2010: Holy shit...what a year it's been...

Hi, teens! 
It's gotten to be that time when I do the best I can with my Mad Cow-addled brain, to recall the year that is about to come to a close, and amuse you with my crazy memories of time, people, places and things gone by.  Strap in...curves ahead...and thank god for ginko-biloba pills!!  Believe me, I'm STARTING this thing in an attempt at chronology, but I'll bet you all a nice, shiny quarter that ain't gonna last too long...


2010 was a year that on many levels is one I'd LOVE to forget, but at the same time was filled with events that I'll ALWAYS remember...and many of them fall into both categories. So I'll have to pick things apart here and there to try and make some sense of things.  I rewound my memory tapes to the beginning of the year, and one of the first things that comes to mind is my pal, Sammy.  Not the former Van Halen and current Chickenfoot frontman, mind you...but my dog.  I had gotten Sammy towards the end of 2009.  He was a Yorkie, and a lot of fun to hang out with.  He wasn't the best dog on the block for learning where to pee, but then again, neither am I.
I have a work schedule that isn't the most conducive for consistent training ability, so that suffered while I was at work, and was only able to stop by to play with him a few short visits during each shift.  Ultimately, it proved to be an unwinnable situation, and in his best interest, I decided after some thought that he needed a better home than what I currently was able to provide for him.  He went to stay with a co-worker who has other pets, kids, a house with a yard, and most importantly, ongoing interaction that will allow him to grow and learn in a way that suits HIM best.  I needed to make that choice for him, even if it made me or others sad, and believe me, it did.  However, I also look back very fondly because, as I told people at the time I had to say adios to him, that he was in fact, my strange angel as well, and had a purpose to coming into my life when he did.
Thanks to Sammy, I wound up meeting someone who...at least for a short period of very intense time...turned my world upside down.  I thought that it was something that only happened on TV shows or in chesseball movies, but when you literally meet someone outside of where you live as a result of YOUR dog being friendly with THEIR dog, and form a relationship soon after, you start giving credence to cliches you once thought were just retarded.
Not long after my relationship with this person began to take shape, that unfortunate decision to give Sammy to my co-worker was made, but like I said...in the shadow of feeling like shit about that, I was also kind of happy, since I attributed my new wonderful relationship to Sammy's ability to just be a friendly and cute little pal...his work was done, and he needed to go help someone else was my thinking. 
My girlfriend at the time also had a dog, a big Golden Retriever who was always really tolerant of Sammy...even when he was flinging him around playfully.  Sammy always thought he was as big and tough as a Pitbull, and carried himself as such.  It was always fun to watch him go up against CM's dog. 
Well, my relationship with CM ended after not too long, and it was a heartbreak.  Really and truly.  Some people in my Fourth Perimeter know exactly how that went down for and with me, and they were there to make sure I didn't lose my sense of stability to the point of not getting it back.  I sure as hell miss Sammy a lot still, and just yesterday, I saw CM's dog in the hall of my building (she shares custody of him with someone who lives here), and I could swear the dog looked at me like "HEY!  You're my buddy!  I remember you...let's go play!!".  He took a few steps toward me, but I had to ignore it and keep walking down my hallway, as much as I wanted to pet him. One day, I'll have another dog, but not just yet. I know now that I have to do things a bit different next time around with a dog, so I have my ideas forming, and in time there'll be another four-legged friend hanging out here with me in JonnyLand.

 Sammy

So...the first chunk of 2010 started great, but turned devastating.  By the end of May, I was on my own again, and now, 7 months later, I'm a better guy for having had both those relationships come and go.  I think about Sammy, and wonder how he's doing and if he'd remember me if I ever saw him again, knowing I probably never will.  I think about CM sometimes as well.  It's kind of hard not to, given the intensity of my relationship with her.  Man, I'll tell ya...I thought "love" wasn't a strong enough word for what was going on between us.  That alone made the realization that it's wasn't "love" at all really, even more of a caustic burn when it came to a screeching and sudden halt.  Made me think, though.  Made me realize how I have to govern and protect myself a little bit more when I take steps towards another relationship of substance...
Maybe one of these days, our paths will cross again.  Doubtful, but never say never...except if it's in response to her asking to ever get back together.  Won't do THAT again....if for the only reason that I'd get my ass kicked by a few people whose job it is to keep me safe...lol...even if it's from MYSELF!!


In the midst of all that chaos, I also realized that I had a best friend in another person I had been involved with for over three years now.  It takes a special breed of caring for someone to be able to be by my side when I'm in misery over a breakup, when not all that long before then, it was US that was in the same situation.  JV and I have been each other's friend, lover, confidante and now best friend since 2007 when we first met.  Peaks and valleys later, we still always seem to gravitate towards one another.  A slice of pizza at Nicky's, a movie, a drive to Six Flags...we would just find that enjoying time together was more important than losing one another from our lives.  
So many major things in my life happened while I was with her...not by any planning, but just because we were so inseparable.  My new apartment...she was with me when I first saw it and knew it was my home.  My new car...she was with me to hop in shotgun and go for the first ride with me.  Getting Sammy down in Asbury Park, New Jersey...she held him in her lap, as afraid of dogs as she had always been, but she quickly fell in love with him and overcame her fear.  My breakup with another woman...JV was there, even though it must have bothered or hurt her some to be consoling me over the loss of another woman, she did it unflinchingly.  She changed a lot of minds in acting that way.  Some of my friends hadn't been real fans of hers after the way she ended our relationship some time before, but when they saw how caring and supportive she was of me during a hellacious period of time, they changed their tune, and realized, as did I, that JV was a very special person in my life, as she continues to be, even though now she has moved on with several aspects of her life, most notably, that she lives out in Colorado now, and I feel a huge sense of emptiness sometimes when it was always so easy to walk 4 blocks to her house or have her swing by here to go out for some food.  Anyway, being someone's best friend isn't about distance, it's about the quality of the relationship...and that's why I know she and I will be best friends forever now.







As I sit here thinking about things that comprised the past year, it's a little hard to believe that so many things went on in what FELT like a short period of time....


In March, I also had the immense pleasure of becoming "Uncle Jonny" to my brother's daughter, Sydney.  Named after our grandfather Sidney, which I know he would be flattered as hell about, Sydney is now approaching 9 months, and whether she likes it or not, is going to have a brother or sister in July.  Boy am I glad I live here in NY.  No changing double poopyass diapers for me!!  Sydney is adorable, funny and is moments away from learning to crawl on her own.  She has personality times 100, and I still can't believe they allowed my brother to procreate!!  I just hope the next baby is a boy so I can inundate him with the proper boy things: Superman, rock n roll, action movies, Maxim magazine and muscle cars! :)  They are all bringing in the New Year in Maui right now, and I bet Sydney will be dancing the hula in no time....

 "No pictures!!"

The year progressed, and things were fairly status quo on most fronts.  I was still enjoying my job, and trying my best to do the best I could.  As an EMT, I would be seeing people on what has just turned into a fairly shitty day for them, and "taking care" of people isn't always just about splinting an arm or bandaging a cut.  There's emotional investment as well, and I hope I can continue to do a good job caring for my patients on the levels they need me to.  One of the most surprising moments of my work-related year came in being notified I had been nominated to receive my first ever "Lifesaving" award for a job I had been on with my partner several months earlier, where a man had been outside shoveling snow...you know where this is going, huh?
Well, he had dropped in his bedroom, and by the time we had gotten there, he had been down a few minutes, and we immediately started CPR, and my paramedic partner began to push drugs in an attempt to get his heartbeat back. We got pulses back, and were able to transport him to the ER.  So many people were hands-on for that job, and helped us out with the patient, and when I got the word that my partner and I were going be awarded for saving his life, I thought immediately of everyone else involved, and if they were being recognized as well.  I am not one for praise or recognition...at least in public.  I am a shy person (stop laughing...what you all see on a daily basis is the "job costume" of being outward and such...) and would always be more comfortable with a subtle handshake or wink off on the side somewhere.  I always said that two things I want to do before I ever have to leave this job for one reason or another were to save a life and deliver a baby.  Hang on though...just because I'm halfway to my goal doesn't mean I'm thinking of getting out of the job!  I'm just saying...it's time for someone to pop out a baby in the back of my ambulance so I can reach my goal :)
I felt very good about helping this person, and I was even more happy to be able to present my 96 year old grandmother with my Lifesaving certificate from the ceremony.  It is because of my grandfather, who passed away in 2005, and an uncle's one-sentence inspirational remark to me, that I went and recertified my EMT card and am able to help others today.  I told my grandmother that I wanted her to have my certificate and that I hoped my grandfather somehow would know I am doing my best for others. I think he knows.
This year also marked the single worst job I have ever done in all the years of being an EMT.  Too long and graphic of a story to go into right now, but it was the single most bloody scene I have ever encountered, and unfortunately the victim didn't survive, it sure as hell confirmed that I can do this job no matter what I see.  I had a partner with me that day who was new to the 911 system, and he had never done a cardiac arrest before.  I popped his cherry that day...bigtime.  He later told me that he wouldn't have wanted to work an arrest with anyone else but me.  I felt pretty good about that.  We did everything we were supposed to, the way we were taught, and although it wasn't enough to save this lady, I felt comfortable with my work, and the work of my partner.  The next week, we went back to the scene (it was a doctor's office) to see how the other office workers were doing after such a horrific incident.  It turns out that the funeral for that lady, the office receptionist, was that day, and the doctor was there giving a eulogy.  It was heartening to know that he felt close to someone who worked for him that he would go to her funeral and deliver a speech that I'm sure only painted a wonderful picture of this woman who so suddenly lost her life.  The other ladies in the office were sad, but they told my partner and I how great their friend was, and how everyone there was taking care of one another.  They thanked us for stopping back in to see how they were doing...and that was the first and only time I have ever returned to the scene of one of my jobs  with the express purpose to follow up and see how people were doing after going through something as traumatic as this was.  I think that kind of "caring" is just as important for people in my line of work as the type we show when we respond to the job itself.  I never EVER want to be "the best" EMT.  I want to DO my best, and try to learn something each day, good or bad, and I think I do.  I want people to feel that they were taken care of by me, and that I did the best I could to make them feel better.  This is the only job I've ever given a shit about, and I think it's one of the only ones I've done with any measure of success.

 I text a lot....

Part of this job as an EMT, is that we work in very close harmony with police and fire here in the city.  Police officers are usually on our jobs with us to take care of any aspect of things that would fall into their department, including our safety.  I am friends with countless officers on this job, and off the job as well.  We are a family, and we are there to help and look out for one another.  This was never more solidly instilled in me than on June 12th when "one of our own" was lost in the line of duty.

Mike Perry was one of the police department's best officers, and he was one of the first I ever met when I came on the job in 2005. Always friendly as hell, wearing baseball batting gloves as his version of "skel gloves" so he wouldn't get any crap on his hands...literally or figuratively!  Always meeting my partner and I at our ambulance with "Hey bro!" or "What's goin' on, bro!", Mike was awesome to have on jobs, and eventually, he and I started to have these little chats on the jobs we would go on together.  We would talk a moment or two before loading the patient in the bus, or while we are waiting to get into a building or home.  We became pretty good buddies, and very adept at having snippits of conversations before we actually had to then focus on our respective jobs.  One day I got a friend request from him on Facebook, and I thought to myself "holy shit...he knows my name???"...see, as I mentioned, on jobs, it was always "dude" or "bro" from Mike, accompanied by the requisite knuckle bump...or "pound"...whatever that thing is called.  I was really happy that he had friended me, and we began to continue our abbreviated conversations on FB with a bit more detail.  On jobs though, he would call me "bro" more than "Jon", and that was just fine by me.  It was what I was to him. "Bro".


I'm probably gonna go into the details of that day in June a bit too much, and I'll cry, but I don't want to.  
Mike had a heart attack, and could not be saved.  I wasn't working that day, but the medics and EMTs on the ambulance did the best job to fight for Mike's life, and the docs and nurses at the ER pulled out all the stops to work Mike up in the hopes that he would come back, but he didn't.  I actually was at the ER for something totally unrelated...and seemingly unimportant by comparison.  My friend's sister had been ever so slightly clipped by the sideview mirror of a car in motion, and was in the ER for evaluation.  My friend asked me to go to the ER to help her sister and her brother take care of situating themselves, which of course, was no big deal for me to do...I knew just about everyone in the ER so I knew I could get them whatever they needed.
Anyway, as soon as I got there, I was told what was going on with Mike, and my attention immediately turned towards the growing number of police officers that were turning up at the ER with stunned looks on their faces.
I gravitated towards one officer in particular, who has been my friend for a while, and I stood by with him as the ER staff kept going at it to save Mike.  I felt slightly out of place, as I wasn't a cop, so I was trying to be as "small" and unnoticable as possible, but every time I glanced towards one of the guys I knew, our eyes would meet and there would be an instant but silent statement from that person that said "Thank you for being here with us".  I would just very subtly acknowledge the "greeting", and go back to standing against a wall or something, as we all waited to hear what was going on.
I saw guys show up in street clothes, shorts, flip flops, and of course in uniform.  It was terrifyingly sad, just thinking of what might happen.  


