[QUOTE=Kilvert’s Pagan]
OK- still cool, though!
He actually had a laborer (or assistant) named Manual working for him (Manuel was a character on Fawlty Towers, I believe), whom I think a BBC film crew came and tried to interview. John is an awesome if slightly eccentric addition to our community. I support most of his causes even though I disagree with his affinity for cats.
I knew Oprah when she was in high school and I was coaching/judging forensics.
I’ve met and talked with Rose Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and Sargent Shriver. I shook hands with Bobby.
I met and briefly talked with John Glenn.
I was introduced to Adlai Stevenson and talked with him briefly.
I’ve met Mike Farrell (really nice guy).
My best friend in college married a U.S. Senator (that we had become friends with).
I taught Glenn Close’s ex-husband, Cabot Wade.
I shook hands with Lyndon Johnson.
Ted Bundy’s youngest victim was the niece of a high school friend.
Susan Smith’s husband and I share a friend.
I danced with the head of the NYC ballet, Peter Martins.
I once dined privately in Vienna with Willie Leopold, the man who had been the last chef for the Habsbergs at Schonenberg Palace before World War I. (See what can happen when you leave the tour bus?)
A family friend is an award-winning actress who connects me to Robert Redford and that is all that I really care about.
I heard a song once that had these lyrics:
That’s what this thread reminds me of. This has been fun! My stepchildren disapprove terribly of my telling these stories to my grandchildren. But they are true. Why shouldn’t I have a little fun with my memories in my old age?
The conversation about Bill Waterson reminded me of one other connection I have. I haven’t met, but I have corresponded with, the author of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine – my wife and I are very good friends with one of his close cousins. I’ve always been pleased about that because I enjoyed the strip before I knew that I had a connection to the author. 
Mr Johnson is (supposedly) related to Abraham Lincoln. Strangely, that was my dad’s first comment about him, “He looks kinda like Lincoln with that facial hair.”
One of my uncles dated a woman who was family to Dr Dre. I was looking through some family photos and saw a photo of my grandma sitting down at her dining table, in her tiny house with Dr Dre. I definitely did a double take. My grandma told me something along the lines of “He’s a nice young man.”
I was in a water fight with the Hanson brothers (Isaac, Taylor and Zack)… they are friends of a friend. She brought them over one summer afternoon. Someone got pushed in the pool and that started a big water fight. It’s all on video too. They also sang in my house “Rain” and also happy birthday two days before my 10th birthday. A couple years later they were famous for MMMBop. I think they’ve fallen off the map now.
My ex boyfriend is directly related to Edgar Alan Poe. That same ex also met Julia Roberts.
Another uncle was an extra in a movie with Michael Richards (Kramer).
A cousin escorted Clinton when he visited the USVI.
An old friend met Steven and Liv Tyler at a local Italian restaurant.
I ate at a restaurant in NY with Eve… didn’t say hi though.
Seriously, though, my dad’s great-uncle supervised the ENIAC project.
A distant relative of mine (three degrees away from me, I think) wrote for 46 movies and TV shoes and was immortalized via tributes in the X-Files TV show and movie. Fun fact: neither were communists, but both (plus my grandfather, at the time a very high-ranking lawyer in the office of the Attorney General, also not a communist) were blacklisted from all gainful employment in the US during the Red Scare for testifying for accused friends. Anyway, end result is I’m also three degrees from John Van Neumann and four degrees from Richard Nixon and four degrees from many TV and movie stars from the 30s through the 80s, and five and six degrees from much of the rest of the industry through them.
I was served by a waiter who was close friends with (ex-?) New Orleans Saint Kyle Turley at Omaha Prime steakhouse in Nebraska. I also took Biology class with a girl who knew a very low draft pick for the Detroit Tigers, which puts me three degrees away from that entire team and four to six degrees away from the rest of the NFL and probably a good percentage of American pro sports personalities, and hopefully some international ones too. I also dated a girl who went to high
school with Nick Cannon, who isn’t really much of a celebrity, but was in vogue for a couple of years.
I once roomed with a guy who now interns for a famous Italian director in Studio City. I don’t remember the famous Italian director’s name, but he’s about as big as Italians get in Hollywood (which puts a number of current stars in degrees three through six) and I know he worked with Fellini, meaning Fellini himself is three degrees away from me.
I was floormates in a college dorm with a guy (1) who dated a girl (2) who had dated Mr. Hahn (3), thus putting Jay-Z and Linkin Park at 4 degrees.
