Which celeb/s have you met?

Because that novel isn't going to delay itself
r louis scott
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Re: Which celeb/s have you met?

Post by r louis scott » April 14th, 2010, 10:13 am

Well, I've had dinner with Diana Gabaldon.

OK, there were 299 other people in the room too, but I did have a nice opportunity to chat with her at another point in the conference. There are certainly a great number of mid-list authors that should take a page out of her book when it comes to being charming to the people that buy and read their books. I've also had several tremendously nice conversations with Jack Whyte, author of an Arthurian series that I credit with getting me writing again after a *harumph-harumph* year hiatus.

When I was a little kid, I waved at Robert Kennedy when his motorcade came up my little street. I don't think he saw me though.

kristi
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Re: Which celeb/s have you met?

Post by kristi » April 14th, 2010, 11:18 am

Um, none that I can recall. My mom dated one of the Bee Gee's though when she was young - but not the cute one!

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Nathan Bransford
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Re: Which celeb/s have you met?

Post by Nathan Bransford » April 14th, 2010, 1:17 pm

knight_tour wrote:
Colonel Travis wrote:Good Lord, knight tour, please relay what it was like playing chess against Kasparov, Karpov and others who you correctly state I've never heard of. Throstur Thorhallsson sounds like a chess master and/or a professional strongman competitor. With a name like that you could win every mach on pre-tournament intimidation stories alone. Hire someone to start spreading rumors - last guy who said "check" against Throstur was in the hospital for three weeks and they still couldn't extract one of the rooks.
Throstur is a Grandmaster from Iceland. He is quite big, but is very nice. I played a very nice game against him, which you could view here if you are so inclined - http://knight-tour-chess.blogspot.com/2 ... -rd-1.html

I knew I would get crushed by the world champions, so in those cases I just set myself a goal of lasting a certain number of moves. I set 30 moves when I played the first one (Kramnik), then 35 when I played Kasparov. I was surprised that my perceptions of how decent these people would be was so off. The big to-do between Kasparov and Karpov left me feeling that Karpov was just a stooge of the Soviets and Kasparov was the white knight, but in person Kasparov was rather superficial and brusque, while Karpov seemed warm and friendly.
Holy cow, you're good!

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mmcdonald64
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Re: Which celeb/s have you met?

Post by mmcdonald64 » April 14th, 2010, 1:49 pm

Meet isn't quite the right word, but I've seen a few celebs. Saw Robert Redford when he was filming Ordinary People, saw Scott Bakula at something (he spoke to my son) and saw Kyle Chandler--he stopped by our little group and struck up a conversation and told us a joke along the lines of a man walks goes into a bar...Other than a few athletes, that's about it.

Harper Karcz
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Re: Which celeb/s have you met?

Post by Harper Karcz » April 14th, 2010, 8:59 pm

Wow, I love reading these!

I'm a real junkie for author readings / signings, so I've had brief meetings with a lot of my favorite authors. I got to have a chat with Kurt Vonnegut during my freshman year of college, was completely dumbstruck by John Updike a few years later (I was fully obsessed with his Rabbit books, and writing my thesis on them at the time), got a nice high-five from David Sedaris, and ran into Sherman Alexie in an elevator. At a conference earlier this year, I won a contest to have dinner with Jane Yolen. Which rocked! (She told me, with regard to writing, "Always be open to the possibility of elves.")

I also ran into former President Jimmy Carter once at a bookstore. I mean, almost literally ran into. I doubt the Secret Service would have liked that.

Last month, I sat behind Green Day at a Broadway musical (Next to Normal). Fortunately, not directly behind them, because who knew Green Day and their significant others had such tall hair in real life? Other people started noticing them, and they were cool about it and chatted with fans after the show.

Also last month, I breathed the same air as my idol, Stephen Sondheim! I was at a big concert celebrating his 80th birthday, and he walked right past my seat and just casually flopped down in an aisle seat a few rows in front of me. I knew he did this at a lot of shows (including the ones he's written), but it was pretty amazing to see it happen right in front of me. I doubt I would have known what to say to him had the opportunity come up. I was content to have the back of his head in my line of sight for the rest of the concert.
Having just the vision's no solution
Everything depends on execution.

-- Stephen Sondheim

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knight_tour
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Re: Which celeb/s have you met?

