6 Degrees of Separation

[skibob]

You know the rules. How many degrees of separation from famous, notorious, interesting people?

Selma Hayek. 4 Degrees. Our former au pair (nanny) who is still a good friend of ours. She has a cousin who is married to Selma Hayek's cousin.

John Mellencamp. 2 Degrees. My HS chemistry teacher was his aunt.

John Dilinger. 3 Degrees. My great aunt dated him growing up, before he became a notorious bank robber and gangster. She died before I was born, so 3 degrees. My mom knew her.

John Wooden. 3 Degrees. My grandmother grew up in Martinsville, IN where Wooden was from. She was several years younger, but small town, everybody knew everybody.

Emil Fry. 2 Degrees. Who the hell is that? Inventor of Velveeta. Went to grad school with his granddaughter. Had to look up his name. I just remember her always telling people her grandfather invented Velveeta. And I always thought "ok, but why would you actually admit it?" For any non-Americans who may be lucky enough to wonder what that is, its a 100% unnatural "cheese product". Disgusting.

 

[SBrown]

... I just remember her always telling people her grandfather invented Velveeta. And I always thought "ok, but why would you actually admit it?" For any non-Americans who may be lucky enough to wonder what that is, its a 100% unnatural "cheese product". Disgusting.

Makes really good queso when you mix it with cream cheese and Ro-Tel. But otherwise....

 

[bbinder]

The Marx Brothers - 3 degrees. My mom's father had a weekly pinochle game with Harpo and Chico.
Babe Ruth - 3 degrees. My mom played with his daughter when she was a child.
Jimmy Walker (mayor of NY, NY from 1926-1932) - 2 degrees. He used to visit my grandfather on Sundays and read my mom the Sunday comic section of the newspaper.

 

[KingGrump]

I just remember her always telling people her grandfather invented Velveeta. And I always thought "ok, but why would you actually admit it?" For any non-Americans who may be lucky enough to wonder what that is, its a 100% unnatural "cheese product". Disgusting.

It's pretty useful stuff, so long you don't think of it as cheese.

 

[Lorenzzo]

I might need a ruling on this one. A friend of mine was bitten by a dog named Shiloh that had ben given to his neighbor by Neal Diamond.

4? Does a dog break the chain?

 

[Philpug]

I will not get into the famous people in the ski industry, too easy.

John Lennon - 3 Degrees- I went out with a girl who used to baby sit Sean Lennon in the summer.
John Lennon - 2 Degrees- I went to a party at a guys house back in Philly, he had some of John's original drawings (think Imagine album cover)

 

[skibob]

I might need a ruling on this one. A friend of mine was bitten by a dog named Shiloh that had ben given to his neighbor by Neal Diamond.

4? Does a dog break the chain?

Dogs are people too.

 

[Dave Petersen]

- The movie MASH. I made snow for a movie being produced by Dana Altman -- nephew of MASH producer Robert Altman.

 

[pais alto]

This is crazy, and I know it's boasting, for that I apologize, but I'm pretty sure I can get to anyone you name in six or less. Here's just some examples why:

Politics: I worked in the federal government at the state and Washington DC level for a while, working with senators, congress members, and cabinet secretaries. People that worked for/with me had contact with presidents. Oh, and I ran into Muhammed Ali once on a fire assignment. Gary Johnson is an acquaintance.

Entertainment: my daughter's long-time boyfriend starred in a successful long-running tv series and has been in several movies - he's got great stories. I work as a movie extra regularly, brushing up against Hollywood types. When I worked in an outdoor shop in Santa Fe I helped lots of celebrities, including but not limited to Bill Murray, Alan Arkin, Jeremy Irons, Tommy Lee Jones, and Harry Connick Jr. I also helped Cormac McCarthy and N. Scott Momaday there. Living in Santa Fe I've run into people in places like restaurants like Jake Gyllenhall, Robert Duvall, Shirley McLaine and Renee Zellweger. I'm not going to go into the news and music industry connections.

Skiing/Outdoors: A friend has been featured in ski porn - Steep - and has been on the Steve Colbert Show and at least one of the morning news shows (Good Morning America?). Now, there's a key six degree connection. And I've high-fived Johnny Moseley in the Wolf Creek parking lot. Had dinner with Conrad Anker and Jimmy Chin. Todd Skinner was married to a friend from my fire crew days. I got tons more.

