MetaChat - NYC is so great

Nuh-unh! Did you talk to her?

posted by jrossi4r 08 November | 10:01

After she said that, I said, it sure is! (because it really is!) I remember seeing her (not as Kathleen Turner, just as a person) coming in the lobby, and I almost told her to be careful on the wet floors so she wouldn't fall. But I didn't. I certainly would have been NICER if I'd known then she was FAMOUS (lol).

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 08 November | 10:03

KT and LT share the same auto-immune deficiency! :)

posted by Lipstick Thespian 08 November | 10:08

If the elevator had stopped, you coulda said "OK, Joan Wilder, write us out of this one.."

After she said that, I said, it sure is! (because it really is!)

You've obviously never ridden in DumbCo's 'north elevator,' which is powered by a three-legged asthmatic gerbil on a treadmill.

I never see anybody famous (then again I wouldn't recognize most modern celebrities). I onced walked past Barbara Barrie, the woman who played Barney's wife on Barney Miller on Lafayette Street. I'll have to settle for these two, I guess.

posted by jonmc 08 November | 10:09

I called my mother to tell her, and she asked, was she really fat? No, she was not. Girlfriend looked good!

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 08 November | 10:17

She looked good when she was big, too, y'ask me.

posted by jonmc 08 November | 10:19

I'm pretty sure I saw Ed Norton when I was walking to my interview last week.

posted by sciurus 08 November | 10:26

Did he say "Way to gooo, sciurus boy..."?

posted by jonmc 08 November | 10:31

I find it unnerving to run into famous people. I always want to say to them, "Get back in the tv where you belong!!"

posted by JanetLand 08 November | 10:34

No he just looked at me as if he was thinking "what a goofy mofo that guy is."

posted by sciurus 08 November | 10:36

It's weird when you're reminded that famous people live regular lives. Kathleen Turner wasn't being dramatic; she was just riding the elevator with us normal folk.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 08 November | 10:38

yes, but she rode it smolderingly...

posted by jonmc 08 November | 10:41

I find it unnerving to run into famous people.

Me, too. It's like I think they have superpowers or something. Even the minor celebrities. I went to college with Randall Tex Cobb and would hide every time I saw him. (I'm a huge Raising Arizona fan.)

Was Ed Norton tall, sciurus?

posted by jrossi4r 08 November | 10:43

Hells yea she did!

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 08 November | 10:45

looked about my height, 6'2"

posted by sciurus 08 November | 10:47

I just googled him and he's 6'1".

posted by sciurus 08 November | 10:48

Oh yay! Then I definitely would have humped his leg. I find him so sexy.

posted by jrossi4r 08 November | 10:52

It's not slow, it's just drawn that way.

Ok, I got nothing.

posted by terrapin 08 November | 10:53

jrossi4r, your Honeymooners fetish disturbs me.

posted by jonmc 08 November | 10:57

Me too, jrossi! Edward Norton is a friend-of-a-friend and every time I see that person I have to restrain myself from begging him to call E.N. up to come over for loud gratuitous sex. :)

Oh yeah, not exactly famous, but recognisable, I stood on a street corner last week and watched the aftermath of a car accident with Richard Kind.

posted by gaspode 08 November | 11:00

One of my classmates in photography class tells a story about being chased out of the Seattle Public Library by a security guard who he describes as "Edward Norton with 150 extra pounds."

posted by matildaben 08 November | 11:28

I agree that Edward Norton is a good actor and a helluva handsome guy, but why, for the love of God, didn't he change his name?

posted by jonmc 08 November | 11:30

famous people I've seen in NY:
Uma Thurman (rode in an elevator with her. We made out a little.)
Colin Quinn
Jimmy Fallon
Busta Rhymes (we smoked a spliff and freestyled for a time. He is my home boy.)
The guy who says "inconceivable" in Princess Bride.
Joey Ramone (RIP)
Michael Stipe
Sasha Baron Cohen
Carly Simon
Thurston Moore (we talked about Morrissey)

posted by Hellbient 08 November | 11:31

Oooh let me make my own list, hellbient

Courtney Love
Lenny Kravitz
Liv Tyler
(above 3 used to be mr. g's neighbours in Soho)

Nicole Kidman
Edward Norton
Julia Stiles
Heather Graham
Angelina Jolie
Jon Stewart

posted by gaspode 08 November | 11:36

famous and semi-famous people I've randomly encountered (stuff like public appearances don't count):

Andy Rooney (he came into the bookstore and I helped him. I couldn't find the book he wanted. I had visions of winding up the subject of one of his slo-mo rants "Didja ever notice how these idiot clerks can never find your book?...")

