Donald Trump 10/26/15

I had been wanting to make it to a political rally again for quite some time now, and I was able to do just that the other day in New Hampshire. I had the day off so I decided to make the just under 2 hour drive to Atkinson to see one of the most relevant people of the year, Donald Trump. I am not a Trump supporter by any means, but he is in the spotlight big time, very successful, and while I don't sell, his autographs are simply worth A LOT of money right now.

I woke up before 4:00 a.m. to start the 100+ mile drive, and I arrived at  the country club where the event was being held right around 6:00. The event was so early because Trump was holding a town hall meeting live on "Today", with Matt Lauer. Before the town hall meeting was a ticketed public event, which is what I attended. The doors were scheduled to open at 6:30 a.m. for the 7:00 a.m. event, however when I got there, they were open, and the place was PACKED. 

I went to look for a good spot, and even with the large crowd I was somehow lucky enough to find an aisle seat right next to where he would be walking out. My spot was as perfect as it could have been. This picture doesn't show the crowd in front of the stage, but it was gigantic, especially for before 7 a.m..

After a while of sitting around waiting, it was time:

I was pretty confident that I would be able to get the 'graph and maybe a picture on his way off of the stage, especially with me being right next to the rail.

The speech went on, and despite really not being a fan of Trump's views at all, it wasn't too bad of a speech. I was actually surprised with how even-keel it was. He mostly talked about how he was winning every state(which was true until this morning). 

I did however find this tweet that shows me "face-palming" during part of the event, which I thought was pretty awesome. If you want to see, simply zoom to the bottom left, and I'm in a black hat.

        

        

In Atkinson, Trump says that 30% of the press are good, but "50% are the worst people I've ever met." #nhpolitics pic.twitter.com/np6mjk73eg

— Kailani Koenig (@kailanikm) October 26, 2015

When the speech ended and Donald was walking off the stage I stood up and got ready. He got to me, saw my "Forbes" magazine, asked me how the article was, held it up to the crowd, got an applause, and signed it with a HUGE signature. I was happy that my drive up was rewarded. As much as I disagree with the way he carries himself politically, I was a devoted fan of his show, "The Apprentice", so it was really cool to meet him. I tried to take a photo with him, but he was just rushing too much and I couldn't get a good one taken.

I wasn't done though. Trump had an hour long live town hall with Matt Lauer as I said earlier, and I decided to stay around to see if I could get him to sign or take a picture again afterwards.

There were a number of supporters out near his vehicle along the railing, but I found a good spot. A few of the others were live-streaming the show, so I was able to know exactly when it ended. Just a few minutes later, he came out, and started interacting with the crowd. Almost immediately, I was being pushed hard against the railing, but Donald came right over to me after signing a book for a woman. As soon as he got to me, I felt the crowd pushing even harder but I wasn't really thinking about it. Trump grabbed my photo, once again held it up to the crowd, and signed it really big like the last time. This made the trip even more worth it, and I was pretty happy.

I think this was actually the farthest I have ever gone for a non-guaranteed interaction with someone, and I'm glad that it paid off. I'm excited to see which other candidates I can meet before next November.

50 Cent Round II 7/26/15

After successfully meeting 50 Cent last month on the shortest of notices, he continued to tour the U.S. promoting EFFEN Vodka, and made his way back to Connecticut for the last weekend of July. This time I was prepared.

When I saw that he would be holding another signing that I could make it to, I ordered some new things to add to what was at my house all along(for the last signing I found out as I was leaving work, so I had no time to grab any items besides the one CD that was luckily in my car). Also, 50 has been in the news a lot, and is in the new movie, "South Paw", so I was able to find a few things in stores that I planned to get signed. All together, I ended up with 4 CD's, a 16x20, and a magazine to get signed. Luckily, my girlfriend wanted to meet him and was willing to help me get all of this signed which was pretty cool.

We arrived to the store about 1.5 hours before he was scheduled to be there, and there were roughly 30 people already lined up. I went to the last signing at the very tail end, so I can't really compare the two events, but I can say he is drawing A LOT of people at every event especially considering the advertising for them is terrible.

