track 59: come to me

In 1997, we Baleheads found out that object of our affection, Christian Bale would be appearing at EPCOT Center in Orlando to present at the Discover Awards. Lisa and I made plans to go. We were both really involved in the online world of Christian Bale, who was, back then, somewhat of an internet cult star. It wasn't until his post-American Psycho work in the 2000s that more people began to recognize the awesomeness that is Bale. We were a bunch of people who knew him from stuff like Newsies and Little Women. Lisa & I were involved in a small mailing list that included the webmaster for Christian's official site and had a bit of an inside track. As such, I had at one point sent a mixtape (of course) to Christian through this guy [who isn't associated with CB anymore]. It included a remix of a Björk song, "Come to me," since I knew CB loved her music. I was pretty sure he'd be impressed to hear this b-side (the Black Dog remix).




Sadly, he never showed up at my door to declare his undying love for me inspired by a Björk song. I'll always have affection for Christian because his movies have been a big part of my life. I also really, truly think he is one of our best actors, despite making the occasionally bad movie (but that's just me having an aversion to blockbusters & wishing he'd get back to indie films) and having, well... a bit of madness. Once BATMAN BEGINS came out, it was harder for me to believe that this was the guy who used to be our little secret. There are still glimpses of him, from time to time, but the old excitement when a new Christian Bale movie comes out isn't there anymore. Anyway, for posterity, here are the original e-mails I sent to our little mailing list after meeting the man:

June 2, 1997- E-mail to CBEC recounting the tale of meeting Christian Bale @ Disney
Subj: Chip, Dale, 'n Christian Bale
Date: 97-06-02 17:08:37 EDT

Hi everybody!!!!!!!!!
Well, I'm back from Orlando & before I go to work I figured I'd share the story! As you know, Lisa & I went up for the Discover Awards (We missed you Rox!! :( But we sent you the Raddest postcard!!). We arrived in Orlando on Friday afternoon & had lunch at the Planet Hollywood there. (AMY!! While we didn't see ANY CB stuff, they did have part of the bus from SPEED as well as the outfit Keanu wore in it and I did have my photo taken with my hand in his handprint, so I now have the same photo from 2 different PH's- the other one being my hometown PH!!) We then went to see THE LOST WORLD which was really good fun (holes, sure, but forget about it!!).
Saturday was the day of the Discover Awards, so we headed out to EPCOT at 8 in the morning to be there in time for it to open at 9. By the time we dragged ourselves- well honestly hopped & skipped- our way out we had been in the park for SIXTEEN HOURS!! Fortunately it was a pretty nice day out, except for one downpour. Luckily we were eating at the time. :-)
Anyway, during the day we ended up in the America Pavilion of the World Showcase & found the theatre where the Discover Awards would be taking place. Much to our happiness & excitement, they were in the middle of rehearsal!! But um... we didn't see Christian. Granted, leaning on a garbage bin behind the roped in auditorium wasn't what you'd call a prime viewing location... We did, however, see LeVar Burton & a magician named James "The Amazing" Randi. (As opposed to "the Amazing" James Randi... I don't know why) This was right before lunch & we had reservations & after seeing that Christian didn't look to be there, we began our trek to the restaurant- but then- Lo & Behold- a sign for the awards with a list of presenters. There, right below Mr. Burton's name, was CHRISTIAN BALE. This, I think, is when Lisa & I really got hit by the fact that we were going to see Christian in person!!
The awards began later in the evening- at 9:30, after the fireworks took place. Shortly after 9:00 they began to let in park guests who wanted to see the awards. There were many people there dressed up who were clearly nominees or invitees, who sat in the front rows, while the park guests, in t-shirts & shorts- mostly- sat in the rear. The sections were separated by a big walkway. Lisa & I (and David) took our seats in the front row of the rear section- right on the walkway. We sat and um, LISTENED to the Fireworks display (which really helped my headache ) and simultaneously kept an eye out for Christian. The Fireworks ended & a radio played songs. First the theme to the Pink Panther, then, much to our fear & loathing, the Macarena. In terror I covered my ears, searching the crowd for Christian!! But my eyes did not find him. No, they found instead, a woman in a horrid peach outfit. . . DANCING THE MACARENA!!!!!!!!!!!!! I tried to look away, but couldn't. Kind of like when you're driving past an accident scene & you know it's terrible, but you still stare? Suddenly, Lisa punched my arm and pointed to the guy who'd just walk past us.....Christian!!


um. i've got to go to work now. ;-) we'll continue this later.



ooh the suspense is gonna kill you isn't it???

rick


June 3, 1997- E-mail finishing the tale of meeting Christian Bale @ Disney
Subj: All that & a bag of oranges!
Date: 97-06-03 00:16:42 EDT


Ok so I looked up to see Christian & Valentina walking past us. Cursing Macarena Lady, I tried to get a better view, but they were being seated further down. Lisa and I sat there in an amazed silence for a bit. I have to admit that at first Christian seemed a bit unapproachable, intimidating maybe- Standing tall in a black suit with a burgundy shirt... he was sporting his MOVIELINE look (long wavy hair) and he seemed pretty tan, but in our photo he looks pale, so who knows. The lighting wasn't quite stellar. Valentina (Cervi, of PORTRAIT OF A LADY Pansy fame!!) was accompanying him, by the way. Ok so the awards began with this incredibly interesting performance artist, Denny Dent, who demonstrated something called the Two Fisted Art Attack!! He had 2 paint brushes in each hand, a huge black canvas, and some music & did 2 paintings while we watched. The second one, I'm sure Lisa will agree, was an INCREDIBLE portrait of Jimi Hendrix. I'm still just amazed. I wonder what CB thought of him?