Handsome Dick Manitoba. (at his bar. the dude's a raconteur. if he meets you once, he never forgets you. pips made his night by calling him a 'mensch.')

the aforementioned Barbara Barrie

Rene Aberjunois (the guy who played Clayton on Benson and Father Mulcahey in the film version of M*A*S*H). I was behind him in line at an ATM on 79th about 15 years ago. He left his card in the machine and I beckoned him back to let him know. He thanked me.

posted by jonmc 08 November | 11:37

Oh, yeah, a certain ex-con 'entertaining' expert* (but only through her assistant). I sold her a very sophisticated multimedia computer system. She had a minor technical difficulty with it and expected someone to come to her home and fix it in person. When we said we didn't do that, she returned it to the store, which we usually didn't allow, but they made an exception.

My manager left a note on the desk for his boss "_____ returned her system last night. What a BITCH!"

*I don't want to get sued. use your powers of deduction.

posted by jonmc 08 November | 11:41

Bah! I meet famooses all the time (meet as in see them, yeah right as if I go up and talk to them). See, they film a lot in our neighborhoods and get to hang out especially in the summer. Woody Allen and Barbra, Robin Williams, the cast from Law and Order and Sex and the City, Steve Tyler thought my twins are very cute, and Liv Tyler once in a restaurant needed help figuring out which is the right women's restroom, W and M look funny, I guess, while intox. Alec Baldwin goes to Rain alot and so do I, but not for him. And OMG! Rupert Everett walking his dog in the village. I bumped into him, purposely. Hot! Hot!

I'll have some Ed Norton, too, please. Thank you.

posted by carmina 08 November | 11:43

Some Famous People I've Seen:
Chelsea Clinton (this was a long ago near DC, when her Dad was still Prez)
Scarlett Johansson
Mike Myers
Bob Saget
Ellen Barkin
Malcom Gets (who was with me in an elevator and said, "Wow, you look a lot like Liza Minelli! I was trying to think if she had a daughter...")
Ernie Sabella
Chris Noth (Mr. Big from Sex and the City)
Joan Rivers
Brian Stokes Mitchell (he's mostly a theatre star, but I loooove him)
Pat Fields (costume designer for Sex and the City)
Will Arnett (and maybe Amy Poehler, too?)
and now Kathleen Turner!

on preview: Bwa ha ha, jonmc, I think I know who you're talking about!

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 08 November | 11:43

Kathleen Turner is and will always be smoking hot.

posted by eamondaly 08 November | 11:44

wow, I'm way behind the rest of youse. I'm either utterly oblivious to my surroundings or celebs don't hang around my usual haunts.

(actually I did see Chris Noth on the R train once. Homeboy did not look happy.)

posted by jonmc 08 November | 11:46

(and he'll always be Det. Mike Logan to me. Screw that Mr. Big stuff)

posted by jonmc 08 November | 11:47

I used to do room service at a fancy hotel in Richmond, VA. I met:

Dusty Hill (bass player for ZZTop. Rode in an elevator with him. We made out a little.)

Bob Newhart (I told him he was in Sinatra's room the night he collapsed. He seemed to enjoy that factoid)

John Goodman (he gave me $7 for getting him a bucket of ice, in order for him to chill his cheap beer from the previous evening)

Steve Miller (he paid $3,000 for a weekend with a call girl)

Neil Sedaka

Lesley Stahl

The Fresh Prince's materialistic sister (she was super hot)

Melissa Ethridge (she just got back from Woodstock, she had a hot ladyfriend with her, and she had a joint on the mantle. She was really nice.)

Oh, and another from NY: Martin Scorsesseesee (on the set of that ambulance movie)

posted by Hellbient 08 November | 11:55

Hehe, I've actually seen him twice- once on the street and once at a L&O party at his bar (friend worked on the show). Dude always looks hungover, tehehe.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 08 November | 11:56

Dusty Hill (bass player for ZZTop. Rode in an elevator with him. We made out a little.)

Did his beard tickle? (from inside hearsay, with one of his bandmates, that wouldn't bee such an outlandish statement.)

