Friday, March 19, 2010

Meeting Dan Aykroyd.

So today was the type of date many of us can wish for. One of those days where you are accidently given the wrong information and yet, you manage to achieve a victory. For a while now, I've been looking forward to meeting the man responsible for Ghostbusters; Dan Aykroyd. I've already met Ernie Hudson late last year. Now to follow up five months later with Dan Aykroyd? That's something I'm not about to pass off. I was told that he would be at Joe Canal's in Lawerenceville, NJ at 1 PM over a month ago. That's not a bad hike for me to get there so I requested the day off in advance and made sure to be there by noon to meet Doctor Ray Stantz in the flesh. 


After the easiest car ride in the history of traveling, I get to the destination with no problems at noon. The parking lot is a ghost town. A plastic bag mimics tumbleweed as I go in; all psyched to meet Dan Aykroyd to only find out that the location is actually at a different Joe Canal's.  Only about an hour from where I am. Oddly enough, I remember checking the website to find the exact address earlier that day. 




I spent some time looking over some maps and figuring out the possibilities of what to do with the rest of the day. Finally, I came to a conclusion. So now, it's nearing 12:20 and the Dan Aykroyd event is about to kick off at 1 PM. An hour away. Part of me was not liking this road trip idea. after all, I just drove about an hour to go the wrong way and figured out what I was going to do after the event. BUT then again, how often can I say I hung out with Dan Aykroyd? Logically, the best thing was to do was get the best reroute possible and head north. 


I arrived now at 1:20 PM and the event was kicked off. The line for the event was a tad longer than I anticipated and I was a little concerned that I might not get to meet Dan as I was really hoping to. I met some fellow Ghostheads on the line; took some pictures of the line and some footage which will be posted in another update. 


Finally, I got to meet Dan Aykroyd. He signed my copy of his father's book and the picture that Ernie Hudson autographed as well. We had a small conversation and it was really great seeing him at work. He was signing the boxes for the Crystal Head Vodka promotion and we really didn't talk about Ghostbusters as much as I was thinking I would. We did get to talk about his father's book which was cool since it's about ghosts and his family's history of the occult. Plus he did the forward. 


It was definitely a priceless day. I'm looking forward to meeting more local Ghostheads as well as more of the cast.