People work here.

People work here.

You know that sign that you see along the freeway where major construction is going on? It’s orange and it says “People work here”. I used to see it all the time on 459 around the Summit when I worked at Southeastern. I used to think it was so random and kind of dumb; but now I like it b/c it fits this post perfectly: yup, you guessed it! This is the celebrities post. And my point being that celebrities are people too, and their job just happens to be our entertainment. Case in point: Arnold Schwarzenneger. He is my governor! Ha. Ha. I STILL cannot get over it. Every time I see him come on tv on one of those little promotional political ads begging us to give him a second chance, I have to crack up. The Terminator asking for my vote! (A second chance from what, I don’t know. I guess you just had to be there…)

Anyway, as you may’ve guessed from my last post, we have had several encounters with these people. You know about that time we were at Dodgers’ Stadium downtown L.A., and I walked by so close to Pat Sajak I could’ve stuck my foot out and tripped him. I didn’t though, and wouldn’t have, b/c that would just be mean. But, Frank and I laughed all afternoon about that encounter, and decided that getting stuck in traffic both TO and FROM the stadium just might’ve been worth it.

And in the middle of August, I drove to downtown Hollywood to audition for Disney. I got to sing in the Debbie Reynolds Rehearsal Studios! That is a big deal to me—I know some of you are wondering, who is she again? Well, she’s Singin’ in the Rain, and Tammy, and most importantly, she is Princess Leia’s mother!!! AAAGGGGHHHHHH, and I parked directly across from her reserved parking spot! But, believe it or not, it was just an old brick warehouse building. We looked it up online, and it used to be a U.S. Post office, until D.R. bought it and turned it into a rehearsal/dance studio. Inside, in the office, they told us she drops in every once in a while, but she is busy right now performing onstage in Vegas.

Biola hosts some pretty cool celebrities: Michael Chang, the tennis pro, is a student at Talbot, and one of the princesses of Swaziland is also a student in the undergrad at Biola. Not to mention some pretty big names in the world of philosophy and theology: J.P. Moreland, William Lane Craig, and Robert Saucy.

The best story I am saving for last, but here it is:

Frank took the boys to Disneyland last Friday, (Oct. 28th, to be exact) during the day while I was at work. (Sigh, I was a little sad, but I had gotten to go the week before). Well, there Frank was, in the park, in the crowd, with 2 little boys, ages 4 and 1, and no stroller…anybody else’s nightmare, but Frank is a trooper. So, Frankie’s running ahead, and Frank’s trying to keep a hold on Steven, and Frankie just keeps moving further and further away. At this point my husband is getting concerned b/c Frankie has managed to infiltrate himself into someone else’s group about 10 or 15 feet ahead. Just as Frank opens his mouth to call Frankie back, one of the guys in the crowd kind of trips over Frankie and tells the little girl with him, (in an English accent!) “be careful and watch the little boy”—meaning Frankie. Knowing Frank, I know he was probably a little embarrassed that our kid was tripping up this guy, until he looked up and saw who it was…it was PAUL MCCARTNEY!!!!!!
I know you’re going “AAAAGGGGHHHHH!”, b/c that’s exactly what I did when Frank called me a few minutes later to relate the incident. My next question, and I’m sure yours is/was “Did you get his autograph?!!” Sigh….nope. Frank said it happened just too quick, and about the time he realized who it was, the moment had passed. Besides, he (Paul) was surrounded by an entourage of Disney people and he had a small girl with him…so it would have been kind of hard to approach him. Frank tried to follow him for a little while and thought he was headed for the Pirates of the Caribbean, but they kept going. And since the Pirates is a cool ride, with a relatively short wait, Frank and the boys decided to leave Mr. McCartney alone. I was so mad that he didn’t get his autograph, but Frank was more worried about the fact that he wished he’d had a chance to share Christ with him. Had to go and get spiritual on me. But, I agree, and the point I wanted to make is that people do work (and live) here.

When we drove down to Hollywood, it really looks better on film than it does in person. It’s just an old rundown city. I mean, it was cool and everything, we saw the Chinese Theater and drove down Sunset Boulevard, but I was a little disappointed and disillusioned that there was no glamour. We drove by several movie studios, Paramount or Universal, I’m not quite sure which; they are near LAX airport; and they are nothing more than big white warehouses, and you absolutely cannot tell anything about them from the outside. Celebrities –esp. tv actors, get up every day and go to work just like we do—except they work in a big ugly white warehouse. They usually have 5 day work weeks where they rehearse the show the first couple or 3 days and then film the last 2. And, b/c life is so expensive here, everyone except the really big stars are still struggling to make ends meet. And keeping up with Hollywood’s lifestyle is hard—esp. on Christians. It just does not jive with the life of Christ, which is who we are trying to follow. When I first got out here, I was sure that entertainment was the life for me. But, God in His providence, knew that was NOT up my alley, esp. as it would seriously hinder my Christian walk. Not to say that there are not Christians in the entertainment industry, who work in Hollywood, and are wholeheartedly following Christ—I just know it is not my path. (In case you were wondering, I work at Biola now. But that’s another post.)

So, although I was disappointed to know that we didn’t get Paul McCartney’s autograph, I know that it would drive me crazy to BE a celebrity and not be able to go to Disneyland w/o being recognized and have to have an escort to run interference for me. I’ll take my anonymity, thank you very much! And certainly, the most important point I want to make is that celebrities are people who need Christ’s redemption just as much as us nobodies.

(But I still think it was cool that Frankie ran into Paul McCartney!)