PDX-Style Gawker Stalker

[swag]

I was shopping for some provisions at Wild Oats store at 15th & Belmont, on my way back home from a long walk when I spotted Zia McCabe from the Dandy Warhols at the ra-sha-sha cheese counter, asking for enough fresh mozzarella to appetize five adults and two little kids "who may or may not eat." She was very nice and the counterman was eager to help her.

Later I saw her at the fish counter marveling at the steelhead and relating the story to that counterman of how her mother had told her that steelhead were not salmon but trout. "Isn't that weird?" the Dandy asked.

I would have tried to clear up the confusion regarding these anadromous trout, having done my years in the Columbia/Snake River fish racket, but had no desire to get between Zia, her mom, and the counterman.

Seeing Zia at Wild Oats was a little less exciting than seeing Al Strobel, the one-armed man form Twin Peaks ambling by the meat counter at Stadium Fred Meyer in the Spring of 1992 (I later had several beers with him at the Goose Hollow Inn), but the siting provided a little spike of interest in an otherwise supremely mellow Sunday afternoon.

Here's a rare pic of Zia with her shirt on:

[swag]

1. KNR.

I see Thomas Lauderdale every other day.

I ran into Erik Estrada on what we call West Broadway.

I held Lily Tomlin's drink while she signed an autograph for someone at the Nike campus.

I compared hairdressers with Storm Large.

I blew Richard Speck.

[Arugula Latte]

2. Damn. I never see anybody famous here in Stumptown.

However, I DID run into Erik Estrada TWICE in Europe. I won a frickin' jackpot in Monte Carlo, has manager observed that, and brought me, a young innocent, over to the very naughty E.E... I tried to dissuade the manager, but he almost pushed me into Erik, who grudgingly gave me an autograph I did not ask for. Then, a few days later, we were in the Coliseum in Rome, and who should we see but Erik! The Italian boys we were hanging with went crazy and started shouting "Cheeeeps! Cheeeeps!" Translation: "C.H.I.P.s! C.H.I.P.s!" (This was 20 years ago ...)

[swag]

3. You're so lucky!

Jesus, twice in Europe? Your story is fucking nuts!

Congratulations.

[Arugula Latte]

5. Thanks. It's my claim to fame.

The weird thing was, there was this pair of Bambi-esque blonde bombshell twin sister pseudo-celebrities at the time (I'm forgetting their names) who appeared on Aaron Spelling type shoes (Maybe the Landry twins or something?). Anyway, we saw them TWICE in Europe, too. But, I guess if you start in London and then hit all the major tourist spots on your way down to Rome, it's not that unlikely that you'll see someone twice if they're on the same travel cycle.

Hmmm, other celebrity run-ins:

* One time I laughed in Dan Quayle's face when he walked by me at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

* I met Holly Hunter when she spoke at my friend's law firm in San Francisco about a pro-choice issue. She was sweet as could be.

I've seen celebs in LA like Sylvester Stallone shopping on Rodeo Drive and Dick Van Dyke in a parking lot and Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis filming "Moonlighting" in a car on the side of a freeway in the early 80s.

Dang. I used to have a semi-exciting life ... Now I live alarmingly close to the Beaverton border and go to Target a lot.

... Well, Life is still good. Just in a different kind of way.

[swag]

4. Not exactly Cheeeeps!

but I ran into Ted Kulongoski at Bistro 921 a few months ago. He looked like he wanted to shake somebody's hand, but I had just washed mine.

And John Kitzahber was eating dinner with folks I took to be his parents at the Oyster Bar down on Ankeny.


They don't count, though, do they! They're just yokels.

[Arugula Latte]

6. My husband ran in to Kitzhaber at the downtown farmer's market.

I saw Bill Bradley waiting for someone at PDX airport. :woohoo:

[Arugula Latte]

9. Oh, crap. Not Bill Bradley... It was Bill Bradbury.

That makes it even more exciting, eh? ;)

[swag]

27. I apologize to you and to all Oregonians for misspelling "Kitzhaber."

And yes, Bill Bradbury is much more exciting than Bill Bradley.

I once saw David Reinhard leave the Oregonian building with a workout bag and head down to 24 Hour Fitness. I yelled after him, "Reinhard, you're Karl Rove's bitch!" He ducked his head down and walked a little faster.

[Arugula Latte]

28. Oh my gawd.

You're my hero for yelling at that sack of s@#$. :patriot:

[swag]

31. He is definitely the dullest tool in the woodshed.

Pustulant gasbag.

[swag]

10. I saw Earl Blumenauer spit on the bricks at Paranoia Park while

taking a break from practicing M-80 Kickflips.

