I let you know all kinds of stuff about me here on my blog. You know that I redid my whole house a few years ago, you know I have chickens, you even know when I have a yeast or bladder infection and what I do about it.
You know I've made my living as a television host and writer. I've let you know all this.
I'm a sharer. That's what I am. Except food. I *hate* to share my food. Do NOT take a fry from my plate or I'll pluck your eyeball out and shove it up your nostril.
However, no matter how much I share, there will always be things you don't know about me.
Take a listen to this little diddy by The Four Horsemen from the early 90's. If you listen veryyyyy closely at the veryyyyy end of the track ... there I be. Clapping and (in an effort to distinguish myself from the other clappers) whistling. Yup. I'm a whistling fool. Go ahead ... give it a listen.
Now, I realize that it's very difficult to prove that the clapping and whistling is me, so you'll just have to believe me. For one thing if I was going to make something like this up, I'd probably pick a more popular song to attach myself to. Like "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road". Although, looking back on it, this was the most popular song The Four Horsemen probably ever recorded. The song was recorded in a studio in Hollywood and I happened to be there at the time. The producer needed a bunch of people clapping at the end of the song, so we all stood around and clapped. (with me improvising a little with my whistle)
At one point, many, many years ago when I used to be ... well ... fun, I spent a bit of time in Hollywood with my friend and her fiancé. He was the lead singer in a band that was popular at the time. The band was called The Cult and the singer was Ian Astbury. You may have heard of them. Or not.
I haven't seen or spoken with Ian in years, but I'm still friends with his fiancé. She's the one who does my hair actually! She did his too back in the day. That's why Ian Astbury always had beautiful, flowing, shiny black hair. Because of Renee.
During that trip to Los Angeles I can't even begin to tell you the amount of people I met and went to dinner with and saw in concert. Lemme tell ya, you see a whole different Hollywood when you're there with a rock star. I have it all written down somewhere because I knew I'd probably forget half of who I saw/met later. And I have. Elton John is one I remember. He was sitting on a bench in gymnasium type seating at a party for a band I can't remember. He looked sad.
It was an experience I'm kind of shocked my mother let me take. I was youngish at the time and I'd really just met Ian and Renee. Mind you, this is the same mother who shoved me off to New York City when I was 16 with a friend. I didn't want to go ... she pushed me. So the two of us, 16 years old and stupid, boarded a plane and headed to the Big Apple. It was THERE that I saw a true icon.
I've met countless celebrities through my job. I was an entertainment reporter for 3 years and interviewed a plethora of bands and actors. None of them thrilled me like this random encounter.
My friend and I were in the store Fiorucci with her cousin, an artist ... and there standing over to the right of the store was Andy Warhol. The cousin screamed, I swore because I wasn't wearing my glasses and couldn't see him well and my friend ... she asked who Andy Warhol was. A year later Andy Warhol was dead.
So as we head into this weekend I thought I'd ask "Have you had a brush with celebrity?" And did they give you a yeast infection?
Have a good weekend everyone! Menu posted tomorrow, see you on Monday.
Nicole2
I once saw Freddy Mercury walk by at Dorval Airport where I was picking up a friend. Just casually walking, nobody noticing him...
Then a few years ago, we were on a trip to California with our friends and our two daughters and their two daughters. We had rented this van and were driving in Beverley Hills in rush hour when we spotted Peter Falk driving beside us. Our friend tried to snap his picture, while driving no less, and engaged in his pursuit. You should see how fast and well a person can drive with just one eye. I guess celebrities learn to dodge paparazzi.
On the same trip, when we landed at Pearson, we saw the Jonas Brothers just outside the airport. They were here to film the movie Rock Camp, and they were barely starting to be famous. They only had one body guard and our collective four teenage daughters asked if they could take their picture with them and they easily said yes. A year later, I'm sure they wouldn't have gotten anywhere near them. They made a lot of friends jealous.
Darlene
I got lucky many times earlier in my life - I worked at a hotel in Baltimore called Cross keys Inn - I worked the front desk, this was way before the Inner Harbor was nice, probably in the late 70"s. Any improtant person coming in to perform, Diana Ross, Harlem Glboe Trotters, major league baseball and football teams all stayed there...One I do remember is what a jerk Reggie Jackson was!
Bev
I never get a brush, but my golf loving hubby has *peed* next to some greats. It never fails that he will be playing at a course and some big golfer comes in. He regrets that he has never been able to shake any of their hands.
Karen
Back in the 80's I worked at the cosmetic counter in Eaton's Saskatoon... the Centennial hall was next door where at the big bands came to play at the time.. Seemed like who ever was playing there did their Saturday morning shopping at the Midtown plaza and I was lucky enough to have stars come to me! I waited on Burton Cummings, Joanie Mitchel, Meatloaf, And the most fun was all three Pointer Sisters at once!! My other lucky encounter was Caesars Palace Vegas about 2 in the morning.. only the older gals will remember him... Greg Evigan from BJ and the Bear asked me for change at a Slot machine... still think hes a hunk!
Angie
When I was in high school, I worked at the front desk of the Holiday Inn at the Airport in the evenings. One evening I was checking a rather large party in under a random name. I looked up to see the spitting image of Meryl Streep. I said to her, you look sooo much like Meryl Streep. She smiled like, "You're an idiot, darling", and continued to her room. I learned about pseudonyms that night.
Lynne Knowlton
This year, at Christmas we went to NYC for a friends Birthday paaaartteeee. She turned 40. We booked a two night stay at the Greenwich Hotel. {total splurge}...
I didn't know that Robert DeNiro owned the hotel. So there we sat, in the lounge...Robert DeNiro was there. Mary Kate Olsen too (could have been Ashley...I never can tell).
Next morning...Tom Cruise , Katie and Suri opened Christmas gifts with the parents by the tree in lounge. It took everything for me to not loose my mind and just pretend to be cool and NOT jump up and down. I sat there...with big internal flutters. That was good enough.
NYC was a blast. A blast of heart fluttering moments.
xx
Holly
That totally sounded like your whistle to me. I sat on an airplane next to Orville Redenbacher once. He was in his little suit and bow tie. I fell asleep during the flight and when I woke up I had a yellow sticker on my sleeve that said, "I met Orville Redenbacher!"
Karen
Are you kidding!? THAT's HILARIOUS. Love the sticker. ~ k
Susan
I have had a few opportunities to meet some very famous people and so not as famous ones. As I read these comments I realized it has been quite a few. I was in Toronto airport once and being the ditz that I am tried to go down an up escalator. Dan Hill was coming up ... That's how I know it was the up one...of course I ran smack into him! My daughter was horrified! I have met Burt Reynolds, Renee Zeilwegger, Paul Giomato, Richard Gere, Hilary Swank, Chris Potter, just to name a few thru the vintage cars that we use on the movie sets. I had my 50th birthday brunch with Don Cherry...his birthday is close to mine and we both ate at the same place and got talking and ended up getting pictures together... I will talk to anybody. Then 2 years ago I was meeting friends for dinner in Yorkville in Toronto and had a bitch of a time parking my car because the Toronto Film Festival was on. Therefore i was late and racing along the sidewalk as much as one can race in 4 inch heels and came upon a huge crush of people blocking the sidewalk. Screw this I thought and went thru the barricades that somebody had put right in the middle of the sidewalk! I was dressed to kill and everybody started taking my picture and shouting and I looked around to see what the commotion was all about and ran right into one of the Jonas Brothers who was coming out of the hotel that had the barricades up! I didnt have a clue who the Jonas brothers even were! That made me even later for dinner at Sassafras! Got there and then couldn't get in because George Clooney and Matt Damion were having dinner upstairs and there was such a crush of people at the front! Sadly I never got to eat or even see them because they had a private room but I am convinced George would have thrown sticks at that Italian model and sure wouldn't have taken on the wrestler if he had ever seen me that night! Convinced!! :-)
Caroline
*oops - that should say sing!
Caroline
Oh, and how could I forget, my hubs and I took the kids to see Teenage Head the summer that Frankie died and he A. asked my daughter and her girlfriend "wanna go f@$#?" B. let my husband and I sign with him and C. when we met him after the show and we told him our son (12 years old)played the bass he put his arm around him and said "Nice to meet you you little f*&$er! You should drop out of school and be a rock star it's f*&%ing awesome!" It was a memorable night to say the least!!
Caroline
A few years ago the Dalai Lama and his entourage walked by us at the airport in Miami. He looked very smiley and sweet!
But my favourite brush with fame is that as a child I met (several times) my aunts brother Guy Sanche who was Bobino from the very popular french kids show Bobino et Bobinette which ran from the late 50's to mid 80's. Kinda like hanging out with Mr. Dressup and Casey! AND I had my own autographed poster hanging on my bedroom wall - i was the envy of all my friends!