I should mention at this point that I found out about this signing because a co-worker told me that his girlfriend heard somewhere that 50 Cent was doing another signing in Connecticut. After 2 hours of research I finally found the location. If anyone from EFFEN ends up reading this, keep that in mind.

50 showed up about 5 minutes late which was fine, and the line didn't move for a while because he pre-signs the bottles, and you basically trade in your receipt for your respective bottles when you move up to the staging area. It was run very smoothly, and once the line started to go we made it through in no time.

I decided to buy a case because a number of my friends + family( all 21+ ) wanted some, and it allowed me more time with 50 Cent, and the ability to take a picture with my own phone.

My girlfriend went up first(she had a single bottle) and the workers were commenting on how organized the stuff to get signed was. We had a good laugh about that later because I am meticulous about setting up boards to get signed. I noticed that for a lot of items 50 was using a really bad silver Sharpie, and it should have clicked with me to ask him to sign everything in black when I got up to him, but I think I just was holding too much and probably was a bit starstruck, and just didn't think of it at the time. I was also holding my phone and getting it ready as I was having him sign things.

One thing I learned at this signing was that he truly takes care of the people who buy the cases. He took like 6 pictures with me, including about 3 different poses, and was just all around awesome. I actually got to talk to him unlike last time, and it was just a really fun experience. 50 is one of my favorite entertainers in the world, and I've followed him since 5th grade, so it's just really cool to get to interact with him.

Here are the items we got signed. The bottles all came out so beautifully:

Here's a photo with everything that also shows the 16x20:

Curtis also took photos with everyone, and actually a few with me.

Like I said, I came very prepared, and it definitely paid off!

Actor/Comedian Rob Schneider 7/10/15

While a lot of my successes lately have been after last minute decisions, this one was a little different. I saw a few weeks ago that Rob Schneider, who is in just about every movie ever made(I'm only half-joking), was going to be performing stand up at a comedy club that is just about 10 minutes from my house.

After doing a little research, I found out that Rob is one of the nicest celebrities out there. Tons of people told me about their successes with him, so I figured that I definitely should give it a shot, especially since I really am a pretty big fan of his.

My day hadn't been going well, because the first two ways in which I can get photos were unavailable, and I recently moved so all of my movies that had Schneider in them were at my old place, and Target only had one film that he was in.

My plan was that I would try to meet him as he arrived at the club, after someone had told me that he recently showed up during the opener's set. With that said, after I grabbed dinner, I headed inside the mall(where the club is strangely located) which was next door, and waited outside the club. There were benches so it worked out pretty well, and I had to wait to get inside the club regardless.

It was getting  a bit close to when he was supposed to go on, and I decided to go inside thinking that he must have simply beat me there.

I had also heard that he sometimes signs at his merchandise table after his shows, so I set that prospect as my Plan B. When I went inside, it was evident that there was no merchandise table, which wasn't overly surprising because he had another show pretty soon after the one I was attending would be ending.

So I was left with Plan C, which was to just ask him as he came off the stage. I did have the fact that my seat was close to where he would be walking out going for me. The cool thing about the club is that there is only one way in and out, so you have pretty good access to the acts if they want to interact with you. I was learning all of this quickly though, since I had never attended a show there before.

After the show ended, Rob came off of the stage and started shaking hands with people as he walked towards the exit. I got in the perfect position and noticed that I was the only person who had something to get signed. When Rob got to me I asked him to please sign, and what happened next was one of the craziest things I have ever experienced in my years of taking part in this hobby. He said, "Yeah I'll sign those for you, come with me." And so we started walking.

It soon became apparent that he was taking me to his green room, which was really cool because I was the only person he was bringing. He asked one of the workers how to get back to it, and they mistakenly lead us to the restroom. Rob went, "No, no, the green room!", which was pretty funny, and when we got to it the guard at the door seemed to want to stop me from following him in, but he said, "No, he's coming in."

