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It must have been 6 or 7 years ago when I went into a restaurant in Lahaina after golfing before the wife and kids showed up. I was way early for our reservation so I went out to the deck to partake in an adult beverage whilst waiting for the family to show up.
Our reservation was for 5 so there was a lot of time to partake the great views and beverages. If you have ever golfed, you always say it will take much longer, just in case. Anyways, knowing I was way early and not having a car to go back to our condo, I figured I would just settle in out on the deck. I proceeded out to the deck and at this time of the day it was empty except for 1 other person. Give it another 90 minutes and it would normally be packed. I sauntered by and asked the gentleman if it was OK to join him? It's the kind of guy I am, it bugs the crap out of my wife, but it's just me. He said,"Please do". The guy is wearing a bucket hat and looked like everyone on the island. We have a glorious discussion of life, religion, marriage, kids, sports and pretty much anything and everything. I thought this is probably the most intelligent, insightful and self depreciating person I have ever met in my life. My wife and kids finally show up around 5 and after introducing my new friend to my wife and kids, he asks me if I really know who he is, and I said, "Do you really know who you are"? He just cracks up laughing and said that may be the best answer he has ever heard when he has asked that question. About that time my wife says, don't you know who he is? I of course answer, "That's Wayne." Yes, she said, that's Dr Wayne Dyer. Probably the most sincerest and heartfelt person I have ever talked to in my life. |
The late Mr. Red Skelton :)
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Louis Farrakhan.
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Car dude and long time Porsche enthusiast Michael Jordan.
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:rolleyes:Oprah:rolleyes:
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My business blossomed and I had to leave the game...played only sparingly back then. 'Not sure I could hit a backhand drop shot anymore. . Yes, the ball would be heavy...but when he hit with his and my friend (Kim Purcell) I got to watch him better. So smooth and graceful with his weight transfer = power. . Happy hitting, Tim. SmileWavy . ps I miss the game. |
Just remembered:
. In the military, my roomie took me back to his home in Milwaukee for a week. His father was associated w/the GB Packers somehow...childhood friends w/one of the coaches, I think. I think we went to GB or at least to a practice field and I actually saw and heard the man, Vince Lombardi. Standing on the side lines, Lombardi was just a few feet away, we heard him yell at the defensive back (paraphrasing), "Do not let him catch this ball!" Then he grabbed the jersey front of a receiver and said, "Now you catch that ball, son, do you hear me!?" We were impressed. He had a booming voice, I remembered. When he just spoke in a regular voice, he could be heard from the far corners of the field. |
We were karting at K1 Ontario one night when in walked team Falcon Tire for a little spirited R&R before the Long Beach Grand Prix. Porsche factory driver Wolf Henzler and Karting champion Bryan Sellers got us that night with Bryan setting a new track record. My brother and I managed to outrun all the pro drift team drivers though.
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Had a fun time hanging out with Joe Strummer and his lady friend for an entire evening once in 1991. I was eating at the bar of the restaurant I worked at the time, we got a lot of music royalty and I was not going to bother the guy even though I practically worshiped him. Long story short, they started chatting me up and invited me to tag along with them to go see a friend's band at a club in Hollywood.
I had heard that he could be moody but he was in high spirits that night and various Clash fans were freaked out and delighted to see him at the other club. We talked quite a bit and at the end of the night when they dropped me off at my car at the restaurant, he gave me a big hug and said, "Denis is a good rocker!" Granted, he'd had a few but it was a high point in my rock fan life. :) |
"Granted, he'd had a few but it was a high point in my rock fan life."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And that's why we're all posting in this thread...for the fun of it all. At one level we feel silly telling it, and yet we were thrilled at another level. :) |
With a career in high end hifi & Pro audio I have met a few. Many of whom I didn't even recognize – I am a lousy celeb spotter.
