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Old 08-29-2015, 10:42 AM
 
Location: Southern Quebec
1,433 posts, read 1,498,108 times
Reputation: 2231

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Quote:
Originally Posted by IheartWA View Post
Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova are a pair of rude old biddies. Shame for such great champions they turned out so nasty.
What makes certain people think that they are better than others are, anyway?

I don't follow sports myself. I know a bit about hockey, as it would be un-Canadian of me if I didn't.

I used to hang around a local watering hole in Montreal where some Montreal Canadiens players would often begin their afternoons of drinking, later to stagger on to different bars.

I met Pete Mahovlich there more than once. He liked his beer! He was very friendly, quite a tall guy, too. He'd become quite animated after a few beers. Lord knows what he was like during the later evenings...never knew where he went after he poured himself out of Friday's!

I almost met Guy Lapointe. By that, I mean that he was sitting a couple of seats away from where I was and had a flunkie of his come over to talk to me. I imagine that Lapointe didn't want his image 'tarnished' if I or any other female didn't show any interest in him. To this day, I've never met anyone who has ever done that. What a tool! I imagine that certain celebrities employ this method to meet people, but Guy Lapointe?! Give me a break!

Met Bob Gainey at the same watering hole, and he was just the nicest guy. Very low-key and down to earth, but with a sense of humour. My friend was the one who noticed him. I didn't know who he was. She was too shy to approach him to get an autograph, so I sailed on over. I'd had a few beers, surprise!

I gently touched his elbow. He was sitting by himself on the quiet side of the bar. I said, "Mr. Gainey, I was wondering if I could get your autograph for a friend of mine, Susan." He smiled and signed the hockey sheet/memorabilia page that my friend had given me and answered, "There you go, Susan!"

"I'm not Susan," I answered. "It's for my friend."

Bob Gainey grinned from ear to ear and replied, "Sure!" The way he said it! It was very funny. He didn't believe me, but he wasn't being sarcastic or mean.

Poor Bob Gainey. When I later read about the tragedies that happened in his life, I truly felt badly for him, because he was such a nice guy.
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Old 08-29-2015, 10:55 AM
 
Location: Southern Quebec
1,433 posts, read 1,498,108 times
Reputation: 2231
Do any of you remember the hockey player, Gilles Gratton, aka "Gratoony the Loony?"

DH and I lived down the street from him in LaSalle.

We rented on the street for fourteen years, and Gilles Gratton lived in a duplex down the street. He moved to Laval, though, shortly before we moved to the south shore.

We got to know him quite well. He was eccentric, but he was very personable and he was an extremely talented piano player, bet you didn't know that, did you? He was. We'd often walk by his house and hear the tinkling of the ivories flowing out from his open window...he played beautifully. Classical music, too.

Another thing is that Gilles Gratton loved kids. He had a son and daughter of his own, who we both knew, and he'd often play a game of hockey with the local kids around the area in his driveway.

We rented by a local park, mainly green space with a couple of benches, no kiddie swings or anything. Sometimes Gilles would bring his son to the park and they'd go hunting for butterflies. No word of a lie. DH and I would sometimes drink a beer or two sitting at one of the picnic tables and watch them.

Gilles Gratton actually wore a hunter's hat complete with netting, while he and his son pranced around trying to catch those elusive butterflies; it was a hoot and a half.

Bill (DH) would often offer Gilles a beer, but he always declined. He'd stop by the picnic table to talk to Bill and Bill would talk about hockey with him. I half-listened while I supped my beer.

And yes, Bill had Gilles Gratton autograph a few hockey cards for him.
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Old 08-29-2015, 10:58 AM
 
Location: Virginia
10,047 posts, read 6,325,414 times
Reputation: 27513
I met Brooks Robinson when I hostessed at his restaurant in Baltimore in the early 70's. I was working the day the Orioles won the World Series in 1970 so I suppose there were a lot of other celebritie there as well; I was just too busy to notice them - it was a zoo inside. Met Stephen King in the 70's when our book club hired him to lecture at Johns Hopkins University. He was drinking heavily then but was really funny and a fantastic lecturer. He signed autographs for hours afterwards at the old Peabody Bookstore at Mount Vernon square.

