Public Enemies: Ohio

Chuck: Best TV Show Ever

2009-04-08T13:35:00.006-04:00

Ok...so I'm fully aware that this has pretty much nothing to do with Public Enemies or Ohio, but I love this show way too much to just let it die quietly.

And since I know there are still a few of you lurking around, so I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you all that you should watch Chuck on NBC Monday nights at 8pm EST. Chuck is undoubtedly my favorite TV Show ever and ever since I bought Season 1 on DVD, I've done my best to get everyone I know hooked on it. So now that Season 2 is winding down, and it is currently classified as "on the bubble" and I don't want it to go away, I've decided to use every possible platform to promote the show.

So...if you've never watched the show, you can start from the beginning by going here:

http://www.thewb.com/shows/chuck

Unfortunately, that website only goes to episode 7 of Season 1. The rest...can at least be bought on iTunes for $1.99 per episode OR you can just buy the DVD.

Episodes 9 and on can be found here:

http://www.nbc.com/Chuck/video/categories/season-2/678203/

Episodes 1-8 can also be bought on iTunes for $1.99 for SD and $2.99 for HD. I'm sure there are other avenues through which to obtain the additional episodes, but those shall not be promoted here.

If me just babbling about how great the show is isn't enough to get you to try. Here's some more incentive.

For the ladies:

This is Zachary Levi. The male lead of the show who plays the title character, Chuck Bartowski in all his adorable, geeky glory.

For the dudes:

This is Yvonne Strahovski, known by some as Yvonne StraHOTski. The female lead who plays Chuck Bartowski's handler and love interest, CIA Agent Sarah Walker in all her sexy, ass-kicking, yet girly-sensitive glory.

So PLEASE...watch the show, if you already watch it, join in the Save the Chuck Campaign that's going on. Write letters, send e-mails, talk about it, whatever. You could even win something for it:

Peace out!

Tessa

The Public Enemies Trailer

2009-03-05T07:42:00.015-05:00

Ok, so I highly doubt anyone is still reading this POS, but just in case someone is who hasn't already caught the news, the marketing campaign for Public Enemies is now in full swing. Check it out:

And finally:

A couple of things I'd like to point out:

1) You'll notice the banner up at the top. It's the Johnny Depp replica of John Dillinger's Dayton, Ohio mugshot seen here:

I'm not sure why they didn't include the hat in the Johnny Depp version. Especially given Michael Mann's penchant for details. Hmmm.

2) You'll notice a scene of Johnny in his prison uniform and a tan leather jacket, previously seen here:3) And finally...and this is the coolest part in my opinion...this scene:

I definitely watched that on one of the monitors from across the street as it was being filim...as described here. So now I can officially say it: "Hey. I watched them film that scene!" :)

So there's my first update in several months, and possibly my last update. But then again, maybe I'll actually stay on top of things now that there's actually something to be on top of. *That's what she said.*

Peace out!

Kitty Cap'n Jack's Pirate Adventures

2008-06-24T15:10:00.000-04:00

Lots and lots of kitteh pictures today. Lots.

So last night I was watching Phantom of the Opera. Cap'n Jack was apparently not happy with my film choice, so he decided to show me what he wanted to watch.
Me: No Jack. That's like 7 hours of movie and it's already pretty late.

Jack: Pweeeeeeeeeeease?

Me: No. Besides, I'm in the mood for a musical and Pirates is not musical.

Jack: Fine then...
Jack: Imma eet yoor FOOOOOOT!!! NOM NOM NOM!

Eventually we worked out our differences and did not go to bed angry. In fact he was a good little kitty all night.

So then I went to Target today and found something that I absolutely could NOT say no to. It was just too perfect for him.

Behold...Captain Jack Sparrow gets his beloved Pearl. :D And now for the Adventures of Kitty Cap'n Jack and his Black Pearl.

First, he must defend his ship from the enemies attacks.
Jack: "STOP BLOWIN HOLES IN MY SHIP!!!"

Time for a brief retreat to the Captain's Quarters.
Ok...time to return to the deck.
Upon arriving back on deck, he realizes he is in Davy Jones locker stuck with multiple versions of himself. His response:
Jack: "Gentlemen. I wash my paws of this weirdness."

Soon the Pearl starts magically making it's way back to the ocean. Jack decides he wants to try to climb to the top of the mast.

It doesn't quite work out like he had planned.
After all the fun and excitement of his adventures, Jack decided to spend some time working on his hobby...Blogging.

Jack: Geez, mom. Is it really necessary to publish ALL these pictures of me.

Very soon, he realizes just how worn out he his from his adventure, so he crashes on mommy's desk.And that's where we stand now.

Peace out!

-Tessa

Crown Point Revisited

2008-06-20T16:41:00.002-04:00

Yeah. So it's been like a reeeeeeeeeeeally long time. I am a blogging failure. Work's been keeping me busy for a change. Been building a webpage, updating documentation, all kinds of fun stuff. Anyway...just in case there's anyone left that reads this thing, I thought I'd post about my adventure to Crown Point to get my kitteh.

So I made my adventure to Crown Point last Tuesday. It was nice to actually make the drive in daylight after having actually gotten some sleep. Makes it just a bit easier. Although...as excited as I was to meet my Wisconsin peeps and get my kitty, it just wasn't as intense as it was leading up to my Johnny Depp meeting. Sorry ladies...but I have a feeling you understand. ;)

So anyway...I arrived...we met...I got my kitty...we went to have lunch at What's The Scoop and got to hang out there for a little while. I put Captain Jack in his little carrier that shall be henceforth known as "The Brig" and he was not thrilled.
After a while, though, he fell asleep and we ate and chatted and laughed. I must say the comedy team that is Osh and Streetwiser...otherwise known as Colleen and Evan are a hoot. Shake...otherwise known as Betty is awesome as well. They're all just great. They brought me some real Wisconsin cheese curds and a cheesehead beer cozy and a pencil topper and a keychain and some cowpies...not to mention a new member of my family. So yeah...there were lots of silly antics with the three of them.Dedication. His mom is eating his head, and he still manages to throw up the bunny ears. Kudos, man.

Betty kept getting Evan into trouble and then they all told me of their near-death experience on the way down. They are fun people. I enjoyed my time with them as short as it was. Shake, Osh, Wiser...you're diamonds, mates.

After a while, we decided to explore the Lake County Jail...well...as much as we possibly could. The Lake County Jail was the film set during my previous visit to Crown Point, so I didn't get to see it up close and personal. This time, I just got to hang out on the porch and walk around it.It was moderately cool to walk up the steps that Johnny walked up and all that jazz. But after meeting him, stuff like that loses its luster.

Anyway...after walking around the jail and really not seeing much of anything, we decided to part ways. It had been a long day for all of us and we all had long drives ahead of us still. So everyone said goodbye to Captain Jack.Poor Betty had a really hard time letting him go. Understandably so. He is the cutest cuddliest little thing I've ever seen. But I greatly appreciate that she was willing to hand him over to me. I promise I'll take good care of him.

And thus began our journey home. The SS Cobalt set sail for Dayton with me at the helm and poor Captain Jack locked in the brig. He was rather unhappy about that. And very vocal about his unhappiness. I felt terrible, so I stopped and let him roam around in the car for a little bit. The first place he went: under the brake and accelerator. Yeah. That is why I had to keep him in the brig while I was driving. We started back out on the road and after about 30 minutes or so, he finally resigned himself to his quarters and fell asleep for the rest of the journey.

When we arrived at home he immediately set out to explore.

I've discovered that he LOVES hanging out on my desk...
...and stepping on Johnny's head.
Apparently, he's a techie. I think he needs to start his own blog.

After exploring for about an hour, he crashed...

...right into my lap.

I then carefully moved him to my pirate blankey on the couch and departed for our Tuesday night group. When I returned, he hadn't destroyed anything at all. That's always a good thing. He cuddled with me all night. So adorable and sweet. I'm so happy to have him. :D

So yeah...a pretty good day all in all. I'm glad to have met my Wisconsin peeps and hope to see them again sometime. You guys ROCK!!! Thanks for coming all the way down to meet me. I promise I'll keep you updated on Cap'n Jack. And thanks for taking such good care of him while you had him!

So that's about it. I will TRY to update just a little more often, but I'm certainly not going to make any promises.

Until next time...

Peace out!!

- Tessa

Busy Busy Busy

2008-05-19T09:18:00.003-04:00

Yeah, so I've gotten even more sporadic than before. My apologies. Between work and spending time with friends and now moving, blogging time has been drastically cut. In fact this one will probably be relative short because I need to start packing some stuff in order to move it later today.

I hate moving.

I really do.

I hate moving with the fire of a thousands suns. The upside is that at least this time I have 2 weeks to do it. So once I get my furniture over there, hopefully later today, I can just take a load or two of 'stuff' a day and that should get it done. But I also have to clean and paint the old place. Fortunately my mom said she could help me. Ain't that right mom? ;)

I made the mistake last night of letting my stubbornness and determination get the best of me. I came back from C-bus with my mom's truck. (The photo subject canceled on us btw) I wanted to get something accomplished. I knew I had easily been able to move my desk around before. Not a big deal. I can do it. So I proceeded to move my desk. What I didn't take into account was getting it up 7 stairs to get out the door then up another 6 to get to the truck then getting it UP into the truck. Then once I got over to the new place I had to get it down from the truck, up about 6 stairs to get to the door then up another 7 to get to my apartment. It was a struggle of epic proportions, but by golly, I DID IT!!!! And I also moved one of my TVs and the TV stand while I was at it. All in all, it was quite a productive evening. Because I already have my desk set up just as I want it with all my pictures and my magic 8 ball and my jar of dirt and all that good stuff. So at least one corner of my new apt. is now home. And of course...I am quite sore today. Oh well. That happens when you move furniture.

So now I must be off to get to packin some stuff. Hopefully it won't be too long till I get back to y'all.

Peace!

-Tessa

Sah-ry

2008-05-15T13:10:00.010-04:00

Yeah, so I've had a friend in from Boston this week, and I've been busy doing stuff with her. That's why I haven't posted in forever. Oops. My bad.

So I'm going to prove myself a liar again and again in the next couple of weeks, I'm sure. The Public Enemies stuff will kinda be put on hold for a while because I'm going to be moving over the next two weeks. Which brings me to my cool news. I already have the keys to my new apartment, and I have till June 1 to get out of my old one, and I don't have to pay any extra for this badass deal. Cool.

So...just to keep this on topic. Check out these pictures. Michelle, I'm sure you don't mind your work stretching out a bit further.

Johnny Depp and Michael Mann
Coolest Freakin Picture Ever
Another One Just As Cool
Another Coolest Freakin Picture Ever

They are just made of awesome. I'd give my left arm to take pictures like these. Kudos! Go through the rest of them by just browsing through the set. Awesome awesome stuff.

Now...I feel like blowing my own horn a bit. Even though flowers are not nearly as visually appealing as Johnny Depp (at least in my opinion), I like these anyway. I took them at Wegerzyn Gardens, one of the metroparks here in Dayton. I'm kinda sad I never discovered this place before. This is one of the many awesome things I got to do with my Boston buddy over the last couple days.

The rest of them can be found on my flickr page which is located here:

www.flickr.com/photos/wlkingbluepirate

Speaking of photos. I get a phone call from my mom at 8:30 this morning which is surprisingly early for her. The dog woke her up just in case you were wondering. Anyway...the conversation goes something like this:

Mom: What are you doing Sunday evening?
Me: Ummm...as of right now, nothing.
Mom: If I pay your gas, can you do me a favor?
Me: What?
Mom: There's a girl I work with that's graduating, and I was wondering if you'd be willing to come over and take pictures of her. Her parents aren't paying for anything. She even has to pay for her cap and gown. She's been the most helpful person for me at work, and I just thought it would be nice.
Me: Sure I'd be glad to do it.
Etc. Etc.

Isn't my mom just made of cool? I <3 my mom. She rules.

That is all for today.

Until next time...

Peace!

Tessa

180

2008-05-11T16:05:00.005-04:00

Ok.

So.

I wanted to make sure you all knew I was still alive. I am indeed alive and well. And I have not been blogging lately due to a strange and unusually positive turn of events.

Do you remember here when I said, "I apologize to everyone. I never intended for this blog to turn into a great big self pity party, and I'm quite sure I'm going look back at this in a week and kick myself for being an idiot. I only get this mopey and whiny every once in a while. Honestly. Apparently I've decided to pitch a tent in the pit of despair for a while."

Well...a funny thing happened on the way to work the other day. It's a loooooong story, that I might tell someday, but suffice it to say that Tessa has developed an actual social life over the past few days. And that social life has involved...going out...with...a guy.

Yeah...

Nothing too serious at this point, so "try not to lose your heads. Don't get over excited."

But that's why I've gotten off the blogging path. My deepest apologies. As soon as I regain control over my brain, I'll do my best to get back to it.

Until then...

Peace!

-Tessa

Hakuna Matata

2008-05-08T15:50:00.003-04:00

Don't worry. I'm still alive and...well, not well, but better than before. This will probably be quite an abbreviated post because I haven't done much since yesterday, and what I have done is not interesting. I want to thank everyone for their comments over the last few days. I really really appreciate it. It's good to know that there are people out there who can relate...who care...who are still reading after my cry-baby tirade. The Public Enemies element has kinda gotten lost in all my mess of negative emotions. I shall give you my word however, that there will be new PE stuff tomorrow. I promise.

I've calmed down a bit. I finally got to have some me time last night and I think I'm ready to return to my normal sarcastic, half chipper, witty, wicked researching self.

I found out a few days ago that my momma reads my blog now. Awesome. Except that after the previous two posts, she's probably all worried about me. She asked me on the phone if I was serious about getting a motorcycle. As a parent, it's her job to disapprove. I don't see the danger in them. Honestly. I told her not to worry anyway, that it will be a while before I accomplish that goal. So yeah, everyone say hello to mom!

So...I guess that's about it for now. Remember. Tomorrow. Actual Public Enemies related information. You might remember that I used to put that kind of stuff in here.

Until then...

Peace!

-Tessa

Rolllah Costah

2008-05-07T11:18:00.002-04:00

Of loooooooove. Rollah Coastah Ooh ooh ooh ooh.

Yeah...that probably initially gave you the perception that I am in a good mood. Looks can be deceiving. I'm very much NOT in a good mood today. I was however in a spectacular mood most of the day yesterday. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Hence the roller coaster title. You know me, I have to spice things up a bit to make it sound more interesting. Songs are always good for that. One of these days I'm going to write an entire blog post using nothing but song lyrics.

Do you ever have days when you just lose hope in all humanity? I don't feel like that all the time, just now. And I won't go into any details, but lately life has just taken a rather depressing turn for a lot of people including myself. I'm still very much questioning myself, probably even more so than I was two days ago. Over the last 12 hours or so the big question is, "Why am I the way that I am?" As in...why do I make the decisions I do? Why am I so responsible in certain aspects of my life but not so much in others? Why do I go out of my way to be there for others at my own expense? I know the answers to all of those questions, but then I wonder why those answers are true of me. I've come to realize that there are certain aspects of my character that exist because I'm trying to protect myself, and others are there because I care about people. But then I ask myself, "why am I like that?" It's like an endless cycle to which there is no final answer.

I hope I'm not coming across as self-righteous or conceited here, because I feel quite the opposite actually. I almost view them as my downfalls. Like I'm alone because of being this way, but somehow I feel like that can't be true. Can you tell how much of a confused mess I am right now? It could very well be that I'm insanely tired and feeling quite unhealthy. I've lost 5 pounds in a week and I'm fairly certain it's due to lack of sleep and not eating enough because I certainly haven't been working out.

I apologize to everyone. I never intended for this blog to turn into a great big self pity party, and I'm quite sure I'm going look back at this in a week and kick myself for being an idiot. I only get this mopey and whiny every once in a while. Honestly. Apparently I've decided to pitch a tent in the pit of despair for a while. Hopefully I'll be able to pick myself up by my boot straps and get back to life as normal soon.

On the brighter side, however, I did make it to the library yesterday. Unfortunately, I did not uncover much on the other Public Enemies. I did get a little more on Dillinger that I'll be able to share as soon as I can get the stuff onto my computer and whatnot. So if you're patient enough to deal with my grumblings, you shall be rewarded eventually.

Until then...

Peace.

-Tessa

The Longest Sunday Ever

2008-05-05T18:00:00.007-04:00

So Sunday afternoon, I decided to take a nap. I got in bed around 3 in the afternoon and woke up from my nap at 8...the next morning. Woops. So because I had intended to only sleep for a few hours and then get up and do stuff before going to bed for real, I've been operating under the belief that it is Sunday evening all day today. So I obviously did not get to the library yesterday, nor did I make it there today. Tomorrow though. You have my word. Although lately, my word on this blog is good for nothing. I promise I'm actually quite a trust-worthy person in reality.

