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 |  Writings about things that have occurred in my life. Not in Chronological Order |
How I Met Two Hollywood Celebrities When I was hired at Motorola (now Motorola Solutions), I realized a couple of things. First, I was on a tight budget and wouldn't get out a lot. Second, I wanted to be somewhat active and not just sit on the couch, but knew a gym membership was more than I wanted to spend, and I'd probably not use that membership the way it should be used. My solution was to work in a restaurant where I could walk a lot, maybe carry a few server trays, etc. The first restaurant I applied at was a Red Lobster. I'd worked there when I first left the Navy because I had no clue about 'networking' and getting my name out there. I needed some kind of job, so Red Lobster it was. My position there was what the restaurant called Alley Coordinator. Basically, I was a kitchen employee who prepped the plates and put them on those large oval trays to be taken to the table. I moved from Alley Coordinator to server eventually, and learned that serving tables was something I really enjoyed. I eventually left Red Lobster and was hired at Pappadeaux. But I'd learned about Micro-Breweries during a trip to Detroit, so moved to a small Micro-Brewery in Palatine. One night a couple was at one of my tables, and ordered a lot of food. A lot of food for just two people. While I was pre-bussing the table, the lady said to her husband, "We're going need to-go boxes to take to the room." Being polite, and quite a bit curious, I asked where they were from. He replied, "Los Angeles." She said, "Hollywood." Now my curiosity was really up, so I asked what they did there. Again the man was polite and a little brief and said, "We work there." (I think he was trying to politely tell me to not be so nosy!) And again his wife, being a bit more outgoing said, "We're in movies." Thankfully, I knew better than to tell the rest of the staff that I had people from Hollywood at one of my tables. Besides, I didn't recognize either of them, and figured they might not be all that famous. I boxed their food for them, and we talked some more as I did. About this time the gentleman relaxed and opened up more. I asked them, "What brings the two of you from Hollywood to Palatine Illinois?" She pointed to her husband and exclaimed, "He's getting an award!" I was impressed, but wondered what kind of award could a Hollywood celebrity, or 'wanna-be' celebrity be getting in the small village of Palatine. She went on to say, "He wrote the original 20 minute screenplay for 'Oculus' that was purchased by Sony. He then rewrote it as a full length movie, and directed it. Have you seen Oculus?" I had to confess that I hadn't, mainly because my movie partner did not like horror movies, but it was one I wanted to see. (That was the truth too, though I still haven't seen it.) We talked some more, and I mentioned being an amateur writer with an account on Writing.com, that I'd tried my hand in writing horror but felt it wasn't a good genre for me. The gentleman was very polite and said, "We're always looking for new stories, new ideas." I knew he was just 'being polite' (or was he?) and said, "You don't want an amateur like me sending you story ideas." I think he smiled when I said that. Their check was a little over $60, they left me a $30 tip! I think it was because I didn't broadcast their presence to the entire staff. Well, since I hadn't recognized them, you know I had to go to IMDB when I got home and look up Oculus. Lo and behold, she had been telling the truth! He had written (or co-written) the original short screen-play for Oculus. As I looked further into the movie details on IMDB, I saw her also, and realized she wasn't his wife at all. He is Mike Flanagan, a Hollywood director who seems to enjoy filming horror movies. What she doing on IMDB though? Well ,it turns out that she is none other than Katie Sackhoff. I was surprised, especially since she kept the focus on Mr. Flanagan, and never mentioned a thing about her work in movies. The next morning my daughter called as usual, when I mentioned taking care of Mike Flanagan and Katie Sackhoff the night before, she was incredulous and said, "You met Captain Starbuck? Dad, you suck!" That's a common phrase from her, meant as a type of jealous comment. Captain Starbuck was one of the characters in the early 2000 version of Battlestar Galactica, and she loved that series, and Captain Starbuck. Turns out she's a bit of a fan of Katie Sackhoff. That was my exposure to a Hollywood couple, though I did meet a couple of other VIP'. One was Mike Singletary (the recently retired Chicago Bears Middle Linebacker), who has thighs the size of my waist! The other was Marty Booker, a Chicago Bears Wide Receiver. All of them were very nice people who were pleasant to the entire staff. I realize that not all celebrities are this polite to us 'normal people', some can be quite the Prima Donna or worse. I think I was lucky that night. I've heard several horror stories...  Jim Dorrell |
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