Online Celeb Encounters (1 Viewer)

The other celebrity thread got me wondering if anyone here has participated in an online forum (such as HTF) that a celebrity happens to frequent. For example, FARK has Will Wheaton and Adam from Mythbusters participating every now and then. Ever found yourself in the middle of a conversation with someone famous or half-famous?

Off the top of my head:

Bruce Willis posts regularly at his site (and does planned meets with fans when his band plays out, etc.).

Alberta Watson (of La Femme Nikita and 24 fame) posted regularly at her site.

Sorta related: When I held a position as a "Community Leader" (host) in AOL's Music Center for a few years, I had very regular interaction with many well-known musicians, both in the background handling details about their dedicated areas and events, as well as within the forums themselves. I also worked very closely with Gerri Miller, who was at that time the editor of METAL EDGE magazine, and then with her successor Paul Gargana, in that same capacity. Some of them were fabulous, and some were pure jerks...

Eric Avery (then bassist for Jane's Addiction) once contacted me off-list for further info about an informational post I made in the alt.tv.x-files newsgroup.

And, best of all, two "really famous internet guys" post at the Home Theater Forum... Ever heard of the TVShowsOnDVD.com website? Well, the guys who run it, Gord Lacey and David Lambert, post quite freguently at the HTF. How cool! (Just ribbin' ya, Gord and Dave... )

I still love it when I stumble across Gord's posts at the IMDB...

Bonus: Eugene Glazer ("Operations" from La Femme Nikita") is a very active seller on eBay, and I've bought many items from him and had many e-mail exchanges. His seller ID is "dikesnyder".

Years ago, Tom Clancy did an on-line question & answer on AOL. I was fast on the keyboard, and he answered one of my questions.

I sent an e-mail to TJ Valentine of Big Break IV concerning his website, and he answered. Does that count?

Not me, but this is a great story about celebrities and the internet -

A soldier from my hometown named Andrew Farrar was in Iraq last year around this time and instead of a "what to do if I don't make it" letter, he sent a "what to do when I die 40 years from now" letter. He told his mom that the Dropkick Murphys album she sent him for Christmas was great and he wanted "The Fields of Athenry", with it's long bagpipe solo, played at his funeral "many years from now". Sadly he died a week later. Sgt. Farrar's brother was lamenting his death and talking about how much he loved the band in the Murphy's chatroom when he got a reply from "Ken"; it said "Call me" and left a number. "Ken" was Ken Casey, singer/bassist for the Murphys. A few weeks later, when Sgt. Andrew Farrar was laid to rest in his hometown of Weymouth, MA - The Dropkick Murphys stood outside the church in the swirling snow and "The Fields of Athenry" was piped into the cold February air.

At the time, the Murphys were recording their latest album and they incorporated parts of Andrew's letter into the single "Last Letter Home". They also recorded a special version of "The Fields of Athenry". They cut only 3 CD's, 1 for Andrew's mother, 1 for his wife and one was laid to rest with the hero himself. They promised to never release the version, but relented with permission from the family, when they heard a fund was being set up in Andrew's honor. All proceeds from a CD release of 2500 copies go to the fund.

The greatest thing about this story is nobody knew about it, except those who were there, until last August when the Boston Herald did a story to promote the CD release. The Murphys kept it quiet, until letting it out could do some good.

For those interested:
Andrew Farrar Memorial Fundraiser CD Single

Well, it's tough to follow that one. Thanks for the story.

Anyway, I got a terse e-mail from Mason Williams once. He was credited on an album with one Stan Jones, and I e-mailed him to ask him if it was the Stan Jones of "Ghost Riders in the Sky" fame. I think his reply was either, "Yes" or "The same."

Also, a friend of mine briefly corresponded with the recently deceased Mike Botts, drummer for Bread.

that reminds me of an episode of mr. show, when bob explains that charity is when you do something good for someone while other people are watching. glad to know this isn't always the case. rip, mr. farrar.

CJ

Jeff, that's a wonderful story.

And my only online interaction with a celeb is located in my signature. Her blog is getting published (albeit only in HK, but still).

I've got one encounter, it was with Wil Wheaton in a /. interview

Granted it's not a big deal to get him to reply in such a forum, but I like the fact that I called him on a mistake regarding some Simpson's trivia.

