Pajiba

1. Patrick Duffy (but I only talked to him on the phone)
2. George H. W. Bush
3. Traci Lords

Sad.

David Suzuki. I was eight, my sister was parked outside a health food store, idling her car. David Suzuki knocked on the window and told us idling a car for more than twenty seconds was a bad idea.

And this woman isn't famous, but I met Darren Aronofsky's mom and she had nothing but bitter things to say about him and how he never called her. Haha.

My second cousin is Ricky Martin. Don't laugh!

I had Orlando Bloom cut me off in traffic in Manhattan Beach, that fucker. He used my initial "holy shit that's Orlando Bloom" shock to just sneak right in, hahaha. Can't blame him I guess, didn't stop me from flipping the bird to a movie star.

I drunkenly ran into Horatio Sans on Hollywood Blvd. and said I hated SNL, then hugged him. He was laughing pretty hard, it was great hahaha.

I don't think I've ever met anyone famous. the closest I came was that one time I sold chocolate to Jada Pinkett Smith's sister (they have the same eyes). Or possibly it was her cousin.

Oh, and a couple local radio personalities and news people. But I doubt they count.

I was an extra in a made-for-TV movie starring Rip Torn and Peter Strauss and got to meet them both. Peter Strauss is a really nice guy. Rip Torn...not so much.

I've met the guys from OK Go, that's pretty much the only celebrities I've actually met face to face, and it might be a stretch to call them celebrities. Woo. I'm boring.

Wait, I also worked at Raven's training camp and met a bunch of them. And when I was doing wardrobe on Jesus Christ Superstar I met Ted Neely who was apparently quite the thing back before I was born.

I met with Condoleeza Rice and Hillary Clinton at my church when I was doing my little commencement thing, but my proudest one was when John Calipari recruited me when I was a freshman in high school.

1. Joe Strummer
2. Peter Green
3. Bert Blyleven

Leonard Nimoy used to come into the place I worked serving tables in Lake Tahoe. He loved our clam chowder or some shit, so he was there pretty frequently with his wife. I never said anything Spock-related.

Prepare to be amazed!

1) Pedro Miguel Arce - Georgie Pulu in Are we Done Yet?, St. Peter in The Red Balloon, Pilsbury in Land of the Dead and an episode of each; CSI and HIMYM, plus other things. He used to be the Manager at the Famous Players theatre in my neighborhood, he would let the hubby and I in for free because they were friends.

2) Jack Syperek - Bassist for The Trews - they played on the local military base in Sept/08 (first and only concert I've ever been to, but it rocked!) Just before it was all said and done some ass pulled the fire alarm. Outside, I turned around and he was right in my face! I said "You're the bassist", he said "Yeah", I said "You were awesome!" I am so smooth.

3) There is no three. I need to get out more.

Well, I've only really met one famous person, which I guess secures my unimportance in the scheme of things for all time.

I met Lou Diamond Phillips when he was playing the king in the King and I on Broadway. A group of my classmates and I waited in ambush at the stage door. The poor guy - once he came out we swarmed around him like sharks who smelled blood in the water. Being theater geeks, we were SUPER excited to tell Lou that we'd just finshed a production of The King and I and how the lead's pants fell off onstage, and various other little details that couldn't have been less interesting, I'm sure. Nevertheless, though, he couldn't have been more gracious or patient with us and actually took the time to shake all of our hands and tell us how glad he was to have met us before pedalling off into the sunset.

It was a great expereince all together and I can't say enough good things about LDP; he went above and beyond the call of duty and was so considerate of us. It was wonderful.

my second cousin was on the tv show major dad. I met him once. Thats the only famous person outside of sports that I have met. Ron Jaworski and Dick Vermeil were my favorites. Oh and my neighbors were friends with Tom Herr. So we got to go into the clubhouse. Lenny Dykstra walked out with a big wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth and a handful of bananas. I will never forget what he said to me, "Get out of the way kid"

Doug Savant & his lovely wife Laura Leighton (Sidney from Melrose Place) at The Great Greek in LA

Angie Everhart at a dive bar in Akron, Ohio. We talked about our hair. For far longer than was actually interesting or necessary.

I had dinner at Sally Struther's house. Sweetest woman EVER.

1. I did a phone interview with Deborah "Debbie" Gibson once when I was working for an entertainment magazine. She was sweet as can be, but I really had to hold myself back from singing Electric Youth.

2. Although this was a group situation I think it counts. I was photographing a concert for the magazine once and got too close to Kenny Rogers for his comfort...he made one of his bodyguards ask me to leave.

3. On vacation to New York City, my husband and I were poking around the lobby of the Chelsea Hotel. A guy who looked really familiar wandered in, did a couple of circuits, caught me looking at him, came over and said "hi," and then left. Later I figured out he was Richard Kind.

Sinbad in a music shop in L.A. He's very tall.

Bill Maher at a show in Vegas. He's very small.

Meb Keflezighi on the trails by my apartment. One morning he did the first 10 min of my run with me.

John Rhys Davis, at a big nerdy party celebrating the Return of the King's Oscar nominations (and wins) in LA. The whole cast eventually got there after the ceremony, but JRD was there bright and early, drinking and going around chatting with people. He was awesome, low-key and has a barrel of a laugh.

I also got to hold an Oscar (one of the sound guys I think), and almost dropped it.

At the pre-party I also met the guy who played Sauron (Sala Baker), the big Uruk Hai at the end of FOTR (Lawrence Makaore) and Bruce Hopkins, who played Gamling in TTT. They were pretty hilarious, too, just messing around with everybody and helping set up the party.

Anwar Sadat- My dad was protecting him back in his Secret Service days, so I got to meet him when I was six. He picked me up, said, "What a beautiful little girl!" and kissed my cheek. Less than a year later, my mom told me he had been assassinated. That's when I learned what "assassinate" means. It's also when I learned that there are people in the world who have no problem killing good, kind men.

Robert Patrick- I waited on him and his little girl a couple of years back, and they were the sweetest daddy-daughter team ever. He was all bulked up and muscular, wearing a HUGE silver ring shaped like a skull, yet coloring pictures with the little girl and doting on her like crazy. Plus, I can tell you firsthand he is extremely nice to waitresses, both in disposition and tippage: He left me a $25 tip on a $20 check.