Also...yay for lurkers coming out of the woodworks!!! Great to see you all! Thank you for your comments. And anonymous from yesterday, I do believe I remember you. Were you the ones sitting right behind the fence? Did you get there at eight that morning? Is this your son? ---->
If so, then yes, I remember you! You were one of the awesome people I met that day as opposed to the really obnoxious people behind me. I really appreciated you letting me invade your personal space so that I could get closer to Johnny. I hope I wasn't too annoying. I tried the best I could to keep the 10,000 people behind me back.

Ok, so I apologize in advance for I am about to enter a big self-serving gripe session. I like to avoid doing this when possible, but it's pretty much consuming my every thought. So I thought that maybe, just maybe, if I get it all out as much as I can, it will go away.

I am 24 years old and single. Do I like being single? It depends on what moment you ask me. Most of the time (including now), I see the advantages of still being solo at my age. I can hop in the car and drive 1,000 miles to see someone I've never met before. I can hop in the car, drive overnight, and sit in the freezing cold to meet a super sexy actor that I highly admire. I can go visit friends all over the eastern half of the country. I can pretty much do whatever the hell I want within the limits of the law, my time, and my budget. It's great. I love it. And it has taken me 6 years of solitude to arrive at this appreciation for the single condition.

However...

Attending weddings tends to throw me into a tailspin that crash lands me in the pit of despair. I start thinking things like: Why them and not me? Why do I have to wait longer? Is there actually a guy out there for me? Am I in the wrong place? Am I doing something wrong? Is there something I should be doing that I'm not? Is there something I am doing that I shouldn't be? To sum it all up, I question myself, in a very big way. The good news is that it usually only takes me a couple weeks at most to climb out of the pit, and very, very rarely do I change my current course of actions in response to these questions, but still.

Sometimes I can't help but feel that it really sucks being me. Yes, I've been single for quite a while, but it's largely by choice. It's hard for me to say that, because who chooses to be single for this long? But in all seriousness, it's because I'm not willing to settle for just any guy. I want THE guy. I'm holding out for the man that I'll want to spend the rest of my life with. I really don't want to take the trail of broken hearts to get to him. I've had my heart broken more than enough to last a lifetime. Even taking that into consideration though, I'm largely surrounded by people that are married...to THE person. Why them and not me? I'm sure whenever the day comes for me, all my questions will be answered, but today, I'm tired of waiting. Will I continue to wait? You bet. Will I still complain about it? Absolutely. Will I regret broadcasting this to the whole world? Probably as soon as I click the publish post button. Will I still do it? Yes.

I shall step down from my soap box now, and move on. Chances are, I will have forgotten this by the end of the week, but at least I got it off my chest for today. If you're still reading, then thanks. I appreciate you tolerating my whiny patheticness. Feel free to tell me to get over it. I'm a tough old broad, I can take it.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be hitting the library tomorrow and shall return with some Public Enemies goodies. Keep your fingers crossed, but don't hold your breath. I don't want to be responsible for killing people.

Until then...

Peace!

-Tessa

All work and no play...

2008-05-04T04:31:00.004-04:00

...makes Tessa a dull blogger. Ok, so I literally have spent the last two days at work or in bed. In fact, it is now 4:30 in the morning and yes, I am at work. Lots of overtime. Extra money is good.

Due to my current status of being WIDE AWAKE all night, I highly doubt that I will be feeling up to doing research in a library this afternoon. I'm really sorry. This blog is turning me into a pathological liar. I think I might burn in hell.

Anyway, I finished Public Enemies the book sometime around 3ish this morning. Great book. I'm amazed that Burrough could put so much information into it without it coming across as an uber-lame history book. Kudos, man.

So there were some interesting tidbits, especially regarding Dillinger's death, that reminded me of some heated discussions that have been going on over at imdb about fan behavior. Now...let it be said that I do believe there are some very clear lines that should not be crossed. Anything to disrupt filming, any kind of bothering of anyone in the private world (i.e. their hotel, their trailer, eating dinner, whatever), basically the crossing of any hard set boundaries (like bright orange fences and road blocks) or the invasion of someone's personal life (like squatting outside someone's hotel) is totally and completely wrong and uncool. However, as I myself traveled to Crown Point to catch a glimpse of Johnny as well as the filming experience overall, I see nothing wrong with just being a spectator as long as you respect the filming process and the people trying to do their job.

Now that I've opened up that can of worms, I thought I would share another PE-era to current real-world era comparison.

From page 410 of Public Enemies [spoiler warning if you don't know of Dillinger's fate yet]:

When word of the shooting hit the radio, hundreds of Chicagoans descended on the Biograph. Crowds thronged the alley's entrance until nearly dawn. All that remained to be seen was a pool of Dillinger's blood. Even that didn't last long, as dozens of men and women pressed their handkerchiefs into it, taking home gruesome souvenirs to show their families. The bloodlust wasn't limited to the crowds. The next morning, a man showed up at the Banker's Building to offer Purvis cash for the shirt he had worn; it contained a drop of Dillinger's blood.

Now THAT is weird fan behavior. I'm annoyed by the crazed fangirly screams at inappropriate times and camera flashes during shooting when there shouldn't be and people crossing the line as much as the next guy, but this is just morbid and freaky. At least we know that fanatacism is not a new thing. The really sad fact is that these are grown people who were doing this, not teenage girls enamored with a gorgeous gorgeous man.

Tessa's Final Thought:

People need to be respectful towards the cast and crew when going to watch filming. They need to do as they're told, follow the rules, and most certainly not invade these people's personal space. Yell, scream, and propose to Johnny all you want when you're not required to be quiet for filming. As annoying as it is, at least you're not trying to take his blood home to your family. But if someone would manage to get their hands on that DNA, please...find the closest country that will allow human cloning and get to work, pronto. :P

If I do not get to the library today, I will most certainly attempt to make it on Monday or Tuesday. As much as I hate being on campus when school is in session, I will make the sacrifice for all of you...whoever you are. I only have one person consistently commenting (thanks Osh) but I have at least 30+ people reading everyday. So...yeah...I'll try to do some more research soon.

On a side note, we got dual monitors at work this past week. It's a beautiful thing, especially when it allows me to put something like thison my desktop.

Gorgeous.

That is all for now.

Peace!

-Tessa

Yes, I stretched the truth

2008-05-02T14:49:00.007-04:00

Ok, so I did not forget my flash drive today. However, the information I needed for what I was planning on posting is not on there. So, I'm putting my creative abilities to the test here. I'm still going to discuss Dillinger, but it'll be more on John Dillinger as a character and Johnny Depp playing that character.

I am now 358 pages into the 552 page Public Enemies book. At this point in the story, Dillinger's character has been developed. There are a few things about Dillinger and his story that are quite amazing, but looking at him through the rose colored glasses as a Johnny Depp role, they're not so surprising. That's not to say that it's a typical Depp role or anything. On the contrary, I don't think there is such a thing as a typical Depp role. His body of work is all over the place. I'm not making sense. Let me try to explain.

As I've been reading Public Enemies and also as I have been doing all of this research on the side, there are a few things that I've discovered. There seemed to be a general attitude that Dillinger was not such a bad guy. He had manners. He had charisma. He was trying to stick it to the man, but not put out the average Joe in the process. He was intelligent, manipulative, and he knew how to work people over. Somehow, even though he was a hardcore criminal that stole thousands upon thousands of dollars and who inadvertently caused several deaths, you could almost say that the people were on his side. They saw a poor country boy who got the shaft and was just trying to make the best of hard times. A little bit of a skewed outlook, yes, but think about it. Don't you love it when you see someone sticking it to the bigwigs? That's why there are people that will spend hour after hour on the phone trying to get a refund for something that's not really worth the trouble. Just to stick it to the man.

From Public Enemies, pages 344-345

The tone of this and other articles suggested that Dillinger was a harmless Roadrunner pursued by a harpless federal Wile E. Coyote. Not surprisingly, children ate it up. When a Boy Scout named Richard Neff visited the Indiana governor's office, a reporter asked what he thought of Dillinger. "Personally," the boy said, "I'm for him." When he glimpsed the governor's look of amazement, the boy stammered, "Err...I mean, I'm always for the underdog."

That underdog quality, underscored by the widely published photos and interviews at Crown Point, struck a chord in a country in which many felt slighted by the government. In Chicago and New York moviegoers applauded when Dillinger's face appeared in newsreels. Detective magazine polled theater owners and found Dillinger was drawing more applause than Roosevelt or Charles Lindbergh. "In point of popularity," its editor wrote, "they ranked in that order, Dillinger first, President Roosevelt second, and Colonel Lindbergh third, thereby actually making this notorious thief, thug, and cold-blooded murderer the outstanding national hero of the hour!"

This is how the legend of Dillinger was born. Helping the legend along is the fact that the FBI, at that time, was an utter failure of law enforcement. Dillinger slipped through their fingers at least 5 times by mid May 1934. The shootout at Little Bohemia was a blunder of epic proportions. Even as I was reading it knowing that this book is fact based on real historical documents, I still had a very hard time believing they could have done such an abysmal job.

So what is my point and what does it have to do with Dillinger as a character that Johnny Depp is playing? My point is this, Johnny Depp just seems perfect for this role. Dillinger has a very 'real' quality to him while simultaneously being very charismatic, intelligent, manipulative, and arrogant. There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Depp will pull this off and do it very well. Have you seen The Libertine? John Wilmot, the Second Earl of Rochester has a lot of Dillingeresque qualities about him. Take away the Jon Bon Jovi hair, the syphilis, and bring down the arrogance a notch, and there ya go. Dillinger is still a totally different beast, though. Johnny Depp does not play the same character twice. Except for that one pirate guy. I personally cannot wait to see him come to life on the big screen. It sure looks like Depp has been having fun filming this movie. I know I've been enjoying following it and researching it. It will be quite the dichotomy of emotions when this movie is released. It will be great to see it all finally come together, but it'll also be such a huge let-down that it's all over.

Anyway, that's my thoughts on Depp as Dillinger. I never thought I would look forward to a role as much as I did Sweeney Todd (JD singing...how can you beat that?) but this one takes the cake.

In other news. Disregard my whiny regurgitations from yesterday. I'm over it. That's how I roll. I get in a funk, and I'm over it within a couple days. I'm glad about that. It used to take me weeks or sometimes even months to get out of the pit of despair. Worry not, though. I am fine now.

So...trip to the library on Sunday to start gathering some more information that you guys will actually want to read instead of my yammering on about my own thoughts and opinions. So hopefully by Monday or Tuesday, you'll get back to real quality reading. My apologies for the delay in that. I'm trying to keep you entertained in the meantime, though.

Until then...

Peace!

-Tessa

Yes, I lied to you

2008-05-01T16:09:00.003-04:00

No, I don't love you.
Of course it makes you look fat.
I've never been to Brussels.
It is pronounced egregious.
By the way no, I've never actually met Pizarro, but I love his pies.
And all of these pales to utter insignificance in light of the fact that my ship is once again gone.
Savvy?

All of that to tell you this: no Dillinger info today. Why? Because I forgot my flash drive (big freakin surprise) and I am just not in the mood for it.

I'm in some kind of funk today for sure. It's hard to describe. Here lately I've really been trying to figure out how other people think of me. I'm not sure why. I'm not normally into pleasing others too much, but I just can't help but be afraid that I come across as someone that I'm not...or that I seem fake or insincere or something. I'm afraid that I am what I hate. Does that make any sense? I try my best to just be who I am and live my life, but sometimes I feel like I try too hard. I'm annoyed with myself for being so whiny and yet I can't help but whine. I don't know what my problem is either. Ugh. I hate it when I feel like this.

So now I'm going to shut up. I promise that I will try to remember my flash drive tomorrow so that I can give more Dillinger info. Especially since I'm working overtime, I'll have ample opportunity to give y'all a good post.

Until then..

Peace!

The Return of the...whatever you want to call me

2008-04-30T15:29:00.005-04:00

Yes. I am finally back. I know you all missed me. Can't say I blame you. Personally, I can't imagine life without me.

Anyway, I had an AWESOME time in Virginia. I actually made 5 different stops through the whole journey. I stopped in Portsmouth Tuesday evening to visit with an old friend from high school. We went to a softball game which was really weird as it was the first Clay High softball game I've watched since the last time I played in one...six years ago. Wednesday morning I stopped in Huntington, WV to visit another good friend of mine. We went to Tudor's Biscuit World for breakfast then I attended her college algebra class that she teaches. It was neato. I learned about matrices. Thrilling stuff. From there I set out for Virginia.

I won't go into vast detail because I know most of y'all don't read this to hear about my life. I finally got to meet my fellow Depphead in VA. It was a little awkward for maybe about 15 minutes, and then it was all good. It was just like we were old friends. I got to meet her family the first night which includes about 10,000 horses, eleventy billion goats, a massive dog, a pretty bird, a peacock, a pond full of fish, pigs, a little brother, and two parents. We went to her parent's house to pick up a few things and ended up playing Rock Band for a while. Fun stuff. Probably the closest I'll ever get to being a rock star.

The next day we ran wedding related errands, ate lunch and then...my life was made complete...after feeding the dozen hundred animals and getting peed on by a goat. I got to drive a motorcycle. Epic. Win. It was so awesome and exhilerating and liberating and powerful and just awesome. She and her dad both said I did very well for my first time. Fortunately, I have the advantage of driving a manual transmission car, so I already have the principals of a manual transmission down. There were a few hiccups in our ride but it was later discovered that it was the bike's fault, not really mine. Oh...and I drove up quite a steep hill that was positioned right in the middle of, I believe, a 20 foot drop-off on one side and a 20 foot deep pond on the other. They didn't tell me that until after I had already done it.

The next day was mostly prepping for the wedding. Decorating the reception hall, the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, etc. Then of course on Saturday was the wedding. A beautiful affair. I even got a little weepy a couple times. Hard to believe, yes, but it has been known to happen upon rare occasions. Two things that must be mentioned: 1) VA Depphead watched Cry-Baby as she was getting ready before the wedding and 2) we did the airport walk to Black Betty at the reception. So Johnny Depp was there in spirit. :P

That night I set out for northern Virginia to stay with a couple of my old roomies. That part of the adventure was quite uneventful. We just kinda hung out which was nice. I wanted to see the sites in DC and everything, but I've seen them before, and I think I just enjoyed spending quality time with my friends more than I would have seeing stuff I've already seen. Bright and early Tuesday morning I set out for home, but stopped in Pittsburgh on the way to have lunch with another fellow Depphead that I had not previously met. So this trip was full of meeting new people and hanging out with old friends. Good times.

A few things I observed on this adventure:
1. Ohio traffic laws are wonderful.
2. People in Northern Virginia cannot drive in the rain.
3. I am not as country as I once thought.
4. If I can avoid driving in Pennsylvania for the rest of my life, I will die happy.
5. Pittsburgh is the worst city I've ever set foot in.
6. Sheetz is da bomb!!!
7. My commute to work is very very short.
8. The internet is awesome. I probably wouldn't have made this trip without it.

So...I am now back in the great state of Ohio. I just returned a little bit ago from the BMV where I went to get my permit packet to get my learner's permit for a motorcycle, and yes...I do plan on trying to buy a motorcycle now. That's how awesome it was.

So as far as the return to the Public Enemies related research, I shall dig into what I have left on Dillinger tomorrow probably. I won't be able to make it to the library to start researching the others until Sunday.

So until then..

Peace!

Farewell

2008-04-22T12:55:00.006-04:00

Yes, this will be an extremely abbreviated post because I'm running out of time to pack and stuff for my trip. It's my own stupid fault for lollygagging this morning. BUT I promised a Dillinger post, I shall give you a Dillinger post.

So basically...I'm going to post an article in the form of several pictures below. I know I'm a failure. I wish I had the time to add my witty commentary, but I just don't.

It's quite likely that you won't hear from me at all for the next week. That makes me a little sad. I really hope y'all keep reading upon my return. I will get some more PE history from the Buckeye State to share with you, so it will be worth it. In the meantime. I hope you're all doing well and I hope this is a great week for everyone!!!

Peace!

-Tessa

Good News

2008-04-21T21:53:00.009-04:00

Now, I know you all have been sitting on the edge of your seats wondering..."Where did Tessa's flash drive go? Will she ever find it? Will some crazy geek hacker dude at work pick it up and steal her identity?" Well, I have news for you. I found it. Yes. Let heaven and nature sing. I'm finally doing laundry this evening and it was in the pocket of a pair of jeans.

As much as I want to give you all what I know you're really reading for, there will be no info from the DDF tonight. It's getting a bit late and I am quite tired. However, I think I might have figured out where to go from here. Even though Public Enemies the movie is mainly only covering Dillinger, several of the PE era gangsters had incidents in Ohio. For instance, Bonnie and Clyde were once arrested in Middletown, just about 20 miles south of where I am. The archive file from which I gathered all my Dillinger information also holds information on Charles A. "Pretty Boy" Floyd as well as Clyde Barrow. So upon my return from Virginia (is for lovers) I shall start seeing what I can dig up there. I'll also try to make the journey up to Lima to see what I can gather from the exhibit in the jail Dillinger broke out of.

