I remember meeting a nice guy and a jerk one evening....
It was 1988, I think. Ray Condo was playing a Rockabilly Christmas party at Club Soda in Vancouver. I knew exactly what I was going to wear: a 1950's vintage red velvet dress, off shoulder, tight waist, huge circle skirt. It doesn't get more rockabilly Christmas-ey than that! Hair in a high pony-tail, bright red lipstick, and black vintage pumps...I was in the zone.
I left my girlfriends at the table and headed to the counter to buy another drink. As I passed by two Fonzey-types with slicked back hair and black leather jackets, one of them called out, "Nice tattoo...can I get a closer look?" The dragon tattoo on my right shoulder blade was peaking out over the top of the red velvet, so I stopped and let him get a closer look. He was very polite, not at all intimidating. We had a nice little conversation about tattoos and the beauty of my dress as his friend stood looking as bored and unimpressed as he could.
I didn't recognize either of them from the usual gig crowd, so I asked them if they were from Vancouver. The silent guy finally piped up. "We aren't from here! We're from L.A., we're here working on a show..." like I should know who they were, but I didn't know who they were, and his attitude was off-putting. I said it was nice meeting them and headed back to my friends at the table.
"Oh my GAWD, do you know who that was?? You were talking to Johnny Depp!!!" they gushed, pretty much in unison.
"Who's Johnny Depp?"
Open mouths, rolled eyes..."He's only the cutest guy from 21 Jump Street!"
"Oh, right, that show they film here. I don't watch TV, I'm too busy living my life at the moment...which one was Johnny?" My friends were disgusted with me, but they pointed out Johnny, the nice guy, and told me the name of the jerk, Richard Grieco, also from 21 Jump Street.
As Johnny just kept getting more famous and Richard just kept getting less famous, it was no surprise to me. I sometimes wonder if they remember that evening when they met a girl in a red velvet dress that wasn't impressed with their celebrity.
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I fried my brain in the 80's with drugs and alcohol, and am now attempting to bring memories to the surface and record them for posterity.
About Me
- Paula
- Three Hills, Alberta, Canada
- I am an artist. I am an actor. I am a musician. I am a dancer. I am a lover. I am a writer. I am not very good at any of these things yet, but I continue to do them. Why let mediocrity stop me? The things I'm good at, like rage and laziness, I'd rather stop practicing anyway.
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8 comments:
I enjoy them Johnny Depp movies, it is nice to hear that he is a nice man.
Didn't you get a chance to meet them again????
Love that story Paula! Years ago we saw Sylvester Stalone in a store in Calgary, doing some promo. Our kids who were little at the time all got autographed pictures that meant absolutely nothing then....
Don't think they ever felt especially sad that they lost the pictures. He wasn't as friendly as Johnny Depp.
i love Johnny, he's so dreamy. Sigh...
OH MY GAWD,YOU MEAN I'VE KISSED SOMEONE WHO SPOKE TO JOHNNY DEPP ?! OOOOOOH MY GAWD...
In the early 80's I worked with a girl whose husband was in a local band. So, she was always somewhere in the audience. She liked to wear vintage 50's dresses and tell everyone her name was Beulah. One of her favorite things to do was ... when the band played, "Take Me Back To Tulsa" and came to the part that says, "Where's that girl with the red dress on? Some folks calls her Dinah" ... she, being in a red dress that night, would jump out of her seat, throw her arms up in the air, spin around then sit back down. I don't think anyone but the band noticed but she really got a kick out of it!
Been traveling, so I'm just getting caught up on everyone's blogs...I just looked up Richard Grieco on IMDB. You'll be thrilled to know he's still working, most recently in that sterling Burt Reynolds comedy, Forget About It. IMDB sez about the film: "Plot unknown, awaiting 5 votes" - so it must be sitting on the studio shelf waiting for the big Burt Reynolds/Richard Grieco revival to begin. Actually, I've never heard of ANY of the Grieco filography after 21 Jump Street.
I AM STILL STINKIN' JEALOUS OF YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That story rocks!!!
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