I got to work for 3 days on The Office as a semi-featured extra (Season 2 finale, I'm the only casino-night waitress with a ponytail). The whole cast was unbelievably laid back and friendly. They treated the extras like regular cast/crew members, which in my experience is extremely rare. Of all of them, Rainn Wilson, Steve Carell, and the actors who play Oscar and Merideth were the friendliest.

I met all of the Ramones when they played at my uni in the early 80s. All pretty nice, but you could tell they didn't get along with each other very well. They liked talking about SciFi and bad horror movies. I had wrangled a place on the Student Union concert committee just for this sort of opportunity.

Met the Pretenders sitting in the bar of the old Georgian Terrace Hotel in Atlanta in 1980. They were playing at the Agora Ballroom next door and about six of us were sharing a room at the hotel. Chrissie Hynde was awesomely cool and very nice.

Rode in an elevator with Sienna Miller at the Hudson Hotel in NYC about two years ago. The electronic locking system for the doors was down, so everyone had to be escorted to their rooms by an employee, and she had to wait, while Mr Smith and I were taken to our room first. She has crappy taste in clothes and no manners.

Also met The Police, Iggy Pop, Joan Jett, The Go Gos, X, The Professionals (the two Sex Pistols you never heard of), and others. No, I wasn't a groupie, I just had lots of music industry connections in my youth.

Yes, I am old.

I met Ben Kweller at a bike shop next to the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. Me and my friend Chase chatted with him about bikes and his family and gigs. Then he left. We thought about going to this guitar shop around the corner, but we realized he might have been going there to, so we ran to the store using an alternate route so we could beat him there and he wouldn't think we were following him, which led to our humorous inside joke, "Quick, we have to beat Ben Kweller to the guitar shop!"

I once had Demetri Martin sign a burned copy of his CD. You should have seen the look on his face!

I shook Barack Obama's hand at his very first rally in Minneapolis. There's a long, semi-funny story behind that, but I won't get into it.

Christopher Moore signed my copy of the book Lamb. Which, you know, was awesome.

I met Brother Ali (I have a picture with him on my Facebook profile) after he performed at my school in April.

Okay, the following isn't my story, but since I don't think this person has ever heard of this site, I'll tell their story, because it's great: A friend of a friend was once walking down a sidewalk (imagine that!) and who else but BILL fucking MURRAY walked up next to him/her. He/she kept glancing at him, because he/she wasn't sure if it was him. Finally, Bill Murray turns and says, "I'm exactly who you think I am."

Kind of lame: I met Reagan. It was close to 100 degrees and middle-of-Iowa-summer humid and he was crisp and cool looking. It was a little creepy actually.

Euan Morton, star of mega-flop Broadway musical Taboo, threw a lit cigarette at me on the streets of NYC. He fucked up my outfit for an audition and I will never forgive him. Never.

Cyndi Lauper smashed right into me while I was walking into a hotel in Las Vegas with my family. Firecracker, that one. Cursed me out and everything. I was 14 at the time.

And for Reality TV: I wound up being able to spoil Laura Bennet presenting a collection in Project Runway Season 3 because I met her in Mood buying trim for her collection. We talked about home design as a secondary business for a few minutes. Total sweetheart. We saw each other a few other times on the street my last year in NYC and she actually remembered me.

And my pussy moment: I had the opportunity to chat up Tim Gunn and wound up just gawking like an idiot and regretting it later. I did, however, chat up Malan and Emmett that same day, so I can't feel too bad about being awestruck by collected talent and intelligence.

I live in Hawaii so:

Jorge Garcia at the comic book shop, he was buying the Lost action figures.

Daniel Dae Kim at the film festival here, though he has opened up a burger joint that's supposed to be awesome.

Josh Holloway at Starbucks.

The dude who plays Miles while they were filming his scene in a scuzzy motel near my gym.

Damn it seems like I've only met the dudes from Lost.

John Cleese, who spilled his drink on me at a post-lecture reception at the Palmer House in Chicago. He's really really tall!

Charleton Heston, who walked me back to my tent, John Rhys Davies, who bought a round for my friends and I, with Maude Adams around a campfire under a Kenyan midnight sky.

Bill Curtis, at Saks Fifth Ave, when there was one in Oak Brook, IL. He hosted a Breast Cancer Awareness Gala there.

Oh and one for the Chi-town pajiba readers: Governer Thompson at an antique show. He was standing right behind me and I turned and walked right into him. We were looking at a case full of Japanese ivory carvings, naughty ones....

Uh… relatively famous in Australia:

I met Chas Licciardello who, along with his wife, was on the same canceled flight from San Francisco to Sydney as I was! We chatted a bit (I had no idea who he was), but when I went to a taping of his show a few months later, he and his wife were gracious and claimed to remember me rather convincingly.

Speaking of Australia, I know a guy who met former PM John Howard while STILL IN OFFICE at random in LAX.

1. Jim Rose (of the Jim Rose Circus). Saw his show in Scotland, got a poster autographed.

2. I sat a few tables from Patrick Stewart in an Ann Arbor diner once, but I was polite and didn't pester him, so I don't know if that counts as meeting.
sadly, that's all I got.

But if I ever meet Christopher Moore and he autographs Lamb for me, I can just go ahead and die because nothing will ever be as good for me... ever.

Sadly, I've met no one famous. However, my stepbrother bumped fists with Alex Rodriguez and one of my best friends drank with Ray Liotta while he was filming in Des Moines.

So fucking weak, dude. I am disgusted by myself.

1. Tom Cruise, who needed the pay phone behind me at the 1997 Golden Globes. He politely said he'd wait. I hurried my conversation and was then belligerently forced off the phone by an agent. Amazing that Tom was the nice one in this story.

2. Peter Gabriel. Introduced myself to him at this year's Oscars. That was pretty cool.

3. Patton Oswalt. There are many I've met more famous than Patton, but I think it's much cooler to have met him.

Paul Giamatti on the uptown R line in an otherwise empty subway car.

Lisa Edelstein playing with her doggies in the Tompkins Square Park.

Terry Pratchett - just chatting in a bar.

Robert Silverberg - party.

Greg Benford - party.

Yeah, it was a Worldcon - Melbourne 1999

I've met a few people.

Shigeru Miyamoto! (Inventor of Mario and Zelda) my hero, he signed my gameboy.

Alan Tudyk in a cafe in NY. Asked him why he was killed in Firefly. D:

Michelle Yao, I gave her a tour of Notre Dame

Mandy Moore, ditto.

Regis Philban, ditto.

Eve Ensler, at a V day rally at Notre Dame.

