Commander Rick Sturckon and specialist James Reilly in the International Space Station’s lab:
Photo courtesy of NASA
It’s about the best time of the year when it comes to movies. The Oscars are imminent; the best latest films are out. Back in 2014, awards season gave us the idea for a cover story that would feature people in our neighborhood whose lives resembled popular movies and TV shows. In some cases the connection was a stretch, we admit, but each told a story compelling enough for a screenplay. We interviewed the real life stars of “A Few Good Men,” “Kill Bill,” “OITNB,” “Titanic,” Seabiscuit,” “Romancing the Stone,” ” Gravity,” “Breaking Bad” and more.
Colby Vokey, for example, built a national reputation by demanding fair representation for U.S. soldiers accused of war crimes. The world took notice (he appeared on “60 Minutes,” on National Public Radio and in the Wall Street Journal) when he spoke out against the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay when he was the defense attorney for 15-year-old prisoner Omar Khadr. He can handle the truth. It’s all he wants, really. Even if he makes a few people mad in the process of trying to wrest it — kind of like when Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) had to call Col. Nathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson) to the stand during the criminal trial of two rookie Marines in “A Few Good Men.”
Audrey Sequenzia: Danny Fulgencio
Audrey Sequenzia is a black belt mom — an attractive and gregarious woman with an infectious laugh and obvious sense of humor — who, while she doesn’t possess the rage or revenge-lust of Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” heroine Beatrix Kiddo, does feel that if the need ever arose, she could defend herself, maybe even pluck out an eye (OK, she didn’t say that last part).
Titanic > Poop Cruise.
Janie Christy and her traveling companions, much like passengers on the ill-fated 1912 luxury liner, had no idea their cruise would turn disastrous (and like some of our other anecdotes, this real-life experience was far less tragic than its infamous counterpart). When Christy, a well-known Dallas Ballet teacher, was due for a vacation last spring, a Carnival Cruise seemed perfect. She and her mates spent a fun-filled first day in Cozumel, Mexico. But hours after setting sail, a small fire caused the ship to lose propulsion and eventually power; the massive boat and its 4,200 passengers were left adrift — powerless and plumbing-less — off southern Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The story of the stranded ship instantly overtook all news broadcasts and the Internet. On Twitter it became #poopcruise, as the plumbing issues most captured the public interest.
Back in the 1960s, like a million other little kids, Lake Highlands-raised James Reilly wanted to be an astronaut. His interest was piqued at age 8 during a visit to the dentist where he listened to communications between John Glenn and Mission Control, he has said. After graduating from Lake Highlands High School in 1972, he pursued those dreams. Selected by NASA in 1994, he trained for more than a year before eventually logging more than 853 hours in space, including five spacewalks totaling 31 hours and 10 minutes. He shook his head at some of my questions about the George Clooney and Sandra Bullock moves in “Gravity.” I would like to know what he thinks of the portrayal of John Glenn in this year’s “Hidden Figures,” in which Glenn comes off as about the coolest dude to ever walk the earth or moon.
