I met Steve for lunch yesterday, and we exchanged Christmas gifts. Yes, on January 14. I gave him the first two seasons of LOST on DVD, and he presented me with a baseball autographed by Hank Aaron — the real home run king.
And that baseball completed the circle of life, or something very similar.
You see… We tried to get Aaron’s autograph thirty-five years ago (give or take), when he made an appearance at a minor league baseball game in Charleston. But the man was incredibly rude, and practically knocked us down to get away. Then he insulted a girl in a wheelchair, and smoked cigarettes on the roof of the press box.
And if you think I’m exaggerating that story, you’d be wrong. Hank Aaron is probably the most unfriendly celebrity I’ve ever met, followed closely by Willie Mays. Their appearances should’ve been billed as “An Evening of Crushing Disappointment With a Baseball Legend!” Incredible.
So, after nearly four decades I finally have my Hank Aaron closure. Thanks Steve!
And since we’re on the subject of celebrity rudeness, this is an in-depth examination of the current Jay Leno/Conan O’Brien cluster-copulation at NBC. It was written by Rudy Panucci — a guy I know from good ol’ Dunbar High School, (as well as my former Daily Mail paper route).
He mentions Leno’s supposed “worst gig ever,” at Michael B’s Deli in Charleston, back during the early 1980s. And I was at that show, if you can believe it. Bill from WV, another friend, and I saw him do his standard comedy routine that night, and it was very funny, I thought.
But between sets we approached Jay, sitting alone in a booth and staring off into space, and he wasn’t very friendly. I wouldn’t put it in the Hank Aaron category — he wasn’t openly hostile or anything — but the dude clearly had no interest in chit-chatting with us. So, we just walked away.
Then he went on Letterman and crapped all over Charleston, WV… I’d liked him (he was better before The Tonight Show, believe me), but after that Michael B’s experience, and the Letterman appearance, I was a little soured on the subject of Jay Leno. And so it goes.
Have you ever been disappointed, crushingly or otherwise, after meeting someone you admired? Tell us about it in the comments section, conveniently located at the bottom of this post.
Steve and I had lunch at Cracker Barrel yesterday, and it was fantastic. I went with the sampler, a big ol’ platter of goodness. My customized version included meatloaf, country ham (salty!), chicken ‘n’ dumplings, green beans, macaroni and cheese, and hashbrown casserole. Mmmm….
Then we puttered around Barnes & Noble for an hour or so, and contemplated a nearby sports bar, called Lucky’s. However (and this is scary!) some sort of responsible attitude kicked-in, and we decided we’d better not, so early in the day. Will somebody please hold me?
But that’s why there was no Thursday update. I was out getting all casseroled-up. And I hesitate to admit this, but I’d do it again!
A few days ago I was leaving for work, and dropped my iPod into an 18-inch snow pile beside our driveway. It sank all the way to the ground, and I shrieked like a school girl. My iPod!
I snagged the thing, nearly ripped the front door off its hinges, and started toweling it off in the kitchen. I removed my loyal Nano from its airplane-metal protective case, and frantically wiped the snow away, while muttering nervous profanities under my breath.
Everything seems OK, though. I used it the next couple of nights at work, and it never missed a beat. Whew! What would I do without my Phil Hendrie Show/Clive Bull delivery device? Oh god, I just had a full-body shiver.
I’m using two new (to me, anyway) computer tools, that seem pretty cool.
The first is called RescueTime, which analyzes your computer habits and breaks everything down for you in black & white. It helps you identify where you’re wasting too much time, so you can adjust and improve your productivity.
I don’t yet have my first report, it takes some time to get a handle on things, but I’m interested to see it. There’s much room for improvement, I know. I sometimes find myself in an internet cycle, just visiting the same sites over and over again, in roughly the same order. Freaky, man.
And the second one is called TwitCleaner. That one analyzes the people you’re following at Twitter, and identifies the ones you might want to drop — for various reasons. It puts the questionable folk into different categories: Try to sell you crap, nothing but links, tweeting identical stuff all the time, no activity in more than a month, etc.
