Well, kids, Tuesday's last day of filming for 1970s cars was the proverbial ending on a high note. Whenever we go to these filming sessions, Betty and I never know what's going to happen; with movie people it seems to be a lot of "hurry up and wait," followed with "here do this" one moment and then "no, don't do that, do this" the next, with a lot of waiting to do anything at all. So, I had no reason to believe anything extraordinary when I joined several other drivers Tues. afternoon at 1, especially when I heard that the day's shoot would consist of simply letting Betty sit on the street all day and maybe having the cars moved around once or twice. I wasn't nearly prepared for what happened next...

After getting us drivers gathered up and checked in for the day, Greg, the production assistant who coordinated action with the cars, took me aside and asked, rather with some honor, "We were so impressed with the work you did the last time you were here, would you consider being a taxi driver for this scene?"

Wellsir, to quote a line from a Pulp song, I said I'd see what I could do! :) So, off to wardrobe go I to get dressed for my new occupation, tho oddly enough I wasn't issued an actual uniform that a NYC cab driver would wear. Seemed like something more a regular person would wear. And my ride, as it turned out, was the same '70 Ford Galaxy 500 they had on the first day's filming that proved so troublesome. And yes, it was just as troublesome on Tues. as it was on the 7th; the choke was a mess and the idle speed was completely fubar, meaning the bloody thing wouldn't stay running unless I kept my foot on the gas, especially when it was in gear. The guy who was in charge of the production-owned cars tried to get in some quick adjustments but there was just no time to do anything meaningful.

But, none of that really mattered to me, 'cause guess who should be parked immediately behind the stars' Jag and getting ALL kinds of lovin' and attention? BETTY!!

Here's where it pays not to spend your life being a douche or asshole to people - they will want to do stuff for you! And in this case, when it came time for Greg to position cars in for the scene, he brought Betty up and right in front of EVERYONE! Even as mechanical problems effectively killed my being able to drive the taxi through the scene, I had a ring-side seat as I watched the filming action swirling around Betty and the Jag.

Even between takes, some of the crew seemed to take a liking to my girl, especially when it came to her hood. People always seem entranced by the texture of Betty's hood, and always have this uncontrolled urge to touch it to investigate. Well, some crew members were the same way, according to Michi. You know who else was apparently checking her out being where she was? None other than Mr. Obi-wan himself, Ewan McGregor! :) :) :) Not only that, at one point in a between-takes lull McGregor actually took a break and sat on her front passenger corner! :) :) Oh, if ONLY I had a camera on me at the time!! There is probably only one other person who I'd let get that personal with Betty - namely Michi. Now, I can count two. :)

When that scene wrapped up it was time to migrate the autos from Race and 15th where we were to the next street, Republic. For those not local, I don't need to tell you guys of the reputation that Over-The-Rhine has. 20 years ago even the police didn't want to go into parts of it, and certainly the riots of 2001 cemented the notion that OTR was dangerous in the minds of many a Cincinnatian - especially the white-bread conservative ones in the 'burbs. But let me tell you, since they really started gentrifying the neighborhood in 2007 it's not nearly the gang-bangers waiting around every corner to rob/assault/rape you and break into your car like it was even ten years ago. I felt perfectly at ease the entire time, and in fact I started becoming fascinated with the buildings that still bear traces of OTR's German past, boarded-up yet prettied-up as some of those buildings were. Some of the people living around there turned up to see what was going on outside their doorsteps, and the crew seemed more than happy to let them hang out. Due to the nature of the session, Greg and some of the crew were constantly having to move them to different corners to get them out of the shot, but they didn't seem to mind. Perhaps as a way of saying thanks for their patience and understanding, during one take the camera car included them during one of their pans. I'm sure it'd be nothing for the production company to delete that take since the whole movie seems to be filmed digitally, but it'll give these OTR people the thrill of a lifetime.

