Janet does her best impression of Rodin’s statue, “The Thinker”. We’re not sure exactly what she’s thinking, but we know her thoughts have a New Jersey accent. Maybe, “Oh my gawd…I need a cup of cawfee.”
The singer from last night’s dinner at Puglia’s in Little Italy sounded just like Janice from Friends and Janet has adopted the accent ever since.
Hole punches, which cut through paper effortlessly, don’t work so well on plastic. We figured this out within seconds when we started working on assembling the Freddie Awards bag tags. Michelle demonstrates the proper face one needs to make the hole punch actually work. 400 bag tags later, we managed to pepper the floor with confetti plastic dots. And our sore hands reminded us that this was no easy task.
Do you check a bag or fit all of your clothes and necessary items in a carry-on? Our group was divided on the issue. On one side were Mikel and Lynda, the backpackers, who decided that if they couldn’t carry something on their back, it wasn’t going to be given space in their compact carry-ons.
On the other side were the wheelies, who filled larger suitcases with everything from multiple pairs of shoes (because you always need a back-up pair of heels) and an array of outfits. Karen won the award for largest suitcase, which unfortunately had a handle that didn’t extend. But she wrestled and tamed that wheeled beast with no problem.
Art Director Denny Butts has been with us for just over a year, which makes him a Freddie Awards rookie. He created this masterpiece for the cover of InsideFlyer magazine. Don’t be fooled by his chiseling skills – the trophy in this block of ice was created by freezing a Freddie Award in a bucket of water. He then spent a sunny afternoon chiseling away at the ice to reveal the trophy.
We think it looks good. And he decided he liked ice carving. If you see him at the Freddie Awards, you can give him an ice cube and ask him if he’d carve you your own mini-Freddie.
The end to the endless to-do list is getting closer. Each purple horizontal line brings us one step closer to finishing up the final preparations for the Freddies.
Name badge lanyards have been ordered, Freddie Awards hotel key cards have been approved, the keynote has been written and proofed and the trophies themselves are on their way.
But the most important thing to remember to bring? Duct tape. When I walked in to the office this morning, a bright yellow piece of paper was placed in the hallway with a reminder to bring duct tape, the water-resistant sticky wonder that was originally used by soldiers to seal ammunition cases in World War II.
What will we need it for at the Freddies? I’m not quite sure, but if something goes awry at this year’s Freddies, we have duct tape to fix it.
The question around the office today is: What will Randy wear at this year’s Freddie Awards?
Maybe a Donald Trump mask and a tuxedo with sandals and a brightly-colored cumberbund? Or a pilot’s outfit? Perhaps he’ll welcome the Freddie Awards back this year by dressing up as an actual Freddie Award and wrapping himself in Saran Wrap. Or maybe he’ll try out some Vera Wang separates.
You never know what Randy will do next, but we do know that his outfit will be appropriate for the Return of the Freddie Awards.