Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Oh, here's a good one: A few years ago I was at a swanky bar/steakhouse (don't ask!) with some friends and a guy came up to our table and told me that James Edwards (this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Edwards_(basketball)) requested my presence at the bar. I did not respond to the summons because, um, you know... that's kind of presumptuous. But we talked to him and his friends at the bar when we were done eating. We talked about football, of all things, and the next day his friend called my friend and asked if James Edwards could have my phone number. I didn't give it to him because dude is WAY older than me and because the guys in my office said he was married and pick up chicks at this place all the time. I'm sure it works sometimes.

Yup, the several times I saw her there, she was just sitting by herself at a table, with a coffee and a pile of books; if she had a bodyguard or anything they were pretty discreet.

ETA: I just remembered that I sat next to Cyndi Lauper at a bar on Nantucket (I guess she just wanted to have fun). Of course, I didn't notice until my brother-in-law (who worked there at the time) told me after she'd left, so I'm not sure it counts!

Whoever mentioned Joan Rivers reminded me that I saw Joan Rivers and Jimmy Carr (separately) walking around the city one year during Fringe. I've probably seen other (semi-)famous people for the same reason.

Haha, awesome. Similar story- we went to a Colbert Report taping when we were in New York last year, and before the show Stephen Colbert comes out and talks to the audience out of character for a bit. He's the nicest guy ever. He asked for people who had come from far away to put up their hands, so he could see who had come the furthest. He pointed at us and asked if we were from overseas, and this woman in front of me jumped up and screamed 'YES! I'M FROM PHILADELPHIA!'. She then proceeded to screech out her own answers to every question he asked someone, and started manically dancing.

When the show started, he threw a heap of those rubber 'WristStrong' bracelets into the audience, and the woman in front of me was leaping on top of people trying to get one. I was sitting quietly and looking around the place, because trying to catch things is for chumps, and a bracelet landed in my lap. Apparently Colbert had been frowning at the annoying woman, Boyfriend caught his eye and pointed up, to say 'throw it higher, so it goes over her'. Colbert nodded and threw it straight into my lap. Annoying woman was not pleased. That was a definite highlight of New York.

On my way to work one morning I was at a stop sign, looked out the window, and there was Tom Selleck having a smoke.
I skated with Elvis Stoiko on our local tv station. I met Kurt Browning at a signing (I was 10), he made fun of how long my pony tail was and that it was getting in the way of him signing my sweater.

hee.

i saw laura, jenna, and barbara (the younger) bush at guero's in austin. i had gone to the bathroom, and my husband and our two friends saw laura bush, and they were like, "hmmmm, she looks familiar...?" and then asked me when i got back from the bathroom. i looked over to see who they were talking about, and i thought they were making fun of me or trying to trick me or something. i said, "uh, LAURA BUSH?" and all three of them were all, "oooooooh!!"

i've met three of the five queer eye guys (thom first, and then another time, kyan, and jai). thom was super super nice, and kept complimenting me. i almost died, i was so embarrassed/excited. sooo nice.

i sat in front of michael stipe at a tori amos concert. it was really, really, really hard to not constantly check over my shoulder and look at him. i also was really really close to tori amos at a different time, but didn't actually get to officially meet her. she's tiny!

i met lisa loeb after a concert. her skin is flawless and she's beautiful. i also met patti labelle after a concert, and she is extremely sweet and so pretty. she called me sweetheart. :)

i apparently was once in the same room as one of the guys from zz top, but my husband and all of my friends saw him and i didn't. whoops.

my husband and i met ed begley, jr. after a talk, during a book signing. i took a picture with him, and he's super tall.

oh! i saw phil donahue on the street in chicago, leaning against a building all by himself, waiting for his ride. i was with two other girls, and we argued for a block about whether that was really him, until one of us finally went back to ask. it was. then i told my students about it in class the next week and they had NO IDEA who i was talking about and i felt sooooo oooooold.

i met terry pratchett at a book signing when i lived in england. he was very funny, as you might expect.

and, the granddaddy of them all: i got up on stage with morrissey. it was magical. :::shooting stars:::

OH, I also met Perez Hilton--does he count? He was hosting a party at a club in Boston and Lady Sovereign was playing. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and got a picture with him. I think he was a little scared. I get really red and sweaty when I'm dancing up in da club.

Ooooh Lady S-O-V? Chi-ching!

Oh - I can't believe I forgot that I met Terry Jones (from Monty Python, which I really hope I don't need to explain) at the Kalamazoo medieval conference a few years ago. He was giving a paper about Richard II, and I went up to chat w/him and have him sign my program for my kids and actually made him laugh (it was a joke about medieval primogeniture; not worh repeating). Le sigh.

Back in the 80s, I saw Andre the Giant at the airport in Dallas. I also met Clinton Kelly at a fundraiser/book signing.

