Celebrity Sightings – Page 2

July 5, 2011July 5, 2011

The “Horrible Bosses” Movie Premiere

Last Thursday afternoon, fellow stalkers Mikey, of the Mike the Fanboy website, Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, Scotty, CB, Anushika, and I all headed out to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Downtown Hollywood to do some stalking of the world premiere of my girl Jen Aniston’s latest movie Horrible Bosses. As amazing as it may sound, prior to that day, I had never before stalked a movie premiere. While I randomly found myself at the premiere of He’s Just Not That Into You back in February of 2009, I was only able to stick around for about ten minutes or so, and while I attended the premiere of Friday the 13th, also in February of 2009, I actually had tickets to that one and watched the movie from inside the theatre. So this was the first time that I would truly be stalking a premiere, i.e. showing up hours early and standing along the fan barricade on Hollywood Boulevard. Both Pinky and Mikey had warned me that not only were premieres not the greatest place to get photographs with celebrities, but that Grauman’s was the worst, least fan-friendly venue of them all. Because I suffer from eternal optimism, though (it’s something I get from my mom), I headed out there on Thursday afternoon emboldened with extremely high hopes. In fact, Mikey suggested I might want to take some sort of pill to calm my spirits. Winking smile

Adding to my optimism was the fact that I had asked my dad to overnight me his camera for the event (his is far better than mine) and when it arrived, I opened up the box to find the above-pictured note from my mom. Smile See, in my family we just can’t help but be positive!

Because of some obligations I had to take care of in Santa Monica that morning, I could not get to Grauman’s until 3 p.m. on Thursday, but thankfully CB headed out there bright and early at 10:30 a.m. and saved me a spot along the barricade. THANK YOU, CB!!!!! Oddly enough, there were not a whole lot of people there when I first showed up and I couldn’t help buy wonder why Pinky and Mikey had been so negative about the place. Oh, how naïve I was!

I had asked Pinky to bring her super cute dog, Sammy, to the premiere as Jen is a big dog-lover and I figured that if I was going to try to get a picture with the star, I would need all of the help I could get. Which also explains why I was wearing my “Team Aniston” sweatshirt, despite the 90-degree heat. Winking smile

The celebrity arrivals did not begin until 6:30 p.m. and, as always, we all had a FABULOUS time hanging out beforehand. In fact, I enjoyed that portion of the day much more so than I did meeting the various celebs who were in attendance. Needless to say, Pinky has the absolute BEST group of friends!

At around 6 p.m., the professional autograph seekers (aka the “graphers” as Pinky likes to call them) showed up and it was at that point that things started to head south. The crazies also started to show up around that same time, including this guy, who was absolutely convinced that Jen had made him homeless. Um, OK. At one point he got into a VERY heated argument with someone about his claim, although he was, not surprisingly, entirely incoherent. When I heard him yelling, I turned around and saw his “Jen, You Made Me Homeless” sign and asked Mikey, who, due to his height, had better room to maneuver in the fan pit than I did, to snap a pic. Mikey’s response, “Oh, I already did!” LOL Love it!

Anyway, once the graphers showed up, our little group (whom you can see above) got completely squished up against the barricade. Pinky graciously allowed me to share the stool she had brought to stand on, so I had a good vantage point from which to take pictures, but unfortunately the people standing behind me were pressed up so close against me that I literally could not move. Or breathe! At one point I told Mikey that I was fairly certain I had dislocated my hip. It was NOT FUN!

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Jason Sudeikis was the first Horrible Bosses’ star to show up and he came right over to sign autographs and take pictures.

Jason was SUPER nice and spent a LOT of time signing autographs for people and taking photos, but sadly there was a big ol’ shadow across my face on the one that he took with me.

Jason Bateman arrived next and also came over to sign autographs, but he seemed very reluctant about it and was not at all friendly, which shocked me.

Jason signed a fair amount of autographs (not nearly as many as Jason Sudeikis did, though), but flat-out refused to take any pictures. UGH!

Jamie Foxx arrived next and literally JUMPED out of his limo and IMMEDIATELY started walking over to the fan barricade to sign autographs and take photos. How incredibly cool is that??

Because I was so squished up against the barricade, I could not get my camera in position to take a picture, so Pinky took one of the three of us. It didn’t exactly come out (you can just barely see me in the bottom of the frame LOL), but I was floored nevertheless just due to the fact that Jamie had been so darn friendly and nice. There’s something seriously unbalanced in the universe when Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx is taking pictures with fans, but Jason Bateman is refusing them!

Jesse Metcalfe arrived next and Pinky and I went absolutely batsh*t over him, much to Mikey’s dismay. Winking smile We immediately called for Jesse to come over and he yelled back, “I don’t think I can!” and pointed to the countless cars zooming across Hollywood Boulevard in front of him. He didn’t realize that there was a security team in place ready to walk the stars across the street via a nearby crosswalk. When he spotted Jamie Foxx signing autographs, though, I guess he decided to go for it, because the next thing we knew he was running across four lanes of rush-hour traffic right towards us, sans security! LOL

And what a sweetheart Jesse turned out to be!!!! He signed countless autographs and posed for countless photos.

Including one with me! Smile And he even thanked Pinky and I for calling him over. Sigh.

Joey Lawrence showed up next and Pinky started screaming for him (and singing the words to his latest single), but he flat out refused to come over. When he yelled over to us, “I can’t!”, a security guard walked up to him and said she would escort him across the street, but he turned her down. Sad smile

My girl Jen was the last to arrive and, let me tell you, I have never in my life experienced anything like what happened when she got out of her car. It was as if the entire crowd moved forward in a wave and the volume in the area increased about one hundred decibels. The people behind us began to very aggressively push us forward and the barricade we were standing against started to give way and tip forward. There was a massive amount of screaming and, although I tried yelling at the people behind us to stop pushing, not only could they most-definitely not hear me, it was fairly obvious they would not have cared even if they had heard. The barricade kept tinkering farther and father forward and came thisclose to toppling over entirely. One more millimeter and I am fairly certain that our entire little group would have fallen right into the middle of Hollywood Boulevard – and either right on top of Jen or right under several moving cars. It was one of the scarier moments of my life and I was crushed so strongly against the barricade that I could hardly breathe.

I managed to snap a couple of pics of my girl amidst the chaos and while Pinky kept yelling out, “Please take a photo with my friend, she’s your biggest fan!”, the screaming was so loud that Jen did not even hear her. And sadly, in chaos such as that, there was absolutely no way in heck that anyone could have gotten a picture with the star. Such a bummer! I have to say that Jen looked ABSOLUTELY FLAWLESS, though! It is mind-boggling to me that she is 42!!!! Sigh!

Jennifer Aniston signing autographs at Horrible Bosses premiere

You can watch a video that Mikey took of the Jen madness by clicking above. As you can see, Jen had a security team of no less than six people surrounding her at all times and, due to all of the pushing and shoving, they would not let her get within five feet of the fan barricade.

After the celebrity arrivals were over, I was thoroughly beat and pretty much intent on heading straight home. I felt like I had been through a war! LOL But Pinky convinced me to stick around for a couple of hours to try to catch some of the celebs leaving the premiere and I figured since I had already come that far, I may as well stay. And I am so glad that I did as, shortly after the movie ended, we ran into Zachary Levi, from Chuck, who was a complete and total sweetheart! Not to mention a total cutie!

We also saw Oscar Nunez from The Office . . .

. . . and Joey Lawrence, who was sadly not as friendly as I assumed he’d be.

