Wont Back Down - Tom Petty ( When a remake of the John Wayne Classic the Alamo was announced it was treated like a religious issue in Texas. It was the defining event in Texas history and point of pride to all Texans. I was blissfully unaware of the remake until it unavoidably confronted me. I was seated at the bar in my favorite hang-out early in the evening. A recent film was popular to quote among my band mates in the creepy voice of the character: Hes just a boy from the cult classic Sling Blade. A couple came to the back of the bar where I liked to sit at a kind of bottle neck and took the one remaining stool beside me. While the man stood behind me talking to a gather crowd of people, the young woman and I struck up a conversation about knives. We talked for several beers and she explained that they were newly married, that she was 22 and a model. I told her she had an unusual look and she really liked that. I think she said: Like Morticia? She said that her dad was famous but didnt name him. She said her bow was romantic and showed me her necklace. It was a small vile of blood similar to how the faithful carry holy water. The man had remained out of the conversation busying himself talking to people who had gradually filled the narrow bottle neck where we sat hemming us in. He began to bump into me with his elbows and eventually pressed up against me. I said: Hey man, take it easy. I didnt comprehend what he said at first. He said: Its the fans. I replied in the creepy Sling Blade voice: Hes just a boy! The guy spun around and put his face next to the side of my head and exclaimed: Thats my character! You just did my character! I created that! At the time he was only famous to Texans and really only because he had just been selected to play Davy Crockett in the remake of the Alamo which had placed him on the cover of Texas monthly (1997?). All of this was totally off my radar and as far as I was concerned he was just - the guy bumping into me. Long story short, it was Billy Bob Thornton and his then unknown wife Angeline Jolie. The crowd around him became a press like at the front of a concert stage. Nobody bothered Angelina but I was getting bumped more than I could bare. Finally had to get away from them and left Thornton my stool, think I called him a dick on the way out. Its the fans following my escape. Later when I mentioned the incident to a new friend in Appleton I was accused of lying because the film wasnt released until 2004. I wondered about that too and found that the original budget was cut from 200 to 100 million. The producer, director and three of the four main characters quit setting filming back several years from my encounter. Thornton was going to do it no matter what because hes a Texan. Umh, ungh...Hes just a boy.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 10:21:37 +0000