Monday, July 31, 2006

A photo of Sweetie and Mr. T wearing cowboy hats

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It's quite an odd photo, isn't it.

About a month ago I found an article on-line that hinted that Mr. T might be on hand at the Gloucester County 4-H Fair sometime during the Fair's four day run.

He is busy shooting episodes of his reality show "I Pity The Fool" and one local farm might be featured in an episode.

After a couple of well placed calls I had all the information I needed. Mr. T was going to fly into New Jersey on Thursday July 28th and would be heading out on Friday night.

Somewhere in between he MIGHT be at the fair.

Thursday night I hopped into the Sweetie-mobile and took the 90 minute drive to South Jersey.

Before you start picturing scenes from the opening credits of "The Sopranos" let me stress one thing:

This is SOUTH Jersey.

It's really like the "South."

I loved it. The Gloucester County 4-H Fair has all the things you would expect a 4-H fair to have.

If you tip the right person, they'll even tell you what the four H's stand for. (I have been sworn to secrecy on two of them, but I can tell you one of them is for Jalapeños.)

Here is a sheep:
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Anyway, Thursday night ended up being totally "T" free.

No mention of him anywhere. A query at the information booth revealed that there was a chance he would be there on Friday.

Friday July 28, 2006 I arrived at the fairgrounds bright and early. Still, no sign of Mr. T. So I watched cows eat for hours.

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Although this was more fun than it sounds, it still was no match for actually MEETING Mr. T. I was starting to think this was as good as it would get.

Then I saw some show biz types. They stuck out like a sore thumb. They even stuck out more than me since I had been clever enough to buy a cowboy hat so I could walk around incognito.

The show biz types were scouting the grounds and putting up signs.

These signs:
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Finally! A glimmer of hope! Perhaps the dream of being photographed side by side with the "one and only" Mr. T while wearing a cowboy hat would be coming true.

(I know you saw the photo at the top of the page, but pretend you don't know the outcome of the story yet. It's more fun.)

Still, even with some show biz types around I had not found Mr. T.

But I did find a tiny horse with the most adorable little bangs:

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Then as I walked away from this crazy midget horse, I heard the unmistakable voice of Mr. T.

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Clad in an outfit FAR too hot for that particular day Mr. T stood behind a barn chatting with locals and being shielded from the heat by an umbrella held by a member of his entourage.

Mr. T spotted me (in my Mr. T shirt) and called me over where we took the following photo:
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For the next 8 hours Mr. T was driven back and forth from his trailer to the main "horse show" area many times.

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When he was in main area he did all kinds of really cool Mr. T things.

He dispensed advice to riders:
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He sat in the crowd and cheered for riders:
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And he became a rider:
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Plus, when he wasn't shooting he made a point of greeting every single person at the fair.

He told us the show premieres on TV Land on October 11, 2006. This particular episode will be aired a couple weeks later.

It was awesome. I was even interviewed for the local paper, the Gloucester County Times.

Here is an excerpt from the article that appeared in the paper a day later (written by Trish Graber):

His arrival did not cause much stir at the agricultural fair, but for one hard-core fan who drove from Princeton for the chance to see Mr. T, it was the highlight of his week.

"I have thousands of (Mr. T) items," said Guy Hutchinson, who wore a black T-shirt with Mr. T's mug plastered across the front. "I've been across the country to see him."

Hutchinson drove to the fairgrounds two days in a row to see his favorite actor, since organizers did not announce whether he would appear Thursday night or Friday.
"He's so nice to everyone," Hutchinson said, after having his picture snapped with Mr. T.

And of Mr. T on the horse, Hutchinson said it was definitely worth traveling for.

"It's certainly a different side of Mr. T," he said.


A different side indeed.

Many thanks to Mr. T who is still the coolest celebrity on the planet.

Also, I want to point out that when it was written that seeing Mr. T was the "highlight of (my) week" it is worth noting that this was the highlight of a PRETTY COOL week.

In addition to seeing sheep and cows and funny little horses, I saw the Phillie Phanatic (at a Phillies/Diamondbacks game):
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I also went to a balloon festival:
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Still, it is true that Mr. T was the highlight of the week:
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22 comments:

  1. Yeah, it's a good story.

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  2. Will it be disney style?

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  3. Uh... uh... wait until 2pm.

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  4. This isn't going to turn out like Baby Huey is it? I don't think I can wait another month to find out the story.

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  5. lol (not really, more like "laughing on the inside")

    The full article is posted now... for those of you just joining, there had been a T-easer on the site about this article.

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  6. I have met him 8 times in the past 13 years. I have met him in each of the last 4 years (twice in 2003) and have taken a whole bunch of photos.
    Perhaps I should do an all Mr. T photo edition.

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  7. Anonymous7/31/2006

    You know what would be AWESOME? If Evel Knievel forgot his motorcycle and Sweetie had to lend him the sweetiemobile. At first Knievel was nervous, but the 6 bottles of Jack that he drank calmed down and then he jumped over the horses at the 4-H Fair in the Sweetiemobile. Oh man that would be SSSSSSSSSWWWWEEETTT!!!

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  8. Anonymous7/31/2006

    Meeting Mr. T 8 times in the past 13 years is not that impressive. I, myself, have met Hilary Duff over 600 times in the past 2 years. Usually, I sit across from her house and break in the second she leaves. Then I surprise her with flowers and a wedding ring the second she comes home. Then she sprays me with mace. We are truly soulmates.

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  9. Anonymous7/31/2006

    Hey,

    I was at that 4-H fair, too! Why no mention? Perhaps you missed me because I talking with 4-H officials. I was trying to make hat collecting the 5th H. Unfortunately, Jim McGreevey got in line before me and now the 5th H is Homosexuality.

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  10. Anonymous7/31/2006

    This is THE saddest day of my life. I went to the fair on Friday.I ate some tomatoes, looked at some bunnies and left.
    Not only did I miss Sweetie Guy Hutchinson ,
    I missed Mr. T.
    MR. T!!

    I did get a tasty stick of honey, though...

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  11. Wow! I met Mr. T, went to a balloon fest, saw the Phanatic AND witnessed the return of NotEnoughDuff! This is the best week ever.

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  12. Is it at the point where Mr. T remembers you? Like when he sees you at the fair, does he remember you're the guy from the Kimmel show?

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  13. Somewhere out there I bet Mr. T has a blog with this exact same post as this one only told from his point of view.

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  14. Man, just looking at that get up makes me sweat. Mr. T looks cool as can be though.

    Guess that is yet another reason why Mr. T is the man.

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  15. Strutter: Yes Mr. T remembered me from the Jimmy Kimmel Show.

    Now if only I can get Jimmy Kimmel to remember me from the Mr. T show.

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  16. Craig, it was hot. Very hot. I was in shorts and a sleevless T-Shirt and I was overheated!

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  17. Good pictures. I think you had a cooler hat than Mr. T.

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