But one story I have told before: In 1985 I was a partner in a hifi shop in Toronto. One of our customers’ people phoned & asked if we could send someone to fix a hifi for Gordon Lightfoot. I jumped in the car & headed to his house – a large Victorian in the swanky Rosedale area. He answered the door & showed me his very modest system – a Dual turntable, Harman-Kardon receiver & a cheap pair of bookshelf speakers. He wandered off & I did some trouble-shooting. It was just speaker wires that had fallen off. I fixed it & went to find him. He was in his kitchen lighting a joint. He thanked me & said: “Don’t tell anybody” & waved the joint around. But he didn't offer me any . . . and I have never forgiven him. And his production company didn't pay the bill for the house call. Ian |
" “Don’t tell anybody” "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How silly...this line always cracks me up. Yeah, Anne Frank is in the attic, don't tell anybody. :) |
Talked to Brian Redman on the phone once. A friend and I had a question about the 908-3 and the friend knew Brian. He said, "Let's call him".
Met Jim Valvano on a plane one time. I quietly said hello and left him to settle into his seat. He was quite ill at the time. April 2004, day of NFL draft in San Diego, I made a connection in Dallas to return to Raleigh, NC. Philip Rivers sat down next to me and he proceeded to tell me about being drafted by the Giants and subsequently traded to the Chargers that day. Very cool guy and he was very excited about starting his NFL career. |
Roy Orbison sat at my desk in the showroom of Westwood Porsche in 1986 and talked to me for almost an hour while waiting to pick up his 911 from service. I swear, time stood still.
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Well, no one has jumped on the opportunity so I might as well:
Celebrities are always bragging about having met me. :rolleyes: I've met a few folks but mostly my life is uneventful. When I was a teenager I had the chance to talk with Walter Matthau (one of my favorite actors) but choked at the opportunity, just smiled and moved on. I had a chat with Bobby Rahal for a bit a few years back. |
You reminded me of a time back in the late '80s I was going into a gallery in Santa Monica, and on the steps, Cheech Marin was chatting with George Harrison. I couldn't bring myself to do anything other than smile and nod at George and got the same in return. I did meet one of my favorite actors, James Coburn on the day the "Flint" movies came out on DVD. I acted like a stupid fan and interrupted his coffee to congratulate him. He was gracious, but seemed a bit out of it. And sadly, he was dead only a few weeks later.
The only actors I ever spoke with who were grateful for the attention were David Clennon, who was in The Thing (Palmer) and Thirtysomething, playing a role based on a guy I once worked for, and Joe Turkel, who played Tyrell in an all-time favorite film, Blade Runner. Both nice as hell. I lived in Malibu for 2-1/2 years and rubbed shoulders with a lot of folks from Pearce Brosnan to Paul Walker to Pam Anderson. |
As I said reading this thread precipitates memories. Another couple went with us to the Stardust Grand Prix. This was a time when people from Vasek Polak drove sports race cars from L.A. to L.V. to race and back. As we were leaving in my friend's Lotus Cortina in very slow post race traffic, my friend all of a sudden opens the door and hops out. I grabbed the wheel and managed to get into the driver's seat. Here my buddy is yelling back at us that, "It's Stirling Moss!"
Well, yeah, it was, driving in the next lane in I don't remember what, but is was an open roadster. Here is my buddy walking and trotting alongside Moss chatting him up. He (my buddy) might have been a bit drunk. ;) I think everyone was except maybe SM. I think the circumstances upon which you come up on someone famous have every bit as much to do with the story as the person themselves. Like techweenie, if I see someone famous that is otherwise busy, I don't intrude. Well when aren't they busy? My wife sat across from Sandra Bullock in the waiting area of the airport terminal. SB never looked up from her phone in the 15 minutes they sat there. Like me, my wife didn't say a thing and probably therefore didn't tip off a bunch of idiots. We're still waiting for the tin of macadamia nuts as a thank you. :D |
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OK.....These are lame compared to Roy Orbison.....But these are some of the "big name folks" I have had conversations with.