Post by knight_tour » April 15th, 2010, 3:37 am

Nathan Bransford wrote:
knight_tour wrote:
Colonel Travis wrote:Good Lord, knight tour, please relay what it was like playing chess against Kasparov, Karpov and others who you correctly state I've never heard of. Throstur Thorhallsson sounds like a chess master and/or a professional strongman competitor. With a name like that you could win every mach on pre-tournament intimidation stories alone. Hire someone to start spreading rumors - last guy who said "check" against Throstur was in the hospital for three weeks and they still couldn't extract one of the rooks.
Throstur is a Grandmaster from Iceland. He is quite big, but is very nice. I played a very nice game against him, which you could view here if you are so inclined - http://knight-tour-chess.blogspot.com/2 ... -rd-1.html

I knew I would get crushed by the world champions, so in those cases I just set myself a goal of lasting a certain number of moves. I set 30 moves when I played the first one (Kramnik), then 35 when I played Kasparov. I was surprised that my perceptions of how decent these people would be was so off. The big to-do between Kasparov and Karpov left me feeling that Karpov was just a stooge of the Soviets and Kasparov was the white knight, but in person Kasparov was rather superficial and brusque, while Karpov seemed warm and friendly.
Holy cow, you're good!
Thank you, Nathan. I don't feel very good, but that is because chess is a humbling game and there are always people who can whip you without even seeming to try hard. My proudest accomplishment to date is tying for 1st place in the 2001 U.S. Amateur Championship; I am hoping to trump that pride by publishing a book some day...

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Re: Which celeb/s have you met?

Post by Erica75 » April 15th, 2010, 9:40 pm

Oh, I so wish I had something intelligent and exciting to talk about on this thread, but mostly I'm just bumping it up. I was a rural kid (yeah, non-Milwaukee, Wisconsin, come on, we're all rural) but that did nothing for me. Here's my brushes:
1. My great-grandmother dated the dad from the show My Three Sons (you have to be from my hometown or over 60 to know the reference, I'm afraid)
2. I went to several New Kids on the Block concerts. That counts, right?
3. I'm in a Bon Jovi video. I actually can't remember which song it was and never could spot myself in it, but I was there when it was filmed. With about 10,000 other screaming teenagers in 1992. That counts, right?
4. The movie that came out last year with Johnny Depp about John Dillinger (I'm doing great on names so far) was partially filmed in my hometown. So, basically, there's a small chance Johnny Depp or some other actor walked on a sidewalk that I walked on 20 years earlier. ........wait for it........... that counts, right?
we blog - erica and christy - http://lynneawest.blogspot.com/

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Colonel Travis
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Re: Which celeb/s have you met?

Post by Colonel Travis » April 16th, 2010, 12:35 am

KT, it's hard to top my ignorance about chess tournaments, so I apologize in advance - but is there a decent chance of actually playing the greats of the world if your skills aren't so great? For example, does a Kasparov get thrown in with all the riff-raff in the beginning, and perhaps by luck of the draw you'd face him first? Maybe bad luck, depending on how you look at it. Or are there exemptions for the elite players from early rounds? By the way, I use the term "riff-raff" in the loosest sense possible. What you've accomplished is incredible. If you and I were scheduled to play a game next week, for example, it would be over before I finish typing this sentence. Don't even bother setting set up a board.

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knight_tour
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Re: Which celeb/s have you met?

Post by knight_tour » April 16th, 2010, 2:52 am

Colonel Travis wrote:KT, it's hard to top my ignorance about chess tournaments, so I apologize in advance - but is there a decent chance of actually playing the greats of the world if your skills aren't so great? For example, does a Kasparov get thrown in with all the riff-raff in the beginning, and perhaps by luck of the draw you'd face him first? Maybe bad luck, depending on how you look at it. Or are there exemptions for the elite players from early rounds? By the way, I use the term "riff-raff" in the loosest sense possible. What you've accomplished is incredible. If you and I were scheduled to play a game next week, for example, it would be over before I finish typing this sentence. Don't even bother setting set up a board.
You could luck out and play regular grandmasters in early rounds of tournaments, but not the very elite ones. They only participate in invitation-only events. They seem to play less and less frequently as well; it has become almost incestual the way they only play against the same few players again and again.

BTW, you would last longer against me than you imagine. It's semi-strong players that would crush you quickly. The reason is that they would be willing to play some questionable moves in order to go for the throat right away, while stronger players will never play such moves. We will play solidly and take longer to win, but we ensure that we actually do win.

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Colonel Travis
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Re: Which celeb/s have you met?

Post by Colonel Travis » April 16th, 2010, 3:49 pm

KT, thanks. Wish you the best with your book, sounds fascinating.

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Re: Which celeb/s have you met?

