I get a text message from my uncle in December that there's a possibility that Oshkosh could be used in an upcoming movie. More specifically, his building where he works. The movie is “Public Enemies” and deals with John Dillinger and his gang from the 1930's and stars Johnny Depp as Dillinger. Downtown Oshkosh looks like it's stuck in the 1930's so this actually could happen. Then again, it IS Oshkosh,WI. The weeks go by and crews continue to scout out my uncle's building. We get to March and now there's an extras casting call in Oshkosh—this HAS to happen here, doesn't it? Not long afterwards, Oshkosh is officially announced as a filming location; when though, we don't know. Towards the end of March, word comes out filming begins April 10th. Street closures are scheduled to run until the 20th, so when filming ends would probably be around there. I make sure to get my butt out there, because this is NEVER going to happen again.

1:00 After toiling around, looking for where a good angle to watch would be, I set up in The Exclusive Company parking lot, which is behind the store, on Washington. I'm pretty close to the Washington Ave./Jefferson St. intersection I've already seen where the snack area for the actors is, which is in an alleyway located behind the green screen they've set up further down the block—obviously this would not be a good place to watch filming. My personal spot CAN NOT see the Masonic Temple with all the filming stuff in the way, so when the gang busts open the doors there, I can't see a thing.

1:40 We hear “Fire in the hole!” followed by “Action!” Everyone hushes and suddenly tommyguns can be heard firing and an occasional “BANG” from a policeman's gun. Nice to see those aren't added post-filming. Straining to get a look I could “kinda” see them on the front stairs, running out of the “bank.” We see the mic operators rush up the street as the old-school car comes up to the intersection I'm nearby. It stops. Johnny steps off! I am half a parking lot away from Edward Scissorhands...er...Willy Wonka...er...Johnny Depp. I text buddies saying “I'm 100 ft. from Johnny Depp.” It's really more like 200, but they're never coming up here to measure, so I say 100. As Johnny steps off the car, as he's on the side of it as it drives off from the “bank,” everything becomes “JOHNNY!” and shrieks of young gals. He actually waves and nods, causing more shrieks and hollers. He waves towards my group, I give a wave, and he actually makes a second wave, targeted in my direction. Is it really towards ME? I say yes. Now it's time to stand and kill time, because Hollywood takes seemingly forever to set a shot, even something about 30 seconds in this case. I knew that going in, but in case YOU were wondering....

2:10 The second take of this happens (since I got there anyways, they've been shooting this since morning, I find out). I'm telling newcomers around me that they'll stop at the intersection. The gunshots go off as I remark “This is the one time Oshkosh WANTS gunfire out here.” The car comes by—and keeps going!? Okay, so it just goes to the intersection with Main Street a block down, so it's not a big deal. Everyone gets off the car and walks back—fans hooping and hollering again for Johnny as he goes by with more waves and acknowledgments (aka-tipping his hat) for the crowd. Someone by me has the shooting schedule for today and tomorrow along with a cast listing and who's supposed to be in which shots. I notice Emilie de Ravin is supposed to be here (Claire from “Lost,” she was on “Roswell” too, if anyone remembers—I didn't think you did.), unfortunately I don't know what she'd look like in costume for this, so I'm out of luck there.

2:40 Another half-hour wait and drive-by and hollering and courtesy from Johnny. If only Emilie was as noticeable as Johnny is, I'd have something. Oh well. This time the extras were out on the street, so that gave us more to see. Now, since my home is being repainted and redone, and one of the two dogs CAN NOT behave himself when the painter/remodel guy comes over (he's the same guy who built the house, so he'll do everything for this), so he has to go to the kennel each morning until the guy is done for the day. Theoretically I could've gotten the dog before I showed up at the filming, but I wanted to see if I could get in to see something. Now that I have, it's time to go get the dog and then come back. Great, I go from seeing Johnny to picking up a dog.

3:30 Back at the location, parking in the same lot, standing at the same place as before, though the crowd is much larger. Everyone is on break at this point, they probably started about when I left, so this actually went well. I notice my uncle has texted me saying I'm on a list of people to access the building during the week. This could be useful.