Dominique
Bobino! My dad went to school with him in Hull, Qc!
I met him once and I still remember!:-D
Violet
OMG, I LOVE IAN ASTBURY!!! So, what ... after all that, Ian and your friend never got married???
It's surprising how many celebrities I've managed to meet (for not even trying), some that I won't mention because I'm actually friends with them now and don't want them to come across this if they Google their names (LOL!). I accidentally met Jackie Chan once (really sweet guy, warm and friendly). I was once eating lunch in L.A. when members of Van Halen sat at the table next to me and ragged on David Lee Roth the entire time (of course I was eavesdropping, who wouldn't?). And there was the time I was in line at the grocery store behind Kurtwood Smith (who played the father, "Red," on That '70s Show. That was particularly amusing, because I was staring at him, not because he was famous, but because I was thinking, "Where do I know that guy from?" and he was staring back at me like, "Yeah, you know me" so we were just standing there, staring at each other like idiots, not saying a word. And when I realised what I knew him from, I didn't say anything because I knew the character's name, but couldn't remember HIS name to save my life, and I know it bothers a lot of actors when people call them by their characters' names instead of their real names, and I didn't want to be THAT girl. Oh, and I was also in line behind Danny Glover in the market (I knew he lived around here, but I was living here for nearly 20 years before seeing him), but I didn't say anything to him because a lot of people were calling out to him and it was clear he just wanted to get his groceries and go. Very quiet unassuming guy.
But I think my most unusual brush is one that very few people in the world got to experience: I spent a day with Gilligan, the Skipper too, the millionaire and his wife, the movie star, the professer, and Mary Ann, all on Gilligan's Isle. I was really young at the time and I watched Gilligan's Island every week. My mom wrote a letter to the network, telling them it was my favorite show and I never missed it, and we got a personal invitation from creator Sherwood Schwartz to come down the studio and hang out on a rehearsal day. We were there the day they were rehearsing the episode with the giant spider in the cave, so I got to meet the exceptionally charming Frenchman who was in the spider costume, too. Anyway, the whole thing was intimate, because there was no crew or other people around at all — just me, my parents, and the cast. Because I was small and very shy, the cast completely doted on me, treating me like a princess. But what I remember most is wanting to swim in the lagoon really badly. It was a giant tank on a soundstage (the soundstage doesn't exist any more, it's a parking lot now), so it was actually kind of traumatic to have the fantasy that they were on an actual ISLAND dashed, but still, I loved swimming more than just about anything in the world and I wanted to go in that water because it was really just a gigantic pool in a big glass tank with a wave machine and fake sand and palm trees around the edge. The cast assured me I did NOT want to go in, because the water was freezing cold, but I stood there with my nose pressed against the tank, looking in at the water longingly.
Something ironic is that now, years later, I'm friends with the Skipper's grandaughter, who I did not know was the Skipper's grandaughter at first. When I found out, I said, "Guess what, I spent a day on Gilligan's Island with your granddad!" and she got really excited and wanted to hear all about it, because by the time she was born the show had long ended and the soundstage was no more.
Oops, sorry for sucking up all this space! Your Ian story got me a little too excited.
Rosie
Mr. fabulous himself: Johnny Depp. It wasn't *that* kind of encounter, but I'd like to address the last question and say that our meeting did not end in a yeast infection!
Centi
The Cult? I'm so impressed. I really am.