Ioan Gruffudd, from Fantastic Four, also walked by, but he was ABSOLUTELY mobbed. He is standing somewhere in the middle of that mass of people pictured above, so I did not even attempt to get a photograph with him. Pinky, who always gets her man, still had the strength left to brave the masses, though, and did get a picture! What can I say, the girl has got mad skills. We also spotted Trevor Donovan from 90210, but he FLAT-OUT REFUSED to take a picture with us. Pinky and I were the only ones who even approached him, but he still turned us down big time! Ah well. All in all it was a fun night, but I don’t know that I would ever do it again. It was just a bit too crazy and out-of-control for me. Sad smile

You can check out Mike the Fanboy’s write-up of the Horrible Bosses premiere and see some videos he took of the event on his website here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Grauman’s Chinese Theatre is located at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. You can visit the theatre’s official website here.

June 30, 2011June 29, 2011

The Jennifer Grant “Good Stuff” Book Signing

Back on Thursday, May 26th (I told you I am way behind in my reporting! Winking smile ), Vroman’s Bookstore welcomed Jennifer Grant for a signing and discussion of her new book Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant which chronicles the actress’ experiences being raised by one of the most iconic movie stars of all time. And while most of the people attending the event were fans of Jennifer’s famous father, I have been a long-time fan of Jennifer herself, ever since she appeared as Steve Sander’s (aka Ian Ziering’s) longtime girlfriend Celeste Lundy during Seasons 3 and 4 of fave show Beverly Hills, 90210.

Jennifer also made an appearance as Nina Bookbinder, the girl Chandler Bing (aka Matthew Perry) couldn’t fire, in the Season 1 episode of Friends titled “The One With Two Parts: Part I”. But I digress.

Because I have never actually seen a Cary Grant movie, before attending the reading I did not have much interest in reading Good Stuff. My only reason for going to the event was to meet and, of course, get a photograph with Jennifer. But, let me tell you, all of that changed as soon as I started looking through the memoir. As I have mentioned before, I am just slightly anal, so I arrived at the signing about 3 hours early. Well, not only did those three hours ensure me a front row seat, but they also gave me time to peruse through the book and I was immediately mesmerized. Cary Grant was not only an amazing man, but an amazing father! He retired in 1966, the same year that Jennifer was born, so that he could devote all of his time to being a dad. Because Jennifer’s mother, Dyan Cannon (whom the actress is the spitting image of!), was at the height of her career at the time and often on location filming movies for months on end, most of Jennifer’s childhood was spent with her father. And Cary wanted to document his only child’s early years as best he could. Not only did he save and catalogue ever single letter ever exchanged between the two and every single photograph ever taken of them, but he also made hundreds upon hundreds of audio recordings of their time together, many of which are transcribed in the book. Sweetest of all, though, was the fact that, on the mornings when Jennifer was not staying with him, Cary would wait along the sidewalk of her bus route just to wave to her as her bus passed by on the way to school.

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The event began right on time and I just about died when I caught my first glimpse of Jennifer as she looks almost exactly the same today as she did eighteen years ago when she was on 90210. Jennifer started out the evening by reading a few passages from her book and I have to say that she is a fabulous writer and a fabulous speaker. Her voice has an almost lyrical quality to it and I was absolutely mesmerized listening to her. I was completely shocked, though, when she adopted a British accent to read her father’s words! Prior to that evening, I was unaware that Cary Grant was British!

Jennifer then opened up the session to questions from the audience and, even though A LOT were asked, for once they were actually well-crafted. I should explain here, to those who do not regularly attend book signings and television screenings, that people at these events usually ask the most asinine questions imaginable and it absolutely drives me mad! If you have the chance to ask a question of an actor, author, or director, make it a good one, people! And, for the love of God, do NOT ask the celebrity to get you a role in a movie or TV show! And yes, that has been asked at almost EVERY SINGLE EVENT I have ever attended! Most of the questions asked of Jennifer, though, were about what it was like to grow up with such a famous father. In answer to those questions, Jennifer told numerous anecdotes and, as amazing as it may sound, it seems she had a very normal childhood. The two often squabbled about Jennifer’s choice in music and boys, they took frequent outings to the Fox Hills Mall – one of Cary’s favorite haunts – and played regular family games of Trivial Pursuit. She said she never viewed Cary as a celebrity, but, while she knew he was special and certainly different than her friends’ fathers, to her he was always just “Dad”.

When it came time for the signing portion of the reading, the Vroman’s coordinator asked Jennifer if she would be willing to take posed photographs with those in attendance, to which the actress gave a puzzled look and said, “Of course I will!”, as if she could not figure out why anyone wouldn’t take a picture with their fans. LOVE IT!

When it was my turn to meet Jennifer, I told her what a huge fan I had been of Beverly Hills, 90210 and she said that the show was actually the very first acting job she had ever had and was one of the best experiences of her life. She told me that all of the actors were extremely nice and welcoming and that she looks back on that time with incredible fondness. She took quite a bit of time to chat with me and I even got to tell her about my experiences as an extra in the final episode of the series and that the 90210 theme song was still the ringtone on my cell phone. Smile Jennifer was so abundantly sweet and warm, it was almost unbelievable.

As I was leaving Vroman’s, I opened the book to read what Jennifer had signed and almost died over her inscription. It reads, “To Lindsay, Thank you for watching 90210 – your smile is infectious. Jennifer Grant” OMG nicest inscription EVER! Especially considering that so many celebrities will not even personalize books at their signings! Meeting Jennifer was such an incredible experience and I love her even more now than I did before! And while I have not started to officially read Good Stuff yet, it is the next book on my “To Read” list and after I do so, I will most definitely be stalking the many locations mentioned in it.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: You can purchase a copy of Jennifer Grant’s book, Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant, here. Vroman’s Bookstore is located at 695 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. You can visit the store’s official website here. And you can check out Vroman’s upcoming author events here.

June 29, 2011March 11, 2018

The Envelope Emmy Week “Geek TV” Event

Another Envelope Emmy Week event that Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, told me about was the “Geek TV Roundtable”, which featured a panel discussion with actors Jayma Mays (aka Emma Pillsbury from Glee), Johnny Galecki (aka Leonard Hofstadter from The Big Bang Theory), Michael C. Hall (aka Dexter Morgan from fave show Dexter), Sam Trammell (aka Sam Merlotte from True Blood), and Joel McHale (aka Jeff Winger from Community and the host of fave show The Soup). Well, let me tell you, I absolutely LOVE me some Joel McHale, so when I saw his name on the list I just about had a heart attack right there on the spot and immediately signed up to attend. Because so many big-time celebs would be appearing at this particular event, I knew that getting a photograph with any of them would be extremely difficult, so I made the sign pictured above, which read “I

Almost all of my new stalking friends were in attendance for the event, including Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, Anushika and Scotty, who both write for the Mike the Fanboy website, and Duggan. (Anushika, Pinky, and Scotty are pictured above). The only person missing from our little group was CB, who was attending the Super 8 premiere in Westwood that night. And I have to say that we all had an ABSOLUTE BLAST hanging out together. Yes, getting photographs taken with celebrities is extremely fun, but so is the hanging-out-and-waiting part, as long as you are doing so with a great group of fellow stalkers. And Pinky and Mikey have some AMAZING friends!!! I feel so incredibly lucky to have met them and that they have embraced me as they have and allowed me to tag along with them on so many of their celebrity adventures. Love you guys!