(also, one time I was waiting in line for the Chase ATM on Hudson & Charlton and this gaggle of grown women came in shrieking about how they had just seen Kate Hudson. I was thinking, 'well, if you hurry, maybe you can catch up with her and lick her butt or something. Now, outta my way..')

posted by jonmc 08 November | 12:00

Oh, I forgot!

Cynthia Nixon (and gf).

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 08 November | 12:01

Chris Noth, saw him several times on 8th street in running shorts. Not pretty. I also prefer him in L&O rather than S&C.

posted by carmina 08 November | 12:04

(and I almost forgot my elevator ride with Ken Burns, we rode up four floors together. Any further and we would have all turned sepia)

posted by jonmc 08 November | 12:06

Did his beard tickle?
A lot of people don't know this, but it's a fake beard. He took it off for me, which I thought was really sweet. I haven't seen him since. Dusty - call me!

posted by Hellbient 08 November | 12:06

Hey Ken Burns, you know what you should make a documentary on? Elevators. You could call it "Elevators".

Or Pickles. You could call it "Pickles".

Or Pencils. You could call it "Pencils".

etc...

posted by Hellbient 08 November | 12:13

I always dug Ms. Turner. She has a slight Argentinian, or maybe Spanish accent. It's slight, but it's there nonetheless.
Very sexy.

I can't even begin to list celeb sightings here in Gotham but I do have a condensed version of celebs I've had the pleasure of meeting and talking to through the years.

Nancy Wilson
Jesse Jackson
The Hudlin Brothers ("House Party")
Rosie Perez (we shared a doobie)
Ivana Trump
Maya Rudolph
Kerry Washington (I fell in love!)
Jam Master Jay
Michael Jordan
Meg Ryan (right in front of Dumb Co., yo)
2Pac
John Cardinal O'Connor
David Dinkins
Randy Jackson (Michael's equally weird brother)

posted by Joe Famous 08 November | 12:13

Rosie Perez (we shared a doobie)

and she doo-bie smokin', yo...

(sorry)

posted by jonmc 08 November | 12:15

Since the building I work in connects to the House of Representatives' office buildings, I go over there all the time to use the Post Office, for lunch, for Starbucks, whatever. I see Reps and Senators all the time, but I usually don't recognize them--they wear a special lapel pin. Some are fairly distinctive looking, so I pick them out--John Lewis is about 5'5", Frist, well, he looks like Frist.

And, since I live on Capitol Hill and walk to work, I see big shots with some regularity, and know where they live, which is cool. I'll see Eleanor Holmes Norton shopping for fruit, or Carl Levin getting in his car, John Kerry at the grocery store, Fred Thompson (no longer serving) at the Thai place, or something similar nearly every week.

Media folks, too, though I never remember their names--Jack Germond looked familiar, but I didn't know who he was when I saw him. Or, you know, that guy on PBS, on the show with that other guy?

But I get the biggest thrill when I see Gene Weingarten playing with his dog.

posted by mrmoonpie 08 November | 12:20

I see lots of famous people, some of them really famous, but usually in that place where I have to respect their anonymity.

But outside of there I've seen loads of footballers and soap stars, because they live round here. I have no idea who the soap stars are, but people stare at them so I know that's who they are.

Once in Waitrose Paolo di Canio asked me to help him choose something for his dinner because his wife and daughter were in Italy. He asked me because he recognised me - he used to park his car in my close when he collected his daughter from a neighbour who gave her English lessons and I had to stop my cat from jumping in his open-top Jag one day.

Anyway, this was the week after West Ham beat Man Utd 1-0 in the FA Cup at Old Trafford (and Paolo scored the goal - remember seanyboy, Barthez with his hand in the air calling for offside, the twat). So I was sorely tempted to grab a frozen leg of lamb and smash his kneecaps to bits. But I didn't. I helped him choose something tasty and easy to prepare instead.