Then it happened.


Dr. DeRobertis drew that curtain aside and approached the Chief of Police.  I didn't hear what was said, but I knew what was said.
The officer I was standing next to reached out and grabbed my arm, and I saw and felt him tense up like he had just bit hit in the face.  There's a karmic twist to that piece of the story with that particular officer, and maybe if you ask me another time I'll get into it.
I was so stunned, and incredibly sad.  I saw guys I have been working side by side with for years, tears streaming down their faces, and I turned away from their gaze before I lost it as well.  It was around that time I went to another section of the ER where my friend and her sister were, and I don't know...as soon as I got around a corner, I did lose it.  I brought my hands to my face, and felt hot, wet tears pooling under my eyes.  I barely managed to tell my friend what was going on just around the corner, and that she'd have to be patient to see a doctor...something horrible just happened, and her sister was, with all due respect, just not a priority patient right now.  I was crying pretty well by now (fuck...as I am now again, too...) and I noticed nurses and other ER staff who knew me were looking at me, knowing what just happened, and it looked like they were about to cry as well.
Next thing I knew, one of the ER docs who I had never really had much of a rapport with, suddenly appeared next to me with a box of tissues.  He put his arm around me and said quietly to me  "There's no way to ever know when something like this will ever happen...and it sucks.  If you need anything, you come see ME."
I was really rather surprised at this doc's gentleness and concern.  It was just nothing I had ever experienced before, let alone from him specifically.  It was so kind, and all I could do was look at him and nod.


I went back to where what seemed like the entire police department had gathered in the main hallways of the ER, and found a few other officers who were also good friends, and I stood with them.  I went over to one of the sergeants I recognized, who was in uniform, and I told him I'd really like to go pay my respects to Mike in the room they were working on him in.  All the other officers were filing in and out doing the same thing.  My problem was I felt I didn't belong there, and I told the sarge that.  I wasn't a cop. I felt that this was something I shouldn't be doing, but at the same time, Mike was my FRIEND, too...
The sarge immediately said "Absolutely....you're with US, you go on in...I'll get someone to take you in."
And he did.  Another officer stepped up and walked in behind the curtain with me.  
Mike was laying on the bed, covered to his shoulders with a white sheet.  A few other guys were there, like sentries, just staying with Mike.  One of them, Patrick, had been with Mike from the onset of his chest pain at police HQ, to right now, and he looked like he was going to collapse.  I took Patrick's hand in mine and held it there for a moment, grasping his forearm with my other hand, and I then turned to face Mike.
All I could softly muster was "Mike....jesus christ...." as the tears just fell and fell and fell....


Things became more hectic but somewhat organized at the same time.  The officers formed two lines outside the ER in the ambulance bay, facing one another, and the lines stretched almost the entire length of the parking lot.  The medical examiner van was prepping to take Mike away, and his brothers and sisters wanted to give him a proper salute as he left.  I stood on the side, away from the others, just silently watching.  I even noticed some civilians who had been walking by the ER and saw the lineup.  They too, stopped to salute or place their hand over their heart when they found out what had happened.  I thought that was incredibly decent.


In the days that followed, a contingent of us from TransCare, including me, were designated as part of the funeral detail.  We brought up our brand new ambulance from headquarters, and we drove it up to Yorktown for the ceremony.  It was like nothing I've ever seen before...and hopefully something I won't see again.  I was awestruck by the Sea Of Blue that turned out for Mike and his family.  Officers from EVERYWHERE came.  The thunderous sound of police motorcycles as they slowly appeared from around a corner, leading the procession to the church gave me goosebumps the likes I've never experienced before.  Helicopter flyovers, 21 gun salutes, flag folding....everything I had only seen in a movie, was transpiring right before my eyes, and it was killing me. It was a beautiful ceremony, and I am honored to have been a part of it, and to have been Mike's friend.  The racket that was thrown for him after the funeral was bittersweet but at the same time, it was a great gathering of friends, brothers and sisters.  A few weeks went by and a "10-13" benefit was given for Mike's family here in White Plains.  there was BOATLOAD of money raised for his twin boys, and even baseball great Bernie Williams came by to jam with the band, and donated $10,000!  I was never more proud to be part of this family.  Every EMT and medic who was at the funeral and benefits afterwards, were treated like they belonged there, like equals.  I had cops coming up to me at the funeral thanking ME for being there for them...I thought that was crazy!  It was MY honor to be asked to be there, and I would've been there come hell or high water.  I miss Mike a lot, and the tribute bracelets, pins and shirts virtually ALL OF US wear DAILY are testament to Mike's friendship and loyalty to the ones he called his brothers.  His personality was infectious and it was impossible NOT to smile whenever he was around and if he was talking to you, wearing those silly damn gloves!  He won't be forgotten by any of us, that's for sure.


*WHEW*


Ok, let's lighten this thing up, shall we?  Now I will list all the sex I had this year, for your amusement:


Got all that?  Ok, now that I've thoroughly cataloged the sexual encounters of the past year, I will move on to something a bit more politically correct....LOL.....


Isn't that just like me, though?  Using some cheap-o sex reference to counter a topic that is upsetting? Yeah...
There have been some other losses this year, and whereas all of them have made me sad, and wish there was something I could do to make it not true, of course, that's not up to me.
Some friends of mine lost people in their lives, and it affects me as well because I care about my friends.
My best friend Chris and his wife lost their son before he could be born safely and survive, and that just killed me inside...my friend Michelle lost her mom after a long illness, another friend, Sharina lost her grandfather and brother in-law.  I lost two elderly relatives, just in the past couple of weeks, one of them being my grandmother's last surviving sister.
It's been a year for loss, I ain't gonna lie.  On one level or another, it's just been feeling like a continuous cycle of bad news phone calls...


But now let's talk about this past summer and the months since then!!  Holy meet n' greet, Batman!!  I ran into a BUNCH of people who, regardless of whether it was 2 minutes, almost 4 hours, or something more consistent and ongoing, made this an AMAZING year for meeting people.....


I seemed to go through a little bit of "friend of a friend phase" for a while...just before the summer kicked in, Kathryn...a longtime friend of mine in Florida told me about me about a friend of hers up here in da Bronx who I would probably enjoy getting to know, soooo.....an easy Facebook friend request later, she's proven herself to be correct.  It took a bit of time, to actually MEET, but it was worth it, and now Linda and I are becoming good friends.  My cousin, Jennifer and four of her friends went to Martha's Vineyard this past July, and for SOME reason, she thought I would be someone to ask for some vacation tips about the island (lol...). As it turned out, I was in the process of making a decision about a visit there earlier than my normal end-of-July timeshare week, and decided that I could go in the beginning of July as well for a few days, see my best friend Chris and his wife Jen (different Jen!) as well as my COUSIN Jen, and meet HER friends as well!  So I did, and I seemed to get along with one more than the others, as nice as they all were...so now, under penalty of death, I will place my now not-so-new friend Liz in her very own category: "The Coolest Girl To Ever Be Transplanted From Chicago To New York".  Liz and I have a lot of fun hanging out when she isn't globetrotting to places like Israel, Italy and London, complete with a good supply of Ambien for those hard-to-sleep nights abroad...and lemme tell you about texting while on Ambien, kids....that shit is FUNNY!! ;-)


Some of the Rogue's Gallery....





Ok, of course I don't have pictures of EVERYONE, but I've come into contact with many others for the first time this year, in one way or the other, mostly thanks to Facebook and what indeed IS a very large social network.  It always seems like it might be odd to "make a friend" on FB, but if you cultivate the initial introduction, there are really a lot of people out there who you wind up being very glad you "met".  Also, after living in my building for almost two years, I finally met someone else in here who I can hang out with!  Stacy just actually moved in a few weeks ago, and the timing our meeting was just a fortunate coincidence.  We were talking about movies, and it went from there...she's a cool new friend who I can geek out with about movie stuff, so I'm a happy guy (as long as we NEVER watch "Inception" again!! Oh my god, that was the hardest film to enjoy....but anyway...). I have to say that most recently, I have begun talking more in depth with a couple of people who have Vineyard and/or Jaws affections, and were put in touch with me one way or the other through others with the same likes, and I am really enjoying the hell out of that.  Chandra and Dana to name a couple who I most definitely want to meet in person and get to know better.
Speaking of Martha's Vineyard and Jaws...by now now if you're reading this, you already know what went down with me on the island this summer at the Possible Dreams Auction...and the prior blog entries can refresh your memories if you need that assist.  I'll simply say "I'm gonna need a bigger blog"...and call me with your thoughts.
Richard Dreyfuss spent virtually the entire afternoon with my friend Christian and I in NYC last month as a result of that auction, and it remains one of the most talked-about things I've done in a LOOOONG time.  A handful of peeps helped make that day flawlessly perfect, and trust me when I tell you that they have been thanked profusely!!

 The Dreyfuss Dream

Another GREAT friend of mine from the Vineyard who I finally got to meet is the awesome artist, Paul McPhee.
Paul's marine and other painted artwork is STUNNINGLY beautiful, realistic, and individual.  His love of Jaws drove him to create 15 of the coolest prints you'll ever see, and some of his other aquatic art and abilities are just mesmerizing.  I urge you ALL to friend him off my FB friend list, and enjoy the brilliance that is Paul.  He and I have become fast friends, and I am proud to say I own one of his giclee prints...a #1 in a limited edition printing, no less, complete with a remarque. It hangs beautifully in my living room.  Paul was introduced to me through my longtime friend on the island, Donna, who I have known for several years.  She is a HUGE Jaws encyclopedia of knowledge, and my increased love of the film, and its behind the scenes stories, all started with her...she's got a GREAT behind-the-scenes/location tour book in her that I keep trying to compel her to put together...if only she'd listen.... ;-)

Paul McPheeMenemsha Harbor

A smattering of other interesting folk I ran into or made friends with this year include:
US Secret Service agents Clint Hill and Jerry Blaine (yeah, read the blog for that, too!)...Lee Majors, the boys from the Brady Bunch, actor William McNamara, comedian Robert Kelly, and Jessica and Aliyah Schimmel, daughters of one of my favorite comedians of all time, the late, VERY great Robert Schimmel...
Seems like you never know who or when you're gonna meet n' greet with someone, so as I've always said: be prepared!

 Clint Hill & Jerry Blaine

A few shameless, but appropriate plugs:


My Amazon Kindle...the 2010 Dodge Challenger R/T Classic (oh my GOD is this a fucking amazing car!!)...the Keurig one cup coffee maker-thingy...KISS M&M's...The Walking Dead on AMC...the Best Buy Hubman USB multi-port device (thanks, Minion!!)...Snapple Trop-A-Rocka diet iced tea (oh, HELL yeah!)...Popcorners chips...the Dreyfuss Drink (Dr. Borwn's black cherry mixed with Stewart's root beer)...Netflix...the new Hawaii Five-O show on CBS...a few songs that REFUSE to get the hell outta my head, so I might as well mention 'em here in the hopes that it may send them on their way:  "Firework" and "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry, "Raise Your Glass" by P!nk, "Radioactive" by Kings of Leon, just about anything by e.s. posthumus, and the riff from an old ZZ Top song called "Stages" (taken from another CLASSIC 80s comedy dvd called The Whoopee Boys)...unlimited text messaging...iTunes...www.stylinonline.com and of course, the two most important sites on the entire internet: http://thecabojonnyblog.blogspot.com and http://galley.me.com/jbassuk
...of course I did it, are you kidding me??  Self promotion, sillyasses!!!





