Random celebrity encounters?
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Amaris
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While I was in Chicago, I stepped into our hotel's elevator and then held the door at the last second for Brian Regan. I didn't say anything, but he saw me recognize him and he smiled at me and nodded. I smiled and nodded back. That was pretty neat.
Neither was a "major A-list" celebrity encounter, but some of you might remember this...
Does anyone remember the old Nickelodeon show All That? Well, the guy who wrote a lot of the scripts that Keenan Thompson (who I had pegged, even at that age, as future SNL material) acted, including the "Goodburger" skit, came into my store once.
We had a nice chat, and he got a kick out of the fact that in my new-hire course, I had cracked up our class when we were asked to give examples of bad customer service by doing THIS line in front of the whole class.
The other celebrity encounter was more recent. My mom and I were getting on a plane and we literally almost tripped over Michelle Duggar, trying to find somewhere to sit at the gate. She was a very nice, intelligent, and down-to-earth lady (which people miss when they stereotype her) and we had a good conversation before we boarded our plane.
Does anyone remember the old Nickelodeon show All That? Well, the guy who wrote a lot of the scripts that Keenan Thompson (who I had pegged, even at that age, as future SNL material) acted, including the "Goodburger" skit, came into my store once.
We had a nice chat, and he got a kick out of the fact that in my new-hire course, I had cracked up our class when we were asked to give examples of bad customer service by doing THIS line in front of the whole class.
The other celebrity encounter was more recent. My mom and I were getting on a plane and we literally almost tripped over Michelle Duggar, trying to find somewhere to sit at the gate. She was a very nice, intelligent, and down-to-earth lady (which people miss when they stereotype her) and we had a good conversation before we boarded our plane.
When I was about 12, I ran into Dick Irvin (the play-by-play announcer for Montreal Canadiens games) at Ontario Place. He asked me if I was a Leafs fan, and of course, I said yes.
When Queer As Folk was being filmed, I ran into Randy Harrison and Robert Gant on two separate occasions while I was out for lunch. I have a friend who had a huge crush on Robert Gant at the time, and I still love teasing him that I know where Robert was living at the time (as he was on his way into a condo with an armful of groceries when I ran into him).
I also ran into George Stromboulopoulos, a Canadian talk show host, downtown a year or two ago. I didn't talk to him, though.
Oh, and I was on my way to a meeting one Sunday morning when Mark Tewksbury, an Olympic medalist in swimming, got on and sat down next to me. The funny thing about it was that I was kind of checking out the cute guy on the other side of where he sat, and I was annoyed that he'd blocked my view until I realized who he was. Needless to say, I stopped checking out the other guy.
I asked if he was, in fact, Mark Tewksbury. He said yes, and asked where I was off to so early on a Sunday morning. I told him that I was on my way to a convention committee meeting; as it happens, he got into motivational speaking and conference organizing after he retired from swimming, so he asked me all sorts of questions about how Polaris operates. I arranged for him to be invited to present a Constellation Award at our Saturday evening ceremony, but it turned out that he was going to be out of town that weekend.
When Queer As Folk was being filmed, I ran into Randy Harrison and Robert Gant on two separate occasions while I was out for lunch. I have a friend who had a huge crush on Robert Gant at the time, and I still love teasing him that I know where Robert was living at the time (as he was on his way into a condo with an armful of groceries when I ran into him).
I also ran into George Stromboulopoulos, a Canadian talk show host, downtown a year or two ago. I didn't talk to him, though.
Oh, and I was on my way to a meeting one Sunday morning when Mark Tewksbury, an Olympic medalist in swimming, got on and sat down next to me. The funny thing about it was that I was kind of checking out the cute guy on the other side of where he sat, and I was annoyed that he'd blocked my view until I realized who he was. Needless to say, I stopped checking out the other guy.
I asked if he was, in fact, Mark Tewksbury. He said yes, and asked where I was off to so early on a Sunday morning. I told him that I was on my way to a convention committee meeting; as it happens, he got into motivational speaking and conference organizing after he retired from swimming, so he asked me all sorts of questions about how Polaris operates. I arranged for him to be invited to present a Constellation Award at our Saturday evening ceremony, but it turned out that he was going to be out of town that weekend.
in august I was roadie for my brother's band, and before a gig we stopped at a small coffee shop in Skaneateles NY and The Brothers Baldwin just happen to be there 
Alec and Stephen were having a coffee and talking about who-knows-what
I didn't want a coffee so I went back outside. It was a small place and I didn't want to hover, but the other guys got some coffee, and ended up talking for a few minutes to Stephen about his ministry and a few other things
Alec apparently is a regular at the place since there's a few tributes to his work around the shop, like a Jack Ryan quote on the chalkboard wall, and I think there was a picture somewhere . . .