Once you have your report, you can go through it and override the ones you’d like to continue following anyway, and hit the UNFOLLOW button for the rest.
I dumped 196 people, mostly from the “dodgy behavior” category. I kept a lot of folks identified as “snobs,” though. I think that might be an unfair category. They’re Twitter users who have a lot of followers, but don’t follow too many in return. I’m not sure they should be included on the report, but whatever.
What kind of similar tools have you used recently, that you can recommend? I’m always on high alert for such things.
And speaking of social networking, if you’re not already doing so, I hope you’ll consider following me at…
Thanks, folks!
I couldn’t sleep very well last night, for some unknown (and unusual) reason, and my brain is now howling in protest. I’m gonna have to call it a day. My eyes are starting to go crossed on me here.
If you have anything on celebrity disappointments, please tell us about it in the comments. And I’ll see you guys next time.
Have a great day!
Now playing in the bunker
The linked piece on the Conan/Leno bruhaha was right on target – more insightful than most other stuff I’ve been reading about it.
Celebrity encounters/observations:
Robert Fripp – pompous douche, after giving a half-assed performance. Openly insulting afterwards to an audience who had bought some pricey tickets
Mike Stern – great guitarist, really nice guy
Wynton Marsalis – was really close up at a show years ago. Seemed to despise being there, kept angrily flinging the slobber from the spit-valve of his trumpet. (to the floor, not at the audience)
Michael Stipe – Contrary to expectation, he was a very nice guy. Talked to him at a gallery where he was showing some of his “paintings” done on old snooker tables. This was a while ago – sometime in the “Reckoning” or “Fables” era.
This is right up the Surf Reporter Sense of Humor alley:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34881925/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/
Gretchen that would have made a good link for ‘Further Evidence’.
I’ve only lived in small towns…never met anyone even remotely famous. I did have a friend who was hitching home from Morgantown and was picked up by Don Knotts’ brother. Does that count?
@Fat Secretary Yeah, some crazy shit happened and I had to go private. Send me an email at bitchymcb@yahoo.com and I will send you an invite, but only if you stop lurking and comment, dammit!
Brushes with greatness- always fun.
Austen Willis – older gent played chess or cards with Goldfinger at the start of the movie… I painted his sister’s house….super nice guy….
Ok try this – a combo celebrity report and 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon? I once took a course in Boston taught by Kevin Bacon’s cousin… he seemed like a nice guy.
Alright then..boarded a plane with Turbo or Laser from American Gladiators.. nice enough guy but somehow I thought he’d be taller.
ok, i got nuthin…
Mike Doughty from Soul Coughing, not bad.
Ed Hamell from Hamell on Trial, not bad
All of the Drive by Truckers are good people. When he was in the band Earl was my favorite.
Met Chris Welsh on my birthday last year. He was pretty nice.
I think that’s about it.
Mike Doughty from Soul Coughing, not bad.
Ed Hamell from Hamell on Trial, not bad
All of the Drive by Truckers are good people. When he was in the band Earl was my favorite.
Met Chris Welsh on my birthday last year. He was pretty nice.
I think that’s about it.
Chris Berman almost ran over me with a golf cart at the ’99 US Open at Pinehurst. He was checking out a girl as he drove by.
Hot Fuzz, I fully expected that last line to read “I thought his nuts’d be smaller”…
I am a comic book artist, so I know all of the “famous” (and not-so-famous) people in comics (like Stan Lee, Jack Kirby (RIP), etc…). Over the years, apparently, the comic book movies stopped being really cheesy, and Hollywood came a’callin, so all the comic book movie celebrities started coming to comic book conventions too. Now, sci-fi/fantasy was always a part of the comic cons, but the *BIG* con is the San Diego Comic Con…and that one also has, for some strange reason, wrestling AND “adult industry” talent as well. So, I have literally met hundreds of famous people, from the entire casts of every Star Trek (movies and tv show) (met Majel Barrett, too, but Gene passed before I got a chance to meet him, darn it!) to Tracie Lords, to Terry Pratchett, to Mister T, Soupy Sales, John Cena, Fantasia Barrino, Stephen King, Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Mumy, Matt Groening, Steve Perry (and all of Journey)…the list goes on and on. (WAY too long to list all of them here). Many of these people have become friends over the years, and the majority of them are very cool people. Being a nerdy comic book geek girl has it’s perks at those industry parties!