The actor/director of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, I ran a screening of his film at a film fest, he didn't like my aspect ratio reasoning but was otherwise lovely.

David Lynch at a school function in Boston. He was vague.

Scott McCloud the comic artist, Several WWD wrestlers including the guy that runs it whose name I have forgotten (he accidentally sat on me at a party then asked me who my favorite wrester was...

and that is about it. I've also directed actors from CSI and minor actors from Firefly for voice recording via phone but that isn't really "meeting" them.

Yeah, I suppose Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve when the "Welcome To The Voice" company was having their aftershow dinner at the same place the Costello-l mailing list was. I was sober enough to realize that the Amaretto was talking to Steve as much as I was.

Third...third.....well, Jane Fonda and Claire Forlani both came to my register at Borders, I've talked to Ted Leo before or after shows a few times, but I guess I'll go with Mark Mytrowitz coming through my line at Walmart in Athens. I looked at his bank card. ".....are you Microwave?" He seemed tickled that I knew who he was.

I've only met/ talked to for a length of time a few NHL players in person, hopefully that's famous enough. :)

Random:

1) talked to Rod McKuen on the phone/ emailed Andy Richter & Drew Carey (they've ordered from my company)

2) with my mom as she asked Kevin Bacon for directions in NYC without realizing who he was

1. Roger Ebert - Went to a book signing when he was in town for a film festival. I couldn't find the signing, or any signs that pointed the way to it. I was just about to give up and leave, when I turned around and he was standing right there, in line for coffee. He saw the book in my hand and asked if I'd like an autograph. I ended up talking to him for 5 or 10 minutes, mostly about silent film, before he left to go to the official signing.

2. Ken Kesey - He lived in a small town very near where I grew up. When I was in high school, we did a play with some video segments in it, and he let us come to his farm and film one of the segments on his bus.

3. Dan Quayle - He came to speak at my high school, after he was out of office. After his speech they said he and Barbra Bush, who was with him, would be greeting people out front. My friends and I thought, "We don't want to meet that douchebag, lets go out the back door and avoid the crowd." So we went out the back door, and walked right into the douchbag and his people. Shook his hand out of mere awkwardness, and quickly left.

Living in Hawaii isn't all that it's cracked up to be. I can only hit the beaches on the weekends. And, Lost is going into its final season so no more star gazing for me.

Mike Modano, he was my freinds neighbour and he was a dick.

That's all I got.

"Meet" as in having traded dialogue?

Angelina Jolie, Don Cheadle, Eric Bana

Jimmy Smits

Leslie Nielson

The actors from Radio Free Roscoe and LIfe With Derek

Other celebrities doing cheesy events: Hilary Duff, Raven-Simone (that's what she's calling herself, right?), and my sister's met the high school musical kids minus Efron.

Pure Canadiana coming up: I had a beer with Justin Trudeau in a bar before he got elected and we chatted for an hour on First Nations issues. We were watching the french leadership debate. Stephen Harper popped up on the screen. Justin yells, "Ugh, CREEPY!" Also a memorable quote: "See, this is what I"ve been saying for years! But what do I know? I'm only the son of the god damn Prime Minister of Canada." And I was too young to remember/understand the significance but I met Rick Mercer while he was filming in Halifax.

PS. Ex Sen. George Mitchell has been to my childhood home (when he was senator). And his brother worked for my folks. So F'y'all... Huzzah and hurrah! Go Maine !!

Tim Gunn. After a lecture at my school and he's going to be the speaker at my graduation this Saturday. He seemed really sweet and funny.

Shepard Fairey. It was at a book signing after a lecture at my school but I spoke to him long enough to ascertain that he is a dick.

Guru of Gang Starr, Kid from Kid & Play, Heavy D.

And for design geeks, Matthew Carter, Kenya Hara, and Steven Heller.

coltaine, pick me. figgy my be an awesome baker but I have tons of rope, resolve, and experience in "convincing" hot male celebrities to get in my van.

My sister-in-law's father-in-law (if that makes any sense), with whom I've spent several Thanksgivings, Christmases, etc., is Loren Carpenter, who won an Academy Award for inventing RenderMan, the software that Pixar uses for its animation. He told me that he worked for Pixar, but I had no idea he was a co-founder of Pixar until I'd met him many times.

When I was 14 I went to a church service at Glide Memorial in San Francisco with Sharon Stone, but I didn't meet her.

I'm also friends with Duane Flatmo, who does the art for the Lost Coast Brewery in Humboldt County (among other amazing things), but he's mostly a local celebrity.

1. Denis Leary. When I was in high school I gave him and his family a tour of a museum north of Boston. Polite, funny, smoked his head off the whole time waiting in line.

2. Heath Ledger/Michelle Williams. When I was a nanny a few years ago I had a playgroup with them. Their baby Matilda was a cute little chubbo and if you didn't know them you'd think they were just another young NY hipster family. Michelle was very petite and looked like she weighed 80lbs.

3. Robert DeNiro (this one hurts!) While working as a nanny I met him in Antigua where the family I was working for had traveled to for Christmas. He was there with his wife and children and made the other nanny I was with cry because she was taking pictures of the beach and accidentally got a picture of one of his sons. He ran up to her screaming and she was terrified. He looked like you think he would, except he had a potbelly that reminded me of my dad.

Honorable Mentions:
-Cameron Diaz
-Chris Rock
-RuPaul (when he was out of drag)
-The cowboy from The Village People
-Kira Knightley
-Tim Robbins (VERY nice! Actually had a long conversation about Shawshank Redemption.)
-B.D. Wong from Law and Order (asshole.)

1. Kiefer Sutherland cut in front of me in line once years ago at Universal Studios. Jerk, thinks he's so special. I didn't talk to him, I just glared.

2. About two months ago, we went to a One Sunset because a high school friend of a friend is working as a sous chef. Evidently the entire cast of Grey's Anatomy was there, but while most of them left discreetly out the back, Eric Dane and a VERY pissed off Rebecca Gayheart came to the front while I was waiting for my hubby to bring around the car. I felt bad for him, you could feel the waves of pissed-off-ed-ness coming off her.

3. I don't have any more, but overly touchy mother in law once assaulted Keanu Reeves in a music store. But she assaults everybody she sees...