It's 9-something in the morning on a partly cloudy Christmas Day, and I am up too early...seems like no matter if I have a day off or not, I'm just always waking up early nowadays anyway...why not make the time useful by wrapping up this already-too-long opus.
Hey, Dreyfuss--would THIS then be Mr. Bassuk's Opus?  Conduct THAT, you sonofagun!!! :)


I realized as I was writing this nonsense, that it's really hard to recall an entire YEAR of my life, and then try to whittle it down to a handful of moments that I think some of my friends would give a shit to read about...I mean, let's face it--what happens in my life is no better or worse than what might be going on in yours or anyone else's as well...I'm just forcing MY shit down YOUR throat...lol...
It just had been feeling lately like as this year winds down, I have found myself thinking back a lot to people, places and things that have come into or out of my life.  On both fronts, it's bittersweet sometimes...as there are some of those things I wish never came in at all...or came in and stayed longer than they did, and of course, some things I wish never left.  I know that for the most part, so much of that isn't up to me, it's just a matter of being in whatever place at whatever time I happen to be in when something happens...then it's up to me to find a shelf--mentally or otherwise--for it in JonnyLand.  There are so many things that happen in a year, and that's why I know I'm forgetting a lot of stuff that I'll remember a day after I post this thing, and then I'll have go back and edit the hell out of it.  Oh well, such is the way of things as the cerebral synapses begin to go dark in my advanced age...lol.  Maybe it was all them Whippits back in the day....KIDDING!!!


I thought about posting some pictures in the blog here, and I have thrown a few in as "highlights" (from this year and one or two in the past...but who cares?), but for the most part, the coolest pics from the coolest moments are already either up on FB or on my MobileMe site (the gallery site I plugged a few paragraphs ago...), so if you wanted to get a visual dose of the craziness that is my life, some of that awaits you there...


There's a week left in 2010, and I'm left feeling more so that this year wasn't a good one for me than anything else.  So many different things make me fee that way.  It's not to say that this was an entirely bad year...that couldn't be further from the case, either.  However, when I found myself performing mental rewinds for this blog, I kept saying to myself, "holy shit...THAT was this year too???"


It kinda opens your eyes a little.


I want 2011 to be better...not any of the bullshit "New Year's Resolution" stuff about losing weight, taking a class, meeting a girl, learning to fly...you know, the USUAL shit...
i want it to be a better year for EVERYTHING.  This was year more of loss for me than gain, either directly or otherwise.  It seems like for every tick mark in the "plus" column, there were two or three in the "minus" one...and that shit is just plain annoying.  
Life is short. TOO short.  I turned 40 this past September, and told myself (and some of you out there in You're Not Subscribing To Follow My Blog Land...) that I was going to do whatever I wanted, when, how and with whomever I wanted.  I want to see a show or a concert?  VIP, baby!  I want to go on a cruise?  Where the hell is Issac the bartender, and they BETTER serve Cabo Wabo tequila on board...I want to meet someone who will make me happy all the time, and fill me up with good feelings 9 days a week?  Well.....ok, ok...settle down...everyone has limitations...heh-heh....
Everything, though, DOES happen in it's own time, in its own way, and right now I'm comfortable with who and what I am, and where I'm going.  My job is good, the people I work with are, with very few exceptions, GREAT people, many of them also my friends...not just co-workers.  I have my hobbies, my friends, my blu-ray dvd player, my drums and a pretty good sense of humor about just about anything that comes up and taps me on the shoulder to try and trip me up.
I think I'm doing pretty well for myself all things considered...and as much as I might long for certain days, people, places or things gone by, this year or others, RIGHT NOW is what's happening, and RIGHT NOW is all we got.


Alex Van Halen, one of inspirations for why I have been a drummer for over 20 years now, once said:
"Play every night as if it's your last night on stage..."


It's true.  Treat each day like it's a gift.  Treat the people in your life like THEY'RE a gift.  Every...single...day.
When the show's over, you don't get a curtain call like the boys in the band always do.  Make every day and every second count...don't miss an opportunity to tell someone you love them...or hate them if that's where your head is at.  Speak your mind, say what you feel, and mean what you say.  Don't sugarcoat it.  Be honest, be true...to yourself as much as to others...and don't sweat it if your honesty hurts someone (shit, even if it hurts YOU)...at the end of the day, you'll be able to know your integrity and your karma are intact because you were honest about whatever it is.  No one will be able to fault you for that...but if you hold back, if you don't let it all flow freely and say or do whatever you have to say or do, you'll never forgive yourself if you lose the chance or the window of opportunity to get it out.
My philosophy has long been one of "if I'm gonna do something, I wanna do it all the way. I don't wanna be IN the venue...I want backstage passes, dammit!"


Don't just LIVE your life.  LOVE it.

Next year is gonna be a lot better.  More gains than losses.  More excitement than Mr. Holland can shake his conducting baton at.  Hell...July is only a few months away, and there's a parcel of beach on an island just south of Cape Cod with my name on it waiting for me.  I have another niece or nephew on the way, my dad will turn the big 7-0 in January, concerts, conventions, the Hot Toys DX Christopher Reeve Superman figure, a new version of the iPad, mountains of sex (well...i'm under contract with Blogspot to say it like that, although the likelihood for that in reality is more like an anthill instead of a mountain...)  


...I remember my friend Wayne once told me earlier this year, that there's no telling what AMAZING shit is waiting for me around the corner...all I have to do is GET THERE to enjoy it.  I told him at the time that while that may be true, it's a helluva long walk down the block to GET to that corner.
He simply said, "yeah...maybe so...but if you don't go forward and walk down the block, you'll never get to turn the corner...!"


2011 is right around the corner, and it looks like I made it down the block...with a bunch of new friends and new chapters in the book to take there with me.
I hope YOU all made it as well...I know the walk wasn't easy for a lot of the people I know...most of them, ironically, won't even read my damn blog to see how I try to bolster them up with my support and witty anecdotes...but thats ok...I'm against cruel and unusual treatment as well....


I wish I could sit here and wrap this up by quoting the immortal words of Rodney Dangerfield at the finale of CADDYSHACK: "HEY!!  We're all gonna get LAID!!!", and have the whole crowd erupt into cheers....
....but I know that for the most part, if that were to happen, there'd have to be a ton of booze that needs to be drunk first, and a bunch of lawyers on standby with bail money...cuz I mean, let's face it, we're not all even NEARLY as talented as Rodney was...and some of us already have records...so.......

 Rock it out!!

....in absence of anything else crude or otherwise politically incorrect of me, all I guess there is left for me to say is HAPPY HOLIDAYS & HAPPY NEW YEAR.  I love a few of you out there, I like a whole lot of you, and yeah, there are some I just just downright think suck ass (remember what I said about never missing an opportunity?)...but as the New Year drops its balls on us at the stroke of midnight (and here in White Plains, those balls are attached to a big DICK of a mayor who should cut his losses and just walk...the hell...away...) I urge you to take stock of what you have in your lives, good bad or otherwise, and cherish it ALL.  We're not perfect, we make big mistakes sometimes (I call your attention to things like taking 9 years for First Responder Health Care legislation, the mayor of White Plains, and good friends living too far away from me), but mistakes can be fixed and positive changes can come from them...and they should.  It's never too late to change, to forgive (well.....lemme get back to you on this one in some meth-head, drug-addled cases...), and to realize that we all get one punch of the ticket...MAKE IT COUNT...EVERY DAY.


Let 2011 rock out with its cock out...yeah, I said it...and let's all start the second decade with a big bang!
(You twisted folks out there in JonnyLand can interpret that one however you all want...but I think I'm with ya'!)


I challenge everyone who reads this blog to plant a nice big kiss on the lips of whoever they're standing, sitting...or laying...with at midnight next Friday, wish them a Happy New Year, and let them know that that first kiss, that first moment of the new year is a symbol of only good things to come...we all deserve that...some of us more than others, but I digest....


Man, I don't think there's been this much rambling, nonsensical, hard-to-follow one-sided conversation in a blog of mine since Mel Gibson's debut on TMZ.....but as always, thanks for hangin' in there til the end!!  You are the three coolest blog readers on the information superhighway...where the JonnyLand Blog is but a brief Port-a-Potty stop off an exit somewhere near Hog's Nads Mississippi or a similar "Scenic Lookout" off the blacktop....


My best wishes to all of you for a wonderful New Year...i will do my best to continue to be entertaining for you, most certainly at my own expense...but shit...isn't that what you're LOOKING for when you read this thing anyway??


Until next time, this is your pal JonnyB reminding you, even as the Waterford Crystal ball descends on us, to RIDE THE BIG ONE...right into next year!!!  

                                                              "I'll see YOU in 2011!!!"

Shaking Hands With History...

US SECRET SERVICE AGENT CLINT HILL TELLS HIS STORY ABOUT DALLAS, 1963 AT RARE PUBLIC APPEARANCE...

I've been a student of the Kennedy assassination for a very long time. Ever since I was old enough to understand what happened, I would always seem to find myself studying books, films, movies...anything that had to do with the horrific six seconds in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas 47 years ago this month. Beyond all the conspiracy theories, the right-wing whatevers, the "Magic Bullet", and everything else, the facts were plain and simple: the president had been murdered in broad daylight, and it changed everything.
When I was in college, I think it might have been sometime in 1991 when this happened, I was somehow lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of the original 8mm home movie taken by Abraham Zapruder. Probably one of the most famous pieces of film in history, "The Zapruder Film" is the only moving image that documents the assassination of president Kennedy. I was writing a research paper at the time, and somehow, although due to my advancing Mad Cow disease I can't accurately recall, I was able to get in touch with one of Mr. Zapruder's sons, I believe, who graciously allowed me to borrow a copy of the original film! I was pretty stunned at that since there hadn't been too many duplicates made to my knowledge (at least at THAT time), and when it arrived at my college mailbox, and I took it out of the box, I felt quite honored to be holding such an important piece of American history. I screened the film, which is silent, several times in my AV center at school, and was just as shocked the 10th time I watched it as the 1st. It's a gruesome shooting, and even though I wasn't even a twinkle in anyone's eye at the time, I have always been saddened and outraged that something like this really had happened...

Anyway, back to the real issue behind this blog entry...

Of all the Secret Service agents in president Kennedy's detail in Dallas that day, only ONE agent responded immediately upon hearing the shots. Agent Clint Hill, who had been assigned to protect Mrs. Kennedy, was positioned on the left front running board of the Secret Service follow-up car, directly behind the presidential limo. As everyone in modern generations has no doubt seen the Zapruder film, they can probably recall seeing Agent Hill running full out towards the limo just at the precise moment the fatal shot to president Kennedy's head finds its mark. Agent Hill reaches the limo as it begins to speed away and he grasps the handrail at the rear of the limo, almost losing his grip and footing as he pulls himself onto the back of the car. Mrs. Kennedy had crawled out of the back seat, and onto the trunk of the limo to, according to Hill, retrieve a piece of president Kennedy's head that "had been blown off". Agent Hill, holding on the handgrip with one hand, pushed Mrs. Kennedy back into the relative safety of the limo with the other, then covered both her and the mortally wounded president with his body for the breakneck speed journey to Parkland Hospital. What Clint Hill did was truly heroic. Brave and selfless, he leapt into action, and reached the limo in less than 2 seconds. Everyone of course knew that the president was not likely to survive the massive head wound, and Hill's reaction upon seeing the president in the car was to immediately give a "thumbs down" signal to the Secret Service follow-up car as they sped towards the hospital. Clint pounded his fist in disparity on the trunk of the limo during the ride there.

For years and years following the assassination, Clint Hill blamed himself. He felt that if he had only reacted a second sooner, he might have been able to take that fatal shot, and "that would've been fine" with him. Clint lived with his guilt and his other demons about Dallas for almost half a century, battling alcohol, depression and shattering feelings of guilt over the president's death, even in the shadow of being given a citation for bravery above and beyond the call of duty at a ceremony attended by Mrs. Kennedy herself. Clint would later take that citation and medal, and throw them into a box with other personal papers about Dallas, tape the box closed, and shove it into a corner of his basement at home.
In 1990, Clint went back to Dallas. He needed closure. He needed to know some things that only returning there would answer for him. After walking Dealey Plaza for hours, he came to the realization that in fact, there was nothing he could have done more than what he had to try to save the life of the president. Although he still does feel guilt, and a sense of sadness about Dallas, he has slayed his demons about it, and no longer feel responsible for president Kennedy's death. there is a remarkable interview Clint gave to Mike Wallace of "60 Minutes" back in 1975, where a distraught Hill expresses extreme feelings of responsibility and guilt for what happened. He was truly a broken man, whose life was forever changed.

