Hey, I Just Bumped Into...

[moxiebean]

nearly literally bumped into Dr Ruth at an art museum - she looked up at me and squaked "hello!"

 

saw James Cromwell in a health food store in Savannah

 

shook Jimmy Carter's hand

 

sat between two bandmembers from 38 Special on a veeerrry long nonstop plane flight between San Juan, Puerto Rico and Baltimore

 

that's all I got

[Lammycat]

Drank some beers with Brent from the Dead after a show in NO at a bar on Bourbon St.

 

Hung out with Vince Welnick for most of an afternoon at the bar he was playing at that night. When I left I said" "I'll talk to ya later...."

[Guest tandylacker]

Not more than two weeks ago I ran into Rick Lantz shopping at Dillard's in Boise, Idaho. Weather man, KTVB NBC affiliate... anyone? anyone... ?

 

Oh...

 

Uh... Saw Mike Tyson with an entourage of fans and muscle jerks walking through the Forum Shops in Caesar's.

 

Saw Whoopi Goldberg shooting craps.

 

Been in an elevator with George Burns.

 

My grandpa was a pretty popular lung doctor in a north Vegas hospital. Had many famous people for patients, disclosed only a couple of them, one being Rodney Dangerfield. Which he said he did not make a single joke during the visit. And then of course the other patient being Tupac, who also didn't make any jokes.

 

Bruce Willis' assistant once called my dad to try and get him to do the drywall in his house near Sun Valley. He wanted him to do it for free since Bruce was so famous. Some friends of my dad's ended up doing the job and Bruce came through the house ripping tape off the wall yelling at everyone telling them they were doing it wrong.

 

Seen many of the Unser clan at a family reunion in some town in Texas.

 

I have worked on many vacation homes owned by pretty famous CEOs of large international companies. Names? Eh, don't know, but they were filthy rich. Nothing like hearing a billionaire complain about the price of something and then read in the paper a couple weeks later he just got a 15 some million dollar bonus. That was Hanks somebody for Washington Group International. One of the big companies in Iraq.

 

When I was younger I tried getting an autograph from Roberto Alomar after a Padres game. Went up to somebody, maybe Andy Ashby?... and asked him if he was Roberto Alomar. He said, no and I let out a frustrated, GOOOODDD! and walked off.

 

Saw Neon Deion Prime Time Sanders or whatever he wants to be called at the Boise Airport. Oh Yeah!

 

All this from a boy from Idaho. I guess not too bad.

 

Thanks to anyone who actually read this post. PM me and I'll send you $5 in the mail.

[benjamin]

When I was younger I tried getting an autograph from Roberto Alomar after a Padres game. Went up to somebody, maybe Andy Ashby?... and asked him if he was Roberto Alomar. He said, no and I let out a frustrated, GOOOODDD! and walked off.

 

All this from a boy from Idaho. I guess not too bad.

 

At least you didn't spit on anyone's face. and is that a prolonged "Good" or "God"? because "good" makes the story even funnier

 

p.s. I lived in Mountain Home for a year.

[GtrPlyr]

I’ve met and seen a few over the years but this one will always be my favorite:

 

Some friends and I saw Paul Westerberg perform in Louisville a few years back during some 2 day music event. After the show we went back to the Brown Hotel where we were staying and convened in a big public room that was on the floor above us. We had a couple of guitars and a cooler of drinks so we had ourselves a little party. There was a couple I met at the show that I invited back to the hotel with us too. The guy from the couple had told us earlier—when his girlfriend was in the bathroom—that he was going to propose to her that night. He had actually contacted Paul’s management to see if he could get a certain song performed during the show, with a dedication that would’ve set up the proposal. This I guess was a no go with Paul’s people. At the hotel this guy decides he’s going to find Paul as most of the musician’s from the concert were staying there—Polyphonic Sprees were all over the lobby, Patti Smith was there, we ran into her the next day. Anyway, he calls up the front desk and actually gets through to Paul’s room. We hear him talking to somebody on the line, pleading for them to come up to the room. Well time passes and nothing happens so we laugh the whole thing off and continue playing music. We eventually break into the song Skyway, and out of the corner of my eye I see the guy get down on his knee and pull out a ring. His girlfriend starts crying, in between sobs she says yes. At this point we stop playing music and a big round of applause fills the room.

