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.
kelliblue
SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. IAN ASTBURY????????? OMG I was a RAVING fan back in the 80s--the Cult was one of THE defining elements of my 20s, and a big part of my new life on my own in Dallas (i mean, come on, who hasn't heard 'She Sells Santuary' 5,000 times???) And yes, his hair was DEE-VINE! OK, that's it, you are now officially my all time favorite blogger. EVAH. :)
Toward the end of the 80s I was the receptionist at a local 'new wave' Dallas radio station...where I got to meet The Smithereens, Peter Murphy (LOVE!), and the Ramones! (Joey Ramone? SCARY) And went to lots of great concerts for FREE! :)
Then around 1990, I dated the manager of the Improv comedy club here in Dallas. It was a very heady year. Through him, I got to meet *and hang out with* the following up and coming comedians (let alone future STARS): George Wallace; Andy Kindler; the fabulous--and gone WAY too soon--Bill Hicks; Jeff Foxworthy, and...*drumroll* Ellen Degeneres and Jerry Seinfeld!!! :-D Ellen was an absolute scream, and Jerry was very 'Jerry' and is much more slight in person, very slim, and not very tall. Seriously one of the most amazing, fun, intense years of my life.
Yeah, I used to be fun too. Now it seems I've gotten old and morphed into just another crazy cat lady. Boo. :(
Auntiepatch
James Franciscus was a friend of a family who lived 1/2 block away from us. My sister & I had the measles when he stopped to fisit our friends so we thought we would miss meeting him. When he found out that we were fans & had the measles, he walked down to our house with my mom and spent about 1 hour talking to us. What a class act! And handsome, too!
Susan
Let's see...Michael Jackson and the entire Jackson 5 (Michael was about 3' tall at the time), Victor Borge, R Buckminster Fuller, Tom Selleck (he almost ran me over), Larry Manetti (different place, different time than Selleck), Jack Lord (the pancake makeup that man wore in public had to have been shoveled on), Booga Booga (James Grant Benton, Ed Kaahea and Rap Replinger), Credence Clearwater Revival, to name a few, plus some others whose names escape me at the moment. Someone van Patten, I think. I mentioned the Hawaiian ones for Cindy. No yeast infections.
Linda
Wow, I've actually met more people than I realised. I used to hang out with Kurt Cobain when I was a teen in the Seattle area (I met Courtney Love too. Not impressed by her). In later years I met Rob Zombie and all the guys from Anthrax, Ozzy Ozbourne, in 1999 I went to some 'fest' and met everyone from Poison (CeeCee Deville gave me his hotel key and told me to 'come by and party'), Ratt, Great White and LA Guns. Later while living in Venice Beach, I ran into Tommy Lee at a cafe on the boardwalk. And most recently, Marilyn Manson. I've since gotten married and started a family so I don't really spend much (any) time in the music scene anymore, but I have my memories!
Vanessa
Oh my goodness you met everyone in Anthrax?! I am SO jealous!!! Apparently my neighbor's daughter used to date Joey Belladonna, but I was so young at the time that I had never heard of Anthrax yet.
jennifer
eeww! How fun to read all of these! I used to work at the front desk of a fancy hotel in San Jose, Ca. so I checked out a few celebs! Peter Frampton (i saved his room service check!) He was small and didn't have much of his hair left. He was a little angry over the fact that I let his hairdresser (for the little hair he had left i guess) into his room while he wasn't there. heh. ooops. He was a dick. But I would be too. I had him sign my Frampton Comes Alive album. I chatted up James Brolin once and fondled his amercian express card probably a bit too long. Ted Nugent was a really sweet guy. Cute too! Barbara Eden was friendly and super gorgeous! And I grew up with Brian Boitano! He lived just down the street from me. He signed my yearbook a few times. To Jennifer, Have a fun summer. Brian B.
christine hilton
Sorry,I meant Iggy as in Iggy Pop.There was also the time in Toronto airport I saw two handsome and what I thought were gay men because they had matching luggage.When I looked closer I realized it was Ricky and Julian,the Trailer Park boys.They were lovely and I had my picture taken with them.Ricky is pretty hunky without his "jelly roll".
Karen
Christine - I didn't even realize you didn't mention "Pop". I knew who you meant. There aren't a lot of Iggy's around. :) Love Iggy. ~ karen
Mary Jane
In the late 80'S my husband and I were travelling in Australia and went to stay on a small island on the Great Barrier Reef. It was the most memorable part of our four month tour, not because Herbie Hancock and his family were staying there, but because of the giant sea turtles that would come in at night and lay their eggs. That's as close as I've ever gotten to a celebrity or a giant sea turtle.
Kathy
John Voigt asked me directions at a Zoo in Colorado Springs once.
I saw David Hasselhoff getting dragged out of a bar in Vegas.
I also saw that creepy looking country singer who is always on American Idol in Vegas. Travis something? I don't know
Nancy
Davy Jones of The Monkees lives a few miles down the road from me in Beavertown Pa..look him up on Facebook..he talks about Beavertown a lot..Yes I have met him at a yard sale he was having..he has been here a long time so he's kinda a regular guy here now..I don't like to bother celebrities but if I ever met you Karen..I would have to say hi..But I really don't want to hear you pee...or get yeast infection..
