When Technology is to Blame...

Have you ever been in the middle of a conversation and in mid-sentence, a cell phone goes off and the person answers it and ignores you until the call is complete? Have you ever walked up to someone who was deep into their I-Pad or cell phone and they do not even notice you standing in front of them? Unfortunately, this is becoming a common occurrence everywhere.

(Kat.2013)

 

Cell phones, I-Pads, I-Pods, Laptops and even portable gaming devices have all begun to take over our lives in a big way. Just think, 20 years ago we still had public pay phones and the Internet wasn't even a word in our vocabulary. We have come a long way "technologically speaking" in 20 years but when it comes to one on one conversations, we seem to opt for less invasive methods of communication (cell phones, texting, instant messenger, social networking, etc.). Convenience is one thing, but when does convenience become rude?

                                                   

(Good.2009)

                     

 

(Good.2009)

 

(Griffin.2003)

 

 

(Griffin.2003)

 

(Joanna.2009)

 

 

To be continued....


Photography credits:
Kat.(2013). Picasso Dreams: KAT rant: The Zombie Apocalypse (Smart Phones for Stupid People). Retrieved on March 9, 2014. From:http://www.picassodreams.com/picasso_dreams/2013/03/zombie-apocalypse-smart-phones-are-for-stupid-people.html

Good, C. (2009). Positively Good Productions: Cell Phone Etiquette. Retrieved on March 9, 2014. From:http://www.positivelygoodproductions.com/cellphoneetiquette.htm

Griffin, B. (2003). Zimbo: Meg Ryan Photostream. Retrieved on March 9, 2014. From: http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Meg+Ryan/Cell+Phones+2003/7kFe40tKRH1

Griffin, B. (2003). Zimbo: Cell Phones 2003 (Leonardo DiCaprio). Retrieved on March 9, 2014. From:http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/qen6-6DvnC8/Cell+Phones+2003/5vJyS2VHH37/Leonardo+DiCaprio

Joanna. (2011). Is Anything Worse Than: People Who Talk in Movie Theaters. Retrieved on March 9, 2014. From: http://isanythingworsethan.blogspot.com/2011/07/people-who-talk-in-movie-theaters.html

melodymccraney's photostream

melodymccraney's photostream on Flickr.

From Teen Idol to Family Friends

Many people have celebrity idols who they have grown up watching and adoring, but how many can say they are friends with their idols and it actually be true? I am proud to say that in all my years of attending comic book and horror conventions my family and I have made a couple life-long celebrity friendships. For some, its a huge deal that these people are celebrities but personally speaking, I forgot they were celebrities after the 1st meeting because of their genuine kindness towards my family.

In 2011, my family and I attended a horror convention in Orlando Florida called Spookie con, while there I was able to meet another one of my teen celebrity idols, Anthony Michael Hall. Anthony was a very popular actor in the 80's, appearing in John Hughes movies like The Breakfast Club and 16 Candles. As an adult actor he went on to do film and television shows like The Dead Zone. As I approached his table, I grew very nervous but Anthony helped relieve those nerves with his kindness and attentiveness towards my family. Now, most people would say "so, now your friends with him over that one moment?" and of course the answer would be no. In the year 2011 & 2013, we were able to meet Anthony 4 more times and with each meeting, he remembered my son by name and always greeted us with hugs and friendly conversation. He always seemed to care and that is what makes him special to my family. Even his handler (guy who takes the autograph money) started recognizing us at different conventions and remembering our names. The last time we saw Anthony was last June in Knoxville Tn and as always, Anthony greeted my son by name, gave us all hugs and posed for photo's. Anthony does conventions on occasion but he never made it about the money, it was always about the fans. I am proud to consider him a family friend ! Here is his picture and a clip from 16 Candles.

                                          

                                            

I am also proud to call Beverly Randolph a friend too. I met Beverly via Facebook a couple years ago, at the time I had our puppy as my profile picture and on occasion, we would chat about politics. In 2012, Beverly was a guest at the Knoxville Tn Fanboy Expo horror convention as well as some of her "Return of the Living Dead" costars. My family and I walked up to her table, not knowing what to expect and quickly discovered that Beverly loves her fans. My husband began chatting with her, introducing himself (we share the same political views) when I walked over and introduced myself as a Facebook friend of hers. Once I told her my name, she asked me if my profile picture was a puppy and of course I knew in that instance that Beverly knew exactly who I was.