After that, the Discover Awards REALLY began. They were presenting awards in 7 categories: Aviation & Aerospace, Automotive & Transportation, Computer Hardware & Electronics, Computer Software, Environment, Sight, and Sound. Christian was, as you probably know through the web page & Harrison's e-mail, presenting the Environmental award. I was actually pretty surprised because the awards were sort of interesting. Before each winner was announced, the video monitors on either side of the stage showed each of the nominees along with their inventions. Sure, the jokes were a bit stale. . . Okay, mostly years old with mold growing on them, but it was an awards show, it should've been expected!!

To present the Enviromental Award, Christian rode up from the rear entrance of the amphitheater in an Electric Car that was one of the nominated inventions!
He was introduced as "Actor Christian Bale" and "The Hottest star on the Internet" while a video collage with scenes from SWING KIDS and LITTLE WOMEN played on the monitors. He then stood behind the podium and said something to the effect of how honored he was to be there. The Nominees video began to play & he watched it on a monitor that must have been under the podium, fidgeting a bit, finally putting his hands in his pockets (SEE: NEWSIES). The envelope with the winner's name was delivered by a really neat robot that was designed to operate like an insect! However, the robot was going a bit slow, so Christian eventually walked over & snatched the envelope from it. :-) He announced the winner- Subhendu Guha- and then walked back to the audience, giving Mr. Guha a congratulatory pat on the back. Since there were the two large monitors we essentially had Christian to the left, Christian to the right, and Christian in the middle!

The Awards ended soon after Christian had presented the award and we found ourselves getting up to leave. Christian & Valentina were making their way back towards us, but like I said before, we were a bit wary of approaching him. However, I caught a glimpse of him speaking to another fan & the serious guy we'd seen before had disappeared. He was smiling and chatting and so I figured, what the heck?! I walked over and said "Excuse me, Mister Bale?" Yes, I called him Mister Bale. . . And I think he got a kick out of that. Anyway, I shook his hand & told him that I'm a big fan of his & that I was glad to meet him. I actually had a bit of a conversation with him & I totally had to fight this uncontrollable urge to use the word "jolly" I did however, get a laugh out of him at one point, which was cool. [The laugh was when I mentioned that we were expecting to see his webmaster at the event & had heard that he resembled Keanu Reeves] The whole thing lasted probably a minute, maybe less. Anyway, I then turned & said hello to Valentina. I said something about being glad to meet her too & she looked a bit surprised & I was like, you were fabulous in POAL- I shook her hand too (she was wearing a rather pretty dress, but she must've been dying from the heat because I know she had a sweater or something with long sleeves on!!). Anyway, she was really, really sweet! So by the time I turned around again, Lisa had said hello to Christian & David was all ready to take our photo with him! We have the most awesome photo of us on either side of Christian, who's wearing a smile! So then there were other Baleheads around, so we thanked Christian & I bid Valentina goodnight (although i don't think she heard me :( she seemed a bit overwhelmed by the Baleheads maybe?) and walked off into the night.

All I remember after that was that my headache was gone, we were bouncing rather than walking, and I kept looking at my hand & talking like Nell. Needless to say, we were thrilled. Of course all the way to the car we were saying- oh, we should have told him that he was the reason we met & became such great friends, or oh, I should've asked him about VELVET GOLDMINE [which he was making at the time], or you know, "how's Mojo?" [his dog], but you know what? It was absolutely perfect the way it was and I wouldn't change a moment of it!

We really had no intentions of actually MEETING Christian here! We figured we'd go & be able to see him at the award show & that was it. I know how much we all respect Christian, how much he means to us, so to meet him in person meant more than I can font. It was a real pleasure to share a few moments with him and I'm extremely glad that Christian took the time for us!! What can I say? We've always known that he's got class. :-)

Rick!!
(who hasn't had a decent rest since friday morning & is now going to go to sleep for at LEAST 14 hours. )

p.s. 2 more things-
#1- i have a copy of my program for the awards & i'm currently hitting myself over the head for not getting one for each of us, because I'm sure they had some left over... however, if any of you wants a copy let me know- there's not a mention of CB or anything, but it's got a list of the nominees & their inventions, etc. :-)
#2- Christian has the touch. I think he cured my headache. I've always said that he was a god.





next time: ch-ch-cherry cola