It was early December and I
geared myself for a long and grueling weekend.
Day 1
I go to an airport for Scott Weiland and Buddy Guy. When there waiting I find out that Weiland changed his flight to a different airport
Off to a bad start. But all is not lost cause I have his updated flight info and Buddy Guy is still expected here. So I wait. I was at a spot different from the rest of the graphers (about 5 more besides me). From what I was told about Buddy Guy, you have to basically beg for him to do just one. So when I saw him I of course shot for the photo op first and got that. Then I had to beg for an auto as he accused me of being a dealer. I informed one of the other graphers that he is headed their way. As I walk to their area I then see them and they are still waiting, I greet them all with a smile as I anticipate a whole lot of begging and pleading from the five of them. They then ask me to disappear so I don't hurt their chances. As I would later find out he did combos with them (one per) but they REALLY had to beg and plead.
Off to a bad start. But all is not lost cause I have his updated flight info and Buddy Guy is still expected here. So I wait. I was at a spot different from the rest of the graphers (about 5 more besides me). From what I was told about Buddy Guy, you have to basically beg for him to do just one. So when I saw him I of course shot for the photo op first and got that. Then I had to beg for an auto as he accused me of being a dealer. I informed one of the other graphers that he is headed their way. As I walk to their area I then see them and they are still waiting, I greet them all with a smile as I anticipate a whole lot of begging and pleading from the five of them. They then ask me to disappear so I don't hurt their chances. As I would later find out he did combos with them (one per) but they REALLY had to beg and plead.
I then dash out for Scott Weiland. We were about three graphers but sadly he blew us all off 
We were expecting Dave Grohl to fly in later so we had to wait there no matter what. But wait! Some graphers are waiting for a flight with some Led Zeppelin merch! SCORE! But me with without my Led Zeppelin albums 
Either way would be nice to get some photo ops out of the way to make the rest of the weekend a little less stressful. First up is Jimmy Page, who is an asshole and does nothing. A pap friend of mine helps me out with some random walk along shots. A BIG thank you to him. So I just hope for the best. Sadly upon first glance none of them looked like they were passable photo ops. Next up we wait for John Paul Jones. He comes out an ignores people but then starts signing. I beg for a photo op and tell him I have nothing to get signed and he goes "oh all right" as I take it someone else asks for an op after me (my flash didn't even go off) and he tells him no that will be it AND MY PHOTO OP IS RUINED 
I then have to plead more telling him it didn't come out and he took another shot with me. At this spot I was the only one to get a photo op.
We were expecting Dave Grohl to fly in later so we had to wait there no matter what. But wait! Some graphers are waiting for a flight with some Led Zeppelin merch! SCORE! But me with without my Led Zeppelin albums Either way would be nice to get some photo ops out of the way to make the rest of the weekend a little less stressful. First up is Jimmy Page, who is an asshole and does nothing. A pap friend of mine helps me out with some random walk along shots. A BIG thank you to him. So I just hope for the best. Sadly upon first glance none of them looked like they were passable photo ops. Next up we wait for John Paul Jones. He comes out an ignores people but then starts signing. I beg for a photo op and tell him I have nothing to get signed and he goes "oh all right" as I take it someone else asks for an op after me (my flash didn't even go off) and he tells him no that will be it AND MY PHOTO OP IS RUINED I then have to plead more telling him it didn't come out and he took another shot with me. At this spot I was the only one to get a photo op.
Dave Grohl finally arrives and I get him on two Nirvana CD covers and a Foo Fighters one. I also get a photo op with Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
I will fast forward days after the weekend when I was upset because of this whole ordeal of a weekend (we will see later why as the report progresses) and saw all the Jimmy Page photos that were taken. I jumped with joy as I found out that ONE of them qualifies as a photo op as it looks like we are both posing for the camera! Jimmy Page would also do basically nothing all weekend so that was a major victory (although as I stated I didn't know it till a few days after the weekend).
Granted it looks like we're both disgusted and hateful. But BOTH our eyes are looking at the camera and it looks like we're both posing
Day 2
The day starts with a photo op with an older White guy named Ray Charles 
. Foo Fighters then come out. I get Pat Smear to sign my Foo Fighters CD cover and my Nirvana Unplugged CD cover (which he is in). And of course a photo op. Then I get David Grohl on another Nirvana CD cover.
. Foo Fighters then come out. I get Pat Smear to sign my Foo Fighters CD cover and my Nirvana Unplugged CD cover (which he is in). And of course a photo op. Then I get David Grohl on another Nirvana CD cover.
Led Zeppelin showed up. Plant and Page did nothing as they would do for the entire weekend. John Paul Jones signed and I asked for one he goes "I got you yesterday" and I pointed out I got no autos yesterday. After some pleading he goes "alright you big baby" and he signed for me. I actually got a better auto than most people did. The next day one guy offered me $50 for the signed album but I declined.
Dustin Hoffman, one of my top wants for the weekend, would provide me the biggest defeat and sour note of the entire weekend. All dealers were going insane, changing sides, pushing, shoving, shouting etc etc. Despite all the chaos I manage to get an autograph on the item I wanted signed the most: My Hook laserdisc cover signed by Robin Williams (and one of my favorite Robin Williams movies). Unfortunately he ruins it by signing over Robin Williams! WTF! 
Don't celebs know what hard work and sacrifice it is to get these autographs? Yet I got fucked over majorly! To add to the sorrow, misery, and defeat, I failed to get a photo op in all that chaos as he did not respond to my pleas. Had I gone for another auto I probably would have succeeded, but I wanted the photo op more. All other times he did nothing. So that was my only shot. This defeat would ruin my entire day and sour my entire weekend (and was the reason I took long to post this report).