Dillon McDermott (spelling? tv actor guy in a small town airport) Jacques Villeneuve (Paddock at the Vancouver Indy was a real nice guy!) Ken Dryden (Goaltending Icon from the Montreal Canadians....super smart guy) Wayne Gretzky (hockey god....Edmonton airport super quite nice guy) You end up meeting all sorts of folks in brushing by or "meet and greet" kinda things at concerts and races and such....but they don't count.....these are real conversations with the people, not the celebrity. |
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Fun idea:
Mid 70's: Met Archie Manning - then QB for the New Orleans Saints - who's family lived 5 blocks from me. Met Angelo Dundee (Mohammed Ali's manager/promoter) in an airport lounge Had a Coke with Walter Cronkite on Martha's Vineyard (others had cocktails) Early 80's: Met Manute Bol, who was working out with a trainer at my high school gym. Coached Cooper, Peyton, and Eli Manning at various local kids sports camps (yes, I can take huge credit for their athletic prowess haha) Later 80's: Met Mike Mills of REM twice - once on Mud Island in Memphis and also in New Orleans Flirted really unsuccessfully with ESPN commentator Erin Andrews. Early 90's to mid 90's: Cheered the Manning boys in football Met Ashley Judd (pal of a UK pal) at a party. Hung out at Kingsway studios with Dan Lanois (Canadian music producer), and via him was introduced to Sarah McLachlan Met but did not dare flirt with then supermodel Helena Christianson in Harbour Island, Bahamas Peyton Manning starts to become a big big deal...Eli, not yet. Later 90's to date: Brother in Law TJ Miller voices part of "How to Train your Dragon" so we get to attend the VIP tent of the premier and meet Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrara, and Jeffery Katzenberg. Most recently: Invited to Broncos training camp VIP tent with my sons by now QB Peyton Manning. |
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I've actually had a weird Zelig-like life and met lots of illustrious people. I met George Harrison and got to talk to him for a while after a screening of a film he produced in about 1989, at the old DGA building on Sunset. He could not have been nicer, I was working for my friend who produced small events like that screening and that's why I was there. |
First year of F1 at Indy took the wife and paid some outrageous amount for a room at a Red Roof Inn. Had heard the teams stayed at the Omni downtown so we set the alarm clock for 5:30am Sunday morning of the race to have breakfast there as I really wanted the autograph of Michael Schumacher. Got to the hotel and found it was only 4am - someone had messed with time on the alarm clock in the motel. Sat in the lobby waiting for the restaurant to open at 6am. Saw some drunken guys come in with their hookers. BMW engine techs were first down. Smoked cigarettes in the lobby - very Euro. Bridgestone techs were next with their aluminium instrument brief cases. Restaurant finally opened and we had breakfast. Williams, Ferrari and Jordan people all around but no Schumacher. Paid the bill and was walking out of the restaurant and almost walked over Heinz Harald Frenzen. He is built like a jockey. Said "good morning", he reciprocated and we left. Yes I know I have lived a quiet life :-)
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Nixon in 1972 in the WH situation room and rose garden with Haldeman, Ehrlichman and the chief fixer Chuck Coulson in attendance
George HW Bush. in his library in Texas talked fly fishing for an hour..very sincere guy. HUNTER S THOMPSON. at that cheesy bar he liked in woody creek right outside of aspen (name anyone?) v smart guy when not wasted,... James Watson nobel prize winning discover of dna structure. personal friend... dinner and fund raising event with him many many times. Paul Newman and Joan : lived in my hometown in CT ...spoke cars with him many times entirely approachable on the street v nice guy. |
When i was 21, I had an airline attendant move me into 1st class seating. Didn't really occur to me that it had happened until years later...just thought they had some reason to move me and that the seats were really big! I'd imagine that there was someone important sitting up there.SmileWavy
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In 1991, Iman and David Bowie were living in the apartment next to my GF's at the time. My GF and Iman knew each other from the old days although I would not call them friends. More like "frenemies". I basically lived there although I had my own place up the canyon. David and I became good friends, actually at his behest and not with the blessing of my GF, who thought he was gay. (He most definitely is not). He bought a concours Series 2 XKE roadster in BRG while we were hanging out, he found it in San Francisco and had it shipped down to L.A.
