Must’ve been some politician or another, can’t really remember though.
Joseph McCarthy?
My personal favourite moments:
I got to have barbecue at the ranch of Michael Wagener, who mixed Metallica’s “Master of Puppets”. I only got to meet Michael very briefly, but the 'q was fantastic.
I had dinner with Hank Shocklee of the Bomb Squad (producer of Public Enemy) and Rockwilder (who produced the “Lady Marmalade” track from Moulin Rouge, in addition to about a bazillion other hits). I’ll admit that I had some preconceptions, not being familiar with Rock’s work. From working in music stores, I’ve met a lot of dumbasses who think programming a few bars in Fruity Loops makes them a “producer”. I figured there were a lot of guys making careers as “producers” while a talented engineer did all the heavy lifting. (I’m not saying I didn’t think he’d be talented, I just wasn’t expecting a virtuoso.)
We were eating at a fancy restaurant with a grand piano next to the table. At one point, Rock got up, sat behind it, and started doing some beautiful renditions of Stevie Wonder songs. Dude had weapons grade talent, and put me right in my place. Couldn’t have been nicer guys, and I’ve got a terrible cell phone picture of me and Hank together that I’m awfully pleased with.
Finally, I’ve met Doane Perry, drummer for Jethro Tull, on several occasions at the NAMM Show in Anaheim. The first time we met, he was interested in some of the products carried by the company I worked for at the time, so I wound up hooking him up with some stuff. The next year, we bumped into another and he actually remembered me, and we had a nice chat. The year after that, we were walking in opposite directions down one of the aisles, I saw him and called out, and he came over and gave me a big hug. I grew up listening to Tull, so that was actually a pretty awesome moment. They’re playing in Toronto in a bit, and I need to call him and remind me that he promised me backstage passes. :)
It’s the least rock and roll story in the history of rock and roll stories, but it’s actually one of my favourites.
I expected something like you jumped into a hot LZ with George Bush, Arnold, Troy Aikman and Derek Smart, freed some prisoners, jumped back onto the choppa and had drinks with Whitta and Krazykrok at a kickass divebar in Boston to celebrate later. You have set a high bar for yourself around here when it comes to awesome stories.
I do have something in common with you, though. On a business trip in the early nineties in Florida, I found myself surrounded by pro wrestlers and hot looking groupies at the hotel bar, I kept telling Ravishing Rick Rude how much I respected his work, talked to some other guys (The Patriots if you remember them), kept bothering Rude (I was being a real dick, and he knew it), and he finally told me to leave or he would take care of it himself. I was hammered, and being an ass, and he was cool enough to take a lot of bs from me before sending a clear message to gtf away from him. I was sad when he died, he was nice enough not to kick my ass when he had every right to do so if you ignore things like laws and rules and such.
Eric Idle once fell on me.
Related (for teh science nerds)
James Watson
I’ve also shaken hands with Collins, but he drops by our place once every year or so. Eric Lander (now one of Obama’s scientific advisers) actually knows who I am, as I used to hang out in his lab meetings.
Ivan Putski
I walked head first into Arnold Schwarzenegger at a hotel (not watching where I was going). He was amused, I was startled, the girl I was with was mortified. His wife was with him, and she had a puzzled look on her face. We all went our separate ways shortly thereafter.
Also, at the same hotel, I almost reached into Courtney Cox’s bikini top (to see if they were real) from behind, but I caught myself in time. I don’t think she noticed me.
Oh yes, I shook hands with Hilary Clinton at a thank-you rally for volunteers working to get her and other Democrats elected in NYS. She was quite charming, in a beady-eyed snaky sort of way.
A number of years ago I was playing foosball in a bar, and as it turned out, my partner was Tommy Lee. I had no idea who he was and could not figure out why we were drawing a crowd, since he sucked at the game. He did score once, so we exchanged a high five. I figured it all out when Heather showed up…
Sir Peter Jackson, while dressed in armour (me, not him) and standing at the gates of Minas Tirith, waiting for Faramir to be dragged back into the city. On that same day I could have shaken hands with Harry Knowles as well, but I didn’t know until later that he was on the set that day.