Don't celebs know what hard work and sacrifice it is to get these autographs? Yet I got fucked over majorly! To add to the sorrow, misery, and defeat, I failed to get a photo op in all that chaos as he did not respond to my pleas. Had I gone for another auto I probably would have succeeded, but I wanted the photo op more. All other times he did nothing. So that was my only shot. This defeat would ruin my entire day and sour my entire weekend (and was the reason I took long to post this report).
I would only feel better about this defeat after seeing my Jimmy Page photo op days later. Of course I would have preferred a Dustin Hoffman photo op, but the way I see it I will get another chance at Hoffman, but there probably won't be more chances at Jimmy Page.
Next the band Hart arrived and they did a bit and nothing more, and nothing more the entire weekend. Same with David Letterman. Ray Romano shows up and was friendly. I manage to get my first major photo op for the day.
I then miss a very friendly Jimmy Kimmel cause I went someone else to get a Michelle Lee photo op.
Next up was Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts. Already had Liev so concentrated on Naomi Watts. She was leaving then I plead some and she looks at my camera and I got the shot as she left. I also got Kim Wilson and Beth Hart photo ops.
Buddy Guy arrived and did some autographs and photos but didn't come by me and did nothing the whole weekend. A bit of a bummer but thankfully I got him the day before.
Jeff Beck and Bonnie Raitt were total dicks. Did nothing for no one. Then this was the end for this spot.
After this I made the stupid move of going home to get some rest. Cause if I stuck around more I probably could have gotten more at the hotel if I tried.
Day 3
Day starts off slow with some names. But I manage to correct my mistake from yesterday and score a Jimmy Kimmel photo op. Blu Lou shows up and is very nice but I got him before so didn't bother. Then I get a Kim Wilson combo and a Kenny Aronoff photo op. Jack Black then starts signing. I manage to get him on a Kung Fu Panda photo. And he actually makes a goofy face in my photo op! Not a major victory since I had photo ops with him, but kinda a nice feeling to have gotten the only photo op he did the entire weekend (though I did feel bad for Joresky since he needed a photo op with him). And this is my best Jack Black photo op.
names. But I manage to correct my mistake from yesterday and score a Jimmy Kimmel photo op. Blu Lou shows up and is very nice but I got him before so didn't bother. Then I get a Kim Wilson combo and a Kenny Aronoff photo op. Jack Black then starts signing. I manage to get him on a Kung Fu Panda photo. And he actually makes a goofy face in my photo op! Not a major victory since I had photo ops with him, but kinda a nice feeling to have gotten the only photo op he did the entire weekend (though I did feel bad for Joresky since he needed a photo op with him). And this is my best Jack Black photo op.
Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey did nothing for no one. Alec has become a major dick lately he used to be cool. Then Robert Deniro and Morgan Freeman show up. Morgan does nothing for no one. Robert takes care of one side going in and one side going out. I was in the going out side. I manage to get a pretty amazing autograph. It was a GREAT feeling to not worry about the photo op since I have a good one already.
Kid Rock arrived and I got an autograph. Already had a good photo op.
I then get a Nate Mendel combo (Foo Fighters CD) but an old lady who wanted her pen back asks for it back BEFORE it flashes and he's looking down a bit as he gives it back to her (though you can't really tell in the photo). I would get a chance to rectify that later.
Actor Billy Connolly is nice to everyone. I got a combo. Liev and Naomi show up again. I got a Liev auto. My previous shot with Naomi she is wearing shades and a scarf so I figured why not get an upgrade. She recognized me camera and goes "I got you yesterday" and moved away but thankfully I managed to get a perfect clean shot before she could move away 
After some hours of waiting, it is time for the next round. There were so many people in this round that you pick up whatever scraps you can. Someone paid me money to get them a Yankees ball signed by Cal Ripken Jr. I didn't realize the invalidity of that till someone pointed it out to me. And even Cal was surprised at it. But he did sign it. I wanted a photo op but sadly didn't get one. Then I got a Linda Carter autograph. Lenny Kravits takes some merch from a few people, and I was one of them. Sadly I had nothing for him so got him on a blank. He is a total douche and he avoided fans the whole weekend. Although most people did nothing in this round, but he did. Strange.
After this is was basically see who you can get. Got another Beth Hart photo op. Got a much nicer Nate Mendel photo op. Got a photo op with model Nicole Trunfio. And got a photo op with Jason Bonham (son of original Led Zeppelin drummer). It was horrible to see how many people were doing nothing for no one. I even tried begging as they were going by. Sadly, I did miss one major name that actually did combos. There were two doors people were coming out from and I was at the wrong one at that time. John Paul Jones was the one. Would have been nice to end the night with more autographs from him (though he might not have done them for me anyway since he remembered me).
Sadly this weekend was filled with misery for several reasons. So many people doing nothing, some that did a little but I didn't get them (like Letterman), missing out on possibly getting a big name or two at the hotel due to the desire to rest, and of course the Dustin Hoffman disaster that ruined one of my favorite movie projects and yielded no photo op. Despite that, it is really tough to call the weekend as a whole a failure. I got several autographs and photo ops with Foo Fighters. I got photo ops with Jimmy Page and Naomi Watts. I got combos with Billy Connolly, Jack Black, Ray Romano, and John Paul Jones. I got an autograph from Robert Deniro. So just those alone make it a successful trek. Plus I felt a whole lot better once I saw that I actually got a Jimmy Page photo op. One other guy who tried at the hotel got interrogated by police after the fact (and banned from the hotel).
Now to showcase the autos.
I think I will try to remove the Robin Williams and make it a Dustin Hoffman only item. Then try to get Robin again since he's super duper nice. If that does not work I will toss the item and buy a new one.
Signed blanks (Liev Schreiber, Kid Rock, Kim Wilson, Billy Connolly, Lenny Kravitz)
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