This year marks the 47th anniversary of the assassination, and Clint Hill's friend and fellow Dallas agent Jerry Blaine has written a book called THE KENNEDY DETAIL. In it, Blaine and many other agents and their families (so many of them are now gone) recall their time spent with president Kennedy. Most important for me, is the participation of Clint Hill in this book. For years, Clint has refused interviews, book offers and has always shunned the spotlight with regard to his actions in Dallas. Because of his trust and confidence in his friend, Jerry however, Clint decided to finally, and in his own words, share his story and his raw emotions about that horrible day. For me, it was also very emotional and as I read his entry in the book, I could feel the sadness still so present behind his voice and his eyes.
I had always wanted to meet Clint, and many years ago, as a result of a fortuitous meeting with yet another of my heroes in the Secret Service--Jerry Parr, the agent in charge of president Reagan's detail on the day of his assassination attempt, and who saved his life outside the Washington Hilton Hotel in 1981--I was able to get a letter to Clint Hill through agent Parr. A few months later, I was overwhelmingly surprised to get a letter returned from Clint. Two typed sentences, and a handwritten signature. It was one of the greatest things I've ever gotten, even to this day. I had figured this was as close to him as I would ever get, and I considered myself very lucky indeed.
This past month, as I mentioned before, Clint Hill contributed to his friend Jerry Blaine's new book by not only writing the forward, but also by penning what so many had been wanting to hear or read for 47 years: HIS OWN STORY about Dallas. To support the book, Jerry Blaine and Clint HIll have been appearing at various bookstores for discussions, signings and Q & A sessions. When I discovered they would be in NYC on the 11th of November--Veteran's Day--I knew without fail that I would be there, and I would FINALLY get to meet one of my truest heroes, Clint HIll. I had been waiting over 25 years to be able to see him in person, shake his hand and tell him how honored I was to do so.
There was a fairly large turnout that evening at 82nd and Broadway's Barnes & Noble bookstore, and of course, I was in the front row, waiting anxiously to see Clint. As he walked out with Jerry Blaine and the co-author of the book, a journalist named Lisa McCubbin, I got goosebumps. Clint looked right at me a few times as they were settling in behind their table. I waved slightly to him, which he returned with a nod and brief smile. I was already grateful beyond words to be sitting with these American icons of heroism and bravery. I awaited their stories, and hung on every word.
Finally, Lisa, who was also serving as sort of a moderator for the panel, suggested to Clint that now might be a good time to discuss his actions.
"You want me to talk about Dallas..." Clint said matter of factly. I held my breath, and waited. I had only seen brief rare interviews with Clint about that day, and he always...ALWAYS was terribly emotional and upset as he told the story. This time though, Clint was focused, and although still emotional, he was completely composed and straightforward. The video clip attached at the beginning of this blog is his story, in his words. I shot the clip myself at the Barnes & Noble appearance. The second clip (the one at the end of the blog) is from a Secret Service documentary that aired some years ago, where Hill was interviewed, that also includes some archive film footage of the assassination. Watch these two clips, and I think you'll agree that Clint Hill is truly a hero's hero...
After the discussion, I got my copy of the book signed by Cling and Jerry, and finally, after 25+ years of waiting and hoping, went over to Clint, who graciously posed for the picture I have attached here as well, leaned in and said: "Mr. Hill, it is a true honor and privilege to meet you, and I have waited over 25 years to shake your hand and say thank you. You are one of my heroes, and I will never forget this evening."
Clint turned in his chair to face me, and for the first time a long, long time, I saw him smile as he replied quietly: "Thank you very much, that means a lot to me..."

Not as much as it did to me, though....not by a long shot. This is now one of my favorite and import photos...with Clint.


This second video clip is the earlier interview Clint did for a documentary about the Secret Service...perhaps around 2004 or thereabouts...


This final video clip is the famous Zapruder film. It is a powerful and graphic piece of film. Towards the end of the clip, you can see Clint Hill appear from the left side as he bolts towards the presidential limo and leaps onto the trunk to save Mrs. Kennedy, etching Clint into our collective history forvever with his immediate and selfless act of bravery...


Thanks for taking a look at the latest bit of coolness from JonnyLand...for those of you who haven't yet partaken of the RICHARD DREYFUSS blog from my afternoon with him this past Sunday, scroll a bit further down for parts 1 and 2...as always, I welcome your comments...
'Til next time, this is your pal, JonnyB reminding you to play every day as if it's your last night on stage!
LIVE IT UP...ROCK IT OUT!!! :) ~JB

My Afternoon With Richard Dreyfuss part 2

Hiya! Welcome back, teens! Hope you're excited for the next piece of my afternoon with Mr. Holland himself, Mr. Richard Dreyfuss...

What a great afternoon it was on Sunday. I was in NYC with my friend, Christian, and enjoying my "winnings" from the POSSIBLE DREAMS auction that took place on Martha's Vineyard this past August 2nd. Let's just rewind to the summer for a few moments, to give you more of an idea of how this all played out, then I'll get right back to where I left off in Part 1...

Of course, if you know me, you know my love of the island, and this summer I went to the auction with the thought that finally, after close to 30 years of attachment to the island, I would try to bid on one of the "Dreams" offered, since all the proceeds went to the Martha's Vineyard Community Services organization. They provide needed services to people who live on the island who can't get them for themselves. Food, shelter, domestic services if needed. Truly a great and important organization, and I felt it was time to try and give something back to the island that had, for so long, given so much to me. So, I was armed with a budget, and hoped something in the auction list would catch my eye.
When I saw "DINNER WITH RICHARD DREYFUSS" listed, I knew I at least had to try to place a bid or two, assuming of course, that I would be swiftly outbid.
It was the Vineyard, it was Shark Week on Discovery Channel, it was the 35th anniversary of JAWS...it was as if the friggin' planets themselves were aligned just for this precise event...and for ME.
The bidding began, and I honestly don't recall if mine was the opening bid. I know however, that I kept raising my hand and calling out amounts anytime someone else outbid me. I knew what my budget was, and I knew how high I could go with my bids. I was determined as hell, focused and totally in my own little zone. I think there were only one or two others bidding with me...well, AGAINST me...but...you know, the only comparitive example I can make here, is this: you know when you go to an amusement park, and you're playing that game where you have to steadily aim a water pistol so the stream of water shoots into the open mouth of a clown and it makes the frog or other little critter go up a wall towards a bell? First one to the top wins. You have to hold that damn pistol in the precise position, like you're a fuckin' sniper with a target in the crosshairs, y'know? Well, I NEVER lose when I play those games--trust me--I have a closet FULL of shoddy knock-off stuffed animals and Looney Tunes characters to prove it!
Well anyway, when I was bidding, it kind of felt like THAT. I was focused, finger on the trigger and I wasn't deviating one millimeter from my target. I guess if we're being completely metaphorical here, yes, Richard Dreyfuss was in my crosshairs...
It wasn't the longest bidding war in the world, but in the end, mine was the final hand raised, offering the winning amount. "The Dreyfuss Dream", as it would soon become known as, was MINE. I was really excited, and slightly shaky in the hands when it sunk in moments later that I had indeed won the auction. I believe the more precise exclamation was in the neighborhood of "Holy Shit...I won!"
I was with a few friends, who were also BIG fans of JAWS and of Richard, and they were sharing my happiness right along with me. I filled out my paperwork for the item, and I was also given a really sweet piece of memorabilia: a chunk of the log cabin that Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Carl Gottlieb stayed in while they wrote the screenplay to JAWS back in 1974. The cabin was something of a holy place for JAWS fans, and in recent years it has been demolished and there is something else now on that plot of land on the Vineyard. I had previously been given a piece of the cabin by my friend, Donna, but the difference with THIS piece, was that Richard had signed it! Way cool...
So, with my instructions and auction paperwork in hand, I returned to my hotel to continue with my summer vacation, now feeling pretty damn proud of myself for WANTING IT bad enough to make sure I GOT IT. The paperwork instructed me to get in touch with Richard's "people", and I was given several options in the form of phone numbers, addresses, both email and snail-mail. I figured it would be easiest to use one of the phone numbers listed, which had a 917 area code, and I knew that to be a New York based cell phone area code. It was 11:30am, and I figured it was a good time to call. I did NOT, however, take one...small...detail into account. The conversation went like this:

After a few rings..."Hello?"
Jonny: "Hi, my name is Jon Bassuk, and I just won the Possible Dreams auction item here on Martha's Vineyard for dinner with Richard Dreyfuss..."
Voice on the other end of the phone: "Oh. Yes. Mm-hmm...Ok. Very good. Congratulations."
Jonny: "Thanks. Umm...I hope I'm not calling at a bad time or anything, but I wanted to try and get some further information on how to set this up...I've never won anything in the auction before, and I was given a bunch of contact information for Mr. Dreyfuss, so I wanted to get in touch and see what's next."
Voice: "Well...it is a LITTLE early...."

**Note from Jonny: Now is about the moment in time where it dawns on me, after hearing that last response...Early? It's 11:30am on a weekday...that's not too early, unless........ohhh.....myyy.....godddddd.....just because it's a New York BASED cell phone, doesn't mean it couldn't be.....somewhere else....like....the West Coast...where it would be 8:30am. THAT means....oh no....that the person I'm on the phone with.....

Jonny: "Ummm....is this Mr. Dreyfuss?"
Voice: "Yes. Mm-hmm. Hi."
Jonny: (now feeling about the size of a microbe) "Ohhh...I'm SO sorry! I didn't even think this phone could be in California. I'm really sorry to bother you."
Richard: (chuckling slightly) "It's ok. It's ok. Umm, what you should do...is call this number...AFTER 10am...and ask for a guy named Tom. He will work things out and start setting it up with you, ok?"
Jonny: (feverishly writing this all down) "Ok...will do. After 10, your time...heh-heh, I feel really badly, I'm very sorry."
Richard: "Nooo problem, it's fine."
Jonny: "Well, it's very nice to talk to you, and I look forward to meeting you soon, thank you so much."
Richard: "Thank you, no problem. Ok, me too. Bye."
Jonny: "Bye."

I hung up the phone, EXHALED DEEPLY, and I think I might have gone directly to the bathroom to pee. I do remember looking in the mirror, shaking my head in disgust, and saying "what a douche" out loud to myself. I was not happy with myself for this gaffe at all. What could I have done, though? I never expected for a SECOND that the contact information I was given was DIRECT to Richard himself! Ok, lesson learned...
Later that day, I called the number again, and prayed ANYONE but Richard would pick it up. Several rings later, I heard a DIFFERENT voice on the other end (thank God!). I explained who I was, and what had happened earlier, which made Tom, Richard's really friendly assistant, laugh a little. He and I began the planning of things, and Tom said he would be back in touch with me a few weeks down the road once he had some time to talk to Richard about his upcoming schedule and other plans. With that in place, I went on about my business, finishing up the rest of my vacation, and having a blast as usual on the island. Now, it was even better than ever knowing what I had in store for me. My artist friend, Paul McPhee, who is also a huge fan of JAWS, loaded me up with all kinds of artwork and other goodies, and I was for sure in shark heaven! Come by my apartment sometime, and you'll see what I mean...



So...weeks and months go by, and Tom and I have been trading emails and schedules, working things out bit by bit until we reached this past Sunday the 21st, and the realization of "The Dreyfuss Dream". It was a day I had been so looking forward to, planning for and getting amped up about with each day that got me closer to it. Now I was here, in Nick's Burger Joint on Broadway in NYC, sitting across the table from Richard, enjoying every moment, every story and every bit of Richard's personality he was so generously sharing with my friend and I. It was fantastic and almost impossible to believe, but shit...isn't that what so many Dreams--possible or not--are made of?

Now that you know the beginnings of all this, let me get back to the present now, and continue with the afternoon's events...

Richard, Christian and I were up to our elbows in the conversation we were having about the state of the country. Richard was on such a tear (and believe me, I wasn't about to stop him or utter a word) that he didn't even touch his food for what seemed like forever. Christian and I had gone through most of ours, and I mentioned at one point that I felt terrible he wasn't eating. At that, Richard actually then cut his burger in half...but STILL didn't pick it up to take a bite!
Richard's commitment to his Initiative is INFECTUOUS...he speaks from his heart, his soul and his life experience...and he never spoke with a sense of feeling sanctimonious or "better" than anyone. He is simply someone who believes in America, and who has a drive that comes from a very perosnal place within himself to do EVERYTHING he can to make it a better place, a safer place, a more prosperous place...on as many levels as possible...as he can. He has great concern for the children who are becoming victimized by the government's "laziness" and/or unwillingness to bring back the fundamentals of civics, reasoning, civility, personal and otherwise, to the classrooms and halls of power.
He said, among many other powerful things, "We are a nation bound only by ideas...this country is a miracle, and the whole world knows it except Americans because we don't teach it."
I mentioned something Richard had said in an interview recently, about how true his beliefs were when he said that nobody from other countries or states is saying "gee, I sure can't wait to try and get to Finland..." They are all saying, "I can't wait to get to America." because THEY know the value of what it is to be here, and what the American Democracy promises. Richard's website illustrates the importance of returning civility to society and how that affects our democracy: "Civility is not just manners, it is the oxygen that democracy requires."

