Brain Spotting

Jon and I hosted trivia and it went well. There were 8 teams, about 30 people, not the biggest draw but they bought lots of drinks so it was good for the bar.

Our questions and categories were fun for the most part. However, my audio round - 10 arias, name the composer and the opera - didn't seem to go over very well. People didn't do as well as I thought they would but better, I'm sure, than they thought they would. Most people were able to get at least one opera or one composer. There was a tie for funniest team name. We awarded dirtiest team name to "George Bush - porn star or rock queen? We report, you decide." We gave the straight funniest team award name to "Permanent Bedtime for Bonzo."

Caren walked with Jon and I a bit afterwards. . .and while we were walking up Sixth Avenue around 9th Street, Caren said "Hey, that was Elliott Gould." We couldn't tell because we'd already walked past him (he was walking towards us) and by the time she'd mentioned it all we could see was the back of his head. It could very well have been him, but unfortunately I wasn't as quick as Caren in spotting him.

However, about 3 seconds later, ahead of us I spotted Jude Law. He looked good. Blonde, tan and I think he was with his wife, who was also blonde and tan and good looking.
Caren was turning to go to her train but I stopped her and said, "look over my shoulder, behind me, is Jude Law." She looked up and confirmed that it was.

Jon wasn't as sure. Not as familiar with Jude Law as Caren and myself, he actually went up to Jude Law and asked him, "Are you Jude Law?" to which Jude Law muttered, but not in an irritated way, "Yeah, yeah."

Caren and I teased him a little bit because neither one of us would have gone up to him. Maybe it's a little bit of a New Yorker thing.

I see celebrities in NYC all the time and I haven't gone up to one except the time I was walking with a friend and we saw Gordon Parks and he stopped to talk to him. It's either because I don't want to give them the satisfaction of being recognized or because I just don't want to seem uncool by thinking seeing them is a big deal or it's because I don't want to bug the celebrity, figuring they get bugged all the time.

Earlier in the evening, on the way to the bar, Jon and I walked right past Jill Hennessy, formerly of Law and Order and now of Crossing Jordan. For me it's enough to recognize them.

What do you think? If you saw a celebrity in your neck of the woods would you go up to them and talk to them or respect their privacy and leave them alone? Do you think it's cool or uncool to approach a celebrity in a non-entertainment related situation?