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The One Ring Forums: Off Topic: The Pollantir:
TL;DR
 
Poll: How many famous people have you met?
A handful
Lots!
I am a famous person myself, actually, thank you
None
Other option of your own choice
View Results (44 votes)
 

Darkstone
Immortal


Aug 17 2011, 5:37pm


Views: 870
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TL;DR [In reply to] Can't Post

As a kid I worked on Dr. Arvilla Taylor’s North Texas Woodwinds ranch. (Named after her partner Jean Barnes’ surprisingly gentle stallion, aka “Woodie”. And we're still friends. She knows a lot of people, being from an old Texas family (she is the great great niece of the three Taylor brothers (Edward, George, and James) who died at the Alamo.) She is a leading expert on English literature from Beowulf to Chaucer to Shakespeare. She also knows a lot of the dirt that’s gone on in south Texas politics, including details about the fraud in the 1948 election that put Lyndon Johnson into the US Senate. (The 200 votes “discovered” that gave him an 87 vote win were all cast in alphabetical order.) She also talks about watching a certain southern Texas courthouse burn down along with all the contested votes before a recount could be conducted. I was always impressed by her courage as she had been crippled by polio as a girl and had to walk (and ride) the rest of her life with heavy leg braces.

Anyway she was part of a local theater thing that had brought Vincent Price to town to do his one man show as Oscar Wilde. She put him up at her ranch before and after the show (which she took me to). He was quite funny and charismatic, though he looked very old. I made one faux pas at the ranch after the show. I had decided to bring a bottle of champagne to the gathering, the best I could find. Later I apologized for bringing regular French champagne, having looked all over town for the pink stuff. Mr. Price explained quite nicely that champagne could be either French or pink, but not both.

Dr. Taylor also put up Benazir Bhutto who was doing a speaking tour a bit after the 9-11 attacks. Somehow I found out she had the same birth year as I (though I would have never asked a lady her age.), and also that her mother suffered from Alzheimer’s same as mine had. During her short stay there she did enjoy riding horses. She was quite an accomplished equestrian. Who knew?

Rusty McDonald was my dad’s little brother. They formed a band with Aunt Maudie and a friend named “Pee Wee” Stewart (who later became a judge and officiated at my first marriage). Dad’s nickname was “Sleepy”. So Rusty (vocals & guitar), Sleepy (fiddle), Maudie (steel guitar), and Pee Wee (drums) formed the Oklahoma Wanderers. Uncle Rusty was always restless, so the band eventually broke up. He went on to front vocals for people like Tex Ritter’s band. At one point he and Dad were part of Bob Wills and the Light Crust Doughboys. The group broke up at the start of WWII. Dad joined the navy but eventually was discharged out when they found out he had three young children at home.

Rusty again hooked up with Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys after the war, and convinced Dad to join too. Dad had this great fiddle that Bob Wills greatly admired, and he offered Dad $1000 to buy it. Dad liked the fiddle and refused. A bit later Dad took the fiddle to a shop to get it restrung and refurbished. Tthe next night the shop burned down and the fiddle was no more. Uncle Rusty was the lead vocalist for the Texas Playboys, and many said he was the best they ever had. He sang the lead vocals on one of their biggest hits, “Faded Love”. According to family legend Bob Wills dropped into the hospital when I was born. When he saw how fat a baby I was he was inspired to write another one of his big hits, “Roly Poly”. Dunno if that’s true. By the time I was five Mom said I was frighteningly skinny and she had me taking a spoon a day of this vile tasting vitamin mixture. Didn't work. Anyway, Hollywood eventually called Wills to make a singing cowboy movie. Rusty went but Dad stayed in Texas with his family. Family legend has it that in Hollywood Wills picked up a pretty starlet as a girlfriend, and later found Rusty with the girl. Rusty was immediately fired and found himself adrift in California. He joined a Black R&B band, worked a bit, then drifted to Arizona where he met young musicians just starting out, like Marty Robbins and Glen Campbell. Eventually he started up a honky tonk in Lawton Oklahoma where he played in his own band. Marty Robbins often played there, both before and after he became famous. Robbins, a country western musician, often would play Hawaiian music to break things up. Uncle Rusty eventually got his own local TV show, his oldest son became a news anchorman, and the younger a restaurateur with a small local chain. Dad would occasionally play on the show. Much later when Uncle Rusty was dying in the hospital I visited with my girlfriend and he was the first in my family to know we were going to be married.