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Now I should mention here that this particular event took place at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live, directly next to the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles, on Wednesday, June 8th, which just so happened to be smack-dab in the middle of the weeklong E3 Expo, the LARGEST annual convention held in L.A. So to say that Downtown was swarming with people would be a gross understatement. Not only that, but at 4:15 p.m., just around the time that the GC and I were arriving in the area, there was an explosion in a trash can on Broadway and 4th Street, just a few blocks from the theatre, which resulted in the police SHUTTING DOWN a huge portion of the central part of Downtown FOR HOURS. Between the convention, the explosion, and the normal, everyday urban madness of L.A., Downtown on that particular evening was a complete and total sh*tstorm! The Grim Cheaper and I were stuck in our car in the same exact spot for over an hour and it was at that point that I just broke down in tears due to sheer frustration. I don’t think I have ever been that frustrated in my entire life! Sadly, the explosion and subsequent street closures also made it so that most of the actors were late in arriving to the theatre, which greatly lessened our chances of getting pictures and autographs as they were all immediately rushed inside as soon as they got there. UGH! Actor Sam Trammell was the first to arrive (he miraculously showed up about an hour before the event was due to begin) and he was absolutely SWARMED by people as soon as he stepped out of his car.

I had the GC take the above photograph so that my fellow stalkers could get a sense of what trying to get an autograph or picture at one of these events is like. Sam Trammell is buried somewhere in the middle of that huge, chaotic mess of thirty-some-odd people pictured above. Needless to say, getting an autograph or photo requires quite a bit of effort, determination, and maneuvering!

Now Pinky is easily Sam Trammell’s biggest fan and not only has she met him on several occasions, but the actor even knows her by name! So incredibly cool! Sam immediately walked right up to Pinky to say hello and to pose for a picture with her, and Pinky also gave him two blue blankets she had knitted for Sam and his girlfriend as they are currently expecting twin boys.

Pinky has long been telling me what a super-nice guy Sam is and, wow, was she ever right! Sam has got to be one of the nicest celebs I have ever encountered! Even though he was, as you saw above, absolutely swarmed by people, he stuck around to sign autographs and take pictures with absolutely everyone who wanted them, even me! Yay! Smile

The next to arrive was Michael C. Hall from Dexter. As I have mentioned quite a few times before on this blog, I absolutely LOVE me some Dexter, but I have to say that I love me some Joel McHale more. So before we arrived at the event I laid out some ground rules for the GC. I told him that he must at all times keep his eye on the prize and that prize was a picture with Joel. My number two goal for the evening was to get a picture with Michael C. Hall. If I somehow managed to get photos with any of the other stars, well that would just be icing on the cake. I had to lay out these ground rules because oftentimes at these events several celebrities will show up at the same time and I did not want the GC to get distracted and not be in a position to take my picture with Joel. It was really funny because all throughout the night the GC would point to me from across the way and say, “Eye on the prize, Lin! Eye on the prize!” LOL Because Michael C. Hall showed up just a few minutes before the event was to begin, he was rushed straight inside and was not able to sign any autographs or pose for any pictures. UGH!

Next to show up was Johnny Galecki and he was also rushed straight into the theatre as he arrived a few minutes after the panel was set to begin. He apologized to us stalkers for not being able to sign, but promised to “make it up to us” on his way out. Nice! Security informed us that Johnny was the last celeb to arrive, which meant that Joel McHale had driven himself and therefore entered through a different door. Sigh! How cute is that! It did make me feel like a bit of a tool, though, as I had stood out on that sidewalk holding up my sign for a good two hours. LOL

Even though we all had tickets to the event, we decided not to go inside as we figured we would have a better chance of getting pictures and autographs if we caught the actors as they left the venue. Thankfully we were right. Smile The roundtable panel was fairly short, just about 45 minutes, and after it ended all of the actors, except for Jayma Mays, walked outside together, which, as you can imagine, caused sheer and utter chaos! I had my eye on the prize, though, and as soon as that back door opened I held up my sign for Joel to see, which he did! He immediately started laughing and walked right outside, right through the crowd, and right up to me! Sigh!

Joel thanked me for coming and posed for the above photo and, let me tell you, I just about died of happiness right then and there. It wasn’t until Joel had already gone back inside, to take pictures with some of the audience members, that I realized the picture did not come out! UGH!

And while Pinky had managed to snap a super cute picture of us from farther away, I was still pretty bummed that the one the GC took did not come out. Here I had kept my eye on the prize, made a sign even, and my photo turned out horribly! What kind of luck is that? I really need to learn to trust in the universe, though, because that little mishap turned out to be a blessing in disguise. But more on that later.

Michael C. Hall was absolutely swarmed as soon as he came outside, but he stuck around for a REALLY long time to sign autographs and snap pictures with people. I, sadly, had the same issue with my Michael picture that I had with the one of Joel. According to our wedding photographer, Rob Greer, whom I sent the photograph to, the problem is called Lens Flare and it is extremely difficult to fix, even for professional re-touchers. Such a shame! Ah well, I will just have to stalk him again sometime! Smile

I was also lucky enough to get a pic with Johnny Galecki, which I was floored about! Johnny is super-nice, but is so unlike his Big Bang character, Leonard Hofstadter, it is almost unbelievable! He is NOT AT ALL dorky, awkward, or shy. Quite the contrary, in fact! He seemed to be extremely self-assured and out-going. The guy is obviously an AMAZING actor! As I mentioned above, Jayma Mays was the only one of the group to exit out of a different door and we never caught even a glimpse of her, which I was not all that disappointed about because I have heard from several people that she is not the most fan-friendly celeb. What is it with these Glee actors???

After everyone in our group got pictures with and autographs from Johnny Galecki, Michael C. Hall, and Sam Trammell, Duggan, Scotty, Pinky, the GC, and I headed inside the theatre where Joel McHale was talking to some of the event coordinators. When Joel spotted me, I explained to him that our photograph had not come out and he immediately smiled and said, “Well, then let’s get this right!” and posed for the above pic with me. He also thanked me profusely for being a fan, for coming out to see him, and for making the sign. Sigh!

Because Joel often jokingly signs autographs “Ryan Seacrest”, I told him that I really should have put Ryan’s name on my sign and Joel immediately yelled out, “Anybody have a pen I can borrow?” He then set about crossing out his name and writing in Ryan’s on the sign. Pinky and Scotty were nice enough to snap the above pics of me and Joel while he was writing on the sign. (Thanks, guys!!!!) Joel also posed for pics with Scotty, Pinky, and Duggan. Sigh! What an incredibly nice guy! Easily one of the NICEST celebs I have ever met! Love, love love him!!!!! And this experience was a definite reminder that I really need to trust in the universe more. I was so incredibly bummed when my original photograph with Joel did not come out, but look at it what that camera fail ended up leading to! An even better, more personal experience with one of my favorite stars! It is definitely true what they say, every cloud has a silver lining. And now whenever I get discouraged over something in life not turning out the way I had expected, I will remember this moment and the silver lining that this particular cloud brought me.

My Joel McHale-altered sign is pictured above. Smile All in all it was a FABULOUS night and a FABULOUS fan experience. One of my best yet!

AND, after the event was over, Sam even tweeted a thank you to Pinky for the blankets! How awesome is that???? LOVE IT!!!!

Big THANK YOU to Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, for inviting me to this event! You can read Mikey’s write up of the evening here. And you can read Pinky Lovejoy’s write-up here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Unfortunately, there is no stalking location for this one.

June 23, 2011June 23, 2011

The Pedal on the Pier 100 Mile-a-Thon

This past Tuesday night after my parents moved to Palm Springs, the GC arrived home from a late-night meeting with a box of chocolate-, vanilla-, and pistachio-flavored macaraoons in hand, so that I could drown my sorrows the Blair Waldorf way. And I have to say that while I am still depressed and missing my parents like crazy, the macaroons (along with about twenty episodes of The Office) did bring a bit of a respite from the sadness. So thanks, GC!