When evening came, it was time to break for dinner. Greg told us drivers to lock the cars and secure them, but even as darkness was falling I really wasn't overly concerned about leaving Betty where she was on Republic (near the corner and right in the shot when the camera car goes by). When we came back, I had a rather new problem: I couldn't unlock the car. It's probably been years since I locked that car - I never have any reason to, I never take her anywhere where it would require locking - and not surprisingly they were stiff to come unlocked. The driver's side lock kinda moved when I tried the key, but the passenger side was simply having nothing to do with coming unlocked at all.

So, what could I do? I walked down to the other end of the block where a couple of cops had the street blocked off to traffic. As far away as they were, by this point they were there more to simply block traffic than provide any meaningful safety and security to us drivers, and Republic isn't all that well-lit. Would you believe that neither of these guys had anything to unlock a car with? I rather assumed every cop car came full of tools for situations like this...but apparently not!

Greg was bringing our cars one by one around back to Race St. for more filming (it was also where all their equipment and such was). When he finally came around I told him about being locked out and he put in a call for whatever studio guy is in charge of matters like this. He called the police and after a time a cop came up who had the tools to get me unlocked.

So, finally unlocked, I'm good to go again. One by one the cars were brought around until Betty and this other '76 Buick Skylark who was used in the previous sequence shooting are the only ones who remain. So, we wait...and we wait...and we wait, and it's getting later...and later...and later. The other guy starts reading in his car (how, I don't know - it was pretty dark where we were). I break out my portable DVD player and start watching The Fast & The Furious 4.

Remember my saying OTR being such a bad neighborhood is largely an outdated notion? Well, I don't know if it was because it was such a cool night, or it was a weekday night, or maybe both... But sitting there in the car in the dark on one of the most infamous streets in the city I experienced...pretty much nothing at all. There were some people sitting outside enjoying the nice evening, but to my surprise the majority of what I experienced was peace and quiet. Indeed, in the entire 11.5 hours I spent in OTR on Tuesday I heard just one police run and one ambulance run. The only thing of any note that happened while I waited on Republic was when a trio of bored teenage girls wandered around where we were and I heard a hand running across Betty's rear fender as she passed by. Given the love and appreciation passing residents gave all us classic owners earlier, I knew there wasn't anything malicious going on, like she was scraping the car. I took it to be a simple caress of affection - hell, I do the same thing!

I got about halfway through the movie before I noticed the other driver get out and see what was going on with the filming. I did the same, and after Greg gave word for the Skylark to be brought around, he finally gave me the nod to come around to where everyone else was at last. It was going to be another street scene sequence. Greg left me a spot to par- er, I mean, dock Betty, but I had to parallel park her to do it. I don't need to tell you guys how I felt all eyes on me as Betty and I came up, and felt the pressure to try and successfully do the other thing I generally avoid doing - parallel parking my big Buick. I'm not too proud to admit I nailed it on the first try... :)

This time, camera love fell to this guy and his black '73 Chev SS who drove in front of Cheadle and McGregor when they move to cross the street. Was of course rodded out for racing and had some very un-'70s racing rims, but hey - better his gas and wear and tear than mine! I think the movie people thought his car was too loud, as he was told that as soon as his car cleared the stars, cut the engine, turn off the lights, pull over and stop. I was waiting for them to give me the same chance; do all that with no power steering and no power brakes on a car that weighs over two tons? I DON'T THINK SO!!

Finally, filming for us '70s cars wrapped up about 12:30 am and we were done. Only this time, when I talked to our casting director, Betsy Hodges, we were ALL done. From here, there was going to be some flashback filming with the '40s and '50s cars, but for us '70s guys, this was it. It really did feel like the end of the last performance of a theatrical production for all us auto extras. Those of us who were done said our goodbyes and good lucks to those who still had more filming ahead of them; I said my heartfelt goodbyes, good lucks and uber thanks for the opportunity to Betsy and Greg, and then Michi and I disappeared into the dark for the last time.

Miles Ahead is slated to come out some time next year, and the word I had was that Cinci will be one of three cities in the country to premier the movie when it comes out in the US. I'm rather thinking of suggesting us movie car guys be given premo parking as way of setting the scene for the affair. ;)