4:05 Johnny's Excursion comes around the north corner of the aforementioned intersection and, again, everyone goes nuts. He sticks an arm out the passenger-side back seat window and waves. Everyone loves Johnny! For the next hour and 40 minutes, the same scene is shot repeatedly, so I see this about six times. It becomes obvious when the extras get into position and “stiffen up” (as opposed to being looking rather relaxed), that shooting is about to occur. As different people stand next me, having just shown up at different points and they start asking what's going on, I help out and tell them “Johnny comes riding by and will walk back up the street past us, so you'll see him.” I know, it's out of character for me, but I feel different today. I blame Johnny.

5:00 My uncle comes out of his building and heads over to chat with me. Says he could see me from his viewpoint inside—I don't doubt him...that's just kinda weird I can be picked out like that. While some people have shown up and had to wait forever before seeing any filming action (like me and waiting half an hour), about five minutes after my uncle shows up, the guns go off and the car goes by. I took a video of it on my camera phone, but all it is is a car going by, kinda looks like the Zapruder film (though the car is going in the opposite direction). It looks crappy, but is cool to hear the all the shooting on it. I try taking pictures of Johnny walking back, but all I have is the camera phone since no one in family has a “real” camera. Nothing discernible of the actors, so I erase the photos. The ones of the set look fine, so I hold those.

5:40-ish Shooting ends and Johnny drives by in the Excursion again, going back to base camp, which is set up in a big parking lot right behind the small bank building (aka-it's behind the building that is directly facing me from across the street.) I hear someone say that IF Johnny does any meeting/autographing, it'll be for the people across from the base camp. As the base camp parking lot is accessed from Jefferson Street, thus it faces east, I need to get to the Public Library side of Jefferson Street, where the barricades are set-up and fans are lined. I had heard before that Johnny works the entire police tape...but hearing this base camp tidbit makes me want to get over there. Unfortunately I have to walk about two blocks west and one very long block north to be able to cross Main Street. After crossing Main, it's one more block east to where I want to get to. Now I just need to get an open spot up front. I go by a spacious area near the corner of Jefferson and Merritt, which is the next block north from the intersection I was near all day. I figure that's too good to be true, so I walk towards a crowded area about mid-block, directly in line with a rather fancy trailer. It's not Johnny's, but it still looks nice. A little boy dressed like Cap'n Jack Sparrow is on his mother's shoulders, everyone thinks it's cute. Yeah, it looks cute, I admit, but it's not really unexpected, is it??

7:30 JOHNNY IS COMING OUT!! It's time for some handshakes and hello's, no autographs, but I'll take what I can get at this point. He has on blue jeans, a tan leather jacket and a brown fedora with glasses that feature purple lenses. He seems to have numerous publicity photos with this as his wear, so if you REALLY want to know what I'm looking at, go hunt. Or, at this point, just try “Johnny Depp Oshkosh” at YouTube for video of what I experienced. He begins the meeting of fans at the the Jefferson/Merritt intersection. I could've been first, but NO, I had to go to the crowded area. I feel like an ass.

7:33 Johnny Depp is RIGHT NEXT TO ME!! I stick out my right hand, eagerly awaiting a shake. This is not a B-list star filming in Oshkosh like I would expect. It's not even a mid-grade A-list star trying to make a bigger name for themselves...it's JOHNNY FREAKING DEPP!! EVERYONE knows this guy! And I'm about to....hey, his right hand reaches and went to shake the fan's hand on my left. Well, he'll get me as he walks in front of me. He uses his left hand as comes in front to shake the person's hand to my right. Johnny is LITERALLY right in front of me. My hand is out. And he hits the next two people AFTER the person to my left. Hey! HEY! HEEEYYY!! He missed me! He skipped me! He skipped right over me! With my luck, this is actually something I should have expected. I have a quick inner battle of: Do I want to look desperate and call his name, or not get this handshake? He's only standing two people to my left, so I tell myself to decide right now! I elect for desperation. I yell “Johnny!” He's talking with a fan and sticks his left arm out in my direction. This is gonna happen! After a second he reaches and grabs my hand. Not really a “shake” but it's contact. I'm polite and say “Thank you.” He turns his head towards me. I don't know why track details like this, but I look up at his glasses and make sure to focus on where his eyes are; if he's just got his head in my direction and looking elsewhere or what. He's looking RIGHT AT ME. Full eye contact! “Thank YOU, sir!” JOHNNY DEPP TALKED TO ME!! He called me “sir!” I am going absolutely crazy inside. I'm literally starting to shake a little. Yes, there IS a slight chill in the air, but I just shook Johnny Depp's hand. Well, he grabbed mine—you know, I really don't care at this point. It's close enough. This is my first “OMG” moment ever.

