So I was driving along (dad as passenger) on Mulholland highway and as I was approaching Malibu Canyon rd intersection, a motorcycle is right on my arse, trying to pass me on the right, WTF?!. As I get to the light the bike pulls up on the right and this guy says, beautiful Elan, I got two of them. My dad and I are like, ok that's nice LOL. Then I realized it was Jay, but my dad had no clue. I said to my dad, do you know who that is, look at his eyes through the helmut?
I was meeting some people for lunch at the rock store and Jay was there, so he came over to check out the car. He talked to us for a good twenty minutes, gave him the tour of the car, etc. It was pretty cool.
Not sure what the badge he was wearing was for though
Jay is a good guy isn't he? I have met him several times in the past @ the Rock Store back in my motorcycling days. Other "Hollywood types" have shown up there too, but they are all massive Jerks, surrounded by an entourage of butt kissers. Like anyone really cared about them anyway! (a certain dwarf action star initials SS comes to mind here)
Leno is different, he's just another motorhead, interested in your car/bike AND in you. He sits with the guys, chats, makes wisecracks and gets teased by the rest of us. The man can laugh at himself, a very rare quality in this town of fragile egos. He truly is comfortable in his own skin.
About 10 years ago we chatted about my Laverda RGS over a few weekends, then, several years later, my wife and I were having tea at the Empress Hotel in Victoria B.C. There was a big charity car show and Jay was the MC, well he and Mavis, his wife, also came down for the High Tea. As they walked in he passed by our table, I looked up, recognised him and smiled. He gave me a funny look, kept on walking and sat down a few tables away. After a couple of minutes he turned to me and said: " Mr. Laverda, how are you doing? Been doing any riding?"
I was blown away, can you imagine how many people this guy meets in a year? I guess he liked the bike.....BTW for the rest of the weekend we were Mr & Mrs Laverda to all the waitstaff, the story spread fast!
I have a friend who tells a similar story about Jay remembering faces like that.
I have met him a few times, but this was the first with my car and actually had a reason to hold a conversation with him.
It was especially cool since my father was here visiting