Story Time: Famous People You Found Yourself With

Oh, I have been aboard the Oscar Meyer Weiner mobile before! You know that they have vents that waft cooked hot dog smell outside, right?
Well, I'm here to tell you that the smell is not fake. When they are parked somewhere - they have a hot dog cooker cooking dogs - making the smell. I had one, with mustard and onions. It was almost as good as one from Wrigley Field.

I wanted so much to drive that thing, but apparently you have to be "trained" and "certified" to drive one. Seriously. Those things are really expensive.
 
went to a First Communion party at a friend's house, and one of the other guests was Tom Brady. had a chance to hang out and chat over a beer for a while. nicest guy you'll ever meet.

also, got a chance to meet Pope John Paul II when our ship was in Naples. we took the train to Rome and had an audience with the Pope. i was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and was one of few that got to shake hands and make small talk.

not sure which of the two is closer to God, but after this weekend, I think i know.....
 
I cannot believe the lives you people have lived. Man, the stories I can imagine you could tell. These come to mind but pale in comparison to all of your wild lives. What a ride!

Back in college (before I blew it and dropped out), a nice young man asked me out. We drove 2 hours to Oakland to see a double header against I believe the Pirates. My first pro baseball game. We sat in the cheap seats and I, who had never played ball almost passed out when I looked up to see this ball just floating down towards my head. My date very calmly and chivalrously saved me and by beer and caught it.
I had no idea why it was cool or a big deal. We stayed after and he had it signed. Mark McGwire was nice, handsome and humble. My date kept the ball.

I did meet Tom Selleck when he was filming in Patagonia, AZ. I was bartending at the time and they filmed in town. Taller than I imagined, nice and humble.

I worked for an author for years. He was pretty well known here in the US, more so in Europe. He was besties with Jack Nicholson, Harrison Ford and some others. I was ahead of Art Garfunkel in his address book, and I got to take home the fish Jimmy Buffett overnighted in at the end of the season. I did get to pass in the author's kitchen once with Mario Batali. He and the author were very close friends and had a shared love of all things food. That man mails the best Andouille sausage ever. I got to take it home at the end of every season when the author rotated to their summer house.

I met Ralph Nader when I was in college. Oh the spirit of youth. Campaigned for him.

My dad met up with his USNA roomie in the early late 70's, maybe early 80's when roomies carrier docked in San Francisco. We got to go to the ship and tour it. That was cool.
Then we had a breakfast at a hotel conference room with the Oakland Raiders and the ship's officers. I was young and short and just thought it was so amazing that these giant men could move with as much agility as they did, and be so nice and silly to young kids. One carried my OJ to the table for me. I had no idea who they were individually, but my dad sure thought it was cool.

William Baldwin filmed outside of Tucson when I worked at a hotel as a hostess in a nice bar and lounge. He and the crew and sometimes guest actors would head to my rental to hang out and chill without people staring at them. I served David Carradine a drink when he was a guest star. That left me star struck.
Man that was a long time ago. William Baldwin was nice. Just wanted to escape the crazies who stalked him. I'm pretty sure I was just happy people hung out at my place on my day off.
 
Heatherg21 said:
I cannot believe the lives you people have lived. Man, the stories I can imagine you could tell. These come to mind but pale in comparison to all of your wild lives. What a ride!

Back in college (before I blew it and dropped out), a nice young man asked me out. We drove 2 hours to Oakland to see a double header against I believe the Pirates. My first pro baseball game. We sat in the cheap seats and I, who had never played ball almost passed out when I looked up to see this ball just floating down towards my head. My date very calmly and chivalrously saved me and by beer and caught it.
I had no idea why it was cool or a big deal. We stayed after and he had it signed. Mark McGwire was nice, handsome and humble. My date kept the ball.

I did meet Tom Selleck when he was filming in Patagonia, AZ. I was bartending at the time and they filmed in town. Taller than I imagined, nice and humble.

I worked for an author for years. He was pretty well known here in the US, more so in Europe. He was besties with Jack Nicholson, Harrison Ford and some others. I was ahead of Art Garfunkel in his address book, and I got to take home the fish Jimmy Buffett overnighted in at the end of the season. I did get to pass in the author's kitchen once with Mario Batali. He and the author were very close friends and had a shared love of all things food. That man mails the best Andouille sausage ever. I got to take it home at the end of every season when the author rotated to their summer house.

I met Ralph Nader when I was in college. Oh the spirit of youth. Campaigned for him.

My dad met up with his USNA roomie in the early late 70's, maybe early 80's when roomies carrier docked in San Francisco. We got to go to the ship and tour it. That was cool.
Then we had a breakfast at a hotel conference room with the Oakland Raiders and the ship's officers. I was young and short and just thought it was so amazing that these giant men could move with as much agility as they did, and be so nice and silly to young kids. One carried my OJ to the table for me. I had no idea who they were individually, but my dad sure thought it was cool.