7:40 I get away from the commotion and I text the biggest Depp fan I know, my friend Kat. She responds with “Did you say anything about me?” NO, I DIDN'T say anything about you! You were near the front of my mind during the handshake/grab as in “She's gonna kill me when she hears this” but no, I didn't say anything about you, and honestly, I wouldn't have either. I wanted this moment for ME! She'll kill me for that, but I really don't care.

10:04 I IM my friend Jay with “OMG....OMG” then call him. I don't think he cared TOO much, but he did seem impressed with my “accomplishment.” I notice I have a small sunburn on the right side of my neck/shoulder area and forehead. I'll rub aloe on it and not worry.

1:00 I put sunscreen on the areas that reddened on Monday and head to the same parking spot as before—there's plenty of room, so that problem is solved. I can't go to where I was Monday, because today they're shooting a scene with the gangsters coming out the front door of my uncle's building, and that viewpoint would give me nothing. I walk all over the area, looking for crowds and going from there. I see people gathered at a barrier one-tenth of a mile directly south of the building at the intersection of Main Street and Pearl Avenue. The view isn't that bad, but I decide to keep searching. I head for an angled view of the front of the building from 450 feet away (yes, I looked up these measurements), but it's blocked out by a double-decker wooden stand that is blocking the town's sundial. Yes, Oshkosh has a huge sundial and fountain downtown. It's a piece of junk in the first place, but I guess those didn't exist in the '30's so it gets blocked out. That won't do, so I move to an intersection 417 feet from the shooting, but again, movie crew and vehicles block things out, so I decide that won't work either. It takes me about a half hour, but I come to the decision! I bounce out to a small alleyway, but that sucked too. Nothing has gone on yet, so I figure this is the best time to go figure how to get to Jefferson Street, since road barriers had since been rearranged, so I could be in position for another handshake. Unfortunately, the route I took last time is blocked off. I head back to the previous intersection (the one 417 ft. away) and stand there another 10 minutes before backtracking my route. I wind up back at the first intersection I stopped at and just stood there.

2:00 The filming begins. I can barely see someone coming out of the bank towards a getaway car and more gunfire is heard. Johnny takes a bullet in the left arm...anything else that happens we can't really tell. From this view, the higher up you are, the more likely you'll see anything. I have no ladder like someone next to me does, so that's no good. Again, I have no “real” camera so I'm stuck looking through my glasses and since my eyesight is trash, this isn't very productive. I stay out and keep watching.

2:51 A second take of the scene happens and the Excursion comes. The people standing near the base camp can easily be heard screaming as you-know-who goes by. It's time for a break, so I continue my adventure trying to find my way to back to Jefferson Street. I go back to the parking lot I was at on Monday. I notice a chicken wing stand has opened. And the owner of it is dressed as a chicken. Yup, this is my hometown! I grab a Mountain Dew to keep my energy level up. As I said, barriers have been moved around since Monday, and most of what WAS closed on Washington Street was now open—at least to pedestrians. It was as simple as crossing the intersection I was close to that I saw Johnny go by during Monday's filming. At least I wasted time with all the previous walking. I go by the group across from the base camp. I only intended to stand there until Johnny came back out to shoot again, then head back to Main & Pearl. I end up staying there the rest of the day.

