I am sitting outside, enjoying some Labor Day BBQ with my friends, when I notice a man with reddish hair walking by with his pitbull. Moments later, he goes back the opposite way, with two more pitbulls. Being the charismatic, friendly guy that he is, my buddy Adam offers him a burger. Before the man can even respond, one of his lovely pooches cops a squat, right in front of us, and drops some burgers of her own. The man declines the burger (apparently he has to keep his stomach empty for the feast his mother and his lady are preparing for him at home), and apologizes profusely for the little show his bitch gave all of us as we ate. "No problem, man"s are passed around the picnic table, and we bid him farewell.
No more than five minutes pass when along comes Patrick (no pitbulls this time), carrying a large, stockpot. He removes the lid to reveal an ice bucket full of Budweisers. He explains that this is his expiation. As he plops the cauldron onto the table, he grins. "I hope you guys like beer. I'm not walkin' in on an AA meeting here, am I?" It is the first time I get a good look at him, from the loose fitting shorts and the T-shirt with "F*** Uncle Sam, F*** the World, and F*** _insert any random word you can think of_"strewn across it, one would think him a young man in his twenties. As it turns out, Patrick is just a young man in his forties. Forty-two to be exact. And privileged to be able to do what he loves for a living.
Physical Description in His Own Word: 6ft tall, pretty physically fit. Generally outdoorsy guy. Short, red, blondish hair. Basically good health. For many of his adult years Patrick was accustomed to being the slightly "bigger guy," but in recent years has slimmed down. *The second time I met him, he had ditched the F-bomb shirt for a brown dress shirt and slacks.
Patrick does set construction for film. Among his extensive portfolio are such pieces as Minority Report, Transformers I and II, Planet of the Apes, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Visa Commercials, and Music Videos for Destiny's Child, Eminem, and the Backstreet Boys. He even built the famed feet propelled cars in the live action Flinstones Movie. Pat does not shy away from admitting that "I am good at what I do." Known by his friends and co-workers as "The Fiberglass Guru," he charges 20% above the going rate, because he can. With little more than a 9th grade education, Patrick picked up the skill of working with fiber glass at an early age. He also worked in a Corvette shop for six years. Soon after, he left for California to live with his brother, went to Six Flags Theme Park to work on a Space Shuttle set with him. Three weeks later, he was hired as a foreman and was immediately sent to work on a project in Las Vegas. And he's been working the craft ever since.
Throughout his life, his family, especially his mother, has had a definite impact on his life. While in Vegas, a huge earthquake hit CA and Patrick decided to move permanently to Vegas. For about eight months, he lived in a hotel room, then found an apartment in “drug alley.” After building scenery at Buffalo Bill’s, Pat went to work for a company building sound systems. It was 1996, and his first project was the sound system at the Rio casino and hotel. At the opening of the Rio was where he first laid eyes on his soon to be (and current) girlfriend of 18 years. Soon after, his team set up the Hard Rock sound system. The company set him up with a corporate apartment and a truck. Patrick and his girl stayed in Vegas until around ’98 when they moved back to California. This is when he got back into building sets. The doors of opportunity flew wide open, he came upon a couple good production set designers who really liked him, and things just kept rolling. Pat attributes his good work ethic to his parents. "My parents have always given me good information, always been there for me. I was definitely not spoiled. Dad was really hard on me, Mom was really good to me. I used to be the worst kid, but now I’m the most responsible one, coming home and taking care of mom. I’m glad I’ve come back to Virginia, and that my baby boy is gonna be born here."At the ripe age of 42, Patrick is going to be a proud (and terrified) father for the first time. Another positive influence in Patrick's life was his grandfather. "My grandfather could pull a smile out of a rock. And I’ve always wanted to be like my grandfather in that regard. I always wanna make someone laugh." Patrick knows he can't take all the credit for all the successes in his life. In addition to his family, Pat gives an occasional shout-out to the Almighty. "My church is on the lake. I'm not a religious guy, but out there, in all that beauty, that’s where I go to talk to the man upstairs, I know He’s watchin’ out for me."
