PE Milwaukee Day 3 -How's my hair?

This is going to be a long blog guys....but a fun read!

WHAT A NIGHT! First it started off with tornado warnings, floods, and a very crazy ride to Milwaukee! It was raining so hard on the way down, I almost thought about turning around....but of course I didn't. The lightning was constant, and the thunder was deafning....but I carried on. Once I got down there, I was happy to see that filming was underway, and not cancelled. Once I found a place to park, I headed down to the film site. The rain was just pouring down, and there were just a few people huddled together across the street from the penthouse apartment on Prospect. The rain quickly died down, and it became very humid outside. I was searching for anyone I knew, and this guy walks up to me...."I know you!" I said. It was the same guy I had met the night before. His name is Zack, and he's such a nice guy! Just a few minutes later I saw Betty(Shakenbis) walking up to us, and was happy that she made it down safely! Rumor had it that tonight's scenes involved a love scene between Dillinger and Bille, but no luck spotting Marion at all.

We stood outside waiting to see signs that Johnny would be arriving, but we had already missed him. He was upstairs filming already, and Jerry was walking around the outside of the apartment. Michael Mann made a brief appearance, before going in to the building. A few minutes later, Tiffany came wlaking over to us, and we watched as the crew brought things in and out, and covered equipment with tarps. We stood and waited with Zack, and his friend Jenny, until about 1:30am. Some of the crew came out to warn us about an approaching storm, and told us to seek shelter! Well, we are in the middle of an open area at 1:30am in downtown Milwaukee...where are we gonna go? Zack had a great idea....let's go to the bar! So off we went. We walked a few blocks down to a small Irish Pub (I forget the name), and had an Irish Coffee (instead of beer). I was pretty cold, even though I had dressed much better for the evening as opposed to last night. Betty also had herself an Irish Coffee of some sort, and let me tell you ..... there was NO coffee in the thing! Pure alcohol, good...but man....was it strong. This pub had Cheese and Onion crisps (potato chips for you americans LOL) Man did it feel good to have a taste of home!! We waited out the storm until the bartender said we had to leave. I picked up my umbrella, and POP! It opened......gave me the scare of my life. I thought "OH NO! That's bad luck!"...so i raced to close it up. Bad news for me....it was broken. Now I had to face the rain with 3/4 of an umbrella! Zack, Jenny, Betty, Tiffany, and I headed back to the filming site. The rain had died down, but there was still a bit of lightning going on.

We were the first to return to the site, and found a long line of water where we had just been standing 1/2 an hour ago. There was mud everywhere....but that's not gonna stop us! People started filtering in a few minutes later, and so did the rain! It did not stop raining until 6am!!! We rode out the rain, as it pounded us left and right! Zack was wearing this GORTEX (thats right you Seinfeld fans.....Gortex!) jacket, and I just could not stop thinking about George Castanza from Seinfeld. We had a good laugh about that one. We kept trading off Umbrellas, and shaking off the rain (since it was leaking on our heads!) Poor Zack left the vent pockets open in his jacket, and his shirt was all wet. (Sorry Zack) The crew remained under the protection of the apartment complex awning, while we waited for signs that filming was finished. We were told, after all, on Tuesday that JD would come out for a meet and greet this night. We waited, and waited some more....then at 5am JD appeared and shook hands with some of the crew, then dissapeared into a trailer. A few mintues later, Jerry came out to inspect the barracades, so we knew we were close to a meeting with JD! jerry said "Don't put your Brollies away...he's not coming out just yet!" (A brolly is an umbrella LOL)