Lessee. I met William Ruckelshaus, Christine Todd Whitman, and Lisa P. Jackson at various EPA conventions. I was always impressed by how sincere about protecting the environment they all were. It's easy to criticize and demonize, but they were all obviously doing their best. In the 1980s Ruckelshaus told me that the EPA had a secret agenda, not to ever be mentioned on record, of achieving zero industrial waste discharge by 2050. I've never had anyone mention that since.

Bob Dylan and Judy Collins I met in Austin while I was at college. After a Judy Collins concert, most people had left when Ms. Collins came back on stage dragging Bob Dylan along with her. (I still don't know where he came from or what he was doing in Austin.) She motioned the ones remaining, about a dozen or so, to come sit up front and the two put on an intimate performance, talking with the audience like we were just a bunch of friends. She was really sweet. As for Dylan, he was quiet at first (except for singing of course), then got all enthusiastic about being a born again Christian and almost wouldn’t shut up. Who knew?

Also while I was at college in Austin Willie Nelson had retired there and sometimes hung around the Armadillo World Headquarters music hall. We met and talked about country music. He was especially interested in my Uncle Rusty. Eventually he got itchy, started singing on the stage again, and finally came out of retirement and on to greatness.

I’d gone to a student lecture by Vincent Bugliosi and afterward he hung around signing autographs. As he was finishing the session my date, a very lovely and charismatic girl who is now a medical doctor and head of a local hospital, invited the few students still around over to her apartment. She then rather nonchalantly (The little minx!) asked Bugliosi if he wanted to come along too. He agreed, and we all had a great time all squished up in her little apartment talking about law and legal cases. The next morning she, he, I, and a few survivors still awake had breakfast at the local Denny’s and then we drove him back to his hotel. He was very funny and intelligent.

When William Shockley came to lecture at the local college a lot of the students and faculty protested due to his statements on eugenics. Some students set up a picket line in front of the lecture hall to prevent attendance. Despite previously having no interest in attending, having a bunch of people telling me I shouldn’t attend set off the contrarian in me so I walked through the picket line, smiled and waved at the jeers and boos, and attended a sparsely attended but pretty intelligent discussion. I pointed out his ideas were widely implemented in the 1920s and 1930s and had since been discredited. His point was that more modern study methods were needed. He was pretty intense, and quite defensive, but he seemed genuinely sincere. I was quite impressed by his intelligence, if not his ideas. I like to think he was impressed by my honest and civil discussion.

I met James Cameron when he was guest of honor during Wunderfest, a local scifi convention that’s lucky to break a couple of dozen attendees. This was just before the first Terminator was released. The studio was nervous, and he was doing publicity anywhere he could. I think we were one step below grocery store openings. Anyway, it was the second film he ever directed. He had some funny stories about his first, Piranha II, which he shot in the Caribbean, and most the cast and crew spoke only Italian. He said he had horrible nightmares all during the production, from which he got the idea for The Terminator. We mainly talked about Hollywood FX in general rather than the movie in particular, but he had brung along some Terminator t-shirts to hand out. Mine wore out long ago. Of course Terminator turned out to be a huge success, surprising the heck out of everybody, and propelling him to superstardom so he would never have to shill in a small college town scifi con ever again.

I met Harlan Ellison in the early 1980s. Austin scifi groups were putting together a bid to host the World Science Fiction Society’s WorldCon. Of course that year Melbourne Australia was a shoo-in, but Austin ended up with the consolation prize of the North American Science Fiction Convention. Anyway, he was actually a lot nicer than I thought he’d be. He had some really funny horror stories about Hollywood. He would especially go on about how Hollywood thought nothing about stealing scifi and fantasy plots, almost like they weren't "real" literature so any ideas scifi/fantasy writers had were automatically in the public domain. I also met Steve Jackson, founder of Steve Jackson Games. Because of the meeting my gaming group ended up test playing their GURPS Arabian Nights game, for which our payment was a copy of the GURPS Arabian Nights game each, which I actually thought was pretty neat.

I met Carl Barks while I was helping Alfred Stewart publish his Cartoonaggio fanzine. It was amazing how fast Barks could draw. Not many know that Carl Barks’ style inspired the big-eyed style of Japanese anime. Dr. Stewart also introduced me to the second “Dean of Science Fiction”, Jack Williamson, and I got autographed copies of his Legion of Time series. I have to say Dr. Stewart did most the talking and I mostly listened so the “meeting” was pretty superficial on my part.

