Samantha Brown Tag Feed for 'christina' http://samantha-brown-blog.travelchannel.com Samantha Brown shows you all her favorite places to stay, dine, and meet new people. en-us Copyright The Travel Channel http://samantha-brown-blog.travelchannel.com/template/sambrown/images/sambrownblog300.png Samantha Brown Tag Feed for 'christina' http://samantha-brown-blog.travelchannel.com Samantha Brown shows you all her favorite places to stay, dine, and meet new people. http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rss.html PostZinger/v.1.0 Dallas http://samantha-brown-blog.travelchannel.com/rss-read/dallas Travel Back in Dallas. I say back because I was born here and even though I only lived here for a year and therefore have no recollection of it at all I still consider myself a little yellow rose. I have been back to Dallas a couple of times and I always... Samantha Brown Back in Dallas. I say back because I was born here and even though I only lived here for a year and therefore have no recollection of it at all I still consider myself a little yellow rose. I have been back to Dallas a couple of times and I always enjoy it mainly because the people here a bigger than life and what the cityscape here lacks in personality the people more than make up for.

My day off falls while I am in Dallas and I am told by the hotel staff of the Katy Trail which sort of cuts thru the city on what used to be a raised railroad bed. I head out and what a little jewel this trail is that takes you passed small croppings of bamboo forests and lilac bushes all the while keeping you safe from traffic. Its such a lovely jog I outdo myself and run a lot further than I usually do, my muscles are already starting to ache and I just think "oh no" I'm sure the Texas wardrobe is going to be of the high-heeled kind. It could be a long shoot day tomorrow.

dallasOne thing we know we have to do is to create a "what I would have looked like had I grown up in Dallas look." Christina comes beyond prepared and fully passionate about my outfits. She shows up with two sexy leopard print dress, Lee Press On nails and enough hair extensions to outfit the entire Dallas cowboy cheerleading team (who turned me down, but I don't want to talk about that). Okay I will. When I was a little girl I had the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader poster and I would just stare at them and their uniforms and wish upon wish that I could be one of them. Remember the TV Specials where we got to follow the ups and downs of a few girls as they pursued their dreams during the yearly tryouts? It ended with all of them at the first game doing a dance routine to the song "If my Friends Could See Me Now."

But apparently no one but a bona fide Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader gets to wear the uniform. I wanted so badly to show them my resume which would read something like this:

Pussycat Doll
Sang back-up with Reo Speed wagon and Styx during a concert
Worked out with the Marines
Cut a song with Vince Gill
Spent day with a New York City Rockette AND wore the famous Santa Suit
Got a Pitching Lesson with John Smoltz and the Atlanta Braves

For some reason none of THESE people, franchises, brands.... WHATEVER had a problem with it. Oh well, at least now that I don't have to bare my midriff, I can have a big juicy steak...followed by an ice cream sundae.

We had a very long day that put us two hours behind. This became a problem since it was at the end of the day that we were going to create "Dallas Sam". But none of us wanted to call it quits even the fellas. Damion on sound and Alan on camera were like, "This has to happen." Poor Christina worked for a solid hour clipping in hairpieces and curling them individually to get the look. We did this in a small back room of the shooting club we were at. I didn't want to look in a mirror to watch the process I just wanted to see my transformation in one complete instant.

When she was done I looked and I didn't even recognize myself. The long hair completely changed the look of my face, and then there was the bright blue eye shadow, the fake plastic nails, the garish shiny animal print dress. It's like we did a makeover in reverse. The guys were stunned and none of us could stop laughing as we tried to film what we could in the dying sunlight. We went back to our hotel and people looked at me with such disgust-I think they thought my profession was slightly different then it was. When it was time for me to take off "the look" both Alan and Damion came over to me and asked if they could get their picture with Dallas Sam. I was like sure! Then It hit me...I had been working with Alan and Damion for a year and in that time did they ever ask to have a picture with me? Nope. I was like, now I know what look men prefer. And I ain't it. I hope no one in Dallas finds offence with Dallas Sam. It was an exaggeration to be sure; we were having a blast with an old perception perpetuated by one of the greatest shows on television. Of course I am talking about Dallas.


