The random famous people I haven't recognized

I have to admit that I'm not the best at recognizing famous people when I come across them in real life. Most of the time I don't give them a second glance as they are just people. I do tend to focus on architecture, trees and little non people things that distract me. I notice them as people, it's not like I bump into them or anything, I just don't recognize them as someone that I should recognize. I also don't keep up on celebrities and I can never remember actors names.

I've probably run into many famous people but I just haven't recognized them. Below are the stories behind several of my encounters with people who are more famous than myself. OK, these are all people that are way more famous than me, you have probably even heard of some of them.

LL Cool J: This was my latest famous person encounter. I was checking in at the Brisbane, Australia airport and there was some commotion behind me. A group of 5 or so guys were complaining that they were escorted to the front of the queue and wanted to know why they were waiting now. I thought that was pretty obnoxious. The agent that was helping me asked me if that was LL Cool J, I looked around and didn't recognize any of them so I told him I didn't know. The agent rushed to finish helping me at this point and promptly took his break.

Wouldn't you know it, that was LL Cool J and his entourage and they were on the same plane I was on, fun. Most interesting in his group was the guy that I designated as his manager, a portly fellow who was very friendly, easy to talk to and had a fondness for mimosas even though it wasn't brunch time.

When we got back to the states LL was wearing a white hooded sweatshirt and had a large stuffed dog that he carried around with him. Our queues intersected once and I overheard him asking his manager if he really had to wait in line, his manager said he'd make a call but he never did.

Dee Snyder: While working in Southern New Jersey the hotel that I was staying at was taken over by a movie monster/horror convention. I was initially on the 4th floor but my door wouldn't properly shut, it had a handicap accessible bathroom. They moved me to a nicer room on the 10th floor that didn't have working AC, the view was really nice though. At any rate being on the 10th floor put me and my wife (though she wasn't my wife at the time, for ease of reading I will refer to her here on out as my wife but you should know that we did have some adventures before we were married) on the same floor as Dee Snyder who happened to be the key note speaker for the convention.

I'm not exactly what you have to do to become the key note speaker at such an event but Dee Snyder had apparently won the respect and admiration of all of these crazy people. There were people dressed up in costume, some as zombies and others in t-shirts that plainly claimed that they loved zombies. Of course I would be a terrible person if I didn't mention that I wasn't completely uninterested in the goings on of the event as I have been known to sling my fair share of food coloring laced corn syrup if you catch my meaning. I have a zombie costume in my closet.

Anyway, enough about me. My wife and I were heading out to dinner and there were some security types in yellow shirts that held us up at the elevator. This was a bit of a pain as the hotel was completely full and the elevators were running at full tilt. Eventually they let us on along with this tall guy with long hair. We continued our conversation without paying him much mind though I did notice that he had these great purple suede boots with silver accents.

When we get out of the elevator my wife asks me if that was Dee Snyder. I stared at her blankly. She said "You know, the guy from I love the 80's." After a quick search on the internet, sure enough that was Dee Snyder.

Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman: In Providence, Rhode Island my wife and I were walking down Thayer street and she said "Hey, that was Rhea Perlman and she was trying to help Danny Devito parallel park a large black SUV." I turned around and didn't see either of them. She could have made this one up but I'm usually the one that does that kind of thing.

Marylin Manson: Coming home from LAX to EUG I was checking in my wife and myself and the agent wrote on a boarding card "Marylin Manson" with an arrow on it and it looked like she was pointing it at me. I thought she was nuts and I was digging out IDs and the itinerary so I paid her no mind.

Later I find out from my parents that Marylin Manson was checking in next to us and I completely missed him. Well I wouldn't say that I missed him but you know what I mean.

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