Anyway, as I have mentioned a few times before on this blog, my parents and I have been huge fans of actor David Duchovny ever since the early ’90s when he played the role of cross-dressing DEA Agent Dennis (“Denise”) Bryson on the television series Twin Peaks. When The X-Files premiered a few years later, we all immediately became “X-Philes” and my dad quickly adopted the moniker of “Mulder” to use as his Starbucks name. (Yes, my dad is a bit of a character.) On one particular occasion, he used the name while ordering a meal at an In-N-Out Burger and the perplexed cashier mistakenly spelled his alias “Molder” while typing it into her register. The receipt from that In-N-Out visit, with the words “Guest: MOLDER” typed onto it, was tacked onto my bulletin board for many years after that. Smile I even dressed up as Dana Scully for Halloween one year while in college, but pictures of that costume are sadly packed away in a box somewhere at my parents’ new house. Anyway, when the fabulous Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, invited me and the Grim Cheaper to do some stalking of the Pedal on the Pier 100 Mile-a-Thon benefit, at which David Duchovny was scheduled to be a participant, I just about had a full-blown heart attack! The GC was not nearly as enthusiastic about the invite, though, as it meant that we had to get up at around 7 a.m. on a Sunday so that we could be in Santa Monica by 9, when the event was scheduled to begin. Ah, men!

The Pedal on the Pier 100 Mile-A-Thon, which was sponsored by the 100 Mile Man Foundation (try saying that five times fast!), consisted of 100 stationary bikes positioned on a wing of the Santa Monica Pier. Those bikes could be “bought” by individuals or groups who would then ride a total of 100 miles in order to raise money for the Harold Robinson Foundation, an organization that sends under-privileged children to camp each summer.

When we first arrived on the pier, I spotted the above-pictured woman and immediately turned to the GC and said, “Oh my god, Joan Crawford is here!” And then when Pinky arrived a few minutes later, one of the first things out of her mouth was, “That woman looks EXACTLY like Joan Crawford!” LOL LOL LOL We are two peas in a pod, I tell you! Smile

I was extremely excited to learn that several actors from the television series Baywatch, including Alexandra Paul, Kelly Packard, and David Chokachi, had purchased a bike for the event. The three former co-stars showed up to the benefit together and they literally could NOT have been nicer. When I asked Alexandra for a photograph, she immediately stuck out her hand to shake mine and said, “Hi, I’m Alexandra. What’s your name?” SO DARN NICE!

Alexandra was absolutely GORGEOUS in person! Much like my girl Jen Aniston, Alexandra is definitely someone who just seems to get prettier and prettier as the years go by. Oh, how I wish that same thing will happen to me! Smile She looks better now at the age of 48 than she did at 29 when she starred on Baywatch. And she is in AMAZING shape, to boot. Look at those arms!

When I asked David Chokachi, who played Cody on Baywatch, to pose for a picture, Alexandra immediately got out her camera and told the GC, David, and I to hold our positions so that she could get a picture of the GC taking a picture of David and me. So cute!

Kelly Packard was also SUPER sweet and SUPER cute in person.

David Duchovny showed up shortly after the Baywatch gang and walked right over to Pinky and me to snap a few quick pics. And while he was VERY nice, he seemed a bit reserved (not in a mean way, he just came off as a bit reticent and shy), so I did not bring up the fact that he had served as the inspiration behind my dad’s Starbucks name.

As you can see above, David is JUST as good-looking in person as he appears to be on screen. Drool!

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Now as fate would have it, Pinky had been stalking a different celebrity event a few days prior to the Pedal on the Pier benefit and just about died when she spotted David Duchovny filming a scene for Californication at a nearby hospital. (And meeting DD twice in one weekend is something that would ONLY happen to Pinky, by the way! The girl has some AMAZING luck! While she was stalking an event featuring Cameron Crowe recently, who should she spot leaving a restaurant across the street from where she was standing, but two-time-Academy-Award-winning actress Hilary Swank! Hilary immediately spotted Pinky’s adorable dog, Sammy, and ran right up to start petting him. Then she posed for a bunch of pics with Pinky, and fellows stalkers Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, and Scotty, who were with her. They also all got their pic taken with Cameron Crowe, by the way. I mean how lucky is that????? You can read about Pinky’s Hilary Swank encounter here.) Anyway, Pinky managed to catch David Duchovny just as he was leaving the set and DD was nice enough to stop his car and pose for the above photo with her. And I have to say that it is easily one of the CUTEST celeb photos that I have ever seen! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I jokingly told Pinky that I was going to superimpose my face over hers and pretend that it is actually me in the picture. Smile

Big THANK YOU to Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, for inviting me to this event! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Pedal on the Pier 100 Mile-a-Thon took place at the Santa Monica Pier, which is located at the end of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica. You can find out more about the 100 Mile Man Foundation here and the Harold Robinson Foundation here.

June 21, 2011June 20, 2011

The Envelope Emmy Week “Mad Men” Screening

Ever since fellow stalker Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, invited me to be his plus-one for the SAG screening/cast Q & A of the FX television series Justified back in late May, I have been all about attending similar-type events. So when he told me about an Envelope Emmy Week screening/roundtable of the television show Mad Men, featuring series’ creator Matt Weiner and series’ stars Jon Hamm (who plays Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce advertising executive Don Draper), Christina Hendricks (who plays secretary Joan Harris) and Kiernan Shipka (who plays Don’s daughter, Sally), I jumped at the chance to attend. Because Mad Men is one of the Grim Cheaper’s favorite television shows, I mistakenly assumed that he would also jump at the chance to be my date for the evening, so imagine my surprise when he told me that he would rather sit at home and watch paint dry! I mean, I understand not having an interest in attending some random screening, but when the opportunity comes up to see in person – and possibly meet – several actors from one’s favorite television show, I just do NOT understand turning that opportunity down. Men! Winking smile It all turned out alright, though, as Mikey invited fellow stalkers CB and Anushika, who are both contributors to his website, and we all had an ABSOLUTE BLAST hanging out together. Not to mention that we were also all given free popcorn and soda to enjoy during the screening! Celebrities and popcorn? What more could a stalker ask for?

The event got started right on time with a screening of the Season 4 episode titled “The Beautiful Girls”. Before the screening, I had never actually watched an entire episode of Mad Men and I have to say that I was most pleasantly surprised. I absolutely LOVED it and am now itching to watch the series from the very beginning. Anyway, Matt, Jon, Christina, and Kiernan were brought out shortly after the episode was finished and I have to stay that Jon Hamm is MAJORLY good looking in person! Like drool-worthy good looking! I had seen him once before, while watching an episode of the series being filmed in Pasadena last July, but because I did not get very close to him at the time I had no idea what a cutie he actually was! Sigh!!

Christina Hendricks was also GORGEOUS in person! With her striking red hair and bright red lips, she looked exactly like what one would expect a movie star to look like. She is also much taller in person than I had expected her to be.

Pretty much everyone in the audience was most taken with 11-year-old Kiernan Shipka, though, who has got to be one of the most adorable little girls that I have ever seen in my entire life! Kiernan is extremely poised, talkative, and wise beyond her years and reminded me a LOT of Dakota Fanning. At one point, the moderator asked her if mimicking the mannerisms of TV-mom January Jones, which Kiernan apparently did a lot of this season, had been her idea or that of Matt Weiner, and both Matt and Kiernan explained that it had been her idea and that she had started doing it spontaneously, without any sort of outside direction. Kiernan said that she out of the blue one day realized it would make sense to start “channeling” January’s habits, traits, and voice inflections so she began to carefully observe her while on set and then mimicked a few chosen behaviors during filming. This is an 11-year-old, people! Unbelievable!