samantha brown dallas christina katy trail cowboys cheerleader ]]> Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:54:35 -0400 http://samantha-brown-blog.travelchannel.com/rss-read/dallas Maui http://samantha-brown-blog.travelchannel.com/rss-read/maui Travel The episode in Maui has an added twist: make everything as eco-friendly as possible. I also have the added fun of turning the camera towards my crew to shed a light on our collective bad habits of a production crew that aid in the deterioration of... Samantha Brown The episode in Maui has an added twist: make everything as eco-friendly as possible. I also have the added fun of turning the camera towards my crew to shed a light on our collective bad habits of a production crew that aid in the deterioration of this earth. This is going to be fun.

As a production crew we are really just a walking garbage dump, the amount of waste we generate has never been lost on us as it literally piles up in our minivans before us.

Every morning we all come out with our cappuccinos in the cardboard cup with the wraparound snuggie. There is a tower of Styrofoam containers with cold half-eaten egg sandwiches and hardening ketchup.

We all have our own favorite snacks that all come in single serving packages: nut mix, cheese, energy bars, and cookies. Then there are the energy drinks: Gatorade, vitamin water and canned high-octane espresso shots. I should also mention the special vanilla mocha coffee beverages that are the equivalent of liquid candy.

We all agree to cut down our impressive variety to just the essentials: water and Gatorade.
To cut down on waste we agree that instead of buying two cases of bottled water we buy big gallon jugs and refill thermoses. Instead of individual packages of nut mix, we all agree to dip our dirty hands into one super large bag.

Christina has taken on this challenge like nobody else. She reached out to only eco-friendly designers and they were all thrilled to lend us clothing, shoes, purses and jewelry. The selection is amazing and I can't believe how far this industry has come to making things that are easy on the earth AND something you actually want to wear.

EVEN my make-up, hair products: shampoo, conditioner, volumizer and (gasp) hair spray are made with the protection of our environment in mind.

First up on the itinerary: We start with a snorkeling scene with Dr Richard Murphy, a marine ecologist, who began working with Jacques Cousteau in the late 60's.

He is a fascinating and passionate man and I love how he describes to me how coral reefs work like self-sustained cities, in which each creature playing its part. Some fish are the doctors, others like sea cucumbers provide garbage pick-up.

I am excited to get to spend time with this truly remarkable person until I have to get into the water, which for some reason I am more nervous than usual. I really am embarrassed by my fear and I always think each time I go in it will lesson but it sticks with me.

We go in the water and I am all right for a while but then I start to feel a panic attack coming. My mouth piece feels like it has those butterfly pieces of plastic the dentists assistant rams into the sides of your mouth to take the x-rays, that are never covered by insurance, making the whole miserable experience something you have to pay for.

I actually start to choke then hyperventilate underwater. Part of it is fear, the other total humiliation as children nearby me are as comfortable as the fish themselves.

Back on land and I could really use a stiff drink. In keeping with the theme of the show I promise to recycle the empty bottle.;-)

Every word Dr. Murphy says is enlightening but one thing in particular wakes me up with a cold slap across my face. The sun block we are using for our own very important protection is killing the coral reefs. The solution: biodegradable sunscreen. At least there is something we can do about it.

Second day: Its 3:30 AM and we are headed to the other side of the island to Mount Haleakala, my favorite volcano in the world. It's really a showstopper and if you head to Maui you have to see the sunrise at 10,000 feet. It hurts getting up that early but the payoff will be great.

maui

The sunrise was even more beautiful than we imagined and one of the park rangers herself a native Hawaiian sings ancient chants of gratitude towards the sun and earth.

We are shooting the road to Hana, which I have done a number of times, but this time I am going on a bus. I am not one for bus tours but more people sharing a ride means a lighter load on old mother earth.

We get to Hana and have one of the most incredible meals at Hotel Hana Maui. Everything served was grown here. The fish was caught from a fisherman who leaves from a spot you can actually see from the table we are sitting at. Amazing.


maui hana eco-friendly samantha brown christina environment dr. murphy mount haleakala ]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:11:46 -0400 http://samantha-brown-blog.travelchannel.com/rss-read/maui