Heather
Davy Jones died this morning. So sad. I saw him in concert a few years ago with a bunch of my siblings. We had so much fun!
Ellen
I was on the same plane as Dennis Quaid a few years back on a flight from LA to Dallas. He was seated in first class next to his wife, I passed by him as I made my way back to coach and I tried not to stare. He was definitely trying to avoid making eye contact with anyone.
christine hilton
There is nothing sadder than a rock star struggling to put sun tan lotion on his back so I did the Christian thing when I saw poor Iggy trying on Grand Cayman beach.He is ripped! Not bad looking either which came as kind of a shock.The man does not photograph well!
Vere
I forgot I met Salma Hayek when she wasn't all that famous, she was a mexican soap opera star, I met her at a disco and she was with a boxer named Julio Cesar Chavez, she is really short!! and swears like a sailor and drinks like one, too
Virginia B.
I used to work at the Tucson Mall in the late 1980s and we used to get a lot of celebs through the mall. I didn't personally have any encounters with any really big names (I worked in a small niche furniture store - not a fancy clothes & jewelry counter) but I did once sell a toy to one of Bonnie Raitt's back up singers and I worked for a while with Sonny Bono's neice (she said he was a jerk.) I also had a friend who sold clothes regularly to Louis Gosset Jr., a friend who sold shoes to Barbara Bach (Ringo often came with her) and another friend who *almost* sold a bed to Steve Tyler.
Working in retail really kind of diffuses that whole "star-struck" silliness phenomenon. You have to treat all customers with equal respect and interacting about something as personal as shoes or dress shirts creates an atmosphere where the celebrity shows their true colors as either a raging diva or a decent, reasonable person just like the rest of us. (Turns out that all of the above mentioned people were just decent, reasonable people - no raging diva stories from my fellow retail working friends. I suspect that the raging divas were all shopping in more exclusive venues.)
Jan
MANY years ago, in the late 50's, we lived for a couple of years in LA. Andy Devine from old western movies used to visit his son who lived in the same apartment complex we did. I probably didn't really know who he was since I was about 6 yrs old. But I remember he was very nice. One time I was hanging around while he helped his son push a motorcycle side car out of the garage. It ran over my foot and really hurt!
Agnes
My boyfriend's step dad went to school with John Lennon...but he says John was just a commoner then :p
The Visual Vamp
I've had my fair share. Of celeb encounters. No infections of any kind. Great post. Keep on clapping. And whistling.
xo xo
donna
Karen, wow! That is just great for you. I love adventure and have certainly had my share of it. I met Ozzie Osborne with Black Sabbath in Cincinnati, OH. He was freaky back then. In Minnesota, I met Shania Twain at the mall of america before she became a big star. She was so sweet and kind. Beautiful young woman. I also accidentally went to a party with Johnny Bench (catcher for Cincinnati Reds) and what a party it was. He was really quite the entertainer. My best friend and I went on many treks across the US to see new faces, spaces and places. I love those serindipodious moments in life. I ran into Burt Reynolds in Tampa, Florida at Malios where he met his wife after Lonnie. Pam was a waitress there. The very best moment was getting to meet in person, Rod Stewart and the Doobie Brothers while in concert in Tampa, Fl.
I really applaud your sense of wonder, curiosity and adventure. These are great things to have to keep yourself entertained and gaining knowlege. You rock, woman. Oh yeah, I also had a cousin who dated Liberace. Wow, now he was out there. Great entertainer and very lavish. Thanks for your post.
gloria
I can't believe I'm reading all these comments. Tells you something about my life--which USED to be FUN.
But I just thought of another one. Sort of a "celebrity by proxy" deal, or "through the bloodlines" maybe. My grandmother grew up with and dated Red Skeltons brother. They all hung out together in their Vincennes, IN. neighborhood, back in the day. GranGran, why the heck couldn't you have married the guy? I suppose if she had, I never would have grown up in the same neighborhood as Hulk Hogan.
Life is like that, I guess. You get what you get.
Love the Orville Redenbacher sticker comment.
Wendy
I go beet red and get all tongue-tied no matter how major or minor the celebrity. When I worked at Toys R Us as a teenager, the lead singer of Honeymoon Suite came through my cash with a friend - don't remember what he bought, but I remember that even though I wasn't a fan of the band, I was still star struck. All I can remember saying to his friend was, "Is that...?" and his friend just nodded his head. And about 4 years ago, I was organizing an event at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa and was walking through the lobby when there was a big commotion in front of me. This woman and her little girl stopped to talk to an old man...who it turns out was Tony Bennett! I was amazed by how small he was but being Canadian, I didn't ask for his autograph.
Chrissy
When I lived in Fort Lauderdale, my girlfriends and I went out for drinks after work one day. A few drinks into our evening, a guy sits down next to me at the bar. He orders a plate of pasta from the waitress and asks if the owner is around. (He wasn't.) My friend keeps insisting this guy is Eric Clapton, but I wouldn't let her reach around me to ask.
So, this poor man spent his meal listening to me and my drunken friends giggle and quietly sing every Clapton song we could think of. I really didn't think it was him, but I finally let my friend ask him… and he denied it. After he left, the waitress told us it was, in fact, Eric Clapton, and that he was friends with the restaurant owner. I would totally deny it too if some drunk chicks were butchering my songs.