So here I am, hanging out with Rob Schneider, world class comedian and accomplished actor. He was so nice, and just started signing whatever I had on me. I had actually left a baseball with my girlfriend back at the table (Rob starred in, "The Benchwarmers") which ended up being one of two regrets from this experience. The other was that I had my phone turned off from being at the show, and I didn't want to be rude and wait for it to turn on to take a photo. I should have turned it on when we started walking, but I just didn't think of it.  We got to talk about his new show "Real Rob", as well as his new Netflix movie with Adam Sandler that will be released in a few months. After he finished signing, I thanked him for everything, shook his hand, and was on my way.

I couldn't believe what had just happened, and I knew it would be a memory that would be unforgettable.

Rob even inscribed each piece with the name of the character he played in each film.

2015 Travelers Championship Celebrity Pro-Am

One of my favorite events in CT all year. Unfortunately last year I had to skip it because I had just switched jobs, but this year I was good to go and hoped rack up on some celebrities, as well as some of the best golfers in the world.

For those who don't know, the Celebrity Pro-Am is a charitable event in which a PGA Tour Professional is paired with 3 other people. These people can be celebrities, dignitaries, and just other local people of interest. Of course, I only go to meet the celebrities and PGA guys, and usually I am very successful.

Here are links to the other two times I have 'graphed this event:
 2013
 2012

This year, I'll start by talking about how I met each celebrity and what they were like.

George Lopez was my big target for the day. I knew his signing habits were very good, so I wasn't too worried about missing out on him although there were a lot of people.

I first met him when he was coming up from the practice facility. He was rushing because he had to tee off and kept saying,"Last one, last one." but he kept signing and  did two 8x10s for me:

Later in the day, I still had photos for him so I went to the 8th green, and I was super happy with what transpired.

I called him over after he finished the hole, and I had 2 photos showing(with some more peeking out under them) on top of my book. He signed the first two, and without me even asking, grabbed the others and signed them for me. This was incredibly nice of him, and not something someone of his level of celebrity do very often, if at all.

The marker he had by this point was God awful, but luckily I was able to get him to use mine on the previous photos.

To top it off, he was more than happy to take a picture with me.

Bridget Moynahan, the star of Blue Bloods on CBS, was another big target. Some may remember her from her role in Coyote Ugly as well.

She was actually hosting/playing in the charity mini golf tournament that takes place the same day as the Celebrity Pro-Am. When she arrived, she had a cart bring her right up to the mini golf course so I wasn't expecting the best. She had a brace on her ankle, so I'm guessing that was the reasoning for her being driven directly up. Other people were reassuring me that she would sign at the end, because that's what she did last year.

They were right, and at the end she signed away and took a photo with me as well:

She was very sweet to the fans, and thanked us for coming out. She even commented on how much she liked the photo I chose.

Matt Lauer of the Today Show was also at this event, and I had never met him before so he was also near the top of my list. I was able to get him coming up from the practice green area. He was rushing much more than the others, but still stopped and signed and took a photo with me:

Stephen Gostkowski of the New England Patriots was another name I was excited to see on the list because he is one of the Patriots that I haven't met yet. He was VERY nice. I told him I loved the photo of him making the tackle and he laughed and said," Me too, but my knees still hurt from doing that." He was half kidding...

Tim Wakefield needs no introduction, and while I had met him before, I am always excited to see him because I grew up watching him. He signed 2 photos for me(I had to dip him) but he was very nice.

He had his own(blue) sharpie to my surprise. Usually no famous person voluntarily carries a blue with them.

The Connecticut legend Jim Calhoun signed up a storm at the event, and I caught him coming down from the clubhouse. I've never had a bad experience with him!

It was a bit of a surprise to see that NASCAR phenom Bubba Wallace Jr. would be attending this event, but as a fan of his, I was pretty happy. I saw him multiple times throughout the day, and he was always very nice as most NASCAR drivers are.

