Famous people you know

I was speaking with Minh earlier, and suddenly this topic emerged:

a) Who is the most famous person you've ever sent an email to
b) ...who you expected to get a response from
c) ...who you did actually get a response from
d) ...who you're in regular contact with

For me:

a) George W Bush (president@whitehouse.org)
b) Paul Thurrot
c) Robert Scoble
d) Kevin Bowen

whee, I know famous people!

W3bbo wrote:

a) Who is the most famous person you've ever sent an email to
b) ...who you expected to get a response from
c) ...who you did actually get a response from

Well, a), b) and c) are probably Dennis Ritchie (of Kernighan and Ritchie fame) who is famous in a way, I guess.

I don't think I'd say I was in regular contact with any celebrities though...

W3bbo wrote:

a) George W Bush (president@whitehouse.org)

Er, should be .gov
That must be why you didn't get a response

a) my dad

b) my dad

c) my dad

d) my dad

 

in wales he's quite famous anyhow, connected to lots of famous people, asked Frank Sinatra where the bar was at the World Cup 94, hung out with the owner of the dallas cowboys, had dinner with the worlds richest man (much much much much richer than Bill G, well sorta), had dinner with clintons white house chef, friends with sepp blatter and the UEFA president and various other football people, from players to governance, been invited to the queens garden parties, etc etc etc

sorry i like to brag sometimes

that i know - of note - would be  paul myers - mikes brother - he had a band called the gravelberries - he has come to our gigs as well

jayne eastwood - original member of sctv - married to david flaherty - brother of joe count floyd) - so we see them usually at holidays

My ex-girlfriend is now a TV presenter for ITV, so she's pretty famous, if that counts (we're still on pretty good speaking terms, so also hits the regular email one). And no, I'm not giving you her name!

 

Also used to know quite a few DJs from back in the 90s.

 

In technology terms, there are very few people who are proper famous, and even fewer (none) who I have emailed.  What constitutes famous in the tech world?

blowdart wrote:

a/b/c/d Boris Johnson.

I said "famous", not "infamous", eejit

If I say Scoble will I get made fun of?

A) George W.  Bush
B)
C) George W.  Bush (If you count the christmas card every year since he has been president)
D)

Desi Arnaz Junior. Used to live in the city where I grew up (Boulder City, Nevada). I was too young to remember, but apparently he used to babysit me.

blowdart wrote:

W3bbo wrote: blowdart wrote:a/b/c/d Boris Johnson. I said "famous", not "infamous", eejit

You'll get right wing as you get older, you wait

"It only takes 20 years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea."
    --Robert Anton Wilson

I've corresponded via email with Glenn Reynolds. That's about as "famous" as it gets for email.

I've met and spoken with Haley Barbour, the Swedish Ambassador to Japan (late 80s), Danny Elfman, Bush I's helicopter pilots (grin), Joichi Ito (we went to the same high school), some Yakuza dude who lived in my building (I'm sure we was famous somehow, he was missing part of a finger). I played video games in the same arcade as Vernon Reid. Not real contact though. I got to say hello to King Carl XVI Gustaf once.

W3bbo wrote:

I was speaking with Minh earlier, and suddenly this topic emerged:

a) Who is the most famous person you've ever sent an email to
b) ...who you expected to get a response from
c) ...who you did actually get a response from
d) ...who you're in regular contact with

a) Robert Scoble, Jeff Duntemann, Ray Bradbury (regular letter via snail mail)
b) None of the above
c) All of the above
d) None of the above

Although, my grandparents used to live next to the Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore).  I never met him, however.

We could turn this thread into one of those "Kevin Bacon" things. ...

Interesting thought that you tend to get more conservative as you get older.

The current generation that is about to retire were very free-spirited (think "the 60's"... Counterculture, drug use, civil rights, sexual equality, etc...) and very "liberal".

It might be easy to see how they might be come more conservative as time goes on, but remember, conservatives, in a traditional sense, like less government, less spending, more "pro-business" policies than the traditional liberals.

But, as this baby-boom population retires, and the Social Security system becomes very burdened (to say the least), Medicaid and Medicare becomes a huge portion of our GDP, less people are able to contribute to this deficit, and our foreign debt to China and Japan greatly increases, do you think the traditional "conservative values" of less taxation will remain? Or will these services get cut?

Call me a cynic, but I think the wealthy and influencial will fare better than the poor, despite them needing the most help.

MisterDonut wrote:

Interesting thought that you tend to get more conservative as you get older.

The current generation that is about to retire were very free-spirited (think "the 60's"... Counterculture, drug use, civil rights, sexual equality, etc...) and very "liberal".

Sadly, most of the 60s generation weren't free-spirited.  They were boring people living out the 50s all over again.  The 60s folks who made it seem so free were very flamboyant so that's what we see, but there are a heck of a lot of boring old farts running around florida right now.

MisterDonut wrote:

It might be easy to see how they might be come more conservative as time goes on, but remember, conservatives, in a traditional sense, like less government, less spending, more "pro-business" policies than the traditional liberals.

Yes, but the only old folks who survived after the 60s were those same old fogeys I mentioned previously

MisterDonut wrote:

But, as this baby-boom population retires, and the Social Security system becomes very burdened (to say the least), Medicaid and Medicare becomes a huge portion of our GDP, less people are able to contribute to this deficit, and our foreign debt to China and Japan greatly increases, do you think the traditional "conservative values" of less taxation will remain? Or will these services get cut?

Call me a cynic, but I think the wealthy and influencial will fare better than the poor, despite them needing the most help.

Which drives me crazy.  Some of my elder relatives are on the low end of the economic scale and they never cease to delight in telling me how Liberals are wishy-washy tree-huggers who never do anything right.  Meanwhile, the Bushites are busy gutting the very programs that will keep these codgers in viagra and cod-liver oil.

<disclaimer>I'm not anti-geriatric, I love old people...even if it's only for the entertainment value.</disclaimer>