I met Buckminster Fuller at a party of a Britisher friend of Dr. Taylor. He was extremely intelligent and very engaging, but about a couple of hours into the party he suddenly came to a stop in mid sentence, looked confused, and then hurriedly excused himself and left in a limo. The English guy explained Fuller was very sensitive about his increasing age and felt very humiliated and embarrassed whenever he lost his train of thought. Of course that’s just part of the natural aging process, and happens to me a lot nowadays, but as I reflected on it I could see how it would horrify such a brilliant man.

Lessee. Once as part of protocol I asked Mrs. Imelda Marcos to dance at a ball. I was told she would graciously decline and that would be that, but apparently somebody forgot to tell her and she shocked everyone in the room by saying yes. She was a really small woman, very pretty and charismatic, and I really liked her personally. (I guess that’s why she was so successful politically.) She asked what I liked most about the Philippines so I said the lovely ladies and the beautiful forests, which seemed to please her. Indeed the forests of the Philippines were very beautiful, and I enjoyed hiking through them very much. Ironically a decade later most of the forests had been cut down and the wood shipped to Japan.

Troy Aikman, Emmit Smith, and Michael Irvin were constant sights in restaurants, night clubs, and shopping malls in Wichita Falls in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the Dallas Cowboys had their training camp here. They were quite personable and very patient with their fans. At Parkway Grill some friends and I were discussing old cars, especially my cousin’s restored 1957 Chevy. From an adjacent table Mr. Smith joined in the conversation. Aikman and Irwin were with him and eventually joined in as well. They were very friendly and quite likable. Kinda reminded me of big kids.

Jeez, this is long! Aren't you sorry you asked?