All in all, it was a fabulous screening and the cast seemed to get along remarkably. As you can see in the above photographs, there was a LOT of laughing and joking around going on and the actors were all very complimentary of one another, especially Jon of Christina and Kiernan.

Because this screening was put on by the Los Angeles Times and Envelope Emmy Week, it was handled a bit differently than most SAG events and, sadly, audience members were not allowed to venture up to the stage to meet the actors after the Q & A had ended. So, Mikey, CB, Anushika and I literally RACED out of that theatre as soon as the event was over in order to try and catch the cast before they got in their limos. I really, really, REALLY wanted to get a photograph with Jon Hamm and, because fellow stalker Pinky LoveJoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, had informed me that Jon is always INCREDIBLY nice to his fans, I had very high hopes. Unfortunately though, Jon had already left the premises by the time we got outside, as had Kiernan. Christina Hendricks was, thankfully, still there, though, and was nice enough to sign a TON of autographs and take photographs with everyone who wanted one before leaving. Love it! Even though I did not get my picture with Jon Hamm, all in all it was a FABULOUS night and just the first of many screenings that I have attended over the past few weeks, but have yet to blog about. So stay tuned . . . Winking smile

Big THANK YOU to Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, for telling me about this event! Smile You can read Mikey’s write-up of the evening, as well as check out some videos he took while there, on his website.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: There is no stalking location for this one, but you can catch Mad Men each Sunday night on AMC. Season 5 of the series is not scheduled to begin airing until sometime in 2012.

June 3, 2011April 5, 2013

A Q & A with the Cast of “Justified”

Last Tuesday evening, my good friend Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, invited me to attend a SAG screening/cast Q & A for the FX television series Justified at a venue in North Hollywood. Now I should mention here that I have been a member of SAG for just about nine years and, while the union hosts screenings on an almost weekly basis, this was the first time I had ever attended one. You see, the only screenings I had ever heard about in the past featured Q & A sessions with writers, producers, and directors and, as I was explaining to Mikey, the last thing I want to do is sit around for an hour listening to some random production’s creative team wax philosophical about their “process”. Winking smile But once Mikey told me that the actual actors would be in attendance and that they typically pose for pictures and sign autographs after the events, I just about died of excitement! HOW IN THE HECK HAD I NEVER HEARD ABOUT THESE TYPES OF SCREENINGS BEFORE?????? Needless to say, Mikey has opened up a whole new world to me and not only did I attend a screening for Mad Men on Wednesday night, but I am also signed up for one next week, as well. The Grim Cheaper is SO not happy about this development, by the way! Winking smile Anyway, because SAG events are seated on a first come/first serve basis and because I am just a wee bit anal, I showed up three hours before showtime. Not surprisingly, I was the fourth person in line and when we were let into the theatre, I immediately snagged two front row spots for Mikey and me – which was great for the Q&A session, but not so much for the screening. As you can see in the above photograph, we were seated EXTREMELY close to the screen! My neck was absolutely KILLING me by the time the credits rolled on the episode that was shown. LOL

After watching the episode, which was titled “Bloody Harlan”, the cast members were called to the stage. In attendance was (from left to right in the above photographs) Natalie Zea, who plays Winona Hawkins; series star Timothy Olyphant, who plays U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens; series creator/executive producer Graham Yost; Margo Martindale, who plays criminal matriarch Mags Bennett; Walton Goggins who plays bad boy Boyd Crowder; and Erica Tazel, who plays Deputy Marshal Rachel Brooks.

I have to say that the Question and Answer session was extremely interesting – far more so than I had imagined it would be. Graham Yost, Margo Martindale, and Timothy Olyphant were all absolutely HILARIOUS and had the audience LOLing throughout most of the evening. One interesting tidbit that we learned about the series was that it was actually based upon two novels, Pronto and Riding the Rap, and the short story “Fire in the Hole”, all of which were written by Elmore Leonard, the legendary American novelist who penned the tomes which inspired the movies Get Shorty, Jackie Brown, Out of Sight, 3:10 to Yuma, and The Big Bounce .

Ashley Hebert Meets Ryan M.

After the Q&A segment, most of the cast hung around to sign autographs and take pictures with the fans. Because most actors consider themselves above the whole fandom thing, very few audience members tried to approach the stars. I was obviously not one of those people. Winking smile On a side note – I don’t know if any of my fellow stalkers are watching The Bachelorette this season, but in the premiere episode contestant Ryan Miller hopped out of the limo upon first meeting Bachelorette Ashley Hebert , with camera in hand, and promptly asked her to pose for a picture with him. After she did, he then said, “Later, I can get one with Chris Harrison, as well, that you can take, hopefully.” LOL LOL LOL That would SO be me if I was ever on that show! You can watch that scene by clicking above.

Anyway, Mikey and I first approached actor Timothy Olyphant, along with five other fans, all of whom wanted an autograph. Timothy signed the five autographs and then it was my turn. I asked him if he would take a picture with me and he said, “No, I’m not doing photos tonight!” And he then promptly left! Mikey turned to me and said, “Ouch! That really sucked!” And it did. I mean, I could understand him saying no if there were a bunch of other fans hanging around hoping to get a photograph as well, but being that I was ONLY one asking, I thought it was a pretty douchy maneuver on his part. The following day I found the above-pictured button at my favorite store, Lula Mae in Pasadena, and I just about died laughing. The GC said I should purchase a bunch of the buttons and hand them out to any actor who turns me down for a photo. Winking smile

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We next hit up actress Margo Martindale, whom I absolutely LOVED on Dexter, and I am very happy to report that she could NOT have been nicer! She really took her time speaking with the fans who approached her and signed all of the autographs and took all of the pictures people asked for. ABSOLUTELY LOVE HER!

Walton Goggins was also INCREDIBLY nice and happily posed for photos and signed autographs with his fans. He was so sweet, in fact, that after we took the above picture, he mentioned that my flash had failed to go off and asked if I wanted to take another.

Which we did. Smile SUCH a sweet guy!

And when I later found out that he had guest-starred as frat boy Mike Muchin on the Season 2 episode of fave show Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “The Pit and Pendulum”, I just about had a heart attack!

SAG set up a small cocktail party after the event and while Mikey and I were walking around (eating way too many of the AMAZING chicken strips that were being served!), we spotted Erica Tazel. I was dying to get my pic taken with Erica as she had guest-starred on two of my very favorite television shows – Sex and the City and The Office! Smile

On SATC, Erica played Charlotte York’s (aka Kristin Davis’) dance teacher, Grace, in the Season 4 episode titled “Baby, Talk is Cheap”.

And in the Season 5 episode of The Office titled “Lecture Circuit: Part I”, she played Julia, one of Stanley Hudson’s (aka Leslie David Baker’s) clients whom Andy Bernard (aka Ed Helms) very unsuccessfully tries to hit on. All in all it was a fabulous night and I, for one, cannot WAIT to attend more events just like it!

Big THANK YOU to Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, for inviting me to this event! Smile You can check out Mikey’s write-up of the evening, as well as some videos that he of took of the Q&A session, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: There is no stalking location for this one, but you can catch Justified each Wednesday night on FX. And you can visit the show’s official website here.

