For my upcoming birthday, a dear friend of mine managed to get two front and center seats to Justin’s show last Friday night in Nashville. The Thursday before the big show, the same friend left me a voice mail saying, “Make sure you get to town by 5 p.m. because we’re having dinner with J.T. backstage before the show!!!” And that’s how I came to sit two tables away in a backstage storeroom from Justin Timberlake.
We were not only in the same room, but we ate the same food, and my friend caught his eye when cleaning off her plate at the end of our meal. I’m happy to report that he looks just like he does in US Weekly, though he does follow the Hollywood tradition (a la Tom Cruise) of being smaller in real life than one might imagine. The friend of my friend who invited us to dinner who’s part of Justin’s crew this tour claims Justin eats with the crew most nights.
It’s nice to know that not only is Justin of a regular stature, but he eats with the little guy too.
Does anyone else have a “brush with fame” story they’d like to share?
— Mannie Dalton, calendar editor
Back when I used to be involved with the Writer’s Workshop, I spent a day acting as “security” for Kurt Vonnegut’s visit to Asheville. I was about 14, and I was very much excited to meet him, as I found his writing a perfect expression of my own alienation in high school. After his lecture at Jubilee!, I tried to introduce myself to him. It was nothing big, I was just saying hello, but he looked at me as if I was trying to force feed him a rotten jellyfish sandwich. He none-too-politely told me to leave him alone, and then went off to bask in the attentions of the adoring crowd waiting for him outside.
Other brushes with fame include several from my days as a sci-fi fanboy: A brief chat with a drunken James Doohan (from “Star Trek”); an argument over pronounciation with a cornered Tracy Hickman (co-author of the “Dragonlance” fantasy series); and a run-in with a bewildered Mark Hamill (“Star Wars”). Oh, and Andie McDowell outside Earth Fare — can’t forget that.
We should see if we can get Bugg to post on this. He insulted Mischa Barton a few months ago.
I must admit, when I came to mountainx.com today to find Justin Timberlake’s face right there before me, I squealed with glee.
I always enjoy reading about our local artists and all the other ones who are coming through town. But man oh man, is it nice to see a little slice of pop guilty-pleasure heaven smack dab in the middle of the page.
Oh and I scared John Waters out of a Baltimore club once. Drinking and approaching celebs do not a good mix make.
A few months ago I was at the Satellite Gallery on Broadway for an art opening of sorts. I don’t know how it happened, but I remember standing next to this impossibly thin hipster girl with big alien eyes. My wife was nowhere to be found, and I was alone.
At once a dirty faux homeboy rich kid started freestyling, as they often do to appear to be witty. I distinctly remember a few of the meth addicted looking hipsters cheering along as he rhymed “Pabst Blue Ribbon” with “craps through gibbons” or something vaguely snarky like that.
“Who is that” the boney hipster girl said to me, in that affected way that boney hipster girls often do.
“Oh just your typical new money Asheville Coke head douchebag.”
“That’s not nice.” she said, as she turned away from me. Across the room I could hear the rapper rhyming “Condaleeza Rice” with “Tumblin Dice”.
“But it’s true”, I replied, “he is in Asheville, probably makes more money than me, and he is definitely on coke.”
She walked away offended.
My wife returned to me later on, and it was then that the boney hipster girl was described back to me as Misha Barton from the OC. To this day I have no clue who it is.
As for other celebrity sighting, I’ve met Robin Williams, Jim “Ernest” Varney, and Mr. T.
Also my mom was the chick that Chuck Berry peed on in that old video.
And my sister was the chick that R. Kelly peed on in that newer video.
Notice the resemblance?
Just so happens that I was at that same concert on Friday, and it was amazing. Sadly, I didn’t have front and center seats but I was on the GA floor. And again, I sadly wasn’t able to eat with him, either.
But, by chance, I did get to touch his arm on his way out. Now, I have to get connections like you and meet or eat with him. lol I like mashed potatoes also.
I’ve also met country music star Aaron Tippin.
I was young, in my early teens. I attended Dean Smith’s basketball camp at UNC-Chapel Hill one summer. I didn’t know much about the game at the time.
I stayed in a university dorm, Granville Towers, that week. One afternoon a former Tar Heel named Michael Jordan was to give us an exhibition. He had been in the pros for one year, and had recently rolled out Nike’s “Air Jordan” gear.
So I step into the elevator to head down to the exhibition. This very tall man in head-to-toe Air Jordan gear steps in there with me. Some campers down the hall start pointing at him and screaming “That’s Michael Jordan.”
“You kids aren’t going to fool me,” I thought. The elevator door closed. I looked at the man out of the corner of my eye and said, “You’re not Michael Jordan.”
The man laughed, then said, “I like your shirt kid.” (I was wearing a Hawaiian shirt.) I thanked him. No further words passed between us.
On the bottom floor, the elevator doors opened and he and I stepped out. We walked outside to the basketball court next to the dorm, where hundreds of campers were waiting.
Someone tossed the man a basketball, which he proceeded to slam dunk. The crowd went wild. Suffice it to say that, contrary to what I told him, he was, in fact, Michael Jordan.
I used a urinal next to Ben Affleck at the Charlotte Airport as we waited for a delayed flight to Asheville. He was on his way to film some movie with Sandra Bullock and a train, and back at the bar, I heard him say into his cellphone that he was headed “to the middle of nowhere.”
I also met Michael Stipe while living in Athens, GA, but then again, who didn’t?