Oh my God, it's Vince Vaughn!

Oh my God, it's Vince Vaughn...
Oh my God, it's Vince Vaughn...
Oh my God, it's Vince Vaughn...
Oh my God, it's Vince Vaughn...
Oh my God, it's Vince Vaughn...
Oh my God, it's Vince Vaughn...
...

I could not shut up my brain from echoing 'Oh my God, it's Vince Vaughn...' over and over as I was chasing after Vince Vaughn and his companion down the boulevard for a quarter of a block.

Vince Vaughn in Swingers was funny and witty. Vince in Old School was freakin' hilarious. Vince Vaughn in Wedding Crashers had you rolling on the floor, laughing hysterically until you were puking through your nose. No matter how familiar he seems to you after seeing his photos plastered all over the magazines and movie posters the last few months with advent of 'Wedding Crashers,' you just cannot imagine seeing Vince Vaughn in person, strolling past you in Milennium Park at 1:05pm on a Thursday afternoon in the midst of a crowd.

It was unreal.

He was obviously explaining something very intensely to his companion when I first spotted him, and from the gestures he was making (all too familiar from the movies) and the distinct voice that I could catch every now and then (also hard to mistake for another), I was certain that it was, indeed, Vince Vaughn. I wasn't even sure if I'd have the guts to ask him to pose for a picture with me as I started chasing after him. I just got up and started stumbling toward his path.

I've seen other stars before -- for example, Keanu Reeves in Wriglyville a few years back when he was shooting some movie, Mel Gibson when he was shooting a scene of 'What Women Want' at Marshall Fields, and many Korean movie stars in Seoul -- but they were all in movie sets or photo shooting sessions, and between me and the star were an army of film production people, hoard of adorning, frenzied fans, and most of the time, physical barricades. I've never 'bumped into' them before in the streets, person-to-person.

What made matters worse in this case was that he was thoroughly absorbed in his conversation, enough so that he was obviously failing to notice others like me who were cocking their heads with a quizical expression as he was walking past them. ("Hold on there, is that...? Vince Vaughn?") Interrupting him at this point would be like something akin to jumping into the scene of Last Supper in DaVinci's famous fresco where your sudden appearance stops everyone in the mid-sentence, for a minute or two of Jesus and his twelve disciples staring blankly at you and the awkward silence interrupted only by occasional uneasy coughs or sound of rustling table cloth, you break the stifling silence by saying: "Uh... are you... Jesus Christ? Great, that's what I thought. Whew! Uh... well... could I get a picture with you?" Definitely not cool.

Well, here's what I found out:

• Vince Vaughn is NOT as tall as I thought he'd be -- probably 6'1" or 6'2"?
• Vince Vaughn enjoys interviews with Terry Gross (host of NPR's "Fresh Air").
• Vince Vaughn has a firm, solid handshake.
• Vince Vaughn is as affable and cool as you'd think he'd be, despite a stranger interrupting him in the middle of the street.
• Vince Vaughn will not laugh when you playfully throw at him, "you are SO money!" Instead, his security guards will jump out of from the bushes and beat you up until you cry for mercy.

(Relax: the last one, I made up.)

When Vince Vaughn and his companion stopped at an intersection, he noticed me cautiously approaching him (imagine the scene of an Alaskan tourist with his face buried behind his camera, approaching a grizzly bear fishing for salmon in the stream, to snap a picture) and paused his converations (imagine the tourist snapping a twig, then the grizzly bear whipping its head and noticing its new dinner option, and the tourist freezing in his tracks, blood rushing away from his face).

I plunged right in:

Yours Truly: "Uh... You're Mr. Vince Vaughn, right?"
Jesus: "Yes, I am." (extending right hand for a shake) "What's your name?"
Yours Truly: "Choong. I live in Chicago." (I don't know why he'd be interested in this.)
Jesus: "Good to meet you, Choong." (shaking hands)
Yours Truly: "I just recently watched Wedding Crashers and I really enjoyed it... blah blah"
Jesus: (listening patiently)
Yours Truly: "I also read a recent article in Rolling Stone with you and Owen Wilson... blah blah"
Jesus: (listening patiently)
Yours Truly: "And I enjoyed the interview you did with Terry Gross at NPR... blah blah"
Jesus: (listening patiently)
Yours Truly: "I really think you are great; can I have your a baby?... blah blah"
Jesus: (listening patiently -- obviously, guys wanting to be impregnated by him is no big surprise to Vince Vaughn... and obviously, this is a figment of my imagination.)
Yours Truly: "Would you mind if I took a picture with you?"
Jesus: "Oh, of course, sure!" (poses for pictures) (*click!*) "How's that?"
(Then next gawker interrupts.)

The 'magic' in this whole "meeting Vince Vaughn thing" was that I walked away feeling like I just had a converation with Vince Vaughn as casually as if I was shooting the breeze with a buddy over a cold pint in a pub; he was definitley a cool guy. While I was walking through the busy streets of Chicago's Loop after parting ways with Vince Vaughn, I could not help imagine what I should have said to him if I was to do this over.

Well... that's for next time, Mr. Vaughn. Thanks for everything!

Note1: Obviously, you can see from my recount of meeting Vince Vaughn, why 99% of what's written in the New Testament is what the disciples and apostles blabbered about how great Jesus was (and to their credit, he IS!) and Jesus himself is quoted, oddly enough, very seldomly.
Note2: A lot of interesting sh*t happens to you when you are 'on the bench'
Note3: Neither of us were having the best picture day. Camera definitely adds 10 lbs. Right.
Note4: You can never mutter a star's name without refering to his/her full name... except possibly, Fabio (does he even have a last name???)