The biggest dickwad of them all though…hands down…? Walter Koenig (Chekov) from the original Star Trek tv series. Character should have been called Jerkoff…
Oh yeah, I was at a bar in St. Louis when Robert Pollard (Guided by Voices) showed up with some skirt he was dating. The got drunk (no shocker there) and then got into a fight and then I think they banged in the women’s room until the bartender kicked them out. It was a good night.
NP Troublemaker – Weezer
@Dogberry
re: @Dawn: Hugh Beaumont- didn’t he die in Vietnam from syphilis he picked up doing pornos?
You are thinking of Beau Hugemont. And if you mean by doing pornos, if pornos are German college boys living in Vietnam, then yes.
I’ve met tons of celebrities over the years due my severe music and sci-fi/horor geekness. I used to work for a concert promoter, setting up the backstage areas for various venues in Philly. Even now, when I attend concerts, I try to hang out and meet the performers afterwards whenever possible.
Now, I have a part-time business selling dvds at sci fi/horror conventions up and down the East coast. Because of this, I’ve managed to meet just about everyone I’ve ever wanted to, except the cast of “Star Trek”. (Looking forward to meeting Gary Busey in March).
I’ve also met some celebrities quite randomly. (Cheech Marin buying socks next to me at a flea market in Manhattan, and George Lucas buying old cameras at a flea market near San Francisco).
But, in all my years of shmoozing with celebrites, I’ve only met one that was a total asshole. And, he was/is one of my musical heroes, which made it much worse. That man is Robyn Hitchcock.
I’d seen Robyn in concert several times, and took photos of him at one of the shows. In anticipation of seeing him live yet again, I had one of the photos blown up to 8 x 10 size, in hopes of getting Robyn to sign it. Since he would be playing at a small venue in Philly, (the TLA on South Street), I knew it would not be very difficult.
After the show, there were only a few of us waiting by door to see Robyn. When I handed him my photo for him to sign, he took one look at it, and declared that it was a horrible, unflattering picture that looked nothing like him. He didn’t even want to sign it, until one of the people I was with practically called him out for being a jerk. So, sign the photo he did: “On it, he wrote: “Not me, mate. Robyn H.”
That experience soured me on Mr. Hitchcock for a bit, and I refused to listen to his music or buy anything new from him for quite a while. I still think he is a musical genius, but to me he will always be an asshole as well.
Wow! I truely live under a friggin’ rock after reading these posts.
The only “celebs” I have ever met was Rachel Ashwell who is the founder of the “Shabby Chic” craze in designing/antiques world. Met her at the Santa Monica fleamarket while shopping for my antique store back home in PGH. Very sweet and gracious.
The only other person I met was some dude (don’t even remember his name) who apparently is one of the most famous air brush artists/custome bike designers in the country. Met him at a bike rally up near Erie, PA. Got my picture taken with him at this booth. Told me I had the nicest tits he’d seen all day.
Lucky me.
Fuck Jay Leno! Well written Rudy.
Only person I can think of that I met even remotely famous was Wally Post when I was seven years old, he was sighning baseballs at the Legion hall in town for some reason that has since slipped my mind. He was very nice.
Oh, and then there was the time I met this guy which just happened to get caught on tape, he was a little stand offish at first but we quickly became best buds…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xffOCZYX6F8
“sighning” yea that’s how we spell it here in rural Ohio, the h gives it a little extra flair.
RescueTime? I can see the first report…stop surfing the net you lazy bastard!