We continued to discuss the importance of the Initiative, and interwove references to other films of Richard's into the mix as well. Mostly, it was MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS that bookended things. Richard's character in that film very closely mirrored the man himself. So, after a time, we were then talking more about the film than anything else, and Richard told a few wonderful anecdotes about making such a personally important movie.
Richard said that HOLLAND was a film he was very, very proud of. Telling the story of a man who put his own desires on hold so he could teach music to high school children, Richard's portrayal of Mr. Holland was again, a foreshadowing of very personal issues to come some 15 years later for Richard in his Initiative. The film spans 30 years, and shows the deep personal impact Mr. Holland has on the students of Kennedy High School as well as on his personal life. His wife and hard-of-hearing son, Cole share in the triumphs and also the letdowns throughout Mr. Holland's storied career. Ultimately, the school board determines it will no longer fund the music program, and it will also cause Mr. Holland to lose his job. Mr. Holland doesn't care about that.
"No, no, no...it's not about my job, it's about (robbing the students) of their ability to think."
A school board member, and former student of Mr. Holland's, says that they did as much as they could to sustain the program, but it just wasn't going to happen.
"Do it again.", Mr. Holland says, firmly. "That's what I said to you when you were my student, and it seemed to work pretty well."
The board member said it was the best they could do.
"Well, your best isn't good enough."

The film culminates with an enormous outpouring of love, admiration and respect for Mr. Holland, in the form of a packed auditorium, filled with cheering students, past and presnt, from Mr. Holland's career--his opus. The lives he had touched were now all there to show him how much he meant to them. Mr. Holland also finally, after 30 years, got to conduct his "American Symphony", the piece of music he had always been working on, hoping to complete, publish and gain money and fame from. Instead, he became a teacher. Sacrificing his own wants for the needs of the children whose lives he changed. He gave them the love of music, and it was life-changing for every student, and for Mr. Holland himself.
I asked Richard about that last scene. When he walks into the auditorium and immediately overcome with emotion at seeing and hearing the crowd there. I wanted to know what part of RICHARD was brought to the character of Mr. Holland right then and there. Every time I see the scene, and Richard's emotion as he conducts the symphony, he is clearly euphoric, both as the character and as an actor playing the part. Where did THAT come from?

Richard said that MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS was a film he was so very proud of, and the entire cast and crew KNEW it right from the beginning, that they were making something WONDERFUL. He said there were days where people in the film would just burst into tears on the set because they were FEELING so good about the film, that they were playing such an amazing part in a very important movie. Richard said the emotion was EVERYWHERE, all the time. He went on to say how on many occasions, including that finale scene in the auditorium, the filmmakers did multiple "takes", which on any show would be a pretty usual thing to happen, but with HOLLAND, they did it BECAUSE THEY JUST LOVED IT, and wanted to do it AGAIN!
"We were on budget, and on time...", Richard said. "So the director would look around, and he would see the looks on everyone's face like...yeah, you wanna do it one more time? Let's do it."
Soon after the film's completetion, the Mr. Holland Foundation was started, which provides musical instruments to schools, and Richard would present the Teacher's Award. It was a very personal project for him, and he told us that to this day, 15 years after the film, there are cast and crew reunions. He also said that during the production, EVERYONE would go out nightly for dinner, drinks and conversation. It was a family affiar, and it clearly reamins very close-knit.
Richard also said he was very fond of composer Michael Kamen (who is one of my favorites as well. His musical sound is VERY easily recognized.), whom he misses a lot. Kamen died several years ago, far too soon.
Richard said he would often go to Michael's house and listen to him compose and play the melodies he was composing for the film. "An American Symphony" is a full-on original piece that Michael composed for the film, and Richard's eyes lit up as he recalled watching it happen. He said, "sometimes I would be at Michael's, and I would be listening to what he wrote, and I would say something...you know, like make some suggestion about maybe this kind of sound should be like this (and Richard made a musical sound to illustrate what he meant), or what if it sounded like that...and Michael would get SO excited, and he'd point right at me and say OH! YES! then he'd go and write it in somewhere."
It seemed very clear that Richard's love of the film and everything about it was enduring and strong. He was nominated for his second Academy Award for his role, and how he was passed over that year is beyond me. It is a wonderous and emotional film that will affect you, move you, and make you realize the versatility and GENIUS of Richard's ability to bring his characters to life.



I then copped to the fact that I had only just a day or two prior to meeting him, seen THE GOODBYE GIRL for the very first time. It was such a hard dvd for me to get my hands on, but that story was told in Part 1...
Richard also was very pleased with the film, and enjoyed the role of a struggling actor opposite a struggling dancer, played by Marsha Mason. Richard's Oscar-winning role for Best Actor in 1978 was so deftly played. His sharp witted, fast-talking character portrayal of Elliot was a delight to play, he said. The people who worked with him were wonderful and funny. He recalled the story of how his character had to play Richard III as a flamboyant homosexual, a fierce departure from any other presentation of the character. Richard told me that every time it was time to get into that character, and do the readings and play the scenes, he would say "I don't wanna do it right now, can we do it later? Can we just do it later?"
Eventually, when it came time to shoot the scene, and there was no more stalling to be done, Richard played the scene for the first time, and that's what was shot and what we see in the finished film. He had no idea where it was going to go, or if was going to work, but he did it right then and there, and it DID work. Richard's Richard (lol!!) was riotous and the apprehension and perspiration we see on his face was probably not just "Elliot" being nervous, but Richard as well!
THE GOODBYE GIRL is a very sweet movie, and a touching love story that is well worth seeing...or seeing again if you haven't been down that road in a while. When Sylvester Stallone presented Richard with his statue at the Oscar ceremony in 1978, Richard's elation and surprise were all over his face. His fist-pumps as he took the stage though, showed how ecstatic he was.
Richard told us that he felt he had won that award "too soon", though, and that he became concerned that from there, the only way to go was DOWN, with regard to fame, popularity, job offers, etc. It was like, "ok, I got this, now I can't go any higher, so I'm probably going to go the opposite direction...shit!"

With Richard's newfound popularity however, he was getting fairly steady work, and moved on to that little number also by Mr. Spielberg called CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. We didn't really talk too much about this one, and we were more involved with sharing Richard's feelings about his role as an actor in more general terms.
At this point, Richard revealed to us that there were some "dark days" in the late 1970s and early 1980s for him, involving drugs and a serious car accident. he didn't go into too many details, but I found his openness about it on even the slightest level to be very kind and generous. That he would share these demons of his wth me, whether they were previously publicized or not, meant something. I was, in fact, aware of these events beforehand, but made no mention of them, nor would I ever have had he not done so first. I didn't ask any questions or make any statements other than a simple acknowledgement as he shared them.

Richard then went on to say that he was really proud of a lot of the films he made in the 80s into the very early 90s: LET IT RIDE, DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS, NUTS, TIN MEN...and I of course chimed in with STAKEOUT, which brought out a smile. I asked him about ALWAYS, his third Spielberg film, and if he had spent any time taking flying lessons or working on fire lines. If you haven't seen this film, it's VERY good. Another love story, featuring Audrey Hepburn in her final performance. Richard plays a pilot named Pete Sandich, who, along with John Goodman, fly over forest fires, and drop that red extinguisher material to put out the fires. Pete makes the ultimate sacrifice for his friend, and reappears as an unseen, but VERY strongly felt spirit. He helps them overcome the grief of losing him, and the feelings of moving forward without him, and also of learning to love again, in the case of Pete's girlfriend, Dorinda, played by Holly Hunter. It is a very touching and warmhearted film. Richard was really happy to be a part of it because he was working with Spielberg again, and "Steven and I absolutely LOVED the original movie with Spencer Tracy (referring to "A Guy Named Joe"), and we watched the movie so many times that we destroyed it!"

I asked him about certain scenes in the film, and in a few others of that particular era of his filmography, both small and large, and at one point, I noticed that Richard's eyes were a bit red, and he was clearly becoming a bit emotional. He said, "You know...you have CLEARLY studied my career very closely...and I want to tell you something. One time, I got to host an evening, and the room was filled with actresses from the Golden Age of cinema, you know, the 30s and 40s. Ladies like Olivia de Haviland...and I was able to then go to each one of these marvelous women, and TELL THEM what they meant to me as an actor. I could go to this one and say "you taught me how to make love"...I could go to that one and say "you taught me how to kiss"...and I went from table to table, telling these ladies just how they had affected my career as an actor, and their jaws would just drop. I don't think they ever would expect to hear that from someone. Now, I want to ask YOU something..."

This was the first, and really ONLY question Richard would ask me as it related to HIM.

"What is it about ME? What got you started with ME? How did all of this begin for you?"



I took a moment to ponder it, although really, I didn't need it. I made those "looking up" type movements with my eyes as if I were searching for the answer, all the while realizing very clearly, that not only was he looking intently at me, but also that this was THE question...and more importantly THE answer...that was going to define not only the afternoon's importance, but also how Richard perceives me as a person, a fan and an admirer.
"Well..." I began. "I think obviously it has to be JAWS and Martha's Vineyard."
Richard smiled and nodded.
I continued with my answer. "That time of my life where I was first exposed to both the film and to you as the actor in it, was very important. I began to further understand the enjoyment I got from watching exciting movies was directly proportionate to not only what the movie was about, but also WHO was in it. The way you played Matt Hooper, this arrogant, cocky guy from the oceanographic institute who comes to Amity with all his gadgets and knowledge...I LIKED this guy! I wanted Hooper to show everyone up and say "I told you so".
From there, it was CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, and then I saw THE COMPETITION in the theater with my mom, and all I can remember about that was you playing Beethoven's Emperor concerto. There were a few other films that I know I missed, including until recently, of course, THE GOODBYE GIRL. But what I was realizing with every subsequent film of yours that I saw, was that your characters, through what you brought to them from your own life experiences, were making me FEEL things. Everyone was an emotional character. Hooper was arrogant, Elliot was driven to be a better actor, Mr. Holland was a passionate teacher...everyone had a real personality that reached me, and in many cases, have STAYED with me!"

Richard really seemed to be enjoying my answer, my expressiveness. He sat there, smiling and acknowledging things here and there as I said something that hit home for him. I wanted to wrap up my answer with an example of some sort and I knew where I was going to get it from.

"For example..." I continued. "In STAKEOUT, you play a wise-cracking street smart detective who at once is down on his luck personally, and just got the shit assignment of watching some girl from across the street from her house. The movie itself is a great one, and ironically, I first saw it on The Vineyard as well. But there is something in THIS movie, and with many others, don't get me wrong, but in THIS one, that has popped up in my life time after time, and it's hysterical, and it's also why I knew that Christian was going to enjoy today just as much as I was.
Even before I won the auction, every once in a while, Christian or another firend of mine who is familiar with the movie, would just...out of nowhere, come out with "Eatinginbetweenmeals???"....as I did my best impression of Richard's character in the film as he snaps back at a bitchy cashier in a grocery store...

...and with THAT, the previously mentioned Dreyfuss Chuckle erupted into the DREYFUSS LAUGH. Full-on, table slapping, red-faced...the staccato laugh anyone who has seen Richard's films has seen and heard. He was hysterical, and I felt like a million dollars. If you recall, I had mentioned earlier in the morning to Christian, that if I were to bring that line up during the afternoon, it was so obscure, so random, that Richard would probably not immediately associate with it. Boy, was I wrong!! He remembered it immediately and, it would seem, with great fondness as a very funny moment from a very funny movie.

I reiterated to Richard that why I am such a fan of his work and of him, was because of his mastery of the ability to make me FEEL through watching his characters. He brings a true reality and believability to fictional characters like Glen Holland, Matt Hooper, Pete Sandich, Elliot Garfield and real-life individuals like Dick Cheney and Alexander Haig. THAT is why him.
Richard sat there for a moment, silent and smiling.
I then asked him why, given his recent strong new calling to try and put America back on track with his Initiative, and his self-imposed retirement from acting, are we still now seeing him in films like RED and PIRANHA 3D, and on TV shows like WEEDS. Also, I was dying to know, how in the world had he been approached to make his cameo in PIRANHA 3D this past summer! Not a film one would ever think to see Richard Dreyfuss in, but nonetheless, there he was, and looking VERY familiar (dare I say 1974-ish!!) dressed in jeans, a denim jacket, wire-rimmed glasses and a navy blue watchcap...and singing "Show Me The Way To Go Home" for that matter!