3:10 This doesn't show up in my phone as being sent, but I really think I did send this message to my 24-buddy Andy: “I'm outside Johnny's trailer w/lots of high school girls waiting for him to come out. I hate myself.”

3:15 Second text to Andy; that Monday was my first “OMG” moment ever.

3:22 He wants to know if it's because Johnny had been 100 (really 200, but doesn't know) feet from me. I'm thinking, “No, you jackass” then remember I never let him know what exactly happened later on. I text him details.

3:29 I bring to his attention that my personal jinx has probably kicked in towards Johnny. He wants to know who else I've cursed, I give him a full list at night. If it's demanded, I'll have him put the whole list up here. Some female (gotta be college-aged) is walking around dressed as Cap'n Jack...and really has the voice and walk spot-on. It's actually really impressive—no she is (surprisingly) NOT hammered.

3:31 My uncle lets me know he was within 10 feet of Johnny earlier today—like, within 10 feet of costumed, on-the-set Johnny, not “Citizen Johnny” like I've been in front of. Says that at that time Johnny said “Hi” and smiled at my uncle's aid (he's a dentist and actually does most of the hygienist stuff too, she helps with some of the hygienist stuff and other things in the office. She's worked with him as long as I remember, so I'm trying to NOT underscore her responsibilities).

4:51 It's been two hours since the last take and finally Johnny comes out in the Excursion and heads back to the set waving at everyone amidst the yelling and shrieking.

4:55 I walk back over to the parking lot I was at on Monday when my friend from Illinois calls, wondering how things are going. We get into all sorts of things as I start pacing back and forth and walking all over the place there. I become conscious of this “wandering” and try to stop. I wind up at it again anyways.

5:15 I'm still talking with my friend as gunshots from the next scene ring out. “Hold on, we've got gunfire.” Being on the phone with the firing in the back makes me feel like I'm in the wrong part of Milwaukee or Kansas City.

5:45 Still on the phone when I see my uncle asks if I want in the building. I say yes (it winds up being too late, oh well). The scene happens again, and again, all I can really see is the firing of the guns.

6:15 One last take and things wrap. I head back to the base camp area and get in line by two UW-Oshkosh students. It turns out one of them hosts a radio show on their student station, and he actually is going to try to ask Johnny if he'll be his guest. The kid is sure this isn't going to happen, but just wants to try anyway. His buddy has a camcorder ready to film the “encounter” if it happens. I'm sort of in the second “row” of people, but close enough to squeeze my arm through.

6:55 We're being told that if there's too much pushing and screaming that Johnny won't make the full walk down the street to meet and greet. I'm excited since this means he's gotta be doing it again. The crowd here is MASSIVELY larger than last time. Word has gotten out about getting to shake hands with Johnny Depp.

7:15 Sure enough, there's a few screams as Johnny leaves his trailer and I get a small glimpse of him walking through the base camp lot, obviously security around him, but still able to get a good look at him, heading for the eastern most part of the crowd and do his handshakes and mingling...again, no autographs. Too bad for me. Same dress as Monday for him, only no glasses this time.

7:20 It's easy to see him coming towards us because of his stupid little hat. Maybe this time I'll get a real handshake. A small boy on his dad's shoulders is next to me. They're wondering if Johnny will shake the kid's hand, since the boy can't reach all the way. From what I saw Monday, I tell them that as long as the kid has his hand out, Johnny will make sure to get it. Again, courtesy out of me—I still blame Johnny.

7:23 Here he comes! He gets to the UW-O kid, and the kid gets him the piece of paper! Johnny glances at it, probably didn't read any of it, but still looked at it. His bodyguard quickly rips it out of his hand and gives it to someone else nearby. I have my left hand out and ready to go. Johnny gets to me and shakes my hand, no skipping THIS time! Sure enough, he shakes the boy's hand that's next to me, and this kid is jacked up! His brother (about the same age) is standing on the ground, right near the bottom of the road barricade, Johnny shakes his hand, and the kid asks him if he saw a certain movie (I didn't catch the title). Johnny responds that he hadn't but had heard it was very good. Pretty cool to see him carry on a conversation like that. The UW-O kid, in good humor, has his friend record after this, saying Johnny took the piece of paper, but the bodyguard got a hold of it. “Do you think Johnny will throw it away?” “He took it, but his bodyguard took it from him.” “Do you think his bodyguard will throw it away?” “Yeah.”