Both mine are kind of "ehh" but I live in Maine, so I take what I can get.
1. Jim Gaffigan when he came to Portland for a comedy show. I figured I'd be cool because he isn't too big of a deal, but within five feet of him I started to mentally freak out.
2. Terry Crews- AKA huuuge guy from White Chicks who sings that Michelle Branch song in the car. My senior class was in NYC for a trip in 07 and we went to an performance of Chicago. During intermission we saw him and a few of us went up to get a picture. Really nice guy, ridiiicculously jacked.

1. Henry Motherfucking Rollins: Got to meet him backstage after last year's Tulsa show. Used the opportunity to find out he drives a Suburu Outback. Go figure.

2. John Lithgow: NYC street-level encounter, April 2001. Underwhelming.

3. Janet Reno: Elevator in D.C. while acting as ambassador for a law school society. Very strong handshake.

Dustin Rowles.

Christian the first part of your comment I saw was "My dad knocked Stephen King on his ass," and I immediately assumed your dad was driving that car that ran into him a while back.

I once did a sit down interview with Danny Devito during a college trip to a small, North Carolina documentary festival.

I also almost knocked Sara Silverman over.

1. Hilary Clinton at a memorial service in Albany, NY. She was very cold (I'm talking her personality, not her body temp), and acted put off by the attention focused on her. Granted, we were at someone’s memorial service, and so I suppose it wasn’t the time or place for people to get star struck, but she wasn’t the only famous politician there, and she actually left before the service ended. And she didn’t even bring Bill with her damnit!

2. Liam Gallagher from Oasis at a French restaurant (forget the name) that's across the road from Harrods in London. I couldn’t understand most of what he said, and I am pretty sure he was loaded, but he was surprisingly friendly despite (or perhaps this is precisely WHY he was friendly) being confronted (and kind of molested) by a gaggle of giggling female American college students.

3. The guys from Green Day. I was visiting friends at UVM, and the Green Day fellas were there visiting their friends, who happened to be friends of my friends. We rode bikes with them for hours and then hung out at my friends’ house. The drummer asked me to have sex with him, as straightforward as that. And though he was a sweetheart he smelled funny, so I turned him down…. And also I was 16 (I'm pretty sure he didn't know that though).

These required far more explanation than needed. But damnit I am still excited about these random encounters!

1. Liv Tyler - In line at Ralphs.
2. Stephen Spielberg - through work
3. David Duchovny - shower at a gym. was a little awkward.

Andy Dick once used me as a human shield. That's about it.

OH YEAH! I met Dian Bachar (Choder Boy from Orgazmo) and Seth Green at freaking comiccon!

When I worked at the Barnes and Noble in the Grove in Los Angeles, in the DVD section, I used to help tons of people: Justin Long, Paris Hilton, Juliet from Lost, Meg White, Lou Gosset Jr, Terence Howard, Fred Durst, Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith, Mackenzie Crook, Bob Odenkirk, Michael Emerson (Ben from Lost -- he was the nicest guy), Simon Cowell, Richard Dreyfus. Chris Rock came in so many times we were going to give him a name badge.

These are my three favorite:

1. Alison Janney was trying to buy a CD for a Christmas present, and couldn't remember what it was called. I made her sing it to me. It was "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley.

2. Carrie Fisher made us stay open fifteen minutes past closing because she had so many purchases to ring up between her and her...son, nephew? I was straightening the front as she was leaving, apologizing to us. She says to me, "Thank you so much for staying open." I reply, "Thank you for saving us from the Empire."

3. John Larroquette and his wife were so very nice. He was the only one I ever gushed over, telling him how much of a fan I was of his work.

Chris Pine: I went to college with him and took a class or two with him, I think. I was doing costume design at the time and I believe I fitted him in suits for a play: Charles Mee's Orestes.

Sean Penn: In Marin County Movie theatre where I watched Whale Rider. He was sitting 2 seats away. Later I saw him on street. he did give me an eye like"do you know who I am?" I was just smiling.

Robin Williams: I actually got Scholarship from him and had to write thank you letter. Few years later I saw him in Japan Town, SF and told him so. He shook my hands and I think he also attempted to say something in Japanese which I did not get.

Oh, and I don't know if he qualify as a famous person but, I met Jack Osborne at my friends party somewhere in LA. Later he dropped by when me and friends were watching football, with some Jackass people he was hanging out with at the time. (The place we were at was the apartment of the girl who threw up in the Jackass movie)

I think Jack had a crush on one of our friends. Anyway, despite of it being Sunday and all, they were talking about some other party they are going, not interacting with anyone at the place. Then, he picks up a guitar and calling attention, "Check this out!" and starts playing Iron Man... True Story.

Then he left.

Matthew Broderick and Edward Zwick (director) on the set of GLORY when I was 5. They were both very nice and took a picture with me.

Rebecca Romijin Stamos (she was still married at the time) was more gorgeous in person than she is in pictures. She was also super, super nice.

John Stamos (he was a dick) I told him he was lucky anyone wanted his autograph.

Britt Daniels from Spoon at a gig at the 40 watt. One very cool, laid back guy.

Michael Stipe multiple times in Athens, GA: during Athfest, at the Go Bar. He drives an 80s Volvo Station wagon and is very quiet and humble.

Pete Yorn's band. We smoked pot and listened to my Stone Roses CD. I felt awesome and was "put on the list" for their show in atlanta the next night.

Bret Easton Ellis at a book signing. He was soooo freaking nice. . . totally unlike his characters, which was kinda jarring in a good way. I'm also pretty sure he was co-hitting on my girlfriend and I. He actually seemed genuinely interested in what I was saying.

Stephan Jenkins, the singer from Third Eye Blind. He was cool but kind of a dick at the same time. Now he'd probably be happy if someone let him cut in line at starbucks. . . .

insertclevernamehere, you win for thinking on your feet.

1.) Barack Obama. Shook his hand at the Iowa State Fair, and was completely dumbstruck. I'd been planning on making a witty comment about his recent appearance at a HNC debate, but I was too nervous to say a word. My friend Kristy marched right up to him, bold as brass, carrying a novelty drink -- a plastic boot full of daiquiri. She said, "Hey there, Barack Obama, will you take a picture with me and my boot?" She got an awesome picture.

2.) David Krumholtz. Ran into him on three separate occasions while we were both on vacation in Italy. The first two times, outside a restaurant in Rome and then at a gift shop in Naples, I let him alone. When we ended up standing next to one another on the train platform waiting for our train, I couldn't help myself any longer -- and I didn't want him to think I was a scary stalker. We ended up having a rather nice five minute conversation about our vacations.

