Celebrity Sightings – Page 2

May 24, 2012May 24, 2012

An “Extra” Taping with “The Bachelorette’s” Emily Maynard!

Late last week, Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, informed me that the current Bachelorette, the impossibly adorable Emily Maynard, would be filming a segment for Extra at The Grove in L.A. on Tuesday, May 22nd. And while I am not usually a fan of getting celebrity pictures during Extra tapings – there are always massive amounts of people trying to do the exact same thing, security is difficult, at best, and the set-up is different everyday so one never knows the best place to stand – because this stalker absolutely LOVES LOVES LOVES herself some Emily Maynard, I had to at least try. Which is how I found myself heading out to The Grove bright and early this past Tuesday morning, and, as it turned out, things could not have gone more perfectly! And I would like to go on the record here and state that while I LOVE Emily as The Bachelorette, it is this stalker’s never-to-be-humble opinion that producers seriously dropped the ball on choosing her suitors. There is not one guy in the bunch that I even mildly like. (Although I did truly laugh out loud at the comment contestant John “Wolf” made about fellow contestant Kalon in Monday night’s episode in which he said, “I have a rule – if you have Louis Vuitton luggage and you’re a dude, you’re an a**hole!”) Emily, you’ve definitely got your work cut out for you!

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I ended up arriving at The Grove at around 9 a.m., about two hours before Emily’s interview was scheduled to begin and, amazingly enough, the mall and area around the Extra stage were both completely empty. After milling around for a bit, looking in the windows of my favorite stores, I lucked out by spotting host Maria Menounos walking towards the set, so I ran up to ask for a pic. Maria was a complete and total sweetheart and even chatted with me a bit about her stint on Dancing with the Stars. Love it! Shortly thereafter, one of the Extra crew members came to the stage and announced that a prize would be given to those audience members who were willing to stick around for the entire taping, which would last about three hours. I, of course, agreed to stay, not because I wanted the prize, but because, as you all know, I LOVE to watch filming of any kind! The crew member then came up to me and the two women standing next to me to inquire if we would be willing to ask Emily Maynard a “fan question” during the show. Um, yes, please! I mean, could this day get any better? Smile (For those who read my blog regularly, you will remember that I also asked actor Colin Egglesfield a fan question during an Extra taping a couple of weeks ago, but it seems that I ended up on the cutting room floor as I never saw my question air.)

Shortly after we were informed of the questions we were to ask during the taping (yes, the fan questions are written by producers and are not spontaneous), Emily showed up on the scene looking absolutely adorable, as you can see below!

I was OBSESSED with her shoes, which, thanks to a quick internet search, I discovered are Pierre Hardy’s Canvas Multi-Colored Wedges. For those of you who have an extra $695 burning a hole in your pockets, you can pick yourselves up a pair here.

I happened to spot Emily as she was making her way to the Extra set, completely unnoticed by passersby. Seizing the opportunity, I snuck away from the crowd and approached her to ask for a picture, knowing it would likely be my only chance. And while security seemed extremely peeved with me and told me that photos could only be taken once filming was completed, Emily said it was OK and happily posed. She seemed quite a bit shy and was surprised I wanted a picture with her, but was very sweet. And yes, she is just as cute in person as she appears to be onscreen. As it turns out, the stalking gods had definitely been smiling down upon me when I spotted her, because after her interview was over, she was mobbed by fans and my chances of getting a photograph would have been slim to none.

Emily’s interview, which lasted about ten minutes, was very fun to watch and she was very sweet answering my fan question, which was, “Did you learn anything from your previous experience with Brad? Is there anything you are going to avoid this time around?” After the interview was completed, one of the Extra crew members took a photo of The Bachelorette posing with Mario Lopez, which I somehow made it into the background of (!!!) and which The Grove later posted on its Facebook page. (Thanks to Lisa, from the Finding the Famous blog, for letting me know!) SO INCREDIBLY COOL! Can you tell I was excited? Winking smile You can check out another pic from the taping that fellow stalker Sandy told me about here.

After Emily left, Mario, Maria, and host Renee Bargh taped a few more brief segments. The girl who was standing next to me – a super nice tourist from Texas named Danielle – really wanted a photograph with Mario, and even though it is typically extremely hard to get pictures with him during the filming of Extra, I decided to try to help her make it happen. After getting turned down four separate times by him throughout the course of the morning, we were noticed by his security guard who, knowing that we had been standing there for over three hours and had participated in the show by asking fan questions, took pity on us, asked for our cameras and managed to snap pics of each of us posing with Mario during a break. Yay! As I said earlier, the stalking gods were definitely smiling down upon me on Tuesday!

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention our prize! All of the audience members who stayed for the duration of the filming were gifted a Philips Sonicare Airfloss Electric Flosser, which at first I thought was pretty lame – until I got home, that is, and tried it out. The Flosser is seriously one of the coolest things I have ever owned! The machine flosses one’s entire mouth electronically, using air and water, in about sixty seconds time. For someone who has never been a fan of flossing, this is pretty much the best invention ever and I am now completely in love with it! The Grim Cheaper has Siri and I have my Philips Sonicare Airfloss Electric Flosser. Winking smile All in all, it was a fabulous, FABULOUS day that I could not have enjoyed more! Look for Emily’s interview to air on Extra next Monday, May 28th.

Big THANK YOU to Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, for telling me about Emily’s appearance on Extra! Smile

Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here. You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here. And you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Extra tapes daily at The Grove shopping center, which is located at 189 The Grove Drive in Los Angeles. You can visit The Grove’s official website here and Extra’s official website here.