May 31, 2011May 30, 2011

The “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” Wrap Party

Two weekends ago, Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, invited me and the Grim Cheaper to do a little stalking of the wrap party for the hit ABC television series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition at a venue in Culver City. The GC was not at all happy to receive Pinky’s invite, of course, but once I heard that former Bachelorette Jillian Harris was going to be in attendance, there was no way in heck I was missing the thing. I absolutely loved Jillian both as a contestant on Season 13 of The Bachelor and then when she later starred on Season 5 of The Bachelorette, and I was absolutely dying to get a picture with her. So, much to the GC’s chagrin, the two of us found ourselves heading out to Culver City at around 6 p.m. two Saturdays ago to get our Extreme Makeover stalk on. One of the first celebs to arrive on the scene was Kathryn Joosten who plays Karen McCluskey on fave show Desperate Housewives. Kathryn immediately spotted Pinky’s new dog, Sammy, while walking up to the venue and asked if she could hold him in the pictures she took with us. Like I told Pinky last week, that dog was the best thing to ever happen to her stalking career, as he attracts attention, especially of the celebrity kind, wherever he goes. I have yet to see a star turn down Pinky for a photograph request when she’s holding Sammy. Note to self: get a cute dog, stat, or at least find one to borrow for celebrity events! Winking smile

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Jillian Harris arrived at the party pretty early on and I have to say that the girl could NOT have been cooler or more down-to-earth. As you can see, she also wanted to hold Sammy in our pictures. She even asked me to take a picture of her posing with Sammy on her iPhone. How cute is that?

Jillian was absolutely HILARIOUS and stayed around to talk with me and Pinky for quite some time. Chatting with her was like chatting with an old friend and after she left Pinky jokingly said, “Would it be weird if I slipped her my number? I so want to be her bestie!” Smile The thing is, Jillian was so cool that had Pinkie done that, I bet she would have called her up and asked her to hang out sometime.

Also in attendance was Dijon Talton, who played New Directions member Matt Rutherford during the first season of Glee;

Sterling Beaumon, who played Young Ben on Lost;

and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition designers Tracy Hutson . . .

. . . and Paige Hemmis, who is SO much taller in person than I expected her to be.

All in all it was a great night and all of the celebrities in attendance were super nice. I wanted to mention here, though, for those stalkers hoping to visit the LA area and get photographs with celebrities, that doing so requires countless hours of waiting around and a tremendous amount of patience. I do not just show up to events and filmings, get my pics in five minutes and then leave. Pinky, the GC, and I were at the Extreme Makeover wrap party for a good four hours. And while it was a success, I can promise you that not every event I attend is all sunshine and roses. I have had some TREMENDOUS fails. One of them just the other day, in fact. Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, and I had set out to do some stalking of the filming of True Blood at the Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles and at first things seemed extremely promising. The main security guard on duty was SUPER nice and told us we could hang out and watch the shoot as long as we did not take any photographs of the set or of the actors while they were filming, which we respected. She also told us exactly where to stand to catch the actors leaving the set and said that they were all usually very nice and more often than not posed for pictures with fans. So we waited. And waited. Then, after about five hours, actress Fiona Shaw walked outside and we asked her for a photograph. Well, not only did she turn us down flat, but she immediately walked over to the policeman on duty and told him to kick us off the property! And that was the end of that! I guess the show had had some problems earlier in the week with people posting spoiler photographs from the set, but still! We had been respectful the whole time, stood quietly off to the side of the filming, told the security guards exactly why it was we were there, and followed all of their requests, so to get kicked off, by Fiona Shaw of all people!!!, was a serious shame. But you win some, you lose some. Which comes to my point. The moral of the story is this – if you are coming to the LA area and are hoping to get photos with a star, be prepared to wait around for long periods of time, be prepared for your request to get turned down, and be prepared to go home with nothing. Chances are, if you are respectful of the crew and the filming, you will be successful, but I just didn’t want my fellow stalkers to think that stalking was always a walk in the park. Winking smile (Pictured above is the only photo from the True Blood set that I got that day. Stephen Moyer is pictured below the pink arrow.)

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: There is no stalking location for this one, but you can catch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition each Sunday night on ABC. You can visit the show’s official website here.

May 25, 2011May 25, 2011

Simon Fuller’s Walk of Fame Star Ceremony

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, bright and early this past Monday morning I headed out to Hollywood to attend the Walk of Fame Star Ceremony for American Idol creator Simon Fuller. And I really should admit here that, while the Grim Cheaper is a die-hard fan of AI, I have never really been all that into the show. The only reason I wanted to attend the ceremony was that Carrie Underwood was scheduled to be there and I have been absolutely DYING to get a photograph with her ever since the two of us played the “Carrie Underwater” game together on The Ellen DeGeneres Show back in early April (which you can watch a clip of here). And I have to say that the stalking gods were definitely smiling down upon me because the day turned out far better than I ever could have imagined!

I arrived on Hollywood Boulevard at around 10 a.m., just about ninety minutes before the event was scheduled to begin, and because I got there so early I ended up securing a FABULOUS spot directly against the crowd barricade, right behind the stage. A super-nice woman named Kat was standing next to me and the two of us wound up really hitting it off and shared many of our various stalking stories to kill time before the ceremony began.

The first celeb to arrive on the scene was So You Think You Can Dance judge/American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe, whom I absolutely love.

Nigel truly could not have been nicer and when I called out to him to ask for a pic, he immediately walked right on over and took a photograph with both me and Kat. Yay!

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Ironically enough, my friend/fellow stalker Mike, from the Mike the Fanboy blog, whom for a week I had been begging to come to the ceremony with me, texted me at around 11 a.m. to say that he was going to be able to make it after all. I ended up spotting him across the crowd right when a comedian came out to get the crowd warmed up shortly before the event got underway. Well, the comedian saw me waving hectically trying to get Mike’s attention and assumed I was waving at a celebrity. He immediately walked over to ask who it was I waving at and when I explained that it was “just my friend, Mike”, he began to call out “Mike, Mike, Mike!” over the loud speaker for all of Hollywood Boulevard to hear. This went on for a good three minutes or so. When Mike finally figured out that the comedian was speaking to him, he got incredibly embarrassed and tried to hide his face, but the comedian just wouldn’t stop. It was absolutely hilarious and at one point even some of the people in the crowd were shouting “Mike, Mike, Mike.” LOL

Amazingly enough, all of the Top 13 Season 10 Idols were in attendance for the ceremony, including Casey Abrams, James Durbin, Lauren Alaina, Paul McDonald, Pia Toscana, Stefano Langone, Scotty McCreery, Ashthon Jones, Haley Reinhart, Jacob Lusk, Karen Rodriguez, Naima Adedapo, and Thia Megia. When they first arrived on the scene, James and Lauren started making faces at the crowd through the glass doors of Delphine Restaurant, which was being used as a holding area for the event. James was easily the most friendly and funniest out of the bunch and, as you can see in the above photograph, was pretending to be smashed up against Delphine’s glass doors before coming outside.

The Idols were actually first brought out at 11 a.m., thirty minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to begin, for a meet-and-greet with the fans, which was quite unusual. Celebrities usually wait until the end of each Walk of Fame ceremony before signing autographs and posing for pictures, but apparently the Idol kids were scheduled to rehearse for the show’s season finale immediately following the event and would not be able to stick around afterwards.

The Idols were all SUPER nice and happily posed for as many photographs as people asked for. I got my picture taken with James Durbin, who was my favorite this season;

Stefano Langone;

Pia Toscano, who is GORGEOUS in person;

Casey Abrams;

finalist Lauren Alaina;

and Paul McDonald, who, when I asked for a photograph, said, “Of course! I will stand here and take as many pictures as people want.” SO NICE!

Finalist Scott McCreery was also incredibly nice and happily agreed to take a second photograph with me after I majorly failed taking the first one.

At this point I was beyond floored! I mean, the day was already shaping up to be a huge WIN and the ceremony hadn’t even begun yet! So, as you can imagine, I literally just about had a heart attack when my FAVORITE So You Think You Can Dance judge, Mary Murphy, walked outside! Mary is so incredibly positive, energetic and FUN on the show that I absolutely fell in love with her during the series’ first season. I was standing pretty far away from Mary, but as soon as she walked out I immediately started calling her name to ask her to come over for a picture and she yelled back that she would just as soon as the ceremony was over.

Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, and Randy Jackson were the next celebs to arrive and, not surprisingly, they did not go up to fans to pose for photographs or sign autographs.

Posh Spice, aka Victoria Beckham, showed up next, but she also did not walk over to the fan area. I have to say that she looked absolutely STUNNING, though!

Carrie Underwood was next on the scene and she also looked absolutely AMAZING! Love, love, love her shoes!

The ceremony got started right on time at 11:30 with Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Leron Gubler introducing Simon Fuller with a brief speech.

American Idol host Ryan Seacrest spoke next and gave a very heartfelt speech about Simon. Ryan stated that for once the cameras had been turned on the producer and even though he knew that Simon would be incredibly uncomfortable being the focus of so much attention, it was all incredibly well-deserved.

Then Carrie Underwood came up and said a few brief words, thanking Simon for making all of her dreams, as well as the dreams of so many others, come true. Then Simon spoke and thanked all of the people who had worked behind the scenes to help make Idol one of the most popular shows on television. He said that when he first came up with the idea for the series well over a decade ago, every single network turned him down and no one in the industry seemed to be at all enthusiastic about a show centering around a singing competition. He said it took a lot of hard work and determination to finally bring the show to fruition. I bet those network executives who turned him down are kicking themselves black and blue right about now! Simon also gave a very heartfelt thank you to Idol judge Simon Cowell, who was not in attendance, but whom he said pretty much made the show was it is today.

And with that the ceremony was over. Ryan Seacrest was the first celeb to head over to the fan barricade to begin signing autographs and taking pictures. Ryan was extremely nice and, as you can see in the above photograph, not nearly as short as everyone makes him out to be. I would guess he is about 5’7” or 5’8”.

Carrie Underwood came over next and I immediately told her that I had played the “Carrie Underwater” game with her on Ellen. Well, let me tell you, I just about died when a look of recognition came across her face and she said, “Oh my gosh! How are you? I am so glad to see that you recovered from that! Your make-up is intact today!” (I had gotten drenched with water balloons during the game on Ellen and by the time it was over my mascara had run halfway down my face.) Then Carrie said, “How are you enjoying your new bike?” I absolutely could not believe that she not only remembered that my make-up had gotten ruined on the show, but also the fact that I had won a bike!!!!! What a complete and total sweetheart! Sigh! Love her!

Carrie signed a ton of autographs and took a lot of pictures with the fans in attendance. She also signed a few guitars that people had brought along. So incredibly cool!

Randy Jackson came over next but he, sadly, only signed about three autographs before leaving.

The Eight Season American Idol winner Kris Allen was also in attendance and not only was he super nice in person, but he was also SUPER cute.

Idol’s Season Seven winner, rocker David Cook, was also there and he was also incredibly nice to the fans, and, let me tell you, people were going absolutely CRAZY over him!

Simon Fuller also came over to the crowd, but he sadly only signed a few autographs before heading back into the W Hotel Hollywood for the ceremony after-party.

Ever since the ceremony ended, I had been calling over to Mary Murphy, begging her to come take a picture with me, and when she was finally able to come over after doing a few press interviews, she walked up, put her arms out and gave me a HUGE hug! What a SWEETHEART! I love her even more now than I did before! And with that the event was pretty much over. Quite a day for this stalker, let me tell you! I was pretty much walking on air for the rest of the afternoon!

And, as I was leaving, I happened to spot Extra correspondent Terri Seymour, who, ironically enough, just so happens to be Simon Cowell’s ex-girlfriend.

After the ceremony I met up briefly with Mike, from the Mike the Fanboy site, and was floored to learn that he was one of the very lucky few to get autographs from both JLo and Posh Spice. Each woman only signed about five autographs the entire day, so Mike majorly scored on that one! You can see his autographs and his fabulous photographs of the event here. Simon Fuller’s unveiled star is pictured above.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Simon Fuller’s star on the Walk of Fame can be found directly in front of the W Hotel Hollywood, which is located at 6250 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.

May 4, 2011May 3, 2011

Teri Hatcher’s Red Carpet Charity Yard Sale

This past Sunday morning, Miss Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, called me up to let me know that she had just found out about a celebrity fundraising event in Santa Monica that was being hosted by actress Teri Hatcher. So, much to the Grim Cheaper’s chagrin, I immediately hopped right out of bed, ran a brush through my hair, threw on some make-up, grabbed my car keys, and dragged him right on over to the West Side to stalk it. To say that my life has changed for the better since meeting Pinky this past Valentine’s Day would be a rather gross understatement! I have met more celebrities and gone to more celebrity events in the past three months since knowing her than in the previous ten-plus years that I have lived in Los Angeles put together! And I have made a great friend in the process, to boot!

Teri’s fundraiser, which took place at the Tiato Market Garden Café, was a celebrity yard sale benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (my girl Jen Aniston’s favorite charity) and the RockSTAR music education program, and featured for sale “gently used” clothing, handbags, and furnishings formerly owned by such celebrities as Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba, actress Goldi Hawn, Glee’s Jayma Mays, and reality star Kourtney Kardashian. The yard sale was a very relaxed, low-key event and while there were several journalists on hand to document the goings-on, the only stalkers in attendance were me, Pinky, our friend Mike, from the Mike the Fanboy website, and his friend Erica. The autograph hounds, or the “graphers” as Pinky likes to call them, were thankfully nowhere to be found, which meant that I did not get pushed or shoved once the entire morning! Yay!

The first celeb to arrive on the scene was reality star Bob Guiney, who was a contestant on Trista Rehn’s season of The Bachelorette in 2003 and then later starred on the fourth season of The Bachelor. Bob was SUPER nice and remembered Pinky from when he had met her a few months prior and even joked with her about how he had kissed too many women during his Bachelor stint.

Next up was James Denton whom I have heard on countless occasions is one of the nicest celebrities out there and I am very happy to report that he did NOT disappoint! James was an absolute sweetheart and was very outgoing and friendly. Love, love, love him!

The next celeb to arrive was Mark Moses, aka Desperate Housewives’ Paul Young, and he was also SUPER nice and friendly in person, which was quite the shock to my system being that his character is so completely cold and devious. My brain almost could not process talking to him because he had a smile on his face the whole time which was such a huge departure from how I am used to seeing him on TV.

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Also in attendance was Tamra Barney from The Real Housewives of Orange County . . .

. . . who was GORGEOUS in person (she reminded me a lot of Emily Maynard from this past season of The Bachelor);

Natasha Alam from True Blood, whom I met a couple of weeks ago at the Decisions Movie Premiere and Celebration of Corey Haim’s Life event;

and Estella Warren from the 2001 Planet of the Apes re-make . . .

. . . whose dress I was absolutely obsessed with! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE dresses that have pockets!!!! And the color! Sigh! So incredibly adorable.

Teri Hatcher came out to walk the red carpet towards the end of the media portion of the event and she was ABSOLUTELY MOBBED by photographers and journalists, making it impossible to get close enough to her to ask for a picture. She was STUNNING in person, though, and SO INCREDIBLY TINY!