William Baldwin filmed outside of Tucson when I worked at a hotel as a hostess in a nice bar and lounge. He and the crew and sometimes guest actors would head to my rental to hang out and chill without people staring at them. I served David Carradine a drink when he was a guest star. That left me star struck.
Man that was a long time ago. William Baldwin was nice. Just wanted to escape the crazies who stalked him. I'm pretty sure I was just happy people hung out at my place on my day off.
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i was thinking Tom McGuane was the author (bc of the Buffett connection) until I saw your signature line. One of my favorite stories/movie
 
Couple of close encounters for me

1. a photo op with Miss America Laura Kaeppeler. DW was very jealous/envious on seeing the photo and how she ( Miss America) put her hands around me. Of course I was blushing, my kids could tell :)
2. Heard Gen Colin Powell on close quarters at a convention and shook hands with him.
3. Heard John C Maxwell on close quarters at a convention and shook hands with him.
4. Met Chris Gardner ( movie 'The Pursuit of Happiness' was based on his life story) at an event
5. Got of AA plane and went to restroom. I notice a guy washing his hands and then saw couple of other folks waiting to meet him. Asked who he was, was told he was Emmitt Smith ( Ya ! cheer for Dallas Cowboys).
 
When we were first dating my (now) wife picked me up from work and said "It's a surprise, don't even try to ask." We were heading out to the burbs, where I don't spend a lot of time, and eventually pulled into some small mall I'd never been to. She reached in the back, whipped out a plastic bag and said "Here, happy birthday, let's go stand in line." Nerd cred: she got me a Dilbert doll in 1991, Scott Adams signed it, and I had one of the few women in line with me.

Oh, one more: Went to a book signing for Baseball Prospectus one spring and no one was there, so Nate Silver and I got to chat for ten minutes. I have to say he was pretty philosophical about there being no line at lunchtime in downtown Minneapolis.
 
When I was really young,,the St Louis Cardinal football team (yep, long ago) did their summer training in my then hometown (Lake Forest,IL). My friends and I would ride our bikes across town, watch practice, and at the end of the practice offer to carry their helmets back to the locker room. They rookies really loved it !. they would bring us Gatorade and sign our footballs. We would then go home, play with said footballs about a week until the signatures were erased, then go back and do it again. It was pretty cool at the time.

Fast forward about 8-10 years, and I'm attending an Eagle Scout dinner in St Louis (my then home town), and former St Louis QB Jim Hart was the guest speaker. I went up to him after the event, introduced myself and asked him if he remembered those silly kids in Lake Forest ; he did and we got a good laugh.
 
ALF648 said:
i was thinking Tom McGuane was the author (bc of the Buffett connection) until I saw your signature line. One of my favorite stories/movie
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I have heard so many stories fondly recalled about Jim's time with Tom, Buffett and Jack N. Jim dictated his correspondence and I took shorthand then typed it up and emailed to his assistant. I was always a little baffled at the names of people he corresponded with and the bawdry nature of some of the recollections. Nothing too bad. They loved to have fun. Jim loved dogs, food, nature, wine and fly fishing. But nothing so much as his wife and daughters.

Legends of the Fall (the novella) was based on a journal Jim's wife's family had passed down. Her family was from Wales I believe. He of course wove other aspects into the novella and screenplay. He really did think that Julia Ormond was beautiful.

Tom is and Jim was, a lover of nature in a way I don't think I will ever fully comprehend, but hope to keep learning.

Jim did say the late 70's and early 80's were a blur and his experience with Hollywood and screenplays left much to be desired.
I will forever be grateful to Jim for instilling in me a love for birds, he bought me my one and only bird book, now much bedraggled and scribbled in.
He thought my pink wine was silly and gave me a bottle of a Beaujolais I still love. His gruff voice telling me to try it, and don't look back. I blame him for turning me into a rabid red wine lover. And he also taught me how to cook prime rib. And that food, friends and conversation are worth more when in humble surroundings, having cooked the food for those guests with love. While dogs mill about waiting for a bone. I do miss him.
 
cb7893 said:
Growing up Nashville, Country Stars of the day and their kids were a constant in our lives. It was a much smaller city at that time. I drove Mrs. cb7893 crazy watching Ken Burns' Country Music. Every 5 minutes of the 1950's, 60's and 70's I would say things like, "I went to school with her sons" "We both graduated from the same high school and college", or "My father took out his appendix".

On that last note, in the mid 1940's, my father was called on an emergency to the home of Hank Williams Sr. He was "unresponsive". My father was met at the door by a middle aged lady, who was well-mannered, polite and decidedly country. It was HW's mother. She had come to Nashville by bus to see her son, who was supposed to pick her up at the bus station. He never showed. She took a cab to his house and found him in his current state. Hence the call. My father grew up on the edge, fatherless in the land of the Scopes Monkey Trial. He would never refer to "White Trash", but how else would one refer to someone who treated his mother that way.