Joe Famous: Kathleen Turner's father was a diplomat and she grew up in Venezuela.

posted by essexjan 08 November | 12:20

oooh, maybe they're related.

posted by jonmc 08 November | 12:20

AHA! Thanks, Essexjan!
She's from the home country, eh? NICE.
I knew I had like-ed that woman!

posted by Joe Famous 08 November | 12:21

My NYC celebrity encounters:
- George H.W. Bush walked in front of my cab
- Julia Roberts walked by the cheesesteak place on 6th Ave while I was eating
- Andy Roddick
- Damon Dash (Jay-Z's uh..I dunno, manager or something?)
- Willem Defoe hailing a cab in front of me on 7th Ave
- Brad Garrett (tall guy from Everybody Loves Raymond)
- Aida Turturro (Tony's sister, Janice, from the Sopranos) eating on the patio of a restaurant near Gramercy Park (did a big ole double-take on that one)

As a valet in AZ:
- Tiger Woods and a bunch of other golfers (we hosted the Phoenix Open)
- Johnny Miller, the baseball announcer who I didn't recognize at first
- Dick Vitale, who sounds nothing like that in person
- Greg Kinnear
- The entire Red Wings team circa '00, including Scotty Bowman, the greatest coach in team sports history (IMO, of course)
But the two best from the hotel:
- One of our doormen loaded Tiger Woods' bags into Michael Jordan's Range Rover and got a $20 tip from MJ
- One of our bellmen was fired when he told Joe Pesci to "get his fucking shine-box" after getting stiffed on a tip

My friend and old roommate had a few good encounters in a two-week period. He waited in line at the Trump Hotel in NYC with Slash, he sat next to Dan Akroyd on a flight from NYC to LA, then he waited for a cab at the Bellagio with Adrian Grenier (Vince from Entourage). The funniest bit about the last one was that we had been watching that show religiously, but he blanked on the name so he came out with the classic, "Hey, aren't you that guy from that show?" Grenier was really cool to him though.

posted by mullacc 08 November | 12:26

The flip side--I see non-famous people I know on TV with some regularity, as well. I dated "a leading child-care policy researcher," and sit across the hall from "a leading book preservation expert," stuff like that. Hell, I was interviewed by the Charlotte, NC, newspaper on 9/11 since I was, well, "a former Charlotte resident."

posted by mrmoonpie 08 November | 12:30

Hmm, I have:

Jason Alexander, Tori Amos, Amy Brenneman, Chelsea Clinton (at a Sting concert), Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry's, Callista Flockhart, Denis Franz, John Hannah (cute), Neil Patrick Harris, Ethan Hawke, Ian Holm, Anthony Hopkins, Ang Lee, Catherine Keener, Margot Kidder, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Tatum O'Neal, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jason Patric, Sidney Pollack, Denise Richards, Chris Rock, Kurt Russell, Terence Stamp, Sylvester Stallone, Ben Stiller, Casper Van Dien, Robin Williams, Henry Winkler, A guy from Helmet, all of No Doubt (who I was too scared to make eye contact with)

And one year I covered the Golden Globes. The press room was formal dress and I was not comped for getting my hair done although I would've gotten comped if I were male and had rented a tuxedo. Grrr! I wore my little sister's prom dress forpetessake.

posted by halonine 08 November | 12:34

My Susan Sontag story needs to be told in person.

Molly Ringwald was in my 6th and 7th grade class and a complete snot.

posted by brujita 08 November | 12:42

Julia Roberts walked by the cheesesteak place on 6th Ave while I was eating Andy Roddick

man, that must've been more than a little awkward, mullacc.

I, another one I forgot - I saw Willem Defoe in a West Village deli. He said hi to me. Such a cool guy. I wanted to say "you know, we should hang out".

posted by Hellbient 08 November | 12:43

Is this the entertaining expert who claims Erica Jong ruined her marriage?

posted by brujita 08 November | 12:44

Celebs I've seen/met/talked to on the street in NYC:
Joan Rivers (met)
Tony Bennett (seen)
Robert DeNiro (talked to)
Faye Dunaway (seen)
Nick Carter (talked to)
Lou Reed (seen)
Kobe Bryant (talked to)
Julia Louis Dreyfus (can't spell her name) (talked to)
Mick Jagger (seen)
Terry Gilliam (talked to)
Linda Evangelista (seen)
Michael J Fox (seen)
Meg Ryan (seen)
Brian Wilson (met)
Christina Aguillera (can't spell her name either) (talked to)

posted by iconomy 08 November | 12:45

Oh yeah, Rodney Dangerfield! He was shooting a commercial at my basketball camp. He was really serious, a total professional. RIP.

posted by Hellbient 08 November | 12:46

Oh yeah, I also managed to get backstage and meet half of Metallica. They signed my coat. Jason was cool, Lars...well...