He addressed the "return" to acting piece of my question first.

"I have no regrets about any of the films I've done, especially many of the ones in the 80s. Every film I did was because I loved it. Even when I was having other problems (alluding to some of his legal unpleasantness, I believe.), I was doing everything I did because there was a lot of love for it. Eventually, there came a time when...I stopped LOVING it, and it then became an issue of different feelings about it."
Richard very matter-of-factly continued on with his explanation of things:
"As far as movies like PIRANHA and other things I'm doing...well, you know, I made a lot of money in my career, and then after a time, I was making SOME money. With things like the Initiative, I realized that basically, I needed more money, and I hadn't been acting for a while. I took things like PIRANHA because I was offered a LOT of money by Bob Weinstein (frm The Weinstein Company, one of the production companies behind the film) for the Initiative. I told him a little about it, and Bob said to me "If it hadn't already been written, I would write it, but you had me at 'civics'". Richard laughed.
I said, "Ok, but who came up with the very obvious Hooper parody, right down to the "fast fish" line you say when you have a fish on the line? Was that part of what drew you to it?"
Richard chuckled again and said, "That was my idea, actually. The Hooper thing was my idea, and I thought it was a lot of fun."

Let me point out that this cameo of Richard's was so funny and witty, and although I had heard something about him being in the film, and that perhaps there was a JAWS reference in there, I refused to see or read anything about the film beyond the general description because I didn't want to spoil anything. It was great when I went to see the film, several others were in the theater as well, and the film opens with Richard's character of Matt Boyd sitting in his little rowboat, singing and fishing. Seeing essentially the return of Matt HOOPER, I laughed out loud and clapped...by myself. No one else got it. No one else understood why I was so pleased. When I heard the song playing on his tiny little transistor radio, I again cheered and clapped...and again...solo. The clincher was his line of dialogue after a fish takes his bait and runs with his fishing line. The filament is spinning off the reel, and as he frantically reels in the line, he mutters under his breath: "Fast fish!". I almost jumped out of my chair I was so giddy...just like a movie geek SHOULD be in a case like this! Not too long after this scene, some very bad things happened to poor Mr. Boyd, and as we discover a bit later on when his body is discovered, it might've been quicker and easier for Richard's OTHER Matt to just have let the SHARK get him 35 years earlier.
Not long after I saw the film I read somewhere that the intention of the cameo was to re-establish Matt HOOPER, 35 years later, and because "something really bad happened a long time ago in his life", he didn't like being out on the ocean anymore, so he keeps to smaller bodies of water like the lake he was on, where it was calm and he could fish in peace. I don't know how accurate that information was, but it SOUNDED good at the time...

"So...", Richard said. "It's a matter of needing the money to support things in my life like the Initiative. I don't live in Los Angeles anymore, I live in San Diego, away from that. Hollywood chews you up."

Around then, Richard's cell phone rang, and we were treated to Richard just being Richard as he answered...
"I love you..."

It was his wife calling from the hotel. Richard explained he was at the burger place, and he was going to be finished up shortly. It was a brief call, and he ended it as he opened it, by telling Svetlana he loved her. I even glanced over to Christian and made a quick "awwww" face.
I sensed that the time was, in fact coming to an end, and I stole a quick glance at my watch and was surprised to find out that 3.5 hours had gone by! I had assumed that we would have 90 minutes or maybe 2 hours to share before Richard had to go. Another meeting perhaps, an errand or two to run with his wife...whatever it was, I just thought that the time would be nowhere near as long as it wound up being. It was yet another confirmation of how genuine, friendly and casual Richard is. There was no clock-watching, no uncomfortable silences, no awkward comments...none of that. In fact, there was so MUCH awesome and rich conversation, that Richard barely got to eat his cheeseburger! If he got half of it in, it's probably an exaggeration. He DID enjoy the root beer/black cherry soda mix he created, though, as did we all.
I took the opening at that moment, to begin the "end run" of the afternoon.
I told Richard that if he didn't mind, I had a small gift for him. His immediate (and surprisingly funny) reply was: "Oh, is it a rock of crack cocaine?"
We all laughed...but not before HE did first!
I pulled a small red photo album from my bag, and offered it to him. He saw the color photo that had been inserted in the cover, and he smiled broadly.
I had printed up close to 75 4x6 photos taken by various journalists, authors and Vineyard residents during the production of JAWS in 1974. Most, if not all of these photos hadn't been seen in 35 years by ANYone. I had organized them into "cast" and "production" photos, of course with an emphasis on pictures of Richard. With each flip of a page, Richard smiled even more, and again, I saw the emotion in his eyes reveal his sincere happiness and fondness for the treasures I had presented him with. At one point he stopped, and looked up.
"WHERE did you get these?" he asked.
I told him that a friend of mine on the Vineyard had the extreme fortune to befriend many of the original photographers, and he obtained a wealth of these pictures directly from them. I, in turn, scoured them all, and chose these to print and put into an album for Richard. I wanted him to have a little bit of a time warp to a film that so indelibly etched him into modern cinematic history...at the tender age of 27! Richard was clearly enjoying every new photo he saw, and when he came to one of him taken towards the end of the film, when he was getting in the shark cage, he was snapped as he was looking back at the photographer. It prompted another quickie JAWS story...
"You know...I wasn't certified in scuba diving like most of the others on the crew. So, when I went into the cage, and they closed the...the lid of this thing, it knocked my breathing thing outta my mouth, and it took my mask off. And the lid of the cage, when it closed, locked down...so I was stuck in this fucking cage! It was only for about two or three seconds, but...(he chuckles again)...it was the longest two seconds of my LIFE!"

Did any of you guys ever hear THAT story? It was a new one for ME, that's for sure!



Richard finished looking through the photo album, and read the short note I had written to him in the front of it. It said, for the most part, how honored I was to have won the auction, and to have had the time he so graciously gave to spend with him. I thanked him for his body of work, his passion for acting, and for sharing that passion with so many for over 50 years, as well as for organizing and bringing to life The Dreyfuss Initiative. His love of his country and his undying commitment to bring civics and a better understanding of them back into the classrooms of America is undeniable and absolute, and with continued support and word of mouth, the Initiative will gain speed and power, and those changes WILL happen.
Richard closed the album, and laid his hand on the cover carefully, patting it gently as though he was protecting something sacred to him.

"Thank you...so much for this." Richard said.
"Thank YOU for THIS." I replied immediately. "This is a day I will treasure forever. I am so proud to have had this time to meet and talk with you."
Christian seconded the sentiment as well.
I then asked him, carefully, as I wasn't sure of how it would be received, if it would be ok to ask him to sign a few things I had brought along. Richard smiled again, and said how fans at autograph shows were sometimes a bit "scary" for him. I had remembered his assistant, Tom mentioned to me in an email that Richard wasn't a huge fan of signing things or of taking pictures, but that if I handled it deftly, he was sure it'd be ok.
With that in mind, I began to produce my few items: the DVD cover inserts for THE GOODBYE GIRL and MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS, the piece of sheet music for "The American Symphony", which I told Richard I searched high and low for, as I thought what better item for "Mr. Holland" to sign, than his own composition! He agreed, and signed it happily, adding a great message which no doubt many of you have seen already on Facebook. If you haven't, fear not...I am attaching it here as well.
Lastly, I brought out the "shot glass" tooth from JAWS, that I mentioned briefly in Part 1 of this blog. I told him if I didn't get the tooth signed I would really be doing a disservice to my love of JAWS, to the legion of FINatics whom I'm friendly with, and to the film that really put him on the map, so to speak, for all time.
For the record, no, THIS time he did NOT drop the tooth, he did NOT "have an accident", and he probably doesn't care if he gets his picture in National Geographic.



With everything signed, and heartfelt thanks all around, we gathered our jackets and made our way to the exit of the restaurant...where we promptly ran into his wife who showed up at the perfect time as we walked out! Richard kindly introduced Christian and I to Svetlana, who then quickly exchanged a kiss with her husband. I asked Richard if, before we all go our separate ways, could we perhaps take a photo together. He was only too happy to say "Oh, sure, sure! Honey, would you take the picture for us?" I handed my camera to Svetlana, and then Christian, Richard and I positioned ourselves for the photo. It looked as if the camera may not have been cooperating with Svetlana, so I quickly explained the usual bullshit about "hold the button down until you hear it fire...".
"Darling," She began. "I know how to do this...I'm not Spielberg, you know..."
We all broke up in laughter as she took the picture, which as you can see, fired at the precise moment I was saying something to Richard, but who cares. When I got home later, I realized Svetlana had actually taken TWO pictures of the three of us, but in the first one, we CLEARLY weren't prepared, and Richard wasn't smiling. Of course, I kept it anyway, but the second shot, even though I'm mid-sentence, is far better, and the smiles are all around.
Richard shook hands with Christian, and then turned to me to shake mine. As he did that, I again thanked him most sincerely, telling him how special and personally important the day had been for me.
Richard held onto my hand for another moment, then released it, and placed his hand on my arm as he said: "You gave me a Mitzvah today..."
A mitzvah is, in Jewish law, either the fulfillment of a commandment or a worthy deed. Since I don't believe I was following any commandments, I suspected Richard was referring to the latter...a worthy deed. Of course, I knew exactly what he was saying, and what it meant. We are both "of the Tribe", both leftys, both extremely funny and talented...well, HIM probably more than ME...I don't have any golden statues on my mantle...yet. I also realized that Richard very strongly reminds me of my uncle Howard in his mannerisms, humor and also his passion for history. I gotta remind myself to get in touch with my uncle and let him know he may have an Academy Award-winning clone in San Diego...ironically where Howard used to live! Maybe there's just something in the air out there that generates amazing people...my brother lives out there with his family now as well, so I thank myself for proving my own point, lol....

Later that night, after I got home, Christian summarized some of what I was feeling as well, in a series of text messages, which I will now horribly paraphrase...

"...we got to actually see the measure of a man...like the scene in MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS, we gave him sort of a private Lifetime Achievement award that he probably had never gotten before. We were just two John Doe's...true respecters of his work, and now of his person. He shared from his soul...the good, bad and the ugly, and still walked out out with the admiration and continued respect of other good men. Like Mr. Holland, Richard heard and felt what it was to be randomly respected, and we collectively showed him that the belief in his passion...civility and respect for our common man is something not just inside his head, but a truly believable reality. We didn't feed an ego, we shared FROM the heart, and it clearly was taken TO another...his."

I thought Christian's sentiments were right on target, and I told him so. I think that the afternoon with Richard couldn't have gone any better if it was planned by the greatest screenwriters in Hollywood. I went home totally jazzed, excited, and eager to relax with my thoughts and memories. I kept looking at the items Richard signed for me. That sheet music is so unique, I think, as did Richard, and it's really very special to me. Naturally, given this kind of personal, private face time hearing Richard's passionate remarks about all things cinematic and political, has also made my interest in re-watching his films and learning more about the momentum and success of The Dreyfuss Initiative even stronger. If I didn't have to get up early the next morning to go to work, I would have spent all night Sunday having a Dreyfuss-thon of movies. I have plenty of time for that, though. The movies will always be there, as an enduring gift from Richard not just to ME, but to EVERYONE who he has touched with his talents and his dedication to everything he does, every role he plays, whether it's a lawyer, a detective, an oceanographer, a politician...

...or as Richard Dreyfuss. The man. The person. The passionate American.

And for three and a half hours on Sunday, November 21st, 2010...it felt to me like...the FRIEND.

I cannot say strongly enough how amazing the day was for me. It was surreal, mesmerizing, hysterical, moving, educational, and a little bit of everything else all wrapped up in a tiny little hole-in-the-wall burger joint on Broadway, sitting two feet across a table from one of the most intelligent, well-read, sensitive, funny and dedicated men I've ever met...who also just so happens to be one of the best, most versatile and storied actors in modern cinema.

Richard's assistant Tom told me while Richard was with me, I would be in unbeatable company. He was more right than he probalby could imagine. It was a perfect afternoon, one I am forever grateful for, and will always cherish and recall with lots of laughter and great memories.

Because this blog is being shared with Richard as well, I want to step out of the role of storyteller for a moment, and simply say to Richard (and to Tom if you're checking it out as well!) from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU. For sharing your time and your stories with me with an openness and honesty as you did, and for making the day feel like I was hanging out with a buddy of mine. You are immediately a warm, and generous person, and it was an honor to keep company with you, and I know that besides myself, EVERYONE who reads this blog shares in my sentiment that they wish you all the best of everything your endeavors bring you. You are a true gentleman, and a class act.
Everyone should check out Richard's website, and take a few moments to read what he's trying to do. It's REALLY important! www.thedreyfussinitiative.org

As this, my most lengthy blog EVER, comes to a close, I will now finish off the last 2 hours of my shift at the ambulance company, and then resume what I enjoy doing more often than I should: "Eatinginbetweenmeals!!"

