Deja Vu

Not so long ago, I wrote a post about extraterrestrial life and used the movie, Contact, to illustrate a couple of points.  I included a still image from a scene in which Ellie meets up with an alien being who has taken on the form of her long-deceased dad, played by the actor, David Morse.

I'm at a conference at the moment in the Czech Republic and earlier today was standing in the Prague airport looking for the limo service driver who was supposed to transport me to my hotel (never showed).  My attention was drawn to a group of people right next to me who were hovering around someone who looked vaguely familiar.  In my jet-lagged haze, I stood there staring and thinking that I knew this person (I was on the look-out for a colleague with whom I could share a taxi, since my arrangements had fallen through and taxis are expensive here).  Suddenly, it occurred to me that this guy was David Morse!  He was politely answering the group's questions (they were trying to decide on an agenda or something--yes, I was eavesdropping).  He said something like, "Okay, let's go." And they hustled out the door. I was hoping for a hint at what he was doing here, but no such luck.

This almost always happens to me whenever I see a celebrity.  I first think it is someone I know, but can't think of who they are exactly.  Then, I realize that I don't know them personally.  I've come close on a couple of occasions of saying, "Don't I know you?" to a famous person (before I recognize them). In this case, I was on the alert for a familiar face--any scientist would do--to resolve my transportation problem. If I had not recently done that post and used his photo, I might have gone over and asked Morse if I could share a taxi with him and his students to the congress hotel!  Wonder what he would have said?

Airports are great places to catch a glimpse of celebrities.  Once, my husband and I had a long layover somewhere and were "discussing" whether it was better to wander through the shops or just sit and "people-watch" (my preference).  My husband thought that sitting was boring and a waste of time.  Ultimately, he went window-shopping, and I sat on the concourse watching the stream of people flow past. Not ten minutes after he walked away and into a shop, Elizabeth Taylor and her entourage swept past (this was a number of years ago).  Did I mention that my husband is a big movie buff?  When he returned about thirty minutes later, he snidely asked, "Well, did you see anyone famous?" I couldn't have planned a better set-up. 

Anyway, this post has nothing to do with anything other than something funny I experienced yesterday.

Photo Credit: The Green Mile, Castle Rock Entertainment & Warner Bros. Pictures