As you all know, Robert DeNiro has been here in Ypsi these past few days, making a film called Stone with Milla “I love Olive Garden” Jovovich and Edward Norton. Well, I’m happy to say that we finally have our first pencil paparazzi field report on DeNiro. The image above and following description come from a local reader named Katerina.
…I knew they were going to be filming in the area again, but really just stumbled upon the filming on my way home Thursday night. It just so happened that my sister-in-law and niece were at the downtown library and found out about the filming while there. The three of us stood with a group of other people and waited for awhile watching crew and extras bustle about. My nine year old niece was quite bored and had no idea who DeNiro was.
Just when my sister-in-law decided they would leave, she hit me on the arm and said “There he is… it’s Robert DeNiro!!” He just strolled right in front of us heading toward the Tap Room door. I actually took a picture on my cell phone but since my arm was shaking it was very blurry. When I came home I decided to draw this sketch. You might be able to tell that I erased the top of the door and re-drew it a few times, making the door taller. That’s because DeNiro was not very tall and my initial drawing was way off scale…
And remember to always have pencil and paper with you. You never know when you might have an opportunity to sketch a celebrity.
33 Comments
A guy at the bike shop on Michigan Ave was telling me and my wife today that some drunk guy almost ran right into Deniro last night (with feet, not with a car).
I remember hearing that when George Clooney was here in Michigan that someone followed his car from his hotel and tried to force it off the road.
One thinks that maybe we’re a bit too excited about all of this celebrity stuff.
And I like that DeNiro just barely clears the doorknob on the Tap Room’s door.
I”m much more excited about Edward Norton! I hadn’t heard his name associated with the film until I read this just now. I love Fight Club! The first rule about fight club is you do not talk about fight club…
They’re just people, most with fewer hobbies than the ‘regular’ folks we all know in our normal lives. Acting is mostly what they do, 24/7. If they’re not on set, they are thinking about being on set: working out, reading, prepping. Boring life!
Believe me, you’d rather be a ‘normal’ A2 or Ypsi person with lives full of flowers, hobbies, farmer’s markets, drinks at Sidetrack in perfect anonymous peace than to be a celeb. I kind of feel sorry that they miss out on all the cool stuff we take for granted.
They’re not better than ‘regular’ folk…just have very different and very limited and edited lives.
I’ve been working on ‘The Irishman’ and enjoying working with whoever but mostly the dogs are the stars to me…that get to come home and be…dogs!
Here’s a link to the article about the woman stumbling into DeNiro on the movie set on Thursday.
http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2009/06/ypsilanti_police_say_drunken_w.html
DeNiro being so short, she must have thought he was a fire hydrant or a keg of beer or something…
Thanks for the link, Michael.
Did you happen to look at the comments following the story? The first one says:
Welcome to Ypsitucky DeNiro!!! YEE HAWW
And I bet you anything that this wouldn’t have been said if the City hadn’t made such a big deal over the Ypsitucky festival. It’s like I said – they may get the organizers to change the name of the festival, but, in doing so, they made all of this 100 times worse. If they had just allowed the festival to happen, no one would have noticed. Now, however, thanks to them, we’re going to have to hear about it for years to come. And it won’t be in a positive context, as it would have been had they just allowed the event to happen….
Here’s another comment.
Really, Ypsi? We think that a ’50s nickname is the source of your image problem? Really?
What an embarrassing mess.
Mark, I have to put the blame for the ‘Ypsitucky’ embarrassment on the decision to choose the name rather than the “big deal” that has since been made of it, which was exactly what the organizers predicted.
But I agree with your comment elsewhere that David Ware – and I would add another unarmed black man that was killed by Law Enforcement, “Clifton Lee, Jr.”:http://arborupdate.com/article/1788/west-willow-incident-videos-released – should have been much bigger issues.
(In the previous comment, I followed the same syntax as Arbor Update uses to make a hypertext links, but it didn’t work here. So here is the same comment with the link underneath.)
Mark, I have to put the blame for the ‘Ypsitucky’ embarrassment on the decision to choose the name rather than the “big deal” that has since been made of it, which was exactly what the organizers predicted.
But I agree with your comment elsewhere that David Ware – and I would add another unarmed black man that was killed by Law Enforcement, “Clifton Lee, Jr.” – should have been much bigger issues.
http://arborupdate.com/article/1788/west-willow-incident-videos-released
(Don’t mind me while I try to get this hypertext thing down right. As there doesn’t appear to be a help link on this site, and there’s no ‘preview’ screen, and I don’t like to ask for directions (It’s a guy thing), I’ll just use good old trial and error)
Arbor Update thread regarding 2006 West Willow incident
(If the words above link to the page they describe, then I got it, and I can go back to submitting comments that are on topic.)
