He was a pretty nice guy and was willing to pose for a free photo with me when I ran across him at the Hollywood Show on Saturday, February 11, 2012. I scoped out his photos and obviously opted for the one that highlighted his Smallville appearances in the episodes Zero and Rogue from 2002.

For the record, Cameron Dye does have a wealth of other TV appearances under his belt, including M*A*S*H, Double Trouble, Miami Vice, Quantum Leap, and Murder, She Wrote – along with lots of appearances in current-day series. So even if you don’t quite recognize him, his career is far from being grody to the max.

Celebrities of the Winter 2012 Hollywood Show will continue…

I had gotten home on Monday, April 23,2012, and by Tuesday, April 24, I was getting in my car after work, driving by my grass that was crying out for attention, and heading to Elsa’s on Linden Avenue. There awaiting me was my friend Ashleigh Heath, who had just gotten into town from North Carolina the night before. She had already managed to assemble a small reunion of former Beavercreek ’90 grads to show up and partake in Bad Juans and Mexican munchies. My good friends Missy Fodor and Mindy Burger were among them, as were Daryl Roy and Debra Prystaloski (along with her daughter and daughter’s boyfriend). Missy’s husband Paul also made it there near the tail end. We enjoyed each other’s company until the late hours of the day.

With Ashleigh and Missy at Elsa’s

Missy, Mindy, and Daryl

Daryl, Debra, and Ashleigh

The gang’s all here. We follow the Bad Juans.

Missy delves into her role as Bad Juan sucker

On Wednesday the 25th, my friend Dean called me and asked if I could get together for lunch as he was in the Cincinnati area. True to our Dayton roots, we enjoyed a nice meeting at Chick-fil-A.

I managed to get the front yard lawn addressed on the evening of Thursday, April 26, slipping it in just before Mindy and her daughter Taylor came over to pick up a jewelry catalog that Ash Heath was kind enough to entrust me with. They ended up visiting for about an hour. Taylor was glad to see the cats again after watching them during our vacation absence.

The back yard would have been addressed on Friday the 27th. However, as I was heading to my Mom’s to drop off my car to have the brakes fixed, she called me with the stellar news that I was needed to pick my daughter up from jail. It seems that the night before, there was a domestic dispute at the home of her idiot boyfriend. While I disagree with the arrest of a 90-pound girl standing up for herself against a well-established douchebag, I’m hoping that this little lesson might help steer her onto a more responsible course. As for the other party, he wasn’t bailed out as Ashleigh was and was held in captivity until May 11. I was wishing that he would have gotten manhandled by a large prisoner named Tank during his stay. Ashleigh is paying me back the $510 that it cost to get her out, but will get it back eventually of course.

Silas fresh from a nice bath and sporting his new Disney duds on April 27

Not only did this interrupt the cutting of my grass, but it made it all the more difficult to try and get ready for my little weekend jaunt to New Jersey. Unlike previous Chiller shows, this time I flew directly into Newark rather than New York. I had to get up very, very early once again in order to make it to the Dayton airport to catch my 7:05 flight that went through Philadelphia. All four flights I took were only partially booked and I didn’t have to sit next to anyone on any of them.

I got to Newark at 10:26am, and Peter picked me up just before 11. We headed directly to the Chiller Theatre Show held at the Hilton in Parsippany. We entered in through a different door than normal and were aghast to see a long line outside comprised of people who were merely waiting in the Boondock Saints autograph line. Making our way to get our wristbands, we noticed long lines and crowds of people everywhere we turned. I was filled with that same sinking feeling that I often get before surmounting Chiller.

Somehow though, with Peter’s excellent assistance and some careful line-planning and place-holding, we were able to get through Chiller with near perfect success and be done before 4pm. The prices fluctuated between great values to a little over-the-top. I think I crossed more people off my ‘maybe’ list than ever before, but was able to get all of the ‘must-haves’ who showed up. Those who were scratched from the ‘maybe’ list (all because they were charging extra for photos and didn’t quite mean enough to me to even attempt to negotiate) were Kevin J. O’Connor, Bob Gunton, Amber Smith (charging a whopping $45 for the autograph/photo combo), Bebe Buell, and Mike d’Abo. Rick Derringer had made it on the ‘maybe’ list, but cancelled. Other very disappointing cancellations from the ‘must-have’ list were John Kapelos, Danny Aiello, Billy Drago, and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan.