I thought I was talking to Newt Gingrich but it turned out to be T.Farty Mc Appleass(They are identical!) Biggest dissapointntment I had this conversation with a loudmouthed self centred Douche for over a hour at a neighbours party before I realized I had been talking to a mirror!
retollama: I’ve heard the same thing about good ol’ Mr. Hitchcock. I used to know the publisher of a music magazine, and back in the ’80s the magazine was featuring a story on R.H. Well, the publisher needed to get in touch with Robyn for some reason which escapes me, but which was a very legitimate reason, not just to “say hi.” The publisher called R.H.’s publicist at the record company, who provided the publisher with R.H.’s home phone number in England (the fact that the publicist gave out the number would indicate that the publisher did in fact have a legitimate reason for the contact). When the publisher got Hitchcock on the line and the publisher introduced himself and told R.H. the reason for the call, R.H. responded with “how did you get my number?” and something along the lines of “who do you think you are to call me? Don’t ever call me again” (the latter being pure paraphrase as I don’t remember the details 30 years later, but the “how did you get my number?” is a direct quote). If I remember correctly, the publisher never did get the information he was seeking, as the call ended quickly. Not a nice man.
And just to add a bit to the topic, I used to be sort of in the music biz in the ’80s and ’90s (like retrollama, also in Philadelphia), and so have met too many rock celebrities to remember (mostly of the “underground” / “indie” persuasion). A few off the top of my head: John Lee Hooker, John Lydon (Johnny Rotten), Henry Rollins, David JoHansen, all the members of R.E.M., all the members of the Replacements (including Bob Stinson), Peter Zaremba (Fleshtones), Exene Cervenka, Bob Mould, David Lowery (CVB), Jello Biafra (D.K.s), Jason Ringenberg (Scorchers), Mitch Easter (Let’s Active), Mojo Nixon, Richard Butler (P-Furs), T-Bone Burnett, Gordon Gano (Violent Femmes) ….
And not to get into too much detail, but all of these meetings always involved in-depth conversations rather than fleeting “hellos.”
here!
Here’s what Jay had to say about the whole ordeal 5 years ago. Via Weird Al’s twitter feed…
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6d1caacad1/jay-s-2004-announcement
Norman Fell (Mr. Roper on Three’s Compnany) was a really nice, down to earth guy.
Tom Skerritt seemed okay. Not overly friendly, but not a dick.
Burl Ives, from what my wife says was really nice, as was his wife.
The guys from the 60s band, The Ventures are (were) awesome. Even though they were tired as hell after riding in the tour bus all day, went out of their way to placate a fan who thought he deserved special treatment because he had played in some obscure Mid-Ohio Valley local “surf” band back in the 1960s.
The drummer form Atlanta Rythym Section is cool, and is a great video game player.
Semi-famous soap opera guy, Wayne Massey (Johnny Drummond on “One Life to Live” back in the 1980s) was the best celeb I have ever met. First meeting him was one of those moments where he would have been fully within his rights to kick the crap out of me, but instead chose to laugh and shake my hand and introduce himself. Heck of a cool guy!
Jeff Corwin from “Animal Planet” seemed like a nice enough guy when I met him a couple hours before the news came down that the Croc Hunter guy had just passed away.
A friend of mine met Peter Ueberoth about 10 years ago, when his private jet pulled into Nome, Alaska for refueling. A World Series game was on the TV, and Peter and a friend of his watched the game with my buddy. A couple weeks later, a package addressed to my buddy arrives in the mail…Peter Ueberoth had sent him a baseball autographed be all the members of both teams playing in the World Series. Now THAT is a class act!
I have met very few celebrities. But Red Sovine once had a conversation with me and my grandmother. He was drunk, and I remember it well.
Not very friendly at first, but he lighted up some after realizing he was speaking with kinfolk. Four years later he bought the farm.
A local celebrity in the Kanawha Valley from the 70’s once embarrassed me at the Catholic Church in Dunbar. Uncle Willie had a young daughter that performed with him sometimes. She would try to sing, but was horrible.
