Last night in St. Louis, Missouri, the Judicial Learning Center and the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, presented An Evening with the Honorable Sandra Day O'Conner at the Ballpark Hilton Hotel. Justice O'Conner was the first female justice on the United States Supreme Court.

Despite being surrounded by eight members of her security detail, she stopped to pose with me for this photograph and pose with three other collectors as she left the event. After she took the photos, we all asked her to sign; unfortunately, she politely declined our request and was quickly whisked away to her waiting vehicle outside.

Exercise guru Richard Simmons was in Springfield, Illinois, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel this morning to exercise with nearly 1,000 of his fans as part of a National Heart Month celebration.

Before the one-hour aerobic session got started, Richard made his way around the hotel's ballroom to meet and greet his fellow exercisers. He was full of hugs and kisses for everyone, yes, even including the guys. In order to get my photo (from a meeting three years ago at The Today Show) signed, and get a new picture, I had to submit to one of his hugs. I'm glad no kisses were involved.

....the things we'll do to get a picture and an autograph.

It was a 3 for 3 Friday night in St. Louis.

My evening kicked off with Oscar-nominated movie director Jason Reitman. Reitman was talking with film students at Webster University's Moore Auditorium. Reitman, whose Dad, Ivan, directed Ghostbusters, talked about making movies and then took questions for about an hour. It was an interesting program as Reitman really connected with his audience as he talked about his philosophies on making movies and told stories about his previous movies. Following his talk, he strolled to the lobby where he continued talking movies and signed autographs and took pictures. He even signed a couple of the "hamburger phones" featured in his movie, Juno.

Next, we headed the the Blanche Touhill Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis to catch up with the only musical artist to win a Grammy for R and B, Jazz, and Pop: Al Jarreau. I had arrived in the late afternoon at the venue, hoping to catch Jarreau as he arrived; unfortunately, he was already in as I saw heard him through the auditorium doors doing his sound check. So, I returned to Touhill and waited for Jarreau to exit following his show. He was literally the last man out of the building at nearly midnight, but he said, "Sure, I can do that," when asked if he would sign and take a picture. Speaking of the picture, take a long at his index finger pointing at me. Reminds me of E.T. :--)

I finished up the evening with a trip down highway 70 to the Ameristar Casino where the Pointer Sisters were headlining the Liver Foundation's Annual Boogie Ball. With the event almost an hour over, it was doubtful that I'd see the group, but decided to give it a shot anyway. Luck was on my side as after only about 10 minutes, Ruth, Anita, and Issa Pointer came walking through the Casion on the way to their hotel rooms. They happily stopped to sign an 8 x 10 for me and pose for this group photograph.

Canadian songstress Lesley Pike was at Illinois College in Jacksonville last night for an acoustic set at Cummins Dining Hall.

Following her hour-long performance, Pike met with concert goers to sell her latest CD, Blink, and sign autographs. Pike, who was the opener on Jason Mraz's most recent tour, talked with me about her travels (she had a 12-hour drive to Toronto the next morning), Canadian musicians whom she admires (Gordon Lightfoot, Tom Cochrane), and about the butterflies on her CD cover (real) and on her promo photos (Photoshoped in).

This is not one of my proudest shots . . . but here is ex-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich at a labor rally in Meredosia, Illinois, on September 5, 2005. What do I remember most about the encounter? After signing and then asking for a photo, he turned around to check his hair in one of the building's windows.

Rest in peace . . . Billy Powell.

Billy, keyboardist for the southern rock band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, stopped to sign autographs and pose for this shot as the band left their hotel before a April 20, 2008, concert at The Center in Springfield, Illinois. Powell, along with Gary Rossington, were the only two original members of the band to survive the 1977 plane crash that killed singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backup vocalist Cassie Gaines.

Cheech and Chong "lit up St. Louis" last night as they brought their American tour to the Pageant.

I caught up with the comedy duo as they arrived yesterday morning at Lambert St. Louis International Airport on a flight from Kansas City. Both cheerfully posed for photos and signed multiple items for the six collectors in attendance, even though their manager tried to get them to stop signing autographs. Both Cheech and Chong ignored their manager, with Cheech at one point telling the manager to "just relax."





Later in the afternoon, I met Grammy-award winning comedian Lewis Black as he exited the Four Seasons Hotel on his way to a benefit show (Tony LaRussa's Stars to the Rescue Benefit) at Chaifetz Arena. I had gotten his autograph at a previous meeting, but was unable to get a posed photo. Black is up for another Grammy this year for his disk, Anticipation.