Unexpected encounters with celebrities

And the Prince of Wales. My dad took me to Ottawa, Canada on a business trip about 18 years ago, and on a day off he took me to the National Gallery of Canada. Apparently he was visiting on the same day and greeting the throngs. I shook his hand. He was impeccably dressed and very gracious.

Originally Posted by FLMountainMan

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Sold Brad Pitt a first edition of On the Road at a book fair in Miami.

In high school (after seeing fight club) I wanted to see him and say something stupid like "nice to see you again Mr. Durden." I am pretty sure he would have kicked ******, but it was always something i wanted to do.

My sightings involve only minor "celebs":

1) Playing pick-up basketball at Arizona State in 1979, I watched Lafayette Lever, future NBA All-Star, and his teammate Johnny Nash race up and down the court. They were in a completely different league (no pun intended) and I didn't dare try to get into the game.

2) Same summer, a 5'5" acquaintance came over to sit with me at lunch and brought along her friend Alton Lister, a 7' future center for the Milwaukee Bucks. Both were very nice, but they made an interesting couple.

3) A decade later, playing pick-up b-ball with athletic department faculty at the U of Houston, one of their alums joined the game. I don't remember the name, but he had been a starter on their national championship team and at the time, was 12th man on the LA Clippers, the worst team in the NBA. Only once did he really dial it up. Usually he went about 1/3 speed and still did whatever he wanted. His wife made us look silly.

4) Went to high school with a starting linebacker for the 49ers during their championship years. He was a solid player, though not really a celebrity, I suppose. He was a very smart guy in high school, but someone to avoid on game day when he was getting "psyched up".

5) Heard Linus Pauling speak and later met him. I've met several other Nobel Prize-winning scientists who don't really count as celebrities.

I guess I've led a sheltered life. Are they really celebs if I need to explain who they are?

Played a gig for Amiri Baraka about 10 years ago. I was sitting by myself outside afterwards and he came up and said "Thank you my brother..." pretty cool for a whitey like me...


I was at the movies at some cool movie theater on Sunset in LA a while back and saw some Appreciation stars (recognized them from one of those HBO Real Sex shows) at some sushi restaraunt. I didn't a double take because I couldn't figure out where I had seem them before...don't know who they were though.

Saw Dennis Franz in Santa Barbara as well, a couple years back. He was walking with a younger lady.

All tapped out.

Originally Posted by thinman

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My sightings involve only minor "celebs":

1) Playing pick-up basketball at Arizona State in 1979, I watched Lafayette Lever, future NBA All-Star, and his teammate Johnny Nash race up and down the court. They were in a completely different league (no pun intended) and I didn't dare try to get into the game.

3) A decade later, playing pick-up b-ball with athletic department faculty at the U of Houston, one of their alums joined the game. I don't remember the name, but he had been a starter on their national championship team and at the time, was 12th man on the LA Clippers, the worst team in the NBA. Only once did he really dial it up. Usually he went about 1/3 speed and still did whatever he wanted. His wife made us look silly.

That's something I noticed immediately - the gap between high school and college and the NBA is huge. I was pretty good in high school, played on a crappy college team, but still have been completely owned by NBA "scrubs". It's not even close. A 6'8" high school center will get completely owned by an NBA scrub who is the same height and weight but twice as fast, with a much better shot, skill set, handle, etc. It's crazy. What Lebron and others have done amazes me.

Originally Posted by millionaire75

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Out of curiousity, were they super skinny? The soccer players I have seen have been tiny.

They looked fit and 'normal' to me (Nesta was on the tall side).

Originally Posted by FLMountainMan

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That's something I noticed immediately - the gap between high school and college and the NBA is huge. I was pretty good in high school, played on a crappy college team, but still have been completely owned by NBA "scrubs". It's not even close. A 6'8" high school center will get completely owned by an NBA scrub who is the same height and weight but twice as fast, with a much better shot, skill set, handle, etc. It's crazy. What Lebron and others have done amazes me.
Yeah, Michael Young is the name (I googled Phi Slama Jama). He's "only" 6'6", but routinely took rebounds above the rim, drained 3-pointers at will, and outran everyone on the break, while dribbling. And he didn't even break a sweat. His wife was also quite a 3-point shooter. I sat courtside several times for Houston Rockets games in those days and got a close-up view of Hakeem and others, but even that is different from actually being on the same court. I can't even imagine what Lebron's and MJ's skills must be like. It's beautiful to watch. I just marvel at the gifts they have and the work they must have invested to develop them.

Originally Posted by SoCal2NYC

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Addition: Karen from The Office (with the red head chick that sold purses) at Nobu a month or so ago. Though I'm suprised I remember that. I guess most people can only recall something that happened within a weeks time and not within the past few months or few years.

I'd get really excited if I met Dwight Shrute (not Rainn Wilson)

That red head chick that sold purses is actually a talented actress named Amy Adams.

Haven't encountered too many celebs but here are a few:

1. Walked right by Rob Lowe and Dennis Miller at a casino in Vegas.
2. Sat a few chairs down from Patrick Swayze and his mullet at a club (Shark Club?), also in Vegas.
3. Saw Dennis Quaid at the Santa Monica Promenade
4. Said hi to Cuba Gooding Jr. at Burbank airport
5. Saw James Brown at the Oakland Airport - his bodyguards wouldn't allow anyone to come near him.
6. Met Tim Brown and Steve Beurlein during my time at ND
7. Shook hands with Corazon Aquino (former prez of the Philippines) at the World's Fair in Seville

Originally Posted by robbie

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In high school (after seeing fight club) I wanted to see him and say something stupid like "nice to see you again Mr. Durden." I am pretty sure he would have kicked ******, but it was always something i wanted to do.

Only indirectly related information but Ed Norton has reported that people still occasionally call him "Sir" as they did in Fight Club. I'd like to think that Brad Pitt would have been cool with it. Better than being called out for Meet Joe Black.

Originally Posted by robbie

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In high school (after seeing fight club) I wanted to see him and say something stupid like "nice to see you again Mr. Durden." I am pretty sure he would have kicked ******, but it was always something i wanted to do.
I think he would kick your ass.

Ran into (almost literally) Australian Olympic swimmer Michael Klim when out Christmas shopping yesterday.

At our customer party this year, the guests were cricket legends Max Walker and Darren Leahman. Max and I had a good old chat - he was very flattered that I could quote from his first book, written almost 30 years ago.

Originally Posted by gdc_2008

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Played a gig for Amiri Baraka about 10 years ago. I was sitting by myself outside afterwards and he came up and said "Thank you my brother..." pretty cool for a whitey like me...


I was at the movies at some cool movie theater on Sunset in LA a while back and saw some Appreciation stars (recognized them from one of those HBO Real Sex shows) at some sushi restaraunt. I didn't a double take because I couldn't figure out where I had seem them before...don't know who they were though.

Saw Dennis Franz in Santa Barbara as well, a couple years back. He was walking with a younger lady.

All tapped out.

Just how many times did you watch the same HBO Real Sex show to recognize the Appreciation stars with their clothes on?

My only celebrity encounter/story is really lame. Anna Chlumsky (the girl from "My Girl" with Macauly Culkin) lived in the same dorm as me during my undergrad years, so I ran into her all the time.

Got a quick haircut during lunch at a barbershop in Tempe yesterday and found myself seated in the chair right next to Pedro Gomez from ESPN.