Marina Fraser couldn't believe she was sitting there. She was sitting in the old jail building on Johnston Street, a block away from downtown Half Moon Bay and a couple of feet away from rocker Neil Young. Only on Friday, he was filmmaker Neil Young. The singer/songwriter/local legend braved the cold drizzle on the Coastside to film his new video for a CD he expects to release in February. "I was just there to make sure they didn't destroy my jail," said Fraser, who is president of the Spanishtown Historical Society. "They were very good, very careful," she said. She was careful, too. "I've been a fan for so long," Fraser said. "I buy all his albums, I go to the Bridge School benefits all the time - but I didn't bug him. I didn't tell him, Hey, my favorite song is 'Heart of Gold.'"

In fact, few people hung out to watch the filming. Many people came by, but everyone left the crew alone to do their work. They did that work at Princeton, at various places around Half Moon Bay, including the high school - where they filmed some of the 49er cheerleaders (what kind of video is this, again?) - and they spent two days at the historic Johnston Street jail, built back in 1911 and probably not intended for rock videos. "That was a definite benefit of being president of the historical society," Fraser said. "Getting to hang with Neil for a couple of days. Gee. That's not bad."

Long May They Film

Half Moon Bay Review, 1 January 2003

by

David Gorn

Photo courtesy Mike Orange