Stakeout Girl is ready for 2010! Plus, Susan Boyle: stakeout victim!

Posted on 04. Jan, 2010 by stakeoutgirl.

We are back. Sadly, the holidays meant a lot more staking out of turkey, treats and presents than actual in-the-car stakeouts, but that is all going to change now!

It’s a whole new year and we are ready to get back on camera and find the strange, unusual and wonderful that is afoot out in the world. I am very excited that people are starting to ask to come with us on stakeouts and so we shall have all kinds of fun hijinks coming your way… if you know of anything weird going on in your area, please please please, let us know!

But first things first. The news did not stop going when I wasn’t writing, so I am going to share with you my absolute favorite stakeout story by far since we stalked the Santas:

Susan Boyle staked out in Tokyo airport

• Two separate Japanese gentlemen staked out Susan Boyle to ask her to marry them in the Tokyo airport when she arrived recently to perform on a national Japanese TV Show. They had apparently staked out her arrival for over seven hours. One simply proposed to her over and over in Japanese and was pushed aside by the crowd- not a terribly effective technique when the object of your affection does not speak Japanese, but still, I admire his devotion. The second attempt was more accessible to Boyle- he got on his knees and offered flowers as part of the proposal, but neither man went home with a singing wife. Susan was protected by a security team and she had places to go- singing on a show with 40 million viewers which a foreign singer has not sung on for ages.

My delight over this is partly due to the timing- I just showed someone the original Susan video over the weekend- he had somehow managed to miss it. I said that I found it incredibly sad that she said she’d never been married, or even kissed. “I’ll bet they’re lining up now,” I told my friend, the new Susan convert. I am so so happy that they are. While having total strangers propose in airports is probably off-putting, it is a big improvement over living alone with cats and no kissing. I know this for a fact.

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The Great Santa Stakeout

Posted on 16. Dec, 2009 by stakeoutgirl.

Part I:

Part II:

Greetings!  This is our first edited episode, and we had to rely on that oft-utilized tactic of self-filming — you know, the whole “reaching out an arm and turning the camera on ourselves without really be able to tell where it’s pointed” thing — yeah…so please excuse the excessive screen time given to our chins.  But, hey – we did our best, and it’s only going to get better, so be gentle…

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Stakeout Hero of the Week: Fantastic Mr. Fox!

Posted on 01. Dec, 2009 by stakeoutgirl.

Who knew there would be more than our stakeout for the whole family this season? Just two short days after I embarked on the Black Friday first annual good old-fashioned family Stakeout, we set out to see Fantastic Mr Fox and lo and behold, it was a stakeout movie! Well, I decided it was.

The funny thing was that we weren’t planning to see Mr Fox when we left the house. At least my brother and I weren’t. We had settled on seeing A Serious Man, the new Cohen Bros, at lunch when I said I wasn’t so much in the mood for animation. My mom denied being part of this conversation despite the fact that we both saw her sitting there and listening. We must have worn her out with the stakeout.

So heading out for the 8:10 showing of A Serious Man came to a screeching halt when only Mr Fox was on the marquis. “What?” my mom said. “I thought either movie was ok”

But I digress, as usual.

If you like backflips, heists (of poultry and booze), were ever a surly teen or knew one, or- most importantly- love the idea of doing anything in a bandit hat, you might even set out to see this movie on purpose, unlike me.

Besides, if you want to take your kids on proper stakeouts, you’d better train em up right away. Perhaps my mom is a stealthier influence than I thought… hmm?

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Stakeout Girl 2: Black Friday Madness!

Posted on 27. Nov, 2009 by stakeoutgirl.

Live TV by Ustream

I’m bringing my family along for episode 2: we shall stake out Boston’s shopping events… join us at 3pm Black Friday!

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Behind the scenes of Stakeout Girl

Posted on 12. Nov, 2009 by stakeoutgirl.

My wiley assistant, Jen, decided that we needed to record the -somewhat stressful- preparations for episode 1. There were some frightening moments as well as a strange comparison to the floating spy in Big Trouble in Little China.

If you ever wanted to know what goes on when tech doesn’t fly right before a show launches… this is your video.

PS. Despite the fact that I am pissed about it, a new computer is on the way. Not because of the eyeball, but because while we were filming the screen on my current computer went mustard and then the computer shut itself off. We cannot be having that.

Just like we cannot be having Jen filming me quite this long so I forget that it’s recording. Oops.

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OK. We have recovered from Episode 1. Now it’s time to prep for Episode 2.

