Feb22

when life gives you a pound or so of raw talent, just make meatloaf.

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what are the odds? i have crossed paths with meatloaf (the singer, not the food), not once, but twice in my life. this is a brush with fame i never anticipated. and while i can appreciate his theatrical performance style, his passion, and unique voice, i was never musically smitten enough to ever really aspire to come in face-to-face contact with him. or bikini-to-speedo contact with him, for that matter, but fate tiptoed in and had other plans.

our first meeting happened back in the day when i was a cocktail waitress/student. meatloaf stopped by to immortalize his visit to our place by putting his hands into a wet cement block on our sidewalk.

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not meatloaf putting his hands in wet cement

what i remember most about this night, was not the hand printing, but the imprint left on me when he grabbed a half-eaten sandwich off of a customer’s plate, took a huge bite out of it, and put it back. that, and i remember he was sweating. a lot.

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not meatloaf sweating or the sandwich he took a huge bite of

our second meeting happened when i was in florida and walking down the beach. i was sipping on a tall, cool cocktail, enjoying the slow-setting sun, reflecting on another relaxing vacation day, when who should come walking down the beach, but my old friend meatloaf. and this time he was wearing a speedo, and it was not his best look. and he had a colorful, fruity drink in his hand, and he was still sweating, and his skin was really red, but he was smiling, and he kept on smiling as we passed each other. and we were both happy.

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not meatloaf in a speedo on the beach

and i took a big sip of my cocktail with double limes, and thought to myself, how lucky. some things were meant to be, you just have to take what the universe offers up and toast to it. so, here’s to you, meatloaf on the beach.

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meatloaf

There’s no explanation for success. Success just comes out of life. – Meat Loaf

———-

image credits: fabulousfoods.com,tumblr.com, primantibrothers.com, latimes.com,theguardian.com

 

82 responses »

  2. Love the photos of the not meatloaf! I once met Richard Chamberlain when I was heavily pregnant, and his first remark was ‘its not mine’….I wonder if that situation cropped up before with him!

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  3. The thought of Meatloaf in a Speedo…let’s not go there.
    I keep all my theater programs and Playbills and I apparently saw Meatloaf naked. (There’s a phrase I never thought I’d utter.) He was in the cast of “Hair” with a touring company that I saw in Detroit.

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    • and the hands in cement night was in the detroit area, glad he didn’t ‘come in costume.’ now we really have something in common. but you have taken it even one step further, sister. )

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  6. Wow, KSbeth, I saw Meatloaf on an episode of Celebrity Apprentice. He seemed really intelligent and nice, not the type to take a bite of a half-eaten sandwich. Oh well, we all have our faults. I never want to see anyone in a speedo.
    My claim to fame is having Jaime Lewis ask me to travel with him on the coffee-house circuit. I declined. Who is he, you ask. Art Carney’s son. Art Carney played Ed Norton on The Honeymooners, with Jackie Gleason.

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    • he actually is a really nice guy, and luckily i’m not in the public eye enough for people to notice all of my own missteps ) and you are right, the speedo is really not a good look on most anyone. how cool about the tour invite )

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  7. I hope someplace in that wonderful mind of yours, Beth, you thought of the famous American line as Mr. Loaf — that is what the New York Times calls him on second reference, by God — strolled toward you in double-lime paradise: Meatloaf again?

    I have reviewed him in concert multiple times. He was always sweating a lot. But I never saw him take a bite our of somebody else’s sandwich.

    If you should encounter him a third time, I advise that you get out of there like A Bat Out of Hell, of course.

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  9. It won’t be much of a surprise but I am a Meatloaf fan, not the meat but the colourful fruity drink sandwich biting sweaty guy 🙂 lol He does sweat a lot, I saw him on Ghosthunters a while back and he seemed rather hot on that too, perhaps it was the spirits, no not his fruity drink 🙂

    I like your story, I would imagine that he sees lots of beautiful young women in bikinis 🙂 Have a fantastic weekend Beth and be good, just like me 😉

    Andro xxxx

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  14. Wow! You met Meatloaf! I remember the song, “Paradise by the dashboard light” was a big hit when I was growing up. (and yes, that makes me feel really old) 🙂

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  19. This is a great post and you are making me jealous!! I love Meatloaf and think that one of the new American Idols, may actually win it, and his a younger version of this famous singer! He is cute and awesome! I like a little ‘meat’ on the bones of my men! Smile!

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  23. Guess I’m in love with the stage Meatloaf, not the real one. I’d walk a country mile to hear him sing “I Would Do Anything for Love.” I’d also walk a mile to avoid seeing him in a speedo. Ugh.

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  27. this post is an absolute riot (and not just because of the addition of Daniel Craig) – this sentence made me laugh out loud: “what i remember most about this night, was not the hand printing, but the imprint left on me when he grabbed a half-eaten sandwich off of a customer’s plate, took a huge bite out of it, and put it back. that, and i remember he was sweating. a lot.” and I’m a vegetarian!

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    • i’m so happy you enjoyed it roy, and, (i’m not kidding, i thought – oh no, roy and susie will not read this when they see a picture of a loaf of meat heading up this post!), but i had to take the plunge for the integrity of my story. and i’m really against censorship of any kind in principle. yep, a beach shot of daniel craig is a nice way for all of us to warm up when stuck in the polar vortex. ) just consider that a bonus –

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  29. This added such much needed humor to my day! What a strange encounter not once but twice, and I LOVE the photos you chose for your story. As unexpected as bumping into Meatloaf on the beach. Isn’t Meatloaf supposed to be refrigerated eventually?

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      • I had a couple of brushes with infamous folk when a relative owned a restaurant in Greenwich Village NYC –
        but we were always told to just let ’em be regular folks.

        Do you remember a TV story serial called ‘Dark Shadows’
        I could e-mail you a bite of that… ‘truth is stranger than fiction’.

        Meatloaf…odd how life likes to give you a bit of beef now and then. 🙂

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  34. I had a reasonable opinion of Mr Loaf’s musical abilities until he had to sing live at the Australian Football grand final two years ago. It was the most appalling out-of-tune exhibition we’ve ever seen.
    Perhaps it was caused by some technical problem beyond his control, ‘cos I’m not here to spoil your memories of him. 🙂

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  35. I was just about to shutdown the computer and get some sleep … now I fear I’ll have Meatloaf in a speedo dreams, which isn’t something I want to dream about (or see in RL either for that matter! lol)

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  36. I have always been a fan of Meatloaf, but the last time he was on TV, he just couldn’t sing anymore.I guess I could also skip the physical sight of Meatloaf and speedo.But still like Bat Out of Hell and Two Out of Three Aint Bad and I’m 67 now.

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    • i haven’t seen him perform in quite a while, but i enjoyed his old stuff too. he’s probably pretty burnt out at this point and the speedo thing – well, you’re quite right )

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