8:10 I get home and my parents are telling me that a neighbor of ours saw me with a beautiful girl. 1) How the Hell did I get popular to be picked out of a crowd by people I don't recognize at ALL! At K-State was one thing, I was there forever, everyone knew me there—but not in Oshkosh! At least I didn't think. 2) While I WISH I was with a beautiful girl, which I wasn't, I was bound to have been by ONE at some point during the day, considering all the bouncing around I did.

1:30 I'm back out and things are being shot again at the front of my uncle's building. My position is basically the intersection Johnny walked through two days before. I'm not in the parking lot I was at then...I'm in the middle of the road. I'm at a barricade, so it's not like I'm going to be hit by a car either.

2:00 A take happens and I only realize this because gunfire breaks out. I can't see anything from where I'm at and there's no way I can see anything from this angle...but I'm dumb enough to try moving a few feet to my right and left. Yeah, I'm an idiot.

2:40 More gunfire signifies a second take, again I can't see a thing. I'm continually checking the time with my cellphone, wondering how long this appointment will last.

2:50 Clouds and the scent of rain fill the air. A couple light drops and another check for the time. I need 3:00 to get here now!

2:58 Rain is light but falling continuously, not just a drop here and there. Gary, where are you? I talk with someone in the journalism department at UW-Oshkosh. We talk about the filming of the movie, he mentions how the UW-O student paper recently ran a story about, literally, taking a crap. I tell him I attended K-State and, sadly, it isn't much different. I make a remark how I gotta find a way in the building.

3:01 Uh, Gary? It's raining a bit harder now (it really isn't that bad yet, but it's getting there)...when are you going to come rescue me? Sure enough, the phone rings. “Where are you?” “Bascially where I've been all week. On Jefferson, right by the library. You'll see me.” He comes out, I wave my arms...yup, he sees me. I get to under the police tape and we go walk inside via the Washington Street entrance. It's his birthday, so he gets a pretty cool present out of this. I walk right by the set. See Steven Dorff and Stephen Graham up close. We go to the elevators (which weren't supposed to be using, but a policeman pushed the up button for us and didn't look like he really cared), my uncle does this so I might get to see Johnny up close, but he escapes the building just before we get to where he had been. Oh, well. We go up to the third floor (where his office is) and he pokes around in there for a bit before showing me a spot to watch. “For the record, I'm way overdue.” Congratulations, I just won a dental appointment for 2:30 tomorrow!

3:30 I'm now in an abandoned office with a handful of other people. It's not one big room, but a regular-sized room with windows facing north and east, a hallway with north-facing windows, before another regular-sized room, also with north-facing windows. The hallway had door sills about every 10-20 feet, but the doors have been long gone, so it was lots of open space. I have a perfect view for what's going to happen. A shootout will take place by the main entrance, between one of the gangsters and policemen on the second floor and roof of the building directly north, across Main Street. I have a PERFECT view of this! Nothing outside could even come close.

4:27 After looking down and seeing everything going on on the set; watching director Michael Mann walking across the street (I didn't realize just how big his bald spot is); it's time for this to get going. “Fire in the hole!” is followed by “Action!” via walkie-talkie, and the scene begins. Guns are pointed and firing commences. It really looks cool seeing all this happen right in front of my face (well, almost) as opposed to being hundreds and hundreds of feet away. After this take, some old cars are driven by and told to go be part of the back drop (at least I imagine) as they headed off to Main and Pearl and basically drove and did u-turns between that intersection and an intersection one block west on Pearl. Whatever. Two older cars are a little further down Main Street, just for background.