I saw Jim Francesconi through a prismed pane, knocking on my front door. I'll be fucked if I answered that door.

[Arugula Latte]

12. Poor Jimmy.

He was supposed to be our mayor. The business community and the Oregonian told us so ... :cry:

[swag]

19. I saw him the morning after election day, bounding across

Pioneer Courthouse Square, strained smile on his face, shirtsleeves rolled up.

Not sure where he was going. Maybe to Carl's Jr. to commiserate with the Crusty punks.

[wildhorses]

7. you blew Richard Speck...

:wtf:

[swag]

11. Here ya go:

Grotesquely disfigured Dawn Davenport's (drag queen Divine) bizarre, freakish "nightclub act", in which after she jumps up and down on a trampoline and fondles fish and a gun, she tells the audience: ("Thank you! I love you! Thank you! Thank you from the bottom of my black little heart! You came here for some excitement tonight and that's just what you're going to get! Take a good look at ME because I'm going to be on the front of every newspaper in this country tomorrow! You're looking at crime personified AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT! I framed Leslie Bacon! I called the heroin hot line on Abby Hoffman! I bought the gun that Bremmer used to shoot Wallace! I had an affair with Juan Corona! I blew Richard Speck! And I'm so f--king beautiful I can't stand it myself! Now, everybody freeze! Who wants to be famous? Who wants to DIE for art?!"); when an audience member leaps up and replies: "I do!", she shoots him, and when the audience flees, she continues to fire on them maniacally

[TrogL]

29. I've seen her live

She was actually quite the performer.

[swag]

30. I agree.

Too bad the show's over for Dawn Davenport.

[amitten]

8. Swag...y'know,

I'm just waitin' for the day that I run into you at the local Target, as you reach for the Mexican-style Hamburger Helper, in your grey sweatpants and dark-blue Adidas and white tube socks, with your Ford Escort waiting patiently in the parking lot for your return.

[swag]

13. Yeah, and then I empty my ashtray and malt liquor bottle full of

pee on the curb as you snap away with your digital camera and rob me of every vestige of self-respect I never deserved to have.

Thanks in advance!

[amitten]

14. I can't WAIT! n/t

[swag]

17. I KNOW! It's gonna rock so hard!

I'll bring a life-like infant doll to sit on my lap in the front seat, and I'll splash some of the liquid off the curb onto the doll!

Then I'll brake really hard and the doll's head will be a bit dented by the time I leave the parking lot!

Bring fresh batteries!

[Arugula Latte]

15. I can absorb the spilled urine with my Target brand kitty litter.

That's the main reason I'm always at Target -- 20 lbs. of non-dusty litter for a little more than two bucks. Now that's livin'!
:party: :beer:

[swag]

16. Bring a couple bags of that to the next meet-up!

[Arugula Latte]

18. It's a deal. nt

[bridgit]

20. nice story...

when hubby was living in LA sometime back now, he mentioned he almost ran over Martin Landau on Sunset Blvd across from the Playboy Club when he practically jumped in front of his 'bug eyed sprite', stated he must have been in a hurry en route to a meeting, cause he still had a couple little bloody toilet paper nic stoppers stuck to his face :shrug:

i like her shirt & attitude though

[swag]

23. I hear Fred Willard can also be quite the sight.

[bridgit]

26. meh, what is to be expected...it's hollywood...

but a white haired Lorne Green, driving a white Citroen, smoking a white Meerschaum pipe is a little too much white...even for me x(

[XNASA]

21. Extraordinary.

I never realized that your fair city was a haven for preeminent celebs.

Oh, wait, I just got it. "Dandy Warhols". It's like Andy Warhol, only with a 'D' added at the beginning. That's fabulous.

[swag]

22. I'm glad you agree!

This is quite a personal coup for me, since I missed meeting Madonna during the filming of her nudie/roughie classic Body of Evidence and I never managed to track down Benicio Del Toro and Tommy Lee Jones during the filming of The Hunted

And yes, the Dandy Warhols thing is quite clever, n'est-ce pas?

The celebrity spottings are a bit more rare now than when I lived in Our Nation's Capital and on any given day might shake hands with your own city's Mr. T, Senator Paul Simon, or Jesse Jackson, or be coached in clinic defense by Patricia Ireland, or have Ian MacKaye attempt to chastise me for being drunk at a party.

It's a little calmer nowadays, and I miss the excitement of the Presidential Motorcades and federally mandated cavity searches, but one must move on in live, ever onward to the grave.

[Sugar Smack]

24. Wow. What a beauty.

Thank you for the thrilling read. You just keep blowing our minds. :applause: :loveya: :donut:

[swag]

25. Life is a roller coaster ride of delight and other stuff.

Let's trash the place!