Skateboarding legend, Ryan Sheckler was also there, and he was truly one of the nicest people in attendance. His handler kept trying to drag him away from signing, and he just kept going and going. He wouldn't stop, and his handler was getting visibly frustrated. It's always so funny when power hungry people try to ruin the fun, but Ryan hooked everyone up!

Season 1 winner of NBC's ,"The Voice", Javier Colon was there as always. I've gotten a bunch of things signed by him over the years, so I just went with one photo this time.

Coach/ Hall of Famer Geno Auriemma is always a great signer, and I was able to get him to sign 3 of the AWESOME new Womens' Championship Sports Illustrateds.

Overall, I had a great day 'graphing the celebrities who attended and now I will talk about the golfers.

Two-time Masters Champion, Bubba Watson, is always one of the top golfers at this event. He usually signs a lot coming off of his last hole, and that was true again this year:

I was able to meet another two-time major champion, Ernie Els, for the first time around the practice area. He probably has the worst autograph of any golfer out there, but it was still cool to meet him.

Another first-timer for me was former Masters Champion, Angel Cabrera. Angel is a STRICT one-per and glares into your soul like a dementor straight out of Harry Potter to make sure that he doesn't sign for you again.

I got the rest of the golfers that I had either met a number of times before or that I didn't care as much about on pairing sheet books.

Keegan Bradley:

Hunter Mahan:

Gary Woodland:

Brandt Snedeker:

Luke Donald & Stuart Appleby:

Mark Leishman:

Jason Gore, Kevin Na, & One Unknown:

I'm really happy with how this year's tournament worked out for me, and I'm already looking forward to next year.

50 Cent 6/18/15

As I have often said, some of the last minute events I find out about are the best ones.

Last week, one day after my James Patterson event, I was finishing up at work later than usual. I was packing up my things to go home and decided to scroll though my facebook feed. When I saw the post I was pretty shocked. 50 Cent was doing a bottle signing at a package store literally 5 minutes from my house. He was there from 5-8, and I only found out about it because a news station posted a story at like 6:40. 50 Cent has been going all around the country doing these signings, and I knew he was going to be in Massachusetts soon, but I had no idea about his Connecticut stops.

Believe it or not, I had his, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" album in my car, along with the album artwork booklet and everything.

When I got to the store it looked pretty packed, but certainly not unreasonable. After asking a store worker, I found out that they had the event set up where you would go about 5 at a time into the store, pick the bottle(s) you want, cash out, then get into the signing line. The process was slow, but at the same time worked for this particular store, and kept things in order.

I think I got to the front of the line by about 7:30, and noticed that they were taking your unsigned bottle, giving you a pre-signed bottle of the same variety, and letting you take a picture with 50. After I got my picture taken with him, I pulled out my CD booklet, and he took it and signed it with no problem. He didn't say much to anyone at all during the whole experience, but all I really cared about was getting one of my oldest CD's signed. I have had this album since 6th grade, which is 10 years ago now, and it was just crazy that I happened to have it in my car. It was also just awesome that a rap icon who I've listened to for so long was so close to my house. I love last minute signings(well, when I'm prepared).

Baseball 'graphing April/May 2015 (Mike Trout, Rusney Castillo, + much more)

This April and May I was able to make it to four baseball games despite having finals,  graduating college, and working. While not as frequently attending games as in past years, the quality of the players I met was really great, and I was able to bring my total of Red Sox players I've met to 141!

In this entry, I'll be going in chronological order of when I attended games to recap my solid month.

April 24th/25th Red Sox @ Orioles in Baltimore

This was a very interesting trip, because it was in the middle of the riots in Baltimore. We actually were held in the stadium on the 25th because the riots had made their way to the perimeter of the stadium. Luckily, the game went into extra innings so we didn't have to wait after it was done.

I was able to get a few autographs on the 24th, but none on the 25th.

The Red Sox were very tough inside the stadium on this trip. I was actually  only able to get two different players.

