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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Screaming! Screaming for Bus Passes! Or, Hey! Didn’t That Guy Used to Sing With…

As has previously been reported, I used to be something of a metal head; and so you can (mostly) believe me when I tell you that no one was more surprised than I when Rob Halford got on the bus this morning.

What do you mean, who’s Rob Halford? Just the lead singer for Judas Priest and the screaming-ist, hardest rocking leather boy to come out of the 70s and 80s, that’s who!

So you can imagine my confusion when he boarded the 17C.

Yikes, poor Rob’s looking rough though. I watched him from the back of the bus as we pulled up to the stop just before the river, watched him hot-box a cigarette as the bus slowed, field-strip it and then tuck its tattered, stinking remnants behind his ear before boarding.

It was an inexplicably light bus day, one of those days where you look around, note that more than half of the usual commuters are missing and frown slightly. Perhaps today is really Saturday? Where are all the people?

But more importantly, why is Rob in town; and why hasn’t he called me?

He’s not the first celebrity to be sighted on the bus, by the way. We also have someone who could pass for Bruce Springsteen and a woman who looks distressingly like former Vice President Dick Cheney, minus the good looks.

I wrote it down, right then and there, this near-brush with near-stardom – “Rob Halford is on the bus!” – in the little book I carry with me. I can now add this to a long line of hoi-polloi credentials that include the fact that I once knew a guy that bought the legendarily warted singer for Motorhead Lemy Kilmeister a beer, that I used to know the niece of the keyboard player for Chaka Khan, and a friend of a friend once relieved herself on Prince’s lawn.

You heard it here first, people:

I rub elbows with people who rub elbows with the stars.

33 comments:

Jennifer said...

I mean...How close have you been to Dolly Parton? I have the autograph, not because I got it, but someone I knew, knew someone who saw her and asked for the autograph...HOW AWESOME IS THIS?

Pearl said...

Jennifer, I don't think I've even been in the same state at the same time as Dolly Parton; although if I WAS I would most certainly hit her or anyone near her up for an autograph!

Elliott said...

Now I'm thrashing to Anthrax...in my head, since doing so, in reality, at my desk, with no sounds coming from anywhere, might finally convince my cow-orkers that I've gone off the deep end.

Pearl said...

Elliott, did you just reference your cow-orkers?!!!!

I do as well.

Anthrax! :-)

Elliott said...

Interesting that you say 'Anthrax', since I could have sworn Halford had some connection to Scott Ian, I just don't remember what it is and Google is being quite uncooperative today.

And yes, I said cow-orkers. The orkers of cows. All of them.

Ork ork.

Jess said...

It couldn't have been any better if it was Bob Saget!

Sure wish the buses were better around here...from what I gather, they are used for homeless people to sleep on in these parts. If that wasn't the case, imagine the people I would be meeting!

justsomethoughts... said...

screaming for vengeance i presume.

and you did't REALLY, did you ?!

Lee said...

Wow...I wouldn't have had a clue who he was...

Pearl said...

Elliott, I think Scott Ian married some famous person's daughter -- was that it? Not Rob's, of course...

Jess, the bus companies certainly do need to make them safe/palatable for the average rider, and that's for sure. Every now and then we get a real freak but honestly, other than two lines I can think of, Minneapolis is pretty decent.

justsomethoughts, screaming for vengeance, yes. :-) And no, not really. But he certainly could've been a double...

Lee, that's okay. I can't expect you to know what I'm talking about when sometimes I don't even know what I'm talking myself!

Neo said...

you will call me when Jimmy Page is in town; right??

The mad woman behind the blog said...

I've got better ones but since I'm following a stream of these...I used to make out w/ Dolly's 2nd cousin. Though that's not near as cool as peeing on Prince's lawn.

Isn't riding the bus fun? If you come to SF, you've got to take MUNI. Lots of blog fodder there.

Pearl said...

Gregory, the day Jimmy comes to town is the day I call in sick and we just follow his little wizardly butt around...

Mad's Mom, you made out with Dolly Parton's second cousin! You really should have a tee-shirt made! :-) I don't think I've ever made out with anyone famous, although I did have a friend that made out with Eddie Vedder about 20 years ago, now that I think about it...

MamaOtwins+1 said...

THat last line says it all!

Unknown said...

And I thought I was all kinds of awesome because I knew someone who made an italian sub for Alec Baldwin...wow

just shows to go ya :)

Peace ~ Rene

Mandy_Fish said...

I love your bus blogs. It's even better than if you went to Mars or something.

Anonymous said...

Would it surprise you Pearl if I told you that as a young man I to shared a drink with Lemmy?!

Unknown said...

Well... of course you do!

Douglas said...

The closest I have come to a celebrity was seeing Adam West in a Rolls in the next lane in a traffic jam in Los Angeles back in 1970. I may have glimpsed Katherine Ross across a parking lot at the gas station near where I stuffed cushions at a furniture store. But I cannot be sure. Additionally, no one from any school I went to ever amounted to anything more than Felon of the Month at Raiford Prison.
I consider myself blessed.

mapstew said...