brujita: I don't know about that. This was the entertaining expert who thinks 'it's a good thing...'

posted by jonmc 08 November | 12:47

I saw Brian Wilson on the Atlanta airport train. I'd just heard a page for Mike Love, and was thinking, hmm, that Mike Love? when the train doors opened. Wilson looked me straight in the eye, saw that I recognized him, then looked down. I let him be.

posted by mrmoonpie 08 November | 12:51

How could I forget?!? I got Ron Jeremy to sign a pair of my boxer shorts, and my wife had Tommy Chong sign her thong.

posted by mrmoonpie 08 November | 13:15

At Tower Records, a chick I was with got Tom Araya (of Slayer) to sign her boobies.

posted by jonmc 08 November | 13:21

Oh, yeah! And I've spoken to ? (of ? and the Mysterians) on several occasions, and have his home number floating around here somewhere.

posted by mrmoonpie 08 November | 13:22

Oh, I forgot, I was at school with Glenda Bailey, who's now a magazine editor in NYC.

And my friend, Stacey, is a musician, and her brother, Steve, is a famous musician. Whilst he's one of my heroes musically, personally he's a bit of a wanker. His latest wife is a cow.

posted by essexjan 08 November | 13:31

I'm moving to England. They even let inter-species marry there.

posted by chewatadistance 08 November | 14:34

I saw Robbie Coltrane (the guy who plays Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies) in London by the Eye a few summers ago. He's a lot smaller in real life.

posted by muddgirl 08 November | 14:46

Wanna see somethin' semi-vintage and hava a great chuckle?

With Cameo (Word Up! lol)
≡ Click to see image ≡

With KRS-ONE (Ol' Skool!)
≡ Click to see image ≡

With Randy Jackson ("Like Randy from da Jackson 5, right?" lol.)
≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by Joe Famous 08 November | 14:48

Look at the guy's acid washed jeans in the first one! Radical!

posted by iconomy 08 November | 15:04

Yo, Mookie, what up?!

posted by jonmc 08 November | 15:05

AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

posted by Joe Famous 08 November | 15:06

They obviously don't have the time for psychological romance.

posted by essexjan 08 November | 15:15

KRS-One is wearing a rudraksha mala in that pic.

posted by Specklet 08 November | 16:45

I'm just relieved to find out that Larry Blackmon took the codpiece off every now and again.

posted by box 08 November | 18:09

Queen Latifah-I actually asked for her autograph, and she was very gracious as I turned into a goofball. She's beautiful.

Jon Bon Jovi-though I didn't know it was him until after we'd spoken. He's not a big guy.

Debra Harry-shops in my store. Time has been less than kind.

Julianne Phillips Springsteen-the first Mrs. Springsteen. Man, was she thin! Very nice and low key.

posted by redvixen 08 November | 19:43

Queen Latifah-I actually asked for her autograph, and she was very gracious as I turned into a goofball. She's beautiful.

Indeed. The Queen plays heavy in my celebrity fantasies.

Julianne Phillips Springsteen-the first Mrs. Springsteen. Man, was she thin! Very nice and low key.

I'm sure she was nice and she wasn't hard to look at, but Patti Scialfa suits the Boss much better, IMHO.

posted by jonmc 08 November | 20:43

Years and years ago, I spoke to Graham Chapman over the phone (he was doing a PBS pledge-a-thon thing in L.A.)

But that's a phone call, so maybe it doesn't count. :(

He was very sweet.

posted by psho 08 November | 21:32

That's the one, Mr. McNally! Jong writes about it in her new memoir.

posted by brujita 09 November | 00:35

redvixen, the MrsMoonPie has been in Queen Latifah's house, a friend-of-a-friend thing. The Mrs didn't actually meet the Queen, but said her mother was very nice.

posted by mrmoonpie 09 November | 11:13

The Queen was indeed very nice, just shopping in the store like us common folk. Along with her autograph, I also have a poster from "Bringin' Down the House" that she signed. We had it hanging in the store for a long time until the ends were getting ripped and the new management wanted to clear up the wall it hung on. It nearly got thrown out. Blasphemy!
I'd love to know what kind of house she has. I keep picturing something traditional and classic. Except for the recording studio, of course.

posted by redvixen 09 November | 20:02

08 November 2006