Meeting the Rain Man

We had just met Tom Cruise on Friday so I was intrigued when Dustin Hoffman was scheduled to give a speech this evening here in Los Angeles. Hoffman is hit or miss, sometimes signing and sometimes not. He usually only signs one each on the occasions that he does sign but in a crowd it is possible to obtain multiple autographs. A lady asked us if we were Dustin fans and then offered for us to go ahead and go into the speech, as there were empty seats in the back of the small auditorium. Dustin was on stage and as he finished signed two or three autographs at the edge of the stage. He was about to sign my item but stopped and was quickly rushed off stage.
This venue was a little tricky as there are multiple exits and we were unsure which Hoffman would use to make his exit. Rounding the building and checking several possible exits, I spotted Hoffman signing autographs for a few collectors as I rounded the corner of the building. I ran up and held out my copy of "The Graduate" DVD. Dustin signed it with the black Sharpie that he had in his hand and then autographed another fan's item. Hoffman's people were saying "last one" and attempting to rush him to his awaiting car but I had the actual DVD for "The Graduate" and he signed it with a signature not as nice as the other one I had just received. Nonetheless, it was awesome to obtain two autographs from this acting legend!

Meeting Tom Cruise

Just got home from a very successful day, wrapping it up by scoring multiple Tom Cruise autographs. After his appearance on a television talk show this evening, Cruise signed up a storm for collectors and fans. As expected with an "A-lister", it was chaotic, with pushing and shoving by people in their pursuit for autographs. Cruise had a black Sharpie which he signed with the entire time, signing photographs in good areas where the autograph could best be seen. Sometimes this is a problem as celebrities sometimes sign the autograph in a dark area of the photo, making it less visually appealing. Cruise seemed to place his signature on the lighter areas of the photographs, where it stands the best chance of being visible. Whether it was the first or last autograph he signed, Cruise is very consistent with his signature. He signs a nice, big autograph with an over-sized "T" in "Tom" and a large "C" in "Cruise" dominating his signature. While not an "every letter" autograph, you can still generally see a lower-case "o" and a line for the "m". Cruise does not pick up the pen when he signs an autograph as the "Tom" part of the signature flows right into the "C" in "Cruise". He makes a little bump for the "r" in "Cruise" and sometimes another bump for the "s" but not always. No matter what, Cruise always seems to sign the lower-case "e" at the end of his last name. Most of the time Cruise puts a dot for the "i" in his last name, though it varies a bit in placement from autograph to autograph, sometimes falling inside the loop of the "C" in "Cruise" yet not existing at all in some signatures.

My sister was in the front row behind a barricade and was getting pushed from behind by the crowd. Cruise noticed this and said to my sister, "Give me everything you've got and I'll sign it". Handing him her photographs, he signed them all and asked her how she was doing. Even in the hectic situation, Cruise was still attempting to converse with fans (especially those in front) and even posed for photographs with some people.

RUSH Gets A Star In Hollywood!

Canadian rock band RUSH received a star this morning on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, honoring their presence as one of the biggest and most storied bands in Rock 'n Roll history. Forming over forty years ago, RUSH still releases albums and tours extensively to promote them and satisfy fans who continue to clamor, year after year, to see and hear them perform live.

Drummer Neil Peart is renowned for his talents on the skins but is also known for his reclusiveness, very often shying away from the attention of one of the world's biggest rock stars. While a disappointment, it also came as no surprise that Peart did not show up for the star ceremony. Two-thirds of the band did and it was exciting to listen to lead vocalist/bassist/keyboardist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson speak and express their gratitude to the fans who have made all of this possible for them. Lee described the ceremony in his speech as being "a beautiful, surreal moment".

After the speeches and posing with the unveiling of the RUSH star, Lifeson and Lee disappeared, going into an alley that was blocked from view by the assembled press. A few minutes later to the cheers of fans, Geddy Lee appeared and began signing autographs with a black Sharpie marker. I managed to get three in the crowd and my sister equaled my score. Lee worked his way over the crowd for a minute or so and then was done signing, disappearing to talk with the media. The crows began chanting, "Alex! Alex! Alex!" and he soon answered the call, appearing from the alley and immediately coming to the section where we were. I managed to get two items signed and my sister got one as well. Lifeson was friendly but did not sign long at all. Eventually, Lee re-emerged and signed a lot longer than the first time. We were fortunate to get three RUSH items with both of their signatures, including a whopping 15 autographs from Geddy Lee! We even scored pictures with the legendary front man, which was a challenge with the huge crowd. Lee took no more than four or five total pictures with fans so we were lucky. When my sister asked Geddy if she could take a photo with him he replied, "Sweetheart, anything for you".