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.
Jeremy Bernatchez
You mean aside from meeting & working with you, Karen? ;)
Well, as you know, working in this industry has its perks sometimes, and while working at TIFF while the news junkets are going on, I 'met' one of my fav actors... Anthony Hopkins. I was just a PA at the time, but he'd gotten locked out of the room he was in, so I'd called on the walkie for someone with the key for him. He said "don't worry about it", and went on eating his pistachios. So ridiculously laid back :)
My buddy Al had an even better experience with him, while setting up lighting in one of the rooms.. He was the only guy in there when Sir Anthony walked in, who then introduced himself to Al: "Hi, I'm Tony".
Al also unintentionally got Gweneth Paltrow hooked on TimBits that year ;)
Karen
Jeremy - Gweneth eats timbits? I had no idea titbits were macrobiotic. :) ~ karen
JessRexx
In my early 20's I used to work for a well know non-profit in VA that runs some provocative campaigns and has some serious celebrity support. Every morning I would go outside with some friends to smoke and we would do stupid dance routines and shout pick up lines to the Coast Guard boys across the river. One morning on our way back into the office I shared an elevator ride with Kevin Nealon who got to hear the entire profanity laded re-cap. He was wearing a hat down low over his face so we didn't realize who he was until I almost spilled a cup of coffee on him several hours later.
Also, several years after that I was working in a housewares store in a little town in GA when I crouched down on the floor to open a coffee maker for Kim Basinger and the crotch seam in my jeans totally ripped. Her eyebrows raised up over her huge sunglasses but other then that she didn't acknowledge my embarrassment.
lauren
On a plane once, I was waiting in the aisle of 1st class to get to my (coach) seat as we were boarding. I was bored and looked down at what the guy sitting next to me was reading... My train of thought went like "That looks like a script, that's weird. Oh, weird, it's stamped with 'JOHN MALKOVICH' on every page.... Ohhhhh, I'm standing 3 inches from John Malkovich!" Didn't bother him though, I'm sure it gets annoying as hell to be harassed everywhere you go.
Meg
I worked for an airline in Memphis, TN and got to meet Issac Hayes before he passed-- it was truly amazing, he was the NICEST guy! I also had several run ins with Chris Parnell who was not only as hilarious in real life as he is on TV, but very very kind and actually recognized me out of context!
Julie shinnick
Not many celebs that you guys would know here in South Australia, but have had a rather creepy moment.
My sis in law's brother is a very famous sportsman/now surgeon here in Adelaide. A very nice guy and has a lovely family. An aquaintance who barely speaks to me found out that I knew this 'famous' person (stalking me on facebook) and gushed on about how hot he was etc etc. I reminded her that he is a great surgeon, had a very lovely wife and four young daughters, but she kept on about 'how she'd do that' given the opportunity....ewwwwww..... creepy awful woman!
She probably HAS had a yeast infection! lol
Anemone
Karen...I forgot to ask you...Would you please be my first celebrity brush? Thank you.
Karen
Anemone - I'm not really sure what that means, but as long as I don't have to sign your boob, I'm fine with it. ~ karen
Olivia
This is my first comment ever, hello from Switzerland!
Almost two years ago i helped an american order a meal (noodles with prawns) at the airport in Hamburg. I then looked at him - and asked him if he really was Bobby Mc Ferrin. It was him, and we talked for a bit but then my boyfriend joined us and Mr. Mc Ferrin didn't feel like talking any more and took his noodles to the vip-lounge.
I know he's not that famous, but i really think he's brilliant.
Karen
Hello Switzerland! :) ~ karen
BGrigg
Oh, and I played in a Pro-Am golf tourney with Alice Cooper, who was introduced to me as Vincent Furnier and it took me five holes to figure out where I had seen him before.
And finally, I used to hit on Diana Krall when she was in her late teens and beginning to play piano in restaurants and lounges in Nanaimo.
BGrigg
I've had dinner with John Wayne and Glenn Ford, lunch with Sarah MacLachlan, beer with J.J. Cale, Long John Baldry and Jim Byrnes, smoked a doobie with Shari Ulrich and Valdy, and was at the same party as Cheech Marin, though at the time he was just a draft dodger. I got to meet, and my son played guitar in a band with, Darby Mills last year. Matter of fact, he will be on stage with her tonight in Kelowna!
Wendy @HerBallistic Garden
I've lived vicariously through my friend Maureen who owned Grant Avenue Studios with her ex for years in Hamilton...the stories she has would blow you away! I've told her to start blogging about those stories...she was good friends with Daniel Lanois, and personally knew Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Bono...on and on like crazy! It's funny...I live in a wee village of population 50 or something and the guy across the road was a roadie for years and has tons of stories and Maureen is next door with all her own stories. I love listening to them. Can't believe you knew the Cult...loved them in the 80's! xo
Wendy @HerBallistic Garden
Oh ps...I think I met Carol Burnett on a train when I was 12! hahaha!