May 4, 2012May 3, 2012

A Day of Celebrity Stalking! :)

I spent pretty much all day yesterday doing some stalking of celebrities (one of whom was fellow stalker Owen’s – of the When Write is Wrong blog – girlfriend, Jennifer Love Hewitt Smile ) with Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, so I was unfortunately unable to write a new post for today. I hope all of my fellow stalkers have a fabulous weekend, though, and I promise to be back on Monday with a whole new location!

April 26, 2012April 27, 2012

The Hollywood Show!

This past Saturday morning, I headed out to Burbank to attend the quarterly Hollywood Show, formerly known as the Hollywood Collectors Show. For those who have never heard of the event (like me, up until just recently), let me break it down for you. The Hollywood Show is a convention in which celebrities of yesteryear grant autographs and photo-opportunities, for a fee, to the fans who loved, and still love, them. As Chris Mann stated in his February 2010 Los Angeles Times article, “The quarterly autograph and memorabilia show — a retro nirvana for TV Land, VH1 and Turner Classic Movies fans and celebrity signature collectors — unites vintage Tinseltown idols and survivors with the people who made them as-seen-on-TV commodities.” Or as my girl Miss Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, likes to say, “It’s where celebrities go to die.” LOL Harsh, but kinda true. The show works like this – fans pay an entrance fee (of about $20, depending on how many days you want to attend the event and how early you want to be allowed in) to gain admittance to the convention hall, where they will find row upon row of fold-up card tables behind which celebrities are waiting to be paid anywhere from $10 to $150 for an autograph and/or posed picture. It all makes for a very weird, almost depressing set of circumstances and meeting the actors turns out to be more of a business transaction than a personal experience, but nevertheless where else can you find Susan Olsen from The Brady Bunch, the Von Trapp kids from The Sound of Music, and Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams from Laverne & Shirley all under the same roof?

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Pinky had been trying to convince me to stalk the Hollywood Show with her for months, but I was not too keen on the idea. That is until I saw that Aileen Quinn, aka “Annie” from the 1982 musical of the same name, was going to be there. Growing up, Annie was my movie! To this day, I can still quote the entire thing backwards and forwards. I watched the flick so often, in fact, that my VHS copy of it got warped and is now unwatchable. I even entered an Annie lookalike contest shortly after the movie was released and came in second place! Needless to say, you would be hard-pressed to find a more diehard Annie fan out there. So when I saw that Aileen would be attending the show I just about did a cartwheel right there in my living room and told Pinky to count me in! Joining us at the event were our friends Anushika, from the Mike the Fanboy website, and Cody. Being that my head was about to explode from excitement, the four of us hit up Aileen’s table immediately upon arriving at the show and I am very happy to report that she could NOT have been nicer. She was highly amused over how excited I was to meet her and how much I loved Annie growing up.

Aileen was nice enough to pose for two photographs, a close-up and a full-length shot, both of which Cody snapped for me. Thank you, Cody! I could NOT get over how recognizable Aileen still was from Annie, over three decades later!

At the Hollywood Show, celebrities have a stack of various 8×10 headshots at their tables that fans can choose from to be signed. Sometimes though, the actor will also have books, programs or memorabilia that can be signed in lieu of a headshot and, let me tell you, I just about died when I saw that Aileen had the original 1982 program from Annie at her table. Not only is the program a must-have collector’s item for any fan, but it also contains a plethora of behind-the-scenes information and an entire chapter on the movie’s LOCATIONS! Um, yes, please! Needless to say, this stalker was in absolute heaven! Not only did I get to meet one of my childhood idols, but I scored a fabulous piece of vintage memorabilia in the process. Aileen even drew me a little cartoon Annie on the program, to boot. Smile LOVE IT! All in all, meeting Aileen was a FABULOUS experience for me and I really felt like I shared a personal, intimate moment with her, despite the chaos that was going on around us.

Because one could easily spend upwards of $300 at the Hollywood Show, I had made the decision prior to walking through the front doors that I was only paying for a picture with Aileen. But I had an absolute blast accompanying Pinky, Anushika and Cody to the tables of the various celebs that they had come to meet. Pinky was dying to get a photograph with Penny Marshall (pictured above) and Cindy Williams, as Laverne & Shirley was her favorite show growing up. You can read her write-up of the event and see her pictures here.

Anushika was there for the Von Trapp kids from The Sound of Music (you can read her write-up of her experience on the Mike the Fanboy website here) and Cody was dying to meet Tanya Roberts from That ’70s Show. I think it is so incredibly cool that we were all there (and were all beyond excited) to meet such different celebrities!

And I should mention here that while some parts of the Hollywood Show are awesome, some are most-definitely odd. There are several booths set up where one can buy movie memorabilia, props and costumes, which I loved. (That’s the Bride of Chucky puppet pictured above.) My friend Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, who was dragged to the show under duress by our mutual friend Duggan, showed me a very cool booth that was selling vintage magazines, some from as far back as 1983, which I also loved. But there were also some seriously random, Twilight Zone-worthy booths. Directly next to the Bride of Chucky table, a woman was selling fake Louis Vuitton purses out of a plastic crate, Canal Street-style. I kid you not! It was beyond weird, not to mention the fact that all of the purses were in really bad shape. Most had these odd red stains on them or had large tears through the fabric. I never did know quite what to make of that. All in all, though, I loved being there and am definitely signing up for the next show.

And we even spotted a few random celebrities while we were walking around, one of whom was Daniel Roebuck, from Lost, Matlock and The Fugitive, who was attending the show as a fan. Daniel was incredibly nice and happily posed for a pic with each of us.

