I am in a fairly non-sensical mood today, so I am not feeling too smart. I was reading a thread and I saw Goldlum, whose avatar was a picture of the man himself. My reaction was along the lines of "Jeff Goldblum on AD!!! [Insert phrases noting excitement here]. The members profile didn't note anything to prove or disprove the identity, so Im assuming he's just a Goldblum-fiend, which is cool. It got me thinking though, there are a lot of members on AD, I wonder if there is anyone I'd recognize... So I wanted to start this.

Is there anyone here on AD who has published material, or established an entertainment career whom would like to out themselves?

or in other words...

Are there any 'famous people' here?

This would be a good opportunity to tout your new book, or documentary or any other odd-jobs us politically savvy folks migh be dreaming up.

(I know that establishing a recognizable public persona would probably make debating here harder so I don't know how realistic a question like this is.)

Famous? Not me. I'm so far under fame's radar that I've considered taking the pseudonym of "Blipless."

Yet I'm a twice published author. Oh well, so much for getting published and the fame/fortune immediately following. That hardly ever happens.

But let's say I were to become famous through the twists and turns of fate. Would I keep anonymous on a political board? Probably. Might even just lurk, looking for ideas to "borrow."

Also, some members have quite extensive resumes and so would be known among fairly broad circles. Maybe not to People magazine.

I'm reading a book, the author's third, and it has achieved best-seller status. It's very good (Life of Pi). I figured it'd be very good because the cashier at a grocery store recommended it. She couldn't sing its praises loud enough.

Had she been gushing over a new Stephen King novel, I'd probably not have paid much attention. That isn't the kind of literature I'm interested in. But the underlying idea of a kid sharing a lifeboat with a tiger intrigued me, and so far, a few chapters in, I've not been disappointed. This is not Calvin and Hobbes.

Anyway, point is that famous people don't just happen overnight for the vast majority who have found fame. After two duds, the now sort of famous author (getting there mode) got a hit. Hey, maybe my third book will zoom! I'd like it to. It'd be very gratifying and would give a needed boost to my personal economy.

And then would the AM member disappear from this board to be replaced with Blipless Man or something like that? Don't know. Wish fate would give me an opportunity to find out. I'd also like the challenge of handling mountains of money.

Ah, well . . . Fame.

Are there any 'famous people' here?

Famous? Well Infamous would be a better description of me, at least in Spain where, 14 years ago in a town call Cartahena <sp?> a few fellow sailors and I would had enjoyed a bit too many beverages at a local establishment and decided late one evening to attempt to "barrow" a 700+ pound statue of an old fisherman because we thought it would look great in our lounge onboard ship. Of course the local police disagreed with our assessment of the best location for the statue, and a "heated debate" as well as a short stay in a local "barred boarding house" soon followed. Thankfully, our Master Chief (E-9) was able to resolve the situation through the use of "greenback reason" in the discussion with local officials the following afternoon.

No I am not famous, and I doubt I ever will be. My only real chance at fame is a political career and I love and cherish my family to much to consider one an option.

And no, I am not really MillHouse.

I used to be famous in the kind of "third security person to be killed on the Enterprise" kind of fame, which is to say that the people who know who you are are very very scary....

It's better to be rich , which I'm not either, but I'm pretty sure I could make rich last longer.

Famous? No, I'm not famous at the moment.

I may become famous someday when I become a politician, whether in France, the EU or the US... maybe you'll see more of me then.

I'm famous.

2,178 people know me as "Mike, one of the admins at America's Debate."



Mike (one of the admins at America's Debate)

Well, my illustrious claim to fame was when I was shown in a Discovery Channel show on conquering fear, and on an Army recruiting commercial and a couple of spots during the time those two entities were in cahoots. Both when I taught at Airborne School.
Woo-hoo.......you all saw me right? Right? Hello, is this thing on?

Were you the one with the buzz cut? Yeah, I think I remember you.

Yes, I'm famous. My reputation is world wide.

Is there anyone here on AD who has published material, or established an entertainment career whom would like to out themselves?

Yes: I've been published in the William Blount High Literary/Arts Magazine. Does that qualify me for a Pulitzer?

I have been published many times. Sometimes as a model but mostly travel writings and photos, some stuff in San Francisco Focus (in depth, Chinatown) but the most noteworthy being photos I took which were published in a big coffee table book on Special Olympics during Barcelona in 1992. I was stationed on the field right in front of the King and Queen of Spain and the Queen of Sweden during opening ceremonies but also took innovative for the time (moving pics) photos of wheelchair races and other. I cried when the SP. Olympics were over and swore Id never again complain about anything.
I also took lots of photos of the Prince of Spain and various spanish aristocracy as a sailing photog, photos of Indurain and some other sports personalities of the era. I was commisioned by Catalana de Gas to follow the Olympic torch through Madrid. (Imagine me running after them, cutting through blocks to meet them enroute, photobag on back and trying to snap, I was fitter then) Ive been published in GEO which is akin somewhat to europes national geographic mag., lesser quality. I have an agency there that sold my work so its been all over europe way back when but nothing HUGE.

The best story I have is the day I didnt make a million dollars. I was in a secluded cove in Menorca Spain. I had just finished a long summer with the Olympics and decided to go out on the boat and leave the cameras at the condo.( to rest, ha!)
Along comes Prince Charles and the two kids....next on another little speedboat comes Di, shes rides by and looks right at us, and theres noone there but us and them. Shes so close we can see her easily on the boat anchored next to us, she gets into a bikini and swims right by us, and we chat with the bodyguards who are swimming behind her, saying things like 'nice job, etc.' Im losing it because I dont have the cameras, but I have a videocam, however Im not used to paparazzi work and dont want to invade her privacy so I get nothing. We spend all day next to each other sunning, swimming, Charles beachcombing and everyone basically enjoying the privacy. ( the reporters had been purposely misinformed and were all at the Mallorca airport.) The Britannia sailing outside in deeper water.

A month later I get a call from the friend I went on vacation with, he HAS to take me to dinner. At dinner he presents me with an article from the newspaper.
" Italian photographer makes millions, only photos of Diana in bikini all summer, sold to every outlet worldwide" in Sardinia several weeks after we had been so close we could have spoken! nevermind the pics I could have gotten with and 80-200 zoom ( not powerful, no real spying needed) My friend gave me a very expensive watch and apologized for not going back to get the cameras, (he knew it was a big loss) but it wasnt his fault, who could have known, not I.
I knew nothing about paparazzi work and always thought it was the scourge of the biz, but its still the day I lost a million, there is no doubt.

My last claim to fame was on The Starship Millenium 2000- a volunteer gig research vessel which was doing a circumnavigation of the world with an online journal and pics. People were living vicariously through this journey and writing us all the time. The boat was decked out with latest age digital equipment and a computer in every stateroom. We did shark dives, both cage and open water, the giant manta in Soccorro Mexico and stellar seals, whale sharks and pilot whales during my leg (the americas) as cook. Lost friends have actually found me again by that coming up when you type in my name on search engines.
Fantasic marine and worldwide photo gallery, the trip was amazing:
http://www.ms-starship.com/star.htm

I have been infamous once, when I came out very publicly and consistantly on message boards where many people knew me personally in Texas! against the Afghan war. Won me about as much popularity as a fox in a hen house.
Thats when I did so much research that my life became overwhelmingly political in these last years. Now I just get editorials published occasionally, no fame (or money) in that either!

Ok its not Goldblum, but werent all baby boomes born stars? At least Im a legend in my own mind. .