David Ware and Clifton Lee were didn’t deserve to die, but they did nothing to improve society. They were both dirtbags.
Well please share, ytown, on why exactly you consider them “dirtbags”. I know very little about David Ware and Clifton Lee, Jr. except that both were unarmed and running away when they were attacked and killed by Law Enforcement.
Please also give a quick summary of what you have contributed to society, so that if I happen to drive by and see the cops thumping on you by the side of the road, I’ll know whether you are worth getting out my video camera.
Michael, look up the facts of each case first. Then I will have a discussion with you. I am sure that you have givenso much to society! You are another bleeding heart lib that probably lives off of my taxes in some form.
ytown, if you followed the link I provided earlier, you would have seen that I have commented on the West Willow incident involving Clifton Lee quite extensively. If you have some knowledge to share regarding this, please do, either there or here.
You wrote,
“I know very little about David Ware and Clifton Lee, Jr. ”
and
“both were unarmed and running away when they were attacked and killed by Law Enforcement.” Mr. Lee was not running away! Get YOUR facts straight.
Stop playing games and read about these two incidents before you run of at the mouth. Also, you never denied that you live off of the taxpayers. You should thank me for your salary, if you get one.
Michael, I will give you some respect by using your name and sharing your thoughts.
The internet is a wonderful thing Michael. A person can learn so much.
At about a minute into the video, Washtenaw County Sheriff Deputy Aaron Hendricks explains “he starts running, so we halked him to right here”. This was in reference to Clifton Lee obeying the officer’s command to leave the scene, and running to get home, before the officers chased him down.
This newspaper article also confirms that Clifton Lee was walking/running away from the officers when he was attacked,
And later in the article, with the following timeline regarding the video taken from the Hendricks/Campbell patrol car,
ytown, your repeated comments since my last, only minutes apart, shows that you spend way too much time hitting keys on your keyboard, and not nearly enough time reading and thinking.
Ytown, I may be mistaken, but didn’t you say that you were a public employee?
Yes dude I am. However I don’t fail drug tests and sue my former employers like Michael.
ytown, if you don’t retract your false and libelous statement that I failed a drug test, then I will see you in court, once I find out who you are. I already know you’re a public employee, so that narrows my search quite a bit. I’m sure others know your identity and would be willing to reveal it. Maybe a small reward wouldn’t even be necessary. But if I find out who you are, before you publicly retract your statement, then it will be too late.
You can blow off this warning at your own peril. There are serious consequences for the decision you make here so I would suggest that you put more thought into it than you do the brainless comments you post.
You have been warned, ytown, and this is all I’m going to say on this matter. You will only hear about it again from my attorney.
Mr. Schils, Wasn’t that nice Mr. Bruce Lee just arrested for firing shots at another man on Andrea Street? Or am I mistaken?
Michael, I don’t doubt about your libelous ways, all one needs to do is google your name and see all of your court cases. However, because of your litigious nature, I willfully retract my statement about a person named Michael failing a drug test.
Michael I am truly sorry that you thought that I had implied that you had failed a drug test. I am sorry for any harm that may have occured because of this unfortunate incident. Please accept my humble apologies.
I due retract any and all of my statements regarding Michael failing any drug tests.
Too Late! You hear that knocking at the door? That’s my attorney and he has some papers for you…
Just kidding.
What does “I due retract…” mean?
Over 7 hours ago, I posted a response to your thoughtless and uninformed statement that Clifton Lee was not running away when he was attacked by the officers, but my comment has the words
“Your comment is awaiting moderation.”
at the top of it, so apparently it contained too many links or something to be instantly posted.
I am truly saddened that my tax money goes to ytown’s pockets. Ytown, can you give me a refund?
http://coa.courts.mi.gov/documents/opinions/final/coa/20070104_c263938_42_263938.opn.pdf
I due retract…
Whoops.
dude, I knew you just couldn’t help yourself. You just have to say some thing, anything. You are way too easy.
ytown, my comment responding to your incorrect statement that Clifton Lee was not running away from the Washtenaw cops when they attacked and eventually killed him has cleared moderation and is available up thread.
Your response? (This is where you support your statement that Clifton Lee was not running away from the cops when he was attacked and killed.)
Enough of the personal attacks, OK? Don’t make me aggressively moderate this thread. I’ll do it.
And, just to clarify, ytown, are you of the opinion that there’s a certain class of individual who cops should be able to shoot in the back, no questions asked?
yes. i think that cops can kill child killers/rapists anytime they want.