I saw Orlando Bloom a few years ago. I was in Bend, OR for my sister's wedding, and saw him cross the street with a very buff man I assume was his body guard. It was funny, I thought the guy was just a look-a-like because why the heck would Orlando Bloom be in Bend, OR of all places? I texted my best friend (who has a major crush on him) and told her I had just seen a look-a-like, and we joked for a while about the reasons he would be in Bend if it was truly him. The next day I went with my sister and the other bridesmaides to get our nails done before the wedding. In the middle of getting them done, one of her friends said, "So have you guys heard Orlando Bloom's in town?" Turns out he was there for a bike race of some sort. Most certainly not one of the reasons we had come up with! :P

Apparently Tom Hanks was in Kos when I was there a few years ago. I hear he's a fan of the island and sails his yacht there quite often! I didn't see him though, I was very disappointed. Wow, that's a rubbish story, sorry.

I used to run a big fansite for Marilyn Manson, and spoke on the phone with Twiggy, Zim Zum and TRENT forking REZNOR on several occasions for interviews, to talk about getting exclusive candid photos, etc. I saw NIN a few years ago when Twiggy/Jeordie was their bassist and I was totally grinning all night because I was all, "I KNOW THEM. They know my name!" I was good friends with Twiggy's girlfriend. I still to this day remember Trent's personal email address from back in the day, which I'm sure he doesn't use anymore.

I was the biggest fan of Zim Zum though, and out of nostalgia I sent him a message on Twitter one day and he totally remembered me, asked me what was new and we wrote back and forth for a while!

I met Canadian indie dude Hayden and he hit on me. It was the night I met Trevor for the first time.

I was on the subway with a Canadian hip-hop artist named K-Os.

That's all I've got.

I lived in LA for five years so I saw tons of people all the time. If you're ever in LA, the Century City mall is a good place for sightings. It's not touristy and it's 5 minutes from Beverly Hills. I always saw celebrities there, every time we went.

My best, hands down, was eating dinner at a Mexican restaurant about 18 inches from Brad Pitt & Jennifer Aniston. I almost lost my shiitake when I saw them come around the corner right towards us. It was super hilarious to see everyone in the restaurant pretending not to stare at them, too. In LA everyone tries to play it cool.

I developed a terrible habit of thinking random people I saw were famous even when they were not, to the point where when I saw Kiefer Sutherland hanging out in my subway station, I thought to myself, "oh, haha, I thought that guy was Kiefer Sutherland" and then slowly I realized OH. it really is. He's shorter than you'd think.

Oh, it is also worth mentioning that I sat next to Eric Stoltz eating vegan food at Real Food Daily.

AND I also just remembered that Little Richard was on my plane one time. I walked by him, sitting in first class, and thought, "hm, that dude looks exactly like Little Richard." Then it occurred to me that nobody in the universe looks like Little Richard except Little Richard, so it had to be him.

It's true. Even native LA'ers get excited when they see a real good celebrity. They just pretend they aren't. If there wasn't that unspoken "don't disturb the celebrities" rule in LA for non-paparazzi, then I know everyone would be right next to those people, asking them for autographs. But it's better this way.

i just remembered another one... i saw al sharpton in a starbucks in providence, rhode island. i was there for a conference, and i was sitting around having a chai with a friend, when he wandered in. we gawked from a distance and took pictures with our phones. he had a small entourage.

Love!

Not a nationally celebrity, but the way it happened was kinda funny...Our local news anchor David Crabtree talks in the morning radio news spot about how he shops at this one specific grocery store. I was at that grocery store with a friend and said "this is David Crabtree's grocery, but I've never seen him here" At that point the automatic doors opened and I almost walked into him.

Jealous! I crushed on that dude hard in high school.

Richard Simmons kissed me on the cheek!

I was trying to enter a Barnes & Noble in Philadelphia and wound up holding the door for a slew of people when out walks Richard Simmons (little shorts and all) and he smiled said thank you and kissed me on the cheek. It was a little unreal and weird and left me speechless!

And I met Anthony Rapp when he was doing the Rent tour two years ago. But that was because I followed him across the street from the theatre and asked for an autograph and picture. He was very nice about it. I felt bad afterwards.

I'm pretty sure I've met or seen more celebrities but I can't think of any others. And I don't know if wedding designers count or not. I used to work in Bridal and met Romona Keveza, Amsale, Jim Hjelm (not his real name), Lazaro, Paula Varsalona and others. Ooooh and I met Austin Scarlet from Project Runway when he was working for Amsale. And I've met Jay McCarol the 1st winner of Project Runway because he sells at a big craft bazaar in Philadelphia every year. Hes super nice and always has his dog with him.

We see Flyers players all the time! They shop at the Whole Foods we go to and live in Jersey near us. They are huge in person, it's kind of scary.

I once ate at a sushi restaurant and Donald Brashear was there with his family. I made my friend ask him for his autograph cause I was too chicken shiitake to do it!

I worn in a grocery store and Seth Rogan came through my till once. He talked on his phone the whole time though (rude!) Brent Butt and his wife (from corner gas) come in all the time too. They aren't that nice.

I met Ben Kweller after a concert in Seattle and I think I creeped him out a little because I was so excited I could barely talk. He is very short.

Oh and I met Fred Penner once at a Children's Festival I was working at. I interrupted him while he was eating pancakes!

Colour me impressed!

When I was a kid we belonged to the same beach club as Bruce Springsteen. His cabana was a few over from ours.

Did you see that he's an MMA fighter? He knocked out a dude in like 20 seconds! He's bad asparagus!