After that initial meeting, Beverly began posting on my Facebook, liking some of my pictures and status updates. In February 2013 we traveled to Atlanta to see Beverly and her costars again and as soon as Beverly saw my husband, she gave him a big hug and asked for me by name. I walked up behind him and also got a hug. Beverly is an amazingly sweet person, beautiful both inside and out and I am proud to call her a friend. Here is her picture and a clip from one of her films.

Fantasy Turned Reality

    As a teenager, I was like every other girl my age. I was discovering boys didn't have the cooties and my walls were adorned with movie & rock stars who I idolized. My celebrity crushes at the time were Ricky Schroder, Corey Feldman, Corey Haim, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell and Patrick Swayze. I was also a big fan of Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, The Monkee's and Boy George, in fact I still obsess slightly over Boy George. However, never did I ever expect to meet any of these people, I believed it was a dream that would never come true. 

    Fast Forward 16 years and I discovered that dreams can and do come true. While living in Orlando Florida, I discovered that Corey Feldman and his band "The Truth Movement" were playing a small club nearby. To say I was excited is truly an understatement! I got in touch with a good friend of mine and asked if she wanted to go (She had never met an actual celebrity before, while I had already met 3 by this time), she said yes. Concert day arrived, my friend and I decided to make a day of it, makeovers, dinner and the Corey concert. Once in the empty club (we went early to get good seats), my friend being shy grabbed us a table in the back of the club, at least 50 feet from the stage. However, this was not going to work, so I grabbed the empty table that was inches from the stage where we could get up close and personal with Feldman. Once he made his first appearance on stage, I heard my friend mutter "Its really him", I smiled because she was so in awe of him. Corey gave a great concert, did some signature dance moves from his Michael Jackson era and the young girls in the front row started to throw their hands up to him where he would hold and release them. Despite my own shyness, I decided that I too could throw him my right hand only I wanted to document the occasion with my camera, so I waited until he made his way back to my side of the stage, he grabbed my hand and held it as he sang and with my left hand, I snapped a picture. Later in the night, we hung around for the chance to get his autograph and picture. If I had to sum up this night with just one word, I would say it was "magical".
   
   In the years to follow, Corey would not be the only teen idol I was able to meet, No, he was just my first. In 2011, I was able to meet C. Thomas Howell (The Hitcher), Billy Zabka (Karate Kid) and John Philbin (The New Kids & Night of the Living Dead). While these moments took place in a different environment then the Corey encounter did, the meetings were equally memorable and rewarding. When I hear someone say "dreams never come true", I simply show them my pictures and disagree. Here are a few of my most memorable "teen idol" moments.

                                                 

Admired to Despised

   
  
   Have you ever had a bad day? One in which the people around you were influenced in such a way that their opinion of you became negative? Well, celebrities are no different in that regard, however when they have a bad day and someone around them is affected, it can affect their reputation in the industry as well as their image to fans. Unfortunately, I have had a few ugly experiences, here are my stories.
  
