George Encounter 1 :: Katie
Our class went on a tour of much music. Walking around, la la - Hey look! There's George doing RapidFAX. But at that time it was, "Who is that? Oh well, look, lets gawk at Rick!" Meanwhile while stupid me is gawking at stupid Rick, George is talking to our class and I could of had a better view of him, than Rick! What's the one and only word that can describe this situation? D'oh! NOW I see George on TV and I'm like, drool and my locker is pasted with pics and people say, "Who's that creepy guy?" Who's that SEXY creepy guy I correct them!
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George Encounter 2 :: Miranda
The day was off to a nice start because I was so very excited to go and see Finger Eleven, and as I walk into the park with boyfriend at that time, I saw a camera crew run by me and then I notice that a handsome dark-haired guy ran past me as well. It wasn't till it was too late that I was able to figure out that it was non other than GEORGE STROUMBOULOPOULOS! Yes my day was off to a good start to say the least! As the day drew on I couldn't help but keep my eyes out for George again. Sadly it was many hours until I saw him again. Rather it was my best friend who had spotted George. It was the perfect opportunity, A Perfect Circle was on stage playing and George was standing a mire 25 feet away from me... ALL BY HIMSELF! There was no more camera crew around him, so I made my approach. My best friend and I went up to George made some small talk about the band. George told us just how much he loved the song "Judith". He enjoyed the song so much that he stopped in the middle of a sentence to sing a part of the song and shake his head to the music. After that I had him sign my mod robes sticker which said "I want you in my pants!" Coincidence, I think not. And then I was so excited he and I posed for a picture together where he came and stood cheek to cheek with me. I love George so much and I think that he is the coolest VJ on Much Music.
George Encounter 3 :: Kim
It was August 6th of last year, and I was at Summersault 2000 in Edmonton. I was just walking back from the tent area (just after my friend Age met Taylor of Foo Fighters), going towards the stage because I noticed A Perfect Circle had just started to perform. Suddenly I saw a guy, just to the right of me, come running out from backstage in the direction I was headed. I could tell right away that it was George. I had heard he was there, but had not seen him that day or met him before that moment. As he was running past me, and I was still getting over the shock of seeing him, I yelled, "GEORGE!" He slowed down, put his hand around my waist and said hurriedly, "Hey, I'm just going to go catch A Perfect Circle," and he motioned for me to come along. Remembering my best friend, Ivy (a bigger fan of George than me), who was a little ways behind me, I turned around to find her. She was talking with some of my other friends, but stopped when she heard me yell, "IVY, GEORGE!" as I pointed in the direction he was in. She ran with me to go see him. She said hello and so did the rest of my friends. We got some pictures taken with him, he signed our Summersault '00 tickets, and took some requests from us for LOUD. We got to watch the entire APC performance with him, and I could tell he enjoyed it thoroughly. I know that he is a HUGE fan of A Perfect Circle, especially Judith (you should've seen how happy he was when they started playing Judith... it was so cute). I found later that he was doing a Gonna Meet A Rock Star episode for OLP. He had skipped out of most of the filming of it to go see APC perform, and I was there. I feel so blessed... hehehe.
George Encounter 4 :: Ivy
Me and a group of my friends went to Summersault in Edmonton. We were not expecting to run into George that day but I guess lady luck was on our side. As we were standing in line waiting for Foo Fighters autographs, my friend Cam came over to us and said that he had seen "that guy from Loud" backstage while Finger Eleven was playing. I was like, "That guy from Loud? GEORGE? What the hell is he doing here?!". From then on, I was on the lookout. Peeking through the fences to see if I could catch a glimpse of him or any other cool people to coax them over for an autograph. I was totally not expecting it when, during A Perfect Circles set, my friends came running up to me squealing something to the effect of "George... Run... Go now... George!" I couldn't really understand all 5 of them at the same time, so my friend Kim just said "Ivy... GEORGE!" They were also pointing excitedly in one direction. I looked to where they were pointing, and sure enough there was George. Trotting along at a mild pace towards the stage to watch A Perfect Circle. I was looking at the merch tents at the time, and I got so excited that I almost ran away with what I was holding (my apology goes out to the tent owner). I ran after him, and stood next to him for about five minutes as APC was playing. