Spiderman II was filming in my neighborhood this evening. On my way home from work, laden with groceries and cat litter, I stopped to watch a bit of the production at the corner of Bleecker and Carmine Sts. It didn't look that exciting, and the litter was getting heavy, so I took my purchases home and planned to stay in. But my curiosity got the better of me. On Saturday morning, on my way to work, I had passed signs indicating that they'd be filming in Lower Manhattan on Sunday, and yesterday I forgot to ride past there on my bike. I decided not to pass up another chance to see a movie production up close. There was a small crowd watching from the little park opposite Joe's Pizza, the location of the production. Several people were taking pictures, and the staff kept asking them not to use flashes. Unfortunately, these pleas kept coming AFTER they took the pictures. I saw director's chairs for the cast and crew, including Tobey Maguire, but there was no sign of him on the set. There was a guy in a red helmet who looked suspiciously like him. Finally, after I had been watching for about twenty minutes, Maguire himself came out of the pizza place. He stood on the opposite corner from me, surrounded by production staffers, keeping his head down as people tried to take pictures of him. Since he was wearing the same costume as the guy in the red helmet, apparently helmet-head was his stunt double. After a minute or two Maguire and two staffers walked down the block to his trailer, followed by several of the young women who had been watching this entire scene from my side of the street. He's not as tall as I thought he'd be, and like most celebrities I've seen in Manhattan, I doubt I'd recognize him if I saw him on the street away from the movie set. He came back about fifteen minutes later, and not long after that, I lost interest in the whole thing. It was too cold to stand around much longer, and I still had to eat dinner, fold laundry, wash clothes, and take care of the cats. Back to reality.

While watching The Ten Commandments last night on ABC, I figured out that the debauchery scene near the end, where the Israelites rebel against Moses, was the first spring break. There are lascivious women and horny guys recently released from servitude, abundant alcohol, gold and jewels for everyone, and a complete lack of authority. It looked like every MTV Spring Break special I've ever seen. You see, I never went to the beach for spring break, so I have to rely on what I've seen on TV and heard from friends. Apparently Cecil B. DeMille had been to Daytona, though.