another week, another awesome shoot with the dinner:impossible gang. symon and i ended up flying into philly together and sharing a car to our hotel, the radisson at warwick plaza. the driver, who a) drives for a living in philadelphia and b) had a gps system installed in the suv, managed to get lost and turn our twenty minute trip into an hour and twenty minutes. needless, to say, it was great to finally arrive at the hotel around 10:30pm monday night, after first stopping at the Windham and Hyatt as our driver attempted to find the correct location by using some method of dead reckoning. i enjoyed some room service and turned in for the evening so i wouldn't be too lethargic for the shoot on tuesday. the only obstacle to a good night's rest? the sleep number bed. for whatever reason, radissons all proudly offer these ridiculous beds, the basic premise behind them being that, by using a control pad, the recumbent inhabitants on either side of the mattress can adjust it to their preferred firmness. essentially, the system relies on a glorified air mattress packed in lots of padding. it sucks if you're sleeping alone, because, if you wish to move beyond your side (rolling, stretching, laying diagonally, etc.), the other side of the bed must be on something of an equivalent setting. if this is not done correctly, the sorry somnolent simply rolls into a mattress valley or up against a mattress hill. so, ultimately you're forced to wake up and fuck around with the controller until both sides are the same. i certainly found it irritating. anyway, the shoot went great and we were done early enough to head out with some members of the production company for a few pints at a philly microbrewery called nottinghead's. prior to the beer drinking, though, i feel like i was thirsty all day during the shoot and i took this picture in the hotel bar because it showed two of my favorite beverages in the world: pellegrino and beer. this shot records the end of the night before i wandered up to my room, pretty well in my cups, and fell asleep, only to wake up an hour later when my side of the bed deflated entirely. stupid bed.