When we were leaving, we also saw singer Jason Mraz who was rehearsing in a studio nearby. Jason was also incredibly nice and posed for photographs with our entire group. I was especially excited to meet him because “I’m Yours” was my wedding song with the Grim Cheaper. Smile

Big THANK YOU to Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, for convincing me to come to this event! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: There is no stalking location for this one, but you can visit the Hollywood Show website here. The next Burbank show will take place on August 5th and 6th. If you are planning to attend, bring cash as credit cards and checks are not accepted.

April 20, 2012April 19, 2012

Another Day of Cleaning!

Because I spent all day yesterday cleaning (once again – UGH!), I did not have time to write a new column for today. But I did get to meet actress Emma Roberts earlier this week, so I thought I would post the pic I took with her so that today’s blog would not be a total waste. Winking smile

I hope that all of my fellow stalkers have a fabulous weekend!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

February 10, 2012February 9, 2012

The “TimesTalks” Interview with George Clooney & Alexander Payne

This past Wednesday afternoon, the fabulous Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, informed me that she had just scored two tickets to The New York Times “TimesTalks in L.A.” interview with actor George Clooney and his The Descendants director Alexander Payne. Pinky wanted me to be her plus-one for the event, which was taking place that evening at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, and, even though I have never been a huge George Clooney fan, I immediately accepted. Now don’t get me wrong, I loved Ocean’s Eleven and think GC (yes, there’s another one!) is a great actor, but, unlike most females on the planet, he has never been my end-all, be-all. I have always just kind of felt fair-to-middling about the guy. Oh, how that was all about to change! Pinky and I showed up to the event about an hour early and there were already a good 100 people in line. Thankfully though, we were able to snag some second row seats and Pinky was literally on the edge of hers the entire time waiting for the interview to begin. You see, George Clooney has long been Pinky’s “unicorn”. While almost all of her other stalker friends had managed to snag pics with him over the years, she had somehow missed him at countless events and was beginning to think the guy didn’t exist. So to make sure that this would not turn out to be yet another failed opportunity, she knitted George a scarf and wrote him a card, hoping that he would take pity on us and, in turn, pose for a couple of photos.

The interview got started right on time and when George Clooney walked onto the stage, I am pretty sure my mouth fell open about a foot . . . and I might have even drooled a little. In person, without the aid of professional make-up, lighting, and Photoshop, the guy still looked movie-star-perfect! Like WOW!

Unfortunately, the moderator for the event, who shall remain nameless, was beyond-words horrible! How he managed to make an interview with George Clooney and Alexander Payne boring is absolutely beyond me, but he did! About thirty minutes into it, I turned to Pinky and said, “I would rather stab a pen through my eye than have to sit here and listen to this guy any longer!” I swear, if Joel McHale and The Soup writers got hold of the video of the event, they would have a field day! At one point, when an audience member asked George and Alexander what movies had inspired them over the years, the moderator opted to also give an answer himself. Like, really?? I don’t think anyone was asking you! And while Alexander seemed annoyed with the guy (and rightfully so!), George (gotta love him!) was repeatedly trying to help him out. He continually attempted to lead the conversation in a much more interesting direction and gave beautifully-crafted answers to the many inanely-crafted questions. All I could think while watching him was, George Clooney is not just nice, he’s kind. I honestly do not think I would have been nearly as gracious in the same situation.

George was also EXTREMELY funny, witty, and quick to laugh, as you can see above. I can only imagine how dreadfully boring the whole interview would have been had he not been carrying it.

George also seemed incredibly down-to-earth. When the moderator opened up the interview to questions from the audience at the end of the evening and then realized there were no microphones set up in the auditorium, George immediately jumped out of his chair to help find one. Um, LOVE IT! And the tipping point for me was when a much older, slightly clueless, gentleman got up to ask a question, during which he told George that he had once submitted a script to George’s uncle, movie director Jose Ferrer, and that, in response, Jose had written him the kindest rejection letter he had ever received. He happened to have the letter with him and George immediately jumped off of the stage to accept it, then gave the guy a hug, and posed for a photograph with him for the press in attendance. The gentleman, who by that time was no longer near the audience microphone, then asked George if he wouldn’t mind moving a bit closer to him so that he could use the microphone affixed to George’s lapel to continue to tell his story (not kidding!), which went on . . . and on . . . and on. The whole thing was absolutely unbelievable, but George, once again, was beyond kind about it and never rushed the man or acted in any way uninterested in hearing what he had to say.

As soon as the interview was over, Pinky ran up to the stage and called George over to give him the scarf and card she had made. George honestly could NOT have been nicer, thanked her, and happily agreed to pose for a pic . . .

. . . which turned out ADORABLE! <3

Then I asked for a pic and George, once again, happily obliged. Pinky often says about the friendlier stars she has met over the years, “That celeb was so nice, he/she would have braided my hair if I had I asked!” Well, I am very happy to report that George Clooney was braid-your-hair nice.

Alexander Payne was also incredibly nice and down-to-earth and actually kneeled down on the stage next to me so that my picture with him would come out better. LOVE IT!

Pinky and I took the above photo as we were walking to our car after the interview, squealing like little schoolgirls the entire way! She captioned the pic on Facebook, “This is our ‘We just met George Clooney’ face!”

Watch live streaming video from nytimes at livestream.com

You can watch a video of the entire “TimesTalks in LA” interview with George Clooney and Alexander Payne by clicking above.

