BUS STORY # 254 (They’re Gonna Put Me In The Movies)

"Ironman 2 Bus 8281." Downloaded from Brecht Bug and cropped for this post.

He’s coming from the airport. He’s got a huge, black, rolling suitcase pulled up next to him by the front bench seats. 

He starts off with the fire in Arizona, and we talk about how big it is and how it’s supposed to be crossing into New Mexico today and how the horizon is whited out past the volcanoes. 

He’s been here since ’99, and he’s never seen anything like this. 

I ask him where he’s from. 

Denver. He was a partner in an aluminum siding and window business when his other partner offered to buy him out. 

“Thirty-six long ones,” he said. “Lotta money.” 

He ended up having a good time and getting married before the money ran out. His wife was from here -- “a Highland High girl” -- and she persuaded him to come home with her. They’re divorced now. 

He’s been taking classes at CNM, and he’s looking to become a film tech. He tells me there’s a lot of movies and TV being shot here in New Mexico, and he knows the pay is good. His dream is to be a director. He’s a big fan of Quentin Tarantino. 

He tells me he ran into Robert Downey, Jr., the other day, coming out of a store on Central. He did a double-take, then yelled out, “Hey, Robert, how ya doin’?” Robert called back he was doing great, a real friendly guy. They got into a little conversation and Robert told him to come on down on this particular day to this place they were scheduled to shoot, and he’d get him a job as an extra. Said Robert had to reassure him he wasn’t putting him on. So he’s gonna do that.

He says they’re shooting this movie with all the superheroes in it -- Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman -- that’s why he’s here in town. 

He says he’s pretty sure this is gonna pan out. But, he says, Albuquerque is full of con men. Or maybe it’s just that he seems to attract them. But he’s going to the shoot. He thinks he can take this one to the bank.

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The photo at the top of this story is a cropped edition of  “Ironman 2 Bus 8281” by Brecht Bug.