                                                                    
                                    David Carradine   

     About 10 years ago, my family and I attended a celebrity convention in Orlando. This one was going to be special because a lot of our favorite celebrities were going to be in attendance, including a few Harry Potter cast members from the 2nd Harry Potter film. Of those who were destined to attend, my young daughter was especially excited to meet her favorite "Kil Bill" actor, David Carradine. Upon entering the building, my daughter kept asking to see Kill Bill, then she spotted him and began walking in his direction. Once we reached his table, we waited until he finished shuffling pictures and talking on his cell phone, once he was done, he made eye contact and I said hello. I then tried to explain what a huge fan of his my daughter is and how she couldn't wait to meet him. He replied with a scowl and said "I guess that makes you a push-over mom". I was stunned, I didn't know how to react if I was to react at all, but I tried to pull it together with a smile and found a picture my daughter liked.
     We then politely asked if he would sign it which he did. Before we left his table, I asked if my daughter could take a picture with him and again with a scowl, he replied "she'll have to lean over the table". Later that day I ran into my husband and we shared stories, his were all great but then I told him about Mr. Carradine. After our conversation, I over heard a group of people behind me talking about a rude celebrity, they had just met. They discussed how horrible the meeting was ..yadda yadda yadda.. I turned around and asked, "who was it" and they replied "David Carradine". In a brief second, I felt justified in my negative meeting, like suddenly I realized it wasn't my fault. I later saw Mr. Carradine outside the building smoking and yelling into his cell phone and then I realized, I can either dismiss his behavior as just a bad day or I can try and forget the meeting altogether.   





                                                      
                        Tony Todd
      Last year, my family and I attended a horror convention in Cincinnati Ohio, among the many guests was a horror legend named Tony Todd. While we have met him many other times and he has always been pleasant, in fact my daughter rode the elevator down from our room floor alone with him. However, it would be on this day that the experience would not be pleasant and in fact, left my husband never wanting to see another film with Mr. Todd as a cast mate.

    The meeting itself took place after my husband waited in his line for over an hour. Once he got up to the table, my husband handed him a comic book of a tv show he once appeared in. Mr Todd asked him "Am I in this?", my husband replied "No, you are in the tv show of this comic" then Mr. Todd replied "Then why the hell am I signing it?". My husband was speechless but insisted he sign it as it was for a friend. After he signed the comic book, my husband asked if Mr. Todd would pose with the comic so our friend could have a momento to share. Mr. Todd replied "don't you want to be in the picture too?", my husband replied "no, because the picture was for his friend, not for us but thank you". So far, the meeting is not truly horrible but then Mr. Todd went off on a tangent about all celebrities do for fans and how they constantly ask celebrities for stuff......What this actor failed to mention is that as fans, we are standing in hour long lines and paying $40 for the opportunity to meet him and get his autograph and picture. It wasn't charity on his part by a long shot. Needless to say, this one moment erased every positive memory we ever had of meeting and talking to Mr. Todd prior to this meeting. 


                                      
                      James Marsters
     Back in 2012 my family and I attended Dragon Con in Atlanta Georgia. I was running an autograph business at the time and had a ton of autograph orders that needed to be filled. I was excited that one of my customers needed an actor that I had previously met when he was first popular on the tv show Buffy The Vampire Slayer, James Marster's (Spike). During that first meeting back in the late 1990's, Mr. Marsters was so sweet and truly seemed to care about his fans to the point that he played with my son who was video taping his meeting. Mr. Marsters took the camera from my son and filmed my son while joking about how tired he himself looked on the video monitor. That was then and well, this ugly meeting is now.

    It is extremely common in the convention hobby to stand and wait for whoever you need to meet. It might be a 5 minute wait or it could be hours but for Mr. Marsters, I waited about an hour this go around. Once I got up to his table, I didn't expect him to remember me from our first meeting but I did expect the same attitude and love for his fans. However, that is not what I got. He never made eye contact, never said hello or nice to meet you, he simply took my $40 and signed the item I slid in front of him. Pictures were not allowed so basically after he signed the item, I walked away confused as to how a talented actor like himself could have changed from a lovable fan friendly celebrity into a money hungry rude excuse for a celebrity.  

        The one common issue that I have found in all my experiences, both good and bad of meeting celebrities is that they are famous for their talents in film and music but they do not ALL feel comfortable in their own skin. They know how to behave as a different person (character) but being themselves can sometimes be uncomfortable and awkward. I've learned though my Communications courses at Ashford University that we speak with our mouths (verbally), through our body language (non-verbally) and our with our active listening skills. Eye contact is a big must with me when I communicate, I feel as though I cannot hear what a speaker is saying unless I can see their face, their eyes and their mouths. As shy as I have been throughout my life, I always try to give eye contact to whoever I am speaking to. I feel as though it is a sign of respect and a sign that I see them, I hear them and I acknowledge their message.