In the meantime, however, I can tell you what I've learned from reading Public Enemies the book. The one thing that sticks out the farthest in my mind: Melvin Purvis sucked at his job. Really. He just seems totally inept. I wish would've been keeping count at the number of times he totally botched something. It's pretty high whatever it is. On the other hand, Dillinger was a pretty smooth operator. His life wasn't TOO far from normal, really. Aside from the whole robbing banks, fugitive, tommy guns, bullet proof vests, jail escaping, mob stuff. That's not important anyway. I'm really enjoying the book. At times it's hard to follow where it's going because it does skip around a bit, but it also keeps you wanting more. I highly recommend reading it.

So...a little fun something that I thought I'd share with y'all. I have a Nintendo Wii. If you do not currently have one, join the thousands of others trying to get one. They're wicked cool. Anyway, aside from the totally awesome get-your-lazy-butt-up-off-the-couch games, you can create your own characters called Miis. This has become a hobby for me. I currently have 58 Miis on my Wii. I have all of my friends and some family, the entire cast of The Office and...every character ever played Johnny Depp as well as Johnny himself. I know you're just dying to see them, so I shall share them with you here.

This is Johnny with his Oscars 08 look.
Don Juan DeMarco: The greatest lover in the world
George Jung: Badass Airport Walker - WHOA BLACK BETTY BAMALAM
Roux: Johnny + Chocolate = Epic Sexiness
Raul Duke: Gonzo Journalist

And finally...This is me and Johnny and his Oscars 08 look.

This is the closest I ever thought I'd get to him.

Wrong.

This was.

:)

Anyway. I will post an actual informative DDF post tomorrow before I leave on my journey to Virginia. You have my word.

Until then...

Peace!

-Tessa

Signs

2008-04-20T17:15:00.007-04:00

Do you ever feel like someone is trying to tell you something? I've been consistently getting this message from quite a few different people lately. What makes it really interesting is the people from which this message is coming. It's been a combination of general things happening mixed with people that I don't even know giving me the same vibe with a couple of people flat out saying it. "Go for your dream." I'm not going to go into specifics here because believe it or not, I do tend to be a private person when it comes to certain things. I will say this much: there's something that I've been planning on doing for a couple weeks but haven't worked up the nerve to do so because I feel like it's a ridiculously outlandish idea (which is also the reason why I won't talk about it), but I'm getting the vibe that I need to just do it. As Chicken Joe would say, "I can feel it in my nuggets." Besides, I have nothing to lose.

So...I'm posting much later in the day than I had anticipated. This morning I was fiddling around on flickr and decided to start making a photo book from my Crown Point pictures and what I wrote in my blog about the experience. No big deal. I thought it would take a couple hours or so. Thought it would be fun. It took me nearly 7 hours, and that was with just copying and pasting the text. I can't imagine what it would've been if I had started writing from scratch. It's a pretty handy set up they have with HP and flickr. It took me so long because it's 38 pages, I'm a perfectionist, and I had to finish it once I got it started. Anyway, I highly recommend that little tool. It's pretty nifty and very easy to use. So in about 2 weeks, I will have my very own photo book written by me with my photos. I'm excited. I can start lying to people and telling them I'm a published author.

Ok, so I am determined to get at least one more DDF post in before my departure to Virginia (Is For Lovers). Unfortunately, not only have I been forgetting my flash drive, I now have no earthly idea where it is. That sucks. There's stuff on there that I'm not sure I have elsewhere that I want to keep. The good news is, I still have everything on my laptop, so it's just a matter of getting it all together and written which will probably happen either Monday night or Tuesday morning. So stay tuned. I'll get back to it, you have my word.

In the meantime, however, Christine the historian has gathered some great stuff on Evelyn Billie Frechette. Just go here and scroll down past the Dillinger piece (unless you haven't read it yet) and there it be. So, Brazilian, if you're still out there reading, there's your info you requested. All credit goes to Christine. I didn't do jack squat towards researching that piece except asking her to do it. So thank you much C!

That's pretty much it. Yep. That's it.

Peace!

-Tessa

Expectations

2008-04-19T12:33:00.012-04:00

This will simultaneously be a very short and a very long post. I'm sure you're thinking, "But how is that possible, Tessa?!" Well...they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and this will mostly be pictures. Why am I posting mostly pictures? Because I don't have anything interesting to say today.

Something I've noticed after reading story after story after story of meeting Johnny Depp: we all seem to have a lot in common. If you have yet to embark on a Depp gazing experience, but plan on doing so in the future there are few things you can expect:
1. You will be standing for hours and hours and hours on end.
2. You will have to pee and you will have to learn to hold it.
3. Johnny Depp is apparently engaged to about 500 girls in the crowd and 95% are 17 years old.
4. His fiances get pushy if they're not up front.
5. You will talk about Johnny and find things out about him more than you ever thought possible.
6. Watching a film being made is the most exciting and most boring thing you will ever do.
7. All teenage boys have a man crush on Johnny whether they will openly admit it or not.
8. Johnny's teenage man crushers tend to be even more obnoxious than his 17 year old fiances.
9. You will make more friends in one day than you've had in your entire life.
10. You will find some of the most awesome and most generous people ever just because they, unlike some, learned the art of sharing around pre-school age.
11. Rolling = Shut up!
12. Cut = You can talk again.
13. You will get over your claustrophobia. If you don't, people will not like you.
14. Yes, you will be hungry, you will be thirsty, you will be tired, your body will hurt, you will likely be cold, and people will grate on your nerves like never before

BUT

15. It will be totally worth it because Johnny Depp, being the excessively generous person that he is, will likely come out to see you. Yes you. Forget the 3,000 other people, when he's talking to you, they don't exist. He even talks to you over his 500 fiances.

I'm not going to tell you how great Johnny is, I think all of you already know by now. The stories that are out there just blow me away, and there are A LOT. I think the reason why the crowds have been so huge is because people know how much he cares for his fans. I was thinking about this on the way to work this morning. There are two ways of looking at this situation from Johnny's perspective.

Perspective 1 - All these people are out here squatting while he's trying to do his job and they're practically getting in the way. Crowd control shouldn't be part of filming a movie. Etc. etc.

Perspective B - How would you feel if you had a crowd of 3,000 people clapping and cheering for you while on your way to work or even while your working. I know I would like to have 3 people cheering for me while I work. And if I had 3 people, I'd do everything in my power to show them my gratitude. I can't speak for him, but based on his response, I would say this is JD's perspective.

So I guess I did have something interesting to say, but now I shall post some pictures for your enjoyment. I decided to take some of my photos from Crown Point and give them an old timey photo feel. Enjoy.

So that's all I have to say about that.

Peace!

- Tessa

What a swell guy

2008-04-18T11:36:00.010-04:00

Before I go back into the Dayton Dillinger Files, there are a couple stories that I feel compelled to share with everyone that may not have already seen them just because every person that's literate should read them. The 'Awww' Factor is sky high on these, so you've been warned in case you're at work and don't want to get the weird looks and the questions of what you're awwing at. However, if people do ask, you must share. It is a requirement. I hope I'm not stepping over any boundaries by sharing this story, but I think everyone should know about it.

I don't know if Michelle posted yet, but her daughter and Johnny had the most special moment ever. Her daughter made Johnny a little sign saying "I love Johnny Bopp" and she put some Hello Kitty stickers and other cute stickers on it. (She calls him Johnny Bopp) Johnny came up and instantly fell in love with her. She called him Johnny Bopp and did her adorable Johnny Bopp face for him. He told her that he thought Johnny Bopp was a cooler name than Johnny Depp and he should change his name to that. He looked at the sign she made and we told him she put the stickers on while we were waiting, he smiled and said "You did?" He then went to hand the sign back and we told him that he could keep it. He looked shocked and said "Really, thank you so much?" He gave the sign to Jerry who was ear to ear smiles. Our friend Vickie then took out a picture of her holding the sign earlier and showed it to him. He went to hand it back and Vickie said "No, you can keep it." He smiled at Michelle's daughter and said "Really? Thank you so much". He stuck it in his back pocket and said goodbye to us all. He had to look back and thank her one more time. She was so excited to meet her Johnny Bopp. It was a magical moment and if I thought I couldn't love him more, he proved me wrong in that moment.

How adorable is that? But wait, there's more.

Have a look at this adorable little girl. Johnny's reaction?

"Johnny Depp totally signed it. against the advice of his body guard (or so I’m told) and apparently he leaned toward the little girl and said ‘I’ll be there for you.'"

That man has a heart of gold. Both of those stories are courtesy of people from the Johnny Depp Reads message board. Haven't been there? Click on the link to the right and go now. A great group of Deppheads in there. Now that you've audibly "awwwwwed" really loud and people are looking at you weird, you're obligated to tell them why. I think everyone should know just how incredible and generous Johnny is. There's just no one like him. Especially in the world of Hollywood.

There's even more awesome stories out there just as great as these. You should also check out Osh's blog. By the way Osh, I'm with you on the biscuits and gravy. Delicious. And thanks for the cleaning tips!

Ok! Now back to the DDF. I have to be honest. I'm starting to run out of material, and I won't have time to gather more before I leave for Virginia next week. So the DDF will be pretty sparse for the next week and a half or so. When you start reading what I'm putting in here, you'll be able to tell that I'm scratching the bottom of the barrel. It's an article written by Melvin Purvis, head of the Chicago office of the FBI during the days of Dillinger and his buddies.

Now, by no means do I claim to be an expert on writing, nor do I even really claim to be any good at it myself, but this article is so disjointed and nonsensical that it's hard to follow. From what I've read in Public Enemies so far, Purvis was not the most proficient agent in his field, and apparently writing wasn't his calling either. Instead of typing the whole thing out, because it's reeeeeeally long, I'll just post them as pictures below. How bout that? If you don't like it, tough luck. It'll take me the next 3 days to type it out.

Hopefully you can decipher the order of that article. I particularly love the "No Place For Women" section. The best line: "The time may come, but I do not hope to live to see it, when women might successfully perform the functions which have been performed by men since the beginning of time." >:( I'm quite thankful to be living in such a world, thank you. It's a good testament to how much things have changed since those days.

So I hope you all enjoy that article. I'll be trying to scrounge up at least one more DDF related post before I leave on Tuesday. It'll take some creative writing on my part though, which is something that I'm not all that great at.

Until then...

Peace!

Tessa

Spring cleaning

2008-04-17T15:55:00.004-04:00

Ok, so this is mainly a post to let you know that there WILL be a real post, but not until later today. In fact it probably won't be until late tonight. My apartment is getting inspected tomorrow and I've been working a lot lately so it's a wreck. So I'm spending the day cleaning, but I promise to get back into the Dayton Dillinger Files. So stay tuned. Check back late tonight, early tomorrow.

Ok, so just got a phone call from my mama. She wants me to go out for dinner with her and dad, so it may be much later. Therefore, check tomorrow morning and there should be some fresh history on here.

EDIT: Ok. So I lied. I got home later than I expected. But, I do promise I will have some good stuff tomorrow. You have my word! If not...spam me or something. Put one of those stupid chain letters that will kill me if I don't pass it on in the comments or something. I'll do my best to make it worth the wait.

Honest to Blog

2008-04-16T13:34:00.005-04:00

You're never going to believe what I did today. It's' so uncharacteristic of me. I forgot my flash drive. Which, yes, unfortunately means no history lesson today. Compared to the previous two days, today has been quite uneventful. I have a feeling that the further I go, the more I'm going to ramble. I apologize in advance, and sincerely hope that I'll at least get a jolly good ol' laugh out of you.

So a lot of you have told me that you enjoy my writing style. That means the world to me. Really, it does. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Someone told me earlier today that my 'style' is enjoyable to read because it's more like a one-sided conversation which is easier to read than say...real writing. Great. Now everyone thinks I talk to myself. I guess that would make sense since I did say that I do back in my first real post. At any rate, thank you so much...everyone, just for reading. It means a lot to me.

So, a few exciting things coming up. I'm going to Virginia Depphead's wedding next week. I am crazy excited about that for a multitude of reasons the biggest one being that I'll finally be able to actually meet her and be there for her wedding. Some of the other reasons being that we will be having a Johnathon (several JD movies in a row), playing Rock Band (since I suck at the real thing), possibly learning how to ride a motorcycle (badass). While I'm down there I'll get to visit a couple of my old roomies in DC. Plus...it's a week long break from work. That's always a good thing. Also, my job title has changed, at least according to the site on which I'm applying for my job from the company taking over the contract. Confusing enough? Anyway, according to that thing, I'll be classified as a Systems Administrator as opposed to a Computer Operator. I'm pretty sure, this is just words because the SAs here are way above our heads. It would be nice though. I mean, computer operator? Almost everyone can operate a computer. Not many, though, can administrate a system. It sounds much more impressive.

So just to go totally off topic, I thought you all might be entertained by the cast of characters here at work. We have nicknames for several people here. Some of the people you might see walking around the office include: The Hobbit, Shrek, Batman and Robin, Alfred Hitchcock, Pall Bearer, and Beetlejuice. All of them with the exception of Batman and Robin bear a striking resemblance to their namesake. The Hobbit is also known as The Motorboat Guy. Why? Because he makes a sound like a motorboat everytime he passes through here. We can't figure out if it's just become subconscious or what, but it is quite entertaining.

So even though it took me 3 weeks to get it done, I have finally posted the best of my Crown Point pictures on flickr. A good chunk of them have already been seen on here, but there are many that weren't. I gave up on trying to put them on photobucket because I can't get to it at work and photobucket sucks anyway. So here they are:

My Crown Point Photos

I also recommend (if you haven't already done so) reading this story. It's just another wonderful testament to how awesome of a guy Johnny Depp is. It's written by osh about her and her son's encounter with Mr. Depp. A very touching story. I even started to tear up a bit. Although, I haven't cried yet this month and I have to meet my monthly cry quota. All kidding aside, it's an awesome story. Read it. And I believe she'll have more to add after today because her son is shadowing a reporter on set. Coolness!

Quick note: if you haven't seen Juno yet, you should. Any movie that says stuff like, "Yea, you just take Soupy-Sales to prom I can think of so many cooler things to do that night. Like, you know what Bleek? I might pumice my feet, uh, I might go to Bren's Unitarian Church, maybe get hit by a truck full of hot garbage juice, you know? Cause all those things, would be exponentially cooler than going to prom with you." needs to be watched.

Ok, I shall put an end to my mindless rambling. I'm getting some wicked pain in the neck from sitting at an ergonomically deficient work station. Who puts the monitor below the keyboard? I mean really. I am off from work tomorrow so forgetting the flash drive is not an issue. I promise I will work to get back on task.

Until then...

Peace!

Tessa

Great Day to Be Alive

2008-04-15T14:53:00.011-04:00

I must say, today compared to yesterday has been quite incredible. So, you will notice that there have been a couple links added to the right hand side. One is Public Enemies vs. J. Edgar Hoover. It's a brief rundown of the Public Enemies book as well as the history behind it written by Christine the historian. If you don't feel like reading the entire 500+ page book, I highly recommend it. Even if you do feel like reading 500+, I still think you should read it just because Christine is awesome. The other new link is The Candle House in the first bank Dillinger robbed. It's a link to the website of the candle shop that now resides in what used to be the New Carlisle National Bank. I highly recommend checking it out and if you're wondering what anything smells like, ask me. I can tell you. They have one candle that's leather scented, and it really does smell like leather. I'm currently burning my Fresh Cut Grass candle. Smells just like the real thing.

So, before I jump back into the Dayton Dillinger Files, I just want to say that this whole experience has been awesome. Ever since the journey to Crown Point, I feel like I've really been able to break out of my shell (not that I was all that shy to begin with) and get into contact with some really awesome people. Just last night I received an e-mail from the President of the New Carlisle Chamber of Commerce. That is awesome. I would never have had these opportunities if not for the CP experience and the blog and the research and all that stuff.

Also, if you haven't read Rod's blog, you have got to. That lucky dog got to kinda be a part of filming in Oshkosh yesterday. Make sure you read through the comments for several links to pictures of the set as well as Johnny Depp since he was gracious enough to do another Meet and Greet with the fans last night. Awesome. There's no other word for it.

