Nicky Meets...

I knew that I'd attend Hulk Hogan's autograph signing earlier today, but before leaving home, I was still undecided as to whether I'd be taking Nicky. Even though I initially decided to leave her at home, I ended up taking her with me (along with Speedy and Frosty).

Upon my arrival at Chapters, I thought I should have left my gear behind. Let's just say that I'm glad I didn't.

Exhibit A:



I had no idea that the Hulkster would be making his entrance from the same hallway where the washrooms are found. When I saw a media guy standing near the spot where I eventually stood, I put two and two together. As you can see, my focusing skills were a bit off.

Exhibit B:



I also didn't know that Jimmy "The Mouth Of The South" Hart would also be appearing at this autograph session; he wasn't even listed. As a matter of fact, when I first saw him, I thought it was an impersonator. As Queenie (a friendly young lady I briefly talked to) said, "That mullet doesn't lie!"

Exhibit C:



During the session, Jimmy briefly stepped away from the table for a few photos; I shot the above photos during this break. Before shooting those photos, I decided to stay until the end of the autograph session in order to get a better photo of Hulk Hogan.

Exhibit D:



I thought my focus was dead-on, but the Hulkster is still a but blurry here. Perhaps it's because he was walking and I couldn't manually compensate for that.

I thought the story was over at this point, but the ending is even better. After going downstairs and putting my camera gear back in my bag, I went back upstaits to the men's room before going home. While drying my hands, Hulk and Jimmy (along with their handler) unexpectedly walked in.

Let me say that again for those of you who didn't quite book that. Jimmy Hart and Hulk Hogan unexpectedly walked into the men's washroom while I was drying my hands.

I thought I recognized them in the corner of my eye, but I checked the mirror on my left just to be sure. I wasn't starstruck, but I was pretty dang close - so close that I dried my hands a bit longer than necessary while figuring out how to leave the washroom without looking like a moron. I decided to say goodbye to Mr. Hart and Mr. Hogan on my way out; the former thanked me for my help even though I did approximately nothing, while the latter didn't say a word in return. I'm not complaining, though - I didn't even mention Hulk's name for fear of pissing him off and possibly getting bodyslammed.

Since we're talking about celebrity encounters, let me post one more from Saturday night.



Obviously, that's me on the left; on the right is Torontonian songstress Jully Black. This photo was taken by one of her staff members after her Cavalcade Of Lights gig at Nathan Phillips Square. Meeting her wasn't part of my plans, nor was buying her latest album (The Black Book). I'm glad I got to do both on Saturday night.