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Upon leaving the event, Pinky, ever the stalker, decided to search the WireImage website to see which stars were in attendance at the This Means War premiere that was taking place over in Hollywood that same night. And she just about flipped when she saw that Kristin Cavallari was there, because it just so happens that KCav is my unicorn! I absolutely LOVE the reality star and have not only missed her at several appearances, but when I did end up meeting her a few years back, the Grim Cheaper had a massive fail with our photo op. So Pinky and I immediately headed right on over to Hollywood to try to catch my unicorn! And while we didn’t end up seeing Kristin, we did get some pics with some other celebs including Holly Marie Combs (don’t we look like besties in the above photo? );

Perrey Reeves, aka Mrs. Ari on Entourage;

Melanie Lynskey – aka Rose, Charlie’s stalker on Two and a Half Men;

Ashley Jones, from The Bold and the Beautiful and True Blood;

and Francois Arnaud from The Borgias. All in all it was a FABULOUS night that I am still on a complete and total high from over 24 hours later! You can read Miss Pinky Lovejoy’s write-up of the evening on her blog here.

Big THANK YOU to Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, for inviting me to this event and for turning me into a huge George Clooney fan in the process!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Unfortunately, there is no stalking location for this one, but you can catch The Descendants in theatres now.

December 6, 2011December 5, 2011

The Landmark Screening of “The Way”

Last Wednesday evening, shortly before a ginormous wind storm took hold of Los Angeles, celebrity aficionado Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, and fellow stalker CB, of the Mike the Fanboy website, invited me to be their plus-one at a screening of the new movie The Way, which was to be followed by a question and answer session with the film’s director Emilio Estevez, star Martin Sheen, and producer David Alexanian. Because the event was taking place at the Landmark Theatre located all the way out in Westwood, though, and because The Way has a run-time of 115 minutes, and because this stalker is not a big fan of “films” – I much prefer “movies” to the typically pretentious art house fare usually found at indy theatres – I was not especially looking forward to attending. But I absolutely love me some Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez, so I decided that I would just have to bite the bullet and that is how I found myself heading out to the Westside last Wednesday night, just as 85-mile-per-hour winds were beginning to blow.

The Way–Preview

The Way, which you can watch a preview of by clicking above, turned out to be, by no stretch of the imagination, one of the best movies I have ever seen in my entire life! I honestly cannot say enough good things about it and was actually very hesitant to write this post as I knew it would take me quite a bit of time to put into words all of the fabulous things that I wanted to express. The film, which was written and directed by Emilio Estevez, is nothing short of phenomenal in so many ways – it features a completely unique and riveting story, a wonderful script, fabulously rich characters, incredible scenery, remarkable performances, and a touching and profound sentiment. I do not want to say a lot about The Way as I feel it should be viewed without much prior knowledge, but at its core is the story of El Camino de Santiago, a real-life 500-mile route through France and Spain that pilgrims, or “peregrinos” as they are officially called, walk (yes, walk!) on their way to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, where the remains of Saint James are believed to have been buried. The journey, which is just as much spiritual as it is physical, lasts about eight weeks with peregrinos walking about twelve to fifteen miles per day. At night, the travelers stay at refugios, small inns or hostels, where they are provided with a homemade meal and a bed. The refugios are just as much a part of the journey as the walk itself, as pilgrims break bread with the refugio owners and their fellow travelers, creating new friendships and learning local customs along the way. I find it unbelievable that prior to watching the film, I had never heard even a mention of El Camino de Santiago. I am now absolutely fascinated by it, as I am sure all those are who have seen The Way. If you have yet to see the movie, I cannot more highly recommend doing so. It is an uplifting adventure and historically-rich journey that you will not be sorry you took.

Immediately following the screening, Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, and David Alexanian walked to the front of the theatre and the Q&A session began. And I have to say that it was almost as fascinating as the movie itself. Martin talked about how in 2003 he had been approached by his then 19-year-old grandson, Taylor Estevez (Emilio’s son), to walk the Camino. Because Martin was filming The West Wing at the time, he did not have enough weeks off to walk the entire 500-miles, so Martin’s wife suggested that the two rent a car and drive along the Camino route. That way they could see how difficult of a trek it would actually be and prepare themselves for walking it someday in the future. And that is exactly what Martin and Taylor did. (Can I just say here how adorable it is that Taylor asked his grandfather to go on this journey with him? LOVE IT! Reminds me of the relationship I have with my grandma.) Things did not exactly go according to plan, though, as one night during their journey, while dining at a refugio, Taylor and the refugio owner’s daughter locked eyes and, as Martin said in the Q&A, “they’re still looking at each other”. Taylor ended up staying in Spain and marrying the refugio owner’s daughter and they are still together to this day. Their love story and the experiences Taylor and Martin shared on their Camino journey inspired Martin to ask Emilio to write a screenplay about it. The father/son duo, who live next door to each other, collaborated on the story and The Way is the result of their efforts.

The Way was shot entirely on location along El Camino de Santiago (in chronological order, mind you), with the crew using only the camera equipment and supplies that they could carry on their backs, which makes the behind-the-scenes story almost as amazing as the actual movie. So basically, while filming a movie about El Camino, the crew was actually taking the journey themselves. So incredibly cool!

Martin and Emilio honestly could not have been funnier, warmer, or more engaging during the Q&A and I love both of them even more now than I did before.

