6 Degrees of Separation

[skibob]

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.

Well that is the whole theory (from a Kevin Bacon movie). Everybody in the world is connect with 6 degrees of separation. Its the less than 6 that makes it interesting.

I think it also requires "knowing", not just "oh I saw (or rubbed buts with ".

I saw Mr. T once. The school my daughter attended featured the children of Peter Krause (6 feet under/parenthood), Les Claypool (Primus), Duskie Estes (Iron Chef), Douglas Keane (Top Chef Masters) among others. I saw all of them around from time to time, but I didn't really know any of them. Of course, I knew lots of people at the school, some of whom surely knew these people. But I can't specifically trace the lineage . . .

 

[bbinder]

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)

I met a girl that used to babysit Sean Lennon when he was quite young! She remarked, with awe, about watching him pick up a guitar and play the crap out of it.

An acquaintance of mine was walking on the beach in Miami with his guitar and ran across Lennon and Harry Nilsson sitting on a blanket. The idiot asked them to show him how to tune his guitar.

 

[neonorchid]

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. -

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.

I hear you!

This thread is "chairlift talk" for sure. Only afterward, and regardless of how benign I spin it to not come off as boasting when the others can't reciprocate stories, I'm left feeling like I've been a condescending douche for bringing it up.

Btw, a brother-in-law of mine has a cousin who is friends with "The Snowman". Of course, the cousin's debut LP (written and performed by), went multi-platinum (over double diamond actually), in its first year and continues to be relevant. The band put out a pretty good LP about a year ago too. Have to say, backstage at concerts did not live up to the wild imagination of my youth! @#%$#&#!!!

 

[neonorchid]

Well that is the whole theory (from a Kevin Bacon movie). Everybody in the world is connect with 6 degrees of separation. Its the less than 6 that makes it interesting.

Friends mother worked for Kevin's father (City Planning), she herself a direct descendant of a former President of the USA and other luminaries.

 

[KingGrump]

Dogs are people too.

Lots of women think men are dogs. So that would make sense.

 

[fatbob]

I've eaten waffles in the Crystal Hut at Blackcomb with Jack Bauer.

I also rode in a cable car at Alps D'Huez with the dude who was in Spooks so pretty close to lots of imaginary terrorists getting a beat down.

I think ski degrees of separation for people who aren't famous for being skiers is probably a better game.

 

[Lorenzzo]

Ok...without mentioning those to whom I feel a responsibility, I once made Tom Hanks wait for me in the men's room at the Stein Eriksen lodge. There was one stall and I was in it. As I left, before I looked up to make eye contact, I apologized for making him wait. Afterwards he caught up with me and we rode the chair together. He said we couldn't become friends unless we agreed to never tell anyone where we met. The next time I saw him he had just done his ACL on the hill and was on a toboggan.

Bill Clinton was in the adjacent box at Staples during a Paul McCartney concert. I figured this out when a crowd had gathered in front of us and was looking back. I turned to look in the next box, separated by glass, and he was staring at my ex-wife. I gave him the dirtiest, most threatening look I could muster for an ex-President surrounded by Secret Service agents and fawning women.

Charles Bronson used to run through the UCLA campus at about the same time as me. Eventually we recognized each other and would nod when we passed. So we were close. (inside joke for people from LA). Cindy Crawford shared a DIA shuttle with me. Tall woman.

I guided the rock group Pablo Cruise at Heavenly many years ago.

A friend of mine was a neighbor of Stein's. If one of them spotted the other without being seen they would try and hit the other in the face with a snowball. On one occasion I took a bigger hit than his target/my friend.

I can mention a family friend who passed not long ago. Vince Bugliosi tried Charles Manson and was a family friend. He needed extra security through much of his life and was close friends with my aunt and uncle. That group would collect at the Playboy Mansion for many years. My aunt is a confident to one of HH's ex wives who remained on the compound.

Steven Spielberg repeatedly danced on my line on the practice putting green at Bel Air one morning. For anyone at all in the know as to golf etiquette, it was crap behavior. Steven, I hope you're seeing this.

I did a development tour in Stockton at a time when the tv show A-team was often on location. Mr. T worked out in the same gym as me while he was there and at times we spotted each other. I tried not to embarrass him. Actually, he always worked out in a nylon suit. There's no way he was taller than 5'5".

Cliff Robertson used to sit in the same box as me at Chargers games. We said his to each other a few times.

 

[skibob]

Totally forgot this one until just now. For all of you motorcycle racing fans:

Freddy Spencer: 2 degrees. My aunt was his personal secretary.

 

[Jenny]

I was at a hockey game at the Joe once and all of a sudden there was some activity in the suite next to us. Our CFO (who was late forties at the time, like me) all of a sudden turned into a 14 year old girl.

Her - is that Kid Rock? OMG, I think that's Kid Rock! (repeated over and over and over again while grabbing my arm)

Me - who's Kid Rock?

Her - and Uncle Cracker!

Me - WTF is Uncle Cracker?

She ended up with Kid Rock's autograph. And had to get one for our CEO, too, under the guise it was "for his daughter".

The funniest part though was when she called her son to tell him. He was infatuated with Pam Anderson and it was shortly after they'd broken up. He demanded to talk to the Kid so he could tell him he'd made a terrible mistake and should fix it ASAP.

I also have a couple of autographs from when I worked at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. Bob Hope and Dizzy Gillespie.

 

[KevinF]

My friend Margot is (was...) a real Hollywood actress. At any rate, according to the Oracle of Bacon, her Bacon Number is two, which means I can get to Kevin Bacon himself in three.