Thanks to everyone for all your great comments on Facebook, keep them coming if you like, and I hope this blog was descriptive and thorough enough for you all to be able to FEEL it without you actually being there. This was a real treat for me to write, and I hope you enjoy it...

Til next time, this your pal, JonnyB rockin' it out, DREYFUSS STYLE!!! ;-)

My Afternoon With Richard Dreyfuss! part 1

OK...here we go. Thanks for bearing with me while I gathered my thoughts...

Finally, after a few months of waiting and planning, I was able to collect on my "Possible Dream" auction winnings from Martha's Vineyard this past summer: DINNER WITH RICHARD DREYFUSS. Truth be told however, it turned into LUNCH because Richard (yes, I can call him Richard!) is currently in an off-broadway show called "Imagining Heschel", and he had requested that his evenings remain open so he can spend time prepping, etc...I was only too happy to oblige his request, and told his assistant, Tom, that as long as the timeframe of the afternoon was the same as what a dinner might be like, that would be fine. I was figuring on a roughly 90 minute to two-hour get-together. Tom agreed that sounded like a fair bet.
Before I get into the details, let me shock and amaze you with the pre-event prep work I did in the past few weeks and months...nothing so much on a daily basis, mind you, but my sole desire in meeting Richard was to make sure I was going into the day "smart"...not just prepared, but REALLY with a solid agenda of what I wanted to talk about, learn about, hear about and walk away at the end with from him.
My admiration of Richard, of course begins with JAWS. As a lifelong guest of Martha's Vineyard, starting around age 8, I was even more smitten with the island once I learned that the film was made there in 1974. I could see the wreckage of the ORCA 2 beached across the channel in Menemsha from the deck of my house, and I knew one day I would make it over there to see it up close. Of course, not too many summers later, that worked out, and my first piece of JAWS memorabilia made its way into my hot little hands--after I had to stand on my brother's back. I peeled off the vinyl number "1" from the right side of the bow...part of the identification number that all watercraft must have. The number was "MS LF 15". No one else but ME has that "1". It was a coup to be sure, and since then, I have come clean to the owner of the wreck, who has since become friendly with me, and has given me permission in recent years to go over to the remains (which as of this year are no longer there as he has chopped up what was left and has the pieces in his garage to deter thieves...after 35 years of souvenir hunters). I have also (with permission) grabbed a few pieces of wood from the ORCA, and the owner sold me a few larger pieces of the fiberglass hull as well as one of the barrels used to help with floatation of the ORCA during filming...these are the same bareels they painted yellow and used in the film as well. Pretty damn cool...but onward with Richard...
So, as my love of the film increased...thanks in part to my parent's adamant refusal to allow me to watch it (so I would sneak, of course!)...so did my enjoyment of the cocky and arrogant Matt Hooper, as portrayed to perfection by Richard.
Years go by, and JAWS becomes etched into film history, and into my own film library as one of the true greats. Undisputed. Ask anyone. Go ahead...I'll wait.

As I got older, and the name Richard Dreyfuss becomes one I hear more and more of being attached to films like CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, THE GOODBYE GIRL (for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1978...and he was the youngest man to win the award at age 30. he held this record until just recently when Adrien Brody won it at age 29) and WHOSE LIFE IS IT ANYWAY?, I start taking more of an interest in the often wise-cracking, fast-talking passionate character actor whose unmistakable voice, mannerisms and laugh become more and more popular in the world of movies...everyone's, not just mine.

As part of my "advance work" in the past 3-plus months, I watched all the Dreyfuss films I could get my hands on, if I didn't already have them:
JAWS, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, TIN MEN, LOST IN YONKERS, ALWAYS, FAIL-SAFE, MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS, THE DAY REAGAN WAS SHOT, DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS, WHAT ABOUT BOB, STAKEOUT, ANOTHER STAKEOUT, LET IT RIDE, AMERICAN GRAFITTI, PIRANHA 3D...
There were some I missed, and there are still a few I haven't ever seen. The one film though, that I hadn't seen but felt it was a mandatory viewing was THE GOODBYE GIRL. It was his Academy Award-winning role, and it was very important. Problem was, I couldn't get my hands on a copy too easily...not even from Netflix! I looked EVERYwhere, and kept rolling snake eyes...until just this past Friday, and I went to Barnes & Noble in Yonkers on Central Avenue. It was my last hope...and again, I thought I lost out. I looked in EVERY section I figured it would be in, and found NOTHING. I was looking at their "Award Winners" section, under "G", and was again disappointed. I turned around and was facing the "Comedy" section, and as if Neil Simon himself was sympathizing with my plight, there the friggin' thing was! Sitting right in front of the "G"'s in the section. It stared right at me. I actually clenched my fist and uttered a quiet, yet forceful "BAZINGA!" to no one in particular (thanks, Sheldon).
I took my prize to the cashier and on my way there, I noticed the cover art for the MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS dvd. I grabbed that as well. I have the dvd already, but it was just a copy of it without the original case. I bought that as well because I had the thought that it might come in handy when it came time to get a signature or something...see? Always thinking!
I paid for my movies, and went on my way, happy with my success.
That evening, I watched THE GOODBYE GIRL for the first time ever, and really enjoyed it. A cute love story, and a well done turn for the young Dreyfuss. It occured to me that within 48 short hours from there, I would be meeting him. It was a bit unnerving, so I wrote an email to Richard's assistant, Tom...I told him I was just a bit jittery given the fact that, y'know...it's HOOPER!!!
Tom told me to not be nervous at all. Richard "the person" is who I'd be hanging out with, and he advised me that once he starts talking, he can TALK, so don't be relucatant to interject here and there to add to the conversation. Tom also said to think outside the box when I want to ask Richard questions. He would appreciate, be impressed and pleased with that. Don't ask the questions that have already been asked 1,000 times. "What was it like to work with the rubber shark?" No bueno...
Tom also mentioned that there was at least one film I probably didn't want to bring up at all: WHAT ABOUT BOB?
Apparently, Richard's co-star, the usually quite amusing Bill Murray, was a real pain in the ass to work with, and he made that film a really unpleasant experience. Good to know! Basically, Tom's advice was to relax and enjoy the time with company that can't be beat, so I kept all that in mind. During the afternoon with Richard, he would actually allude to "two...well, maybe three schmucks I've ever worked with, and that's not a bad number at all." Seeing as how Richard's body of work spans 50-plus years, I have to agree. Two or three schmucks in a proportional comparison to over 50 years as an actor...Richard, you got GREAT numbers, sir!!!
As I continued to go through the movies, re-watching the finale of MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS at least a dozen times, and getting goosebumps and teary-eyed each time (shut up!! It's an AMAZING film and a great ending!!), and various scenes from ALWAYS, JAWS, STAKEOUT ("eatinginbetweenmeals??") and GOODBYE GIRL to name a few, it really began to sink in that I was just a few short days away from having to shmooze with the man who brought all these endearing and ENDURING characters to life. I sure as shit hoped I was going to be well-prepared, and ready to have intelligent, not-just-a-JAWS-geek-type of conversation...
My next step was to determine which items of mine would I most want Richard to sign for me when it was "that time". I decided on the 4 pieces that by now many of you have seen posted on my Facebook page. The DVD covers for GOODBYE GIRL and MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS, a really cool page of sheet music from MR. HOLLAND (the "American Symphony" piece that Mr. Holland was composing all his life, and the piece that was played and conducted by him at the finale of the movie), and finally, of course, I would need a really unique item from the movie that started it all for me...
So, this past summer, my friend and super cool JAWS fan and artist extraordinaire, Paul McPhee gave me the "shot glass" tooth, made from the original mold. This was the tooth that Hooper found in the wreckage of a boat, just before the head of Ben Gardner popped out of a hole and made him drop the tooth.
...by the way, if you notice, the tooth was sitting in that wreckage oh-so-nicely with the point UP--an impossibility unless Bruce the shark was able to pull the tooth out of his own mouth and place it there for Hooper to find later. Richard pointed that gaff out to me as we discussed the film. Pretty damn funny...
So I brought the tooth with me, of course.

Ok...you probably are getting twitchy...right? Who really cares so much about the prepping, the nerves, the questions...you want the JUICE...you want to know the GOOD stuff, right? Yeah, yeah, I know...but here I was trying to share the anticipation, the apprehension, the excitement and the surrealism of it all with you, and all you wanna do is cut to the chase...JEEZ!!

Yeah...so would I. So, let's do it.

The arranged meeting place was Cafe Viand, essentially a diner at Broadway and 74th street, on the same blaock as the historic Beacon Theater (Bryan Adams will be there January 27th, by the way, and everything I do, I do it for YOU!). Tom had mentioned to me that Richard was very comfortable there, and had enjoyed many meals there as well. It was also close to his hotel, and very convenient...no kidding...he was in a hotel right next to the place!!
I didn't NEED a "wingman" in this instance, but I WAS told I could bring a guest. My friend, Christian had shown me several times in the past, even BEFORE this all happened to me, that he not only was a movie buff like me, but he was a real admirer of Richard's as well. How did he let me in on this tidbit? By quoting one of the more obscure, yet hystericaly funny lines from STAKEOUT, where Richard's character mimics a smarmy grocery cashier with his equally rude reply of "eatinginbetweenmeals?". It has ALWAYS been a line that breaks me up no matter what I'm doing. Christian even told me I should try to weave it into the conversation with him at some point. I was reluctant to do so, thinking the line was so obscure, from a film that was 23 years old, that Richard just wouldn't recall the reference. Christian begged to differ...more on THAT later.
Needless to say, Christian was very excited to be a part of the experience, and he and I bounced potential questions and topics off one another as we waited for Richard to arrive at the restaurant.
The time was 12 noon, and despite Tom's warning that Richard was notoroius for a typical 5-10 minute tardiness factor, we were just really excited. Cold standing outside, but excited! Chris and I didn't know if Richard had ever participated in something like the POSSIBLE DREAMS auction before, so we mused that Richard might be up in his hotel room, kicking himself for agreeing to participate in the auction, and fearing what would no doubt be a whole lot of silly JAWS questions from straight up nerdy fans with nothing more intelligent to offer besides the aforementioned "what was it like to work with a rubber shark?"-type questions. As Hooper might've thought right now, "Perhaps if the shark ate me instead of me luckily swimming to safety....."
Chris had been momentarily distracted by seeing an old friend from his past (on a random NYC street corner, with 74 billion other people in the city, he sees someone he knows...a great New York story!), when I noticed Richard walk into the diner, which was very crowded. I hoofed it across the sidewalk, signaled Chris "hey! look!!" and pointed towards the door to get his attention that we were "on". I went in after Richard and introduced myself.
"Mr. Dreyfuss?" I said quietly, but loud enough.
He turned around to see my outstretched hand.
"Hi, I'm Jon Bassuk."
Immediately, there was The Dreyfuss Smile (you've seen it a million times in ANY of his films), and he replied, "Oh! It's really nice to meet you!" as he shook my hand.
I mentioned that the restaurant was pretty jammed up, and we walked back outside where I also introduced him to Chris. Richard said that there was an Italian restaruant up the block that good reputation, but he had never been to it, and also a burger joint that he said was "nothing more than a hole in the wall, but they have great burgers". He said that the Italian place was called COSI. I mentioned what exactly COSI was, and that it really was not an Italian restaurant. Richard made one of those classic "eww" faces, to which I promptly replied, "Burgers it is!"
Richard asked if that was ok with me. WAS IT OK WITH ME??? Ummm, no Rich...I prefer anything other than what YOU suggest. My response: "You lead, I'll follow.". He smiled again, and we headed up the block.

Now, I should deviate for a second and tell you I had mentioned to Christian that I really wanted to hear what can only be called The Dreyfuss Chuckle...that chuckle of his that so often is associated with his characters, but is just how he laughs. A very staccato, and infectuous laugh. Christian said, "so make him laugh...you'll hear it." Easy for HIM to say. I can make just about anyone laugh, but I had no idea if I had the chops to break Richard up.

We approached a crosswalk, and Christian was too involved in whatever Richard was telling us as we walked, to notice he stepped into the street against the light, and a car was coming. Richard grabbed Christian's left arm gently to hold him back from stepping out into the street further. I saw my opportunity. I was to the left of Richard, and Christian was on his right. I leaned in front of Richard and looked at Christian.
"Ummm...excuse me, sir, but please remember who saved your life just now."
...and there it was. The Dreyfuss Chuckle. Effortlessly and simply. I was so happy.

