Crispin Hellion Glover
So last night, out of the unexpected, something that I'd never imagine possible happening, not ever in this life time really, actually happened. I met Crispin Hellion Glover. I got to speak with him twice really. At the Oaks Theater, located in Pittsburg, which was about a 5-6 hours ride away from Rowan, Crispin was performing his Big Slide Show and showing his movie "What is it?" in its final form after 10 years of production. The Big Slide Show was alright, I couldn't really follow where Crispin was going with the reading of his 10 books. His books were really just random Victorian books that he had blotted out the words of in ink here and there and he'd added some pictures in between the pages to make a new story. This method itself has been done actually as Crispin always likes to subtley take credit for things that he thinks he created or just to fool the audience into thinking he did as he'd sneakily talks his way around and out of things if no one questions him about copyrights. His enunciation was great to listen to as usual but it did get a bit boring and monotonus 'cause it was more like he was just reading words that didn't make sense. Some of the pictures were pretty interesting and I guess everyone was supposed to form their own kind of interpretation as from what they saw from The Big Slide Show. Nonetheless, it was fun to hear him scream randomly and then the audience goes into laughter or just in silence and wonderment. The movie "What is it?" was pretty interesting I guess. I'd already known what it was going to be like since I've read so many reviews on it over the last few years already. I'll talk about that later. So After his Big Slide Show and his film "What is it?" was played, there was a question/answer forum. People asked questions that's been asked a milion times before to which I know what his every answer was going to be like 'cause I most likely have read about 95%interviews on him the last few years I was obsessed about him. The thing with Crispin is that he has memorized most of his answers so that he would not have to be as self-conscious about his speech and can speak in eloquence. He still stutters here and there of which is something that I can relate to myself. I can't really talk well or think on the spot unless I've written it down already and the next thing I'd have to do is just go from memory of what I'd written earlier and translate that into actual speech. I guess it's just that I have so many things I want to say and I become so self-conscious of the organization of how I want to present it I just mess everything up altogether. I think Crispin has something similar like that.. or I just so think. But what don't understand is how a 41 year old actor still hasn't gotten over this habit and especially after he's done so many movies too. So anyway, finally I asked him a question myself in which I had to repeat the question about 100 times in my head over and over again while my heart palpitated tremendously as I wait for one question after another to be done. I must've raised my hand about 6 times, but each time they were half raised. Crispin looked at me sympathetically the 5th time as I raised my hand but then he had to turn to this other guy I guess 'cause he was more like aggressive in the way he raised his hand? And then the 6th time I raised my hand up high and Crispin lean forward on the stage towards my direction and pointed his arms at me and went "You! Yes, you have a question." I didn't even realize how fast I spoke until the words literally dropped from my lips, "Are you planning on releasing the rest of the books that you haven't released yet? And what about the talk of a second CD? A second audio CD that is?" And he said something along the lines of his not having enough money to be able to publish any of his 10 books with his budget. He really wants to do, "Around the World," which has some color in the book but that's going to be more expensive so he might get that published in Hong Kong 'cause it does the cheapest printing in the world. And then he totally just missed the second question at that point and not until later on did he kind of come back into it and said something about not having enough money to release that second album either. So then after the long Q&A there was a signing outside. I waited in line for about 20 minutes which wasn't bad at all until it was finally my turn to go see Crispin. I think I was like the 6 or 7th person to get my stuff signed. I kept on peeping at him from where I was on line and he probably thinks it's kind of weird no matter how many times someone has done that to him. So there he was, up ahead he was a couple of feet in front of me. I slouch a little bit and look at the ground and look at him and kind of smile and he looks at me and sort of smiles. I quickened up my pace and looked at him and kind of looked a way for a second and finally there he was.
"Hi, Mr. Glover how are you?" I shake his hand.
"Hi, I'm well how are you?"
I clutch onto his CD and DVD that I brought with me from home and looked at him square in the face. I couldn't believe he was right in front of me.