The show ended up being probably one of the best I attended and I was able to meet some true legends, all of whom will be discussed in the trail of celebrities that begins here. And with as many cool people that I got to add to my growing collection of encounters, all of the following celebrities whom I had already met were present as well: Vincent Spano, Donna D’Errico, Erika Eleniak (surprised?), Cameron Dye, John Astin, Michael Constantine, Butch Patrick, Lou Ferrigno, Lee Arenberg, Olivia d’Abo, Kathy Coleman, Lynne Stewart, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, Andrew Anderson, Linda Blair, William Forsythe, and Scott Schwartz. My friend Steve Cox had sent along some photos to be signed, mostly of John Astin, but he too had priced himself out of Steve’s upper limit.

Peter and me with Al Leong, star of Die Hard and Lethal Weapon at the Chiller Theatre Show

After the show, Peter and I headed directly to dinner at The Ritz Diner – which, you might have already guessed, had been featured on the TV show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. In an almost-bonehead move, I didn’t think about pursing any diners this weekend, until I was sitting in the Newark airport waiting for Peter. Thanks to my Dad and Heidi, we were able to locate this one, which was only about ten minutes away from Chiller.

It had been featured on the episode The New Jersey Diner Tour, in which host Guy Fieri created a six course meal by visiting six different New Jersey diners. All that had made it into the broadcast was the apple pie, but the cashier told me that Guy had also filmed a segment on the Pork Chops Giambotta. I ordered that and it was some seriously good eatin’ comprised of pork chops garnished with mushrooms, onions, peppers, and Italian sausage. I got sides of escarole and french fries, but there was absolutely no way of eating all of that. Also noteworthy was a delicious mushroom and rice soup that also came with the meal. Peter and I split a piece of the apple pie and it hit the spot too.

DD&D #34: The Ritz Diner in Livingston, New Jersey

The Pork Giambatta and its tasty garnishings

Peter and I hurl ourselves into the eats

Peter then took me over to my Econo Lodge motel in Elizabeth, which was very close to the Newark airport. He stuck around a while and we talked and then I tuned into some sitcom reruns and comfortable fell asleep after the long day. Getting home was just as easy as getting there, and entailed a shuttle with a very talkative driver from the motel to the airport, a 6:30 flight that laid over in Philly once again, and, happily, empty seats next to me. I was in my front door before noon.

Waiting there for me was Christi, who had come over to babysit Silas for the day. This precluded any chance of fulfilling my plan to cut the back yard. But I must admit, it was much more fun to help take care of Silas for the day.

You may recall the attractive girl whose name I didn’t get at the Blue October concert. Well, do you? My industriousness and a thing called Facebook helped me find this girl, send her a note, and ask her out. Amazingly, she accepted and we had a very nice dinner at Smokey Bones in West Chester on Tuesday, May 1.

A rare bedtime sock moment with Silas on May 1

Ashleigh captures Silas attempting the hula hoop while home on Wednesday, May 2

Silas finds that when cups or other things fall of his head or our heads, it is uproariously giggle-worthy

On Wednesday, the back yard was cut. It took me roughly two hours and a tank and a half of gas. I grew to hate my lawn.

Thursday the 3rd was rather eventful, beginning with my Impala’s air conditioning giving out amidst the first smoking hot day of the spring. Mom and I made a return to Chick-fil-A that day, and then that evening I followed up with plans with Ashleigh Heath and our other co-graduate Vanessa.

After work, I headed to Vanessa’s house in Cincinnati. Ashleigh met us there bringing along some cheeses. Joining us was Vanessa’s rather fascinating husband George and we heard some great tales of commune life over cheese and red wine. The we headed out in Ashleigh’s Dad’s car which I inexplicably drove, to catch the 7pm showing of Jiro Dreams of Sushi at the Esquire. This was a very interesting documentary that perfectly paved the way for our late dinner at Dancing Wasabi, where we ordered a huge batch of sushi rolls and sashimi – which included but was not limited to Octopus, Egg, Sea Urchin, and specialty rolls such as the Sunfire, Crunch Munch, and Sunday Morning. After dinner, we went back to Vanessa’s for a very small piece of rhubarb pie and ice cream. I didn’t even end up leaving until almost 11, and then had to pick up my Acura (with cool air and repaired brakes), make a pit stop in the back yard, and then head home.

