Every now and then, when you're out and about in public, you happen to come across a celebrity, or a politician (there's a difference?). At least I do. Herein, a few such encounters.
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Tonight's assignment: What wine goes with our complimentary orange croissants? Discuss.
I've been in the presence of well-known public figures on a number of occasions. For this purpose, it means being close enough to talk or touch, even if I didn't do either in the moment. Events like simply attending concerts as part of a mass audience don't make the cut tonight, with notable exceptions.
Queen Elizabeth II
In the early 1970's, I was a high school student living in Ottawa. The Queen made a number of visits to Canada during this era. On one of these, which I think was in 1973, I was in the crowd on Parliament Hill waiting for one of her walkabouts. I was right at the rope line as she walked slowly by, occasionally exchanging a few words with someone (but not with me). As the Queen walked by, I could literally have reached out and touched her. But one wouldn't do that, would one.
In those days, you could say that I was in awe of the monarchy. Now, not so much. I've come to resent that a foreigner claims the title of Head of State of my country. It's purely ceremonial these days, and I'm not big on ceremony. Nonsense like the Prime Minister formally asking the queen for permission to call an election doesn't sit well with me. Enough of that crap, which has way outlived modern sensibilities. Besides, I didn't know we had a queen. I thought we were an autonomous collective. Listen -- strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.1
Don Harron
On one occasion in the late 1970s, I was on a short-haul flight from Toronto to Ottawa. Sitting just in front of me were Don Harron and his then-wife Catherine McKinnon. An actor and comedian, Harron was best known for his character, Charlie Farquharson. American audiences of a certain age would recognize Charlie as the face of KORN news on the TV series Hee Haw. Catherine was well known in Canada in her own right, as a singer sometimes called "the girl with the voice of an angel". Charlie, in character, referred to her as Cathleen McCinnamon, "the girl with the voice on an angle".
I didn't see Harron's daughter from a previous marriage, Mary Harron. In the family tradition, she also has a show-business career. Among other things, she directed the movie American Psycho.
Don Harron is now 90 years old, and retired his Charlie Farquharson character a few years ago.
John Candy
I saw the late, great, John Candy in a departure lounge for a flight from Toronto to Chicago. He was amiably chatting up the gate attendant. I nodded an acknowledgement as I passed by, and he nodded in return. I didn't interrupt the conversation, but now I wish I had said hello or something. A few other people in the same lounge did just that, and he seemed quite friendly. I sat nearby where I could keep an eye on him. That unmistakable laugh came out a few times that day, too.
Eriq La Salle
I had a chance encounter with Eriq La Salle at a restaurant named Sotto Sotto in Toronto. This would have been circa 1998, while he was in the series ER. The restaurant was popular with celebrities as well as regular people like us. Anyway, on this particular evening, I used the men's washroom. It was one of those single-door, single-person rooms. While I was inside, I heard the doorknob rattle as someone tried to enter. When I opened the door to exit moments later, Eriq was standing there as the next person waiting to enter. Neither of us said anything.
Gale Harold
Gale Harold became famous, in some circles anyway, as Brian Kinney on the series Queer as Folk. Set in Pittsburgh, the series was actually produced in Toronto between 2000 and 2005, where I was living at the time. I met him briefly at a touring company stage presentation of The Graduate at the Pantages (now Canon) theatre in Toronto. (Memory tells me that Alicia Silverstone was on that tour; the wiki says that she played Broadway during that period, but I think she came to Toronto as well). I spotted Gale with a female companion before the show. At intermission, the two were standing by a wall in the lobby. Unusual for me, I actually approached him, said a quick hello, and that I enjoyed his show (QaF). He smiled nicely (the character Brian rarely smiled) and returned the hello and a handshake, then I moved on.
Bob Barr
After Toronto, my partner and I spent a few years living in Atlanta. More specifically, Smyrna, a suburb on the north end of the city. This was the kind of territory where you might find former Congressman Bob Barr out and about. And we did, at dinner one evening in a local restaurant. I call it "My Dinner With Bob Barr". That's if, by "with", you mean "sitting at the next table".
Paula Deen
Full disclosure: I'm not a Paula Deen fan. We need not go into details. During our time in Atlanta, we happened across her doing a book signing at a local Costco. She had been installed at a table in one of the main aisles, with a long line of her fans waiting their turn to meet and greet. Needless to say, we didn't join the line. But I was strangely drawn in, getting close enough to see and hear her. I had been pulled in like a tractor beam by what I thought was a bright searchlight. It turned out to be the light radiating from Paula's impossibly white teeth.
Penn & Teller
We took in Penn & Teller's show at the Rio in Las Vegas, several years ago. It seems like they've been playing there forever. When the show's over, a lot of entertainers disappear from the stage, and perhaps a lucky handful of people get to see them backstage. By the time we filed out of this theatre, Penn & Teller were waiting in the lobby to meet and greet their fans. Both are quite personable and friendly. I got each of them to autograph my ticket, and we exchanged a few words of chit-chat.
Penn really is that big, and Teller really does speak, when he's not on stage.
Susur Lee
Susur Lee is a popular chef and restauranteur (some sources consider this word to be a common error, and that I should actually say restaurateur, without the "n"). He is usually based in Toronto, though every few years or so he seems to close the doors, pack his bags, and head off to somewhere else in the world before eventually finding his way back. His career began at the renowned Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. My partner grew up in an apartment building a stone's throw from the Peninsula.
