Close Encounters Of The "Celebrity" Kind: Part 2

According to the blog spot stats page I experienced my best single-day for page views on Monday; over 550.

Now it's time to put up the rest of my celebrity pictures here in part 2. I want to limit this series to just a pair so this one will be a little longer than the first one. So here I go again.  

Other than Nashville I have met and "selfied" with celebrities in other places too. 

The first place I want to mention is New York City. In May 1995 I won a weekend trip to the Big Apple from a local radio station. It included a limo ride to and from the city, tickets to the Broadway show, Smokey Joe's Cafe, and a couple of meet & greets with some radio talk show hosts that the station carried every day. 

One of them I won't even mention but the other was comedian David Brenner. He was in the middle of a 3 year run replacing the retired Larry King. Here's a scanned version of the printed picture of us.

Mr. Brenner was very nice and polite. He seemed to be preoccupied with the daily business of his office so our visit was short and sweet. Don't even remember what we talked about except for congratulating him on his newborn son.   

This picture of WDW Radio Show podcast host, Lou Mongello, was taken in downtown Atlanta in a restaurant called "The Nook" back in 2014. 

For more info about Lou read my Podcast Primer post from 2/13. 

Let's travel a little further south to Orlando, FL and  "the place where dreams come true", Walt Disney World.  I'd like to share with you a few of my favorite pictures with the celebrities of the Magic Kingdom over the course of my 5 times there. I may be stretching the aspect of their "celebrity" a bit but they are beloved by millions all over the world. Me and my granddaughter are two of them. Here I am with some of my favorite Disney characters. 

Raffiki

Timon

Balloo

Mike & Sully

Mickey & Minnie

And My Favorite: Goofy

Since I'm in the process of showing you pictures of me with celebrity characters here is one that I really like. There's a lot more going on in this shot than just me with some representations of TV icons. If you are a fan of this show you will understand. This was taken at the Hollywood Wax Museum in Pigeon Forge, TN in June 2014. 

Oh no, I'm wearing a RED SHIRT. Sure hope this away mission turns out okay. LOL

I'm heading back close to my old Kentucky home for these next celebrity pictures. These first couple were taken during meet and greets with stars from the 1970s after their performance at the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center in nearby Bowling Green. 

First is Paul Williams, who wrote a lot of the best known pop songs of the 70s and most importantly the Muppet Movie soundtrack. I love those songs and it was an honor to shake his hand and get this selfie back in September 2015. 

February 2016, I was privileged to be the guest of my friend Mark at a Kentucky Orchestra concert with Marylin McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. from the 5th Dimension. Afterward we got the chance to go back stage and say "Hello"

Although they are both in their 70s they are still terrific entertainers. Ms. McCoo still has an amazing voice and Mr. Davis can perform a blues song in a style reminiscent of Cab Calloway. 

In December 15, 2014 on a very rainy night in Bowling Green, I went to the Barnes & Noble book store. There I met one of my all time favorite comedic singer/songwriters, Ray Stevens. Here's my side by side with the musical funnyman.

I also had an opportunity to shoot a video and conduct short interview as he signed my book. While I don't get a complete answer to my question, I do get a little bit of the classic Ray Stevens eye roll. Watch for it. 

Former WWF wrestler, Hillbilly Jim (real name Jim Morris) is a resident of near by Bowling Green. I've met him several times over the course of my time here in Kentucky. However, it wasn't until last fall at a release party for his new biography that I was able to get a picture. He's really big and a very nice guy. 

That pretty much covers the "close encounters" I've had with celebrities. 

I've got one more I feel like I have to include. It's is a selfie but it's not with a person or a character. It's with an object that played a part in one of the most unique periods of progress in our country; the space race of the 1950s & 60s.

In 2006 during a visit to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama I had the breathtaking experience to stand under a Saturn V rocked. It's the vehicle that took our astronauts to the moon in 1969. 

I'm not the kind of guy who goes crazy for cars. I do like trains a bit, but this rocket fascinated me. I could have stood and just stared at it for hours. I took a lot of pictures of it but it was hard to get a selfie because of the size of the machine But these shots are among my favorites. 

Just seeing these pictures again as I add them to this post rekindles my fascination with them. I'm hoping to have yet another "encounter" with this piece of US History again one day soon by visiting the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

Hope you have enjoyed my celebrity pictures and some of the stories behind them. Thank you for visiting my blog. Whether you are family or a friend I am grateful to be able to catch up with you on a regular basis. 

If you keep coming back, I promise to keep sharing with you the things I consider the most interesting and important RHFactors. See ya next time.