My former girlfriend Amy was neighbors with the girl who would babysit Coach K (head coach of the Duke men's basketball team's) kids. So that gets me to Coach K in, what, three steps?

 

[Jenny]

My friend Margot is (was...) a real Hollywood actress. At any rate, according to the Oracle of Bacon, her Bacon Number is two, which means I can get to Kevin Bacon himself in three.

My cousin and aunt are/were both actors, so through them I suppose I could get a pretty low number to a lot of Hollywood and Broadway actors, without ever actually meeting them. It's not as fun as the in-person ones, though. But the couple of times it's maybe happened IRL I didn't really believe it was them.

 

[Don in Morrison]

I can get to most of NASCAR within 3 or 4 degrees by having known Fritz Wilson, a Denver driver who led the first lap of the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959, and after having been passed on the second lap, discovered the art of drafting. I was the "gofer" on a pit crew for a car he drove for one race a Lakeside Speedway in Denver. I later had the opportunity to paint a picture of his race car and sell it to him.

Come to think of it, that same connection can get me out to Indycar and Formula 1 because he also raced with future Indy Car driver Jim Malloy at Lakeside, and he finished second to Parnelli Jones in the Stock class at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in 1964, a couple weeks after having raced against him in a USAC Stock Car road race at Continental Divide Raceway. Parnelli won that one too, and Fritz finished 6th.

 

[Dadskier]

Harry Connick Jr - knew his sister Susie when I was in the Army
Susan Sarandon - worked with her brother at a restaurant in Bar Harbor and met her dad once

Steven Tyler - just bumped into him a few times out and about in MA, but probably most people around here have.

 

[Josh Matta]

O degrees.

Abigal Johnson
50 cent
James Taylor
Doug Lewis
Gary Oldman

The worst zero degrees of separation is Wendy Bell, who I use to teach skiing to in Pa.

1 degree of separation of the family man from The Wailers. Which would put me 2 degrees from Bob Marley if he was still alive. That one has a funny story, Diane comes and tell me that one of her busters dad is in a reggae band and the end of the year part of her tip was a wailers T shirt which then she was finally like oh.....

 

[Lorenzzo]

How could I forget Alan Alda? He absentmindedly almost ran me down in a crosswalk and had to jam on his brakes. This was on the UCLA campus. He was driving a light blue Mercedes. I turned to see who it was and he had the most terrified look on his face, I couldn't even get mad. Good actor. I had some fun that day telling classmates and friends I was almost run over by Alan Alda.

 

[skibob]

My friend Margot is (was...) a real Hollywood actress. At any rate, according to the Oracle of Bacon, her Bacon Number is two, which means I can get to Kevin Bacon himself in three.

My former girlfriend Amy was neighbors with the girl who would babysit Coach K (head coach of the Duke men's basketball team's) kids. So that gets me to Coach K in, what, three steps?

Bacon number. Good question! Turns out mine is a 3. Ever seen a Keanu Reeves film called "The Replacements"? Okay, I'll admit I've never seen it. But all of those scenes where Keanu is playing football with his helmet on? Was a former student of mine (Matt, can't recall his last name anymore). He had played QB at Kentucky and gotten injured in camp and never made an NFL team. He had never finished his degree and was finishing up now a few years later. He was also an aspiring actor. I would see him at the rec center in between acting jobs. One of which was The Replacements.

So, 1 degree to Keanu, whose Bacon is 2.

 

[skibob]

I can get to most of NASCAR within 3 or 4 degrees by having known Fritz Wilson, a Denver driver who led the first lap of the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959, and after having been passed on the second lap, discovered the art of drafting. I was the "gofer" on a pit crew for a car he drove for one race a Lakeside Speedway in Denver. I later had the opportunity to paint a picture of his race car and sell it to him.

Come to think of it, that same connection can get me out to Indycar and Formula 1 because he also raced with future Indy Car driver Jim Malloy at Lakeside, and he finished second to Parnelli Jones in the Stock class at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in 1964, a couple weeks after having raced against him in a USAC Stock Car road race at Continental Divide Raceway. Parnelli won that one too, and Fritz finished 6th.

I've met (but not really "known") many modestly well known racers. The coolest by far was Mel Kenyon (famous for driving most of his career with most of one hand missing). But the two most famous I "met" at the same time. In the pits in Indy in the month of May. I walked into the bathroom and two men walked in right behind me chatting. I had chosen the middle of 3 urinals, so they walked up on either side of me and continued talking to each other. That is when I realized it was AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti.

 

[KevinF]

Regarding Bacon Numbers... What I find amusing is that Kevin Bacon himself isn't the "center of the universe" as the game seems to imply. And, in fact, the real center of the universe is (currently) Eric Roberts, who I never even heard of:

The worst zero degrees of separation is Wendy Bell, who I use to teach skiing to in Pa.

As I understood the game, "zero degrees" means you are the person being linked to. i.e., the only person with a Bacon Number of zero is Kevin Bacon himself. Is the degrees of separation the number of people you have to go through to get to the target, or the number of steps it takes?

 

[SkiNurse]

Kevin Bacon: 6 degrees of separation
#1: My friend Nancy's
#2 (Ex)boyfriend Tad's
#3 Sister's best friend is..
#4 Jill Goodacre; who is married to......
#5 Harry Connick Jr; who was in "Will and Grace" with...
#6 KEVIN BACON!!!

 

[SkiNurse]

I accidentally rubbed asses with Jerry Falwell one time.