3.) David Hyde Pierce, Hank Azaria, Christopher Sieber, and Tim Curry -- backstage after a preview show of "Spamalot." All very sweet, even though it was freezing and they most likely had New Year's Eve parties to get to. Tim Curry gave my sister a hug -- she nearly died of joy. DHP, Hank Azaria, and Tim Curry were all much shorter than expected. Christopher Sieber was enormous, and incredibly cute.

Also, randomly, my mom taught Adam Baldwin high school drama in the early eighties, and he got to hold me when I was a newborn. So I've met Jayne AND Mr. Universe.

And "met" by proxy:

My Grandma's 2nd husband, both of them SAG members, were friends with Kirk Douglas.

One of the girl I knew almost slept with Woody Harrelson, who chose Yoga over her.

Alec Baldwin.
The Virginia art gallery where I worked hosted a sort of anti-Ollie-North-for-Senate rally back in 1994, and Mr. Baldwin gave the big speech.
The gallery was a co-op and had no boss, and none of the artists on the board were interested in star-fucking. They simply rented the big space out to the Democrats for the day and let the interns (me and two other girls) run the show.
We didn't really have anything to do or talk about while the media was setting up and all had to hang out in the tiny crows-nest office over-loking the big open gallery. Alec disappeared into the even tinier bathroom directly adjacent the office and we got the feeling he was hiding out. His assistant made small talk, told us Baldwin had his back waxed. Shortly before the thing was to begin, he attempted to leave the bathroom, but couldn't get the door open. The lock had jammed, a common problem all the interns had forgot to mention. He was panicked and jerking on the door from the inside and we were gathered on other side, shouting advice. Someone said, "You just have to jiggle it a little!" which sent the assistant into a giggle fit.
The lock popped, he opened the door and swept out, and his previously perfectly slicked-back hair was falling down around his face. It reminded me of Barney Fife after a particularly stressful Mayberry event.
Ollie North lost.

I need to get an e-mail alert or something whenever there's a new post. I always get here way after the party is over and I feel like I'm just talking to myself.

Anyway, I was at LAX and Elliot Gould let me cut him in line because he was too busy on the phone.

A day before that, I saw Tom and Colin Hanks having tacos in Santa Monica. I wish I had seen that clip that was posted here on Pajiba recently, because then I would have felt encouraged to go up and say hi. I always assume celebrities want to be left alone.

I met Jerry Lisenby, a contestant from the Biggest Loser, on a road in Missouri last summer. We were both biking across the country, going opposite ways and we stopped to chat and compare tales.

1. Went to high school and summer camp with Chris Farley (he was my canoeing partner on our Canadian camping trip.
2. Was Harlan Ellison's gopher/bodyguard for a lecture series.
3. Got heckled by Charles Band (head of Full Moon Studios) while I was performing stand-up.
4. Bummed a beer off PJ O'Roarke after his "Modern Manners" lecture at the University of Wisconsin back in 1982.
5. Wrote at the Daily Cardinal with Scott Dikkers, Maria Schnieder, John Krewson, and Todd Hanson (The original writing staff of the Onion) at University of Wisconsin.

(Bonus)
My mother was a bridesmaid at Martin Landau's and Barbara Bain's wedding. She was Barbara's college dorm roommate.

I used to work in a record shop in London a few years back and quite a few famous types would pop in now and again. During my stint there I "met"...

1) Gary Oldman, very shifty looking and quite shy. He bought a Sir Mix-A-Lot and a Chet Baker CD, a curious coupling.

2) Tim Roth. Very friendly, smiley. Was buying a Super Nintendo for a small boy he had with him.

3) Elton John. Avoided eye contact at all times, bad wig. Bought an absolute crapload of CDs, was so flustered I forgot to give him discount. Ah well.

4) Kylie Minogue. Very small, friendly. Bought a 70's disco compilation.

5) Paul Young. Friendly, had the honour of showing him to our Christmas cassette corner. Woo.

Here we go...a very British list...

Muse - bunch of ego inflated twats.

Bob Hoskins

Ian Botham (cricketeer)

Gary Lineker (having once been a HUGE Spurs fan, I nearly died. AND I got to sit next to him for a photo. Sigh. Those ears)

Robert Lindsay (you know...from Hornblower? I think he was trying to chat my Mum up)

My nearly celebrity meeting - and the one I will always rue - was the evening I went for a meal with my family in a restaurant in London and saw Damon Albarn enjoying a meal. We sat downstairs and I spent ages plucking up the courage to ask him for an autograph. By the time I did, he'd gone. I was 13 and CRUSHED.

Also saw Kevin Rowland (Dexy's Midnight Runners) the other day walking around wearing a lime green and yellow golfing outfit complete with matching hat with pompom on top. Indeed.

Oh, I forgot - most recently, Donald Sutherland and Judd Nelson in the bar at the Hilton Universal City, the weekend before Easter this year. (Not together, as far as I could tell).

And Sam Anderson at this year's 'Lost Weekend' charity party the same weekend, then at the Lankershim Art Centre in WeHo, after seeing his play. Also Sterling Beaumon (wee Ben Linus), Andrea Gabriel (Nadia) and Gregg Nations at the party. And Javier Grillo-Marxuach took us all bowling the night before. (He usually does that, I have a signed 'Middleman' issue one he brought along one time).

At previous LW parties I've also met Greg Grunberg, Daniel Dae Kim, William Mapother, Harold Perrineau, Maggie Grace, L. Scott Caldwell, and a shitload of others. Also, on the non-acting side, JJ Abrams, Bryan Burk, Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof, and David Fury.

Huh. Anyone would think I was a Lost fan... ;-)

I am a huge sports fan, so guess where this is headed?
- Chris Evert - Breathtaking in person. My first big crush. Very sweet lady.
- Martina Navratilova - Physically intimidating.
- Mark Gastineau (old NY Jets d-lineman, used to hold single season sack record) - I helped him and his daughter get away from abusive fans at a Chargers playoff game in '05. HUGE dude. Very nice guy.
- Roger Craig (RB for 49ers in the '80s) - Waited on him in Centerville, OH of all places.
- Jamal Lewis (Browns RB, former UTenn star) - Met him at a car wash at UT. I rarely see people at or near the peak of their physical gifts, but that guy was a specimen. Just ridiculous.
- Mike Ditka - Okay, I didn't actually meet him. He was being driven the other way in a golf cart at O'Hare and I yelled, "You're the shit, Ditka!" He gave me a thumbs up. LOVE that guy.

