Kevin's Celeb Pics

Frank TV was on the air in Springfield, Illinois, last night as comedian and impressionist Frank Caliendo was in concert at Sangamon Auditorium on the campus of the University of Illinois at Springfield. He has his own sketch TV show, Frank TV, on TBS and you can see him doing many of his impressions (John Madden, William Shatner, George Bush) as the national spokesperson for Dish Network.

Caliendo arrived via the university's transport van at the venue at 7:45 p.m. just as his manager had promised about an hour earlier. As soon as he exited the van, he made his way towards me and greeted me with a big hello. I asked him for a photo and said I'd take it myself. As I lined up the shot, his manager was in front of us and said, "Wow, that's a better job than I'd do." Frank then gladly signed three 8 x 10 photos (one as George Bush, one as John Madden, and one as Robin Williams), plus a photo he took with my friend, Mark, earlier in the year. His manager was impressed with the Bush photo and asked where I obtained the print. Before I could say a word, Frank said, "Duhhhhhh...you ever heard of the internet?" And we all laughed.

Earlier in the afternoon, I was in downtown Springfield for the Barack Obama rally featuring the first appearance with his vice presidential candidate, Joe Biden. A crowd estimated at 35,000 packed the grounds of the Old State Capitol and the surrounding streets. Lines to gain entrance to the grounds were four to five blocks long. For a moment I thought I was in Manhattan. I decided not to get in line, and instead waited until after the event had concluded before entering the Capitol grounds.

As the crowd began to thin, I caught up with CNN's Senior Political Correspondent, Candy Crowley, as she made her way from the media bleachers to the media work area. Even though she was pressed for time, she stopped to take this photograph and chat for a few seconds. I told her I remembered her from her days covering politics for the Associated Press. She said, "Wow, you have a good memory. That was a long time ago...almost twenty years ago."

I also got a photo with Major Garrett, the Congressional Correspondent for the Fox Noise...uh, I mean News Channel. He was sweating it out (see the photo) during his live shots as he wore a navy blazer over his long sleeve shirt. Garrett also took a moment between live shots to visit with me and take this photograph.