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aerius wrote: But some rock stars are cool, I was at a concert a few years back when Neil Young said "go ahead and download all our new songs off napster, it's not like we need the money".

Neil Young is cool.

Considering most artists make much more money from touring than from cd sales he was being a little generous with the record company's money.

Still, he's been around long enough that his contracts are probably good enough that he isn't getting fucked by the record company. At least not like many newer artists.

I literally bumped into Walter Koenig in a concession stand line at a convention. He immediately got this pained look, like he was afraid I'd go all Trekker on him, so I just said "excuse me" and walked away. I think he heard my wife ask "Was that Bester?"

Claudia Christian has offered me gummy bears before, and we had a nice chat.

I've exchanged insults with Harlan Ellison.

At the Comicon last year, a friend of mine bumped into Quentin Tarantino while on his way to a JMS autograph signing. He said that Quentin identified himself and asked him what he thought about Kill Bill (not yet in theaters) and if he was excited. My friend replied "Excuse me, I'm trying to get over there."

While I haven't had the luck some of you have had, I did get to meet Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt (when they were in that John Grisham movie shot down here in Memphis), and the woman that played Sarabi in The Lion King (her name escapes me atm). Tom Hanks is a really nice guy, both on and off the set. I got his autograph and we talked for a few minutes before he had to go back to get ready to do another shooting. Helen Hunt, on the other hand, is a real BITCH! When she was done filming, she flat out refused to sign autographs and she HAD to stay at the best room in the Peabody.

I met the woman that played Sarabi a few years back when our class went on a field trip, taking pictures for "web design". We stopped at the Peabody and on our way in, she was on her way out. I held the door open for her (didn't have a clue who she was at the time) and then the second she thanked me for hold the door open, I instantly recognized who she was. I didn't get a chance to have a conversation with her though.

Of all the celebs I've seen (including Royalty) I respected their individual rights and conversed with them as if I would any polite stranger. I most certainly don't go overboard and shout "OH MY GOD! LOOK WHO IT IS!" and hound them until they rush off.

My village had a local football superstar live there until recently (Duncan Ferguson if anyone's wondering) and I recall him giving footie tips when he walked by our primary school sometimes. Malcolm McDowell also lived outside my village and owned a pub there for a time with his family. I've seen the Queen in Preston as she opened it as a new city and I've met Prince Charles as his royal red Westland Wessex descended on my hiking group with the school.

There are other people, but I either forgot them or they weren't all that big. I'm not a person who cares for them in real life, but admire their works (I despise celebrity gossip mags).

I've only ever had two brushes with celebrity that I can recall.

Back in high school, my family took a trip to Sun Valley to see an ice skating show with some of the Olympic superstars of the time (don't recall who). Anyway, Jamie Lee Curtis was in the very small audience and I can attest to the fact that everyone pretty much treated her as just another member of the audience. At some point during the show, my mom asked me for a piece of my bubble gum, which I thought was unusual for her, but I gave it to her. Come to find out later that Ms. Curtis had asked one of her buds for a piece and that most of the audience had been looking for one for her.

The next one was while I was hiking here in California, a little place North of LA called the Grotto. I was looking at a huge boulder up close, being the geology major I am, and my friends were patiently waiting for me to move on. We heard a woman's voice on the other side ask us if there was any kind of big drop on our side. We gave her the all clear and she came over the top and said something to the effect of "It's okay, Linda, it's just a short drop." Her hiking partner turned out to be Linda Hamilton! This was around the time of her divorce from James Cameron. They ended up hiking the same trail as us, we joked a bit about the trail, and, without thinking, I pushed aside a tree branch and let go. Sure enough, *thwap*, "Ow!", I thwacked the T-800 killer with a tree branch. Glad she had a sense of humor about it.

I lived in Aspen for a few years, so I had a chance to meet and shake hands with a few celebs, and even went skiing with one once. I just treat them like normal people for the most part, none of the ones I've met seem to have any elitest attitude about being left alone by normal people.

There was one time though that I got caught completely by surprise with a celeb and said something stupid. I was doing a play in high school and the guy I shared the majority of the line with was a guy name Jessie Johnson. It was a small school with only 150 people, but he wasn't a very good friend of mine so I didn't know too much about him. Anyways, on the night of our opening, after the play had already gone on, some of the family members of the cast came back to the dressing rooms to congradulate us on our performance. I wasn't paying much attention to them until I saw an outstreched hand in front of me. I looked up and saw Don Johnson standing there saying "Good job out there". Instead of taking his hand I looked over at Jessie and said "Your dad is Don Johnson?". This caused quite a laugh and Jessie never stopped giving me a hard time about that.