Post by Kia » April 16th, 2010, 8:15 pm

> Gonzo

JORDAN KNIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT FAIR. He was my first love. The closest I've ever been to him was in concert last year (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8 ... 2c74af2542 :) Yes, I know I should be embarrassed but I'm not).

I've met a number of celebs - the most famous was probably Will Smith. I always wanted to meet Michael Jackson, but alas :(

(Damn you, Nathan. I vowed not to be seduced into the forums since I spend enough time as it is on the blog when I should be BIC-ing.)

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Re: Which celeb/s have you met?

Post by lkblackburne » April 16th, 2010, 9:17 pm

Cool to read all the stories! I did a bit of celebrity stalking back in college. Natalie Portman was a year above me, so I'd run into her once in a while, never talked to her though, and sometimes had trouble recognizing her. Jonathan Taylor Thomas was in my class, and apparently sat at my lunch table, but I didn't realize he had until he left. (I tend to be pretty oblivious to stuff). I watched my friend perform kung fu for Jackie Chan, and our accapella group sang for Anthony Hopkins my freshman year. I also went to a talk with Sean Astin (Sam in LOTR), who was a really nice guy.
A Brain Scientist's Take on Creative Writing
http://blog.liviablackburne.com

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marilyn peake
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Re: Which celeb/s have you met?

Post by marilyn peake » April 17th, 2010, 12:32 am

Same as Nathan, I’ve discovered that famous people are just people, and it’s easier to communicate with them if you treat them with respect but talk to them as though they’re people. I was very nervous when I emailed Piers Anthony to ask him if he would review THE FISHERMAN’S SON http://www.marilynpeake.com/thefishermansson.html , my first published novel. He agreed to read it and loved it. We then corresponded for a while, discussing politics, my Master’s Thesis, and other things. It was awesome!

Neil Gaiman once replied to me on Twitter. I tweeted him after I watched MIRRORMASK on DVD, and told him how much I loved the movie and the artwork in it. He is so humble and gracious, he replied to let me know that he didn’t do the artwork and told me who did. I once went to a book signing by Eleanor Clift in a bookstore at a mountain vacation resort. She had a long line of people waiting, but took the time to chat with me about politics for a bit.

A few years back, I approached a number of people online who worked in Hollywood and asked if they would be willing to contribute articles to my newsletter. Quite a few agreed, and the newsletter articles were eventually published as two books: FROM HOLLYWOOD EXPERTS AND PUBLISHED AUTHORS: WORDS OF WISDOM FOR STARVING ARTISTS http://www.marilynpeake.com/fromhollywoodexperts.html and INSIDE SCOOP: ARTICLES ABOUT ACTING AND WRITING BY HOLLYWOOD INSIDERS AND PUBLISHED AUTHORS http://www.marilynpeake.com/insidescoop.html . One Hollywood Director/Producer/Writer was so kind, he decided to read everything I’ve ever had published – all my novels and short stories. He liked my work, and contacted two top Hollywood movie agents and asked them to read my work. Those agents are open to new clients by referral only. They agreed to read my work and liked my writing. One agent asked for more and more of my work until he’d read everything I’d ever written. He was apparently looking for a particular type of story. I hadn’t written anything in that genre, but he left it open for me to send him more work in the future. As a result of my newsletter book project, one person shopped some of my short stories around Hollywood for a possible TV show and a Producer invited me to include THE FISHERMAN’S SON in a children’s TV show pilot she was developing.

I’ve also been interviewed on quite a few radio stations by talk show hosts. I was really nervous at first; but found that, if I just chatted with the hosts person-to-person, I calmed down and the interviews were fun.
Marilyn Peake

Novels: THE FISHERMAN’S SON TRILOGY and GODS IN THE MACHINE. Numerous short stories. Contributor to BOOK: THE SEQUEL. Editor of several additional books. Awards include Silver Award, 2007 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards.

linguista
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Re: Which celeb/s have you met?

Post by linguista » April 17th, 2010, 5:21 am

George Bush Sr.
Maya Angelou
Mark Curry
Sugar Ray (the band not the singer)

(Interesting things happen when you're in the military.)

Beyonce touched me at a concert last year- but I'm not sure that counts.

Shontelle Layne (singer)
Eric Jerome Dickey (writer)
Eve
Tony Blair's family
a prince, but I've totally forgotten from what country...

(Wow, my life sounds interesting.)
- Claire Dawn

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Re: Which celeb/s have you met?

Post by Jude Hardin » April 17th, 2010, 8:50 pm

Bill Murray, John Candy, Harold Ramis, and Ivan Reitman when I was an extra in the movie Stripes.

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