I work in TV and film so I've met quite a lot, but here's a few them...

Kings of Leon - shy shy shy
Franz Ferdinand - fun guys
John Rhys Davies - super cool
Robbie Williams - what a charmer!
Simple Plan - COCKS!
Ryan Gosling - super sweet
Josh Harnett - rubbed his crotch on me - ew!
Paris Hilton - fake fake fake
Take That - lovely guys
Andrew Adamson - nice guy
Donovan Frankenreiter - nice

1. Met Ben Folds when I worked at the University of Pittsburgh at one of the concerts for students.
2. Spike Lee (also in college at Pitt) - was doing a lecture for students
3. Franco Harris at a Steelers luncheon at Heinz Field

Plus an abundant amount more of Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins players over the years.

I love me some Pittsburgh.

ahhhh!

I forgot, I met Tom Savini and Greg Nicotero at a
lecture 2 years ago. One of the greater days in my life.

1. peter mansbridge, in a hospital giftshop. he bought gum.

2.last summer i literally bumped into jill taylor from home improvement

3. my boyfriend met sean lennon through friends while he was living in new york, they played xbox. he called my cell so i could hear their banter and die of jealousy.

I work in London's nightlife industry, so I've met quite a few!

1. Prince William and Prince Harry
2. Kate Moss
3. Sienna Miller
4. The Killers
5. Emma Watson
6. Paris Hilton

... + others

1. Dennis Miller sat at the next table at the Japanese restaurant in the Bellagio. We then ran into him and his two sons at the Mandalay Bay the next day. We waved, he waved. Wow.

2. Georgey Clooney, Brad Pitt & Co. while shooting Ocean's Eleven at the Bellagio (same trip as above).

3. John Digweed (that's DJ John Digweed to all you non-electronica people). This was my DREAM come true. Last year, he was at the House of Blues and I was standing by the stage and after one of his sets he came over and gave me a hug and said "How's it going?" in that scrumptious British accent. Yum.

1. Brendan Gleeson. I work in a music shop i Galway and he's friends with one of the guys who works here so he's in quite a bit. Big man, very big man.

2. Jay Leno. Met him in LA where he told me he had family in Limerick. Someone told him Limerick is like the Bel Air of Ireland. Limerick is in fact more akin to the homeless tramp you wake up to find pissing in your Bel Air swimming pool.

3. Sam Elliot. Came into the shop and bought a Tanglewood travel guitar. He's tall and charming and plays some kick ass guitar.

1. Keanu Reeves-I was an extra in a movie of his (Tune in Tomorrow-it was a bomb) and got to talk to him. Also, I hit him in the back of the head, but that was an accident.

2. Julia Roberts-met her in a bar while she was filming the Pelican Brief. She was hanging out with the crew, and was friendly to everyone.

3. Chris Berman-I've been on a few flights with him back to Connecticut.

1. Ryan Gosling such a sweetheart. Ran into him one night at my favorite dive and we both seemed to be celebrating respective birthdays. Kept to himself a lot, smoked quiet often, and had so many MEN fanboying over him it made me giggle. Every person that approached him was offered a seat at his table to have a conversation. Upon leaving my drunk friend left at the same time as him and burst out with a "You're absolutely gorgeous you know that?" His reply "Well sweetheart I was just thinking the same as thing..." Stunned silence "Have a good night" and so he smiled and faded into the night.

2. Dave Grohl Through work...more then once. Got ridiculously drunk with him one night and he ended up being quiet possibly the coolest man ever.We told him ridiculous things in a drunken haze and he replied back just as ridiculously. Seriously the nicest man in rock. And the rest of the Foos as well.

3. Alec Baldwin at an event "gala" where I went to slug back free champagne and sushi. I kept randomly ending up next to him (lines, seating, everything) all night. He probably thought I was stalking him.

Runner up: Lance Armstrong The guy is creepy. I have no words to accurately convey this, but he is. He reeks of grown up "bro". Met him twice at various events.

Honorable mentions: Spoon (amazing chill guys who can DRINK), Owen Wilson (almost ran me over on his bike), Ryan Adams (talks FOREVER, but surprisingly swwet), Michael Stipe , Andrew Bird (softspoken and extremely sweet).

1) I used to be a really big Jewel fan about 10 years ago. I went to this fan-only concert in Nashville with 100 other people. I asked her to play an old song that she forgot, so she had me come up on stage and tell her how to play it and sing along with her. Naturally, I fell apart.

2) When I lived in California, Jason Mraz was just starting out. We became friends and played some gigs together. No matter how much of a douche he seems, he's still one of the nicest, funniest, most laid back people I've ever know.

3) This one's two-fold. I was an extra on Runaway Jury. At one point, I actually ran full on into Rachel Weisz. She survived standing up, but I fell flat on my ass. She was so apologetic and must have sat there hugging me for at least 5 minutes before some people pulled her away.

About 20 minutes later (this was at a mall, by the way), my ex, who is also an extra, decides to tell me that he's converting to be a Jehovah's Witness to marry the girl he cheated on me with. While he's telling me this, John Cusack is in his chair practically leaning against my back randomly laughing at ex's explanation. Finally, he just turns around and says, "Why are you even talking to this guy?" while still laughing. Made my fucking LIFE.

alicia silverstone
mo rocca
chris thile from nickel creek

Anthony Hopkins
Jack Nicholson
Ozzy Osbourne

Oh...

Anthony Hopkins -- bluest eyes I've ever seen, stared straight into mine when we spoke, kindest man I've ever met.

Jack Nicholson -- came onto me. This was twenty years ago, when I was young and hot.

Ozzy Osbourne -- really WAS as completely fucked up as he was on the TV show, but maybe he just wasn't sober that day. Totally incoherent. And very, very short. And frail.

Tim Curry in New York. It was an internal geekgasm of epic proportions. My friend actually made him laugh his ass off with some snarky comment about how he may have been better than the kid playing Jim in Muppets Treasure Island.

Aaand, most recently, Bret McKenzie. Extremely random encounter at an indie record store with my boyfriend where all three of us were just looking for music. A signed copy of their first season, a picture, an accidental cell phone video (thank you, record store clerk) later, we have a fun story to pull out.

Plus the record store guy, after saying he was a huge fan, not-ironically referred to him as British . . . seriously . . . ?

oh yeah, and i met one of the dogs (london) who played the (new) littlest hobo.

that's the only time i've ever been star struck.

Man, I haven't met anyone. My biggest two were original cast members of Rent, on separate occassions.