On a happier note. I worked on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade. Mikhail Gorbachev was in town and came to visit the CBOT grain floor, where I worked. There was a crowd around him, but he made it to the edge of one of the pits and started shaking hands. The edges were populated by runners and clerks, while the brokers and traders, who didn't stop what they were doing were in the center. When he came up to one of the runners for my firm, the runner shook Gorbachev's hand and with a friendly smile said, "Get Moose and Squirrel." (Google Boris Badenov) Gorbachev returned the smile and moved on.
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I don't think it counts if you're in Nashville.... Nashville has its own set of rules.
 
@Old Navy BGO Lake Forest is a nice town. I wonder if Mr. T still lives there. When I was at GLakes he got in trouble for cutting down all the trees on his property.
 
I ran into Senator John McCain at a gate at Regan National. I stood on line right behind Tom Brokaw at an ATM machine outside 30 Rock. My DW and DS #1 chatted with retired General Swatzkopf at the local barber shop. I sat next to actor Tristan Rogers (who played Scorpio on General Hospital) on a flight from LA to NY. That’s about it. Oh, and I was eating my lunch on the steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral on 5th Ave. in N.Y. and saw Henry Kissinger walk by.

Wait, I remembered more. I have run into Derek Jeter in restaurants and the airport a few times. Tino Martinez too. Tino’s nephew plays ball in the same youth baseball league as D.S. #2
 
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Couple more. Not all that significant. Ran into baseball hall of famer Joe Torre in a sporting goods store and ran into coach Tony Dungy in Walmart.
 
General Omar Bradley -- in the Kennedy Center box next to ours at Reagan's first inaugural
Julia Louis-Dreyfus -- went to h.s. with her
Erik Estrada -- on airplane
Michelle Kwan -- at pool in Hawaii
Sonny Jurgensen (HOF QB for the team formerly known as the Redskins] -- next-door neighbor of family friends

Since I've spent much of my life in the DC area, politicians don't count as celebrities in my book since they're a dime a dozen around here. :)
 
usna1985 said:
General Omar Bradley -- in the Kennedy Center box next to ours at Reagan's first inaugural
Julia Louis-Dreyfus -- went to h.s. with her
Erik Estrada -- on airplane
Michelle Kwan -- at pool in Hawaii
Sonny Jurgensen (HOF QB for the team formerly known as the Redskins] -- next-door neighbor of family friends

Since I've spent much of my life in the DC area, politicians don't count as celebrities in my book since they're a dime a dozen around here. :)
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Sonny has since sold that mansion on the Potomac but it’s surely a nice property.
 
usna1985 said:
Julia Louis-Dreyfus -- went to h.s. with her
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About six years ago, a bunch of my fraternity brothers went on a reunion guided rafting/camping trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Julia Louis-Dreyfus was in the group just ahead of them. They said she acted like a total b_t€h and wouldn’t talk to anyone.
 
^^^
I haven't seen JLD since she was 18 and I was 16. She was VERY popular in h.s. (a very small all-girls' school). Can't speak to what she's like today.

I personally have mixed views about celebs talking with us "normal folk." OTOH, when you opt for a profession where success equals celebrity (acting, music, sports, politics, etc.), you largely owe your success to the common folk, so maybe you owe them something when you run into them in public.

OTOH, I'm sure it gets REALLY old not to be able to enjoy yourself when out in public. I remember when we saw Michelle Kwan (at the height of her fame) at the hotel. Everyone was whispering about her but no one actually went up to her -- at least while I was there. Conversely, with Estrada, when we got off the plane a woman about my age went up to him and said, "I just LOVED you on CHIPS. I'm SO EXCITED to see you." And on and on for literally 10 minutes. She was obnoxious. He was incredibly gracious.
 
I’ve enjoyed this thread immensely. I remembered two other encounters from years apart.

Before he married a Kennedy, became the Terminator, and then Governor of California, a young Arnold Swarzenegger gave a weight lifting demonstration on our ship in Norfolk. He got the word that there were avid weight lifters in the military. We had some weights available and set up a bench press on the flight deck. He gave tips on proper lifting technique and demonstrated ways to improve general physique. I stood next to him and was in awe of just how massive and chiseled he was. I half thought that Arnold could pull up the ship’s anchor by himself.

I liked visiting my sister where she worked at Google HQ. Lunches and snacks are free for employees and their guests at four, restaurant quality, cafeterias on campus. My sister gave me a nod pointing out a fella sitting right next to us in sandals and a hoodie. I was busy chowin’ down but glanced over when the techie got up and bussed his tray. It was Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google. I don’t know what a multi billionaire is supposed to look like but to me he seemed just like any other dude. It was as nice to see Sergey doing QA on the food for the hoi polloi though.
 
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