Meeting Bruce Campbell

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Probably the only famous person I've ever met was Larry Scott, back when I did some web development for him, I think in 2009.  Not being a bodybuilding enthusiast, I didn't really know who he was so I looked him up at the time and learned that he had won Mr. Universe in the 1960s, along with several other impressive titles.  Like I said I wasn't into bodybuilding, so meeting him wasn't an overwhelming experience of starstruckdom, but nonetheless Scott was a nice man, and it was pleasant working for him.  I'm glad I got to meet him.

Now, there is a handful of celebrities whom I'd be especially excited to meet.  If I ever met one of them, I hope I'd manage to not be a pest like the obsessive fans, and I imagine I'd simply ask for a handshake and very briefly express my appreciation of the celebrity's performances.

Anyway, last summer I dreamed that I met Bruce Campbell, of whom I am a big fan.

I dreamed that I was employed at my old university, and that I had an office on campus.  I found out that Campbell was going to be speaking that day on campus, so I got excited about potentially meeting him.

For some reason I had organized my movie collection in my university office, so I ran back to my office to get something for Campbell to autograph.  Initially I was going to have him autograph all four of my copies of Army of Darkness, but I realized that would be pestering, so I settled on just my German version of the director's cut, Armee der Finsternis, since it had the brightest cover and would show off his autograph better than the others.

I exited my office with my Armee der Finsternis DVD in hand, giving it one more lookover to make sure it was the item I wanted, then ran to the auditorium where I found Campbell lounging at the sound technician's desk.  I told him that I was a big fan of his and asked him if he'd autograph my DVD cover.  He took the DVD case, turned his back to me, then turned back to me and said, “Sorry, kid, but this isn't one of my movies.”  He handed me what he was holding and I saw that it was a CD-ROM for some obscure computer game.

At first I thought I'd somehow made a big mistake, but then I said, “No, this isn't what I brought.  I remember looking at the cover on my way over here.”  I turned the CD-ROM jewelcase over and pointed at the back.  “And it says here, 'Property of Computer Games Rental Shop'!”  I then realized that Campbell might have been trying to discourage me from getting his autograph.

“Oh, yeah, you're right,” Campbell said as he picked up something else, “but it looks like it's missing a disc.”

I was then annoyed that I would have to replace the movie disc, and said, “That's fine; just sign it.”

Then I saw that what Campbell was holding was a special collector's edition of the the Evil Dead trilogy (of which Army of Darkness is Part 3).  He was going to give me a special collector's set, autographed, and maybe he was actually kidding about the missing disc.  Either way, my excitement was renewed.

Before he could autograph it, however, Campbell got called up to talk at the podium.  He was actually one of multiple speakers, so his talk was brief, but I don't remember a word of it.

After Campbell returned to the sound technician's desk, I made sure to shake his hand and thank him.  After I talked with him a bit longer, I woke up.

Imaginary Bruce Campbell never did get around to autographing anything for me.