1. Taye Diggs-I was seeing Rent in '96 with my mom, and he bumped into me. He touched my shoulder, apologized, grinned, and walked into the cast door. I almost passed out from the glory of his smile.

2. Anthony Rapp-was playing Beaver college back when my friend went there. We hung out after the show and talked to him, he was incredibly affable.

3. Gavin DeGraw-years ago when he was starting out. Probably the nicest guy I've ever met, he was so excited that so many people came out to see him.

Lately I've been seeing quite a bit of Danny Bonaduce on the streets of Philly, looking all roided out and angry with his tiny tee shirts. He lives behind my favorite bar, my friends and I keep joking that we're going to start a website called "Pass the Duce."

I was on the programming council at my school so that was a chance to meet a lot of famous people - some for better reasons than others (a ton of Real World/Road Rules kids, for example). I also like to loiter after concerts. Anyway, some of my favorites have been...

1. Zach Galifianakis
2. Lewis Black
3. John Edwards (I'm from Chapel Hill. He came to my high school, I went to a birthday bash/fundraising event, and now he lives right up the road from my parents)
4. Jeffrey Ross (very funny, very sweet. Was screening his movie Patriot Act and we got to talking about the Middle East b/c that's my field of study)
5. Duncan Sheik (screw you if you're laughing, I love him! Having dinner with him and his band was one of the highlights of my life)

probably my best one, though was Willie Nelson. Met him after a show. I was about 16, with my mom, and in line with everyone else to get to meet him. I was so nervous when we got up there. He asked me if he could have a hug, I guess to try to make me feel better. Awesome.

This sucks balls. I've never met anybody.

I waited on Jason Robards. Whoop-de-friggin'-doo.

I also waited on Dear Abby. That bitch could drink...

I can out-lame you. skitz. A friend of mine and I were in St. Maarten in the eighties checking out of a hotel. She tripped over her suitcase and fell on none other than Frank Perdue. Yes, the chicken dude. He picked her up and then tried to, well, pick her up. Unfortunately we were catching our flight home and couldn't go "see his villa" as he offered. The best part of the story was that people accused us of making it up when we got back. Like, who the fuck would make up a story about meeting Frank Perdue?

I made Henry Rollins laugh. I punched a boy in a mosh pit and knocked him over in 1992. Hank laughed and said, "That's my kinda woman!" If was the third proudest moment of my life. It started a few years of postcarding, anyone can tell you both he and his assistant Stan were Masters of Postcard Humor. They once ranked women by "taste quality" cross-referenced with hair color.

I had pizza with Beck and his gf Leigh a really long time ago.

That douche singer from the Twilight Singers who looks like a dimestore Elvis. He used to always be around. Bleh!

1. Leslie Nielson - I was about six at the time, and we saw him at LAX. My brother and I got his autograph. He asked us where we were going and when we answered "Hawaii" he said "I love Hawaii. I love Hawaiian women."

2. Cuba Gooding Jr. - I was 18 or so. We saw him in a hotel lobby at Disneyworld around midnight. He was nice and took pictures with us even though he seemed tired. My brother asked him to say "show me the money" and he said "no way, man."

3. Lewis Black - Freshman year of college (2000) I saw his standup show at the Acme Comedy Club in Minneapolis. He was hanging out at the bar before the show and I chatted with him a bit. He was friendly and sarcastic, and I've been in love with him ever since.

4. Jay Mohr - I saw the taping of the finale of the first season of Last Comic Standing. I told him that Jerry Maguire is one of my favorite movies and he said "No way! Its my favorite movie, too!" Then he added, "just kidding, its Goodfellas."

My time as an actor in Vancouver afforded me a fair number of bigguns to rub shoulders with in various capacities. (I too have a "Bacon factor" of one, having subbed in at a readthrough for some flick he did with Chalize Theron - pre Oscar). But some of my faves:

1 Arnold Shwarzenegger. I was in the 6th Day as a security guard of the place he is trying to break into.
2 Omar Sharif. I was basically a "Utility Viking in 13th Warrior)
3. Kate Jackson. On her directorial debut doing an episode of Dead Man's Gun.

I have the "brag wall" photos of all of them. But I used to love how all the girls spotted me and Arnie, and the boys would spot me and Traci Lords.

Honourable mentions (If I may indulge myself):
George Kennedy.
Jessica Alba. I was "Mole" in Dark Angel.
Sidney Poitier.
Billy Connolly. I made a complete fool out of myself.

I also have an interesting by-proxy.

My brother just graduated from CU Denver, where he was a film student.

A couple years ago Daisy from Daisy of Love (I think its a Rock of Love spinoff) auditioned for one of his student films.

He didn't cast her, said she was awful. HUGE boobs, though.

- I met Matthew Broderick during his second run of The Producers with Nathan Lane. He asked to borrow my pen to sign an autograph, then took a picture with me.

- Met Damian Lewis and Aaron Eckhart, both on the same night, in London. Funny story, Damian Lewis was retrieving his bike from behind the theater and I was pointing at him trying to remember his name. His agent, who was along with him for said retrieval, promised me an autograph if I could get his name right. Sure enough, I got it right and got an autograph. Not too long after that, Aaron Eckhart walked out of the theater and signed the same program I had Mr. Lewis sign. (I also kinda sorta met Julia Stiles that night, but she wasn't doing autographs because of being knocked over by some rabid fans a couple nights prior.)

- Met Dermot Mulroney, as well as a shitload of crewmembers, supporting players, and the director on the set of The Family Stone. I also kinda sorta met Claire Danes, because she walked past me to stand in front of a heater that was right next to me. I was advised that she was "skitish of the public" so I didn't say anything. Moral of the story: if they're filming a movie on your college campus, say you're with the school paper. (It also helped that I was with the paper, and got a nice story printed out of the whole thing.)

- Got Bill Clinton's autograph, and a wave, when I saw him speak at my college.

My husband swore that Mac Danzig went though his checkstand a few months ago and then we checked out his website and he had pictures up from the area. Hubby wishes SO BAD that he would have said something.

Oh yeah, Mac Danzig won Ultimate Figher 7 (I think) and is in the UFC.

When I was 12 my sibs got they're baseball shirts signed by MC Hammer. He was very nice, played a softball game with some local kids when he was in town shooting a film.

My mom met Ted Danson, Danny Devito and Billy Crystal because she works in the one grocery store in town and they were here filming.

