Reports from Vancouver

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any luck with Roger Waters over the weekend?

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Roger Waters X3

I COULD have had 4 or 5, but I spent my time on other things. Whenever I revise my nicest/worst list on my site, he will definitely find his way into the nice list.

[cflautographs]

Awesome news! I am hoping to see him tomorrow. He will be here in Winnipeg for 2 shows.

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Michael J. Fox X4
Jennie Garth X4

Michael is here for an annual golf tournament he does, but this year there was the added bonus of him getting an honorary degree from the justice institude. So, we had an extra chance to get him yesterday, and it paid off well...even with the people at the venue trying to tell us he wouldnt sign anything, he willingly came over & signed going in & leaving.

Earlier that day we also saw him at the airport and he signed there too. At that same time, Jennie Garth was coming in as well, and we got her. Despite the amount I got signed, I must say, she didnt come across as overly happy about doing it.

I am glad we had the chance for Michael yesterday, as its pouring rain today.... which of course isnt good for hounding, or golfing.

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Michael J. Fox X3

Idina Menzel X1

Day 2 of MJF saw the day start with his charity golf tourney in the morning. He arrived early to use the driving range, and signed for everyone out there that early (all 4 of us). I WOULD have got more, but I had the misfortune of being pestered during the time he came off the range by an undercover cop (I heard after the fact, this has happened before at this event). Cop Q&A'ed me, took my ID, and in the end, didnt even say so much as boo to me, but it did cost me a chance at 2 or 3 more signatures.

Once he was off the driving range, it was wait till he is done time. With still 2 hrs till they start, then 18 holes. We went & did other things in between. In there, I went with my buddy to get this girl who was on Glee for awhile, Idina Menzel. Again, bad luck by me, caused me to only get 1, while everyone else there got 2. Oh well, I wasnt getting her for myself anyways.

Back to the course, we found out as we got there, they were only 1/2 done, as we saw Michael go thru past hole 10. It was going to he a couple more hours, ugh. Unbeknownst to us, Michael did not finish his round, and headed off early. As his group came up the 18th, we looked, and didnt see him. After a panicked sweep of the clubhouse area, the 10 or so of us out there gave up (I didnt have a lot of choice... I thought he was still there somewhere) and hurried to get to the last event of the evening for him... a charity dinner.

Sure enough, he showed up there, with his son (who was in that final group of golfers) confirming my suspicion he was still at the course when we left. He signed again at the hotel, but clearly not feeling up to doing it at that time, and signed only a few, as the crowd out there was 10-12 people by this time.

In the end, I got 7 over the 2 days. Pretty awesome from someone who would have every right to say "no" considering his condition... especially by the 3rd or 4th time seeing some of the same people. A+ class act.

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Mario Gutierrez X1

Saturday I played a hunch, and it SHOULD have paid off better than it did. Mario Gutierrez was in town (the current Kentucky Derby & Preakness winning jockey) hanging out with friends & his mentor/agent Glen Todd, also a local horse owner. I did my homework & noticed Mr. Todd had 2 horses running Sat, including 1 in the main event race, and was the odds on favorite to win. My assumption was, Mario would go with Glen to watch the race & take 1 last chance to see some old friends before he leaves town.

The earlier race, I saw Mr. todd around, but no sign of Mario...but this wasnt the race I expected him to be there for. So eventually the main race came, and sure enough, who goes walking into the paddock area where all the horses, jockies, owners & friends are allowed? Mario. My guess paid off, he was there. With no hoopla around him being there like there was a few weeks earlier when he was there for "Mario Gutierrez day" it was going to be shooting fish in a barrel..... or so I thought.

As it turned out, Mr. Todd (his mentor AND agent) was aware I was there & was aware I was a professional (this wasnt the 1st or even 2nd time I had gone for Mario). He had security come & escort them to their box, and made it quite clear he didnt want Mario to sign for me. He willingly took photos with fans, signed programs, but security wasnt letting him sign for me. They got to their private box without any incident, but I had a plan (as it turned out, I needed several plans). As the race ended, Glens horse won, so I fully expected him AND Mario to go to the winners circle for the celebratory photo they do of all winners. Sure enough they did. I stayed in a spot out of Glens vision, but close enough to move in if opportunity arose, if he didnt see me, he might not have time to get security. It worked, he & Mario came down unescorted.