The Baldwins are actually CNY natives and when asked by Letterman why he can't get his mother to move to california, this was his response
also I used to work with (voice of)Spongebob's brother Pat Kenny
he was(is?) a director at the local NBC affiliate when I worked there in 2003-04
Alec and Stephen were having a coffee and talking about who-knows-what
I didn't want a coffee so I went back outside. It was a small place and I didn't want to hover, but the other guys got some coffee, and ended up talking for a few minutes to Stephen about his ministry and a few other things
Alec apparently is a regular at the place since there's a few tributes to his work around the shop, like a Jack Ryan quote on the chalkboard wall, and I think there was a picture somewhere . . .
The Baldwins are actually CNY natives and when asked by Letterman why he can't get his mother to move to california, this was his response
also I used to work with (voice of)Spongebob's brother Pat Kenny
he was(is?) a director at the local NBC affiliate when I worked there in 2003-04
Worked at Rogers Arena (formerly General Motors Place here in Vancouver) and was doing a garbage run and told to clean out one of the suits (suit clean up was a bitch and no one liked being asked to do it) well I go into the suit and there is Nelly Furtado along with her entourage sitting around. I managed to compose myself and said hi and proceeded to do my job...Nelly actually acknowledged me and said thank you. That pretty much made my night.
I know this is really random, but what company were you doing security for?
Nardpuncher
Rear Admiral
In 1996 Dan Akyroyd was in Winnipeg filming a CBS movie called The Arrowand my buddy and I saw him from a patio bar we were at as he sat on a motorcycle chatting with a couple of people. He was only about 10 feet away, and I knew I didn't want to just say the normal things about how he's funny (or not, if he's not your thing) so I said "I really liked you in Driving Miss Daisy!"
He turned his head, but didn't look at me and said "Thanks."
That apparently wasn't good enough for my buddy who had 2 or 3 beers more than me, who said "Well I liked you in Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day!"
Dan Akyroyd then turns to him and with a small smile says "That was Bill Murray," to which my friend replied "Ahh same thing!"
I know that sounds made up...but it really happened that way. I was surprised with how quickly my buddy picked the movies like that ,as Ghostbusters has both of them but the other doesn't.
To make it even better, a few months later me and that same buddy wen to go see that Bugs Bunny/Michael Jordan movie Space Jam that has Bill Murray in it and at one point he comes on screen and the cat with Danny DeVito's voice says "Well if it isn't Dan Akyroyd!"
He turned his head, but didn't look at me and said "Thanks."
That apparently wasn't good enough for my buddy who had 2 or 3 beers more than me, who said "Well I liked you in Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day!"
Dan Akyroyd then turns to him and with a small smile says "That was Bill Murray," to which my friend replied "Ahh same thing!"
I know that sounds made up...but it really happened that way. I was surprised with how quickly my buddy picked the movies like that ,as Ghostbusters has both of them but the other doesn't.
To make it even better, a few months later me and that same buddy wen to go see that Bugs Bunny/Michael Jordan movie Space Jam that has Bill Murray in it and at one point he comes on screen and the cat with Danny DeVito's voice says "Well if it isn't Dan Akyroyd!"
I met Rio Ferdinand on the job some years ago... I had no idea who he was, we were chit-chatting, and I remember I asked him if we'd gone to school together... I only realised afterwards who he was, and why his nose was so out of joint when I asked him where I knew him from. I'm not much of a football fan. 
I met Jessie Wallace in the same way. When we concluded our conversation, I told her she looked a lot like Kat from Eastenders. She was not too impressed either.
A friend of mine is an admirer of Terence Stamp, so she simply had to say hello when we came across him on the street. He stood and chatted for some time, all the while holding my friend's hand and stroking it. So elegant, what a voice, and such a gentleman. It was quite a lovely experience even though I again wasn't sure who it was till afterwards. I don't remember much of Star Wars or Superman. I'm generally not too good with names and faces, period. 