He looked very good. His face was of a very nice and interesting structure. There were a lot of sharp edges here and there. His hair was dark and his eyes were blue. His nose had that funny little indent on the tip of it and his cheekbones were pretty high. This man now was wearing only a white collared shirt along with another sleeveless black jacket thing he had over that and his tie was a bit unloosened and his sleeves rolled up a tad.
I smiled and looked at him and said "I'm very nervous.." and just kind of paced backward a little bit. He just kind of took the CD I had in my hand and the DVD and then he asked me if I'd like to get my picture taken with him.
"yes."
So he looked at a guy who was working there and told him "Would you please take a picture of the two of us?"
"Oh btw, my name is Laura" and I shake his hand again. I practically whispered my name.
"What is it?" he leans forward to hear me talk.
"It's Laura."
And he kind of takes my camera and hands it to the guy. I wasn't sure what to say after that or how to pose with his sitting down. So I just kind of stooped myself to his level a little bit as the guy aims the camera at us.
"So how'd you like the show?"
I paused, smiled, waited for the flash from the camera to finish before I answered. "I think it's wonderful."
"Oh I'm glad."
"Well what I got from the film is that it's a whole film about nihilism."
"Really.. that's interesting." He begins to sign my CD, what's your name again? He started with a "LA.."
"It's Laura."
I go on, "Yeah, and well from my own point of view from what I see, it's a film about nurturing and when something is nurtured it ends up either being destroyed or it somehow destroys you."
"Why do you think that?"
"Well.." I was caught off guard and put on the spot at that point but I made a quick comeback, "Well what parts show and reflect nurturing was at that scene where eggs were pouring out of Shirley Temple's head."
"His face lit up as he listened "Okay.."
"And then later on when that man was being pleasured, he was clearly show to being nurtured and he was obviously in some sort of a shell/egg thing that was the pedestal that supported him. You sent the woman to nurture him and by doing that he eventually and finally becomes powerful enough whereas he overthrows you from your own throne!"
"Yes and I end up being killed. So you think it's a movie about nurture and destruction. Oh, that's very thoughtful!"
I was thinking like.. please Crispin, give me a more than generic response.. it is your own goddamned movie..
So I continued "Well that's just what I got from it. It'd be great if your film goes on DVD sometime soon so I can watch it again and then grasp and understand more of what the movie was about in the way where'd you inten.."
He interupts me, "Yeah, there have been people from the past who does not only watch one viewing but also another one the next night. Actually there are people from the other night who came that came tonight as well. Yeah.. for that kind of thing, people might want to watch something a few times to get a better understanding of it. It's good that way."
"I would most definitely love to watch another viewing but I don't live around this area. Actually we're 6 hours away from this theater."
"6 hours? Oh yeah? So did you drive here? Where are you from?"
"Oh yeah 6 hours. We're from New Jersey. It was such a pain to drive here for 6 hours." And then I just kind of covered it up with a "Oh I mean it's not that much of a pain since I get to see you!"
And then I went on, "I was actually going to the Boston Film Festival to see your film there but somehow it seems that at the last second your showing was cancelled.."
He seems to be expressionless.
"Yeah originally there was a listing where your film was on their website but then just like a week prior to the festival your name was taken out and I asked them why the case was and they just told me you went to Europe to do a showing over there instead at the last second since it was a better offer. It was around summer time."
"I absoulutely rearranged my schedule way earlier than a week in advance. Those people just like to use my name in order to promote their website to get more people to come to their festival. They wait until the last week to take my name off of their listing just so their sales to the festival can go up." He shakes his head.
"Yeah well they told me that you just dropped out a week without notice and decided to do the better showing in Europe."
"That is not true. Now I know to not allow my movie to be played there at this festival in the future then."
"Well, I will have other showings in big cities like New York and.. (I forgot what the other one was). So you can see me in NYC since you live there."
