Kingdom of Knuffel

I do remember because I was like 8 the first time and I guess that left an impression on me.
Also I was allowed to not go to bed as early as usual because dad wanted to watch soccer so I guess there's that too.

Hotarla wrote: ↑Jun 25th, '24, 20:31 Kuuki: that sounds so cool, just being able to see players like that. altho, i'm sure if Lionel Messi of Argentina was just wandering around like that, he might just be mobbed. lol. you don't get to become the strongest international soccer player in the world for nothing. xD;;

Messi is a bad example, Japanese people don't care enough about soccer to mob him. I'm pretty sure I did see some pictures of him wandering around.
Thing is, you'd be surprised at how much people don't care/recognize people when they're just wandering around the city. Granted I don't stumble upon internationally famous people wandering around but I do stumble upon famous Japanese people, some even filming, being very obvious and no one cares.

Ah. Well maybe in different countries, the reactions are different. I guess it depends on famous person vs location. Maybe. I dunno. I’ve gone to purposely meet famous ppl. Rarely do I see famous ppl walking around.

I had coworkers be starstruck about a band that stopped for pics and were shocked when I went "I decided on lunch at this time, bye"
It was not a band I'd heard of

XD
To be fair, I think you'd even put Taylor Swift in front of me and I would barely be able to recognize her.
I have had a very limited exposure to internationally famous people since I moved here.

Hotarla wrote: ↑Jun 26th, '24, 02:41 Ah. Well maybe in different countries, the reactions are different. I guess it depends on famous person vs location. Maybe. I dunno. I’ve gone to purposely meet famous ppl. Rarely do I see famous ppl walking around.

I live in a very big city with a highish concentration of famous people, so that helps. Also lives in a very touristy part of the city so filming is something that happens regularly as well.
Have seen the ex-empress too. She wasn't wandering around and the security is the craziest I have seen so far in Japan but they slowed the car and she waved at the people who stopped and waited for her.
I do think the security is doing more harm than good because the imperial family rides a very expensive car that most people around here would associate with not-so-nice people and not get close.

Ah maybe exposure helps too lol. If you see them all the time, you start thinking there’s nothing special and go “eh whatever, what do you want for lunch” lol.

Anyways I do believe that it probably varies between countries/location and what not.

It definitely varies.
Like for example, group of students are most likely to gather and make a fuss.

I'm usually team "what are they filming, who's this?" and then "they're in the way I kinda need to go to work people"

Oh so true.

I’ve randomly been in Toronto when they were filming stuff. Like when the filmed Suicide Squad, I remember I had to take an evening train and I was stopped at an intersection along with other ppl bc they were filming. And here I am going “I’m gonna miss my train, like I’d have to wait another HOUR for one” lol.

I was also wandering around in Toronto when they were filming Pixels. I remember seeing one street with those colourful mini coopers. And I remember seeing a fake American subway station that led into the concrete (cuz it was fake lol) and a US post box. Lol

I wonder if it's mostly a cultural thing or a generational thing?
Or some other factor.

Can't say I'd notice really if confronted by any famous people.
Even if you offered for me to have a meal with some celebrity, what would you even say...

I did run into an author I knew at a vacation spot once. That was fun! I got to ask some questions about how things worked in the background that I'd always been curious about, and she was super nice about taking the time to think about how she thought it would work and actually answer me when I asked something that she hadn't actually plotted out previously. I thought it was very kind.
And then we wandered off different directions and just did a passing nod when crossing paths the rest of the stay, lol, so it was mostly just one question-and-answer session, kind of.

Socializing is hard enough normally; trying to do it ex tempore with a famous person seems like challenge mode.

Who knows. My sister used to like doing that, chasing after stars. Like when some popular Chinese star had a meet and greet or concert, she wanted to go. Usually the rest of us would get dragged along for the ride too lol.

Huh. Did she ever explain why?
For instance, did she have questions about something or want to make a suggestion to the artist or pick their brains about upcoming songs/movies/whatever-they-make?
Or did the experience of seeing the creator of the work give her a visual to meditate on while listening to a song, and that made it easier for her to appreciate the work? (I know some people are more visual- than audio-centric, so maybe it enhanced her experience in some way?)
It's making me think about what it is that fans get from the interaction.
Is it a bridge of imagination between the theoretical and practical, sort of an emotional driving home of the notion that another human just like them created it? Makes it "more real"?

(I've also always wondered about that phrase when people use it to describe experiences which are patently real to begin with. It makes sense when referring to an attempt at recreating something but I don't see how it gets used so often when that's not the case. Okay, if you're attempting to make fake flowers, use that phrase after discovering a new technique. Fine, if you're a professional art fraud detector discussing forgery techniques, by all means, use the phrase. Yes, a game designer working with VR helmets should absolutely discuss how to make their project "more real".... and yet. Somehow. Mostly when people around here use that phrase, they're talking about something that was real to begin with. If you're going swimming in the ocean already, how is it "more real" to do it without swim-goggles. The ocean doesn't suddenly become fake because you're wearing a protective gear! If your long-term partner proposes, how is it "more real" because they arranged for background music? A proposal is still real without that... and honestly the artificial staging should make it seem less "real", shouldn't it? If you're planning a trip to your dream vacation spot, how does printing out the itinerary make it any "more real" than the two seconds before it was printed out?
The phrase itself isn't very confusing.
But how people use it is very confusing.)


Okay this is turning into an essay, time to stop and just post it.