Depends on what you mean by "celebrity". I've exchanged a couple of dozen messages with J. Michael Straczynski, writer/creator/producer of Babylon 5 among other things, over the years. He's been a serious on-line presence since the late 80s (starting on GENie, Prodigy and Compuserve, now exclusively in the moderated B5 newsgroup.) Also the odd e-mail on the rare occasion that I had something to communicate that couldn't or shouldn't be posted to a public forum. Joe once got Harlan Ellison, who is remarkably anti-technology for someone so associated with speculative fiction, to do a live on-line chat and I managed to get a question in that got answered. (I think it was about his then just-published script book and essay, The City on the Edge of Forever.)

All pretty cool, but writers tend to be minor or cult celebrities at best. Even someone who sells as many books as Stephen King can probably do his own grocery shopping. Michael Chrichton might be more recognizable (there aren't many people as tall as he is this side of the NBA, and he appears on TV more often) but 90% of Americans probably wouldn't recognize him if they passed him on the street. And these guys are hugely famous when compared to an Ellison, much less a Straczynski. Not exactly in the Brad Pitt/Tom Cruise class of celebrity, the kind that would impress your average person if you mentioned being in an on-line chat with them or trading messages on a Compuserve Forum.

Regards,

Joe

Ive met and exchanged a few emails with Peter Bracke (formerly of DVD File) and writer of Crystal Lake Memories.

Chi of Deftones fame replied to me on his forum.

And a few years ago I exchanged an emai or two with Robert Harris.

Well, if I thought Peter counted I would have mentioned him, too.

Is Bill Hunt a celebrity? How about Ron and Parker?

Joe

I refuse to belong to any forum that already has Uwe Boll as a member.

Back on topic: all of my celeb encounters have been in real-life. And none of them particularly impressive.

Well it's New Zealand related, I posted onto a newsgroup complaining when Pio (one NZ comic) completely ripped off a joke from MAD Magazine on his TV Show, I got a response from another NZ comic Mike King agreeing that he thought Pio was pretty lame.


WTH Mike King was on Veronica Mars? must be a typo.....weird.

I once got an email from Sarah Lane at then TechTV... that's about as famous as I get. :b

I often wonder though if celebs often hang out in chatrooms/forums since it's someplace where they really can be anonymous. I mean, I would if I were famous.. after being chased by autograph hounds and paparazzi all day, it must be nice to sit down and have a conversation with an average J6P.

One other to note. Residents of "Red Sox Nation" know that pitcher Curt Schilling prefers the internet and live TV/radio as opposed to normal interviews with reporters because he can avoid being misquoted or taken out of context. The day he signed with the Red Sox, he had a lengthy chat with fans on the "Sons of Sam Horn" (SOSH) website, a practice that he continues to this day. He also frequently calls in to local sports radio station WEEI on the way to or from the park (including the day he called the Mass State Police to report a reckless, possibly drunk driver). Makes for some lively conversations and the nickname of "Red Light" (a tribute to his penchant for live TV cameras) among some.

I once replied to a thread started by Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies) at TheForce.net's Jedi Council forum. I asked him a few questions in my post, but he didn't respond. :frowning:

The only other thing that comes close to a celebrity encounter for me is reading some of Joss Whedon's hilarious posts at the Whedonesque fan site.

Hey! You guys chat with me!.........oh wait, how famous are we talking here?????





p.s. I once got an email from a lesser known music artist, but how do you know if it's real or if it's from the 'staff'?

Mark Cuban, notable as owner of the Dallas Mavericks & HDNet, pops on AVS from time to time.

Oh, man. I hope Liefeld didn't lurk at rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe back in the late '90s. They were merciless about that guy. Now that you reminded me about comic guys, Busiek and Peter David were active participants in that particular newsgroup.

Edit: Ricardo, I don't know whether to kiss you or kick you. You saved me some money, but you inadvertently raped my childhood. See, after your post, I dropped in on racmu after not having been there since around '97. I got to reading about current Spider-Man. I quit reading about a year before the titles were rebooted, and I've thought about going back off and on ever since. Now, it's over. I found out that

Gwen had kids who were the product of a sympathy fuck with Norman Osborn. I'm sorry, but I'll never go back now. That sucks.