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After the Q&A, CB, Pinky, and I went up to Martin, who was EXTREMELY friendly and more than happy to pose for a pic with us. I was actually an extra in an episode of The West Wing about eleven years ago and had the pleasure of watching Martin perform firsthand. The man is a phenomenon and I will never forget coming home that night and saying to my mom, “I learned more about acting in one day of observing Martin Sheen than I did in four years of college as a theatre major!” My mom was not too pleased to hear that, being that she footed my college tuition, but it was absolutely true. The scene I was an extra in involved Martin’s character, President Jed Bartlet, giving a speech to his daughter’s college. The speech was LONG – at least five minutes of continuous dialogue – and Martin knew that thing backwards and forwards. The filming took over 14 hours (not kidding!) during which Martin had to repeat the monologue over and over and over again and, let me tell you, the guy never faltered or forgot one single word! And he had just as much energy during Take 1 as he did during Take 103. It was incredible to witness. Even more incredible was the fact that every time the director yelled “Cut!”, Martin would seamlessly shed his Jed Barlet persona to address all of the extras, regaling us with stories of his life and acting career. Once the director would yell “Action!”, Martin would once again transform into his character and continue on with his speech without missing a beat. I am still awed by it to this day!

Emilio Estevez also could not have been nicer or more friendly and I have to say that it was pretty incredible getting to tell Gordon Bombay himself that The Mighty Ducks was one of my very favorite movies.

After the show, Pinky, who I swear could spot a celebrity while blind-folded in a snow storm, saw actor Ed Lauter, who played Colonel Glenn in fave movie Girls Just Want to Have Fun. We, of course, asked Ed for a picture and he happily obliged. Yay! All in all, it was a fabulous night and I am SO incredibly glad that I went!

You can read CB’s write-up of the event and see some videos he took of the Q&A session on the Mike the Fanboy website here.

Big THANK YOU to Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, and CB, of the Mike the Fanboy website, for inviting me to this event.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: There is no stalking location for this one, but you can catch The Way in theatres now and you can visit the movie’s official website here.

November 18, 2011November 17, 2011

The SAG Conversations with “Southland” Event

I would like to start off today’s post by announcing that my good friend, fellow stalker Owen, who is a copy editor by trade, has just started his very own blog which chronicles the various spelling mistakes and grammatical errors that he comes across in printed material on a daily basis. The blog is called When Write Is Wrong and, let me tell you, it is absolutely HILARIOUS! I strongly urge you to check it out and get your LOL on. You can visit When Write Is Wrong here. And now, on with the post!

Last week, I received an email from the Screen Actors Guild inviting me and a guest to a screening of the TNT television series Southland, followed by a Q&A with executive producer Christopher Chulack and cast members Lucy Liu, Regina King, C. Thomas Howell, Ben McKenzie, Michael Cudlitz, and Shawn Hatosy. And even though I had never before actually seen an episode of the show, once I saw the name Ben McKenzie I just about died of excitement! As I have mentioned several times before on this blog, this stalker absolutely LOVES herself some The O.C., especially its cutie former star, and I have been absolutely dying to get a picture with him for what seems like forever now! So I immediately RSVP-ed to the event and invited fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, to be my guest as Southland is one of his favorite shows.

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The evening started out with a screening of the Season 3 episode titled “Fixing a Hole” and while my mom, who watches Southland religiously, had warned me that the series might be a bit too gory and gritty for my taste, let me tell you, I absolutely LOVED it. It was laugh-out-loud funny, extremely well-written and sharply poignant. I cannot wait to rent Season 1 and start watching from the beginning. Immediately after the episode ended, the stars of the show entered the room and my stomach literally did a flip-flop when Ben McKenzie came into view. He is even cuter in person than he appears to be on TV. Swoon! Because I am anal and always arrive at these types of events about 3 hours early, I secured some FABULOUS seats for me and Mike and we literally could have reached out and touched the actors. Sadly though, this particular venue did not allow any photographs to be taken during the Q&A, so I was unable to get any pictures of the actors onstage. But, let me tell you, the interview session was FABULOUS! The Southland cast is easily one of the most down-to-earth casts I have ever seen in person and, for such a dark, heavy show, the atmosphere between them all was extremely light and fun. They seemed to genuinely like each other and had an easy rapport. And although the jokes were flying out of everyone’s mouth, Michael Cudlitz (who plays Officer John Cooper on the show) was by far the funniest of the bunch. He is absolutely HILARIOUS in person – like stand-up-comedian funny. My favorite part of the Q&A, though, had to be when the actors talked about the fact that executive producers Christopher Chulack and John Wells do not allow any sides on the Southland set. For those unfamiliar with the term, “sides” are small portions of a script that contain only those scenes being filmed on that particular day and actors usually have them on hand at all times. John and Christopher banned the mini-scripts from the set from the very beginning so that the actors would be forced to do their homework and come to work prepared each day. The Southland cast all said that it was a phenomenal way to work and that they were better performers because of it. This policy especially resonated with me as it used to drive me absolutely batty in acting class when my fellow students would show up unprepared. Memorizing lines is the easiest part of acting, in this stalker’s never-to-be-humble opinion, and if you cannot even come to class with that basic part of your homework completed, how can you expect to be present and focused onstage??? But I digress.

Immediately following the Q&A, Mike and I, of course, approached all of the actors to ask for pictures and I am very happy to report that they could NOT have been nicer!! We met Regina King first and she was a complete and total sweetheart – a total 180 from the tough, brazen character she plays on Southland. Sadly, while we were talking to Regina, Lucy Liu walked by and because no one stopped her for a photo (most actors consider themselves to be above the whole fandom thing), she left before we could talk to her. As Miss Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, would say, “FAIL!”

After Regina, we hit up Shawn Hatosy whom I was familiar with from both Alpha Dog and Dexter. It is funny, but even though I had never watched Southland, I knew and loved each of the actors in attendance from other productions. Shawn was extremely nice and happily posed for photos with both Mike and me.