"No, I don't live there."
"Where are you from?"
"New Jersey, yeah.. how I found out about this was through livejournal. That's how I get up to date with what you do and where you might have showings and such."
At this point, I was still totally oblivious to how much I was making the whole line wait.
"What is livejournal?"
"Well livejournal is an online journal, more of an online diary where you write frequent updates about yourself and then people make comments about what you write on your entries. The portion where I found out about your showings was through this community that was talking about you."
"I hope no one was impersonating me because people tend to do that on the internet. I have people who have done that in the past and I did not like that."
I just shook my head in disagreement too and said that's such a shame. He was about to shake my hand for me to go until I looked the other way and ignored it and asked if I could ask him a quick question.
He was like ok.
"Well, a couple of years ago there was this article on Rolling Stone about you which made you to sound like something like that of an elitist. Oh yeah and could you sign also this and this for me too please?(points at my tickets)"
"One's for my friend. Her name's Judy. And one's for me."
His eyes widened a little bit, "An elitist?"
"Yes.. the way they were depicting you it seemed like they were making you sound something of an elitist."
"Well, I mean I think everyone is an elitist in their own way. It may not necessarily be bad. It can even be good. What's wrong with thinking something good about one self? I don't think there's anything wrong with someone thinking good about themselves."
"Yes that is true.. but the way they were depicting you in the megazine.."
Crispin is looking a little bit annoyed at this point. "What'd they say about me? That's why I like to do shows like these so I can.."
I interuppted him, "Represent yourself."
"Yes, represent myself while I show people my work in the way that I want to. And I mean I'm certainly waiting to talk to people too after the show like right now and do these signings. I certainly don't see how that can be elite."
"Do you think you're an elitist? Oh yes you're absoulutely right. I mean you're actually taking your time to talk to everyone one on one in which you don't have to and you are able to just ask someone to ecort someone like me out anytime that you want to. Well my defintion of an elilist is where an elitist only associates themselves with only who they think to be elite and stick with that."
"I don't think I'm an elitist. So what'd the article say?"
I thought for a little bit as I look at the ceiling, "I'm sorry.. for the life of me I can't exactly pinpoint down to what they said exactly so I can't tell you what they said."
One of the things he addressed to Judy, the other one he addressed it to blank. I told him that one was for my friend and one was for me. He somehow now thinks that I'm Judy and the blank he left was for my friend.
"My name's Laura."
And then he was saying how since I'm from NY I can see his showing there next time.
"I'm not from New York."
"Where are you from again?"
"New Jersey."
"oh ok."
So then I said I'm not going to keep him anymore and I smile and finally begin to depart.
"I guess I'll see you again later maybe in New York or something." and I shake his hand again.
"Yeah ok, See you later good bye."
"See you."
"And have a safe trip driving back home!"
"Thank you. Bye."
And throughout the conversation he kept on forgetting my name and seemed really spacy. He kept on also thinking that I'm from New York.. But by all means, I think Crispin is a very intelligent man to pull everything off the way that he has been doing.
http://tinypic.com/dddq43.jpghttp://tinypic.com/dddq80.jpghttp://tinypic.com/dddq9h.jpghttp://tinypic.com/dddqaq.jpghttp://tinypic.com/dddqc3.jpghttp://tinypic.com/dddqg8.jpghttp://tinypic.com/ddds00.jpg - from my cell since no cameras were allowed
http://tinypic.com/dddqja.jpg - I wasn't supposed to take this picture at all when the lights first came back on after the show but I thought as long as this is not copyrighted this should be fine. I was the only person to take a pic at this point and Crispin of course noticed my flash.
http://tinypic.com/ddds2b.jpg - cell again
http://tinypic.com/dddqhd.jpghttp://tinypic.com/dddqoj.jpg"details/shitz/comments that i added at bottom" -
http://www.livejournal.com/community/crispinglover/257684.html?nc=8 
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