Run-ins with the Rich and Famous.

[Saras]

Thanks asher. That comma somehow got in the way :|

[-Jrabbit]

Originally posted by Saras
Jrabbit, what do you do for a living?

I did this gig (artist relations mgr. for a microphone manufacturer) for about 12 years -- choosing and negotiating endorsements, booking an occasional concert gig at a trade show.

It was fun, many would call it a dream job.

These days, I'm still with same company, now kicked upstairs to Director of Marketing Communications for Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Canada (what we call the "International Americas"). Not as much fun, but it should put my daughter through college...

[chequita guevara]

Need a web designer, -Jrabbit?

Not that I have any intention of leaving South Florida.

[-Jrabbit]

Sorry dude, my company is in-house with that function.
Haven't talked in awhile, Che. Hope all is well with you and Bunnygrrl...

[Dis]

come on guys! You guys are supposd to hate celebrities? What's so great about a celebrity that we brag about meeting them? Why do people do that?

I'm not insulting, I'm just curious. I'll never understand the phenomenon of celebrities.

[Zkribbler]

Had a long discussion about the renewal of downtown L.A. with George "Sulu" Takai.

When Heather Locklear was first starting out, I -- no, I didn't meet her -- but I worked with her brother and met her dad.

I had a long talk with Katenzberg about his twin sons. Nice guy.

Spoke briefly with ex-Governor Gray Davis, who was serving jury duty in my courthouse. I know various other state-level pols.

Sat in a movie theater with Michael "Little House on the Prairie" Landon and, along with the rest of the audience, pretended not to notice him.

Met Art Buchwald.

Spoken to California Chief Justice Ronald George enough that I'm sure he wishes he'd never met me.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Dissident
What's so great about a celebrity that we brag about meeting them?

They validate our existence, duh.

[pchang]

A lot of them are hot and we wish we could hit them

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov

Probably my most extended brush with celebrities was when a good friend of mine invited me to the opening night of Bea Arthur's one-woman show (his bf was managing the theater). We had front row seats and then went to the after party at Sardi's. So I chatted with celebs like Rue McClanahan (who I also met when she hosted ****** Fued at one of the gay bars ), Valerie Harper, Phil Donahue, Rosie O'Donnell, Michelle Lee, Charles Bush, Nana Visitor and others.

Another chance to flaunt the Rue McClanahan connection eh?

Lets see. I met chief Dan George and a canadian football player (a lineman I think) when I was 9.
Tommy Chong came in and trained in the gym I was working in once. I met Trudeau and his flunkies (ministers) many times when I worked in Ottawa.

[pchang]

A friend of mine was an internal medicine resident at Cedars Sinai in LA. He saw (and treated) more celebrities than you can shake a stick at.

[Dis]

Originally posted by pchang
A lot of them are hot and we wish we could hit them

this is true.

I have no desire to meet celebrities, but I do desire to have sex with them.

[-Jrabbit]

Can't do the latter without doing the former, Diss!
Meeting them is a necessary first step...

[Boris Godunov]

As long as celebrities are cool, why "hate" them?

I didn't list politicians I've met (besides Bill Bradley), which include:

Hillary Clinton (the day the Lewinsky scandal broke, no less)
Al Gore (2 times)
Sandra Day O'Connor (spoke at my college)
Chuck Schumer
Michael Bloomberg (current NYC mayor)
William Donald Schaefer (former MD Governor)
Parris Glendening (ditto)
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (failed to win MD governor's race in last election)
Wayne Gilchrest (MD congressman from my parent's district)
Fernando Ferrer (failed NYC mayoral candidate, but likely to run again and kick Bloomberg's ass)

In my old job, I spoke on the phone with Meg Whitman (ebay CEO) and Bob Wright (NBC Chairman). Not exactly celebrities, per se, but still famous.

And into more...delicate matters. I have an acquaintance in NYC who slept with two rather famous people. While I don't want to name names, their names rhymed with Hay Makin' and Relijah Hood.

[-Jrabbit]

What sucks the most is when you get to meet someone you've admired and find out what a jerk they are. Over time, it gets a bit depressing, cuz most of them are.

OTOH, it's pretty amazing when they actually turn out to be relatively normal. Unfortunately, I would put very few in this category.

Oft-podered question:
Does celebrity status make you a jerk, or
do you need to be a jerk to attain celebrity?

My answer:
Certainly a bit of both, but I've known enough before-and-after cases to feel that the celebrity lifestyle turns people into jerks.

[Asher]

And into more...delicate matters. I have an acquaintance in NYC who slept with two rather famous people. While I don't want to name names, their names rhymed with Hay Makin' and Relijah Hood.

Was this a guy or a girl?

Tsk tsk, Elijah is taken.