Ok, so we last left off in the Dayton Dillinger Files when Dillinger was arrested on September 22, 1933. Dillinger only remained in Dayton's old Ford Street jail for a very short time. Exactly how much time is up in the air. It's only specifically addressed in one article that says he was there for one day. Taken from an article written by Henry Scarupa on October 25, 1967: "To forestall any escape by the breakout artist, officers watched him constantly, cradling submachine guns in their arms." In the short period of time that Dillinger was in the Dayton jail, several witnesses and/or victims were paraded through to identify him. According to some random document from his Dayton Police file:

"After Dillinger's arrest, most police departments had correspondence and intervews with the subject and the Dayton Police Departments as he was a badly wanted criminal. Out of town bank employees and others were brought to Dayton to make positive idendification of the arrested subject. He was identified as being responsible for bank robberies of the Massachusetts Bank of Indianapolis, IN on Sept. 6, 1933 also New Carlisle Bank."

In the days after Dillinger's arrest in Dayton, there were many inquiries from Police Departments all over the United States. Letters were sent from several cities including Muncie, IN; Indianapolis, IN; New Castle, PA; Detroit, MI; Orlando, FL; and Los Angeles, CA requesting the mug shots and prints of Dillinger in order to update their own files. This gives you an idea that the Public Enemies and the "War on Crime" was spreading far and wide throughout the U.S.

After whatever the short amount of time was, Dillinger was transferred to the Allen County Jail in Lima, Ohio where he escaped on October 12, 1933. There is a full detailed account of this escape in the Public Enemies book. Here is the short version of it taken from that same random document:

"Dillinger was taken into custody in Dayton and was transferred to Lima, and on 10-12-33, Mackley, Clark, and Pierpont entered the jail in Lima, represented themselves as authorities from Michigan there to take Dillinger back. When the sheriff asked for credentials the gang shot and killed the sheriff in cold blood, and released Dillinger, and Dillinger still continued on a crime spree until he was shot and killed in Chicago in July of 1934."

The escape of Dillinger and murder of Allen County Sheriff Jess Sarber had quite an effect on the surrounding area. The document pictured to the right is taken from a speech delivered by former Lieutenant Governor William G. Pickrel on November 13, 1933. He speaks of the importance of "an organized method of prevention and capture of criminals." Pickrel states, "The horrible tragedy at Lima, resulting in the death of the Sheriff of Allen County has focused public attention to this serious problem."

It's difficult for me to go into much more detail from here. It has been brought to my attention that there is a Dillinger exhibit in what used to be the Allen County Jail. I do plan on venturing up there at some point to check it out, get some pictures, and do a bit more research to share with you all. However, in the meantime, I must move on to other things that I currently have information on. So, I will hopefully be doing that tomorrow, or at least in the next couple of days.

I am super thrilled to see that the blog is growing. I had 71 hits yesterday up from just about 31 the day before. Exciting!! Even though I'm insanely jealous of the traffic on Rod's blog, this is still a lot more than what I'm used to. I'm especially not used to having people reading from all over the world. It's exhilarating. I hope that I'm doing an okay job and that you'll stick around with me for more. Feel free to drop me a line. Make any requests. If you want to tell me to shut up about dogs eating my arm and my shopping trips, feel free. As long as you're talking to me I will be just fine.

I'll be seeing y'all soon!

Until then...

Peace!

- Tessa

I'm late because a dog ate my elbow

2008-04-14T10:06:00.010-04:00

Well, my day did not get off to a good start. This morning as I was walking out to my car, my idiot neighbor lost control of his dog and the dog attacked me. I know that I tend to be a sarcastic person and I joke around a lot, but this is totally serious. I got bit by a dog walking to my car. Yes it hurt. Yes it bled. And how did I react? I got in my car and drove to work. Why? Because I was late. Dedication people. Dedication. So I was still late for work, but at least I had a valid excuse. The sad part of the story is that the dog looked just like Chico, Mort Rainey's dog in Secret Window. I guess now I won't be so torn up about his fate in the movie.

In other news, Public Enemies filming goes into full swing in downtown Oshkosh today. I'm excited about it, and I'm not even there. Since poor Grinder/Rod has been whisked away to some undisclosed location as of 4am, he couldn't put his heart and soul into updating us on the current events as he usually does, so I'm gonna try. Of course, I cannot live up to his legend, but at least I can give you some cool pictures. These were taken by imdb user papasui in downtown Oshkosh on Sunday afternoon.

So it looks like Oshvegas is all set to go Hollywood. I must say though that things like this:
Blow me away. Are we ever going to see this among the 10,000 other things on screen? Probably not. Yet they go through the trouble of doing it anyway. Just like all the little signs and boxes and other minute props that will never be seen on the screen at all. It's amazing. I will definitely have to see it in theaters more than once because I will inevitably be distracted by the leading man...probably on the first few viewings, but after that, I am going to try to spot these newspapers just for the fun of it.

Anyway, lynn posted a link to her flickr account with some really awesome pictures over in the comments on the PE-Columbus blog. I hope she doesn't mind if I share them with you, because they're too good to not be seen. So, I'll post the link, and if there is an objection, please let me know and I'll get rid of it immediately.

Lynn's totally awesome Oshkosh pictures

There's some great pictures in there. A couple of the interior of one of the banks getting robbed. A few of the street trolley and one of some rigging being put up that will apparently be for a green screen. Some pics of base camp. Lots of good stuff. It is so totally exciting to see this kind of stuff. I'm sure it's old hat for people out in L.A. but it's crazy exciting for us Midwesterners hence the massive crowds at each location, the 10,000 pictures posted all over the net, and a series of blogs dedicated to the subject matter of Public Enemies and its filming.

It's been said that Johnny will be doing another Meet and Greet in Oshkosh today. I hope so. Even though there's apparently been a few people crossing some boundaries I really really hope for everyone else's sake that they don't ruin it for everyone. I'm not a fan of people that don't know how to follow the rules, a good example is my experience from the first Crown Point M&G. I just don't get why it's so hard for people to listen and be respectful to others.

So there has been a request from "Brazilian." I'm guessing you're from Brazil. That is awesome. If not, that's a rather interesting choice of username. Anyway, they want more info on Billie Frechette. I shall see what I can dig up, but since she never came around the Dayton area, I don't have access to the kinds of resources that I have for Dillinger. I will try though. Whatever it takes for my fans. :P In the meantime, though, I will hopefully be getting back to the Dayton Dillinger files tomorrow, as long as I don't have to have my arm amputated.

If I start foaming at the mouth and my posts become a little...unbalanced...well, moreso than usual, please go and immediately purchase these:

Your support for the rabid will be greatly appreciated.

Until next time...

Peace!

- Tessa

AYO - I'm tired of using technology

2008-04-13T13:35:00.006-04:00

Ahhh. The wonderful wisdom of 50 Cent and Justin Timberlake.

So pretty much all I've been doing for the last two days is working and sleeping. Normally this wouldn't cause problems for my blogging lifestyle, but since the "technology" at work is throwing a temper tantrum, I can't use my time at work to move, format, and upload pictures. I don't feel like the continuation of the Dayton Dillinger files would be complete without pictures to go along with them, so I shall be postponing the next installment. Unfortunately, I highly doubt I will be able to do it tomorrow either since we are going to be 'observed.' Big brother is watching.

Have you seen this video yet? If you haven't you must, now. You see the gorgeous chick that pops up at 7:49? Yep. That's me. Why am I posting this again? Because it's my 15 milliseconds of fame, and I'm milking it for all it's worth. I'm trying to work a Meet and Greet for my fans into my schedule. I know how much you all admire me and would like to see me in the flesh, so I'm doing my best to oblige. Of course you could always just mail me a picture of my beautiful face that I can autograph and send back to you.

As you can probably tell, I have nothing worth talking about. All I've been doing lately is working. But I am going shopping after work, so that's exciting. For me at least. I also have a confession to make. I managed to get my grubby hands on a copy of the Public Enemies script. Yes. I know how wrong and illegal this is, and I don't normally do such a thing, but I couldn't resist. I still hold to my belief that it's going to be an awesome movie. I was up until 12:30 last night to finish reading it knowing that I had to get up at 6 this morning. That should tell you something. If I get sucked into reading the script, imagine what it will be like to watch it on the big screen.

Question of the day: Pop, Soda, or Coke - which of these describes a carbonated soft drink?

My answer: pop. Why? Because it's the correct one. Even the British think so. It's not called soda music is it? No. It's pop music. Do you pay attention to Coke culture? No. You hear all about pop culture. See...the answer is always pop. Soda goes the weasel? I don't think so. Coke a balloon? Well...I guess that could be possible somehow...and highly illegal. The answer is pop. That is all.

That's about all I've got today. If you haven't caught the previous post chock full of all kinds of Dillinger history and documents and such, look below. I promise I'll be getting back to the stuff that actually worth reading soon. Stay tuned for it, I'll do my best to make it worth your time. Until then...

Peace!

- Tessa

Dillinger and Dayton

2008-04-12T09:34:00.024-04:00

First off, if you have not been to the PE-Columbus Blog to see the pictures of filming at the airport in Oshkosh, go now!! WAIT! No...go after you read my blog. :D I must say that it is really cool to watch this movie coming together. It will be such a thrill to see the finished product next year.

While I'm on the subject of that blog, there was a comment regarding one of the hot topics among Depp fans: Has Johnny quit smoking? A couple weeks ago there was a video on youtube that has since disappeared of Depp greeting fans at Crown Point. Someone offered him...something, and his response was, "Oh no, no I don't smoke, but thank you very much." Now, it could be possible that he was listening to his mom's advice of not accepting tobacco products from strangers (stranger danger) and lied to try to be nice about it, but given his integrity that we've come to see recently, I doubt that. So I'm quite apt to believe that he actually has quit smoking. However, this article came out yesterday that says, "Puffing a cigarette and sipping hot coffee, Johnny Depp stepped out from his black Escalade...." Here's my theory.
If you look at this picture ----->
he has his hands to his lips as if he is smoking a cigarette, but alas...there is no ciggy there. I had at least 3 people say that they thought he was smoking in this picture. Easily made mistake, but they were wrong. I'm hoping that the same thing happened with the dude that wrote this article. Since my picture was taken from about 50 yards away, and the picture that was attached to that article looked like it was taken from roughly a mile away, I'm going to stick to that theory. Plus...Johnny tends to travel in a Black Ford Expedition, not an Escalade. My conclusion: Johnny has quit the cancer sticks. Bravo!! Good for him and us...it means he might be able to stick around longer.

Now on to the meat and potatoes of the Dayton area portion of the Dillinger story. I've been able to skate by thus far by just copying and pasting articles written by other people, but I'm afraid I can't really do that anymore. So now my research and writing skills are going to be put to the test. I used to pride myself on my BSing abilities in college, let's see if they've gotten rusty from lack of use for the last 2 years.

We learn of Mary Longnecker from the book Public Enemies in Chapter 4. About all we learn about her from the book is that she is John Dillinger's girlfriend; they write letters to each other; and she lives in a boarding house in Dayton. Through my super sleuth investigative skills, I managed to find a bit more information. Mary Longnecker was apparently the wife of one of Dillinger's prison buddies and the sister of one James Jenkins who was then serving a life sentence for murder. Jenkins was incarcerated in the Indiana State Penitentiary at Michigan City, IN. While Dillinger was still serving his sentence in the State Pen, Jenkins told him about his sister that lived in Dayton. Upon his release from prison, Dillinger sought out Mrs. Longnecker and was soon courting her while simultaneously financing the divorce from her husband.

Dillinger was released from prison on May 10, 1933. By June 22, he had started his crime spree with his first bank Robbery in New Carlisle. By July, Dillinger and Longnecker were already an item. In July of 1933, Dillinger took Longnecker and her friend Mary Ann Buchholz to the World's Fair in Chicago. Miss Buchholz gave testimony on October 17, 1933 to Detective R.K. Pfauhl detailing this trip. In her testimony she stated that Dillinger paid for everything. The travel, the hotel, the food, etc. She also saw a wallet full of several $50 bills. On their way back to Dayton from Chicago, they made a stop at the Indiana State Pen. to visit Mary's brother, Jenkins. Dillinger bought a bunch of fruit to take into him, but not before he hid a $50 bill inside a banana and gave instructions to Longnecker as to who it was to go to. The details here get rather vague because Miss Buchholz only heard the conversation from a distance plus the copy of the transcript I have cuts off at the bottom of the page. However, it is known that Dillinger made his first attempt to smuggle guns into the prison about 6 weeks later. Buchholtz states that after learning of Dillinger's arrest she "was surprised to see a thing like that about him, as he was awfully nice to us girls." Apparently, she never caught on to the fact the he was a bank robber and a fugitive.

It wasn't until August 25th that Dayton Police caught word of Longnecker's relationship to Dillinger and his occasional visits to the area. Soon, two Dayton detectives took up residence at the boarding house Longnecker was living in to wait until Dillinger came around. It wasn't until a phone call from the landlady notifying the Police of his arrival that led to his arrest on September 22, 1933. At the time of his arrest, he was driving a new 1933 model Terraplane, had $2604 in cash, three loaded .38 caliber automatic pistols and a bag of roofing nails in his possession.

He was filed under Dayton record number 10587. He was 30 years old, 5'8.5", 160 pounds, medium dark hair and grey eyes.

The story continues, but I will go into that in the next post. I must give a shout out to the Archives Collection at Paul Lawrence Dunbar Library at Wright State University. They are my source for all of this information and the documents from which it comes. The documents seen in this blog are pictures of copies of copies of the originals. (Remember to click on the pics to get a much closer look) They do have the originals on file there, but they are in a secure location. You can see the originals of anything you ask for, but for research purposes they tend to give you the photocopies. I did get a look at the originals of the police report of the arrest, Dillinger's criminal record as well as his fingerprints and mugshots. It was pretty awesome. I hope you all are enjoying this little adventure into the Dayton Dillinger files, I know I'm having fun researching and putting it all together.

I may very well blog again today. I'm 5 hours into a 15 hour workday, so I still have lots of time to kill. If I do blog again today, however, it will most likely be random ramblings from my own mind. Until then...

Peace!

-Tessa

John Dillinger: The Background

2008-04-11T09:48:00.008-04:00

First of all, I'd like to send a shout out to our awesome team reporting from Oshvegas, Wisconsin. If you want to know what's up with Public Enemies filming right now, go to the PE-Columubus blog. Lot's of good information there. I hope the weather straightens out for y'all because it sounded quite nasty as of last night. I thought Ohio weather was bad. It's been in the 70s and sunny most of this week. Old Man Winter finally departed. Apparently his summer vacation home is in Wisconsin.

Ok, so back to business. I did remember my flash drive today. So pat on the back for Tessa. I must admit that some of this information feels like a bit of a cop-out because I'm just copying articles written by other people verbatim. Oh well. It's not without it's stress. Getting the pictures and such onto this computer to therefore put in the blog is not an easy task.

So I'm backtracking a little bit. I stink at being organized with this thing. I found this little article on the board that appeared to be attached the previous article that I posted. So I'm going to assume it is written by the same dude, Bill Bevins around the same time, sometime between 1933 and now. I'm sure this information is available in all kinds of places, but I'm still putting it here with some really cool pictures that I know I haven't seen anywhere else. Ok, here ya go:

Here's a boy who just went bad

John Herbert Dillinger was born in a middle-class section of Indianapolis, June 22, 1903. His mother died three years later and the job of raising the boy fell to the father, John Wilson Dillinger, a grocery store owner.

Discipline was erratic. Sometimes the boy would be locked in the house all day for safekeeping, while at other times he would be free to roam the streets after dark.

Young John became part of a gang, the Dirty Dozen, that stole coal from rail gondolas and sold it at cutrate prices.

John's father, who later remarried, sold the store and moved the family to a farm near Mooresville, Ind. when John was 16. If the boy's father had hoped the move would have a settling influence, he was disappointed. John dropped out of high school and would often stay out all night, offering no explanation of where he had been.

In 1923, he enlisted in the Navy. But the young maverick couldn't cope with the military discipline and simply walked away one day, according to John Toland's book, “Dillinger Days.”

He eventually made his way back to Mooresville, where he and a friend were soon arrested for stealing chickens. His father interceded and the case was dropped.

In September 1924, Dillinger and a friend plotted the robbery of a Mooresville grocery store owner. A few days after the robbery, Dillinger was arrested. The county prosecutor convinced him that if he pleaded guilty, the court would hand out a light sentence.

Instead, Dillinger was sentenced to the Pendletown Reformatory for 10 to 20 years. Believing he'd been double-crossed, he became embittered by the experience.

At Pendleton, he met Harry (Pete) Pierpont, later a member of Dillinger's gang.

Pierpont tried to escape from Pendleton and was transferred to the Indiana State Prison at Michigan City. Later Dillinger also requrested and was granted a transfer to the state prison.

There, Pierpont introduced Dillinger to hardened criminals who taught the somewhat scatter-brained and impressionable inmate the basics of bank robbery. The understanding was that Dillinger, who would be eligible for parole before any of the others, would rob banks to finance an elaborate escape plan for the others.