 

Shortly after this, the guy calls Paul’s room again and tells them about the proposal and how we’re butchering his songs. This time he gets a maybe. We think nothing of it, going “sure he’s coming up.” We continue to play. The guy leaves the room for a second ‘cause he hears a knock coming from the locked stairway door (apparently the floor we’re on is only for guests staying on certain floors.) We start up another song when the guy comes back in and says “I want you all to meet someone.” And in comes Paul with his manager and a few friends. At this point we stop all music and go over to shake hands with the man. After brief introductions he comes over to the sitting area and plops down on the couch. I sit in one of the chairs across and pick up my guitar. Paul sees my harmonica on the table, picks it up and plops it in his wine glass, then asks what key it is in before saying “blues in A.” A friend of mine had picked up his guitar by this point so we both play a bluesy shuffle as Paul wails some nice licks overtop. After this my friend hands Paul his guitar. My friend asks Paul if he has any new songs. After thinking for a second he plays us the song that would open the Folker album Jingle.

 

 

The guy that had phoned Paul’s room requests Born For Me as this was the song he initially wanted Paul to play at the show. Paul obliges, playing the first few verses and choruses. At this point Paul says he can’t remember the rest of the song, so the guy starts singing as Paul continues to play the guitar. Later on after we chat for a while I hand Paul my 12-string and pick up my friends guitar. Paul says “how ‘bout some Stones,” and breaks into Sweet Virginia. I don’t know the chords so I follow his hands to figure it out. Halfway through the song he says to me: “pick it boy,” and there I am soloing while Paul plays rhythm. As a musician, and a big fan, things couldn’t have gotten any better. A bit later we set the guitars down and continued to hang out, talking about baseball, home studios, songwriting… Needless to say, the whole thing was a great thrill for us longtime Mats/Westerberg fans

[Mr. Kinsley]

I

[bobbob1313]

I also saw Jose Canseco at the Mall down here once. Thats a big guy.

 

And I met Jeff Tweedy once in someone's basement.

[j4lackey]

I

[Guest tandylacker]

At least you didn't spit on anyone's face. and is that a prolonged "Good" or "God"? because "good" makes the story even funnier

 

p.s. I lived in Mountain Home for a year.

 

I assume you went there for the air force. Were you able to choose any air force base town you wanted and thought Mountain Home sounded nice only to later find out there are no mountains and it definitely does not feel like home? There's quite a few military people that make that mistake.....

 

I didn't even notice that gooooodd could also be good. It was a prolonged god, but its a prolonged good for anyone who wants it to be.

[jahilia]

Paul Westerberg

 

That is an awesome story!

[myboyblue]

Absolutely agree on the Westerberg story. Unreal. I'm not a starstruck kind of guy but he is definitely someone I'd like to sit down and chat with.

 

I've met Tweedy a few times at Lounge Ax. Drank with Slobberbone (minus Brent), had a drunken conversation with Patterson Hood... my "claim to fame" (and I use that loosely) was hanging out with Andy Dick for an evening. We bumped into him at a bar in Chicago when he was just starting on Newsradio. Wound up hanging out with him and hitting a few bars. He was with a guy that claimed to work for Wilco but I don't recall his name. At any rate, had a great time. The guy is an absolute scream although, at the time, he had a few vices.

[benjamin]

At a spring training game in Tampa I was sitting in the front row by 1st base. After a Rafael Palmeiro error, I received an evil eye from him when I yelled at him "FUNDAMENTALS INVOLVE USING 2 HANDS RAPHY! 2 HANDS!" . . . . but I don't think that counts.