I spent part of an evening with Taboo from Black Eyed Peas in 1998 after a performance at the Jazz Cafe. They were relatively unknown then and mingled among the small crowd without a fuss. He took a shine to my friend, and spent some time trying to chat her up. It was actually a fantastic show and a great night.
I've spotted a number of A listers in town as I'm not too far from the film and music industries, but no actual conversations. I let them be. If it were a Trek actor though, I might have to say something.
Who I've seen around:
Sir Bob Geldof
Sir Ian McKellen
Alan Rickman
Jude Law
Sienna Miller
Cillian Murphy
Naveen Andrews
Sharleen Spiteri
Ricky Gervais
I met Jessie Wallace in the same way. When we concluded our conversation, I told her she looked a lot like Kat from Eastenders. She was not too impressed either.
A friend of mine is an admirer of Terence Stamp, so she simply had to say hello when we came across him on the street. He stood and chatted for some time, all the while holding my friend's hand and stroking it.
So elegant, what a voice, and such a gentleman. It was quite a lovely experience even though I again wasn't sure who it was till afterwards. I don't remember much of Star Wars or Superman. I'm generally not too good with names and faces, period. I spent part of an evening with Taboo from Black Eyed Peas in 1998 after a performance at the Jazz Cafe. They were relatively unknown then and mingled among the small crowd without a fuss. He took a shine to my friend, and spent some time trying to chat her up. It was actually a fantastic show and a great night.
I've spotted a number of A listers in town as I'm not too far from the film and music industries, but no actual conversations. I let them be. If it were a Trek actor though, I might have to say something.
Who I've seen around:
Sir Bob Geldof
Sir Ian McKellen
Alan Rickman
Jude Law
Sienna Miller
Cillian Murphy
Naveen Andrews
Sharleen Spiteri
Ricky Gervais
I saw Bob Eubanks in a clothing store when I was in High School. Also, back in college I delivered pizzas and delivered to former Denver Bronco greats Haven Moses and Karl Meklenburg. Meklenburg ordered a lot, great tipper too.
She's not a celebrity, but I went to college with a girl who was an extra in Ferris Bueller's day off. She's wearing a bright pink sweater in one of the school scenes.
She's not a celebrity, but I went to college with a girl who was an extra in Ferris Bueller's day off. She's wearing a bright pink sweater in one of the school scenes.
Go out to the Owasso Soccer Club fields. See that big new building? Thank Garth for that.
Enjoying reading this, and it's made me think of a couple more:
- Tony Gwynn and family. Tony played for the San Diego Padres for 20 years. His daughter is a singer and his son also plays baseball. This was about 10-15 years ago, when his kids were still teenagers. We saw them at the local mall. Being that this is San Diego, and Tony is very personable, people never bugged him. It was natural for us to just say 'hi Tony' as we walked by him. He said 'hi' back. People just don't bug him.
Disneyland - there are so many encounters I've had a Disneyland, I know I won't remember them all. I've seen everyone from Roy Disney, to Wayne Gretsky, to Arnold Schwarzenegger, to Sinbad, to Tony Danza, to George Lucas walking around the park. Star Trek-wise, we did cross paths with Stephen Collins one time, too.
The 'best' Disneyland celebrity encounter was Phil Mickelson, the golfer. We sat down at a table for lunch, and a few minutes later, he and his family sat down next to us. I do remember going to refill my cup of soda, and he was doing it at the same time, and having trouble working the soda machine (I think his was broken), and we both laughed about it. I'm not a golf fan, so I wouldn't have known it was him if my step-father hadn't pointed him out.
- Tony Gwynn and family. Tony played for the San Diego Padres for 20 years. His daughter is a singer and his son also plays baseball. This was about 10-15 years ago, when his kids were still teenagers. We saw them at the local mall. Being that this is San Diego, and Tony is very personable, people never bugged him. It was natural for us to just say 'hi Tony' as we walked by him. He said 'hi' back. People just don't bug him.
Disneyland - there are so many encounters I've had a Disneyland, I know I won't remember them all. I've seen everyone from Roy Disney, to Wayne Gretsky, to Arnold Schwarzenegger, to Sinbad, to Tony Danza, to George Lucas walking around the park. Star Trek-wise, we did cross paths with Stephen Collins one time, too.
The 'best' Disneyland celebrity encounter was Phil Mickelson, the golfer. We sat down at a table for lunch, and a few minutes later, he and his family sat down next to us. I do remember going to refill my cup of soda, and he was doing it at the same time, and having trouble working the soda machine (I think his was broken), and we both laughed about it. I'm not a golf fan, so I wouldn't have known it was him if my step-father hadn't pointed him out.
