Have you ever met anyone famous? If so, who and under what circumstances?

Yes, I met a quite famous football commentator. He was the younger brother of a university friend. He was around 13 at the time and doing his homework, but he was obsessed with football.

I have met many, but I’m not a name dropping person.

Was sitting at a table at a Tex-Mex restaurant in San Antonio and Bob Hope walks by. That was a bit of a shocker. But playing volleyball with Gil Gerard at Seal beach was probably the highlight of this meaningless idea, but I'm not so insecure to not drop names.

Met Mark Knopfler at the Miyazaki Seagaia Resort. Wife and I were on our honeymoon and he called us out during the show. He was all class and very humble.

I met Anthony Bourdain in an elevator at the Dallas airport American Airlines lounge around 6 or 7 years ago.

Just him and me.

He looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. I don't watch television, so I hadn't ever viewed his programs, but I had read and enjoyed a couple of his books, and had seen his book jacket photo.

I cocked my head a bit in puzzlement, and he recoiled slightly in apprehension. He seemed relieved when the elevator doors opened and he hurried off.

A short time later I realized who it was.

I wish I had recognized him at the time so I could have told him how very much I had enjoyed his books.

If memory serves, it was Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" that turned me on to Emile Zola's "The Belly of Paris" and George Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris and London." Both great reads.

RIP Mr. Bourdain

Too many. Especially in my line of work. I personally met more musicians than people in film, but the ones I met it’s all a mixed bag, some were extremely nice and some were absolutely horrible.

One incident I remember was back in 1997 we had Gwyneth Paltrow in the studios at NBC, rude, entitled and just difficult as well as demanding, her mother on the other hand was a total gem.

The experience just left a very bad image in my head that lingers to this day about the woman.

On another occasion I had to go on a business trip to LA in 2010 and on my way back to Japan, I ran into one of my teenage guitar idols at LAX (Allan Holdsworth) and as we boarded the plane, I was stunned to find that we both were seated in the same window aisle. The guy was a bit surprised I knew who he was (unless you’re a rock and jazz-fusion aficionado you wouldn’t know) I was sweating and nervous as hell. I couldn’t even talk at first, but the guy was just an absolute gentleman and asked me if I liked to drink, I told him, yes! We drank and talked about music in-depth, family and Japan, just one of the best experiences I ever had and was deeply honored to have sat and conversed with this musical genius who was actually Eddie Van Galen’s mentor. Broke my heart when he passed. Just a down to earth man, not stuck up, and was first and foremost a musician down to the bone, humble as heck.

RIP

The late Queen.

I met the then Prince Charles when he visited my trade school.

I met the actor Edward Fox when he brought his car to me for a service.

I’ve seen a very few others knocking about, Gary Newman, Bon Scott, Emma Thompson but we had no interaction.

I almost met Richard Gere once, back in the 90s. I walked into a hairdressers to get a haircut and the two stylists who worked there were going absolutely bananas. “We just cut Richard Gere’s hair!” They shouted at me, I was their first customer after him and just missed him by a couple of minutes.

His hair was still on the floor and they were discussing what to do with it, so it would be accurate to say that I met Gere’s hair but not the rest of him.

As a kid I met Bob Hawke when he was fairly new as the Australian prime minister on a visit to my hometown. Met Chris Isaak at a CD signing, funny guy. Went drinking with a famous Japanese comedian by the name of Zakoba, who was a friend of a friend.

As a teenager on holiday in St Ives, I met Jimmy Saville walking along the seafront handing out flyers for some event he was promoting. My Mum took a photo of us, him with his arm around me. I was thrilled at the time, gives me the creeps now.

As a student I was introduced to the Queen Mother when she visited our Hall of Residence. She seemed quite interested in our student bar - we were the first women’s Hall of Residence in London to have a bar.

I met Jimmy Savile and he fixed it for me to milk a cow blindfolded.

He was very friendly. It's very upsetting to learn that he was a disgraceful person, after growing up with him as UK's most revered personality.

I have yet to be discovered. Time is running short.

Quite a few, but the ones I'll mention: The Queen, who visited our country when I was a little kid and stopped to greet me while she passed. Radiohead: got to hang out with the band after a gig by chance for a couple of hours because I knew the owner of the venue. Sanma Akashiya; met him by chance in NY with my then Japanese girlfriend. Best part is while she was going nuts, I had no idea who the guy was so he seemed more receptive to talking (albeit, in incredibly broken English and me through her once she calmed down). They were filming some Breakfast at Tiffany's spoof scene. And one of the Beastie Boys, who came to stay in my tiny little hometown and joined me at the hotel bar. We chatted and he asked if there was anything at all to do in the town, me saying, "Just this".

Beyond that, quite a few people, either in capacities you might expect -- signing after a concert/book sale, Comicon, etc. But the best ones are the random meetings on the street or somewhere.

Too many to mention, or even remember, after many years as an audio engineer. There were hundreds, at least. Mostly music artists at concert venues and studios. But, also some famous film, TV, political, and business people at charity and corporate events. In fact, my first trip to Japan was 35 years ago to work a concert tour.

One person that stands out to me was Paul Newman. Such a warm friendly person. He shared a story with me about a film director that everyone working on that film hated. He was reminded of the story by the wireless mic I was putting on him. He didn't have to say anything to me, let alone share a personal story. But, he did. And, I appreciated it. It was a funny story, as well.

rainyday - I almost met Richard Gere once, back in the 90s. I walked into a hairdressers to get a haircut and the two stylists who worked there were going absolutely bananas. “We just cut Richard Gere’s hair!” They shouted at me, I was their first customer after him and just missed him by a couple of minutes.

I guess you could say that you missed him by a hair.

smithinjapan - And one of the Beastie Boys, who came to stay in my tiny little hometown and joined me at the hotel bar. We chatted and he asked if there was anything at all to do in the town, me saying, "Just this".

One of my first big concert tours was mixing house on the Licensed to Ill tour. Coincidentally, 10 years earlier, I had been dating Adam Horovitz' cousin, and I had met Adam a coupla times when he was like 10. I also slept at his apartment when my girlfriend housesat for her Aunt, his mom. Oddly, he didn't find that an interesting coincidence at all, and was kinda douchey when I broght it up.