Ain't he a cute little bug- oh. Wait -
Jan. 21st, 2005 02:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kyburgI got to share air with Steve Erwin last night. Me, and about 300 other people. This guy.
Membership has its privileges - AMEX wanted us to take a look at taking a trip to Australia - and for $25 a pop, we could come in and be fetted by a whole bunch of travel/Australia vendors - and Steve would show up and say hi. Just because.
Well, who would say no to that?
They didn't tell us that The Ten Tenors or a very good aboriginal group called "Decendents" would be showing up as well. Oh, wonderful stuff -
Lots of kids, of course. Up waaay past their bedtimes, but just waiting to see Steve - lots of wriggling in seats. Being Very Good.
He didn't disappoint, either. I think he had to have either gone to San Diego or the Los Angeles Zoos for the animals, but he brought three large lizards, three non-venomous snakes (and handled one very venomous Tai-Pan onstage as part of the demonstration), a kangaroo, a wallaby, a crocodile (very small one) and a camel - and the lizards, snakes and croc went around the room with handlers so everyone who wanted, could go get a closer look, sniff and feel.
Steve says there is a very good 12 hour flight from Los Angeles to Brisbane on Quantas - I'll check it out and see if Singapore can make the same journey. 12 hours is nothing - compared to the 16 or longer I've been quoted lately.
But you have to wonder - he had made that trip yesterday AM to make the show last night - he has one more tonight, and back home he goes.
For someone likely having the biggest case of jet lag on record, he was superb.
He is not the tallest fellow, and he looks and sounds just like he does when you see him on tape - he's not one of those guys who loses a ton of weight off-camera. He's exceptional in how he handles his celebrity - a question from the audience was about "can I come stay at your house?" - I think the kid was 8 or 9 - was answered in one of the best examples of honesty I've ever seen from a person making their living in the public eye. Yes, he does have a guest room at his house, but NO, you can't stay there - sorry, but NO. And he found the kid and told him, eye to eye - and told him where he could stay if he came. Not just NO, are you kidding/kooky/nutso - but a a very frank, friendly but firm response. Receptive. He definitely has a very good feel to him.
The kid was perfectly fine with that response, BTW.
We didn't win the drawings (one was a trip for two to Australia, the other was a golf gift basket - whoo), but we did get a ton of stuff on every facet of Australia (and my![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
project29 envelope next month is going to be the heavier for some of it, I got duplicates of a lot of the swag) - missed out on the free Fosters, but snagged a bottle of ginger beer, macadamia nuts and crocodile bites (coffee truffle-filled chocolates - kinda good, actually).
Kind of a mini-trade show. Done in a couple of hours -
And we were planning a trip to Australia this year anyway - this was just some more research that dropped in our laps. A very nice way to spend an evening.
Tonight? As little as I can get away with. I'm pooped.
I'm missing Arisia and Ushicon again. Bah.
Membership has its privileges - AMEX wanted us to take a look at taking a trip to Australia - and for $25 a pop, we could come in and be fetted by a whole bunch of travel/Australia vendors - and Steve would show up and say hi. Just because.
Well, who would say no to that?
They didn't tell us that The Ten Tenors or a very good aboriginal group called "Decendents" would be showing up as well. Oh, wonderful stuff -
Lots of kids, of course. Up waaay past their bedtimes, but just waiting to see Steve - lots of wriggling in seats. Being Very Good.
He didn't disappoint, either. I think he had to have either gone to San Diego or the Los Angeles Zoos for the animals, but he brought three large lizards, three non-venomous snakes (and handled one very venomous Tai-Pan onstage as part of the demonstration), a kangaroo, a wallaby, a crocodile (very small one) and a camel - and the lizards, snakes and croc went around the room with handlers so everyone who wanted, could go get a closer look, sniff and feel.
Steve says there is a very good 12 hour flight from Los Angeles to Brisbane on Quantas - I'll check it out and see if Singapore can make the same journey. 12 hours is nothing - compared to the 16 or longer I've been quoted lately.
But you have to wonder - he had made that trip yesterday AM to make the show last night - he has one more tonight, and back home he goes.
For someone likely having the biggest case of jet lag on record, he was superb.
He is not the tallest fellow, and he looks and sounds just like he does when you see him on tape - he's not one of those guys who loses a ton of weight off-camera. He's exceptional in how he handles his celebrity - a question from the audience was about "can I come stay at your house?" - I think the kid was 8 or 9 - was answered in one of the best examples of honesty I've ever seen from a person making their living in the public eye. Yes, he does have a guest room at his house, but NO, you can't stay there - sorry, but NO. And he found the kid and told him, eye to eye - and told him where he could stay if he came. Not just NO, are you kidding/kooky/nutso - but a a very frank, friendly but firm response. Receptive. He definitely has a very good feel to him.
The kid was perfectly fine with that response, BTW.
We didn't win the drawings (one was a trip for two to Australia, the other was a golf gift basket - whoo), but we did get a ton of stuff on every facet of Australia (and my
project29 envelope next month is going to be the heavier for some of it, I got duplicates of a lot of the swag) - missed out on the free Fosters, but snagged a bottle of ginger beer, macadamia nuts and crocodile bites (coffee truffle-filled chocolates - kinda good, actually).Kind of a mini-trade show. Done in a couple of hours -
And we were planning a trip to Australia this year anyway - this was just some more research that dropped in our laps. A very nice way to spend an evening.
Tonight? As little as I can get away with. I'm pooped.
I'm missing Arisia and Ushicon again. Bah.
