3/04/01 - Party Hard at Logsville Lodge

Danielle and Lisa get down

Logsville Lodge was a three bedroom house on the North side of San Antonio which Fernando rented for the out of town crew. At it’s peak, the lodge housed me, Lovisa, Lisa, Danielle (an intern from New York), Tim Orr (DP), Greg Ridge (gaffer), Matt Petrosky (1st AC) and Io Tillett Wright (Toby). Needless to say, it was a bit crowded. I slept in the den, after a temporary door was installed. Tim and Matt each had a small bedroom, the women all shared the master bedroom and poor Greg slept in the dining room.

During the final days of pre-production we sat around drinking Mathers (a blended cocktail consisting of vodka, margarita mix, banana, cranberry juice and whatever else we happened to have lying around) and creating the mythology of Logsville Lodge. Each of us was given an appropriate name and personality to fit the Nabscocks, the dysfunctional residents of the fictional and somewhat decrepit baronial manor, Logsville Lodge.

I was Jerry, the older son;
Matt was Mingus, the younger brother;
Tim was Ray, the quiet one;
Lisa was Nancy Nabscock, always getting in trouble;
Lovisa was Ruth, a mute with a penchant for digging large holes and sitting in them;
Linda was Sunshine and
Greg was Troy, the sullen one that lived in the dining room.

Our communal meals usually occurred outside on the “terrace” and were full of delights and occasionally peculiar surprises, most of which resulted from the culinary creativity of Ruth. The blue pancakes were a highlight.

Communal living was not always fun (as Greg will readily attest), but we got along remarkably well under very crowded and stressful conditions. Use of the bathrooms was probably the most sensitive issue as there were only two for the entire group. The bathroom located off the living room was designated for the boys and the en suite master bath was reserved for the girls. Aside from the occasional need to sternly remind Io that even though she was playing a boy in the film she was obligated to confine her ablutions to the ladies room, it all worked out pretty well.

Below are several pictures from our kick-off party at Logsville Lodge on the Saturday before production was set to begin. A good representation of the crew and cast was in attendance. Among the highlights of the night were Matt’s insane blended cocktails. By the end of the evening, no one — not even Matt — had any idea what was in them, but they were mighty good.