing the famous, or
infamous, Matilda! (We really hope he, or even the salesman, will
seriously consider it. Just imagine, your name in the "Special Thanks" credits of a feature
film!! You can do it! Help the little people.)
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