Posted on 11. Nov, 2009 by stakeoutgirl.

So… We had a stakeout. I coined November 5 International Stakeout Day and I was in a car with coffee and donuts and it really happened!

Such an exciting start. However, there were some bugs.

How shocking! On a new project- not everything was all perfect right away?

No, in truth, sometimes things don’t all come together as smoothly as one would like.  But even so, we’re not stopping. No sir.

I am in talks with my next guest. Who she is will remain a mystery to all of you for now. Don’t fret, we’ll reveal soon. I am hoping very much that it will be possible to do two more stakeouts before the end of 2009, if not more!

The fact that the live video streaming was so choppy on my 4 year old laptop and the clever financing plan offered by those nifty folks at Apple means that we will have a spanking new machine for the next show. And, thanks to my friend Matt, who has promised to hold my hand so I don’t cry in Fry’s electronics, we shall have a camera that actually works on Ustream, not just for ichat, which does us no good for this endeavor, as we call all agree.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the first show! Granted, there was a lot of coffee and donuts flinging around, but We did manage to see people in the chat room and we did get through nearly an hour live- albeit in two segments.

And the show cut off the second time right before i was about to announce where Catherine Cassidy could be found so you too can let her loose on your closet and your wardrobe. She hangs out at www.Ustyled.com. She’s the coolest.

Who do you want to see on the show next? What places do you want to see on a Stakeout.

AND, even more exciting: want to hire us to come stake out your event? Contact us for pricing and scheduling!

We are on our way to greatness!

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Episode 1: Starfucker Bars is here!

Posted on 04. Nov, 2009 by stakeoutgirl.

Free live streaming by Ustream

Here we go… Check out our livestream of the show: on at 5pm Pacific on 11.5.09! Watch it here or click the screen above to visit the channel and sign in to chat with us live!!

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Oh my- a SQUIRREL stakeout!

Posted on 04. Nov, 2009 by stakeoutgirl.

I know I already posted the stakeout hero of the week. The police department of Indio near palm springs for locking up some vandals.

But I think now that it’s Wednesday it’s a new week.

Which means a new hero.

That hero is Sherman. Here he is:

The lovely folks over at Going Oregonian took this photo of Sherman, their squirrel attic interloper. I highly recommend the entire post, but if you’re not totally sold on the story, just know it has thrills, chills, spills, tears and is a heartwarming tale of overcoming the odds.

Plus, these people were serious enough about the stakeout idea that they involved folding chairs in the yard with food and a lookout point from a neighbor’s porch with binoculars.

Need I say more?

The story of Sherman is waiting for you.

Enjoy.

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Halloween Stakeout mayhem in Palm Springs!

Posted on 31. Oct, 2009 by stakeoutgirl.

Google alerts are a joy. I have one on stakeouts coming to me on a daily basis now. So much fun!

This little beauty was published October 30th in the Desert Sun from Palm Springs.

What I like about this one most, honestly, is that it ended up in straight-up jail time. For me, there is something lost in the story when people are taken off in a squad car and we never find out what the resolution was. Perhaps journalism needs a “Stakeout follow-up” genre? I would be in favor. If you are with me, leave comments below. We will band together and change the world.

But… in the meantime, let’s get back to Indio residents Matthew Ray, 27, and Isaac Carillo, 22.

I am a bit shocked that a stakeout of several days was conducted for these two. At least it says that authorities had watched the area for several days. That seems like a lot of effort. It makes me feel that Indio might be the place to live.

If LA surveyed the area for several days every time someone was suspected of breaking into cars, we wouldn’t have any cops left. Because for “authorities” plural to watch an area, you need two of them. At least. And you need 4-6 to avoid overtime for shifts.

The clue to this level of attention I believe comes in the next line: “They are suspected of breaking into vehicles that were parked outside a business complex in the parking lot of the 77-900 block of Country Club Drive.”

Country Club Drive. Not the place you want to get busted for breaking into cars. Especially not if you are on probation like Mr Carillo. Insert sad trombone music here.

So: the moral of the story. If you want your break-in taken seriously and for the perps to end up in the clink, make sure it happens on your town’s Country Club Dr. I hope that’s where my windshield gets smashed next time.

This last time it was south of Sunset in Silverlake.  The police department suggested I drive my car over to report the incident. Even though I could not see out of it to drive.

Next time I will call the Indio cops. They will get the job done.

Thank you, authorities of Indio! You are our stakeout heroes of the week.

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