Celebrity Spotting

Yesterday online, I met a Chinese gay twink 10 years my junior and he was screaming that he was bored and wanted to do something, so we decided to visit the brand new karaoke bar within a walking distance. I don't have a single friend in the States that speaks my native language: Cantonese, so I was very excited to meet someone and perhaps even putting my foot into a totally different social circle. (He knows how to play Mahjong and knows people who periodically get together for a game)

Apparently there's a Hongkonger singing competition coming up and he's going to try it out in August. The kid can sing pretty well, I'm convinced every person from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Japan can sing now after the invention of Karaoke. Okay, I take it back, some uses karaoke as a vehicle for torture more than anything. I haven't sing karaoke since last time I was in Hong Kong, that would be six years ago. And since I don't listen to much Chinese songs anymore, my repertoire is growing small. But we had a pretty fun night and it would be fun if he would win the competition and become the next bright star.

Come to think of it, I have actually been lucky enough to have spotted a few celebrities on my own. Well, I have attended performances of Amy Winehouse, Margaret Cho, Deborah Cox and a few Chinese singers. From movie previews, I have seen Ru Paul, Jay McCarroll, Chi Chi Larue and porn star Matthew Rush. I have bumped into Brad "The Rhino" Patton one night in Castro, and let me tell you that it's not necessarily a good thing to see a porn star in real life. I have also ran into a C-list Hong Kong TV star on the street and my classmate's brother is a famous Hong Kong movie director.

But the closest I've ever gotten to a celebrity was at a DVD signing event in Philly. It was for the US version for Queer as Folks. Hal Sparks, Harris Allen and one of my all time favorite TV stars Robert Gant was there. Oh, handsome Robert Gant... It was quite surreal to see him in real life, he doesn't look quite the same, his features were a lot more pronounced than I thought it would be. I got to shake his hands and we even spoke for a tiny, tiny bit. Although Hal Sparks was also there but I got too distracted and brushed him aside. No, I didn't need to be escorted out. I left voluntarily after a few minutes, the place was crowded with gays and I'm not the only one ogling at Bobby, I know my place.





What celebrities have you seen in real life?