waiting for simon pegg

and he came!

I found out ages ago, via his Twitter feed, that he has a book coming out and will be doing a signing tour in the States. Wha??? No where did I hear he was writing a book. When did that happen?

I love Simon Pegg. And by extension, Nick Frost, Edgar Wright and Jessica Hynes. I saw "Hot Fuzz" somewhere along the way a couple of years ago. I think it popped up in my Netflix recommendations based on my Morse and Inspector Lewis rentals. Whatever!

That movie changed my life!

Ok, maybe nothing quite so dramatic, but I fell in love with 3 men that day. I immediately set out to buy the DVD, realized I bought the wrong one and then set out to buy the 3-disc set! I eventually sent the first one to my son back in Trinidad. Derek's a bit young for the blood, gore and ... who am I kidding? Have you seen the video games this kid plays?

Hot on the heels of "Hot Fuzz" I rented "Spaced" which is kinda the first really big thing the 3 men did together and nearly died laughing. Somehow sensing kindred spirits, I convinced the husband to give his sister and her g/f the box set as a gift. I actually don't own it myself, but will be seeking to rectify that very soon.

Anyhoo, after that, anything Simon Pegg was in was a must-see. Edgar Wright-directed as well but I didn't care for "Scott Pilgrim", I'm very sorry to say. I couldn't make it through the entire movie.

I've seen "Star Trek", "Mission Impossible III", "Run Fatboy, Run", "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People" multiple times. Funnily enough, I've only see "Shaun of the Dead" once. I loved it, but felt that "Hot Fuzz" better captured the love b/w Pegg and Frost and the direction was more kick-ass. I know "Shaun" is Pegg's baby, but no where does it say it also has to be mine.

So I began to follow his Twitter feed a few months back and the man is hysterical. John turned me into a bit of a comic-book geek and I tend to soak up any info when he talks. So I manage to get quite a bit of what Pegg's referring to. I think it would be amaze-balls to get Pegg and my husband in a room together.

When I reached the bookstore yesterday, I got there later than I intended because I got into a rant I seriously regret now and it made me stand in one place far too long screaming irrationally. I had to jump into a cab to get to the Strand on Broadway and E12th St and the line stretched around 2 corners. I went inside to buy a book for Jess but they were sold out! They said I would be able to get one when I go into get my own signed, if they don't sell out.

I was already angry and left the store so I wouldn't yell at the poor woman doing her job. Although I wrote my name on mine, I thought I'd send that to Jess if I get it signed because at least I'd have met him. I could always buy another copy later on.

So I waited. And waited. And waited. I wound up chatting with the woman in front of me and the man behind me in the last half hour or so and we all had a funny time sharing our silly celeb sightings and movies we liked. And how we'd stand in line for David Tennant!

That does not mean I didn't suffer for the first 2 and a half hours. Right in front of me, just before the woman I wound up speaking to, was 3 guys and 2 women. Red shirt came with his mom and the 3 other people might have been together. I isolate red shirt because he made sure to talk non-stop for 3 hours about everything under the sun. Oh man, I wished John was there! Never before have I ever wanted my husband to verbally bitch-slap someone as I did yesterday.

The guy talked incessantly about comics, movies, actors and spoke about none with any real knowledge. I knew more about comics than he did. The 3 people whom he met in the line couldn't get a word in edgewise and the girl with them looked so bored. I've seen some big-mouths in law school, but this guy is going to make me look at them with a great deal more affection. At least, they're in law school. He admitted he's a mama's boy. He also said Vin Diesel is the biggest D&D geek. He also said lesbians make the best friends for straight guys because when a guy is down, the girl will cradle them and it's a free feel-up. That's when I pulled out my iPod and put the volume on the highest so Lady Gaga's "Telephone" would drown out his sickening voice.

Anyhoo, I finally made it inside and my hand was shaking so bad I could barely take a picture. When I got up to Pegg, I couldn't say a word. Thank God I offered to get Jess a book as well because when he opened the book to sign it he asked where's Jess and I was still standing at the table after he signed mine. (Oh, he did say my name and said he liked it!) I said she's my sister-in-law and we had a cheery chat about her being in Oregon and not there.

Oh my God, he was a doll. He made everyone laugh so hard and hammed it up for cameras when he could. He didn't pose for pictures but let everyone take as many as they would like. He stayed to sign every book. I left at 10:30, when the store closed, and he was still there. I didn't get my book signed till close to 10 (after getting there about 6:15!) and there was still a snaking line behind me.

Someone asked what if he left before he got to us. I had read the book, "Nerd Do Well", and said that he really understands what it means to stand in a line to meet someone and has done it himself, even after he became a big star. I was willing to put money down that if there were people still waiting after 10:30, he was going to keep signing. And he did. There was no line outside the store when I left, but there were still people inside the store waiting.

His book is very funny and sweet. He writes lovingly about Nick Frost and his mum. I want my sons to feel that way about me when they get older. Pegg writes about calling his mum to tell her exciting things happening to him, and he's in his thirties!

Quite frankly, the best bit of the book is a self-indulgent story where Simon Pegg is a Bruce Wayne-type who has an adventure while the real Pegg writes his autobiography. It's split up throughout the book and you get a bit of the story every few chapters into the memoir. It's a stand-alone story and just the kind of thing everyone wants to write about himself or herself. It made me laugh out loud in so many places. I really wish I had told him how much I enjoyed that.

But, he signed my book, and Jess', and I took a couple of decent pix and recorded a bit of his silliness. He thanked people for waiting so long and took a few seconds to personalize every single person who stood in front of him. It was totally worth it.