My dad met Jack Nicholson in Nice, France. It was more of a “famous American actor surprises Navy crew abroad and takes pictures with his fans” thing than an hours-long conversation at a party, but it wasn’t planned, at least. I wouldn’t count that as sufficient to start listing stars as three degrees away from me,
because I could’ve conceivably been just as friendly with Stan Lee or Ben Affleck when I went to Comic-Con a couple years back, but for a dash of serendipity.
My dad has also been screwed over on a city permit issue by Linda Ronstadt’s son Michael in Tucson, meaning I’m three degrees from Mrs. Ronstadt.
My high school was founded with money from many local and international biotech and computer-related companies, including Microsoft, during my freshman year; so, through several people at my high school’s staff, I’m two degrees from Bill Gates (who I’m told did meet personally with our principal). Also then-Gov. Grey Davis.
My uncle’s former college roommate played for the St. Paul Saints, which connects him to a small handful of sometime Minnesota Twins players. Nobody eminently recognizable IIRC.
My degree separation from who I consider notable personalities in the music world (aside from the connection mentioned earlier, which I’m a little skeptical of) follows, and is by no means complete:
(Note: I started this when I first found the thread hours ago, and finally just got worn out and decided to post what I had so far.)
One degree: Brandon Relf, drummer from the local math rock band Sleeping People.
2: Kenseth Thibideau, formerly of [Pinback - Wikipedia]Pinback, is the bassist for Sleeping People.
3: Rob Crow of Pinback has played with seemingly everyone, but notably sang on Team Sleep’s self-titled album with:
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Deftones frontman Chino Moreno who has collaborated with:
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Korn, Sevendust, Cypress Hill, Handsome Boy Modeling School, and a couple other bands I haven’t heard of, members of whom have collaborated with:
6: Del tha Funkee Homosapien, DJ Q-Bert, Cat Power, Grand Wizard Theodore (inventor of scratching), De La Soul, Rahzel, DJ Jazzy Jay, RZA, GZA, Ghostface Killah, DJ Quest, DJ Shadow, the Beastie Boys, Miho Hatori, Sean Lennon, the rest of Cibo Matto, Kid Koala, Danger Mouse, Talking Heads founding member Tina Weymouth, Redman, Method Man, Jedi Mind Tricks, Kool Keith, Faith No More, Jon Spencer’s Blues Explosion, MC Paul Barman, Head Automatica, Norah Jones, Massive Attack, Rob Swift, Dilated Peoples, Lupe Fiasco, A Tribe Called Quest,
Mos Def, Chali 2na, Fabolous, Xzibit, Everlast, the Jungle Brothers, Biz Markie, Chris Rock, Chuck D, Ice T, Don Newkirk, House of Pain, Tricky, Ice Cube, KRS-One, Dr. Dre, Wyclef Jean, Kool G Rap, Kurupt, Snoop Dogg, Coolio, LL Cool J, Outkast, Nas, the Transplants, Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, Aerosmith, the Allman Brothers Band, the Band, Joe Cocker,
Collective Soul, Counting Crows, the Cranberries, Crosby Stills & Nash, Bob Dylan, Melissa Etheridge, Metallica, Porno for Pyros, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Santana, Traffic, Violent Femmes, the Smashing Pumpkins, George Clinton & the P. Funk All Stars, the Flaming Lips, the Verve, Pavement, Sinead O’Connor, Moby, Beck, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Blonde Redhead, the Roots, Peter Frampton, Ziggy and Damian Marley, Busta Rhymes, Vanilla Ice (ick!), Tool, Ozzy Osbourne,
Megadeth, System of a Down, Incubus, Alanis Morisette, Bush, Dave Matthews Band, DMX, Elvis Costello, Everclear, Fatboy Slim, Guster, James Brown, Muse, String Cheese Incident, the Chemical Brothers, Offspring, Willie Nelson, Staind, KMFDM, Orgy, 311, the Crystal Method, Rammstein, Stone Temple Pilots, Disturbed, Duran Duran, Jeff Beck, Herbie Hancock, Frank and Dweezil Zappa.
I’m also 7 degrees or fewer from Rick Rubin, which means I’m eight degrees or fewer from basically every American musician who’s been famous in the last forever and a half.
I’m six degrees from Matt Groening and the rest of the Simpsons crew, as Cypress Hill appeared on the “Homerpalooza” episode; plus the South Park crew (Korn was in an episode). I’m also six degrees from Adam Corolla, Jimmy Kimmel*, Ron Jeremy, Tank Girl co-creator Jamie Hewlett, Todd McFarlane, H.R. Giger, Axl Rose, and Jessica Biel.