After about thirty minutes of watching Teri get mobbed by media people everywhere she went, Pinky and I resigned ourselves to not getting a photograph with her. But, as fate would have it, when we stepped inside of the restaurant to use the bathroom before leaving the event, we encountered Teri standing all by herself! Pinky and I each quickly posed for a pic with her and then she was off! Talk about your perfect timing! Had we been five seconds earlier or five seconds later we would have missed her entirely. This was one celebrity photograph that was definitely meant to be! Smile

I also randomly ran into Josh Sussman, who plays blogger/Rachel-Berry-lover Jacob Ben Israel on Glee, this weekend just after hitting up a Starbucks in Burbank. Unlike all of my other encounters with actors from Glee, Josh truly could NOT have been nicer and happily posed for a pic with me and even waited patiently while I dug around in my purse trying to find my camera. Yay! All in all, it was definitely a FABULOUS weekend. Smile

On a stalking side note – Marci, the SUPER sweet owner of Lula Mae, my very favorite store, just gifted me with the notebook pictured above, which I think is just about the cutest thing ever! I stop by Lula Mae at least four times a week (what can I say, I am addicted to the place!) and spend quite a bit of time chatting with Marci about my various stalking adventures, so while she was out shopping this past weekend she spotted the “Actors I Met and Liked” notebook and immediately thought of me. Love it, love it, love it! I think I am going to have to add an “Actors I Met and Disliked” section to the book, too, as there are quite a few of those, as well. Winking smile

Big THANK YOU to Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, for telling me about this event!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Tiato Market Garden Café, where Teri Hatcher’s Red Carpet Charity Yard Sale was held, is located at 2700 Colorado Boulevard in Santa Monica. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

April 22, 2011April 22, 2011

Hanging Out With the Cast of “Cougar Town”

This past Wednesday night, fellow stalker and celebrity enthusiast Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, invited me to join her in doing a little stalking of a Cougar Town event in North Hollywood, which I could NOT have been more excited about as I am a HUGE fan of the show. Pennnnnnnny Caaaaaaaaaaan, anyone? Anyway, as is always the case with these types of events, we were not entirely sure who from the cast would be in attendance or if we would have any luck whatsoever in getting a photograph with the actors who did, in fact, show up. As it turned out, though, the stalking gods were DEFINITELY smiling down upon us that night as we ended up getting a picture with EVERY SINGLE ONE of the series’ stars, including Monica Gellar herself, Miss Courteney Cox! It was quite an evening, let me tell you! I was so darn excited I am surprised that my head did not explode!

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When I first arrived at the event I spotted E! celebrity correspondent and frequent Chelsea Lately roundtable guest Michael Yo walking around and I just about had a heart attack! I immediately ran up to him and asked if he would be willing to pose for a picture with me and he truly could NOT have been nicer about it. Ironically enough, I was so floored over getting my photo taken with Michael, that I kind of figured I was done for the evening – I mean, how much celebrity luck can one stalker have in a day? Little did I know what the universe had in store for me, though! (On a side note – Michael Yo is TALL! I am 5’4”, but I had 4 inch heels on last night and, as you can see in the above photograph, even with those monstrous heels on, he still towered above me!)

The first Cougar Town star to show up was Ian Gomez who plays Andy Torres on the series. Andy was SUPER nice and I cannot tell you how cool it was to hear him say “Pennnnnnnny Caaaaaaaaaan” in person and do the little dance right in front of us! Love it! And when we walked back by the venue later that night after the event was over, Andy was still there signing autographs for fans! Such an incredibly nice guy!

Josh Hopkins showed up next and I have to say that the man is ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE in person! And super nice! Sigh!

I accidentally photo-bombed Pinky’s picture with Josh, though! As Pinky would say, “Fail!” Major fail! I honestly was not trying to hone in on her picture, though – I actually thought I was out of the frame while it was being taken. I swear, I am such a douche sometimes!

Comedian Michael McDonald, who plays Cougar Town’s wine bar owner Wayne and who is also a producer/writer/director of the series, showed up next. He was emceeing the event and I think he was slightly annoyed with me as Pinky and I had decided to exchange cameras at that point so that we could take photographs of each other and I could just not get hers to work right. I know, I know – like I said, I am such a douche sometimes!

Busy Phillips was up next and I was STUNNED at how STRIKINGLY BEAUTIFUL she was in person, way more so than she appears to be on TV. She is honestly one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in real life! She is also much taller and thinner than I expected her to be. I saw Neve Campbell filming Party of Five in Pasadena a couple of years back and had the exact same reaction. While Neve appears to be very average-looking onscreen, in person she literally took my breath away! It was absolutely shocking how GORGEOUS she was in real life! And also VERY tall and thin. It is amazing to me how the camera just does not do justice to some people for whatever reason. But I digress.

Dan Byrd, whom I absolutely loved in A Cinderella Story, arrived after Busy and he was also super nice.

Because of a major camera fail on my part, Pinky and I ended up taking our photograph with Christa Miller together. I was SO glad to finally get a picture with Christa, because I had actually met her back in January of 2009 when my dad and I watched CSI: Miami being filmed for the first time, but for whatever reason we did not ask her for a photo and I have been kicking myself ever since!

Christa’s husband, Cougar Town and Scrubs creator/producer/writer Bill Lawrence, was also in attendance and he could NOT have been nicer! Pinky immediately called out to him to ask him for a photograph and he said it was the first time he had ever been asked for a picture on the red carpet. He said he had massive amounts of respect for any fan who not only recognized a show’s writer, but also knew his or her name. Smile

Brian Van Holt, who plays lovable dolt Bobby Cobb on the show, arrived next and he was also SUPER nice. To be honest, the entire cast was incredibly nice and approachable as a whole, which was refreshing to see.

And I just had to get a photo with Extra host Jerry Penacoli, who was also – you guessed it! – SUPER nice. Winking smile

Courteney Cox was the last of the show’s stars to arrive and when she pulled up, the autograph hounds went absolutely nuts. For those who have never attended a celebrity event in Hollywood, there is a group of about twenty to thirty people who make a profession out of attending these events, getting stars to sign numerous (we are talking ten to twenty to thirty!) headshots or movie posters at a time, and then subsequently selling them online. The problem with these hounds is that they are furiously aggressive (they love to push and shove) and by having celebrities sign so many autographs at once, they use up most of the star’s time and the actual fans in attendance, who are typically not as aggressive, often wind up missing out. Well, the security team at the Cougar Town event was hip to these hounds and informed them that they could only have ONE piece of memorabilia signed by each actor. The hounds, of course, ignored that request and after getting their first item signed would just simply move over to a different part of the crowd, push and shove their way to the front, and try to have additional items signed. Sadly, by the time Courteney arrived, the security was seriously frustrated over the whole thing and removed the actress from the line after just a few minutes, before we had gotten a chance to meet her, which was a COMPLETE AND TOTAL bummer.

As luck would have it, though, the hounds ended up leaving as soon as Courteney started walking the red carpet and only a small group of us was left waiting outside of the venue. So, during a break in interviews, we called over to Courteney to ask if she would come back over to pose for a few photos and, let me tell you, I just about died when she told us to walk over to the red carpet area and that she would pose with us there. The security team, of course, went nuts over that and told Courteney that we weren’t allowed near the press line, but she was pretty adamant about it and, after a few minutes of discussion, she finally got them to allow it. How incredibly nice is that?????? Now that’s a celebrity who truly cares about her fans!

And, as promised, as soon as she completed all of her interviews, she posed with each and every one of us! SO INCREDIBLY COOL! LOVE HER! LOVE HER! LOVE HER!

Afterwards, Pinky and her friend Mike, from the Mike the Fanboy blog, who had joined us during the event, went out to Starbucks to grab some coffee and we had an absolute blast sharing our numerous celebrity stories. All in all, it was a fab night!

Big HUGE thank you to Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, for inviting me to this event!!!!! It was honestly one of the coolest nights of my life!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: There is no stalking location for this one, but you can catch Cougar Town each Wednesday night at 9:30 p.m. on ABC.