Karen
Wendy - I'm familiar with Grant Avenue. I've been there. :) Anyone who lives in the area and ever had anything to do with music knows about it/has been there. Ditto for Daniel Lanois. A good friend of mine worked as his handyman/personal assistant/roadie type guy for years. As a result I ended up wrapping all the presents Daniel Lanois' was giving out for Christmas one year. That was very strange. Years later I interviewed him and mentioned it. He had no recollection. :) ~ karen
Anemone
Wow...very nice, interesting stories. You guys are amazing and very lucky. I hope to meet a celebrity one day. Like Ellen Degeneres. I really wanna meet Ellen. OMG. A lot of the stories were in the 80's. wow. I was born 91...gosh...i missed out... back then sounds like such a blast. I guess it used to be fun.
Dani @ Lifeovereasy
When I was in my 2os I had an audience with the Dalai Lama. I was backpacking in the Himalayas and stayed for a while in the town where he has his government in exile. He would occasionally take time out of his busy life to meet travelers, "nobodies" like me, and so I requested an audience. When I got word that he would see me, I was in the middle of washing myself with water that had been stored in a gas can because of a water shortage. So I ended up meeting him all wet and smelling of gasoline. He was gracious and cheerful, and gave me a blessing. He has an incredibly peaceful energy. I was pretty awestruck, and humbled.
Vanessa
Oh yeah, and I met John Stamos (Uncle Jessie from Full House) about a year ago. I was in a music program at my school last year, and his nephew was a friend of mine, and so I got to meet him. That was pretty cool.
Vanessa
Well Switchfoot played at the U.S. Open of Surfing in my hometown of Huntington Beach about 2 years ago. Back then I was a HUGE fan and knew all the guys in the band and way more about each of them than is probably healthy. And of course, I was madly in love with the singer, Jon Foreman. Before the show, I was just walking around checking out the booths and stuff and I saw him walking around too! I got to hug him which made me very happy, but unfortunately I was too starstruck to make any good small talk, and so we never got beyond him asking my name and how I'm doing. Oh well.
Tonia
We were in the club lounge at LaGuardia a few days after Christmas when Whitney Houston, her daughter, and what I assume to be other family members came in. I didn't talk to her. You could see people whispering to one another as they recognized her, but everybody mostly left them alone. She seemed very nice and I saw her initiate conversations with some of the people sitting around them. It freaked me out a little when I heard that she died last week. I had commented to my husband that she looked really good compared to all the pictures that used to be in the tabloids about her.
We've also run into a couple of Atlanta Braves players at restaurants around town. I wouldn't have recognized any of them, but my husband is a huge baseball fan and pointed them out to me.
Kristin
Rick Springfield stood on MY chair at one of his concerts... he works the crowd! This was just a few years ago, and I was a fan from way back when I was just a bitty kid.
I had been holding up my folding chair WAA-AY back on the lawn, for a super long time. The roadies picked *me*! I got to hold him up while he played "Christina," (my name's Kristin)... I just held onto his ribs (he's ripped, btw) while some other freak grabbed his ass. Star of many fantasies that summer... I'm such a dork!
Lani
I know rock stars are fun, but honestly now, learning how to make a more perfect salad or stop a dripping faucet with yarn rocks my world. That's totally fun. Would rock stars be so amused at the awesomeness of the mundane?
Karen
Yes! They are. :). - karen
Jo
I peed in Rembrandt's house in Amsterdam. However, i think the bathroom was probably installed since he died.
Caroline B
Jo from "Facts of Life" lives in our town and picks up her kids at school every day. I had no idea who she was until I saw moms asking her for her autograph. Dennis Quaid came to hit balls at our driving range and I didn't know him either until our attendant said "have a good evening Mr. Quaid". And then this last October I was sitting at our high school football game and jabbering with my friend and her new tenant and never realized it was country/western singer......crap......I forgot his name again. It was one of those three named guys. Not Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jerry Jeff Walker or Ray Wylie Hubbard but something country like that. He is very handsome and I guess hasn't performed so much anymore because he has MS. What the heck is his name? Oh well, give me 30 minutes and I'll think of it.....maybe. I worked for Ray Wylie Hubbard for awhile too. His wife is a friend of mine.
Ellen
This might not mean much to most people, but I've got a picture of myself with Rocket Richard's arm around me!! pretty cool to a hockey fan..... also, once I had lunch at a table with Robert Thurmann (author, & Uma"s dad)... and when I was a craftsperson Eliot Gould bought some of my work to send to the daughter he had with Barbra Streisand, tho I didn't get to meet him....
No diseases caught at any of them tho....