I would prefer to leave them alone for the most part. Sometimes I just wonder what some celebs think about everyday stuff. But unless they elicit conversation with me, I'm inclined to leave them alone.

Last Celeb I ever saw was the creator of the Sim City series. He and his brother sat down in front of me at a Battle Bots event and were discussing strategy. I did't bug them at all, although when talking to my friend I did raise the volume of a my voice a bit. Just to see if he'd turn around. But since it was a noisy place I dont think it mattered.

Darth Wong wrote:The public should be as respectful of movie stars' privacy as the movie stars are of the public's copyright fair-use rights. In short, camp out at their houses and shine flashlights in their bedroom windows.

Hey, I want to be an actor. You wouldn't camp out on my lawn, would you?

The few times I have seen celebritiess in public, I tend to ignore them, as I would anyone else.

But when I meet them in a convention sense, when they're at the signing table I do go all fanboy.

Saw Dean Kamen at FIRST nationals, got autograph... He didn't appear to be inclined to talk with anyone, just sign stuff, wave, and smile (and ran over a teammate's foot with his Segway, without apologizing, hehe...). In fact, I don't think I've heard him say anything at all during the competition.

SF Authors are the main celebrities I'm used to meeting, and due to early exposure, I'm completely desensitised. The most I'll usually do is ask a couple questions that intrigue me about their universe, and that only if I'm rabidly obsessed with their work.

I did once inhale Garibaldis's funky Cigar smoke though.

Bob the Gunslinger wrote:I've exchanged insults with Harlan Ellison.

Yes, but everyone exchanges insults with Harlan Ellison.

As to myself, my girlfriend once asked Neil Gaiman to sign a copy of his bibliography to state that yes, he did infact exist. A teacher of hers refused to beleive he existed because she had printed out a copy of one of his articles from his website. He got this really funny look on his face. I've met a bunch of other sci-fi/fantasy authors, and that's about it for my celebs.

When I worked at Dairy Queen, my manager was a friend of the lead singer of Steppenwolfe, and he stopped by from time to time. After the fourth or fifth time, my manager told me who I was. The reaction was...entertaining, to say the least.

Other than that, there was a time when Ms. America came in to order ice cream. First off, my manager did not know she was Ms. America. Secondly, her limo driver parked on the grass, you do not do that at Dairy Queen. As soon as the, as my manager put it, 'make-up covered bitch' walked in, my manager asked, rather politely, if they could move the limo off the grass, as the dirt there is soft and it plays hell with the mower when cars leave big ruts. The stupid bitch decides that she doesn't have to take the orders of second-class people, and asks my manager if she knows who she (Ms. America) is, in a rather stuck up tone of voice.

My manager says no, and says that she really doesn't give a shit, her limo is on our grass. The bitch tells her that she's Ms. America, my manager replies with, 'Yeah, and I'm the queen of England, now get your damn car off of my grass'.

Well, eventually the bitch leaves, and some friends who were hanging out in the store at the time, jaws on the floor, inform my manager that it was, in fact, Ms. America, and my manager says she still doesn't give a shit, which cements her forever in my book as someone worth admiring.

-Damien

Oni Koneko Damien wrote:When I worked at Dairy Queen, my manager was a friend of the lead singer of Steppenwolfe, and he stopped by from time to time. After the fourth or fifth time, my manager told me who I was.

You didn't know?

Robert Walper wrote:You didn't know?

Fruedian slip aside, I still don't know. Anyone want to clue me in?

-Damien

Oni Koneko Damien wrote:

Robert Walper wrote:You didn't know?

Fruedian slip aside, I still don't know. Anyone want to clue me in?

-Damien

You didn't know you were the lead singerr of Steppenwolf.

Your statement appears that way which is what the highlight was of.

Oni Koneko Damien wrote:
My manager says no, and says that she really doesn't give a shit, her limo is on our grass. The bitch tells her that she's Ms. America, my manager replies with, 'Yeah, and I'm the queen of England, now get your damn car off of my grass'.

Well, eventually the bitch leaves, and some friends who were hanging out in the store at the time, jaws on the floor, inform my manager that it was, in fact, Ms. America, and my manager says she still doesn't give a shit, which cements her forever in my book as someone worth admiring.

-Damien

being ms. america isn't that big of a deal anyways, i woulda done the same thing. as i hold absolutely zero respect for beauty competitions.