A couple of my high school acquaintances went on to a certain level of fame. One of them was the Snowman in The Falcon and The Snowman book/movie.

Then there's you guys and people on other forums. For someone that's kind of unsociable, I've gotten around.

 

[SBrown]

I accidentally rubbed asses with Jerry Falwell one time.

 

[pais alto]

I accidentally rubbed asses with Jerry Falwell one time.

Ewww...

 

[Tricia]

Payton Manning - 2 degrees my nephew was his caddy at a golf course in Tennessee
Larry Campbell - 2 degrees. He grew up near my home town. His mom worked at our local hospital and was involved in the local theater for as long as I can remember. She is an incredible lady.
Daniel Tosh (Tosh.0) - 1 degree - I took his snowboard for a tune and wax at TN. I had no idea who he was, but the younger staff knew and clued me in. I think that's why I picked me. I had no idea who he was. But then he had no idea who I was either. (he's a repeat customer)

 

[SBrown]

Ewww...

Taught me to be careful when squeezing through a crowd...

 

[markojp]

Had lunch with Phillip Roth several times summer between jr and sr year in undergrad. He was buddies with a sculptor I worked for. Also screened phone calls for him... Arthur Miller, Dustin Hoffman, Linda Hunt were all pretty frequent callers we took messages for. A friend in undergrad spent the day with Paul McCartney. Yes, he was married, and no, no funny business, just spent the day with him. Said he was a great guy and a perfect gentlemen. I road about ten miles with Robin Williams on a bike ride in Vancouver BC. He was solo, I caught up. Probably rose about 5-6 just chatting before I figured out who it was. My old girlfriend way back when was a banquet waitress at the SFO Hilton while she was in school. The 49ers stayed there for home games. She served pretty much everyone (no, not that 'served') in the Joe Montana era. The running joke was who asked her out on any given home game Sunday morning... Jerry Rice was one. Yes, he was married. Odd ski world one... Nordic so I'll toss it in. Dieter Thoma, German ski jumping ace. I knew his brother and cousin and had trained with them. Was visiting their house and this crazy little kid jumps out of tree onto my back. It was Dieter. Also have a god friend who's a camera operator in Vancouver BC. He's worked with pretty much everyone. My cousin's husband is an instrument tech. He's toured with Metallica, Springsteen, Dylan, etc... The funniest one might be a friend in undergrad. She was always quiet about who her father was. This was pre-interwebz... we finally figured it out. It was 'Sarge' from Gomer Pyle. Another friend babysat for Clint Eastwood and Sandra Lock. Last one, grew up with and spent alot of time with Taylor Lautner's dad. He was an amazing athlete and on the US development team including top 5 NorAm and Europa Cup seasons.

 

[bbinder]

Ewww...

My reaction exactly

 

[SBrown]

I won't list them all, but I was thinking of this one the other day; at least the hockey fans will appreciate. When Ryan Smyth moved to Denver to play for the Avs, one of my best friends was his interior designer. She sometimes hires me to do grunt work for her (ie, she's short and I can reach stuff better); a few years before I was supposed to unload the library in Joe Sakic's house, but I had a sick kid and had to cancel. Anyway, I spent all day in the Smyths' new pad, hanging pictures, crawling under beds to plug things in, that sort of thing. I believe I might have called my husband from the toilet of their powder room, too.

In the coming months, I used to see him and his family all the time. His wife had a baby boy a few months after they moved, and I used to hold him in the church nursery where I volunteered at the time. Saw them at my friend's pool a few times, too. It was just kind of weird, how often we crossed paths. He lived over by a lot of the other Avs players (the older ones with families) but I didn't come across them so much.

Oh, the other hockey guy was Pierre Turgeon, whose daughter played on my daughter's soccer team for a few years. Super duper nice guy, and family.

 

[SBrown]

My reaction exactly

And mine, when I realized it....

 

[scott43]

I don't really know anyone famous..not knowingly anyway..but I have a great family and they're all heroes and superstars to me, even if hey don't have huge butts and a reality show..

 

[scott43]

Oh, the other hockey guy was Pierre Turgeon, whose daughter played on my daughter's soccer team for a few years. Super duper nice guy, and family.

Whatevs..Dale Hunter sure didn't like him..

 

[SBrown]

Whatevs..Dale Hunter sure didn't like him..

oh my ...