Patrick's Best Memories (In his own words): I was doing a Mercedes commercial, where there is a guy in the Mercedes, sitting in a wind-tunnel. The guy is just cruising along when the wind tunnel explodes, but the Mercedes just keeps on cruising. I called up my dad, who I hadn't seen in a while, because I wanted him to see my work. He was out in CA with his new wife, and agreed to fly out for a day. I told the guys at the studio that I might be running a bit late, because I had to pick up my dad from the airport, and they held everything, and waited for me. I bring my dad to the studio, and everyone’s there and ready to go. The production designer looks at me and says, “you ready to go?” I said, “Yeah.” And the director said, “Action.” The wind-tunnel exploded and blew our hair off. My dad had tears in his yes, and by the way he looked at me, I knew he was proud. I’ve never seen him cry. He was raised to show no emotion. After he flew home, my dad called my mom, whom he hadn't spoken to in years, and he told her, “Yknow, I never told you this, but you did a really good job raising Pat.”This was one of the best moments of my life.
The other favorite memory of his, was the time Patrick bought himself a brand new Magnum. His mom came out to visit him in California. She had been driving a beat up Toyota Corolla at the time. He spent a great day with her, then at the end of the day, he handed her the keys to the brand new car he had just bought, and she said, “what is this?” and began to cry. She called every few days after that, and a month later, she called and said, “I’m home.” A baffled Patrick asked for further explanation. She had put 7700 miles on the car driving from CA back to VA. Apparently, Mom had taken that car for quite the month-long joy ride. Then came some of the sweetest words to alight on Patrick's ears: “That was the best time and the best trip I’ve ever had in my entire life.”
During his forty two year long career as a human being, Patrick has also experienced his rough spots as well. In his younger days, he fell in love with a girl, and wanted to marry her. While she was gone visiting family in Pennsylvania, Patrick put down $1500 on a ring, and planned his perfect proposal. That night, she walked in to 100 lit candles and homemade Chinese food and told him. “I’m leaving you tonight.” Behind her, in walked this big, black dude. She motioned toward him and said, “I’m with him now.” With nowhere else to go, Patrick ended up staying with an ex girlfriend from high school and her husband for a bit, then called up his two brothers in California, whom he hadn’t seen in 15 yrs. It was then that his career took off.
As a result of working on so many movie sets, Patrick has definitely developed strong opinions of some of the actors he has come in contact with. There is special place in his heart devoted to the fierce distaste for Nicole Kidman. In his own words, "Nicole Kidman is a something I can't say in the presence of ladies. There is nothing good about that woman." Among some of his favorite actors to have worked with are Halle Berry, Christopher Walken, and Robert DeNiro (who "really loves his black women").
When asked who his favorite Hollywood actor was (as a person, not as an actor), he give it some thought before deciding on Jack Nicholson. One of Patrick's favorite memories on set is the time he was working on a Playboy set, and Jack walks up and queries, "What's with the naked girl on the horse?" Pat and the crew invite him over to come and watch the show with them. Sure enough, Jack joins the crew in some friendly Playboy commentary and even in the sharing of some Mary Jane. Patrick unabashedly admits, “I’ll smoke pot til the day I die. I love my marijuana. But [now that I'm going to be a father] I’m leaving everything else alone.”
Things that make Patrick Smile: Stray dogs. Most of his dogs have been strays, and he has had quite a few of them. Currently, it is his pitbulls that are his pride and joy. One in particular, a strong-willed one named Harley, who he loves to take with him when he goes long-boarding. As a favor to Harley, he waited for a while before having him fixed because he "figured he should have some fun first." Now Phil wonders if it would have been better if the poor dog just never even knew what he was missing out on. As much a Pat loves his pooches, he is fully prepared to put them out at the first snap at his child. Patrick also has a strong penchant for motorcycles and nice cars. He once sold a '69 Firebird to Pamela Anderson while working on the set of Baywatch, and to this day, holds a photocopy of the blessed check.
If Patrick ever met his 15 year old self he would say... "Stay in school, do not take Home Economics, because all the girls are in there, and that’s not what school’s about. Take Spanish, and pay better attention to Math."
In some respects, I really envy the guy. To have a skill that will always be in high demand, and to be able to work when you want to and not work when you don't want to. On top of that, getting paid to do something that you love.
*If you want to see some of his work, you can click on the hyperlinked text above.
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