One night they had a small cocktail party and invited us. The guests were Tim Curry, Little Richard, Luther Vandross, Bob Rafelson and a few other civilians, including me. David spent the lion's share of the party talking to me and the other nobodies. He was that kind of English gentleman, he could not tolerate anyone being in his home and not feeling 100% welcome and appreciated. I've lost touch with him but I'll always cherish the friendship for as long as it lasted. We also went to an Oscar viewing party the same year at Dodi Fayed's house in Beverly Hills. Kareem was there as well as Tom Cruise and a boatload of other Hollywood people. Dodi was a complete prick to me, he had no time for anyone who was not famous or a really hot chick. Kareem could not have been nicer, what a great guy. That's more than enough of this for me, I've never thought that it's a good idea and not sure why I'm doing it(?) |
Seems we are from the same town. I lived there 13 years and went through the school system there. Went to Staples and lived on Marion Road.
It was at Kleins on main street that I saw Paul Newman Quote:
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well I did have this little incident at the New Orleans Hilton when Rick James and two huge body guards came sat at my table , got all obnoxious and beligerent after a while trying to run me off from the table I had been sitting at all afternoon. it was getting pretty intense before the manager and a couple security guards came over and escorted him to his room. one night after after a Elvin Bishop concert we were sitting at a college bar having a usual night of drunken bebauchery when Elvin and his band walk in, hit the stage and played a few of his then hit songs. after they got off the stage, Elvin and Micky Thomas walk over to our table and ask me if they can join us because, in his words, we looked like some partying MF's and had all the good looking women. we drank until daylight.. very nice guy, he ain't good looking but sure can play! I once got drunk under the table (or so he claims) by the famous world traveler big shot hollywood movie consultant Mr. Hugh Rose. he ain't good looking but sure can drink. lol
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"That's more than enough of this for me, I've never thought that it's a good idea and not sure why I'm doing it(?)"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Because 150 posts and almost 5,000 views says that we like it, silly boy. :D . . Amazing stories, all!!! |
DGriz: "Flirted really unsuccessfully with ESPN commentator Erin Andrews."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Best one-liner so far. :) |
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Tyson Schmidt, that's a good sighting.
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Man, what a thread! I would love to talk with Kareem sometime. I've been a huge fan since his Milwaukee days...
My stories are mild compared to the stories here. Neil Diamond and his entourage came to my apartment after a show in Omaha in 1979; his roadies wanted to see my friend's Sportster that was in the living room. My friend's girlfriend was thrilled, and had her picture taken with Neil. Then Neil and his gang went to the most expensive steak house in town, but we weren't invited. In 1974, saw Dick Van Dyke smoking a cigarette during a break in filming outside of Niagara Falls NY. I yelled "Hi, Dick!" and waved hello like a dork, and he waved back to me. So I got that going for me. :) __ |
"I yelled "Hi, Dick!" and waved hello like a dork, and he waved back to me. So I got that going for me. :) "
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now that's the spirit of the thread. SmileWavy Waving like a dork. :D |
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I think that meeting a lot of famous people is just a function of where I live, (Los Angeles). I have friends who went on tour with the Rolling Stones when they were kids because their parents were their friends, etc...flew in the plane with the lips on it. That would be a story to tell. :) |
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I prefer to be a bit reserved on name dropping here too, only out of respect. Looking back, the weird thing is how when you end up at a function, meeting, partying with the 'A' list and you know whats not to be talked of. Some of the silly moments was when I fixed an NFL QB up for a one-nighter. Another time was some private track time in formula Ford's and SCCA spec racers with a few of these guy's that WERE NOT permitted to do while under contract. Nobody knew and I'm not naming here... ha. |
Last blab from me on this...
Believe it or not, there are some most genuine nicest players in the NBA. Out of nowhere on a Sunday AM, I had a call from so unnamed player for 4, yes FOUR floor seats at a Knicks, Bulls final that afternoon. Crazy nice and just had to find 3 others to drop everything and show up. Cheers |
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