Blog (Oct 06 - Jan 07)

BABY'S BLOG, OCTOBER 2006 - JANUARY 2007

January 31th, 2007 - THE RINK, A MEETING, WARDROBE AND THE OFFICE

January 30th, 2007 - READ THRU, WARDROBE AND SFX

January 11th, 2007 - The REAL "Baby-Z" is born!!!

HEAR WHAT ZARK HAD TO SAY AT THE HOSPITAL!!!

Producer, Chris Szarka's first child, Alexander William Szarka, was born today!!! Time of birth: 1:28 pm, weighing in at just under 8 pounds! CONGRATS ZARK!!!

January 26nd, 2007 - BUST-A-MOVE AND ON THE ICE

January 25nd, 2007 - LETS TRY ON SOME WARDROBE!

January 24nd, 2007 - BUSINESS, B-BALL AND REENACTMENTS

January 22nd, 2007 - FAMILIAR FACES AND DINNER

January 18th, 2007 - ZARK'S B-DAY, A STANDING DESK AND A MASSAGE

January 17th, 2007 - THE OFFICE MEETS THE REAL BABY Z!!!

January 11th, 2007 - A READ THROUGH AND A BABY

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my gosh, probably the craziest day EVER! So tiring because the energy was at a constant high! First off I came into work Zark was here... which is funny because his wife, Michelle Nolden (Men With Brooms), went into labour at 2:30 am. Zark decided to come by work for the director's meeting because Michelle was doing well enough for him to take a break from it. So the meeting went on with: Zark, Bolton, Al Magee, Rachel Fulford, T.W. Peacoke and one of RAG's newest editions, Jim Allodi. The meeting ended and Zark got a phone call from his wife telling him she needed him and he'd better get his butt back to the hospital! Needless to say, he was out of there like the flash. But the excitement didn't fizzle out because the cast started to pour into the studio for a read through of the first 3 episodes. It's so easy to explain what it's like when this cast gets together: it's a family reunion... simple as that. Everyone laughs, carries on and genuinely cares about what each other have been up to. Pure magic. So they read the 3 scripts, I was there to videotape it for Zark and let me tell you... holly balls... HILARIOUS! I obviously can't say anything about it but WOWZERS, I can't wait to see these episodes on TV! So the cast left and I thought I had a little down time! Wrong!!! Zark's baby boy, Alex, was born at 1:28 pm!!!! The boy was just under 8 lbs. I got a call from Zark to do a secret covert mission: to sneak him some beers into the hospital! I know, it's probably against hospital rules, but hey the guy just had his first baby for gosh sakes! A RAG family reunion happened and Zark had his first baby... Ahhhhhhhhh life is good!

HEAR WHAT ZARK HAD TO SAY AT THE HOSPITAL!!!

January 8th, 2007 - RAG MOVES INTO IT'S NEW HOME!!!

Rent-A-Goalie is back in a big way! Today is the day that we moved into the studio!!! This place is crazy AWESOME, but more on that in abit, what is really awesome is that the RAG family is beginning to reuntie! Got to see some familiar season 1 faces today: of course there's Raj, Zark and Paul Jenison (been with these awesome dudes for the last 9 months), but there's people like Noella Nesdoly (Production Manager), Jeremy Hood (Production Coordinator), John MacNeil (Art Director), Ian Brock (Production Designer) and George Jeffery (Assistant Director) that I have seen very sparsely since the last day of production: It's awesome to see you guys again! Can't wait to spend everyday of the next couple months with ya. You make the office an awesome place to be in! Bolton couldn't join us today because he's sick, so he's one of soooooooooo many people yet to join us who will be coming out of the woodwork over this week: Can't wait to see you guys! There are also a few new faces: Matt Richards (the new Intern (and now youngest member of the RAG staff (*TEAR*)), Tova (Production Assistant) and Michael (Asst. Production Coordinator): Awesome to meet you, you guys rock!!! Okay, onto the new studio: MY MIND IS BLOWN AWAY!!! Last season's studio was... well... not as... well it had a little less... well it had... character... I'll leave it at that. This year everybody has their own office! Even Raj, Matt Richards and I have one and it's huge, like I mean giant! There's a gym, gargantuan eating area and the studio space is about 4 times the size as season 1's! I mean it, this place is a dream come true! I've got to show you guys! I was gonna do a virtual tour for you as soon as I got here, but I think I'm going to wait until Carlos Diaz (Looch) is here, cause it will be suuuuper funny if he does it. In the mean time I will bring a still camera and show you around the place a little bit. Well there we go, back in the studio getting ready for the cameras to roll on season 2! The blog is going to be coming fast and furious now, so stay tuned!

