Shaken hands with and got book signed by Richard Stallman (without whom we would not be here).

i shook the hand -- well really the meat hook -- of El Duque, when he was pitching for the Yankees. Me and a buddy scored loge tickets to the first home game after 9/11 against the Mariners. they included passes to some bar, that has an exit on the players side of cattle fencing. we walked out of the bar, and there were people lined up waiting for players to exit.

paul o'neil walked out with a bat and pizza box in his hands, wife and kid(s) in tow. Andy Pettite walked out, and signed a bunch of autographs for screaming teeny-boppers. Ramiro Medoza walked out, and i was the only one to recognize him. i got a nod of satisfaction from him. El Duque walked out and i stuck out my hand to shake his. i swear to you i could put my two hands side by side and it may be as big as one of his mitts.

a little bit later, Luis Sojo walked out and my buddy started scratchin out some spanglish with him.

Gene Cernan, "The last American astronaut to walk on the moon".


Sat next to B.B. King's brother on a plane. Didn't talk, he was too hung-over.

2 in my lifetime:

Turned the corner at the hospital and plowed down Marie Osmond who was there for the Children's Miracle Network Telethon. Didn't realize how tiny she was.

Dawn Wells also used to come to the hospital. I said to her one day - "Hey, you finally got off that island!" She said she had never heard that one before!

Man, I could never. I have to give anyone credit who could though...

Well, "meet" isn't the right word. I know several of his family members and we used to see each other occasionally. He really is a very nice guy and doesn't go "euh!" at all when there are no tv cameras around (that's an old private joke). Like I said, he was born just a few km from where I've lived all my life.

I've never met LeMond, but Eddy says he was a magnificent athlete. I guess he should know.

It's actually quite simple: You extend your right hand, fingers stretched and your palm perpendicular to the floor. You then grab the equally positioned hand of the other person, firmly but not painfully so, and you move your arm up and down, again in a decided but not overly energetic manner.

Practice with a friend before grabbing a president.

LOL, yes Karel. That's exactly it. I was wondering what Texrat meant, but thanks to you, I now get it. Very funny man. Oh, and BTW, we yanks are starting to catch on to 'real football' We will soon have major league soccer in Seattle and it's very popular among the kids. In fact, Seattle just built a very nice local soccer field. Those low scores will take some getting used to though

Neil

Actually my reply was political in nature-- but I won't bore anyone with the details.

Sorry, Texrat. Didn't mean to have a laugh at your expense. Karel was just very funny. I understand not wanting to talk politics. We're pretty polarized these days. Heck, say anything about any of those politicians and you end up annoying somebody

Neil