When I was 17, I went with my dad on a business trip to Dallas, Las Colinas, to be exact. From what I understand, this is a fairly swanky part of the greater Dallas area.
We stayed at a very nice hotel, I think it was the Four Seasons...
Anyway, I was on the elevator, on my way to the lobby. As I reached the floor and got out, there was a short blond getting in.. I was off in my own little world and didn't pay her much attention. As I got out, I noticed a large crowd in the lobby just outside the elevator and asked an employee what was going on.. He looked at me and asked if I had noticed the women getting on the elevator as I was getting out.. I said "I guess so"... He replied.. "That was Madonna.. You didn't recognize her??"
I was not then, nor am I now, a fan of hers, so it didn't even register.. Later that day, I was out at the pool and chatted with a few guys from her band. She was in town for a concert. They were very nice and rather talkative.
We stayed at a very nice hotel, I think it was the Four Seasons...
Anyway, I was on the elevator, on my way to the lobby. As I reached the floor and got out, there was a short blond getting in.. I was off in my own little world and didn't pay her much attention. As I got out, I noticed a large crowd in the lobby just outside the elevator and asked an employee what was going on.. He looked at me and asked if I had noticed the women getting on the elevator as I was getting out.. I said "I guess so"... He replied.. "That was Madonna.. You didn't recognize her??"
I was not then, nor am I now, a fan of hers, so it didn't even register.. Later that day, I was out at the pool and chatted with a few guys from her band. She was in town for a concert. They were very nice and rather talkative.
i met fred penner when i went to his concert when i was 7
Occasional celebrity sitings are not unusual in the downtown DC area. "Hey, that's so-and-so walking down the street."
But appropriate to this forum, a couple of years ago I stood in line with Scott Bakula at a Starbucks near the White House. There was kind of a nod back and forth when he knew I recognized him, but we didn't talk. (I didn't think Starbucks was the right place to engage him in a conversation on why Enterprise sucked so bad.
) He was very informally dressed. Like he had just been running or something.
But appropriate to this forum, a couple of years ago I stood in line with Scott Bakula at a Starbucks near the White House. There was kind of a nod back and forth when he knew I recognized him, but we didn't talk. (I didn't think Starbucks was the right place to engage him in a conversation on why Enterprise sucked so bad.
) He was very informally dressed. Like he had just been running or something.
That is so awesome to hear. Gwynn was always one of my favorite players, even despite the fact that I'm a Rockies fan.
In the off season, Larry Walker used to workout at the 24 Hour Fitness that I used to go to. We were never there at the same time, but the people that did see him said that he mainly kept to himself, but when someone did approach him he was very gracious.
A couple of years ago I met up with some friends in London. We were walking along and noticed a crowd gathering outside a hotel. Most of my friends carried on walking but I and a couple of others crossed the road to see what was going on.
We were at the back of the crowd so couldn't see who the first person to walk out was, but they were quickly hurried into a car. Then the second person followed, and I saw it was Al Pacino.
I was stood right on the kerb and a woman asked me to step back, I was straining to see who was going to come after Pacino. Then a fairly well-built black guy walked past me, so I assumed he was a bodyguard and someone else was coming.
Turns out no-one came and the cars pulled off, the crowd dissipated so I re-joined my friends. They pointed out that the guy who had brushed past me was 50 Cent.
We were at the back of the crowd so couldn't see who the first person to walk out was, but they were quickly hurried into a car. Then the second person followed, and I saw it was Al Pacino.
I was stood right on the kerb and a woman asked me to step back, I was straining to see who was going to come after Pacino. Then a fairly well-built black guy walked past me, so I assumed he was a bodyguard and someone else was coming.
Turns out no-one came and the cars pulled off, the crowd dissipated so I re-joined my friends. They pointed out that the guy who had brushed past me was 50 Cent.
^^WOW! Until this very moment I had no idea you could spell "curb" "kerb". How have I never seen that before??? Is that a UK thing? I've read thousands of pages by English authors and I've never recall coming across "kerb".
(hehe, I feel like one of those "use your air miles" commercials... Look! Al Pacino! -really? You can spell it kerb?)
(hehe, I feel like one of those "use your air miles" commercials... Look! Al Pacino! -really? You can spell it kerb?)
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