[So Long]

I ran into Peter Wolf from J.Geils Band at an Elvis Costello show.

 

Ran into Elvis Costello and the Imposters after a show last summer.

 

Vin Diesel opened the Apple Store door for me and my friends in Soho, NY.

 

I've met John, Pat, Mikael, and Nels...

 

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists a few times.

 

Paul McCartney's band on the 2005 tour.

 

When I was like 11, I met Edwin McCain...

[Oil Can Boyd]

I spent about 15 minutes chatting with Alex Chilton once. At the old Knitting Factory in NYC the bands often stayed in an apartment above the club. Chilton was playing a bunch of shows and I went to the first night. It was excellent so I went by to get tickets to another night. As I was walking up to club, Chilton was walking out of the building. We talked and then walked together for about 10 blocks before we were going in different directions. He seemed interested in talking about anything but music ...

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I saw Wayne Coyne and his wife the last time I went to IKEA. He wore bright white pants and a green shirt, along with big white willy wonka sunglasses. She wore a matching green dress. Noone else seemed to notice them, despite the fact they looked like something you might buy there.

 

I saw the kid from Almost Famous at a film festival this spring. No big whoop.

 

Then, of course, there's this--

 

 

and this--

 

 

Love that sincere smile on Rosie

[squarewave]

Many of the stories relayed so far are absolutely great...

 

I met Tim Armstrong (of Rancid) at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee where I had just seen Kiss on the first of their full-makeup reunion tours.

 

We had all-access passes and were hanging out afterward, and I was walking across the empty arena floor going back to out seats to look for some sunglasses or something that I had apparently lost. Tim was walking toward me (I had just come from the "backstage" area where the food was, and where the opening band (punk band D-Generation) were partying in an adjacent room)

 

Tim was very gracious, I stopped to shake his hand and he made iot a point to ask me my name (which is Rick), then we chatted about how hot is was a Lollapalooza in N. IL where I had seen them earlier that summer. He was polite, and exchanged some small talk, then shook my hand and said "nice to have met you, Rick" and left. I ran into him again, and he introduced me (by name) to the D-Generation guys (who were on their way to getting slobbering drunk).

 

Kiss were somewhere, but we never saw them. Since we were NOT supposed to have those passes, we decided against snooping.

 

I met Brad Nowell from Sublime when they played the Pit in Rockford. I was walking up to the side door (the only overhead door) and these scruffy guys were loading out into a beat up van. I was chatting them up about if they had a good set, and then asked when the "sublime" band was going on... He laughed and said that they WERE Sublime and that the shows was over (at like 10PM)... I was bummed, but he shook my hand and I believe I bought a CD...

 

I met Ricky Skaggs at an Eric Johnson show at HOB in Chicago. He was headed to the VIP opera seats, we were TRYING to get into the VIP opera seats.

He shook my hand and said "enjoy the show" and then walked by us. We wound up fighting for space in the SRO area.

 

Being from Rockford, we all have Rick Neilsen and Bun E. Carlos (Brad Carlson) stories.

I sat with the families of the members of Cheap Trick during the "Silver" show at Davis Park, and heard about a dinner later at Paragon (a nice Rockford resteraunt).

I decided not to go, but should have... I heard from friends that Slash, Art Alexakis, and Billy Corgan (who played as "special guests" during the show) joined the Nielsens and various other CT members and their families. If I had seen that in Rockford, my head would have exploded.

 

I met former Chicago Bull Stacey King when he was coaching the Rockford Lightning CBA franhchise. He is a hilarious guy, and a lot of fun to hang out with.

 

I met Ernie Banks at my little league diamonds (Roy Gayle Pony League in Rockford). He signed my cap... but I had to wear it the rest of the season, and the sig is no longer visible

 

I met Former Bears Dan Jiggetts (a HUGE man), Otis Wilson, and Robin Earl over various times. (I met Otis early in the season during the '85-85 season when eventually they won the Superbowl)

 

I know there are tons of others from trade shows, book/record signings etc... But these were more personal.