My father did some PR for Muhammad Ali years ago, and I shook the big man’s hand. Sugar Ray Leonard came around during that time, but I didn’t get to touch him. My mother was pretty star-struck though.
Wait… two pages and no-one has yet offered the obviously one and only correct choice!!!
Whitta!!
I must lead a boring life. I haven’t met many celeb types. Played poker with Milton Bradley a time or two (he’s not very good, so I enjoyed it greatly). Chatted with Tim Salmon for a while at a mutual friend’s wedding reception. Went to school with Chad Curtis.
I touched Sugar Ray Leonard at Six Flags Atlanta in the video game arcade section in the early 80’s, it was when the commercial of his kid saying “No, that’s just my dad” was popular, I think it was a Pepsi commercial. Ray was cool, but his security people were assholes, they took over an entire row of games, Ray brushed by me with a smile as they left.
Okay, I didn’t touch him, but he brushed me, that sort of counts.
Oh, and Bradley Whitford (Josh Lyman on West Wing), who was extremely cool. He spent about two hours in my office.
Regis Philbin…at E3
I literally ran into Ben Affleck in Harvard Square when I was a teenager. I was in the middle of relating some story to my friends and wasn’t paying attention to where I was going when I ran smack into this guy who was with some of his friends. He was wearing a baseball hat and we both apologized and then kept walking. I was like ten steps away when I realized my friends were not walking with me and were just staring at me instead. “Don’t you know who that WAS?” one of them asked. I honestly hadn’t really thought to look at the random guy I’d run into. “That was Ben Affleck!” Another one shrieked. They then insisted on following him for a couple of blocks with me hanging back until my yells of ‘Hey stalkers!’ shamed them into continuing on to the Border Cafe with me. I was hungry, god dammit.
And yet I am still jealous of Raife.
Edit: Oh, and Eliza Dushku came to my junior prom. I think we ended up smooshed in a group picture somewhere. I had no idea who she was until like ten years later.
Dave Thomas once waited on me in a Wendy’s drive through.
I also once shook Peter David’s hand when I was a kid and had made a Spider-Man 2099 action figure.
And I once had Harlan Ellison scream at me (and several other people) so hard that he spit on us. Not touching, but close.
I high-fived James Ellroy.
But my favorite would probably be hugging William Burroughs after a poetry reading in Lawrence.
Shook hands with:
Joe Pesci
Robert DeNiro
Andrew Dice Clay
Charlie Sheen
Nic Cage
Patrick Ewing
Dikembe Mutumbo
Alonzo Mourning
The Brother From Perfect Strangers Who Wasn’t Balki
The Asshole Teacher From the Breakfast Club
Alice Cooper
Vijay Singh (pro golfer)
One of the Playboy Playmates of the Year, 1989 or 90 IIRC
Larry Johnson
Stacey Augmon
Greg Anthony
“The Macho Man” Randy Savage
Tiny Tim
Arsenio Hall
Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Barry Switzer
I made out with:
Julie Ann Christie: was the most naked girl on prime time TV when NYPD Blue aired the episode where she played Sipowicz’ son’s two-timing fiance/the sales girl who sold Eddie Murphy’s Buddy Love character his workout clothes in the first Nutty Professor film. She’s not really famous, but sort of!
But god dammit my biggest claim to fame is providing room service to, and receiving a generous handshake tip from,
Chuck motherfuckin’ Norris, who is so nice IRL you simply cannot believe it.
I’ve shaken hands with quite a few baseball players. I’d say the most famous ones are Yogi Berra and Willie Mays, but Dave Winfield, Eddie Murray, Pedro Martinez, Kirby Puckett, and Goose Gossage are also on the list.
Also baseball-related, but not players, are Bud Selig and Tom Clancy. (Clancy’s a part owner of the Orioles.)
I’ve never met or shook hands with anybody famous, or I don’t think so. My brother has met a few wrestlers when he went to those things, Scott Steiner and Eddie Guerrero. He has met Mark Begich, who is the Senator for Alaska now when he went through his checkout line. He might’ve also met Sarah Palin.