I believe that I once was standing beside Andrew Eldritch at a rock concert. That was because my friend who was with me found this guy next to her spooky and switched places with me. Nice girl. And the spooky guy was Andrew Eldritch. At least that's what I believe. ;)
Gayla T
My husband used to travel a lot with Armco Steel and I went with him a lot just so I could remember what his face looked like, he was gone that much. We were staying in a hotel in Des Moines Iowa at Thanksgiving and the weather was so bad we decided we couldn't get home and back in time for an important meeting he HAD to attend. Our son was a toddler and was with us. Johnny Cash show was in town so we got tickets and attended and went back to the hotel and found out that they were all staying there, too. They couldn't or wouldn't leave either because of the blizzard so when we went to eat there in the hotel they were all there eating and doing a lot of drinking. The Carters were there and of course the entire band and there were not a lot of people there so they just kind of pulled everyone into the group and played guitars and sang and talked to everyone. I went to my room and got my program from the night before so I have all their autographs and memories that don't even seem real. I had been really sad that we weren't going to get home to our family dinner and it turned out to be the best Thanksgiving of my life. I have no memory of the one before and after that I did spend with my family but I will never forget that one we spent in Iowa. The party went on from about 1 pm when we went to eat and ended in the middle of the night. I was pregnant with my daughter and they helped us pick out a name for both a boy or a girl and some of the suggestions were hilarious. June Carter told me if it was a girl and we named it after her or her mama she would send her a guitar. I wish now that we had done it but we named her after our mothers. I can't begin to tell all that was talked about that night but they were like family and like we had always known them. Sadly, we didn't even own a camara in those days. I'd give anything for pictures. I'm not sure some of our family and friends believed us when we told them about it but some of the funny stuff written on the program pretty well verifies it. My husband died a couple of years later so it is one of the highlights of our short life together. I'm getting pretty teary remembering it. We also saw a beach movie being made in California about a month after we married but didn't get to meet anyone.
Nicole le Strange
I've worked with many 'slebs through my jobs in theatre (as in people acting on stage....not theatre as in cinema auditoria!) and PR, so I'm generally not at all fazed by meeting famous people.**
Having said that, I used to do a bit of photographic modelling too, and one 'tog I worked for, who was a well known rock'n'roll photographer, received a sponsorship from Mobil Oil to do a photographic tour of the US, based on the Chuck Berry song, Promised Land. At the end of the tour, he gave a lecture at a university in Philadelphia (I think) about his work, and Chuck Berry was there (not least because he and Gus had been friends for years).
Part of the set dressing was a pair of 20ft high posters of me on either side of the stage! After the lecture, Chuck and Gus were chatting, and Chuck asked for one of the posters of me! Ha ha ha! So while I have never actually met him, I do think it's quite fun that Chuck Berry has a poster of *me* (the uni kept the other one apparently)!
~~~
**Last Friday, I was on the step directly behind Matt Smith (the current Doctor Who) on the escalator at Euston station (London). To be 'absolutely certain' it was him (heheh), I surreptitiously stood right next to him on the concourse while he checked the train times (pretty sure we got the same train actually - his mum lives around the corner to me!)! I was inwardly squeeing like a teenage fangirl!
AmieM
I would have cried, on the inside. Matt Smith is awesome. And handsome. I know I would have whimpered something totally uncool like, can I be your companion? And then he would call the police.
Sebrah
I went to an after race party for F1 in Monaco.
I booked it for my husbands 30th birthday. We had an imaginary light sabre fight behind George Lucas, I peed in the toilet next to Naomi Campbell, danced next to Rod Stewart and Penny, chatted to Jenson Button and Danni Minogue at the bar and squeezed through the crowd of other F1 and English football/tv celebs. Perhaps we'll do it again for his 40th :-)
ashton
I wish I had had a brush with a celebrity, but I have to live vicariously through my family: my mom grew up with Maya Angelou as her neighbor (this is after she was famous - I think it was in the 1970s). Maya and my Grandma used to get together for tea :)
And my brother is friends with Nick Diaz of wrestling fame - they met through a bicycling club of all things
Karen
Having a granny friends with Maya Angelou. That's pretty good. ~ k!
Nicole
the closest I've come to an encounter with a celebrity is when my sister and I got to go up on the (empty, abandoned) stage after the New Kids on the Block Christmas concert. somewhere, I have a zippy bag full of the white shredded plastic they used as snow.
growing up in Irving, TX, I met countless Dallas Cowboys, which only count as celebrities if you're a) from Texas or 2) a football fan. Troy Aikman tips for shit.
Karen, I don't get the accosting celebrities when they pee thing. Eminem has talked about that in songs, and I'm always SO confused. I love me some Eminem. I don't want to hear him pee. Call me crazy.
Antonia
Not really a "celebrity", but back in the 80's when I was a young girl I got to shake hands with Princess Diana when she and Prince Charles visited Newfoundland! Great moment for me!
magali
that is awesome! I actually think that's more exciting than any of the others!
Danielle M.
Um, heck YEAH, Princess Diana is a celebrity! That is quite fantastic!
coralie
Well, dang girl. You just stole my story, which is exactly the same as yours except it took place in Prince George, BC, not Newfoundland. But I bet it was on the same trip.