[quote=Austruck][quote=Austruck]Oh, also... I was delighted that Mel didn't feel he COULDN'T be affectionate with his fans. He wasn't gropey or anything. Just delightful. How can you NOT love Mel Brooks? He's infectious in person. We all got access to each other's professional photos from that night, and it was fun seeing some of the stunts Mel pulled with other people. One guy even PROPOSED in front of Mel, who played along![/quote]
To be clear, that guy proposed TO HIS GIRLFRIEND, not to Mel! :D I think she accepted.[/quote]

[quote=Austruck][quote=doubledenim][font=century gothic]I am a fan of of "experience" over "responsibility" though.

Once-in-a-lifetime opportunities are that for a reason. If you are a little short, charge it. Especially if you die before you pay-it-back :D[/font][/quote]
Oh good. Then I can keep seeing Weird Al in concert when I'm, like, 80 or 90. :D[/quote]

[quote=doubledenim][font=century gothic]I am a fan of of "experience" over "responsibility" though.

Once-in-a-lifetime opportunities are that for a reason. If you are a little short, charge it. Especially if you die before you pay-it-back :D[/font][/quote]

[quote=Austruck][quote=Sedai]If I would let just one celebrity get gropey with me, it would definitely be Mel Brooks. It used to be Earnest Borgnine, but I had to let him go after his role in [i]Frozen Stupid[/i].[/quote]
:D :D :D 

I was going to say the same thing. 
Well, okay, no, I wouldn't. :D[/quote]

[quote=Sedai]If I would let just one celebrity get gropey with me, it would definitely be Mel Brooks. It used to be Earnest Borgnine, but I had to let him go after his role in [i]Frozen Stupid[/i].[/quote]

[quote=doubledenim][quote=Sedai][quote=Austruck][quote=doubledenim][font=century gothic]That's really cool that something like that happened. 

How many questions did you get in? :D[/font][/quote]
If you're a huge fan of someone (musician, actor, whatever) and you get a chance to do a VIP sort of thing, even if you have to dump it on your credit card and pay it back for years, it's totally worth it.[/quote]

Sage financial advice!  ;)[/quote]

[font=century gothic]I'm thinking about taking my dad to play Pinehurst No. 2 for his birthday. 
No credit card, but a lot of anxiety about shelling out for a round of golf.[/font][/quote]

[quote=Austruck]Oh, also... I was delighted that Mel didn't feel he COULDN'T be affectionate with his fans. He wasn't gropey or anything. Just delightful. How can you NOT love Mel Brooks? He's infectious in person. We all got access to each other's professional photos from that night, and it was fun seeing some of the stunts Mel pulled with other people. One guy even PROPOSED in front of Mel, who played along![/quote]

[quote=Austruck]Ha ha, your secret is safe with me. :) 

Yes, if you are ever buying tickets to a concert, see if there are VIP-type tickets. Totally worth it if you're a superfan. 

Mel was very clear (and we all agreed) that making a movie like Blazing Saddles would be nearly impossible through a regular studio. It's too offensive to all the uber-sensitive people in the world now. The whole point of so much comedy is to take jabs at things... and you just aren't allowed to do that anymore. And the racist stuff in Blazing Saddles? Egad, they'd string Mel up by his feet for half that stuff. :)

And yet, there we sat in the sold-out theater, laughing our fool heads off at a movie that had come out 40+ years earlier. Most of us were saying ALL THE LINES along with the movie screen, we'd seen it so many times.[/quote]

[quote=lenslady][quote=Austruck][quote=lenslady]Not to sound green with envy or ignorant (w/o bliss) @Austruck but how do you happen to come by all these VIP tickets - first it's crooning  with Weird Al and now it's smoozing (sp?) with Mel. - does Yoda  get these tickets thru the business? Is there someplace to find them on a website? Is it a trick ????

And what did you think of good ol Mel????

(Enquirering lil  green minds want to know;) )[/quote]
I buy them and pay lots of my husband's hard-earned money. :) I follow Weird Al's career and get emails whenever he does something. :) Before the two VIP passes, I'd gotten to see/meet him maybe close to a half dozen times since 1994 (the first time). You used to be able to just patiently hang around the venue after a concert, and if you waited long enough, most of the band would come back out and schmooze with whomever was still there. He's too popular to do it that way anymore, so he started offering VIP upgrades to concert tickets. I've been buying them. The guy's turning 60 this year, so I haven't got a clue how long he'll keep going on tour.

As for Mel Brooks, that Blazing Saddles Q&A tour passed through my hometown -- at the old vaudeville theater where I used to work as a teen. I drove the 350 miles back home (in winter) to attend. My brother got regular tickets (through the radio station where he works), and we were just going to go to the Q&A, but I figured hey, Mel's 90 years old now. This is my one shot to meet him. So I upgraded to the VIP seats down front and got to meet him after the show. 

The Q&A was great fun -- he sat on stage with an interviewer and also took questions from the audience. Man, that guy is nonstop energy! He's also very gracious with the photos. He threw his arms around me and kissed me on the cheek. I'm giggling in the photo. :) 

Life is short. I'm upgrading everything from now on. :)[/quote]


Terrific story. Loved hearing that about Mel. Sounds like he's still the warm and funny 'uncle' I remember from Mad About You ("firm embrace" ) 

Sweet guy to kiss you. You sound like a fun mom too!

Btw do you remember what he answered about making movies today? 

And omg I just learned something here on mofo  I never knew. All these years I' m going to concerts and see those cordoned off  reserved front rows - I always thought they were for friends and family of the musicians - I never knew you could BUY them. Omg this is really stupid and embarrassing to me, so let's just keep this between us - don't tell anyone else.🙄[/quote]

[quote=John McClane]Btw, I’m tibia is rock solid. Let’s hope it stays that way.[/quote]

[quote=John McClane]Many people had a Charizard card but who here had his rookie card? :rotfl:[/quote]