As they walked the 150 ft to the winners circle I was mapping out my plan when all of a sudden, a gift horse fell in my lap. Friends of Mario stopped him to say hi, get some hugs & chat. Glen looked back a couple times and decided Mario was ok and went on his way. This was my chance, no security, no Glen. When Mario finished, I asked him for an autograph, he replied "I need to hurry to get in the picture, I'll be back" so I asked "will you sign then?" "yes" he replied. I knew that once Glen noticed me standing around there, my "yes" from him might lose some steam, and sure enough, Glen had 2 security guys escort Mario out. Mario signed a ticket for a lady, then took a photo with a fan, then security promptly thwarted any chance for him to even respond to me. "hes not doing it." "but he said he would" "hes not here for that" "look, I am sure he can speak for himself," "I'm speaking for him" the banter went back & forth. I finally asked Mario "do you want to sign, or not?" he replied "I have to do what they say". SERIOUSLY?? Your an adult, who made more in 1 week than the 2 guys covering you will make in 2-3 years and your letting them tell you what to do on your free time??? they then took him thru the casino area attached to the track & I decided it was best not to follow, since they clearly had no intention of leaving his side. I needed a new plan.

My next plan was hatched seconds later. Having worked at the track for a few years, and practically raised there as a kid, I knew lots of ins & outs of that place.... even with the massive renovations they had done since I was a regular there, I knew, there was only 3 logical ways out of that casino. The door they just went in, highly unlikely. A side door that is a 150-200 ft from where I was 1st outed by Mr. todd that day, or outside the front door. So I left myself in a position to cover the side door & I THOUGHT cover the front door... which I figured out after a couple minutes I wasnt covering nearly as well as I thought. As 2 minutes turned into 3, and into 5+ minutes, I decided they arent bringing him immediately out that side door, I better check the front door. Sure enough I come around the curve & who do I see out front, Glen Todd standing beside his truck. CRAP! I instantly got out of his line of sight & thankfully a row of trees that splits the road there helped me move down closer without him seeing me. I stayed out of sight of him & mostly out of sight of the front door. Eventually 1 of the guards that was with Mario came out. "He'll be another minute, keep forgetting what a celebrity he is here" he yelled out to Mr. Todd. Sure enough about 30 seconds later, another security guy came out with him & the 2 of them escorted him over to Glens truck. I speed walked over and got Marios attention. This time, he came over & grabbed the pen "whats your name"? Really?? Less than a month ago you willingly signed 2-3 at a time repeatedly, now personalizing. Ok, whatever, fine. I told him my name, and as he started signing, Glen HONKED AT HIM. Too late though, he already had started signing & when he finished, I thanked him for it & he was on his way. As he got into Glens truck he said to him "I'm sorry" & I was thinking, its 1 thing to be an agent, a mentor & a friend, its quite another when an adult has to apologize to you for making a choice to sign an autograph.

Anyways, that is my absurdly long story on how I worked my ass off for 1 autograph from a guy I thought I would get 4 from with no effort.

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James Roday X1
Dule Hill X2

A bonus to going for Mario Gutierrez was as I walked to the track I saw trailers setting up for filming. I asked what it was, and found out it was Psych.

After I left the track from my abysmal fight to get 1 autograph, I stopped at the set. Luckily, my efforts were more fruitfull here than at the track.

I got James within 20 minutes of being there as they left for lunch break.

When they returned an hour later, I caught Dule coming back from lunch & got 2 from him.

That helped take some of the sting from earlier out of the day.
I were grading the day, it woulda been a
D+ going for Mario
A- going for Psych
C+ overall

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Last week

Jeremy Renner X3

I got Jeremy once when he was here for MI4 & he was friendlier than this encounter.... however, I got more autographs this time.... partly because he couldnt find his driver & had the long 200 ft walk to his vehicle when I finally told him where he was.

Danielle Panabaker X4

Exceptionally friendly & sweet. Chit chatted with us for about 5 mins on her way back from a walk with her bf & her dog.

Victoria Beckham X3

Surprisingly accomodating. I went for her as a Spice Girl & she was terrible. This time, whether it was because she was 2 hrs late, or doing promotion for some fashion line she has.... she spent above & beyond the amount of time signing & taking photos with on her walk out of the store.

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Gavin Rossdale X3

Funny enough, I wasnt even out for him specifically, but helped my buddies with him.
I was out for someone else (Chad Kroeger) , who I quite literally let walk away from me because I was convinced it wasnt them even with my buddy going "hey thats him" & I argued with him it wasnt. Never seen him with almost no hair, so it wasnt till my friend showed me a photo of him from recently with short hair I realized he was right. Ive met the guy 10-15Xs & hes always had anywhere from mid-floppy/moppy hair to long curly ramen noodle hair. So this fooled me.

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Aziz Ansari X2

it was pouring rain, I only had about 3 ft of dry space at the door & I was the only 1 there & had literally 5 seconds to react. So I am pleased with the result.