[bjorn_skurj]

I met Keith Hernandez at a ball-signing in 1988. He still holds my personal record for most hung-over individual I have ever seen. (Still have that ball somewhere. Oh, it's in my pants, right next to the other one!)

[benjamin]

I assume you went there for the air force. Were you able to choose any air force base town you wanted and thought Mountain Home sounded nice only to later find out there are no mountains and it definitely does not feel like home? There's quite a few military people that make that mistake.....

 

 

Not so much my decision since I was 15 at the time, but my father's decision

[Beltmann]

I have met Paul Molitor, Jim Gantner, and Pete Vuckovich. Once, when I was about 12, my left knee appeared with Molitor on the evening news.

[Lammycat]

Once, when I was about 12, my left knee appeared with Molitor on the evening news.

This reminds me that I once touched Pele's knee after a NY Cosmos game I attended with my soccer team as a kid. He was swarmed by fans getting onto the team bus and I was able to touch his knee with my hand. Incredible, I know.

[Mr. Kinsley]

I remembered at the grocery store that Tom Bosley, "Mr. C" from Happy Days shops there regularly. I would also see him on my old drive to work - nearly everyday he was walking his dog. That must be a good gig. Star in an old sitcom, make tons of dough, then retire to a cushy area* of LA in relative annonymity.

 

*I don't live in said cushy area. I'm merely cushy area-adjacent.

[EL the Famous]

I remembered at the grocery store that Tom Bosley, "Mr. C" from Happy Days shops there regularly. I would also see him on my old drive to work - nearly everyday he was walking his dog. That must be a good gig. Star in an old sitcom, make tons of dough, then retire to a cushy area* of LA in relative annonymity.

 

*I don't live in said cushy area. I'm merely cushy area-adjacent.

 

Dude, he's the grand poobah of the leopard lodge...he's probably keeping one eye open and just clockin those ho's.

[Sir Stewart]

This reminds me that I once touched Pele's knee after a NY Cosmos game I attended with my soccer team as a kid. He was swarmed by fans getting onto the team bus and I was able to touch his knee with my hand. Incredible, I know.

And that reminds me that I slapped Tony Atlas on the back as left the ring after a match at Abington High School in the early 80s.

[cwnorman]

This has been amazing....I remember the old thread, ar atleast the Westy post.....WOW!

 

Met Peyton and Eli manning at their grandmothers cabin at the Neshoba County fair in MS.

 

Took 2 of 3 from Morgan Freeman at at his blues bar in Clarksdale, MS. Called two rails off a bank

and drained it. Morgan was as cool and down to earth as he could be,. After that last shot he howled "Mother Fucker"!

 

My favorite, though, was getting inducted into the MS Sports hall of fame as a senior in high school. There were 8 of us inducted as scholar athletes, and a number of other honors. The Big awards were always MS athlete and Lifetime achievement...and I hit the jack pot. The year was 1993, so the MS athlete was Brett Favre, and lifetime achievement was Walter Peyton. I got to sit next to Brett at the banquet....great guy. Walter was a couple of chairs down and they were cracking jokes all night long. It was one of the highlights of my teenage years.

 

I don't remember it, but apparently My dad took me to a honky tonk in Austin one sunday afternoon while I was staying with him while he was finishing up his PhD at texas. Willie sat down and had a beer outside with dad and his buddies (and me) at their table and later dedicated

"my heroes have always been cowboys" to me.

[squarewave]

The aforementioned meeting of former Chicago Bear and recent broadcaster Dan Jiggetts was at a lunchtime Score remote broadcast where Payton was signing autographs.

I was with my boss (at the time), who was a major Score-head. We decided to wrap up a small job before heading to the broadcast, and because of that and the always shitty Chicago traffic, we missed Walter by 15-20 minutes...

 

He stopped appearing publicly shortly after that, and died a year or two later.

 

I have always regretted that we didn't put off the job until the afternoon and just go...