We continued up the block to a place called Nick's Burger Joint. Richard was right. It was a tiny hole-in-the-wall place, but I'll be damned if it didn't have an immediate feeling of fairly private and very casual. Works for me! Short of one guy noticing who Christian and I were walking with and shaking his hand, Richard went largely unnoticed, or at least un-disturbed by anyone who DID notice and recognize him. It was a good sign that our time together was going to be OURS, and uninterrupted by people who wanted to say hello, take a picture or ask for an autograph. I was planning on your standard lunch timeframe...90 minutes to 2 hours or so, and I wanted to make sure the time was maximized! Forget what I shelled out for the auction, I didn't care about that. I just wanted to be sure that I had enough time to talk with enough importance about the things that mattered to me as well as to him: his movies of course, and his undying PASSION for politics and his Initiative to bring civic education back into the schools so the children of this and future generations can understand the governance of America, and they will know HOW the country is run before they are asked to actually RUN the country. There was, in my opinion, a lot of ground to cover, and I was figuring there wasn't a lot of time to cover it.

We sat in a corner of the restaurant, and like three new, but very comfortable friends, began to get to know one another. Richard is one of the most unpretentious, friendly, and non-moviestarish people that could possibly exist. He asked us both what we did, where we were from, and a few other of the basic initial questions. We scanned our menus and when the waitress came over, Richard ordered a cheeseburger with mashed potatoes, and Christian and I both also ordered burgers, based on Richard's initial recommendation. Richard then asked what kind of sodas they served, and as the waitress ran down the list, when she hit on Black Cherry and Root Beer, Richard almost jumped out of his chair.
"Oh!! Both!!", he exclaimed.
Christian and I looked at one another. Richard explained that in absence of pink lemonade, which when watered down slightly is, in his opinion, the "best drink ever", that a mixture of these two sodas created something this side of awesome. Well, who were we to argue with an Academy Award-winning actor? "Same all around!" I said. Christian nodded in agreement.
The sodas came and I asked Richard how did he know the proportions of one soda to the other for that perfect balance. He said, "well, you can watch how I do it, and then you'll get an idea."
So, Richard first poured the root beer (Stewart's) about a quarter of the way into the glass, then matched it equally with the black cherry (Dr. Brown's, of course!), then again and again, trading off. We both followed suit in the same manner, and I gotta tell ya'...DELISH!! From this point forward, I believe I will now call this drink the Dreyfuss Soda. Try it!
Once we had our drinks properly designed, we raised glasses and toasted to the day, and to POSSIBLE DREAMS. I then figured it was as good a time as any to ask a few questions and get the ball rolling. I said to Richard that he is, of course, forever linked to the island of Martha's Vineyard because of JAWS (he probably had been anticipating when I would bring up that film), and I wanted to know if prior to that had he ever been there, or was it solely after the movie was made that he became a more frequent visitor. Richard's reply was that he hadn't gone to the Vineyard before JAWS was made, but that after it was finished, he did return for a period of about 10 years, here and there, to visit and vacation. He made it very clear that when "Hollywood invaded the Vineyard", it was not always very well-received by the Islanders. He mentioned a few legendary stories of dead sharks being left outside the production offices, stonewalling from zoning officials, and other general obstacles that made elements of the production difficult. Richard, for one, eased his frustrations by (and I'm taking a bit of liberty here) becoming VERY friendly with MANY ladies on the island. several other crew members did the same thing, and who knows--there might be some offspring out there whose father.....welll....he didn't say it directly, but it was at the very least alluded to.
He told us the story of "one of the actors" who, late one night went to go pet a nice little kitty-cat, but instead got sprayed by a skunk...it was very funny to hear him tell the story of poor Murray Hamilton (Mayor Vaughn in the film), although I had heard it before...don't know if Christian had...it was very funny to see Richard chuckle about it. He went on to say how the production company pretty much wreaked havoc all over the island. From famous drinking binges to full-blown food fights in hotels, JAWS was one of those movies that for SURE left its mark, even before it was ever screened for a single beachgoer!
I said to Richard (keeping in mind what his assistant, Tom had told me to try and avoid: asking the already asked questions), "There have been 1,000 interviews about JAWS, and in those 1,000 interviews, there are the usually the same 1,000 questions which will produce the same 1,000 answers. I want to try and go outside the box, and I want to ask you the one question that hasn't been asked, or hear the one story that hasn't been told. What can you tell me about the production of this epic, that NO ONE knows about?"
Richard's mind went to work, and I could clearly see him go back in time to 1974 and flip through his memories. He raised a finger as if to say "A-ha! Got it!", and smiled.

...and with that, I bid you all goodnight. It's been a long day at work, and I think I'll just stop here until tomorrow...




NOOOO!!! I'm not about to do that to you. But holy shit...I sure hope this revelation is as fresh and new to you all (especially the REAL FINatics out there, and without mentioning any names,you know who you are....Donna, Jim, Dana, Paul, John, et al...ooops!! lol!!)

Richard leaned in close and gave us this JonnyLand Exclusive (paraphrased, not verbatim, but damn close):
"You know...Robert Shaw (Quint) was a great actor. Just a great, great actor. Gone way too soon. He and I had a whole lot of interaction, and it was often pretty heated. He was a drinker. Serious drinker. He was also one HELL of a playwright, and he had written a lot. He had just finished writing a play called "The Man In The Glass Booth", and he was really proud of it. One night, Bob came by, and pulled me aside to tell me about it. He asked me if I wanted to hear any of it, so I said "sure, why not?"...so...Bob, in his full-on bravado, read me his play....he READ the whole play to me! Just stood there and did the whole thing. So, when he was finished, I looked around, and realized that the ENTIRE cast and crew...EVERYone, INCLUDING Steven (Spielberg), was just standing around, perfectly silent, and listening to Robert Shaw read his play. It was incredible. It cost the production $80,000 because no one was working! But Bob was very proud of that, and it was something very special to see and hear."

I don't know about you all, but I had never known about that. I thought that was pretty damn cool. Not just the "exclusive-ness" of it, but that Shaw actually stood there during the filming of JAWS, and read a full play to Richard and the rest of the crew.

Soon after, the food had arrived, and I had almost forgotten we were in a restaurant to eat! The conversation somehow then segued into a reference I made to MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS, namely the finale (one of the most emotionally rewarding and goosebumpy scenes in a film) as well as a scene prior to that finale where Richard's character (a music teacher in a high school) is confronting a school board as they prepare to cut funding to the music program. This action will force Mr. Holland to lose his job, and he wasn't about to take that. He made a passionate argument that it wasn't about his job, but rather it was about the CHILDREN in the school who will lose out because of the lack of education. The teachers, he said, would ultimately become lazy, and the children would lose out, even so far as to lose their ability to think for themselves as they sit there and listen to the "teachings" that are formed from "cookie-cutter" curriculums.
That I brought this up to Richard as a segue into civility and politics, specifically with regard to the lack thereof of that civility and decorum in our government, as Christian illustrated with examples of how bashed our sitting president has been lately, clearly impressed and pleased him. His character of Mr. Holland from a 15 year old film was foreshadowing the passion that Richard, the man himself, not the actor, would show in his newly formed Dreyfuss Initiative (www.thedreyfussinitiative.org), a plea to the country's policy-makers and educators to bring back the teaching of civics into the classrooms. As mentioned earlier, straight from a speech of Richard's, it is crucial "...for the children to know how their government works before they are asked to run their government.". Richard went on to echo many of the recently viewed YouTube clips of him I had seen in advance of the day's get-together with passion, and totally unbridled emotion. At one point, he teared up as he said quietly but firmly, "I want my country back...I want my country back." I was humbled.
He continued on talking about how the ability to affect the changes necessary is growing more and more difficult with the passing of time. Time, he said, is the enemy, because it's not an infinite amount. Richard fears that within the lifetime of our grandchildren, there will be a sweeping change for the worse in how the country is run. He kept stressing the importance of pre-partisanship, and the need for a better understanding of what our civil liberties are. "When the Bill of Rights was hung up on the wall that day," he said, "It was a terribly naiive, ambitious and brave thing. The architects of the Bill of Rights were saying "here is how it should be, and we are going to ensure that it's done this way"."
Christian and I could do little more than sit and listen to Richard's passionate verbalization of his thoughts and ideas on the betterment of the country through renewed education ABOUT the country, and its governance. The one thing that I noticed throughout his discussion with us on this level, was that it was devoid of ALL pretentiousness, all snobbery. He mentioned his stint at Oxford for four years, studying the governments, the history of the country, and also how he gave and continues to give speeches at this location and that one...but he did it on the level of "Richard the American", not "Academy Award-winning actor, Richard Dreyfuss, who is famous so he should be listened to...". There was NONE of that bullshit that so many other "celebrities" feel they are ENTITLED to because of who or what they are. "We listen to them because of who they are and we think we NEED to listen.", Richard said. This is why he essentially retired from acting. "I heard a stronger, truer calling than acting, and it was America." It was profound, moving and entirely honest. I sat there soaking up as much of this as I possibly could, knowing I'd not be able to recall so much if it (especially here for this blog!!), but I tried desperately to retain the highlights.

Christian and I, very similarly, asked Richard at one point, "so what do we do to make that change happen? How do we get there?"
Richard replied "Well, that's the real drive of the Initiative...to get the ball rolling and get civics re-introduced while there is still time." It was just so damn impressive to see, hear and FEEL the emotion from him from two feet across a table, when up to now, all I had known was what I saw and heard in videoclips and interviews. Again, the sense of surrealism washed over me. I was sitting right HERE with Richard Dreyfuss--the PERSON, who is ALSO an actor. I felt such honor and privilege to be right here, right now...

**NOTE FROM JONNY:

It's almost 9:30 pm Monday...I want to step out of the blog for tonight, and resume it tomorrow. I think...well, I HOPE what I've begun with here has anyone who is reading it feeling even REMOTELY how I was feeling yesterday...with "excited" being right up there on the list of adjectives! Richard spoke with full-on emotion about the politics and governance of the country for quite a bit of time, and I wasn't about to cut him off with a film reference! Subtly though, we did resume talking about his film career, and some of the stories about his work in the late 70s and 80s made me raise an eyebrow a time or two. Comments he made about some of his darker days, which I had NEVER planned to bring up of course, were offered by him freely and with candor and honesty that was surprising to me given the fact that for all intents and purposes, he was talking with two strangers. It is that he opened his private and personal life, warts and all, to us without hesitation or reluctance, not knowing if WE knew any of his "secrets", so to speak, that convinces me that from the first moment we all began to share conversation, he was very comfortable with us, and felt like it was ok to let us into parts of his life, however briefly, that you might think were only accessible to his friends and closer individuals. By the time I first glanced at my watch that afternoon, almost two hours had already passed, and Richard showed no signs at all of slowing down or "summarizing" things in an effort to call it a day. I really and truly think that he was having a great time. Stimulating, entertaining, thought-provoking...and that's going him to us and us to him! Tomorrow I will continue to recall some of those moments Richard shared with us, as well as why, for a "retired" actor, we keep seeing him in movies! Some of the truly most WONDERFUL and PERSONAL moments for me are coming right up, so hang in there with me, and the next piece will be in the works tomorrow morning (and in between ambulance jobs!!). Feel free to comment on what's here already if you like. I hope you are enjoying reading it as much as I am typing it out for you. To recall the afternoon (as I have been doing all day long!) so I can type it out here in the blog, allows me to re-savor the moments, and THAT is FREAKIN' SWEET!! Also, I realize I'm not interjecting a lot of my goofy, witty, trademark Jonny-isms here, but this blog is really a very personal one...more so than what I did on Day 3 of my Vineyard vacation (although if you need a refresher I can send you the blog for that!), and I want to be respectful to Richard and to his kindness, his unreserved honesty and passion. Don't get me wrong, the Dreyfuss Chuckle gave way to the full on Dreyfuss Laugh (a la the scenes in JAWS when Hooper is comparing tattoos with Quint..."wait, wait, don't tell me--Mother", and when Hooper laughs at Mayor Vaughn in front of the Amity Island sign..."...get your name in the National Geographic...") at the most perfect, and very personal moment for Richard when I was answering one of HIS questions to ME! What a payoff, and even as I recall it now, I'm laughing....

Please check back tomorrow...there's a lot more to come, and I'll let you know as soon as it's up!

'Til then..."you still got a HELLUVA fish out there......"

~ JonnyB