Celebrities you admire

[Ethan Reigns]

The first famous person I ever met was Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fired Chicken fame. When you talked to him, he had that gift of making you feel you were the only person in the room. I remember when KFC came out, it was delicious, not the crap they make today (and he sued them for using his name on their inferior recipe). He donated a wing to the Mississauga Hospital for cardiac care but he lived for about 20 years in a modest bungalow at 1337 Melton Drive about 4 km south of where I live.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Gosh, where do I start?

If we're taking actors, I really like Sophia Bush. She posts about women's rights and bringing awareness to the importance of voting.

Most of my musical heroes are dead (Bowie, Prince, MJ) but as for someone who is living, I really admire the band Hanson. They've really paved their own way in the music world, doing things on their own terms. They've started their own record company and beer company. They're real entrepreneurs and also do a lot of charity work. All this while still releasing music regularly and touring. They're also incredibly invovled with their fans and letting us know they relaly appreciate us, and super, humble down to earth guys.

 

[thrasherpix]

Offhand, I can't remember which ones who were seriously involved in charity and the like that I admire (in part, I don't pay that much attention to them). There are some who are a dime a dozen, but they're either paid to speak without meaning it, and/ordon't know what they're talking about, or what they say is great save that it only applies to the wealthy like themselves whereas those with little more than minimum wage paying jobs couldn't possibly to do the things celebrities advocate.

(Actually, some "experts" are just as bad, like the common one of how to stay out of debt that includes the advice of "always put a minimum of one thousand dollars into saving every month" which shows they have NO idea what kind of expenses most people have to live with, even if they are frugal.)

There are a few who actually have some sense and awareness who use their patronage and wealth with a plan, but I can't remember any of their names right now (but I do recall appreciating some celebrity athletes working with RAINN, an organization to help those who endured sexual abuse of all kinds which includes male survivors, as that appeals to the Protector aspect rather than Predator aspect in those who look up to such athletes).


But I can say I admire the Cruxshadows...back when they were struggling, some thief stole their instruments which were exceedingly difficult to replace. They almost didn't. But they did, picking themselves back up and dusting themselves off to keep moving forward. I admire that kind of tenacity. And they're big enough now to have made back all that they lost with interest, and seem to have avoided the arrogance many gain along with their success. (I do wonder how many great bands thieves have taken from us by theft of their instruments, maybe even what would've been the favorite band of some of those thieves later on had only the band kept going...)

 

[NeonSlayer]

Misha Collins & Victoria Vantoch: I already like him for Gishwhes, his Twitter presence, etc, but it is his stories about his personal life that I love. His mom got pulled over when he was little and she had weed on her so stuffed it in his pants to hide it, he once was out on Mother's Day and someone thought he was a mother, he was suspected of casing a bank because he was reading on the bank roof, etc. Victoria has a double BA (English, Business) & MA (anthropology) & PhD (history), wrote 2 books (The Threesome Handbook & The Jet Sex: airline stewardesses and the making of an American icon), published articles in several newspapers, is openly bisexual, was a guest lecturer at universities & the Library of Congress, etc. They've been together since high school, they have infiltrated a cult, snuck into North Korea, had threesomes, traveled the US to make a documentary on abortion, they had a gender flipped wedding (she in a tux & he in a wedding dress) he hand crafted their bed, she designed their rings, he got her to read Mathew Thomas's We Are Not Ourselves, etc.


Jenna & Julien: They are YouTube famous and even though they have millions of fans and there is a Madame Tussauds wax statue of her, they are so real. They're vegan, care about animal rights, and treat their dogs like their children. Jenna's fish died and she spent all day in bed in grief then did a 40 minute vid talking about ways it was her fault (she bought a circular bowl which she later was told disorients fish). They are optimistic good people who make the world better just by being in it.