After posing with Shawn, I spotted Ben McKenzie and just about had a heart attack. Pinky Lovejoy had told me prior to the event that Ben was a total sweetheart and I am happy to report that she could not have been more right! SUCH a nice guy and, as I mentioned above, ADORABLE in person! SWOON! SWOON! SWOON!

After Ben, Mike and I got a pic with Michael Cudlitz, which we were both EXTREMELY excited about as he had played jock Tony Miller on fave show Beverly Hills, 90210. When I first walked up to Michael, I said, “You were Brenda Walsh’s prom date!”, to which he smiled and said, “That I was!” LOVE IT!

Last up was Ponyboy himself, C. Thomas Howell, who was a complete and total sweetheart! I chatted with him a bit about Rob Lowe’s autobiography, Stories I Only Tell My Friends (which is honestly one of the BEST books I have ever read – like in my entire life!!!!), and he told me that his wife had just read it and had also said it was one of the best books she had ever read. Ironically enough, a few minutes later Mike and I ventured into a nearby Starbucks (I know, shocker!) and who should be in front of us in line, but C. Thomas! He recognized us and I quickly said, “We are not following you, I swear!” I mean, I’m a stalker, but I’m not that bad! C. Thomas chatted to us again for a few minutes and then I headed off to use the restroom, but Mike told me that when C. Thomas left, he called out to him, “Later, bro!” and waved good-bye. How incredibly cool is that?? All in all, it was an AMAZING night and I am still pinching myself over the whole thing! As Pinky Lovejoy would say, “Win!”

And don’t forget to check out fellow stalker Owen’s new blog, When Write Is Wrong!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Unfortunately, there is no stalking location for this one, but you can catch Southland every Tuesday night on TNT. Season 4 is set to begin on January 17th.

November 3, 2011September 29, 2017

Halloween at Dick Van Dyke’s House

While doing research on the Strode House from Halloween a couple of weeks back, I came across a blog post about the extravagant yard haunt that actor Dick Van Dyke hosts every Halloween at his home in Malibu. And while you wouldn’t think it would be possible, being that I have lived in Southern California for well over a decade, have spent countless hours stalking, and am obsessed with all things Halloween and all things celebrity, until reading that post I had never before heard anything about it! And, let me tell you, I just about had a heart attack a few minutes later when I discovered that Dick Van Dyke lives inside of the gated Serra Retreat community because some of our good friends just (like literally weeks ago!) moved into that very same community! I immediately texted said friend to ask if she lived near Dick Van Dyke or knew him at all and started hyperventilating when she wrote back that not only are they next-door neighbors, but that the Grim Cheaper and I were welcome to come to his Halloween party! Talk about fate! I mean, do these things actually happen??? Days later, as I sit here typing this, I am still in a bit of shock and can’t quite believe that I was actually at Dick Van Dyke’s house for Halloween! And that right there is why I LOVE L.A. – one simply never knows what unthinkable adventure is waiting just around the corner! (The GC refused to dress up as Dylan again after already dressing up on Saturday night, which is why I am dressed like a flapper above. I am now thinking of changing his nickname to the “Grim Grumper”, by the way. )

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About two seconds after we arrived at our friends’ house on Halloween night, some trick-or-treaters knocked on the door and I just about died when I realized it was none other than James Cameron, dressed as a pirate, and his family! I kid you not! I was absolutely DYING inside as he introduced himself to our friends and welcomed them to the neighborhood. Like really? As I said above, does this stuff actually happen??? Oh, what I would not give to live in the ‘Bu and have James Cameron trick-or-treat at my door! HOW INCREDIBLY COOL! I did not ask James for a photograph as I figured it would have been a bit awkward, but I am kind of kicking myself about it now. As my girl Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, constantly admonishes me, when an opportunity presents itself, always, always ask for a picture! Ah well, maybe next Halloween! Anyway, shortly after James left, we all headed over to Dick Van Dyke’s house and, let me tell you, it was nothing short of AMAZING! For this Halloween-obsessed stalker, being there was the ultimate experience!

Dick had decorated the entire front of his property – like every single square inch of it – with a myriad of Halloween displays and contraptions and, let me tell you, it was like nothing I had ever seen! The whole thing was like being in the middle of a horror movie set! We were there for well over an hour and I still do not think I saw everything. The spooktacular was comprised of animatronic mannequins, some of which would jump out at people from hidden corners;

a talking statue, a la the talking statues in the graveyard at Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion;

a Pee-Wee Herman lookalike who was controlling an animatronic wolf that would jump out to “attack” each passerby;

and a video-rigged front door that had both a picture of Dick Van Dyke that would change from normal to scary depending on where you were standing and a “window” to an insane asylum in which an inmate with an ax tries to break her way out.

You can watch a video of the door by clicking above. Notice the marks that show up on the door when the inmate hits it with the ax! Simply incredible!

My favorite part of the whole thing, though, had to be the graveyard, which consisted of a myriad of tombstones, some of which moved and had animatronic corpses coming out of them. There was also an invisible screen set up at the back of the graveyard on which was projected a video of cartoon skeletons doing the “Thriller” dance! SO INCREDIBLY COOL! Sadly, the GC could not get a good picture of the video, nor could he get a photograph of the glow-in-the-dark monster footprints that had been painted in the street out in front of Dick’s house. AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING!

Because so many celebrities live in Serra Retreat, I was keeping my eyes peeled the entire time we were there and was beyond excited when I spotted Camille Grammer from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. As I have mentioned several times before on this blog, I absolutely LOATHE RHOBH star Kyle Richards (“hot, heaping hunks of hate!” as Jerry Stiller would say), and I don’t much like her sister Kim or their friend Taylor Armstrong, either. And while I used to like Lisa Vanderpump, after her high-school-like mean-girl behavior in the recently-aired “The Opposite of Relaxation!” episode, I don’t really care for her either. The only two on the show that I like are Adrienne Maloof-Nassif and Camille Grammer. So seeing Camille was especially exciting!

