PCBEEUSA - Freedom on the Web

There are a couple of creedos that I follow. One I got from my dear wife Donna. It goes, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” The other, which is mine, is, “sometimes opportunity comes to you–just be ready when it does.”

Last weekend, my wife and some of our best friends surprised me. What I thought was going to be a quiet weekend at thier Indiana home turned out, on Saturday, to be a trip to the ComicCon in Rosemont. An early birtday present for me.

Shortly after we arrived, I was standing near the entrance to the Exposition Hall with my Son-In-Law while everyone else was making a trip to the rest rooms. Suddenly there was a commotion at one of the doorways. A celebrity was making his way into the room, or was trying to. He was getting mobbed by people looking for photos and autographs. Was it William Shatner? Carrie Fisher? No. It was none other than former governor Rod Blagojevich. The crowd at the door was going nuts and he was loving every second of it.

Meanwhile, in another entrance, completely unnoticed, Mr. Walter Koenig quietly walked in.  For those who don’t know, he was Mr. Chekov on the Original Star Trek series.  Both of my creedos kicked in.  Here was the opportunity.  As he approached, I called him by name, being careful to pronounce it correctly, “Mr. Koenig!  It is a pleasure to meet you, sir!”  and I held out my hand.  A gentileman will rarely ignore an outstretched hand.  So while the geeks were swarming Blagojevich, I was shaking hands with Walter Koenig.

Sadly, the ComicCon and Sci-Fi Conventions are not the same.  Time was you’d pay your $20 or $30 to get in and you were entitled to an autograph and maybe even a photo of the star celebrities.  You just had to be willing to wait an hour in line.  I have an enviable collection of autographed photos by Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), James Doohan (Mr. Scott), Michael Dorn (Worf), and Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine),  just to name a few.  Now, you have to pay an extra fee for autographs, sometimes exorbitant ones.  $95 for a photo and autograph of William Shatner.  $100 for Adam West and Burt Ward in front of the Batmobile.  Somehow, it has lost it’s appeal. 

The ComicCon was still fun.  It was great getting a peek at the stars,  Shatner, Koenig, Avery Brooks (Capt. Sisko), John DeLancie (Q), and others like Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Linda Hamilton (from the Terminator Series) and a few surprises like Richard Roundtree (Shaft).

One cool thing, I got a comic book autographed by  Gary Friedrich, the creator of the “Ghost Rider” series.  A bargain at $15.00.  The photo was free.

I attended the Chicago Urban League’s 48th annual Golden Fellowship this past weekend. Came close to and actually shook hands with some important people.

While sitting at our table, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn entered the room, just moments before he was announced. He waved and said hello to folks as he passed. I held out my hand and he shook it. I also got a chance to say hello to and shake the hand of legendary radio personality Cliff Kelly (I was actually interviewed by him a few years ago).

Got close to, but did not get to shake the hand of Illinois Congressmen Roland Burris.

I’ve mentioned before my celebrity page www.groupendeavors.com/steve where you can see photos of me posing with some famous people (including Mr, Kelly while being interviewed at the Operation Push Expo).

What I have have told few people about are the famous people I met over the years when I did not have a camera. Where here a partial list:

Legendary Chicago TV newscaster, the late Fayhe Flynn: Just happen to see him standing on the street. I said hello, he smiled and said hello back.

Richard M. Nixon: Between his time as Vice President and President.  It was at some luncheon I attended because I was an honor student in High School.  After he spoke, I had a chance to go up and meet him and shake his hand.

Patrick MacNee of the original Avengers:  Mr. MacNee was in town doing a play.  Stopped him on the street corner.  Typical British gentileman, he spoke to me briefly and shook my hand.  I think he appreciated the fact that someone actually recognized him.

Late comedian Sid Ceasar:  While working as a cable TV tech in the Drake Hotel, shared and elevator with him.  Very friendly.  Spent a few minutes lamenting the sorry state of comedy (bad language and dirty jokes).  This was in the late 1970′s.

Andrew Young:  I believe he was mayor of Atlanta at the time.  Happened to see his standing in the airport.  I walked up, said hello and shook his hand.

B. B. King:  This one is a little strange.  Again, I was working as a cable technician at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare.  I needed to get into a guest room to repair the equipment.  I asked the maid if the room was empty.  She did not speak very good english and apparently misunderstood me when she replied “yes.”  I entered the room with the master key and there, in the middle of the floor sat Blues Legend B. B. King, in his underwear sorting through his tapes.  I quickly apologized and backed out of the room.  He was very kind and accepted my apology.  If that wasn’t bad enough, the next evening we had tickets to see him perform at the Blue Max, a small, intimate club at the hotel.  I spent half the time hoping he would not recognize me.

More celebrity encounters in a later post.

In my lifetime, I have met a number of famous and important people.  Political figures, from congressmen to Chicago’s Mayor Daley; legends, like James Earl Jones; and several stars from Star Trek and Dr. Who, from James Doohan (Mr. Scott) to Tom Baker (Dr. Who # 4, the most famous of them all).  I also had a chance to meet Joan Higgenbotham, a young lady from Chicago who was a Space Shuttle astronaut. (See my celebrity page: www.groupendeavors.com/steve )

Today I trumped them all.  I shook hands with Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin.  The second man to set foot on the moon.

And it almost didn’t happen.

I was taking advantage of a rare chance to sleep late when my dear wife came into the bedroom and told me that she had just heard on TV that “Buzz” Aldrin was going to be at the Adler Planetarium at 11:30 this morning.  I lay there debating.  Probably going to be hundreds if not thousands of people there.  At best, I might get to sit in the back of some auditorium while he spoke.  Was it worth the hassle?