5:00 Being up in this private area, with my uncle having taken off after showing me where to go to watch, is not fun. No one to talk with, so I start playing around with the view on my phone. I spend lots of time, obviously, watching what's going on on the street. I'm seeing much more Channing Tatum than I ever had before and probably wanted to. Turns out he's the gangster doing the shooting on the street right below me. I've now seen Channing Tatum in person. Yay, me? Things get moving and the scene is shot again. I try capturing a video on my phone, but I'm doing too much back and forth between the ground and windows across the street. I cancel the video and erase it. Screw it. The shooting ends and now I'm seeing bullet holes on the two cars down the road AND on the second-story window across from me AND the area of the building surrounding that window! COOL!!

5:10 I see the extras still out there, so I know more filming is coming. Gary calls and says I should be out of there by 6 since that's when the building officially closes. He said he was going to show me a staircase to use when I come tomorrow, but hadn't yet. He says he'll be back soon then.

5:15 A second take is done, and now that I'm not goofing around with the camera, I can see the whole shootout and see more bullet holes go into the building and window. There is a second building just down the road that has an actor as a policeman that's in the shootout, and that window and surrounding building is being bullet-ridden too. Sucks to be the fans outside.

5:25 Another take quickly follows and now I can hear a few words for the first time, “Come on! Get in the car!” as the shooting happens followed by the getaway car speeding off down Main Street, actors once again riding ON it, not entirely IN it.

5:30 I can get a glimpse of the fans outside the base camp, doesn't look like I would have much trouble getting in there again. I do wonder about Gary, though. I need to know where these stairs are and it needs to be soon or I won't be able to fit in to see Johnny again afterwards.

5:45 One last take for the evening, more gunfire, more bullet holes. This was worth every bit of time. After the scene ends I hear footsteps and Gary shows up. He takes me down the nearby staircase to point to me his point of view from the first floor—this has bullet holes too! We stay there for a couple minutes. I see Johnny outside, close to the building and get out my phone. I try looking for a picture, but its a phone, and anything I'm seeing is pretty lousy for a shot. At least I'm seeing him this close while he's still in costume. Gary and I leave and he shows me the staircase to use. We go right by the set again on the way out. I look around, almost awe-struck, like I'm five years old, but I keep moving at the same time so I don't risk being yelled at.

5:50 I'm back at the base camp barricades, pretty much at the same spot as the day before, but this time I'm right at the front. We seem to be taking for granted that Johnny coming out will happen as opposed to hoping it will happen. I get an idea in my head for a text. I never send it or even type it out, but I'm thinking, “Waiting for Johnny Depp handshake for third time. I feel like a tool.”

6:40 Same warnings as before; no autographs and don't push/shove or scream excessively or Johnny will go back to the trailer.

6:50 Just about as usual, an hour after wrapping, Johnny comes out for more meet and greet. I saw him walking east through the base camp to get to the start of the crowd line before crossing to the crowd yesterday, so it shouldn't be a big deal today, right? Well, seeing him going by the trailers, being able to recognize him since he's in the same outfit again, with the glasses on today, saying “There he is, he's coming”....it was really, really surreal. Here's this big A-list actor, relaxed, taking a walk through a trailer-filled parking lot in Oshkosh,WI. Yes, he had security around him, but it was really only in front and behind him...not so much on the sides—hence an easy view of Johnny walking by. It was like seeing someone just walking down the street, but I have to tell myself, “that's not ordinary Joe, it's Johnny Depp.”

7:00 Again, seeing his stupid little hat (okay, it's not really “stupid” but I can't think of a better adjective...besides, that's what I call otherwise insignificant things; like “stupid, little wallet” or “stupid little magazine” or “stupid little DVD”), you can see how close he is. He comes by and I stick out my right hand this time. I really try getting a picture but again, all I have is a phone, and too many people are in the way, and he's moving too fast. Surprisingly, his bodyguard isn't being a jerk. He's being nice, “Thank you for coming. We appreciate it. Thank you so much.” That's cool. Johnny comes by, shakes my hand again, and I open up again. “Really cool you keep doing this.” He looks up at me again, and, again, the eye contact is made, “No...oh, it's no problem.” Hearing this strikes on two levels. A) He's really a good guy. ANYTHING you hear about him making himself accessible to fans, it's true. Lots of class, genuine nice guy. B) He has a strong European accent. Yeah, I know he lives in France now, but I didn't realize his accent was as strong as it is. So much for his growing up this side of the Atlantic.

