Our own Entourage
October 2, 2007 | by brett | Permalink
A common response we often receive when we tell strangers about our project is that it sounds like we are a band on tour. And you know what? Sometimes we do feel like some badass rock stars. But we are more like HBO’s show Entourage.
Yesterday was one of those episode like days.
We started off the day by conducting an interview with Dr. Helene Gayle, the first woman and the first African American to oversee the world’s leading humanitarian organization. Not so rock star like, but cool nonetheless.
Our original plan was to shoot some skeet in the south at eleven, but we found out they didn’t open until one. So it was time to improvise.
Now if you watch the Entourage show, picture E. E is the guy that makes stuff happen. He is the details guy. I am E.
I picked up the phone and starting dialing cool spots in Atlanta to fill up our open 11-1 time slot. The victor of the flurry of cold calls went to the Georgia Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the world. Within a half hour we were interviewing the director of communications in front of four whale sharks.
After cruising around the aquarium for a hour, where I even got to pet a shark, we headed to Fatt Matt’s for a lunch with our Atlanta liaison. The waitress, who had much more southern hospitality than teeth, served up a great pulled pork sandwich and lemonade.
Then it was off to shoot guns. And there’s something to be said about shooting skeet in the south. When we pulled the RV into Fulton County’s Skeet and Trap Shooting Range, it was a scene unlike any other. The scene resembled that of a golf range. At least to a city boy from California.
The collection of shooters appeared to have just gotten off of work, and had gone to the range to practice their favorite hobby. They unveiled guns from its cases like a golfer would a driver. They chatted amongst themselves about the latest skeet news while Zach, Noah, and I received an ongoing tutorial about how to shoot a rifle.
At the end of the day, Zach had hit 16 targets in a round of trap. Noah hit 16 targets in skeet. And I hit 3. “You were a lil’ stiff,” my girlfriend, who flew out from Phoenix to join us in ATL, explained to me of my meager performance.
The sun was slowly setting as we transitioned from backroads to highway, country to city. We stopped at 950 Peachtree, a bar of which I don’t remember the name of, and had an interview with Nika, a chef who quickly turned into one of the favorites on the trip.
Noah has always teased me about the rigorous corporate scheduling I’ve inadvertently adopted, scheduling interviews as early as 8:30am and no later than 6pm. But over beers at 9:30pm, we found out we could conduct interviews in bars.
The night ended by grabbing fast food and unexpectedly crashing the couch, again, at the house belonging to a girl we met upon arrival in Atlanta.
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Kelly G Says:
October 3rd, 2007
Skeet shooting! I would have loved to have seen that! Glad you are enjoying the south!
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