Big Daddy Gouda

In 15 months working at the paper I’ve covered everything from car crashes and house fires to elections and craft fairs. But tonight, I had my favorite assignment ever. I attended a press screening of Revolutionary Road:

Check it out here!

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For those of you who don’t realize how ironic this, please keep reading and take a gander at a post some of you may recall from June 2007

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I didn’t think there was any way Aidan’s Kindergarten graduation could be upstaged.  But that was before I knew Jack Dawson himself, Leonardo DiCaprio would be in town.

I was pulling in to Aidan’s school when I noticed road blocks, police cruisers, and a bunch of teenage girls gathered up and down the streets.

I quickly called Keely ( who was at home with her newborn son )to inquire about all the madness.  It couldn’t be for a kindergarten graduation could it?

In all the confusion that comes with a newborn son, Keely had forgot to inform me that Aidan’s graduation ceremony was moved from his school to the church next door.  The reason being, a movie was being filmed in the area and the studio was using Aidan’s school ( a former housing quarters for priests and nuns ) to house the actors and film crew for the day.

As she was telling where exactly in the church the ceremony would be held I glanced to my left and saw a very familiar looking fellow standing in front of Aidan’s school.  He was dressed in an outfit that seemed retro 1950.  This familiar dude was surrounded by some similarly dressed individuals as well as movie folk who appeared to be assistants, make-up people, etc.  It was at that point I asked Keely a simple question.

“Keels, is Leonardo DiCaprio in this movie?”

“Uh, yeah, he’s the star”

And that made it official.  As I turned back toward this guy there was no doubt in my mind.  Leonardo DiCaprio was in Thomaston and he was hanging out at Aidan’s school, right out front where I pick the little guy up on Wednesdays.

Without really thinking twice I rolled down my window and shouted, “Hey Leo!”  Being obviously immune to the hoots and hollers of stardom, he didn’t even glance in my direction.  I faintly heard Keely say “retard” on the other end of the phone.

I found a parking space and darted into the church where the ceremony was being held.  Like an idiot I’d left my camera on my kitchen table.  I was gonna borrow someone’s and try to snap a pic.  ( for this site )

By the time I came back out a small crowd of female teachers from the school had gathered.  They seemed a little pissy.  Apparently Leo had just been stuffed into a van and was being whisked away a half mile down the road to a railroad station where the action was being filmed.

During the graduation I listened to songs about Dolphins, and Christmas, then I stuffed my face with rice krispy squares and pizza.

As soon as the festivities ended Aidan’s step-father Charlie asked if I wanted to walk the half mile to the train station to see if we could maybe get a pick of Leo or even Kate Winslet who was also starring in the film.  Uh….You fucking bet I did!

Apparently a lot of folks had the same idea.  It truly felt like a pilgrimage from the church to the train station.  The group was a mixed bag of soccer moms, teenage girls, and curious dudes like us.

We stood on the bridge over looking the movie set for about 15 minutes, but we saw no one.  Well, no one important anyway.  Just some camera guys and crew members.  They were keeping the actors inside a very large tent and there was no word on when they’d start shooting again.  Whispers in the crowd started and rumors began that there’d be no more shooting for at least a half hour.  I had already seen Leo, Kate Winslet was nowhere in site, and Aidan and I had a movie about surfing penguins to catch.  So, we packed it in and began walking back to the church.

As we made our way back I noticed a man from Channel 8 News talking with people on the street.  I wasn’t sure if we should walk in front of the camera or not, but I figured it was a good shot to get some cheap TV time.

Just before we were about to dart in front of the camera and I was preparing the face I was gonna make, the reporter turned toward Aidan and I and asked “Hey, do you guys wanna answer some questions about Leonardo being in Thomaston?”  That definitely takes the cake for strangest question I’ve been asked this year, but without hesitation I answered “Yes, We Do!”

The reporter told me to just concentrate on him and pretend the camera wasn’t there.  He didn’t ask me any questions prior to the interview except my name and how to spell it.

If you didn’t see the interview you can do that by CLICKING HERE.  There is a story and then a little link that shows my interview.

The dude interviewed me for about 2 minutes but it was edited down to about 15 seconds.  Charlie stepped aside, he had no desire to be on TV.

My favorite part of the interview is when the camera pans down to Aidan ( my son ).  Does he not look completely focused or what?

So all in all quite the surreal day.

Some people spend their whole life trying to get on TV, whether it be by breaking the law, taking a political stand or starring in a bunch of crappy plays.  Well, as it turns out, sometimes it just comes down to being in the right place at the right time.

I bet I’ll start to get recognized after my stint on the news.  I mean, with my bright red shirt and 70s pornstar glasses, I’m sure I made quite the impression.

I think I may head back down to Thomaston tomorrow to see if Leo wants to come to the Tavern with me on Friday night.

This entry was posted on January 9, 2009 at 6:19 am and is filed under Adventures in Aidan Sitting, Stories . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.