Finally, at 6am we saw JD. He came strolling out onto the street, and waved to everyone. Almost as suddenly as he came out.....the rain stopped! I couldn't believe it! JD motioned to everyone "brrr it's chilly out here!" Before starting at the other end of the line. He signed autographs, gave hugs and handshakes, and spoke with people as he moved down the line. Betty had her machette cover out for JD to sign, and when JD got to her.....Jerry knew who she was! "I've seen that before!" he laughed. "I remember saying no to that last time" betty was smiling from ear to ear as Jerry spoke to her, and JD signed her machette cover. Tiffany handed Jerry and JD a magnet from the Make a wish foundation. It was a great magnet with a very heartfelt message on it! She got an autograph (on one of my Columbus pics) for a young boy named Felix....it was VERY sweet! Johnny and Jerry even said "That's a very nice picture!", and of course I said "I took it!" LOL (I'm a dork), then Jerry saw the picture I had brought for JD to sign, and said "Oh...sign that one!" It was a pic of JD shooting his gun, with all the "sparks" flying out of the gun barrel. JD took it from me, asked me my name, and then said "Oh, this is a great picture....look at the flame coming out of that!" He looked at the picture for a bit, then smiled, and signed it "Vicky - thank you so much- Johnny Depp"

I didn't go all numb this time. I kept focused, and thanked JD for coming out to meet his fans, and how nice he was, etc....then of course I went into stupid mode, and said "I hope you like the picture I sent you last night of my dog" ( I had made a card with my pirate doggy picture....just to put a smile on his face. Peg handed it to Jerry on the 2nd day of filming for me) Well JD seemed a little caught off gaurd, and said" Well i haven't seen it yet, but I'll proboaly get it tomorrow." I was smacking myself in the head for even mentioning it. (again...I'm a dork) Next up was Zack, and Jenny. I have never seen so many smiles from so many people. Zack looked as chuffed as could be that he finally met JD after 2 days of waiting, and t-storms! Then JD got in his car, and drove back to base camp.

A little side note: JD was not the only person we were hunting for tonight/this am.....I think Jerry was on our radar alot since Betty was around. LOL! Sorry Rachel.....it all happened so fast. I tried to pass on your message, but he didn't hear me. I did however talk to Corey who smiled and said "oh yes!" at the G-bonz! LOL

THE TOP TEN DUMBEST/FUNNIEST THINGS YOU HEAR WHILE WAITING IN LINE TO SEE A MOVIE STAR!

10.) How's my hair? ( I must have asked that about 10 times tonight)

9.) My mole "source" : "Channing Tatum is in this movie. He plays 'so and so' " Stargazer(not paying attention to the conversation) replies: "Channing Tatum..... he is in this movie" (You had to be there...was pretty funny....will NEVER let you live it down!)

8.) I pay my taxes, and I can stand wherever I want

7.) A good smell blew past me (courtesy of Betty)

6.) Can you tell me the name of Johnny's sister? (Again...stargazer...thanks!)

5.) It's not rain.....it's tree water (my stupid moment)

4.) Son of a Nutcracker! (Again....me after being sprayed with water from a passing car)

3.) I'll pop them with my umbrella, you say "have you been hiding under a rock?", and Betty will pee her pants! (Our response for the next person who drives by and asks.."what's going on here?")

2.) I've bought some booze, and I'm selling it if anyone wants to buy it (OMG)

1.) They wouldn't hang wires over the side of the building if they didn't want you to climb it!

I just want add this - Johnny.....your fans appreciate everything that you do! I am sure it is not easy to film for 12 hours, then come out at 6am (2 days in a row) and say hello to us. Thank you so much for being such a kind hearted person! You've made my day, along with all the other people who's lives you've touched so deeply! THANKS!

Here are some pics from Day 3!

Lightning on the drive down

The rain soaked entrance to the Penthouse on Proscpect

This group posed for me after arriving on Prospect

Zack (left), and his friend

Zack and Jenny

Waiting out in the rain is no fun, but we did our best!

And if all else fails.....bring your patio umbrella!

Our "mad dash" for shelter...the nearest bar! From left to right: Zack, Jenny, me, Tiffany, and Betty

Wardrobe heads out about 5:30am (sorry it's blurry)

Security gets tighter as the sun comes up

Michael Mann (with no bandage on his arm) laughs with producers and crew in the AM

Johnny comes out to the crowd around 6am (still in a bit of makeup)

Betty gets her machette cover signed...as Jerry smiles on

Tiffany gets a hug from Johnny...notice who's still smiling at Betty

Johnny greets fans....polite and wonderful...as always!

Thank you to Tiffany, and Betty for helping me clean up the park! There was trash EVERYWHERE!