No rest, once again.

Pre-movie shop browsing on Ludlow Avenue

The historic Esquire Theatre, which dates back to 2011

Gobs and gobs of sushi. If you note my size vs. hers, you’ll correctly guess who ate more.

Finally for this installment, on Friday, May 4, I met up with a girl Nadine, an attractive German girl with whom I’d been communicating for a few weeks. We had food, drinks, and plenty of laughs (in English) at the Fricker’s in Troy.

Follow the trail of Chiller celebrities here…

2012 will continue as a very special little boy turns one…

Unlike the Non encounter (not to be confused with a ‘non-encounter’), this time I didn’t actually own a signed photo, so I had to shell out a bit to get this one. Sarah wasn’t quite as generous as Non, but she was still much nicer than both the character Ursa and the handler that she was using. In fact, she and the handler got in a near-argument about how much she ‘needed’ to charge. I of course balked at paying the full $40 for the combo autograph and photo op. She agreed with me, but the handler didn’t. I offered exactly $10 less.

Eventually Ursa and I got our way and ran off to be photographed together. I’m not sure if the handler had a fresh batch of Kryptonite under the table or what, but in the end victory ended up on the side of evil… or good… or whatever we were.

Celebrity encounters of the Fall 2011 Hollywood Show will continue…

So those are the stats. Now here are the facts:

After the long week of visiting Walt Disney World and fighting off my cold, I had to get up at a very early hour on that Friday to shower, get my gear ready, and head down at 6am to catch the Magical Express from the All Star Movie Resort to the Orlando Airport. I got there with plenty of time to spare (and was pleased to use the free wireless internet), to catch my flight at 9:15 am. This one was a direct flight, and more importantly, I had an empty seat between me and an Asian gentlemen that still required that I get up twice so that he could use the lavatory.

I arrived at LAX at 11:35am, gaining three hours. Jimmy picked me up in the white jeep rather quickly and we headed back to his office so that he could finish some last minute items before we headed out. I greeted Big Jimmy there as well.

Soon we were on the road heading for Disneyland. We arrived at around 2pm and quickly met up with David and caught the tram to the parks. David used his special pass to get us in free and we started out on the Disneyland, just to get a locker to drop off our long sleeved shirts for later. Then we headed over to California Adventure. Technically, this completed by mission as I had stepped in both parks, but hey, who’s being that granular…?

David chooses a locker at Disneyland

Outside Disney California Adventure, which now bears an uncanny resemblance to the Disney Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World

It was a little after 2:30 and none of us had eaten, so that was our first order of business. We walked back to the rear of the park to the quick service restaurants of Paradise Pier and I got a giant corndog at the Corndog Castle. Since we were right by it, we went ahead and boarded the walk-on new dark ride The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. It is pleasant enough fare, but what I really wanted to concentrate on was finding the non-Disney character Mr. Limpet among the undersea creatures. Thanks to David, I scored.

Jimmy and David – under the sea

Mr. Limpet emerges

David considers a style change as we make our way toward Muppet Vision 3-D

Next up was Muppet Vision 3-D, the first of four attractions that I had just experienced the day before at WDW. This particular screening was unique in two ways, the first being that when we got in line, there wasn’t a single soul in the pre-show area, so it was easy to explore the room AND see the entire pre-show for the beginning. The second was that we sat in the front row for the first time ever, mostly so that we could see the reactions of the penguin orchestra – but we also found the sights and sounds to be bigger and louder than ever before! The ‘cheap 3-D tricks’ work just fine in the front.

Re-creating the wacky 3-Deee pose from the day before

Checking out the hidden key under the mat as we enter the Muppet Theatre

We had the pre-show area all to ourselves

We were already in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area, so David and I rode The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, while Jimmy sat that one out. This was the second of four rides that I had just ridden the day before at WDW. David and I searched in vain to see if we could find the To Serve Man book in the library, but apparently it is only found at Disney World. The wait was pretty long for this ride, taking about 45 minutes. It was our last ride at California Adventure.

Preparing to enter the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Our group takes the plunge. David is visibly distressed about it.

We made our way out of the park at around 5:15, stopping to pick up the obligatory ice cream sandwiches on the way out. There was a lot of construction still going on as the Imagineers work to re-tool the park, so we had to take a very convoluted path just to make it to the exit.