My guitar player met a John Lennon Impersonator last Saturday! :¬)

Chris said...

If you ever happen to meet Gene Simmons or Paul Stanley, you've gotta let me know!

Mixed Reflections said...

The economy has taxed all of us, and heavy metal stars of the past are no exception. How could he not recognize you?

Pearl said...

Sweet Cheeks, you little debbil you.  This is why I love you.

MamaOtwins+1, I know! My life is a whirlwind of near-star experiences!!

Rene, actually, that IS awesome. (And THANK YOU for saying “just shows to go ya”. That kind of thing cracks me up.)

Mandy’s Kidding, but you know, if the bus went to Mars? Think of the freaks!

Greenfingers, awww, now you’re just showing off!  That’s actually really cool. He’s a short little guy, isn’t he? And what’s with the way he sings “up” to the mic?! Definitely a little troll-ish… I still love him, though. Sang “Ace of Spades” at karaoke not long ago. I mighta bin drunk…

Suzyhaze, it’s what keeps me going!

Douglas, you and me both. One of the guys who lived in the trailer park we lived in from ’74 to ’78 is now in prison for life. We could’ve predicted that: he was screwed right from the beginning…

Mapstew, a John Lennon impersonator! See, I would’ve been excited about that.

Mr. Knucklehead, the last place I worked there was a guy whose last name was “Frehley” and I told him I loved his earlier work. A couple of us got a good chuckle but everyone else in the room assumed that we had worked together before!

Gropius, and to think! That guys still owes me ten bucks!

Warty Mammal said...

So cool.

Your life is much more interesting than mine. That's why I read your blog.

The Jules said...

A chap who works with us was in The Damned in the 90s, and I'm proud to say I persuaded him to buy a ukulele.

Punk's not dead!

People Who Know Me Would Say: said...

Once, on a trip south, I had drinks with daughter of the next door neighbor of the cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis' legendary 13 year old wife from the days of yore. Top that!

Christine Gram said...

The bus is the bottom of the American melting pot... all the good stuff is there, but don't scrape too hard.

Charlotte Ann said...

I was the backstage runner for ZZ Top when they did their Afterburner Concert and apppeared In Casper, Wyoming. I would drive Billy Gibbons back and forth to the hotel and hang with him in case he needed something. His tuner couldn't sew; I tacked the hem on those long black glittery coats and here's a secret for you..shhhhhh..don't tell a soul but they wear hot pink knee highs under those boots and I spent 3 hrs that day driving all over friggin Casper shopping for them!
It's a "luck" thing. Anyway..the band is a decent bunch of hardworking respectable guys..the roadies the same.

mapstew said...

Oh so was he! He actually paid money to see (and hear) this guy! Got the photo taken, spoke to him, asked about Yoko!

xxx

Elliott said...

Okay, since everyone else is posting their groovy near-celeb experiences, I have two!

My first college roommate went to high school with Henry Thomas, the kid who played Elliott in E.T. Said he was a major * (you Vonnegut fans know what that is...)

One of the women in a former writing group of mine is the cousin of Nancy Cartwright, the woman who voices Bart Simpson and a few other Simpsons characters.

Both of them give me a Bacon number of 4.

Mmmm...bacon.

Pearl said...

Miz Warty, it’s all in interpretation. :-D I had also not slept in three days, so that helps make life interesting!

The Jules, so odd that you mention The Damned – they are part of the iPod’s weekend prediction line-up. How cool! (and punk lives!)

My Name Is PJ, there is no topping the drinks with the daughter of the next-door neighbor of Jerry Lee Lewis’s first wife, esp. when she was his 13-year-old cousin! Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!

Christine, dammit, Christine. I wish I’d said that.

Charlotte Ann, really?! What a great job that would’ve been! And honestly, I’m surprised you found hot pink knee highs in Casper!

Mapstew, I’ll bet that guy gets questions about Yoko all the time. You know, a lot of people say derogatory things about her, but what the hell – he was full-grown, he knew what he was doing!

Elliott, you got me on the “Bacon number of 4” bit for just a moment before I realized that you were talking about 7 Degrees of Kevin Bacon. :-D I, too, jumped right to “mmmm. Bacon!”

Pat said...

In 1993, I saw Mario Lopez at the bottom of Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. I took his picture, much to the embarrassment of my three sons (10, 12, 14 at the time). It wasn't because I was a fan; it was only because he was a minor celebrity.

Linda said...

I'll jump in too. I used to work with a woman whose fiance is Queen Latifah's uncle. And she's been to family parties with her.

My brother was a roadie for the Beach Boys, Prince and Lionel Ritchie among others - going back some years!

Pat said...

Oh, just one more...My son and his buddy (California college students) ran into Mr. Rogers (yes,THE Fred Rogers Mr. Rogers) in Penn Station in NYC in 1998. They were cool, cynical college guys, but they were SO excited to see Mr. Rogers, talk to him and get their picture taken with him. My son's friend's name was Fred, too, and Mr. Rogers spent quite awhile visiting with them even though his agent/assistant was trying to rush him along.