10:00 My man Andy IM's me, wondering if I was out again today. Of course. I bring up the idea of him hosting this “journal” on his awesome website, he agrees. I also tell him of the third handshake, how Johnny HAS to be doomed because of my jinx/curse and tell him “Send memorials to N. Main Street, Oshkosh, WI” (That's where a bunch of the shooting was done) In July I played a game of HORSE against a player on the Detroit Shock (WNBA). I figured no one would possibly find out. Who of my friends would really care? Suddenly, in about September, friends call “You beat a pro player at HORSE!?” I hear it's my pal, and Andy's roommate, Tony who somehow found this and put it on his Facebook. I don't care, I kinda feel like a celebrity. Well, I make sure it WAS our good friend Tony who publicized my victory at HORSE over a WNBA player. Yes, it was. “Tony keeps up on all things Dubey.” I tell him to tell Tony to promote the heck out of this on his Facebook page—so you can all see how cool it is to be around the making of a major motion picture, and just how awesome to fans Mr. Johnny Depp is. Again, an agreement is reached. It's probably why you're reading this now!

1:00 Well, here we go again! The problem this time is that my way of getting to my parking spot is blocked off today! Part of Oshkosh's Main Street runs over a bridge, where it joins the north side with the south side. Because of other street closures and for where I live, it's easiest for me to take a couple roads to South Main Street, go over this bridge, take an immediate right and head for the parking lot. I can't do that today though. So I park at the house of my friend who's in Illinois (he has a condo there and a house here. He's retired—hey, I have friends from (nearly) all age groups. I'm diverse---kinda.) It's over a two-mile walk, but I'm doing the diet/exercise thing now, so this gives me my walk for today.

1:35 I get in the building rather hassle-free and head up to see my uncle. Everything is crazy on the first floor because all of today's shooting is inside; on the first floor and in the vault. They're filming the robberies themselves today—at least at this particular “bank.” Maybe the quotes there aren't necessary, as this building actually WAS a bank—though it hasn't been one for I don't even want to guess how long. So...I find a spot on the second floor. The sight isn't so hot, but I can certainly hear everything!

2:05 Lots of yelling, gunfire and debris coming down. Stephen Graham as Baby Face Nelson was rather psychotic today in his part of the hold-up. Things moved down to the vault at this point, so all I could do was listen for yelling, which there didn't seem to be much of. Still, being in the building while shooting is occurring is, again, rather surreal. Knowing I can say “I was literally right there watching that being filmed” is, you guessed it—surreal.

4:30 A number of takes and a break later, and that was it. Shooting moved back out on to Washington Ave. to either redo or finish up things from Monday. I was satisfied with the week and, knowing where I'd be at for the shooting at the Masonic Temple and knowing I wouldn't see very much, I decided to wrap it up. I head around barricades and take the trek back to the car. No Johnny for me tonight. If this is a night where he signed autographs, yeah I'd be kind of upset I missed out on that, but I can't complain. If I really want his autograph, I can search and verify in order to find an authentic one on eBay and buy it there. Turns out, he didn't sign then either. I don't have to kick myself.

And that was it. Filming wrapped on Friday, one last set of handshakes and hello's and then he took off for LA. I got three handshakes out of him, shared words with him—THAT'S the kind of personalized experience I was hoping for---well maybe a photo with him, but I'll take what I've gotten. Yes he IS fan accessible, but you have to know where he's shooting (if it's on location, that is) and then be able to make it out there. I just got lucky he was in my hometown.

It's not like Oshkosh is the only place for filming, though. There's more to do in Chicago, as well as a possible return to Wisconsin (but not near my area), and probably things out in LA and elsewhere. When this movie, remember it's called “PUBLIC ENEMIES,” comes out in 2009, if you can, try to remember that the scenes featuring the bank robberies in Racine,WI and Sioux City, SD were what was filmed in Oshkosh.