Skip to main content

The Ottawa Celebrity Sighting Society


When Nick was in private school, I spent a lot of time hussling him back and forth from the Ottawa International Aiport.

As frequent flyers know, you see a lot of important or famous people if you're just sitting around.

One time, we were standing in line and I saw Alex Trebek, the host of Jeopardy, in line in front of us. Obviously, Alex didn't realize there was a line for him (first class) and a line for us (no class).

"Nick," I said, excitedly. "Look it's Alex Trebek."

He shrugged.

"Go on up there. Don't you want to meet Alex Trebek?

He just looked at him.

"Maybe he'd like to meet me."

What a great attitude.

I wish I had Nick's self-confidence.

For my whole life, I've been fascinated by celebrities and impotent folks, so I spent a lot of time doing jobs that put me in direct contact with them. For a few years, I was an entertainment writer and got to interview all sorts of famous people, mostly on the phone. Most of them were musicians, some were movie stars, and none of them, absolutely none of them, wanted to talk to me.

I followed my short entertainment career with a stint in politics -- in Trudeau's PMO no less -- so I got to rub elbows with a lot of people who, as the sayng goes, were in show business for ugly people.

There were a few times when I actually went to smallish dinners with Trudeau himself, whom I discovered quickly had no time for small talk.

"So," I said. "What's it like working with Joe Clark?"

"He's a small mean man."

"What tree would you like to be?"

"A cactus."

I'm kidding about the second question, but Trudeau was definitely a hard interview.

Then Scott and I got to meet all manner of rock stars while filming our documentary about the Ottawa Bluesfest: Elvis Costello, Gregg Allman -- who didn't know where he was -- Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi. Scott even got to step on Gord Downie's wife's foot while shooting from the side of the stage.

My life has been a groupie's dream come true. But the older I get, the less time I have for celebrities. When you've been around politicians long enough, they start to smell bad, at least in your mind.

Rock stars and film stars hate the media. I haven't met one who would have wanted to have a drink or a meal with me.

So when I heard Barbara Walters, my absolute hero, was coming to town, I should have dropped everything and run out to buy a ticket to the Negev dinner. But I didn't.

I realized that Nick was right all along.

Maybe Barbara should want to meet me instead.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Bell isn't telling you about Fibe TV

Update: This week, we switched back to Rogers after spending far too long using Bell's crappy television service. For those with Bell, read and weep. For those considering Bell, think twice even if you hate Rogers. RS I've always been an early technology adapter. I had a Betamax. That tells you everything (if you're over 50 at least). My first computer was a "Portable". It weighed 40 pounds and I had to lug it around town on a gurney. I've been through probably 15 computers in my lifetime. Apple is the best. It's also too expensive so I have a piece of shit HP, the one I'm writing this blog on. I've had cable, internet and now Netflix. American Netflix . That's how far ahead of the curve I am. I get all the newspapers for free. How? I disabled my cookies so they can't track me when I'm on the newspaper sites. Even the New York Times hasn't cottoned on to that trick. Hahaha. That will be a fifty buck consulting fee. Bein...
38 comments
Read more

Ashley Simpson: Please sign this petition to help her family

Those who read this space regularly know that my family is frantic with worry about my cousin, Ashley Simpson , who has been missing 40 days now. Both her boyfriend and her landlord reported that she had left with no money, no car, no resources from her Salmon Arm, B.C. home after a domestic dispute over money. Since then, there has been no trace of her. The RCMP now considers this a homicide investigation, but the family has not heard any updates from them in more than three weeks. Just after she disappeared, her father, relatives and friends set out from St. Catharines on a long trek to B.C. to find her. They all left their work, and their lives, intent on finding Ashley who had always kept in touch. It was completely out of character for her to lose touch. Her parents have been consumed by worry. They have been unable to work, and are having a hard time functioning. As a result, they are now relying on donations from family and friends to keep the wolf from the door...
Post a Comment
Read more

The strange case of Greg Etue

I got out of the daily news reporting game, I'll admit, because I didn't have the stomach to cover the many sad stories that came across my desk. I remember clearly once when I had to call an RCMP sergeant after his young son blew his head off with the officer's service revolver. "Please," he pleaded. "I really can't talk right now." "It was your gun, is that correct?" He slammed down the receiver. I was ashamed of myself. People have a right to some privacy in difficult times like that. I also used to hate having to go to the door of a dead child's home and jostle the competition for a picture. Really, it felt more like ghoulism than journalism. That said, I still believe that these stories must be told in an honest and forthright fashion with all the facts and none of the flourish and emotion that is all the rage in reporting these days. Over the past two years, we, in this community, have been treated to a lot o...
7 comments
Read more