Page created 10 Aug 2004 by ulyssess00
URL: http://www.thecelebritycafe.com/sightings/
I was so excited that this topic came up in Confession Confection. I have been meaning to start an entree devoted to it lately, so here it is. So, tell your stories of meeting the famous. Or, just list them all famous people you've seen in person. (One rule: I think while things like seeing an actor at the premiere of a movie counts, being in the front row of a concert that you paid for doesn't... while getting backstage or a brief encounter after said concert would.) It'll take me a while....
when i was a kid flying to or from hawaii, dan-o from hawaii five-o turned around and started talking to my mom about how she had such "energetic" kids.
coming soon...!
my roommate sunny and i were at ralphs - a supermarket comparable to jewel in chicago - and we saw james van der beek aka dawson shopping with his girlfriend. we weren't certain at first it was him so we did a lap around that aisle. then we did another just for good measure.
i met tyra banks at a party for the show america's next top model. i went up and introduced myself and just said hi. she was pretty nice.
when we were in LA, Erik, Peter and I met Eddie Van Halen at Ralph's (possibly the same one from kels's story).I also saw Barry Bostwick at the same Ralph's. (he's the mayor from Spin City)
I believe there were also sightings of Jon Voight and the Wu Tang Clan in the same area.
I also shared a bench with Sean Young when we hit the movie premier for The Amati Girls which we attended with kels and mercurymouth and Sunny and Kr1s Dunc@n and whoever else.
do autograph signings count?
I ran into Jesse White, Secretary of State in Illinois at a boxing match that we got tickets to courtesy of raskol's sister's landlord who was the announcer. he gave me his card and told me to call his secretary and she would help me clear up a license suspension, but, alas, I lost the card. There were quite a few witnesses there for that one. I was also talking to him when the announcer for the event was speaking and announced that Jesse White was in attendance that eveneing and they put a spotlight on us catching both of us quite off guard. interesting night. wish I hadn't lost that card...
some of these are bit of a stretch in thier celbrity-ness and/or encounter-ness...
charlie gibson robert mccall (did artwork for NASA and the 2001: A SPACE ODDESY poster/ box.) jim adkins (lead singer of Jimmy Eat World; via e-mail and then in person where said e-mail was recalled) tom waits (just a few minutes before adkins, but didnt talk to him) jerry springer kevin spacey (story to follow) mena suvari wes bentley thora birch john malkovich jeremy piven (old school, PCU) sister sledge (sold her take out food) bob schieffer (60 MINUTES) jesse jackson (the morning after schieffer) michael moore (via AIM, we chatted for about five minutes) DMX tom arnold steven segal magic johnson omar epps (walked behind him on the red carpet into movie opening featuring D, Steven and Tom) ted danson (sliced a pound of turkey and a pound of swiss for him) carly simon (about once a week in same grocery store as ted danson) dustin hoffman robin givens (hangin' with mr. cooper) tracy pollan (Michael J. Fox's wife) kevin costner frank abangdale (the real life person leonardo di caprio plays in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN.) ryne sandberg (in the supermaket with my cousins, who were friends of his step-children) thats all i can recall now... i'll go into detail on some of them later.
Eddie Vedder in the crowd at Lolapalooza circa '92. Mentioned his cousin who went to NP briefly to him. Louis Post and Nina Gordan from Vercua Salt in the crowd at a Hum concert. Talked about getting burritos at Garcias. Charlton Heston and Mickey Hart at book signings. Mayor Daley while catering a party he was at. Went to high school with Bridget Moynahan (I Robot, The Recruit). Sold a book to Darcy from Smashing Pumpkins at a bookstore I used to work at. Shared a plane with Twiggy, Madonna Wayne Gacy and the rest of the gang from Marilyn Manson's band to LA and then finally talked to them while waiting for luggage. They were upset b/c their Colorado show was cancelled b/c of Columbine. James Iha from Smashing Pumpkins at Guitar Center on Clark.
THE STARS OF NBC SOAP OPERA PASSIONS (that photo was on the official passions webpage for a while)and
Ray Liota sat across the aisle on a plane and played with my kids.....actually scared the hell out of my daughter with the pull my thumb apart trick; she was only 3 or 4. He was pretty cool though.
SO, ake larson and I were going to O'Hare to meet his mom for dinner during a layover she had there between points A and B.This was way before 9-11 and so we could go through clearance and up to the gates and stuff. As we approached the gates, I noticed something really odd... every single one of the security people I saw were black. I thought there was usually a diversity of races working those things, but I was immediately struck by that. The next thing I noticed was that every single one of them had ants in their pants, metaphorically speaking. Something big was going on and I had no idea what it was. I thought maybe there had been a bomb threat, or something, prior to our showing up because everyone was clearly on edge.
I went through and set off the alarm. I probably forgot to take off a ring or something, so I did that, but set it off again. Ake also had just gone through ahead of me, and the lady running the station said, "I need a wand on this gentleman here!" and so a guy ran up and started sweeping Ake -- the lady said, "No, this gentleman," and the guard nodded and kept sweeping Ake. "No, Me," I said, and he started sweeping me. This little hold up was going on for maybe a minute or two. While I was being wanded, I turned my head and looked over to the left, and there was Jesse Jackson, standing in the next aisle looking bored and annoyed that he was being held up by these two goofballs.