Most recent was meeting the entire original cast of Celtic Woman in Baltimore, on St. Patrick's day at a concert. I took my sister and we had a "meet and greet" afterwards backstage (thank you, PBS). Maeve, the fiddler, complimented me on my dress - we were sitting in Seats 1 & 2 of the first row so they could see us about as well as we could see them. Plus I was clapping and cheering VERY enthusiastically. It was a great day for the Irish!
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Old 08-29-2015, 11:05 AM
 
Location: Southern Quebec
1,433 posts, read 1,498,108 times
Reputation: 2231
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhioJB View Post
Hard for me to meet famous people living where I do and where I've lived in the past, but when I lived in the Miami, Florida area back in the early 2000's I think I saw Dr. J (Julius Irving, former basketball player). I was driving to work and he had just walked out the front door of a hotel with a couple other guys. He saw that I noticed him and gave a dirty look and turned his head sideways away from me like he was ticked off. Honestly, not even sure it was him but it certainly looked like him.

That's not really 'meeting a celebrity' but it's the closest I've come, except......maybe.....

Also when I lived in the Miami area, Hialeah actually, I am convinced Jennifer Lopez called me at about 1am once. Understand, when I was in the military I had some friends from Puerto Rico and later I even lived there for a year and a half before moving to Florida. My friend and his wife had moved to Hialeah shortly before I did and he and I joked about J. Lo a couple of times. He thought she was overrated, and I told him if she was standing there right now he would think differently.

Fast forward a year or so later, after my friend and his wife had moved back to Puerto Rico, when I woke up to the phone call that sounded just like Jennifer Lopez. Even being half asleep I recognized the voice. She played it off by asking for someone else, and I told her she had the wrong number. She apologized, but it sounded more like she called my number intentionally and wanted to hear me speak for some reason.

The next morning I looked at my caller id, it said J. Lopez. It's improbable but not impossible that somehow my friend met Jennifer on the island and told her about me. He was a salesman so spent time in different environments, poor, rich, etc., and he also enjoyed going to the casinos and night spots on the island. I'm just saying, it's not out of the question that he met her, joked with her about me, and gave her my number. Later when she was in Miami she may have called it out of curiosity. And when he lived in Hialeah he worked as a security guard at one of the hospitals in Miami, and told me about meeting famous people, including Shaquille O'Neal. He may have met her there and had a conversation with her.

Sometimes I think it's better not to meet famous people or hear their prejudiced views on certain issues. I was a fan of a certain singer, but his recent comments on a particular issue ticked me off. Now I have a little different opinion of the person.
Sometimes it is better not to meet someone you admire, this is true.

Speaking of your J. Lopez telephone call, do you remember when Paris Hilton's phone numbers were hacked and leaked to the internet?

The list of her phone contacts were not online for long at all, but I noticed a listing for Matt Sorum, the former drummer for Guns 'N' Roses. I was a huge GNR fan and still love a lot of their old stuff.

Anyway, I took note of his number and called it. He answered the phone after a couple of rings.

I was gobsmacked (and drunk) and I hung up! What a feckin' moron!

I could have said something but I pulled a "D'OH"!

Oh, well. Live and learn, I suppose.

At least it wasn't Slash that I had on the other end of the line, then I really would have wanted to kick myself!
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Old 08-29-2015, 11:18 AM
 
5,718 posts, read 7,209,080 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bungalove View Post
I met Brooks Robinson when I hostessed at his restaurant in Baltimore in the early 70's.

Would you mind telling more about Brooks, please?
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Old 08-29-2015, 11:22 AM
 
Location: Southern Quebec
1,433 posts, read 1,498,108 times
Reputation: 2231
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bungalove View Post
I met Brooks Robinson when I hostessed at his restaurant in Baltimore in the early 70's. I was working the day the Orioles won the World Series in 1970 so I suppose there were a lot of other celebritie there as well; I was just too busy to notice them - it was a zoo inside. Met Stephen King in the 70's when our book club hired him to lecture at Johns Hopkins University. He was drinking heavily then but was really funny and a fantastic lecturer. He signed autographs for hours afterwards at the old Peabody Bookstore at Mount Vernon square.

Most recent was meeting the entire original cast of Celtic Woman in Baltimore, on St. Patrick's day at a concert. I took my sister and we had a "meet and greet" afterwards backstage (thank you, PBS). Maeve, the fiddler, complimented me on my dress - we were sitting in Seats 1 & 2 of the first row so they could see us about as well as we could see them. Plus I was clapping and cheering VERY enthusiastically. It was a great day for the Irish!
You met Stephen King?

Now I am envious! I didn't know that he drank heavily, but I am not surprised, given all the creativity that he has packed into his cranium. If I harbored even a fraction of what must race through the man's mind to come up with some of the horrific tales that he has written, I'd drink heavily, too.