- Seven degrees from Sarah Silverman. Damnit!
(Holy damn, I spent a LOT of time on that.)
In San Diego, by any chance?
Yup, but not in the obvious place…
I used to know a guy who went to school with Kate Capshaw who is married to Steven Spielberg who knows George Lucas who knows Mark Hamill who knows a man who had a small part in Corvette Summer who knows Draelin.
From me to my cousin, Dave Dunard.
You can figure out the rest from there.
In college, I was on a student television comedy sketch show with a guy who ended up as a writer for Chris Rock, David Letterman, and SNL. Another person I knew from the same college show went on to direct the movie “Stonebrook” with Seth Green.
Bebe Neuwirth and I had the same grammar school music teacher.
I used to work with the wife of a Grammy winning music producer/sound engineer, who has done lots of work with Béla Fleck and other country/bluegrass types.
I know someone who has worked with lots of Trek actors with voiceover jobs. Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Jeri Ryan, Jolene Blalock, Peter Billingsley. Non-trekkie Burt Lancaster too.
My second cousin is Woody Paul, “King of the Cowboy Fiddlers” from Riders in the Sky.
Oh, and when they were kids, my dad was next door neighbors with the Everly Brothers.
I once gave a classified briefing on the capabilities of foreign intercontinental ballistic missiles to Jeff “Skunk” Baxter. Before he was a missile defense consultant, he was a semi-famous rock guitarist. His participation in several side projects gets me Jimi Hendrix, the Doobie Bros., several U.S. Congressmen, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, all the members of Steely Dan, Bryan Adams, Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, Joni Mitchell, Rick Nelson, Dolly Parton, Carly Simon, Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart, Barbra Streisand, and Donna Summer at two degrees. I’ll leave three degrees as an exercise to the reader.
He wore a dark gray suit and had his hair pulled back in a thin ponytail. He enjoyed the briefing and asked several excellent questions. 
I went out dancing with the lead singer for Depeche Mode.
I met William Burroughs (is fact I used to have a bullit shot buy him).
I’ve met Spike Lee.
I’ve said something stupid to Iggy Pop.
I asked Henry Rollins for the time.
Iv’e expressed concern about Jim Feotus’s cat (I don’t care if you don’t know who he is, he’s a celebrity! And a cat lover.)
And I worked (amoung other things) with Legs Mcneil who claims to have invented punk rock…well, named it. Who know everyone so I’m two degrees of seperation from everyone.
If saying something stupid to a celebrity counts, then count Shannon MacMillan (one of my biggest idols at the time) for me. And since I know them about as well as I know her (not very well), might as well throw in Mia Hamm, Joy Fawcett, Julie Foudy, Brandi Chastain and a number of other big players in early-2000s American women’s soccer (plus personal favorites no one knows, like Shannon Boxx and Siri Mullinix). Which means Derek Jeter is two degrees away and Ronaldinho, hopefully, no more than four degrees away. Within my 6 degrees are probably the entire American soccer world, some decent portion of the ESPN talent, and a good portion of the cream of the European club game plus a number of national teams past and present. That’s if you accept the first-degree link, which is strenuous–it’s not like I had a long, drawn-out conversation with any of them.
I know a woman who was in the movie “This Girl’s Life” with James Woods.
I’ve personally met Bruce Campbell and Neil Gaiman (both on book tours).
My parents ran into Glenn Close at a theater in a little town in Wyoming. She (or maybe her family?) owns a ranch out there. Harrison Ford owns land in that same area, although I don’t think my parents ever met him.
My girlfriend’s grandfather was a congressman in the early 60s, and she has a photo of him shaking hands with John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.
I’m supposedly some sort of distant cousin of **Richard Greico ** (Johnny Depp’s lackluster 21 Jump Street replacement) on my father’s side.
I’m also distantly related to **Winston Churchill ** on my mother’s side.
My friend’s cousin is married to Scott Stevens, former captain of the New Jersey Devils.
…that’s about it.
The ship I sailed on had Billy Campbell (The Rocketeer, among other roles) as a trainee on her previous round-the-world voyage. Some of the same crew was still on board, said he was an awesome guy and a good shipmate.
So did his wife.
My family once met Strom Thurmond in a California Pizza Kitchen. He was eating a cup of split pea soup and drinking a glass of water. He told my father that my sister and I were “some fine lookin’ boys.” As soon as we were out of earshot, we all cracked up.