Dillinger was paroled in May 1933 and hastily organized a rather inept gang that staged a number of small robberies in Indiana. In June, the headed east to New Carlisle, where they pulled off their first bank robbery.

Hmm. It seems like Dillinger caught some pretty unlucky breaks, not that that excuses him. It's quite fascinating getting a bit more insight into the man. I'm looking forward to seeing how Johnny will play him. I'm sure he'll do a spectacular job no matter what. From what I've read thus far, I'm kinda getting an air of arrogance about Dillinger, but he also seems to be a gentleman while simultaneously being a hardened criminal. Sounds a bit complex. Public Enemies is going to be an awesome film. I have faith.

So...in my own little world, I'm been in some kinda weird contemplative this can't be my life mood lately. Any suggestions as to how to solve that problem? Once again, I am open to anything. Give it to me straight...even if it means just saying, "Tessa. Get over yourself."

Ok. More on Dillinger later. Until then...

Peace!

-Tessa

Improvisation is a parlor trick

2008-04-10T08:20:00.010-04:00

So...me being the epic genius that I am, I left my flash drive at home. Again. It would make my life easier if I could just use my ESPN and telepathetically transfer things from home to work, but my skills aren't quite up to snuff yet. So instead I shall put my improv skills to the test. :D Everyone needs a good laugh every so often anyway. You can get a good chuckle watching me fall flat on my proverbial face.

So, although I am extremely excited that I'm picking up readers from Australia, Japan, Europe, California, and all kinds of other totally awesome places, I am a little bummed that none of you can understand what I've come to call the 675 phenomenon.

The 675 Phenomenon

About 90% of my drive between work and home is made on I-675, predominantly a 6 lane highway, speed limit of 65. Most larger cities have such an interstate. Maybe you've noticed this trend where you are, but I've only noticed it here. There is about an 8 mile stretch of 675 where for some odd reason, people don't know how to drive. Everybody knows that when the speed limit is 65, your minimum speed is 65, right? Yes. Well, within this magical 8 mile stretch people like to drive about 50 mph. I noticed this about 3 years ago, and it still has not changed. I do not understand it. For a long time I only thought it was going southbound where this is a problem, but I've come to realize it's equally as bad going northbound on my morning commutes to work. I am an impatient person...especially while driving. I know that's hard for many to understand because most drivers are so courteous and patient, but it's true. Anyway...what kind of person drives 50 miles an hour when the speed limit is 65?! If you're going to drive that freakin slow, take the back roads. It's prettier, you will be less likely to get barreled over by a giant SUV, and I will not have to ride your bumper. And so ends today's pointless narcissistic rant.

So a frequent topic of conversation for me lately has been the issue of accents. It's amazing what you think you can tell about a person from their accent. Now...if you're good, you can usually tell with mild accuracy where a person is from based on their accent, but some people like to judge your character based on your accent. How so? Well...you hear someone with a twang...not a deep South Georgia/Alabama kinda twang, but let's say, a Kentucky twang. What do you automatically think about them? I mean, let's face it, people that say "warsh" when there is clearly no 'r' in that word are vastly undereducated, right? Wrong. I am just as guilty as the next person of doing this, but it's kinda started to smack me in the face recently. I'm not sure why. I hail from Portsmouth, Ohio. Google it. You will see that it is RIGHT on the Ohio River across from Kentucky. I joke around about it only being considered Ohio because it's on the wrong side of the river. Why do I do that you might ask? Because I'm not particularly fond of Portsmouth. I was born to be a big city girl and Portsmouth is FAR from that, so I was always bored out of mind growing up there. There are a lot of other reasons for my dislike of my hometown, but we won't go there. Anyway, that is what we call stereotyping.

A stereotype can be a conventional and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image, based on the assumption that there are attributes that members of the other group hold in common. Stereotypes may be positive or negative in tone. They are typically generalizations based on minimal or limited knowledge about a group to which the person doing the stereotyping does not belong.

Yes. There are a lot of Ohio/Kentucky/West Virginia stereotypes running rampant in the tri-state area, especially relating to driving. Hey...maybe it's a bunch of Kentuckians causing the 675 Phenomenon. My point is this, stereotyping is wrong. I always tell people that I was determined to leave Southern Ohio without the accent, and when they ask why, I have to tell them because people think you're less intelligent when you talk with a country drawl. I'm always really thankful when people think I'm from Northern Ohio. Why? I shouldn't be. I'm not from Northern Ohio. And what difference does it make anyway? Since when is one half of the state any better than the other half? I think what brought me to this realization is that one day I remembered that the man I admire more than any other is from Kentucky. See all that crap laying by the side of the road? It's those stereotypes that just went flying out my window.

Yep. That gorgeous, intelligent, classy, generous, kindhearted, GQ man is from the land of 'kissing cousins.' Stereotypes are crap. As I have grown older I have grown more and more intolerant of judgmental people. Who are we to judge? Who are we to put people into a category that they probably don't belong in based on the very little we might know about them? That person says "warsh" instead of wash, they must be an idiot. Well, I say 'hogwarsh!' Maybe I should start talking with the accent and when people look at me like I'm stupid I'll break out of it and make them feel stupid.

I know this is TOTALLY unrelated to Public Enemies, but it's just something that's been on my mind a lot recently. Maybe it's because lately I've been getting classified as a teenage fangirl that thinks she's going to marry Johnny Depp just because I was crazy enough to take the Crown Point adventure. That irritates me to no end when people make that classification especially considering that the vast majority of Depp fans I've come to know are my age or older, are married, have kids, etc. How can you classify a person based on the actor they admire? That's so unfair. It's just as unfair as classifying someone based on how they talk.

Ok, enough of my social commentary. I'm done.

So I am still reading Public Enemies. I just got past the part where Dillinger gets arrested in Dayton which is, once again, lacking detail. I understand that it is lacking because there was A LOT of information to try to cram into one book, so I can't blame the author for doing it. The exciting thing for me is that I have the details now. I'm looking forward to filling you all in. I have (copies of) Dillinger's criminal record, his fingerprints, his mugshots, letters from his then girlfriend, newspaper articles, all kinds of good stuff. I look forward to sharing it with you. I would have done it today if not for the fact that I forgot my flash drive.

One last thing. I am so excited to hear that New Kids on the Block are back together. Woohoo!!!! I was totally in love with them way back in the day...when I was about 6. Check out the picture. Click on it and look at the posters on my walls. Oh yes. That's right. You like my sense of style? I was always destined to be the fashionista that I am.

Ok, I will end your suffering now. Tomorrow I will hopefully be back on to my Public Enemies investigation. Someone remind me to bring my flash drive to work, and we'll be good to go. Until then...

Peace.

-Tessa

Bueller?.......Bueller?

2008-04-09T11:55:00.021-04:00

Yeah. Sorry for my long absence. I hope you all didn't miss me too much. There are no comments wondering if I'm dead, so that's a good sign. To my credit though, I have been busy. I've been researching and whatnot and you'll be happy to know I've found some really cool stuff.

Sunday afternoon I ventured to New Carlisle, a nice quaint little town reminiscent of Crown Point, IN and Columbus, WI (from what I've seen in pictures), to find the find the first bank that John Dillinger ever robbed. Find it, I did, and I found it as a Candle Shop...that was closed. It's kinda funny, you get so used to living in a 24/7 world then you go outside it and realize that *gasp* there are places that aren't open on Sunday. I was quite disappointed, but I should have known better. I was born and raised a small town girl, so small shops being closed on Sunday should not be all that shocking. Anyway, while I was there I did get some pictures of the exterior of the building. As you can guess, it has been altered quite a bit. I'm pretty sure it didn't say "Candle House Cards & Gifts" with pretty flowers on the windows the day Dillinger robbed it. If so, that would be a rather unorthodox bank.

I quickly gave up and decided to go to the library to do some research. I shall address that endeavor later as it will merit a couple posts of its own.

However, I did return to the New Carlisle National Bank turned family restaurant turned candle shop on Tuesday. This time they were open. So I moseyed on in. There were no other customers and the only employee was hanging out in an office. I sneaked back into a hallway where I noticed a couple bulletin boards. Upon closer viewing, I discovered that these bulletin boards were host to a plethora of Dillinger information. Sweet. Jackpot. I started browsing the pictures and reading the articles when I heard a rather loud gasp coming from down the hall. Apparently my striking appearance startled the lady working in the office when she caught sight of me....Ok actually, she hadn't heard me come in and didn't realize anyone was there. I started chatting with her trying to pick her brain for more Dillinger info. I soon found out that not only is she not from around here, but she's actually from Puerto Rico. Yeah...not much inside info there, but she was great to talk to. Eventually I asked if I could snap some pictures of the stuff on the board and she kindly allowed me to do so.

So now starts the first bit of my gathered information. On the board was an article written by a man by the name of Bill Bevins sometime between 1933 and now. I took a picture of it and decided to just retype it for y'all to make it easier to read. I have to forewarn you that it is not organized very well. It's not in chronological order and can be somewhat confusing. However, it does give a much more detailed description of the even than what's in the Public Enemies book. So here it is:

Dillinger: 'Farmer, you came to the bank too early'

By Bill Bevins

NEW CARLISLE - “Farmer, you came to the bank to early this morning,” said the voice behind a revolver digging into T.G. Widener's back that June morning as he walked into the New Carlisle National Bank.

For Widener, those words stand out as he reflects back on that mild, sunny day in June 1933 when John Herbert Dillinger, recently paroled from the Indiana State Prison, robbed his first bank.

Widener, then 22, had come to the bank early to deposit a check he'd received for a load of hogs.

The bank, at Main and Jefferson Streets, normally opened at 9 a.m. And Widener sat on a chair in front of the two-story 1882 vintage building to wait.

Moments later, the bank cashier, Carl Enochs, arrived. He greeted Widener and invited him to come inside with Enochs leading the way.

Stepping inside, Widener felt the revolver nudging his back. “And that made me step lively.”

Widener says he's unable to recall the robbers' appearances because he was concentrating on that revolver.

Making about a one-inch circle with a finger and thumb, Widener said, “That thing (the gun) looked like it had a hole in it that big.”

The robbers had climbed through an unlocked rear window, waiting for the first employee to arrive.

Without bothering to check wallets or personal jewelery, the three armed men quickly tied Widener and Enochs and ordered them to lie face down on a back room floor.

Horace Grisso, a bookkeeper, and Mata Taylor, assistant cashier were already there similarly bound. With chivalrous consideration, the bandits had spread a smock on the floor so Miss Taylor's clothes would not be soiled.

Grisso, then 24, had been a bank employee about a year. As he normally did on business days, Grisso arrived at the bank shortly after 8 a.m. That 21^st day of June.

Once inside, Grisso pulled the shades on the bank windows and approached the counter.

Three men, wearing casual clothes and half masks, popped up from behind the counter and trained their revolvers on him.

“I didn't really feel in danger at that time,” Grisso recalled. “I was just surprised.”

“All right buddy,” said a bandit later identified as Dillinger, “open the safe.” Grisso reached into a drawer for a combination and went to work on it.

He recalled Dillinger as “a plain man with a muscular build.”

Grisso said he was a bit nervous and it took a while to get the lock open. One of Dillinger's companions grew impatient and snarled, “Let's drill him.”

Dillinger, however, stayed cool, saying to Grisso, “Take your time and open it.”

The bank had a two-compartment safe, Grisso explained, and the bulk of the currency was kept inside the second, inner compartment. That compartment could be opened with only a tug on the handle, but Grisso pretended it was locked and that he didn't know the combination.

Grisso hoped to stall them until opening time, he said.

Using sections of telephone cord, the robbers then tied up Grisso and ordered him to lie quietly on the floor. A few minutes later, Miss Taylor arrived and she was also bound with telephone cord. The robbers were anxious to get their loot and leave before opening time.

Finally, just minutes before 9 o'clock, Enochs arrived. Since the robbers would never believe he didn't know the safe combination, Enochs had no choice but to open the safe and turn over the money.

The loot totaled $10,600, an astronomical sum for a small farming community of 1,100 feeling the squeeze of the nation's worst depression.

Piling into a waiting car, Dillinger and his companions headed east on Route 71 (now State Route 571). With little resistance, they made their escape. Earlier they had bought a 100-pound keg of roofing nails which they sprinkled on the road behind them.

When authorities were notified and began their chase, they got only a short distance before flat tires halted them.

Dillinger and his gang, who made their way back to his native Indiana, had planned three other robberies for the same day. The next day, June 22, was Dillinger's 30^th birthday.

Since early morning, Mrs. Martha Nichols had heard a dog barking near her large Jefferson Street house beside the bank. The backing started about 3 a.m., said Mrs. Nichols.

She thought little of it, in spite of the fact the bank had been robbed twice before in the last year or two (In both cases, the robbers were caught and one was killed in a shootout with police).

Mrs. Nichols then operated a beauty shop on the west side of her house. It faced the bank. Shortly before 9 a.m., she looked out the window of the shop and saw three men running from the bank to a car in front of her house.

The men were dressed in white shirts and black trousers, she recalled, and one wore a straw hat. The straw hat probably was Dillinger's – it was to become his trademark.

Mrs. Nichols remembers the getaway car – predominately black with red spokes.

“It was just like the car my supply man drove,” she said. She recalls looking out at the driver, a nervous sort who chain-smoked cigarettes.

When the gunmen fled, Mrs. Nichols and a neighbor, Mrs. Olive Luse, whose house sits adjacent to the bank on Main Street moved in to investigate.

From an open window at the rear of the bank came a call for help.

Boosting each other through the window, Mrs. Nichols and Mrs. Luse climbed inside.

“We found them lying on the floor and untied them,” said Mrs. Luse. Widener, who had tried vainly to free himself, said the cord bit deeply into his arms.

“I had rings on my arms half a day,” he said.

Dillinger, schooled in the art of bank robbery while serving in the Indiana State Prison managed to evade capture until September 1933.

Police in Dayton arrested Dillinger at a West Side boarding house where he went to visit his girlfriend. Grisso went to Dayton, where he identified Dillinger. Later that month, Dillinger was transferred to Allen County Jail in Lima to await trial for a Bluffton bank robbery.

On October 12, six “well-dressed” men entered the jail to free Dillinger. One of the gunmen shot Sheriff Jess Sarber twice and struck him with the gun-butt while Sarber's wife and a deputy looked on in horror.

Sarber, a lawman who believed in humane treatment of prisoners, died several hours later, and the public's fascination for the straw-hatted robber who leaped over bank counters began turning to anger.

Dillinger was captured again in Tuscon, Arizona, in January1934. He was transferred to the “escape-proof” jail at Crown Point, Indiana where Dillinger's lawyer, Louis Piquette bribed a judge to smuggle in a gun. Dillinger made his escape March 3, 1934.

He would never again see the inside of a jail. Later that year, he was killed by an FBI agent in front of the Biograph Theater in Chicago.

Pictured above is a copy of the check written to the bank by a bonding company for the robbery. It is in the amount of $10,000 so apparently the bank was out $600. That sucks.

So there it is. Thus far it is the fullest account of John Dillinger's first bank robbery that I've seen. That board held a lot of other good information including a bit more history on Dillinger. So stay tuned for that. It involves pictures and everything, so it should be good.

That's about it for today. Hopefully I won't disappear for 3 days again.

Peace!

- Tessa

A mission

2008-04-05T21:10:00.006-04:00

Ok. So. I am fully aware that Public Enemies is not scheduled to film anywhere in Ohio. But some really cool events in the book/story did take place in the Buckeye State. So I've decided that since most of you that read this get the rundown of filming information from Rod's blog (PE-Columbus) and since this blog's origin is of the Public Enemies/Johnny Depp/John Dillinger nature, I'm going to hold it to PE subject matter, but take a different approach. My mission begins tomorrow...as long as the weather holds up. I'm planing on trekking to New Carlisle...10 minutes away, not 4 hours...to check out the building that used to be the New Carlisle National Bank. The first bank that John Dillinger actually robbed.

I'm also near one of the places he got arrested as well as one of the jails he broke out of. So yeah. That's what I've decided to do.

In other news. Skybus FAILS! Literally. They're filing for bankruptcy on Monday. Why do I care? Two reasons. One is that I was scheduled to fly to Virginia on Skybus for VA Depphead's wedding. Two is that I was starting to rely on Skybus to allow me to go on multiple vacations without spending a ton of money. Over the winter I went to Boston for $41 round trip. Can't beat that. Oh well. More importantly however is that it's definitely thrown a huge wrinkle in my plans to go to the wedding. And it has me a bit peeved. Here's why: it will take 6-8 weeks for me to get a refund, the cheapest flight available now is twice as much, and with the cost of gas as high as it is, it's only slightly cheaper than flying. So. I need to magically find a way of raising some fundage. Any suggestions are welcome. Any. At all. If you're thinking I won't try it. You're thinking wrong. Just give it to me.

