Earlier this month, I spent eight days in New York City with three friends (Doug, Jay, and Mark) collecting photographs and autographs at movie premieres, Broadways shows, talk shows, and special events. I even got my first subway "celebrity encounter," and made my debut on the syndicated television show, "TMZ on TV." I came home with photographs/autographs from 104 different individuals.
I'll have a more "in-depth" recap of the trip later, but here are a few highlights:
Day one of trip on Saturday, December 6, yielded a photograph with actor John Malkovich at the Saturday Night Live "after party." Malkovich is widely known for not signing autographs or taking photos. However, as he arrived at the party, he surprisingly stopped to take a photo with me and other members of our group. He didn't say much during the encounter, except a comment to my friend, Jay. Jay mentioned that he was also a graduate of Illinois State University, to which Malkovich responded, "oh, how tragic." As my friend, Mark, said, "this guy has weird he hasn't even begun to use." I had an encounter with Malkovich several years ago at the Roger Ebert Film Fetival. He literally spent three minutes explaining to me why he wasn't going to sign autographs or take photographs with anyone. Needless to say, I was happy that he stopped to take a photo!
Meeting my favorite movie director was another highlight of the New York trip. M. Night Shyamalan, known for movies such as The Sixth Sense, The Happening, and Signs, was doing a presentation at an architectural library on 44th street on December 11. He arrived late to the event, but stopped to sign one autograph for me and five other collectors waiting at the front door. I asked for a photo, but he declined citing his tardiness. So, a couple of hours later, I returned for the photo. He was more relaxed after the event and was happy to pose and even sign another autograph.
The third highlight of the trip was my encounter with astronaut and senator John Glenn. Glenn, one of the first astronauts in the U.S. space program and the oldest human to fly in space, was in town as the guest speaker for the College Football Hall of Fame Foundation Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Glenn arrived mid-afternoon, and after a quick trip to the men's room, signed an 8 x 10 for me and posed for this photograph.
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