But she was cute, and I wanted to meet her before the show. I had saw Uncle Willie come out of the kitchen area of the Church and I entered after seeing him exit.
The old ladies working the kitchen wanted to know what I wanted. I told them I wanted to meet the girl. They found this highly amusing.
And during the show Uncle Willie told his daughter that she had a boyfriend in the audience and pointed directly at me.
Uncle Willie’s daughter was known as Little Linda.
Hey, I’m back to commenting!!! Anyone miss me?
I’ve never met anyone famous. I even lived in Las Vegas for a year and half…
I can remember that Yngwie Malmsteen’s lead singer was a humourless prat – he got all offended that Malmsteen’s header card was changed to “Irving Malmsteen. Esq.” in the record store I managed. We all laughed at him and he skulked out.
The singer for The Chesterfield Kings (a band I truly dug) came off as sort of an arrogant weinie…
Henry Rollins is, at best, tolerable, as anyone who has met him can readily attest to…
Ian Astbury from The Cult left plenty of douchey anecdotes for the history books in Columbus when they played there once. Apparently he was as grab-assy as Brian Setzer (Trisha, that line KILLED me!)
It greatly saddens me that Robyn Hitchcock was such an asswipe, but it’s not the first time I’ve heard of such jackoffedness from the great songwriter. I, too, am a fan since the early Soft Boys era, but I know at least a half a dozen people who’ve also met him and they pretty much depict him as a bit of a jerkwad as well.
Stood behind Sam Donaldson and wife and son at a baggage claim station at the airport in El Paso, TX, and he was being a dick to the baggage officer about some sort of outsized, taped-up, cardboard box that he wanted to take as carry-on…
Almost forgot! For many years (until he died, obviously) my parents lived in the apartment next to Joey Ramone’s. I saw him a a couple of times but never got to meet him. My mom said he was a “nice boy”, but that his parties were kind of loud and some of his friends were unpleasant.
Nice to have you back, NDfan. Just been lurkin’ or are you back in county lockup again? In any case, Ara Parseghian to you and hope you’ve been keeping cool.
jtb
@johnthebasket
I was abducted by aliens and subjected to numerous anal probes. I’ve been back for a while, but the hemorrhoids are finally healed enough so I can sit in front of the computer again.
I missed all you crazy ass people!
NDfaninAZ,
Glad you came back. Those aliens sound like my first wife. Did they have brown hair and carry a knife? Did they speak through their attorney?
Just wondering…jtb
PS – hope your winter is Dan Devine
NDfaninAZ – Hey! You’re back!
TILLY – You have also met Ted Nugent and either Jeff or Beau Bridges. Whichever one it was you said he was cool.
Most of the famous people I have come across have been through radio jobs, but if I didn’t have a work reason, I didn’t try to meet them. Everyone who came through was polite and professional, except Evan Dando of The Lemonheads who is a jerk. My husband (long before he was my husband) also met Evan Dando at a CMJ conference in NYC, and Evan Dando was a jerk there as well. Met Ben Folds, and he wasn’t too friendly, but it was right after a show so I am just going to assume he was tired.
I also have met some famous people through my brother’s godmother who is married to an actor/playwright in LA.
My favorite famous people I have met – Brad Garrett, The Enigma (who offered to show me his penis), Mr. T and Steve Forbert. I interviewed Steve Forbert, and he was awesome.
oh WTB I forgot about Ted Nugent. He was cool becasue he hit on me. Jeff Bridges was cool too. I had forgotten that as well. this alcoholism is a bitch. I seem to forget a lot.
Not my own brush with fame, but my wife used to live in apartment above Natalie Merchant and used to party with her and the 10,000 Maniacs. She also went to High School with the mother of one of the Backstreet Boys.
My half sister is the cousin of Merilee Rush…the original singer of “Angel of the Morning.” I met her at an auto race back in the 90’s, and she was a totally cool person.
Kinda off topic, but still cool is that my mother’s best friend in High School went on the become Werner Klemperer’s first wife.