Oh! And I am pretty much guaranteed to, at the very least, keep my current job...just under a new company. I'm still kinda perusing the job market. Checking it out. Seeing what's there, but at least I don't have to worry about losing my job or even taking a pay cut.

Need to smile?

Go here.

If you haven't watched 21 Jump Street. You're missing out.

I shall leave you with a picture from PE filming in Chicago.
I have no idea who took this, but if you do, let me know so I can credit them.

John Dillinger never looked so fine. :)

Ok, that's it for tonight.

Peace out!

- Tessa

Career Day

2008-04-03T13:57:00.002-04:00

Like the new name? Creative isn't it?

So. As I mentioned yesterday, I finally got the boot. Even though I knew it was coming, and it's still 2 months away, seeing it on paper made it feel a bit more urgent. So I spent all day finishing off the updating of my resume and I've spent a large part of today working on a cover letter. Now is the time for me to reiterate how much I hate this crap. It's so full of stress, confusion, and uncertainty...three of my least favorite things in the world. If anyone out there has a totally wicked job they can just hand to me, please notify me immediately. I am willing to relocate. The weather here sucks anyway.

So I've been thinking to myself lately, "Versa, exactly what is it that you want to do?" Excellent question. As I was on the phone with the manufacturer of one of our systems being forced to listen repeatedly to the vicious auditory cycle of "All of our representatives are currently busy. Please continue to hold or press 1 to leave a message" and really crappy cheesy 80sish music, I decided I want to become a hold music DJ.

What is a hold music DJ? Well, they don't exist...YET. Here's what I'm thinking: How often do you have to wait around on hold? How often do you have to listen to hold music that is totally made of suck? Why not have a hold music DJ? So while you're on hold you can press a button to access the hold music DJ and request a song to listen to while you're on hold...unless the hold music DJ is so busy that she has to put you on hold. Then you'd be on hold for the hold music DJ while you're on hold. You can just imagine how long I was on hold if I had enough time to arrive at this concept. This is how I amuse myself when I'm under stress. I think up ridiculous junk like a hold music DJ.

So what do I really want to do? Well, it seems anything that is extremely difficult to get into: writing, acting, music, photography. My best shot based on my location, talent, and available resources would be photography which is kinda what I'm shooting for. I'm planning on applying for a graphic arts position under the new contract which is about as close to photography as I can get here. I am terribly underqualified and way younger than the current guy, but that also means I'd be less expensive. So...I'll just go for it and keep my fingers crossed.

Ultimately, I'd love to be some sort of superstar musician/actor/writer/whatever other totally cool thing I want to do for a crapload of money. But let's be real. The world just isn't equipped to handle my awesomeness. I think that's why I'm still single. Men are just way too intimidated to approach me because I'm so utterly amazing.

Yes...I was having a hard time not laughing as I typed that gibberish. What a fun word...gibberish.

So in all seriousness, I just wanted to say thank you everyone that's been commenting. I greatly appreciate it. I appreciate the fact that you're reading at all. I hope at the very least that my nonsensical ludicrousness can bring a break in the monotony of your routine and maybe even a smile if the winds blow right.

Until tomorrow...

- Tessa

Back to our regularly scheduled program

2008-04-02T14:30:00.009-04:00

So now that I got all the sentimental inspiration stuff out of the way, I can get back to my normal bitter, pessimistic, snarky self. :D

So, I just got back from visiting the big cheese here at work, and I am now officially laid off as of May 31st, 2008. Awesome. Before you freak out, this is old news. I'm a contractor, not the kind that builds stuff although that would be much more productive than my actual job where I do nothing, and the company I work for just lost the bid for the contract I work for. So chances are I'll either a) get picked up by the next big corporate machine that rolls in or 2) I'll find something better. I hate job searches and everything that goes with it. The updating of the resume. The interviews. The waiting. Yuck. But, it's a fact of life.

Anyway, I thought I would share with you all my frustrations with Old Man Winter. Why would I be frustrated with such a jolly looking man dressed in white? Because he's still HERE! I am not normally too gripey about the weather in Ohio because at least it varies and I always say that variety is the spice of life. However, I do not like starting off my day scraping ice off my car windows in my big poofy winter coat in April. It has not been a particularly eventful winter save for one blizzard about a month ago, but it's just been a dull, long, drawn out winter that needs to end. Now.

Besides, the sooner the crappy cold weather goes away, the better it will be for the filming of the most anticipated movie EVER. Speaking of, Public Enemies is currently filming in Chicago and is believed to be filming in Aurora, IL next week. Aurora. How many of you have every seen Wayne's World 2?

"WELCOME TO AURORA! Not just a place but a...state of mind." - Garth Algar

Apparently they've had to tighten security on the set so as not to have 1,000 people standing around doing nothing. It's understandable though. I'm sure it's a bit easier to get things done more efficiently without having to worry about crowd control and whatnot. I guess I made the journey at the right time. I could elaborate on all this information but I'm sure most of you either already know or just don't care.

Ok, so this was posted by rachel in a comment on the PE - Columbus blog, and I had to share it with everyone just in case you hadn't already seen it...or heard it from there.

Johnny Depp Interview

Great listen. Very informative. You must check it out.

So. I am currently reading 2 books: The Rum Diary and Public Enemies. First person to tell me the connection between these two books gets a cookie. The Rum Diary is...interesting. I acquired it due to the book exchange system that VA Depphead and I have set up. I'm about 1/3 of the way through and nothing significant has happened so far. That's not to say that I don't like the book, because I do, it's just a different style of writing. It's not based on events advancing the plot like most books but more on general observations of people and circumstances which seems to be Dr. Thompson's style. I like it. Public Enemies is great so far as well. I am just a little disappointed with the lack of info on Dillinger's first bank robbery in New Carlisle, Ohio mainly just because it is so close and it would've been great to hear all the details. But, there's already a lot of information chocked into this book and I'm not even done with the second chapter. It's not very often that you get a factual book with so much information that's not totally lame and boring. It's rather well written, so kudos to Mr. Burrough.

So this post has been totally uninformative and rather scatterbrained. That's kinda how I've been today in general. It comes from being a combination of tired, bored, and indifferent.

I still need a new name for my blog. Come on people, you can't depend on me to think for myself.

At any rate, if you haven't bought your copy of Sweeney Todd or at least rented it to give it a watch if you so shamefully did not see it in theaters, you should. There's a lot of concerns about the blood and gore, but I can assure you that it is done in a very theatrical way. I am not a blood and guts kind of movie watcher, but Sweeney is not that. It's a beautiful film and it has Johnny singing. How could you say no to that? So hop to it. Go to Blockbuster. Stick at the top of your netflix queue. Or better yet, go to FYE and get the beautiful Steelbook edition.

Ok. That is all. Maybe after I get a little sleep tonight I'll be a little more useful tomorrow.

Peace!

- Tessa

Depp Impact

2008-04-01T17:40:00.007-04:00

First off, HAPPY SWEENEY DVD RELEASE DAY!!! Yes, the time has finally come. I have my Sweeney Steelbook and I've already watched every single special feature and am now waiting for VA Depphead to get home so we can watch it 'together.' More on that later. I apologize for skipping a day in my blogging. Yesterday was kinda like my "I'm going to be lazy, hide from the world, and not do anything" day. My schedule is about to turn kinda hectic for a few weeks, so it may have been my last chance to do it for a while.

[Author's Note: The first paragraph was written at around 5 pm, it is now 10:35 pm]

Ok, so I'm sure some of you are wondering by now, why on earth would I drive 4 hours and stand in the freezing cold just to try to meet Johnny Depp? Well. A lot of reason. I previously stated that he has had a profound impact on my life, and I'm going to try to explain exactly how.

I'll be honest in admitting that I never really took a particular notice of Johnny until Pirates. I had seen a few of his previous films, and enjoyed them all, but I never paid attention. I like to believe that I was just too young to really appreciate him at the time. Anyway, after Curse of the Black Pearl, I started following him a little bit. I saw Secret Window and Finding Neverland when they came out and thought they were both excellent movies and that he was great in them. Then Dead Man's Chest finally came out and something snapped. I don't know what it was, but it was like I suddenly realized how amazing he was. So...I started watching ALL of his movies. I had never watched so many movies in such a short time. In addition to that, I gradually started buying his movies. Then I started reading and/or watching his interviews. Then I bought one of his biographies. It just grew from there.

The more I read about him and read his own words from interviews and such, the more intrigued and inspired I became. There was something about him. It took me a while to figure out what it was, but I eventually came to realize that he has passion. He has passion for life, for people, for his work, for his family, for love, for everything. When he does something, he dives in. Something about that appealed to me in a big way, and it probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm the same way. I don't like to do things half way. I like to totally immerse myself in what I'm doing, whatever context it's in.

There was something inside of me that clicked, and it's hard to explain exactly what it was. Something was just different. I just had a different view on life. I had drive again. I had been just coasting along for awhile, but not so much anymore. I started working on losing weight. I started at least trying to figure out what I wanted to do with myself. Then I learned about the Dustin Bracelet that I discussed in my previous post. "Today is a gift...have fun." Yeah. Things were kinda difficult for a while. I was working two jobs just to try to survive. I was constantly busy. I had lost contact with a lot of my friends. I had dropped out of my church. I was exhausted all the time. It could have been a miserable existence, but I just tried to remember that everyday was a gift. Eventually I decided to really start putting that into practice. I started planning a trip to England with a friend. Why? Because I wanted to. It was on my "Life List." So I did. And I went. And it was amazing.

My Deppsession kinda died down for a little while because it was being suffocated by my Harry Potter obsession. This is what I do. I am obsessed with something or someone all the time. That's how I roll. It's part of that passion thing. However, around October, whenever the trailer for Sweeney Todd came out, I dived right back into my Deppsession. I felt like I was at home again. As the movie drew closer and as I had less and less to do at work, I spent more and more time on the imdb.com Sweeney Todd message board. This is where that profound impact really goes into full swing.

Sweeney came out, and I was on the message board constantly. Everyday. All day. Eventually this magical idea was born out of a discussion on the eroticism in Sweeney Todd. Several of us started discussing how Johnny Depp could make anything sexy. He could read a cereal box and it would be sexy. He could read a phonebook and it would be sexy. Hey...now there's an idea. We should just make a movie where he reads the phonebook. Maybe orders some Chinese. Maybe takes a shower. ;) Anyway, we started our own little thread to discuss our ideas which turned into a place to release our fangirliness which turned into a community which turned into a weird family of sorts. We are currently on thread #36 because each thread is limited to 600 posts. Do the math, that's over 21,000 posts.

Anyway, these girls and guy have turned out to be some great friends of mine. Sure we've never met each other, but so what. There's been several times over the last few months where the people I do know in real life just weren't the people I needed to talk to, but the Phonebook crew was for whatever reason. As time went on, I discovered that I had A LOT in common with one particular phonebooker who has previously been mentioned as the Depphead from Virginia. I hope she isn't weirded out by this, but she's basically turned into my best friend. And I've never even met her. I am however flying to VA for her wedding in a few weeks. As I mentioned a couple posts ago, these girls are the reason I went through with the trip to Crown Point. I had convinced my self over and over that I was out of my mind for even considering it but they all encouraged me to go. And I did. And I met Johnny. And it was wonderful.

So all these things, plus the fantastic people that I met in Crown Point, plus the experience of it overall, plus the fact that I kinda had writer's block for 3 years and don't anymore. Yeah, I blogged and stuff here and there, but I always felt that it was totally lame and forced. Not so much now. I look forward to sitting down and writing. I like being able to share stuff with people. On top of all this though, I'm reaching a crossroads in my life. My job is somewhat in jeopardy, my lease is up in a couple months, and a part of me is feeling like I need to move on. Why? Because I have no passion for what I do right now. I keep thinking that even when JD was selling pens and whatnot, he was doing it to support himself as a musician...his passion. I felt like such a sell-out by working in this job that I'm not particularly fond of while I let my passions and talents just kinda go to waste. So I'm trying to figure out a way of changing that. I want to do something that I want to do.

So in a nutshell, Johnny Depp is the kind of person that I want to emulate. When I'm older, I want to be able to look back on my life and know that I lived it how I wanted to. To know that I gave it my all. To know that I lived and loved and gave and experienced with passion...with all of my heart...with all of my being. To know that I did my best to treat people with love and respect. To know that I gave whenever and whatever I could give. To know that my family and friends never questioned whether or not I loved them because I did everything I could to show them that I did. To know that I fully took in every experience I possibly could.

I've read in a couple of different places that Johnny refers to William Saroyan's 'Time of Your Life' as his 'bible.' I don't know if it's true, but it wouldn't surprise me. Here's what it says:

"In the time of your life, live--so that in that good time there shall be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life your life touches. Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding-place and let it be free and unashamed. Place in matter and in flesh the least of the values, for these are the things that hold death and must pass away. Discover in all things that which shines and is beyond corruption. Encourage virtue in whatever heart it may have been driven into secrecy and sorrow by the shame and terror of the world. Ignore the obvious, for it is unworthy of the clear eye and the kindly heart. Be the inferior of no man, nor of any man be the superior. Remember that every man is a variation of yourself.

No man's guilt is not yours, nor is any man's innocence a thing apart. Despise evil and ungodliness, but not men of ungodliness or evil. These, understand. Have no shame in being kindly and gentle, but if the time comes in the time of your life to kill, kill and have no regret. In the time of your life, live--so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it."

That is why I admire Johnny Depp. That is why I was willing to brave the elements to just to meet him. I obviously didn't get a chance to tell him all of this, but I summed it up the best I could by simply saying thank you.

Let me make one thing clear, however. Johnny Depp is not my god. Yes, I hold him up on a pretty high pedestal, and yes I invest an awful lot of time, money, and emotion into him, but it's mainly because he emulates the character aspects that I strive for as a Christian and a just a person in general. How's that for a bombshell?

So before I sew this up. I've decided I need a new name for my blog. This obviously does not fall under the realm of Public Enemies anymore, but I do still plan on discussing it since I am a) reading the book and b) still avidly following the goings-on of filming and such. I'll also inevitably discuss Johnny because he does have such an influence on my life...and time, plus I realize that most of you reading this are reading this because of the JD/PE aspect of it. So...I'm open to suggestions. If I like your suggestion, and I use it, I'll give you a cupcake.

Until tomorrow...or whenever I have the spare time to update.

Peace!

- Tessa

Onward

2008-03-30T17:14:00.017-04:00

So...I kinda feel like starting this post of by tooting my own horn and sharing some good news. I've now lost 28 pounds since January 1. Woohoo!!!! I also thought that since I seem to be gaining some readership, I might as well try to do a little good with it. See the bracelet pictured on the right? It's a pretty cool thing for a lot of reasons. One of the reasons that Johnny Depp himself has frequently been spotted wearing this very bracelet. Another reason is that it's just a lovely piece of jewelery to wear. It says, "Today is a gift, have fun - Dustin, Age 11." Pretty awesome advice from an 11 year old, in my opinion. But most importantly 100% of the proceeds from the purchase of this bracelet goes directly to Children's Hospice. I have one myself, and if I go a day without wearing it I feel lost. I highly recommend going here to read more about it and maybe purchasing one yourself. Another cool site to check out to go along these lines is www.johnnysangels.org. Check it out.

Ok, so we now return to the Crown Point Depp Experience at the beginning of Day 2. Since I had accomplished my goal of seeing Johnny up close and personal on Day 1, I decided to have mercy on my body and sole(s) and sleep in a little bit. I got up shortly after 8 am, ate breakfast, got ready etc. I was getting ready to head out shortly after 9, when I realized I couldn't find my keys. Anywhere. Surely they're not in my car because if they are, I really can't afford a locksmith right now. All fundage has been funneled into this adventure and solutions to Tessa's stupidity was not part of the budget. I went out to my car and sure enough, there's my keys sitting in the middle of the driver's seat. Great. Not only am I going to have to pay for a locksmith, but I'll get to the set even later. Then I decided to look at the passenger side door, and low and behold, it was unlocked. PRAISE THE LORD!!! Not only did I not have to call a locksmith, but it is a miracle my car didn't get stolen. I might as well have wrapped it up in a giant bow and put a gift tag addressed to the first taker.

Anyway, after I fell to my knees in the parking lot in thanksgiving, I promptly gathered my crap that was now strewn across the room from the key search, shoved into my trunk and made my way to Target. [Author's Note: I wholeheartedly endorse Target. I refuse to shop at that other big retail establishment, and believe that other's should live as such.] I needed some aloe for my beautifully singed rosy face, some hand warmers for my feet, and a hat. I collected and paid for all this merchandise and headed back to the set.