So I, of course, just had to ask her for a pic. I am very happy to report that Camille was a total sweetheart and even told me that I was beautiful!!! How nice is that? And she is absolutely gorgeous in person, far prettier even than she appears to be on TV. Love her!! Ironically enough, fellow stalker Chas later told me that Camille had been featured in an interview on TMZ TV on Halloween night in which she was asked what Halloween party she would be attending. Her response? “Dick Van Dyke’s and his is the best.” LOVE IT!

Shortly after I took the pic with Camille, Dick Van Dyke walked outside and I just about died. I, of course, also asked him for a photo and he happily obliged. Unfortunately, I did not get to talk to him at all, though, as he was extremely busy and had hoards of neighbors coming up to him, all wanting to say hi. All in all it was a magical evening and I still cannot quite believe it all happened! As I said yesterday, between meeting Matthew Lillard on Friday, dressing up as Brenda and Dylan on Saturday, and then spending Halloween night at Dick Van Dyke’s house, this was quite simply the Best. Halloween. Ever.

During the party, I also just had to run around the corner to get my picture taken in front of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline’s former house. 🙂

You can read a great blog post about decorating Dick Van Dyke’s house written by one of his Halloween crew members on the Disney Travel Babble website here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Unfortunately, because Dick Van Dyke lives inside of Serra Retreat, a gated community that is not open to the public, there is no stalking location for this one.

November 2, 2011September 29, 2017

Halloween 2011 with Matthew Lillard

Well, the stalking gods have definitely been smiling down upon me as of late because this year I experienced what was quite simply the Best. Halloween. Ever. It was an absolute whirlwind and I honestly do not know how any future Halloween can ever compare! It all started a couple of weeks ago when the fabulous Katie, from the Matthew Lillard Online website, announced that she would be giving away two tickets to the October 28th performance of Harbor, the new play in which the Scooby-Doo-actor stars, along with a meet-and-greet/photo-op. I, of course, immediately entered my name in the contest and, as fate would have it, I won! Because this stalker absolutely LOVES herself some Matthew Lillard, I was literally screaming at the top of my lungs when I found out. What better way could there have possibly been to begin my Halloween weekend than by meeting one of the stars of Scream, my very favorite scary movie of all time?!?! And while the Grim Cheaper was not nearly as excited about my big win as I was – he is not at all a fan of the theatre, especially Los Angeles theatre which tends to be a bit pretentious – the two of us found ourselves heading out to The Victory Theatre Center in Burbank this past Friday night. And, let me tell you, I was literally bouncing out of my seat during the entire drive there!

Amazingly enough, the excitement of the evening got started before the lights in the theatre even went down! While the GC and I were standing in line waiting to pick up our tickets, I just happened to spot Mekia Cox – who not only played Sasha during Season 3 of fave show 90210, but was also one of Michael Jackson’s dancers on the ill-fated This Is It tour – standing in line behind us. I, of course, just had to go up to her to ask for a photo and I am very happy to report that she could NOT have been sweeter. Mekia said that she could not believe that I had recognized her as she usually does not get spotted when her hair is pulled back. She obviously didn’t realize that she was talking to a stalker. Winking smile I was like, “Are you kidding? I noticed you the second you walked through the door!” Smile

Harbor, which was written by Jon Cellini, Matthew Lillard’s college roommate, is the story of a single mother who, upon the death of her father and the subsequent reading of his will, is forced to make contact with her ex-husband and his new wife. And while it sounds as if that would be some rather depressing subject matter, the play is actually laugh-out-loud hilarious! And Matthew Lillard absolutely SHINES in it. His onstage persona is magnetic and he is nothing short of fascinating to watch. The guy has got some major presence – one look at him onstage and it is entirely obvious how he became a movie star. Truth be told, though, the entire cast was FABULOUS, the script superb, and the theatre warm and intimate. I honestly could not have enjoyed the production more. And I was not the only one! Let me tell you, I almost fell out of my chair when the lights went up at the end of the show and the GC turned to me and said, “That was the best play I’ve ever seen in my life!” I mean, I knew Harbor was good, but the fact that the GC said that speaks volumes! If you live in the L.A. area or are planning to visit in the near future, you really need to go see this show!! I honestly cannot recommend it more!

After the play was over, we headed to the lobby to wait for Matthew to come out, whereupon the GC met the producer of the show and promptly told her that Harbor was the best play he had ever seen. He was so giddy over finally enjoying a live performance, I honestly would not have been surprised if he had started shouting about it from the rooftops! Anyway, when Matthew came out, I walked up to him to introduce myself as the Matthew Lillard Online contest winner and he immediately said, “Oh! I’m supposed to take a picture with you!” Um, LOVE IT! After posing for the above picture, which turned out ADORABLE (can you tell how excited I was to meet him??), Matthew hung around and chatted with us for quite a long time. The guy truly could NOT have been nicer and when I told him that the two of us used to frequent the same Starbucks and that I had always tried to (accidentally Smile ) run into him there, he jokingly started calling me a stalker! Oh, if he only knew. Winking smile Matthew was truly honored that I was such a fan and gave me a huge hug before going off to meet the many other fans of his that were in attendance. Sigh! What a complete and total sweetheart! As I said – the evening could not have been a more magical start to my Halloween weekend.

