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LIFE IN CALIFORNIA "
By
Henry Velez
Well, just living here in Southern California, it's almost unavoidable to have at least a few "brushes with greatness". In my meanderings I've bumped into a few of these situations myself, and here I hope to recount them with brevity.
TOMMY LASORDA/HIDEO NONO-- There I was, just minding my own business at my computer, when my former roommate comes in. He's a new stringer for a small magazine called "Yolk" and asked if I could take photos for him since I've been doing photography for the last ten years or so. Now, I'm not a big sports fan. In fact, I wasn't even sure I was gonna recognize Lasorda in person 'cause I'd heard he'd lost some weight. But my buddy was gonna interview Hideo and needed photos, so off we went. I had my press pass, I was done getting light readings and checking my lenses so I went down into the Dodger dugout to use a towel for my glasses. Just after climbing out, along comes Tommy Lasorda standing next to me, surveying the playing field. Later I took some fotos of Hideo and Tommy, talked to a female anchorwoman from an Arizona News broadcast, got some pics of Tommy and Vin Scully in the dugout and even got out of Dodger stadium before the game started. Like I said, I'm not much for hanging out to watch sports.
BOB SEIGER-- I was on my way home from my folk's house one Saturday night, taking the backroad that led out by the train depot down the block. Coming up the hill there was this BRIGHT light coming from the other side like outta that Close Encounters movie. Up ahead the road is blocked off, just beyond are a whole bunch of people and camera equipment. I park and get out.. walk inconspicuously beyond the ropes and keep edging in through the crowd until I'm right behind the shoulder of the director and camera guy at a monitor from one of the cameras. With music blasting the soundtrack, up ahead I see Bob Seiger sitting on a Corvette parked at the train crossing doing the music video. I hung out for awhile and then got out without any problems.
HUGH HEFNER-- Believe it or not, met him on my way outta church. We'd rented out a small, public center in Temecula and I was one of the ushers. I stuck around to fold up chairs and tidy up after we were done and in come some photographers to set up lighting equipment. As I passed by the window I see this guy out there and think, "Hey, that guy kinda looks like Hugh Hefner." Later one of the guys comes and tells me Hefner is outside. After I got done folding chairs I passed in front of him and, yep, it was him. Couldn't think of anything to say at the time, but it turned out he was there to shoot some publicity fotos with some men's commerce group or something. And no, no 'bunnies' to be seen anywhere, although the lake had plenty of ducks 'n geese.
COCO MONTOYA, DEBBIE DAVIES & ROD PIAZZA-- Met all of them at the same place, Carlos O'Brien's in Riverside. You'd recognize the names if you're much of a blues fan. I stood next to Coco, actually brushed shoulders with him as we lobbied for the bartender's attention together. Rod Piazza I met twice. The first time I went up to him between sets and told him I was best buddies with an old schoolmate of his named Tom. "Don't remember him.", was all he said. The next time I was able to get the whole band to autograph the CD I'd bought from their live Memphis "House of Blues" performance. Pretty cool since it was the last night they'd be playing with their lead guitarist. As for Debbie Davies, female blues performer.. I had heard her play several times before, so when I heard she was in town again I made a trip out. About four hours before the first show I ran into her at a shopping mall, but I didn't know what to say. So, later, I get to where she's gonna play and the place is still empty since it's well before show-time, there she is with her head nodding at a table. It's just me, her and the bartender in the place, so I sit down and had the following conversation;
(Me) Hi.
(D.) Hey.
"I came to hear you play tonight."
"Yah?"
"Umm-hmm. Really enjoyed your last album. I just love the way you play."
"That's great, thanks."
(Her head falls down into her folded arms on the table for a few moments. Finally she lifts up her head.)
(D.) You know..
"Yah?"
"I'm like, really tired and I gotta get some sleep before the show."
"Yah, I understand. I'll see you tonight."
"Cool."
(Her head fell back down into her arms and she was out.)Later that night, in the midst of her set, she saw me there in the middle row, second from front, and sang one of her songs "Just A Little Bit" looking at me during the refrains with a playful smile. Just a small way of letting me know she remembered our brief interlude earlier.
MISC.-- Ran into a few stuntmen. I was watching a balloon hovering over the house one time. We get lots of balloons out our way, but this one had a hang-glider suspended from the bottom. Pretty soon the hang-glider breaks loose and is sailing upwards. But then the pilot of the hang-glider falls out, down to the dirt road nearby. I jumped in my car to go see him, by that time he'd opened a parachute and landed in a field by the house. We hung out and talked until his ride came, turned out he was doing a commercial for an insurance company.
Another time I was with a producer friend of mine from karate class. We were in Burbank as he was recording a blues album. One of his buddies also hanging out was the stuntguy who did the "Rocketeer" stunt skimming across a lake into a marsh. We went out on the town later that night and had some pretty good Japanese food. Other than meeting and talking with Dr. George Fishbeck, getting asked to leave Paul McArtney's recording studio by a very LARGE bouncer, and getting my sky-dive pictures taken by a friend who later won an Oscar for his special FX camera-work in "The Last Crusade" (Michael McAlister), I guess you could say living in California is pretty much like living anywhere else.
Henry Velez / ~EnricoSuave
Copyright 1999; all rights reserved.
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