Subject User Time
How many famous people have you met? weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 15 2011, 12:13am
    forgot to mention I met a US Vice President... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 15 2011, 12:56am
    I am a famous person myself, actually, thank you <<<<<<WIN!!! That's awesome. Mods up... Gimli'sBox Send a private message to Gimli'sBox Aug 15 2011, 4:10am
        music people are fun... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 8:25pm
    Not much Jonathan the Elf Send a private message to Jonathan the Elf Aug 15 2011, 5:32am
        scientists vs. movie/tv people.... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 8:28pm
    Lots of LotR Movie contributors at the ORC festivals Elizabeth Send a private message to Elizabeth Aug 15 2011, 8:25am
        And scientists! Elizabeth Send a private message to Elizabeth Aug 15 2011, 9:08am
        what neat neighbors to have! weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 8:31pm
    Depends on who are famous... Niniel Valinor Send a private message to Niniel Valinor Aug 15 2011, 9:08am
        I have met Kangi Ska Send a private message to Kangi Ska Aug 15 2011, 11:13am
            wow, that's quite a list! weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 8:38pm
                OH i forgot! I met Big Daddy Ed Roth, Inventer of the Rat Fink. Kangi Ska Send a private message to Kangi Ska Aug 16 2011, 11:15pm
        I'd love to meet Sir Ian, too... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 8:36pm
    There's one degree of separation between me and famous people. Alassëa Eruvande Send a private message to Alassëa Eruvande Aug 15 2011, 3:50pm
        ha, maybe we can start a club! weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 8:40pm
    Of course I am way too famous Rosie-with-the-ribbons Send a private message to Rosie-with-the-ribbons Aug 15 2011, 5:40pm
        are you one of the two people who picked that answer? weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 8:42pm
            I'm not sure if I'm allowed to confirm or deny that Rosie-with-the-ribbons Send a private message to Rosie-with-the-ribbons Aug 17 2011, 7:20am
    Depends on how you qualify "famous." RosieLass Send a private message to RosieLass Aug 15 2011, 6:00pm
        athletes, that's another category... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 8:46pm
            Well, there are degrees of famousness in athletes, too. RosieLass Send a private message to RosieLass Aug 19 2011, 2:57pm
    One or two Elberbeth Send a private message to Elberbeth Aug 15 2011, 8:24pm
        well, if you only met one or two... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 8:47pm
            When I was at school Elberbeth Send a private message to Elberbeth Aug 18 2011, 4:25pm
                thanks for sharing... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 19 2011, 2:22am
    Paul Erdos and Terry Pratchett are the only ones that come to mind right now. Aunt Dora Baggins Send a private message to Aunt Dora Baggins Aug 15 2011, 11:18pm
        Oh, and Altaira and BG. They're famous around here, anyway :-D // Aunt Dora Baggins Send a private message to Aunt Dora Baggins Aug 15 2011, 11:23pm
        I forgot to include Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman Kangi Ska Send a private message to Kangi Ska Aug 15 2011, 11:32pm
        those would all be inspiring speakers to hear, to me... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 8:54pm
    I was on a Bible Quizzing team Gollum the Great Aug 16 2011, 1:29am
        family members of famous folks... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 8:57pm
            They really are very down-to-earth. Gollum the Great Aug 16 2011, 9:09pm
    My cousin has a photo w/ Sean Astin Gollum the Great Aug 16 2011, 1:36am
    Now this was a geeky moment: dernwyn Send a private message to dernwyn Aug 16 2011, 2:30am
        I had an unusual encounter with Wayne Hammond Kangi Ska Send a private message to Kangi Ska Aug 16 2011, 2:48am
        I got a glimpse of that at UVM a few years ago... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 9:00pm
    Pretty much Wraith Buster Send a private message to Wraith Buster Aug 16 2011, 2:55am
        It wouldn't let me edit... Wraith Buster Send a private message to Wraith Buster Aug 16 2011, 3:13am
        well, if your mom is still booking trips with Harrison Ford... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 11:22pm
    I said lots..... Donry Send a private message to Donry Aug 16 2011, 5:37am
        Well, so far you are the only one who can make the famous poker player claim! weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 11:25pm
            Well depending on who Donry Send a private message to Donry Aug 17 2011, 2:57am
                he' s mostly a hockey fan... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 19 2011, 2:26am
    The coolist thing is Jonathan the Elf Send a private message to Jonathan the Elf Aug 16 2011, 5:54am
        that could be another poll... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 11:27pm
    Bands mostly riderofrohan410 Send a private message to riderofrohan410 Aug 16 2011, 6:04pm
        Harrison Ford has made the list twice now... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 11:28pm
    Hmmm... Darkstone Send a private message to Darkstone Aug 16 2011, 6:15pm
        Oh, and Bob Wills. / Darkstone Send a private message to Darkstone Aug 16 2011, 6:27pm
        Ok, you and Kangi need to go the Arena on this one... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 11:30pm
            Tony Bennett Kangi Ska Send a private message to Kangi Ska Aug 17 2011, 12:48am
                What interesting encounters! weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 19 2011, 2:30am
            TL;DR Darkstone Send a private message to Darkstone Aug 17 2011, 5:37pm
                Not sorry! Alassëa Eruvande Send a private message to Alassëa Eruvande Aug 17 2011, 11:49pm
                Dancing with Imelda... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 19 2011, 2:40am
                    Well Darkstone Send a private message to Darkstone Aug 26 2011, 12:43am
                        You bet your sweet...er...I am! // Kangi Ska Send a private message to Kangi Ska Aug 26 2011, 10:06am
    Hmmm Laerasëa Send a private message to Laerasëa Aug 16 2011, 11:16pm
        Olympians, cool! weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 11:33pm
    I'll go with three famous people, and lots of one degree of separation people Menelwyn Send a private message to Menelwyn Aug 16 2011, 11:17pm
        You're welcome, and glad to see you back :) Laerasëa Send a private message to Laerasëa Aug 16 2011, 11:22pm
        A scientist, a bishop, and a Broadway star walk into a bar... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 16 2011, 11:36pm
        Hi Menelwyn, nice to see you. silneldor Send a private message to silneldor Aug 17 2011, 1:53am
            well, when I met him Menelwyn Send a private message to Menelwyn Aug 20 2011, 12:56am
    if phone conversations don't count then ByThorinsBeard Send a private message to ByThorinsBeard Aug 17 2011, 6:53pm
        you know, I'm so glad I thought to create this poll... weaver Send a private message to weaver Aug 19 2011, 2:44am
            I forgot ByThorinsBeard Send a private message to ByThorinsBeard Aug 21 2011, 12:59am
    My parent's wedding cake... Gollum the Great Aug 19 2011, 4:38pm
    who ever has meet SW stars... shirehobbit Send a private message to shirehobbit Aug 25 2011, 10:16pm
        I did meet Chewbacca and R2D2 Kangi Ska Send a private message to Kangi Ska Aug 26 2011, 12:11am
    A fair few taekotemple Send a private message to taekotemple Aug 26 2011, 12:40am
    I can't think of a single one Zizix Send a private message to Zizix Sep 13 2011, 4:25am
    It's all relative, isn't it? ;) grammaboodawg Send a private message to grammaboodawg Dec 30 2011, 10:07pm

 
 
 

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