The following night, the GC and I headed out to Palm Desert, where his boss was hosting a prom-themed Halloween party. And while I had originally wanted to dress up as Ali (aka Christina Aguilera) and Jack (aka Cam Gigandet) from Burlesque this year, as soon I heard the words “prom-themed”, my plans immediately changed and we instead went as Brenda Walsh (aka my girl Shannen Doherty) and Dylan McKay (aka Luke Perry) in their outfits from the Season 1 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “Spring Dance”. As you can imagine, I could NOT have been more excited for this particular costume!

And I, of course, just had to make the GC a vegetable boutonniere like the one Brandon Walsh (aka Jason Priestley) wore in the episode. Smile

I also just had to re-create the above photograph of Brenda and Dylan. Oh, the crap I put the Grim Cheaper through! It is honestly amazing that he ever proposed! Winking smile And my Halloween excitement did not end there because I spent this past Monday night at a place that I am still pinching myself over, but more on that tomorrow.

A big, huge THANK YOU to Katie, from the Matthew Lillard Online website, for the tickets to Harbor!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Matthew Lillard will be starring in Harbor each Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night now through December 3rd at The Victory Theatre Center, which is located at 3326 West Victory Boulevard in Burbank. You can purchase tickets to the show here.

September 27, 2011September 26, 2011

The 3rd Annual “Get Lucky for Lupus” Celebrity Poker Tournament

Last Wednesday evening, my girl Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, invited me to do a little stalking of the 3rd Annual “Get Lucky for Lupus” Celebrity Poker Tournament, which benefited Lupus LA, the West Coast division of the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation. Well, once I head the word “lupus”, I knew that I had to attend as I had a pretty strong feeling that one of my very favorite actresses, Kellie Martin, would be there. Kellie’s younger sister, Heather, tragically passed away from lupus in 1998 at the tender age of 19 and the actress has been a very vocal advocate for research on the disease ever since. (You can read an article that Kellie wrote about her sister’s battle with lupus for the September 1999 issue of Jane Magazine here.) And, sure enough, about ten minutes after the Grim Cheaper and I arrived on the scene, who should walk up but Kellie! And, let me tell you, I just about had a heart attack I was so excited to meet her! Life Goes On was one of my very favorite television shows growing up, so seeing Becca Thacher in person was almost most than I could bear. Kellie was very sweet and happily posed for a picture with me, but seemed truly surprised that anyone had recognized her, which shocked me!

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Next to arrive was Melissa Joan Hart, from Sabrina, the Teenage Witch fame, whom I had been dying to get a picture with for over a decade!

When I moved to Los Angeles way back in early 2000, one of the first things I did was register for background work at Central Casting. The same day that I registered, I was fortunate enough to get hired as an extra in the Season 4 episode of Just Shoot Me titled “Fast Times at Finchmont High”. As it turned out, the scenes I was in were with special guest star Melissa Joan Hart in which I played one of her cheerleader friends. That’s me in the above screen captures – in the first capture, I am standing to the right of Melissa and in the second, I am standing in between Melissa and the other cheerleader. Melissa could not have been sweeter to me or more professional to work with even after I accidentally gave her a flat tire (i.e. stepped on the back of her shoe, causing it to come off) while we were filming! I am a huge klutz by nature and the director, who as it turns out was Steven Levitan (the creator of Modern Family whom I just met two weeks ago at a pre-Emmy party), had asked me to stay as close to Melissa as possible while walking down the hall. Well, I stayed so close to her that I ended up stepping on the back of her shoe and pulling it off. She did not miss a beat, though, and kept right on shooting. I was highly embarrassed over the whole thing, but Melissa was a complete and total sweetheart and, when I apologized to her afterwards, she said, “Oh my gosh, don’t worry about it at all!” All in all, I could not have asked for a better first Hollywood experience and it was largely due to the kindness of Melissa.

Me on “Just Shoot Me”! 🙂

You can watch the clip of me on Just Shoot Me by clicking above.

Other celebrities who attended the “Get Lucky for Lupus” Celebrity Poker Tournament (and who were ALL so nice and laid back) included James Denton, from Desperate Housewives;

Aaron Hill, from Greek;

Verne Troyer;

Roger R. Cross, from 24;

George Costanza himself, Jason Alexander, who was so incredibly friendly and nice it was almost unbelievable;

Jamie Gold, the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event champion;

singer Ryan Cabrera;

Camryn Manheim – SUCH a sweetheart and absolutely GORGEOUS in person;

Michael Trucco, from Battlestar Galactica;

Ben Lyons, from E!’s The Daily 10;

poker player Tiffany Michelle;

Josh Altman, from Million Dollar Listing;

Karina Smirnoff, from Dancing with the Stars;

Slash, from Guns N’ Roses, who really did not want to pose for a photo, but was somehow magically talked into it by Miss Pinky Lovejoy;

and Derek Mears, who played Jason Voorhees in the 2009 remake of Friday the 13th.

Derek was so nice that he actually took two pictures with me as he was not sure he looked “scary enough” in the first. Love it!

I also ran into Jermaine Jackson this past Saturday afternoon and he was SUPER nice and happily agreed to pose for a photo with me. So, factoring in the Emmys, I guess you could say that it was a pretty INCREDIBLE week for this particular stalker. Smile And I have no idea how I am going to write my Emmy post at this point in time, by the way, as it is looking to be a pretty daunting undertaking. I think I am going to have to break it up into several different columns, as it will just be FAR too long otherwise. But I do promise to write it soon. Smile

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, for inviting me to this event.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: There is no stalking location for this one, but you can find out more about lupus and lupus research by visiting the official Lupus LA website here.