My baby brother saw Arnold Swartzeneggers Hummer drive by once.

I've never met anyone. I am sad.

Bill Paxton: I was an extra on the set of The Evening Star (sequel to Terms of Endearment) in a scene in the park. During breaks he through a football back and forth w/me an the other extra that were playing catch and answered our questions about filming Aliens. Really nice guy. Shirley MacLaine on the other hand wouldn't talk to anyone and stayed in her trailer when she wasn't in the scenes

George Foreman: He was sitting across the aisle from me on my flight from Houston to Philadelphia (i got upgraded to 1st class) and he was actually discussing the business strategy for the GF Grill w/a coworker. I told him that I was impressed by his success w/the grill (just kissing ass to make conversation) and he talked to me about my business and gave me a rah-rah speech on how to suceed in life. It was cool.

Michael Jordan: A family member had a 50th b-day party that was friends w/Michael and he attended. He was cordial, but what amazed me was that his hands are huge. I'm 6'3" and I felt like I was a kid shaking hands w/an adult.

I also met a lot of comedians and musicians in 1993 b/c I worked as an intern at a classic rock station in Houston and was able to go back w/the DJ's for interviews at their shows.

Alley Cat - Jay Harrington is a really cool guy. I've known him for about 10 years. And yes, he's a good looking guy.

Colin - I lived one town over from Steelers training camp and met like every Steeler from 1977-1983. Lambert was my favorite. I also had a Primanti's sammich with Chilly Billy Cardilli.

My sister says that God directs her life - I think David Lynch directs mine. Let's see - five of the last seven presidents (six if you count Al), Oprah, Bill Gates, lots of baseball players, two Oscar winners. I had a meal served to me by the Washington Redskins at a charity event, got stuck in an elevator with Gene Roddenberry, played Star Trek with Admiral Rickover and borrowed an extension cord from Ted Kennedy.

The one who had me speechless? I swerved to avoid an accident in a Chicago parking lot and almost ran over Michael Jordan. He was gracious, but I was too terrified to do more than apologize.

Late to the party, but here are my 3:
1) Patrick Stewart
2) Gabriel Byrne
3) Stephen Lewis 3 times! (famous in Canada high ranking diplomat, look him up, he's good stuff)

Howie Long (former NFL player, Radioshack commercial guy) came into the coffee shop I used to work at. I took his money and giggled. Dude is ginormous.

this is late and not that interesting but i met jimmy fallon about a month ago.
i was visiting my sister in NYC and just saw him walking down the street. he was actually about ten times more hilarious than he appears on TV.

The first two are more I was like 10 feet away, but didn't talk to them.

1. Craig T. Nelson - of coach and poltergeist fame.

2. Wee Man - from jackass

3. Sandra Day O' Connor

I interned at the Hawaii international film festival a couple years ago, so that's where I had most of my celebrity and "celebrity" encounters. Daniel Dae Kim was one of the judges, Joan Chen was there to promote a film, and Michael Emerson from Lost was there just to watch a movie one day. And, if you're into Korean actors, I did meet Lee Jun Ki and Joo Jin Mo who were there to promote films. Lee Jun Ki was a pain in everyone's ass so by comparison all the other celebrities were wonderful.

True story, my late grandfather was a high ranking politician in the Sri Lankan government throughout the 80's and 90's, in 1987 he hosted the then British Prime minister, Margret Thatcher to open a new joint Anglo Sri Lankan hydro power project. I was brought along to present a garland to her and our president. While on a tour of the site she happened to get between me and my granddad so being the retarded eight year old that I was, I pincher her ass and ducked in front of her when she turned around. Unfortunately standing there mouth agape (having just witnessed the entire thing and realizing that he would be blamed if she didn't see me) was the president of Sri Lanka. Thankfully, being British she just chalked it down to the "natives being natives" and walked off thus averting a diplomatic incident.

2. Also met Angelina Jolie before she was Branjelina - asked her for a picture and a kiss on the cheek and she obliged on both counts - lovely lass

3. Yasser Arafat (Sri Lanka)

4. Mikhail Gorbachev (London)

5. Trent Reznor (London)

I work at a Best Buy in Pittsburgh and Tom Savini is a regular.

1. Chuck D
2. Maya Angelou
3. Ashford and Simpson (Solid, solid as a rock)

2& 3 were at the same party...and they arrived together.

I've met:

*That chinese guy with the squint from "Big Trouble in Little China" at the Oakland Airport in like 1989. He signed an autograph for my little cousin.

*Sally Struthers - she did a stint at the American Reperatory Theater in San Jose about 10 years ago and stayed at the property I managed.I agree with whoever said she was the sweetest - she really was. Much nicer than the nobody assholes I used to deal with all the time.

*Bubba Paris, a lineback with the 49ers. He lived in the neighborhood where I worked at 7-11. HUGE man with a big heart.

*Speaking of the 49ers - one of the executives I used to work with also did corporate coaching with local sports teams and other groups. One day a coworker and I rudely barged into his closed-door office and walked RIGHT INTO Joe Montana. Needless to say we backed out very slowly as we apologize profusely.

*That chick that sang that song "Bitch" (Meredith Something) and the guys from Inner Circle (the "Bad Boys" cops theme song) also stayed at the hotel I managed. I took the Inner Circle guys on a late night Safeway run. Munchies mayhaps?

*I also met Bill Walsh, former head coash of the 49ers, at training camp one year. He and my uncle had a long conversation about fishing. Nice, nice man.

Joe Strummer backstage Caird Hall Dundee
Ian Curtis backstage Caird Hall Dundee
Lux Interior backstage Nightclub Edinburgh

1. Lemmy, in 2001 when Motorhead rolled through a small club here in NorCal. Got to buy him a beer and hang out and bullshit with him before and after the show. Very laid back, sharp sense of humor.

2. I was a contestant on Win Ben Stein's Money back in 2000 (no, I didn't win, but I did keep beating Ben on the button in the second round where he plays). Stein likes to do the pre-show chat, which was cool. Don't care for his politics, but he's extremely nice. Kimmel didn't talk as much, but he may have had a Man Show taping later or something.

3. Reggie White in his final game (with the Panthers, at Oakland, Christmas Eve 2000). I had seats right behind the Raiders' bench, right where all the players come out. Jack Tatum also came through our area before the game and hung out for a few.

(honorable mention) Back in the hair-metal '80s, I met the members of Mr. Big several times (mutual friends), and Kip Winger once. Nice guys, all of them.