The first guy I met was catcher Sandy Leon. While he isn't the most exciting player on the team, he represented a new Red Sox to add to my list, so I was happy nonetheless. I was able to throw a ball to him during batting practice when he was standing in the dugout. I was hoping to add more players to the ball since it was just signed by Leon, but I can do that eventually.

The other player I got to meet was pitcher, Justin Masterson. Justin has always been one of my favorite players, as well as one of the nicer guys in the league. I hadn't met him since 2008, so I was happy to catch up with him again. I was actually able to make it down to him twice and he took a picture with me after signing:

Pawtucket Red Sox Vs. Columbus Clippers(Cleveland Indians) May 14th, 2015 

I don't live as close as I used to so I can't make it to Pawtucket much anymore, but I still try to make it once in a while because the minors are so much easier to 'graph than MLB. 

Pawtucket's club is STACKED this year with Red Sox top prospects and Columbus was in town with a few of Cleveland's top prospects as well.

Before the game, I was able to meet James Ramsey and Top Prospect, Francisco Lindor off of the bus. I had met Lindor a few years ago in AA before he was the Top Prospect. Both guys were extremely nice, especially Ramsey:

James Ramsey:

Francisco Lindor signed and took a photo:

I showed up late for the PawSox guys coming in, but did see Rusney Castillo who denied the 4 of us waiting when he came in.

I was able to get Henry Owens, who is still one of the Red Sox top pitching prospects inside after the game because he was charting:

I did pretty well after the game as well.

Clippers wise, I really only needed Charles Nagy who is a UCONN legend, and former MLB pitcher. My friend hooked me up with a card which is seen in this picture:

Also in the above photo are former Red Sox players Luis Jimenez and Jemile Weeks on the ticket.

I was also surprised to meet Allen Craig who has played on the Red Sox the last 2 seasons.

Finally, Rusney Castillo came out and I was happy that he came over to sign for the few of us left there. A bunch of people had left a few minutes earlier, which was really lucky because I doubt he would have stopped if they were still there.

I had to get him on the baseball with Allen Craig because I ran out of items:

This ended up being a great day because I was able to meet four Red Sox players that I hadn't in the past.

Red Sox Vs. Angels May 23rd,2015

This was my first time ever 'graphing outside at Fenway, and while it was a long day I feel like I did pretty well although my big catch was inside.

Most Red Sox players denied coming in, but I was able to get a few. Xander Bogaerts only signed for women, and to my surprise, Craig Breslow said he was, "running late".

The first autograph I got on the day was from Junichi Tazawa. I hadn't seen him in a number of years, the last time being when he was in AAA, so it was nice to see him again.

After that, nearly the entire team came in without signing, so I went over to the Angels side for a while to test my luck there. Nearly entire team came off the bus without signing. The only guy that even acknowledged us was Albert Pujols with a wave/look back.

Chris Ianetta came in with a cab, and despite being right in front of him, even he wouldn't sign.

I decided to go go and get some food, and to my Surprise I saw Rusney Castillo signing. I was able to get through the crowd, and was really happy when he took my baseball and signed it. Even though I had gotten him the week before, it was nice to finally have him on his own baseball.

After getting some food, I went to try and meet the MLB on Fox broadcasters. Being a big fan of baseball, I was really happy when Joe Buck showed up and was super nice to the few of us who wanted to meet him. He signed and took a photo:

I never saw Harold Reynolds or Tom Verducci.

Of course the big goal with the Angels in town was to meet the best baseball player in the world, Mike Trout. After he didn't sign off of the bus(as expected), my last chance was inside. I had a number of friends who had bad luck with him all weekend, so I wasn't really sure if I would be able to meet him. During batting practice, I was in the front row, and Trout came over to sign when he noticed a serviceman and some kids nearby. He signed for a kid first, then the serviceman, then me. I felt really lucky, and sometimes luck is what you need to meet the best athlete in any sport. I was pretty shocked that I got to meet him. For the past 3 seasons, I had seen people post their successes with him, and I just never had the opportunity to try with him playing in Los Angeles. I was thrilled that I met him in my first attempt ever, and I still can't really believe it.