Bill is re-reading "Gerald's Game" as I type this. I read a lesser known novel "Desparation" a couple of weeks ago, which Bill read before re-reading Gerald's Game.

I wish I could have been there more than you'll ever know. Stephen King is one in a million.

On a very shallow note, when you met Stephen King, did his eyes have a less 'intense' look than they do in his photos?
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Old 08-29-2015, 11:34 AM
 
Location: Virginia
10,047 posts, read 6,325,414 times
Reputation: 27513
King has stated that there were periods when he drank anything that was at hand, which pretty much included everything. I don't remember if his eyes were intense - if anything, they were probably pretty bleary because we kept him supplied with beer. I was SO envious of my girlfriend because she got to pick him up at BWI airport. I still remember him on the stage at Hopkins - he was pretty profane, but excruciatingly funny. I had him autograph a paperback copy of "Night Shift", because I was working a night shift at Cover Girl at the time. Unfortunately I lost it during one of many moves.
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Old 08-30-2015, 07:59 AM
 
2,903 posts, read 1,960,984 times
Reputation: 3474
Quote:
Originally Posted by daynet View Post
Sometimes it is better not to meet someone you admire, this is true.

Speaking of your J. Lopez telephone call, do you remember when Paris Hilton's phone numbers were hacked and leaked to the internet?

The list of her phone contacts were not online for long at all, but I noticed a listing for Matt Sorum, the former drummer for Guns 'N' Roses. I was a huge GNR fan and still love a lot of their old stuff.

Anyway, I took note of his number and called it. He answered the phone after a couple of rings.

I was gobsmacked (and drunk) and I hung up! What a feckin' moron!

I could have said something but I pulled a "D'OH"!

Oh, well. Live and learn, I suppose.

At least it wasn't Slash that I had on the other end of the line, then I really would have wanted to kick myself!
Hah. Probably better you didn't talk when he answered, he would have been ticked off probably.

When I saw J. Lo on my caller id it also had her phone number, but I couldn't bring myself to call it. What was I going to say, "Hey, do you want to go out to dinner sometime with a guy who makes $10/hour and has a car that blows smoke when I hit the gas pedal???"

She was notorious for hitting the clubs in Miami with her girlfriends. I don't know if this story is true, but after my friend, the security guard at a hospital in Miami at the time, talked to Shaq for a minute before he went inside, my friend was talking to his limo driver. The driver told him one night J. Lo and her girlfriends were out clubbing and she asked the driver if there was a bathroom in the limo He said no, there's no bathroom in the limo. After he let them out at the end of the night he noticed a puddle on the floor. Guessing he received a big tip not knowing what it was for.
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Old 08-30-2015, 11:38 AM
 
Location: Southern Quebec
1,433 posts, read 1,498,108 times
Reputation: 2231
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhioJB View Post
Hah. Probably better you didn't talk when he answered, he would have been ticked off probably.

When I saw J. Lo on my caller id it also had her phone number, but I couldn't bring myself to call it. What was I going to say, "Hey, do you want to go out to dinner sometime with a guy who makes $10/hour and has a car that blows smoke when I hit the gas pedal???"

She was notorious for hitting the clubs in Miami with her girlfriends. I don't know if this story is true, but after my friend, the security guard at a hospital in Miami at the time, talked to Shaq for a minute before he went inside, my friend was talking to his limo driver. The driver told him one night J. Lo and her girlfriends were out clubbing and she asked the driver if there was a bathroom in the limo He said no, there's no bathroom in the limo. After he let them out at the end of the night he noticed a puddle on the floor. Guessing he received a big tip not knowing what it was for.
Ewww! That is just gross.

J. Lo and her pals should have brought along their own **** jugs like the ones some of the Trailer Park Boys used.
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Old 08-30-2015, 11:47 AM
 
Location: Southern Quebec
1,433 posts, read 1,498,108 times
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I remember one guy I met in '78.

Remember the one hit wonder "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield? Stephen Stills sang that song.

I met the bassist, the late Bruce Thomas, through a friend of mine while I was living in and working in Toronto. Super nice guy, we hit it off and used to go out drinking beer a lot together.

He was American, but living in Toronto off his royalties from that one song, if you can believe it. He loved baseball, but like me, he also loved his beer and he would use a televised baseball game as an excuse to call me up at work and ask, "Hey, you want to meet at So-and-so bar to watch the game after you get off work?"

After two or three beers, he lost interest in the baseball game on TV, of course. We were platonic friends until I moved back to Montreal. He was romantically interested in my friend, but it wasn't to be.

He passed away several years ago (heart failure). May he RIP.
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