We both finally got through. He had a whole entourage of young, good looking black bodyguards, too.
yeah, that ralph's is sort of like the lexus of supermarkets. and it's right at the bottom of the hill so everyone who lives up in the hollywood hills can stream right on down and will hardly even waste any gas.
I met Stephen Brodsky (center in photo), the lead singer of "Cave In" outside of "The Interscection" in Grand Rapids. I yelled "hey Brodsky!" and he turned and looked at me with some suprise. I must say that he looked a lot smaller in person than he did in the videos and magazines that I've seen. He was pretty nice...but looked somewhat anxious. He was apparently waiting for some girl, so our conversation ended abruptly when he started sprinting down the street to catch the car she was driving.After a Weezer concert, my brother met Brian Bell (guitarist for Weezer) in the lobby of the hotel we were staying at. Apparently, he was there just to take a shower (I imagine that the bus that they traveled in wasn't the friendliest place to bathe). My brother got his autograph, and according to him, he had a semi-weak handshake and was one of the thinnest males he'd ever seen. The next morning, the hotel receptionist informed us that Brian checked out of his room at 2:00am.
and my brother met Josh Homme (singer/guitarist for Queens of the Stone Age)...and said he was at least 6-5 or 6-6 in height.
I got to hear Prince giggle in MSP an MSP airport air-lock. He's so little and giggles like a little kid.
i forgot about seeing mike wallace when i was like 10. he owned the beach house two doors down from my aunt peg's beach house on martha's vineyard. he was on his private beach. he was wearing nothing but a black speedo.
I met Norman Borlaug (a native iowan and Nobel prize winner) when I lived at CIMMYT I think he counts cause he's fed more people than all of hollywood ever will. Also when I was living there I had to wait outside the gates of the compound be VP Al Gore decided to come and visit...My brother, sister and i were the only people on the bus that even knew who he was, cause we were the only americans present. What a bastard.
norman borlaug
sam phillips at a bar on market street in san francisco,
al gore at the o'hare hilton,
martin sheen at depaul,
jan schakowski at a parade on central in evanston,
mel gibson on dearborn avenue in chicago, and
robert weinberg, parent of one of my college roommates....of the above mentioned individuals, two made their names in politics, two in movies (one of whom i met at a political event), one is a paperback novelist, and one is a world famous blogger.
I met one of the players in an elevator at Watertower Place. I can't remember who it was now, though not any of the bigger name players...some of us met Black Sabbath at an autograph signing once. that was cool.
and if misslady ever gets on here, she should post her meeting w/Ozzy.
i've watched about 45 hours of footage of gretchen wilson. it feels like an encounter. i did maybe 30 hours of julie roberts [not julia] which also felt like an encounter.ashton and demi were down the hall when i was over at the vh1 building. i saw them walk through the parking lot with her kids on their way out.
...the one who sings the "don't want to break down here" song?
Several years ago while working at Macy's at the Mall of America, Louie Anderson was to visit the Mall. Mall security made arrangements with Macy's for Louie to use the (large) private restroom in the executive area.A few days later, I was standing in the hallway restocking the supply cabinet when Louie walked by. Poor guy! One manager just about grabbed onto him saying "Hey, we went to high school together" and Louie responded, "You and 10,000 others". Then the manager of Gift Wrap made a fool out of herself trying to get his attention. I was embarrased for the poor guy and trying to ignore the entire situation.
As Louie was leaving, he tapped me on the shoulder, held out his hand to shake mine, and said "Hope you have a good day." I just about choked with laughter along with him.
bones
louie anderson story: good.chester, yes that's her. i like her next single, 'ain't down home.' there are a couple other good ones on her album. from what i can tell from the reality footage, she's got a really great attitude and a laugh that kills me.
that louie anderson story reminded me of a story my friend jessica tells about when she was working retail somewhere and met dustin diamond (SCREECH from SAVED BY THE BELL.)he came up to the register, and just as she was about to greet him and start ringing him up, a co-worker showed up and said something like, "jessica, phone call." jessica (who will always choose hilarity over manners) looked at poor dustin, made a faux-innocent face and said "whoops... looks like i'm saved by the bell!" and went off to take her phone call.
priceless.
talked to friend that escorted both Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez (not at the same time) around this past week.He works for Miramax.
He told me that they are both "gigantic a**holes".
i'm currently working with the creator of mcgyver. he's awesome.
But I think met about half the US bobsled team the other night. They are very nice large mammals.
We were at a fancy sushi restaurant in Malibu the other day and saw Nicki Hilton. I really go out of my way NOT to recognize celebrities but she was unmistakable. Also, apparently James Van Der Beek was there too but I didn't see him.
I was fellow passenger to Hulk Hogan on a plane from MSP to Portland, Oregon.
we see a lot of them 'round these parts. recent notables have been: pee wee herman in full pee wee garb. sting, whose eyes i happened to look up from my phone call and directly into as he walked straight at me. and the real joe davola, whom i was escorting to the press room when he told me his name and i said, crazy joe davola?! which he loved.