December 5th, 2006 - *SPECIAL GUEST ALERT!!!* MATT GORDON (DOC)

WICKED SITE MATTY!!!! The other Matt here saying hi and well done! A great site, full of intersesting and cool stuff. Nice to have some behind the scenes etceteras, video and great fotos. A walk through your new rag digs got me thinking about the beginning of all this and how much fun it's been with everybody since day one. I'm looking forward to visiting lots. Thanks again for all your hard work and focus. It's a pleasure to have you as part of the team. Can't wait to do it all again. look forward to seeing you and the boys soon for a hang out. Matt

November 15th, 2006 - *SPECIAL GUEST ALERT!!!* BRIAN LEE (SOLONGO)

So I just watched Episode 7 of Rent a Goalie with my family after having set it up with, "Hey, you know my friend Chris? The one who's producing that show about goalies on Showcase? Well he told me I HAD to watch this week's episode because there's something funny for Asians..." Everyone bought it hook-line-and sinker and as the show started, and while my heart was beating at about 100 miles/hour, my parents thought they were just gonna watch some TV...:) When I appeared on our TV my Dad went crazy! He started yelling, "That's you! That's you! Hey, you don't look too bad..." As all of this was going on I didn't hear anything from my Mom. When I looked over at her I just saw her smiling, in shock, and she couldn't say a word. I'll remember that look for the rest of my life.

November 15th, 2006 - INGA CADRANEL (FRAN) FUTURE ROLLER DERBY QUEEN!

The rumors are true! This evening I confirmed with Inga Cadranel (Fran) that she is presently training to become a Roller Derby competitor! This isn't that fake wrestling stuff you see on TV, she's going to be doing the real thing! I will keep you posted when more info comes out! Also, I played hockey with Gabe Hogan (Lance) this evening. It was kinda cool to be playing with one of the cast members while there was a RAG advertisement on the boards!

November 9th, 2006 - A DAY OF RAG REMINDERS

Remember that awesome thing about the troops in Afghanistan watching our show? Well Zark (Producer) had the great idea of shooting all of the cast members doing a little hello message to play before the shows. Today I had organized to have a bunch of the cast come over the Bolton's house so we could get this done: Matt (Doc), Pascal (Shit Pants), Graeme (Writer), Philip (Puker) and (this one was a surprise) Oliver (O'Malley) showed up and OH MAN! The laughter never ended! Check out the video on the home page, we shot while we were goofing off. Everyone broke off and day became night. I was hang'n out with Carlos (Looch) when Bolton (Cake) called. He claimed that he really needed to speak with Carlos about the show so we headed over there. Turns out he had just said that so we would come out with him. Well it worked and we went over to the a bar to watch the Leaf game. But we didn't go to just any bar, we went to the bard just down the street from the studio where we shot the show, the very bar that we would frequent every Friday night after a long week of shooting. The company was stupendous! Carlos, Bolton, Zark, Raj (Associate Producer), Buddy Herold (hockey player from episode 3) and Charles Rotshtetter (the Charming Goon from episode 4! The game ended with the Leafs hanging on 6-4 (thank god they didn't blow it!) and that was the end of the night right? WRONG! Bolton and I drove Carlos home and I was a little bummed out because I was a little tired and I had to drive into Burlington to drop something off from a friend. Bolton made me feel better when he said, "I'll go with you, it'll keep you company!" What a nice caring guy right? WRONG! Turns out he had other motives: We got into Burlington, it's 10:30 and he decides he wants to meet my mom (he had been bugging to try and make this happen for weeks)! I tell him she's in bed and I refuse to give him my cell phone. He calls 411 (I now hate you 411), he gets the number, calls her, wakes her up and tells her that we're coming over for beer. We actually ended up going to my house, there was no beer, but Bolton ended up standing at my kitchen counter playing "Where's Waldo" with my mom. After the insanity, Bolton decided to take me out for a bedtime beer (let's not forget this is a Thursday and I need to get up for work in the morning). However, I must admit this was a fun ending to the night. Bolton and I sat and watched a very intoxicated man stumble around the bar. In closing I would like to address Mr. Bolton directly (and I'm sure this goes for anyone who has ever known you): knowing you is a roller coaster of insanity, but thanks for the ride, you crazy man! I wanna thank everyone involved in today! It was so awesome to hang out with he cast then go to our after work watering hole, it all reminded me of shooting... speaking of which, season 2 is come'n soon!!!