Ice cream on the ‘backlot’

We entered Disneyland again around 5:30, and went straight toward the castle for the traditional photo ops. I noticed the Golden Horseshoe Saloon nearby and realized that I had never been inside. This place was rather legendary, having opened with the park in 1955. I even own an episode of The Wonderful World of Color that highlight’s the original Golden Horseshoe Revue’s 10,000th performance. The original show is long gone, but we were able to catch about ten minutes of the current show: Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. After the show ended, we explored the interior and checked out the once-private box that Walt himself had had built in the saloon.

Disneyland with my pals

Outside the classic Golden Horseshoe

Billy Hill and the Hillbillies take the stage

Then I take the stage

In Walt Disney’s former personal box

It was around 6pm and we decided to give the Blue Bayou a try for dinner. I put our names in and they gave us an estimated 45-minute wait. This gave us enough time to board both the Pirates of the Caribbean (the third of four rides that I had ridden the day before at WDW) and the Haunted Mansion, both of which were located in New Orleans Square.  

The west coast singing pirates and donkey

Carl and the pirates in Cali

The less-ominious of the two North American Haunted Mansions

Although we made in back in 30 minutes, our names had apparently already been called. Finally, I was able to get them to seat us. As we waited, David noticed TV star Joey Lawrence and his brothers Matthew and Andrew, along with a group of family members and friends, standing in front of the Pirates. I came very close to going over to him to get a photo, but decided against it at the last minute because he was holding a child.

Dinner at the Blue Bayou was great as usual, and I ordered the Royal Street Seafood Jambalaya once again. Our waiter seemed like a character from a sitcom with sort of a whiny, yet friendly voice. David purchased a glowing pirate head that was meant to be put in the drinks and enjoyed it immensely.

Dinner in the Blue Bayou

Too thin?

After dinner, Jimmy decided to take off as he had a commitment to participate in a 5K walk the next morning. So David and I bid him goodbye and headed over into Fantasyland, where we first rode David’s favorite ride Pinocchio’s Daring Journey and then moved on to it’s a small world. I must say that after riding the WDW version of small world twice just four days earlier, the Disneyland version is vastly superior, not just because of the added Disney characters, but because of the bolder colors and crisper sound. While waiting in the queue, we once again saw the Magic, Memories, and You show projected on the outside of the small world building – as we had in February 2011.

David’s favorite ride in Fantasyland

He’s got no strings to hold him down

It’s a small world illuminated by the Magic, Memories, and You presentation

Alice and the white rabbit in it’s a small world

It was about 9pm, and I was utterly exhausted by this point – fighting a cold and going on about my 20th waking hour – but I still had enough oomph to get my butt on Space Mountain, the fourth and final ride that I had ridden the day before at WDW. The audio improvements that had been made at WDW, and the fact that all of the music and sound effects completely stopped midway through our ride at Disneyland, put this slightly more on an even keel with its typically-inferior WDW counterpart. It was a shame that after all the waiting, we didn’t get a little bit better ride-thru on this.

Ready for the thrills of Space Mountain

Our rocket takes a plunge. I am visibly distressed about it.

My mission complete, we made our way toward the exit at around 10pm, stopping off in one of the shops to get my Disneyland 2012 magnet, which looked exactly like the WDW 2012 magnet, save the name of the park. We grabbed the tram, found the car in the parking garage, and headed back to David’s place in Burbank.

As completely bushed as I was, I was able to stay awake for about a half-hour to talk and laugh with David before turning in. The pace wouldn’t really let up much the next day, but I was expecting another good one.

The California leg of the trip will continue…

Bypass the trip and continue with 2012…

Anyway… I met him at the Chiller Theatre Show on Saturday, April 28, 2012. Although he didn’t talk much, he seemed like a very nice guy, including a free picture with him to accompany the autograph. It appeared that his right arm was paralyzed, so he was signing autographs with his left hand and making every attempt to fulfill any personalization requests. I only asked that he add ‘Die Hard’ to the photo, the second to last copy that he had at his table. His handler was even nice and insisted that my friend Peter jump into a picture with him as well, despite the fact that he hadn’t purchased anything.

Sure he wasn’t the biggest celebrity at the show, but sometimes you’ve just seen a face so often in the movies that feel like you must know him.

Celebrities of the Spring 2012 Chiller Theatre Show will continue…