I arrived shortly before 10 am. When I approached the set I saw that there were a bunch of old time cars. I started snapping away with my trusty camera before I finally decided to park somewhere for the day. I managed to land directly in front of the jail house this time. I was not up front as before, but there were only a couple people in front of me and they were all in chairs, so I was in super picture taking real estate. There had been no sign of Johnny anywhere on the premises yet, so my sleeping in decision was totall y justified. I mentioned previously that I was surrounded by totally awesome people on Monday, and for a short while I believed the same to be true on Tuesday. I started making small talk with the mom and daughter sitting in front of me, and less than an hour after we started talking the mom had one of her other daughter's bring me a cheeseburger from McDonald's. Awesome. People in Crown Point rule. I started asking how the job market was in the area. I didn't want to leave. You just don't encounter such great people very often nowadays.

Well...eventually the crowd started to swell, except there was no more room for it to swell into. I'm not normally a big fan of crowds, but I survived the previous day just fine. Today however, was different. There was a gentleman behind me that had a beer gut which is exactly what I felt brushing against my back nonstop for more than an hour. No matter how far I moved up, he would just follow right behind even though there was still a little bit of room behind us. Maybe he was just trying to cop a feel. I mean who could blame him? I'm gorgeous. I'm convinced the only reason Johnny didn't propose to me the night before was because it was too dark to see my beautiful face. Anyway, he eventually left. Awesome. Until his replacements came in. There were these two guys that had the most obnoxious voices in the world and yet didn't know how to stop talking. If a weedeater could talk, their voices are what I would imagine it would sound like. They were soon replaced by a couple of 17 year old girls that would randomly burst into song who were replaced by some rather over-the-top Depp fans. You know...the kind that are utterly convinced that they are meant to marry him. Forget Vanessa and their kids, they don't matter. That type. Eventually they were replaced by some slightly older women in they're late 50s/early 60s. These ladies were great. It was just awesome to hear people from a totally different generation talking about how sexy Johnny was in Don Juan DeMarco. I couldn't help but smile. It was a nice break in the monotony.

It was about then that two things happened. One was that people were selling the pictures that they took the previous night. They were priced anywhere from $1 to $4 depending on which desperately broke person you encountered. Now, I have nothing against trying to make some money, but this just rubbed me the wrong way. I was watching Johnny on Inside the Actor's Studio just that morning, and one of my favorite parts is the very end when he talks about being turned into a product and not letting people put their hands on him. I couldn't help but think that he would not approve of this. I decided to start showing people the pictures that I had taken the previous night. I got a lot of responses of "You should be selling those. I'd love a copy." Since I had decided how uncool it was to be selling them, I just told everyone that if they wanted a copy, to give me their e-mail address and I would send the pictures to them once I got home. By the end of the night, I had about 25 e-mails and I did indeed send them those pictures. Without charge.

I'm sure by now you're wondering why I'm not talking about Depp or the filming or anything, that's because there's not really anything to be said. Nothing was happening. No Depp sightings, no equipment moving, nothing. In fact, I don't even think we heard "Rolling" for the first time until the middle of the afternoon. As boring and monotonous as the first day was, it was increased tenfold the second. Eventually a few of the extras would occasionally come over and chat with us. Occasionally some sort of production assistant or something would come chat with us. As of Monday, they were going to be shooting the outdoor scenes on Tuesday, but we soon found out that it was too windy to do it on Tuesday, so they would have to do it on Wednesday. Thankfully, the wind was blocked by the 1,000+ people crammed onto the sidewalk, the sun was out (this time my face was blocked by my new fedora), and it was moderately warm. I even got to take my coat off for a while.

Eventually, the afternoon gave into evening, the evening grew dark into night. Still no sign of Johnny, but they had now been filming for several hours. It started growing colder but thanks to the lovely suggestion of my fellow Depphead in Virginia, the hand warmers crammed into my shoes kept my feet attached to my body, so I didn't mind it nearly as much. It was at this point in the day when people found our 'job' as spectators a little more difficult than I would imagine. You remember the job: sit there and shut up. I will never understand why people seem to be unable to a) listen to the people employed by the huge production company that is pumping money into their economy and providing great advertising for them by filming in their city and 2) be quiet for more than 15 seconds. As you may be able to guess the vast majority of the non-listeners fell between the ages of 12 and 18 with the exception of one lady that was growing quite impatient about not seeing Johnny all day and one guy about my age (I was to turn 24 the next day) that was just being an idiot. I've never uttered "shh" so many times in all of my life, and I even worked in a library for 4 years. Fortunately my mom/daughter buddies and I helped each other keep our sanity.

Around 6:30/7ish one of the PAs came out to tell us what was going on. He said they were about to start shooting a scene where Johnny starts out at the top of the building and will make his way through the house, steal a gun, take the warden hostage, etc. It's a really intense scene and we needed to be extremely quiet. By this point in the day I had finally realized that I could see one of the monitors. So I could watch while they were filming. Even though it was about a 15 inch monitor on the other side of the street, I could at least tell somewhat what was going on. I could see prison bars...and Johnny...running...and putting a gun to some guys head...I think. So now when I watch the movie, I can be like, "Hey, I watched them film that scene." Pretty cool.

This is where the story kinda takes a negative turn. Between the super impatient lady who would yell, "When are you gonna say wrap?!!" immediately after they said "rolling," the mid 20s idiot and an entire slew of people that did not like the fact that we were sitting in chairs and they were not, things started to get a little nasty. I was sitting in between the mom and her daughter because they were gracious enough to let me sit in their chair. Great people...again. Well, people started to give the daughter some grief because they were stuck standing while we were not. Most of these people arrived at oh....5 or 6 in the evening, as opposed to those of us that arrived in the morning and had been there all day. Anyway, they started griping about us in our chairs so the mom next to me started telling them off. Things got a little heated, but nobody moved or anything, so it wasn't too bad. More on this later.

Finally a little after 9, after many a "Rolling!"*notreallyquiet*"Cut!" It was followed by, "That's a wrap! THANK YOU CROWN POINT INDIANA!!!" Cheers erupted from the crowd as well as the production crew. Then a guy on a bike started riding by with a video camera trying to get us on camera. Things were at least lively by now. The cast and crew started leaving the set one by one. Eventually, everyone including the director were out of the building, and once again, no sign of Johnny.

I would be tempted to leave off here considering how long this already is, but I won't be mean like that again. There be no cliffhangers here today.

Tonight there was no "now what?" cloud hanging over us. Nobody budged. Not a soul. I was a little worried because the crowd was nearly twice as big as it was the previous night. I'm talking at least 1,000 probably closer to 1200 or so. A lot of people. I thought for sure that Johnny would bug out and escape without being scene. And then...some of the PAs started coming around telling us, "Mr. Depp will be coming out shortly, please stay calm. Do not push. Do not yell. Be mindful of who is in front of you because there are some little ones up front." No way. You've got to be kidding. The unfathomable generosity and kindness of Johnny Depp strikes again. So we waited. And waited. And waited. No screams. No commotion. Nothing. After a while though, there were an awful lot of camera flashes around the corner. I thought either Johnny is out and about again, or they're all taking pictures of nothing. Eventually we came to realize that it was Johnny. People were much more subdued than the previous night. I was quite thankful for that considering that first incident in the line.

Back to the obnoxious people behind us. By now they were really getting testy. The mom buddy was starting to get a bit protective of her daughter. I don't blame her. This girl had been nothing but nice and considerate all day. She was sweet as can be, and now people were giving her crap just because they felt like they could. So I told her that I would do everything in my power to get her up front by the time Johnny came around. As JD slowly made his way closer, people started getting pushier. I saw a spot open up on the fence and I immediately grabbed her and told her to move up there. It took a few minutes and some contortionism on everyone's behalf, but she made it up there. I stationed myself directly between and behind two people, and we all kinda squeeeeeeeeeeeeezed together like we were one big happy family. The obnoxious people were still complaining, but there wasn't really anything they could do. There were a few other people that had arrived much later than us, but they were very understanding and courteous and realized that we had been there longer so that's why we were up front, and they weren't. We tried to accommodate those people instead of the ones being a complete butt to a 17 year old girl.

Anyway, Johnny was slowly getting closer. The girl had made a sign with one of his favorite quotes and she put it up in front of the fence. When he made his way to her, she told him to read it. He did, smiled really big, said thank you, and gave her a big ol' hug.
Awwww. What a sweetie. At this point I was running through the 10,000 things I wanted to say to him. I had decided this time to focus more on him as opposed to getting pictures. When he finally reached me, he took hold of my hand again, looked me in the eyes again, and all I could say was, "Thank you so much, Johnny." To which he said, "Oh no, thank you so much for coming out here and being so patient." He had a big smile on his face, gave a slight nod, and then slowly slipped his hand out of mine.

*Sigh* So now everything from the previous night PLUS I talked to him and he talked to me.

I still can't believe how amazing this man is. I mean, I knew it before, but when you experience it first hand, it's a whole other story. I went to say goodbye to my mom/daughter buddies and the girl couldn't speak. Her mom told me the story of the hug, but she just couldn't say anything. The poor thing was in shock, but the good kind of shock. The elated kind of shock. I thanked them again for their generosity, assured them I'd be e-mailing them pictures and went on my merry way. I made it to my car and started my journey back home to Ohio. I got back to the intersection right next to the set when all of a sudden a mass of people started moving. Then out pops the Black Beauty, window down, enthusiastic hand waving..at me...in my car. So what did I do? I honked. :D Not only did I get to meet him, shake his hand, talk to him, look into his eyes, but I also got to honk at him. And then he was gone, and it was over.

On the way out I passed by a Dairy Queen who's sign said, "Depp Eats Free." I wanted to take a picture, but it was late and dark. After that I made it to the highway, called my Virginia buddy and ended up talking to her until I got to the Ohio border. I arrived at home at about 4 am and thus ended this incredible and unforgettable adventure.

So that's it. That is my Crown Point experience in its entirety. I apologize for the epic length of this post, but it was either that or I leave you with another cliffhanger. Thanks for stickin with me this long. I hope you'll keep reading. I think tomorrow I'll actually explain why I was willing to go to such great lengths to meet this wonderful man. Beyond that, I'm not sure what I'll. I guess I'll just talk about everyday life and continue to try following the filming of Public Enemies as best as I can. Maybe I'll throw in reviews of JD's movies occasionally or something. I don't know. I'll just have to roll with the punches.

Thanks again for reading!

Peace!

-Tessa

March 24th, 2008 - A Day Which Will Live in Infamy

2008-03-29T12:08:00.016-04:00

...at least for me, anyways.

So I left off right before the story turned really good. That is what we call a 'cliffhanger.'

"A cliffhanger is a plot device in which a movie, novel, or other work of fiction contains an abrupt ending, often leaving the main characters in a precarious or difficult situation, or with a sudden shock revelation. This type of ending is used to ensure that, if a next installment is made, audiences will return to find out how the cliffhanger is resolved."

Thank you wikipedia.

So filming had just wrapped and everyone started gradually leaving the building. One by one every extra, crew member, production assistant, prop boy, etc evacuated the jail house. Eventually there was a strong indication that the building was completely empty. But where was Depp? Every other time he came into/out of the building we saw him do so. Surely he's not still in there considering the building was allegedly about 20 degrees inside. Hmmm. There was an undeniable atmosphere of "now what?" hanging in the air. You could almost see it floating above everyone's heads. We were all asking ourselves the same questions: "Should I stay or s hould I go now?" Was he really gone? Did he sneak out the back? Would he still come out and at least wave? Should I wait out by base camp?

After much internal debate and spending a good 15 minutes convincing two of my Monday buddies to not leave yet, we decided to journey towards base camp. If he did the sneak out the back then he would at least still be in his trailer. It was our best chance for a glimpse. We got over there and our positioning was terrible. Thankfully though, our timing was impeccable. No more than about 3 minutes after we got there, Johnny's bodyguard, Jerry, came out to let us know that if we would line up behind the orange barrier (the one we had just left) Mr. Depp would be coming around to pose for pictures. So...the crowd shifted, and since we were on the end closest to the orange barrier out front, we got a great spot right up front...so we thought.

We stood there waiting for just about 5 minutes or so when all of a sudden loud screams erupted from way down the line. He must be out and about. Cool. He'll be here in a minute. I can get my picture of him and be happy. Except that it was taking an awful lot longer than I thought it would. How much time does it take to walk down the street even if you're going slowly enough for people to take pictures? But then I finally caught a glimpse of the huddle of people on the other side of the fence. They were right next to it. Johnny was actually right up there shaking people's hands and talking to them. No way. I'm not only going to get to see him up close, but I'm going to get to meet Johnny Depp. I never knew I could be so excited.

And then the clouds rolled in. Our up front spot right on the fence was soon buried behind about 20 people. There was a gap in the road blocks and instead of people being fair and respectful to those of us that were actually doing what we were told, they just plopped themselves right in front of us. Now, I'm not one to complain too much, and I'm usually not all that vocal about things when I am displeased, but I made my voice heard. I started trying to get the security people to you know...do their job because not only was I getting gipped but there being no fence out there in front of those people, it was putting JD in an awfully precarious and potentially dangerous situation. Unfortunately, the security guards did not hear me.

Johnny slowly made his way closer and by the time he was in front of the people in front of us, all hell had broken loose. I thought for sure this was going to be the moment that he would get back in the Black Beauty and promptly disappear. But he didn't. He did however move past this area of the crowd quite quickly, though. I could only get momentary glimpses of him every few odd seconds, so I kinda just stuck my camera out there and started snapping away. The vast majority of the pics were complete crap...
But I did manage to snag a few decent ones.

And then this one.

Shortly after that one was taken, he had moved on past us. For the moment I was quite satisfied with just being that close and getting that picture, but something stirred from within me. I just realized how far I drove, how long I stood out in the freezing cold, how little I had eaten, how badly my body hurt, and how much money I had spent to get to this point, and then I was consumed by determination. Let me make one thing clear, I did not have the arrogance to expect to meet Johnny. I realized full well the generosity he was showing by being out there at all, but I think this determination that sprung up was more in spite of the inconsiderate people that jumped in front of us. So I decided I was going to the other end of the line to catch him.

I quickly exchanged e-mails and phone numbers with my two buddies that I had convinced to stay and then told them to follow me because I was going to the other end of the line. It was a surprisingly easy task for me. Even though there were masses of people, I just pushed right on through. I wasn't rude, and I didn't actually have to physically hurt anyone, but I managed to come out fine on the other side, and I was way past Johnny now. He was still midway down the line. I found a decent spot to park in, and I did just that. There was only one person in front of me, and I wasn't about to budge to let anyone else in. My companions soon caught up with me and they got in right behind the people next to me. We started discussing how infuriated we were about the rude people at the other end of the line when the guy in front of us said, well you ladies go ahead and get in front of me, I already shook his hand down at the other end. Finally, a good samaritan. Depp & Co were soon approaching, and the guy that was now behind us offered to take one of the other ladies' camera because he was really tall and had a perfect shot from where he was. What a nice guy. Anyway, he was moving down the line toward us, and then all of a sudden there he was.

I couldn't believe it. The man I've admired so much for so long. The man who's been in so many great movies that I love. Oscar nominee. Golden Globe winner. Captain Jack Sparrow. Sweeney Todd...Johnny Depp. I stuck my hand out there and a few seconds later I felt him grab it, let go, then he grabbed it again. His handshake was just right, gentle, yet firm enough to know that he was actually acknowledging you. He looked at me in the eye and smiled, and I couldn't say anything. There were so many things that I wanted to say, but I couldn't spit it out.

But when I looked into those beautiful eyes, I just didn't feel a need to say anything. After what felt like a few minutes, his hand slowly and gently slipped out of mine and he moved on down the line, and it was over.

I wish I could describe to you how I felt about then, but I can't. There are no words. All the waiting, the freezing, the starving, the pain, the boredom, the money, the driving, the sunburn, the rudeness of others were all TOTALLY worth it for that one moment. I had read from others that he has this calming effect when he's near you, and it's true. He really does. I wasn't mad anymore. I wasn't cold anymore. I wasn't hungry anymore. Anything negative disappeared for those few brief moments. All was right in my world. In fact all I could think about was how I was just totally blown away by Johnny's kindness and graciousness. If I walked out and saw the size of the crowd waiting, I would have done an immediate about face and ran away. But not only did he stick it out to greet the whole crowd, but he was attentive to everyone. If someone said something to him, he would directly respond. He looked into your eyes. He really gave you the feeling that if even for just a brief moment, he was yours.

Once I finally was able to process normal thoughts again, I said goodbye to my new friends, told them I'd be sending them pictures soon and started walking to my car. I immediately got my phone out to call my fellow Depphead in Virginia to share my excitement with her. Speaking of, I just want to take this opportunity to send a shout-out to my Phonebook girls! Love you guys! If it wasn't for the encouragement, pushing, positive attitude, and cheering from these girls, I probably wouldn't have been crazy enough to do this. So thank you so much ladies! If you're wondering what Phonebook is, go here. Anyway, as I was on the phone gushing about looking in Johnny's eyes and how soft his hands were, a number I didn't recognize was beeping in, it was my new pals that I convinced to stay. They asked me to join them for dinner, so I said sure. This is what I mean when I talk about how great the people of Crown Point are. They are just amazing. So I had dinner with them at this awesome Greek places whose name I cannot remember nor can I find for the life of me. I then went to the hotel, warmed myself up, shared a few of the pictures with people and finally made it to bed after being up for nearly 40 hours straight. All in all, it was a fantastic day.