November 7, 2006 - BABY-Z IS LAUNCHED

I'm nervous! I'm scared! It's my first time doing a web-site. I'm not good with grammar. I can't spell well. I hope no one gets pissed about anything, it's all in good fun! No turning back, we may as well launch this montha!

October 25, 2006 - BY FAR THE COOLEST I'VE EVER SEEN!!!

I must warn you this has nothing to do with Rent-A-Goalie, but it does have to do with goalies so I thought it might be kind of cool. I was at York University for my weekly hockey game (6-0-0 baby!) and I decided to watch a little of the game before mine. A few minutes in a guy was breaking in and a stick came up from behind and clipped him right in the face. The guy was taken to the box, but of course both teams took to yelling at each other non-stop. The goalie, on the team of the guy who got clipped, came up and stood at centre ice yelling at the other team's bench. Out of nowhere he charged the bench and WHAM, headbutted one of the players. This is where the magic happened! The goalie on the other team came speeding over, dropped his gloves, ripped the headbutt goalie's helmet off and smoked him in the head. Fists flew all over the place, they fell to the ground and I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face! The game had to be called (it was 2-2 with 8 mins. left in the 3rd), the goalies were suspended for the rest of the season, but I had the privilege of watching my first live goalie fight. Thanks, to those involved.

October 24, 2006 - BY FAR THE COOLEST PHONE CALL WE'VE EVER HAD!!!

It's 3:50 pm, and Zark just got a phone call from the Canadian Armed Forces! Get this, they requested to show RAG to the troops in Afghanistan! I'm sorry but that is CRAZY cool!!! This is a huge sign that this show has a chance to settle into the role we all hoped for: it's so uniquely Canadian that it becomes an ambassador for Canadian TV, much like Trailer Park Boys and Corner Gas. What else could prove it to us more than a bunch of guys on the other side of the world watching RAG so they can feel like they're at home? Our next step is to try and find a way to get the world community to say "Canada is cold, hockey, maple syrup and Rent-A-Goalie!" We'll save that for another day, as for now, this is no doubt the single most exciting moment in RAG history. Beer anyone? I think so!

October 13, 2006 - BOLTON ON "OFF THE RECORD"

Today Bolton continued his media parade to try and raise awareness for the show. I had been to a couple of them already, don't get me wrong they're all really cool to watch behind the scenes, but this one was special for me because I have been watching OTR since day 1. I wasn't even supposed to go but I got a call from Bolton at 1:30: "Baby, I need a DVD screener of the show and there is a RAG bag of swag (say that 10 times fast) waiting for you at Alliance Atlantis... Oh and I need it at the Rogers Centre by 2:15! You need to motor, I MEAN MOTOR!!!" I completed the tasks and I made it to the Rogers centre right on time, almost. Bolton had told me when I got there I would get use valet parking!!! This was going to be my virgin experience, my first chance to feel like I had really made it! So I pulled up to the drop-off area (huge smile on my face), I give the guy my keys, he gives me a ticket and I took off for the studio. (MORE ON THIS LATER) So we're sitting there, Bolton's having some sushi and in walks RICHARD PETTY, president of MLSE! All of a sudden the swag made sense. This is HUGE for RAG! Season 1, Episode 8: It wasn't supposed to be "Toronto VS Vancouver" for the "Cup" it was supposed to be "Leafs VS Canucks" for the "Stanley Cup". We tried and tried with the parties involved and it came down to pretty much the day before shooting the last episode and we had to go with the made up teams. The problem was that these are such huge entities that it's near impossible to talk to who you've got to talk to, if ya know what I mean? But then this weird stroke of fate, destiny, mojo, what have you happens: we got to, in person, hand Richard Petty a screener of the show. Who knows if we'll ever get to use the Leafs, but this was a pretty cool occurrence regardless! As for the show; it was awesome to see in person and Michael Landsberg is a very cool guy! OTR ended and I was still amped up because I was on my way to pick up my car from valet parking!!! I got to the valet place and I was shocked to see my truck in the EXACT same place it was before! I didn't know if I should still be happy or not... I ask you? Did I technically get to valet park?

MARCH 2007

FEBRUARY 2007