An hour later I was up and dressed and gulping down breakfast.  This was, after all, “Buzz” Aldrin.  If I could get within 150 feet of him, I could get a good picture.

I took the Red Line subway to Roosevelt Road and got on the east bound Roosevelt bus.  Little did I know that the Roosevelt bus no longer went to the Planetarium.  Had to walk three blocks to get to a bus that did go there.

I arrived at the Adler, and got in line to buy an admission ticket.  $19.  Well, it was, after all, “Buzz” Aldrin.

I asked an attendant what ticket I would have to buy to see Mr. Aldrin.  She directed me to a special exhibit on Apollo, that had a big sign saying that it was closed until later in the day.  I asked a lady there who asked me if I was with the press.  I said no.  She told me that Mr. Aldrin would be making a brief appearance at the entrance to the exhibit in about 30 minutes.

So I went outside, walked around a bit and took some pictures.

Then it occurred to me, he probably was not there yet.  If I waited around I might get a shot of him before he entered the building.  I saw a couple of “important” looking people waiting out front, so I waited with them.

Soon, a black SUV pulled up and “Buzz” stepped out.  I got a quick shot of him getting out of the car.  As he was escorted to the side entrance I called his name from about 50 feet away.  Guess he didn’t hear me.

Inside, I was again told that he would be making an appearance soon.  So I waited.  An older Planetarium employee told me to be patient, that Mr. Aldrin would be there in 10 or 15 minutes.

“I’ve already waited 40 years,” I said. “A few more minutes certainly won’t hurt me.”

I mentioned that I was surprised that there were so few people here to see the astronaut.  Just me and a few people from the press.  He said that it was not supposed to have been announced on TV.  A couple of stations mistakenly released the information.  It was not supposed to be a public event.  Lucky me!

I was waiting patiently when a lady with a camera walked up to me and asked if this was where “Buzz” Aldrin was going to be.

“That’s what they tell me!” I said.

We chatted as we waited.  Her name was Denise, and she was a junior high astronomy schoolteacher visiting from California.  It was her first time at the Adler.   She had overheard someone say that Aldrin would be there.

For about 10 minutes we talked about Apollo 11 (she was a little impressed that I had watched it live as a teen), and astronomy (we mildly disagreed on whether Pluto should be considered a planet).

Suddenly, one of the ladies from the Planetarium approached us.  She acknowledged how long we had been patiently waiting.  She said that we would be allowed into the exhibit while Mr. Aldrin was there to take some pictures!

“Just don’t tell anybody else!” she said.

Lucky us!  Denise and I each agreed to e-mail whatever pictures we got to each other.

We saw “Buzz” enter the exhibit and take the reporters on a tour.

After a few minutes the lady came out again and told us to follow her.  As we walked through the museum, Denise and I decided that, if we could get a picture with “Buzz,” we take it together, with her camera, and she’d e-mail a copy to me.

We were hustled off to a doorway and asked to wait.  I suggested to Denise that we look as much like VIPs as possible (I was wearing my Johnson Space Center T-shirt, so I pretty much looked like a tourist anyway).

Then, he appeared.  We both tried to take pictures, but people were just hustling about too much, trying to get him out.

Then I remembered something my wife always told me.  You won’t get if you don’t ask.

“Mr. Aldrin?  If I may?”  I said as I held out my hand.

He turned, smiled slightly and shook my hand.

Denise tried to get the picture of it, but it was not to be.

After it was over, we had someone take a picture of the two of us and we parted ways.

I was halfway home when it actually hit me.  I had shaken hands with one of the most famous people who ever lived.  The second man to set foot on the moon.  An Apollo 11 astronaut.

That was cool!

Many people will disagree, but I think that, without a doubt, the greatest science fiction film ever made was “2001: A Space Odyssey.” 

I saw it back in 1968 when it was first released.  It was my first real date in high school with a young lady I was crazy about at the time.  It was supposed to be a special evening, a reserved seat engagement at the Micheal Todd Theatre.  Really big deal.

I loved every second of it; completely blew my mind.  My date was lost after the opening credits.  No, she is not the one I married.

30 years later and I am attending a “Star Trek” convention, where one of the guests is Gary Lookwood, who not only starred in a pilot episode of “Star Trek” (“Where No Man Has Gone Before”), but he also played Fank Poole in 2001.

One of the most cherished items in my collection is a photo autographed by Lockwood.

41 years later and I am attending a special showing of “2001″ at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago. The special guest on stage after the film was Mr. Lockwood.

After answering questions, he signed autographs.  The lines were not nearly as long as the last time I saw him.  Very few people here old enough to remember “2001″ in it’s prime.  So this time, I got to chat with him for a few minutes and finally got a photo taken with him.

Well, it was a special moment for me, OK?

I am not a big blues fan, but I can appreciate any good music.

Koko Taylor was a classic.  She also shared my birthday!  My best friend Leonard and I (born same day same year) celebrate together every year.  About 10 or 15 years ago, we were celebrating on Rush street and saw a ‘Happy Birthday Koko’ sign at one of the clubs.  We went to join the party, but it was already over.  The guest of honor had left.

A couple of years ago, I’m walking into the Barnes and Nobel’s on State and Randolph and who do I see coming in the door but Koko herself.  She was there for a book signing.

Being one of the few people who actually recognized her, I asked if she’d take a picture with me.  She said she would love to take a picture “with a young man!”

Bless you, Koko!