Now, I'm sure some of you may think I'm a little crazy with my Deppsession. Ok. Feel free. But my admiration for Johnny Depp goes way beyond "OMG HE IS SOO HAWT!" There's much more to it than that which is what I've decided to talk about once I'm done recalling my Crown Point experience. I figure I might as well tell you why I decided to drive 4 hours and sit in the cold and all that just to see this man. He's had quite a profound impact on me and I look forward to sharing that with everyone.

I've spent the majority of the day today sorting through all of my pictures. I have about 150 so far that I'll most likely be posting. So starting this evening hopefully I'll be updating my photobucket album, the link for which is on the right under "My Crown Point Photo Album."

On tap for tomorrow is Day 2 of the experience. OH! And I picked up a copy of Public Enemies yesterday. I've only gotten through the author's note and the prologue, but I'm sucked in already. I look forward to diving into it.

Until tomorrow...

Peace!

-Tessa

Sleep is important

2008-03-28T13:00:00.014-04:00

Yes, boys and girls. When mommy and daddy tell you to go to bed, you should heed their advice. As previously mentioned, I never went to bed Sunday night and the after effects of that are still lingering. By Wednesday, I had lost my upper level brain function. By this morning I had lost my normal brain function. All because I lost one night of sleep nor have I slept well since. So, I'm going to try to pound this next post out before I go into a catatonic state. If it seems somewhat vacant, now you know why.

We left off as everyone was buzzing about our first Depp sighting. I had already called about 5 or 6 people myself to gloat about it. It's a cool thing to say, "I just saw Johnny Depp." Now, I've come to realize just how much I am talking about only JD. The truth is, it's unavoidable. I am a Johnny Depp fan. I like to talk about him, and he is about 99% of the reason I took this journey. However, I will try to better portray the experience as a whole in relation to the movie, the town, the history, the people and everything else.

So once the excitement finally started to almost somewhat kinda not really die down a little bit, we started to get a better idea of what the rest of the day would be like. The extras started regularly passing between the Halls of Justice and the jail house. More equipment kept getting magically shoved into the jail house. Everything was finally set up to start production. Pretty soon various people who were part of the production but what their job was, I will never know, started to come around and tell us what to expect. They told us that they would begin filming soon and once they start we would need to be quiet. The mics they were using are ultra sensitive and even though we are outside and they are inside, they can still pick up the noise. So once the person assigned to say "rolling" did so, we had to be quiet until they yelled "cut." I know this doesn't sound like very exciting news, but somehow it is. It makes you feel like you're a part of it somehow because you have a job to do now: sit there and shut up. Sounds easy doesn't it? I thought it was, but apparently it was just a little too difficult for some people. I'll address that in more detail much later, though. It wasn't much longer till we saw a mass of extras funnel into the jail house. Just moments later, we heard the magic word for the first time. "Rolling!" A hush fell upon the crowd like nothing I had ever heard. Nearly 1,000 people, dead silent. It was cool. No more than 30 seconds later we hear, "Cut!"

That was the routine for the next two hours. A regular string of "Rolling!" *quiet* "Cut!" Repeated indefinitely. We had heard that they would be breaking for lunch around 1. By this point in the day, I was praying for the break. I still had no feet. My bladder was now the size of a water buffalo. I was starving even more than I was 2 hours before, but I didn't want to miss anything. I was determined to stay put until they broke for lunch. Sure enough shortly after 1 there was a mass exodus from the jail house. They were breaking for lunch. Praise the God of labor laws, I can finally move...after Johnny comes out again. It wasn't more than a few minutes when he came out the front door, this time in a long dark trench coat but still in his signature shades. Once again he waved enthusiastically at the crowd as he walked to his SUV. Once again, he got in the SUV, rolled the window down and continued waving at the crowd.

As soon as the Black Beauty disappeared around the corner, the entire crowd started to shift towards the square where luxuries such as food and restrooms would be found. I and my newly discovered pal Jill headed towards a cute little ice cream shop called "What's the Scoop" where I finally got to go potty and get some food. As we were walking over there I finally rediscovered my feet and they didn't seem to happy to see me again. My dogs were barkin, as some would say. It had never been so painful to walk, but I still didn't care. I had seen Johnny Depp. I was watching what I believe will be a fantastic film being made. I had met some really awesome people. Life was good.

On the literal bright side, the sun was now beaming. It was as clear as can be, and I have never been so thankful to see temperatures around 40 degrees. It was now a beautiful day in every sense of the word. I made my way back to my spot in front of the library, across from the H of J and parked there again for the remainder of the day. We all just sat around chatting about Johnny, the movie, Dillinger, life in general, etc. I found out that one of my Monday buddies may distantly be related to Billie Frechette, Dillinger's girl, as they have the same last name and various relatives of her husband had spent some time in jail shortly after the days of Dillinger. Cool, huh?

After hanging out with nothing much going on for about an hour and a half, in rides the Black Beauty and out steps JD again. Waving enthusiastically again. This time when he got up on the steps to the jail house he turned down the street to about where we were stationed and waved at those of us slightly less fortunate for being far away. *Sigh* What a sweetie. He then disappeared into the jail house again, and that was that. Then began another much longer succession of "Rolling! *quiet* "Cut!" The day wore on and as the sun slowly started to sink behind the buildings and the trees, it started to get colder again. I waved goodbye to my feet and told them I hoped to see them again soon. And this is about when I made a somewhat unbelievable discovery. I had gotten sunburned. It hurt to touch my face. I had a very "you've got to be kidding" attitude about it. When you go outside in the morning and the temperature is 20 degrees, sunscreen is one of the last things on your mind. So here's my word of advice for today: Wear Sunscreen.

Soon the sun had totally disappeared. It was now sometime after 7 pm. After dozens of times of hearing "Rolling!"*quiet*"Cut!" it was finally followed by, "That's a wrap!" The crowd started cheering. After standing and/or sitting in the freezing cold all day by our own accord, we could now see the light at the end of the tunnel.

As much as it hurts for me to tease you all like this, I'm going to stop here simply because the next 2 hours of events deserve a post of its own. So I know that there are people reading this because you have told me you are. So please don't be afraid to say hello. I won't bite. Even if you feel the need to change your name to Anonymous to protect the innocent, I will still appreciate it. Besides, I think Anonymous is a beautiful name. Not exactly unique but wonderful nonetheless. I can't promise that I'll have the energy or brain power to get into the next post tonight, but I will try. If not, I will definitely do it tomorrow since it's my super boring day at work.

Stick with me. The next one will be good.

Peace out!

-Tessa

Day 1 (Sorta) Continued

2008-03-27T14:00:00.000-04:00

They aallllll deserve to diiiiiie!
Tell you why Mrs. Lovett, tell you why!
Because in all of the whole human race, Mrs. Lovett,
There are two kinds of men and only two... . . . .

Ahem.

Woops. Wrong movie. My apologies. I get carried away when I'm listing to Sweeney. I might as well take this opportunity to remind everybody that Sweeney Todd does come out on DVD next Tuesday, April 1st. So pick up your copy today!! Or...I guess next Tuesday. Ok, enough of my Johnny Depp promoting, let's talk about Johnny Depp.

So we last left off with the frozen foot saga and my new location. I was stationed in front of the old Public Library and directly across the street from the front door of the Halls of Justice. The H of J is right next to the jail house they were filming in, so it was still pretty good real estate I had landed in. I watched as truck after truck pulled in and out unloading equipment which then got loaded into the jail house. Now, the house is a pretty decent sized building, but I will never be able to figure out how they got so much stuff and so many people in there. It reminded me of one of those clown cars. This was pretty much the scene for the next few hours.

Eventually, out of boredom, desperation, and lack of choice, I started talking to the people around me. I'm really glad I did because it turned out that I was stationed with some really fantastic people. There was one lady there who's son was an extra. She was there with his girlfriend. So it was cool getting to talk to them and finding out what the process was of him getting into the movie. Soon after I started talking to another lady and then a mother and a daughter right next to us and we all kinda bonded as the day wore on. Once I had told them that I had been there since 3 am, they took pity on me and let me sit in their chairs occasionally. God bless those people. As painful and as difficult as it was to stand as much as I did, I can't imagine what it would have been like without being able to sit occasionally.

Anyway, things started to gradually get more exciting. We started seeing the extras all decked out in 1930s garb, police uniforms, and inmate clothing. It was really cool to see that stuff and those people knowing that in a year or so, I'll be watching them on the big screen. So there was some really cool stuff going on, things were getting exciting, and then eventually it was just kinda idle. Nothing new really going on. Boredom set in. I was starving. My feet were still missing. It was now about 10ish and I had to pee since about 4, but I was NOT going anywhere until I saw the man I came for. You know...this one -->
See? After looking at that wouldn't you be willing to brave the cold, the lack of food, the lack of feet, and the expanding bladder to get a glimpse of him?

Good news soon approached in the form of an extra. He was dressed as a reporter and he was...a reporter. He worked for the Post-Tribune. Anyway, this wonderful wonderful man gave us the run down of what was going on today. He told us that they were shooting a press conference kind of scene indoors with Depp and Bale and that Johnny is usually very good about greeting the crowd. That he'll come out and smile and wave and acknowledge the crowd. He said that he's a really nice guy, very down to earth, very humble. Awesome. Everyone that has met him seems to agree on this fact. I love knowing that I'm not a massive fan of a complete tool but instead I'm a massive fan of a genuinely great man. Soon after the reporter man went back over to the Halls of Justice to join the rest of the extras, and we were left with nothing to do but continue to wait.

And then...11:00 rolled around and it was some time around then that we heard the screams coming down the block. Then I saw it. The beautiful black Ford Expedition rolled onto set with a window down and a hand outside waving enthusiastically. Oh my gravy. This is it. I'm actually about to see him. He stepped out of the car, and there he was in all his beautiful glory dressed in his inmate costume, wearing the awesome rusty tan jacket that we've seen him in recently and sporting those totally awesome purple shades with black rims. He smiled and waved eagerly at the crowd looking just as thrilled to see us as we were to see him. I clicked away with my totally amazing DSLR and managed to get nearly 20 shots before he went into the building. Right after that the phone calls started. All around people were on their cell phones, every conversation starting with, "I just saw Johnny Depp!!!" Every person in the crowd was equally awestruck whether they were young, old, middle-aged, male, female, whatever. We had just seen a star, and a great one at that.

Soon after Johnny Depp consumed all conversation. He's all any of us could talk about. We talked about all of his movies, which ones were our favorites, which movie made us fans, why we like him so much, how nice of a guy everyone says he is, and so on and so on. It was awesome. Usually when I start talking JD, people look at me like I'm crazy. It was nice to be in equally 'crazy' company for a change.

So the more I write, the more I realize how long this is going to take, but I want to do the experience justice. Plus I want to be able to remember it exactly how it was, every detail. So I hope y'all stick with me for the duration. It will probably take me a couple more days to get through the whole thing, but I'll try not to bore you with lame stuff like alien communication hallucinations and Cheesus Jesus anymore. Keep checking back as I will at the very least be adding pictures to my posts this evening. I will definitely continue recounting the experience tomorrow if not tonight. So please stay tuned. I appreciate it already.

OH! And someone in a comment notified me that I'm in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uLk09XRzc8

I'm not sure where I am in the video because I can't access youtube at work, but when he asks where are you from and the answer is Dayton, Ohio, that's me. SUPAHSTAH!

More later!

- Tessa

Day 1: 3 Days Late

2008-03-27T08:42:00.000-04:00

Ok, so as it turns out, I accidentally forgot my flash drive with all of my pictures at home this morning. So for now, I'll just insert generic photos to make the post 'visually appealing' and when I get home, I'll go back and replace them with my photos.

There it is. That's the journey that I made between the hours of 11 pm EST and 3 am CST Sunday night/Monday morning just to see Johnny Depp in the flesh. To answer your question right now, no, I did not get any sleep before leaving. There were many times throughout the drive that I thought to myself, "Tessa, you are out of your mind for doing this." But then I would think, "Yeah Tessa, but if it pays off it will be worth it." This is what I do when I drive really late at night by myself on no sleep. I have really deep conversations with myself.

Anyway, I set out from Dayton full of excitement. I had a playlist on my iPod full of various Johnny-related songs - you know, songs from various movie soundtracks, songs that he plays guitar on, Sweeney Todd, of course. I had that previously mentioned internal argument with myself about every 15 minutes. I had to, there was nothing else to do but look at an empty road shrouded in darkness. The closer I got, the more the excitement built up within me, and then eventually I started to think I was hallucinating from the dangerous cocktail of exhaustion and an unparalleled anticipation. I was nearing Indianapolis when I encountered a sign with blinking lights that looked something like this:
If anyone out there can explain this oddity to me, please do. Personally, I think it's some form of alien communication, or maybe only people from Indiana can read what it says. It's Hoosierese. As a Buckeye, I'm not one to criticize. I mean, we do have the I-75 Giant Touchdown Jesus.-->

Back to the task at hand. I had to stop at about 2:30 am EST (I think) for a quick power nap. I then set back out on my pilgrimage. I was driving along and at about 3:08 EST (I think) I saw the first sign for Crown Point. I was 53 miles away. I started jumping up and down...well, as much as one can jump up and down while restrained in the driver's seat of a car. I kept creeping closer and closer, 47 miles, 41 miles, 37 miles, etc. etc. Then at some point I opened my cell phone and looked at the time and realized it was now an hour earlier than I thought it was. Crap. I'm going to arrive at three o'clock in the flipping morning.

Even though I was going to be an hour earlier than I expected, I still felt like I couldn't get there fast enough. Sure enough at about 2:50 CST I got to Crown Point. And then I got worried. Why? Because there was virtually nothing within sight to indicate that a movie was to start filming there supposedly in 3 hours. Fortunately, though, as I drove around, I finally saw some road blocks and trucks and people and then I saw the sign at the Super Bowl that said, "Welcome Public Enemies Cast and Crew." Sweet. I am in the right place. So I found a church parking lot to park in after I saw someone else park there. I gathered up all my stuff and started walking in the same direction as them. Surprisingly, there were about 25-30 people sitting across the street from the sheriff's house/jail house already, so I didn't feel like such a moron for getting there so early.

It took all of about 15 minutes for the excitement and anticipation to be overcome by absolute desperation to get warm. Even though I had 5 shirts on and thermal undies on as well. I was totally freezing, especially my feet. After about an hour of torture to my poor sole(s) I went back to my car and added two more pairs of socks and put on my non-breathable boots. I thought, "Surely this will be enough. I'll be good to go now." I thought wrong. After standing for a while it literally felt like my legs melted into the concrete. I had no feet. My feet were nonexistent. That had frozen and fallen off completely. At least, that's how it felt.

Initially there was absolutely nothing going on. Now I had heard that this experience involved a lot of waiting around, so I was prepared for that. But there were hardly any people. No equipment. No base camp. Nothing. Until about 5 am. Then all of a sudden Hollywood descended on Crown Point, Indiana. Big semi's full of equipment, huge trailers, and snow maker trucks started pouring in from all directions. I eventually walked around back behind the jail house where the bowling alley was earlier that morning. By this point it had magically turned into base camp. I walked through without even a blink from security. I got to look into the wardrobe trailer from a distance. I could have very easily have ventured in, but I wanted to be respectful. I eventually parked my butt at the corner of base camp behind the barriers with a few other people. A few of which had driven from Louisville, Kentucky. I wasn't so crazy after all. Somebody did drive further than me. About 5 minutes later, the security guard shooed us away. So I went back out around front and parked myself in across the street from the Halls of Justice which is right next door to the jail house, and that's exactly where I stayed for the next 14 hours.

The day obviously does not end here, but I have to have some sort of cut off between Sunday and Monday. So I shall stop here for now. I'll probably post the experience from Monday later today because I am at work which means I have nothing to do. So expect some awesomeness later: meeting new people, learning just how much equipment it takes to make a movie, frostbite and sunburn all in one day, and of course, Johnny Depp.

Stay tuned!

-Tessa

Getting set up

2008-03-26T18:28:00.000-04:00

Ok people. I went to Crown Point to catch some of the filming of Public Enemies and it was AMAZING! I have lots and lots of stories and pictures to share so I thought it would just be easy to start a whole new blog for such an occasion. I have a lot of photos to go through and not much available time or energy to do so, so please be patient. It'll be worth it though, I promise. Oh, and thanks a million just for reading. I'll try really hard to not be totally lame or boring. Here be a picture to appease you while waiting.