(#4) Brush With Greatness Returns...and is guaranteed not to disappoint!

("Brush With Greatness": the story behind the idea behind the concept )

Brush With Greatness #1, #2, #3

This happened sometime back in the olden days, when I was in college. Some friends and I were at the Paradise in Boston, a club where a lot of great bands play, which just happens to be near the BU Campus (or maybe it's actually located on the BU Campus, which seems to reach the entire length of Commonwealth Ave.)

On that particular evening, there wasn't any great band playing. It was just some local band which I don't even recall the name of. A friend of mine was from the Boston area, and she knew of this band, and that's why we were at the show. Anyway, two girlfriends and I were right up next to the stage, and there wasn't a very large crowd to hear this band. However, not more than 20 feet away from us stood Mark Wahlberg--who at the time was generally known as "Marky Mark," and was appearing in those Calvin Klein underwear ads that could be seen all over the place. I don't think I had actually heard any of his music before, and he wasn't really an actor yet at the time--he was focusing more on being a model and recording artist.

When I saw Marky Mark, the first thing I noticed was how short he was. And his short height was underscored by the fact that he was hanging out with a couple of very big, black guys who appeared to be his bodyguards. Actually, I think he was alone at this show but for these bodyguards. As we were watching the band, one of my friends kept commenting about how Marky Mark was staring over at us. I was like, "right, I'm so sure..." but I looked over a few times, and he actually did seem to be staring at us. However he didn't have much of an expression on his face...he was trying to look casual I guess.

My friends and I were all just laughing about the whole thing because we were much too "cool" and "alternative" to be a fan of Marky Mark. Then one friend came up with the idea that after the show we should go up to him and ask him to drop his pants (his trademark at the time was to drop his pants in public...but I don't know which came first, the Calvin Klein underwear ads or the pants-dropping thing).

When the show ended, he didn't leave immediately...he was just sort of leaning against a pillar drinking a beer or something, and his body guards were nearby waiting for him. I told my friend, "I dare you! Go ask him to drop his pants!" I think we all had been drinking, so she took me up on the dare. She sort of snuck up behind him and called out, "Drop your pants, Marky Mark!" After that she immediately went running out of the club before he could respond..and we all followed her laughing hysterically.

dropping his pants