We have eaten at a few different iterations of Susur's restaurants in Toronto, and he has dropped by our table on several of those occasions. One evening though, Partner asked our waiter if the Chef was in the restaurant that night. No, we were informed, he wasn't there because it was his turn to stay home and babysit the kids. This is a man who regularly appears on various Top 50 worldwide lists, and couldn't be in his own restaurant because he was watching the kids. He can be a bit eccentric at times. In person he's quite friendly, but on TV he comes across as rather stiff.
Sadly, Susur's first wife Marilou was a passenger on flight KAL007, notoriously shot down by the Soviet Union in 1983.
Wolfgang Puck
We happened to be at Disney World circa 1997, and noticed that Wolfgang Puck had opened a restaurant there. We decided to take our chances and go, not realizing that we had picked the wrong night. Clues that this was the wrong night included the extremely packed parking lot at Downtown Disney, and the presence of a lot of lights and cameras. As it happened, we had stumbled toward the grand opening of the new West Side at Downtown Disney development. We didn't actually get into the entrance to the area, but we did get close enough to see that it was roped off, with red carpets, and a lot of limos hovering about. We found out later that access that evening was by invitation only.
But we did return the next night, when the area was open to the public. We went to Wolfgang's restaurant, and I think we waited for about an hour or so for a table. The place, and in fact the whole Downtown Disney area, was packed. Wolfgang was there, of course, working both behind the open kitchen counter and in front, meeting and greeting the customers.
We purchased the Wolfgang Puck Adventures in the Kitchen book as we were leaving, and got Wolfgang himself to autograph it. We didn't take much of his time, but he was kind enough to have a few words with anyone who requested it. Wolfgang is a multi-tasker, for sure.
Mario Batali
Circa 2002, we had dinner at Babbo in New York City. Mario Batali happened to be there that night. Celebrity chefs with multiple restaurants don't spend much time in any one spot. Mario spent much of the time standing near the bar, chatting with customers from time to time. Again as we were leaving, we bought one of his books, The Babbo Cookbook, which he graciously autographed, along with the message "Linguini is love!".
At Babbo, when you order a bottle of wine, the sommalier will open it, and then take a small taste using his own glass, to assure you that it is of good quality.
Joe Clark
Joe Clark was Prime Minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. His term came to an end after his minority Conservative government was defeated in a motion of non-confidence in the House of Commons.
About 3 years ago, we had just taken our seats on a smallish commercial flight from Vancouver to Calgary. Joe entered the airplane shortly after us, and took his seat in the business class section, just 2 rows in front of us. He was dressed in a full 3-piece business suit and tie, the works. It struck me at that moment that I'm glad I'm not one of those people. You know, the people who are constantly dressed up for business, never seen in public without a tie. No doubt that's their norm, but I would hate to live like that.
Cyndi Lauper
If this segment seems familiar, it's because I've written about my Cyndi Lauper encounters previously. Tonight's diary shamelessly regurgitates that, but as you have seen, expands to include other celebrity encounters I've had over the years. Here's a Cyndi summary:
June, 2002. It was year one of Cher's Farewell Tour. The tour started at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, and spread out worldwide from there. Myself and Partner were in attendance, as we were living in Toronto at that time. Cyndi Lauper was the opening act.
We were seated stage left, several rows up from the floor and stage level. I had the aisle seat, Partner was next to me. Part way through her set, Cyndi left the stage, making her way out into the audience, still singing. She worked her way across the floor, and to the aisle which led up toward us. She was followed by a lone security guy, trying to be unobtrusive, but staying close to her at all times. As Cyndi passed right next to me, she paused, and then climbed up on the seat directly behind mine. The people who had purchased that seat and the ones next to it, had not yet arrived. Interesting things sometimes happen when you show up late to a live show, that you might never know about.
As I twisted around in my seat to look directly up at Cyndi's butt, I glanced at the beefy looking security guy. He returned a silent stare as if to say "don't even think it!". Which, of course, I wasn't.
What seemed at the time to be like an hour, probably only lasted 30 seconds or so. Cyndi got down off the seat, and slowly worked her way back to the stage, still singing, and getting wild cheers from the audience, especially in our section.
October, 2002. Still year one of the tour, but Cher made another swing through Toronto, also featuring Cyndi Lauper. We went to this show as well (d'oh), but this time our seats were on the opposite side of the arena. We were in the first row of the side seating, just above floor level. This time it was myself, Partner, Partner's sister, and her husband.
Once again, Cyndi ventured out into the audience during her set. Girl seems to have this habit. She came to our side of the arena, but this time with no security following her. Just Cyndi and her wireless mic. As she moved closer and closer, I realized she was coming right toward me. Again. This time, there were no empty seats nearby to climb up on. Instead, she gave me a quick look to satisfy herself that I wasn't some kind of freak about to do something stupid, and sat right down my lap. I put my arm around her waist, and she reached across Partner to take hold of Partner's sister's hand. All this while continuing to sing. I looked up at the big video screens, and there we were, Cyndi and me, with her on my lap.
1 Portions unapologetically pilfered from Monty Python.
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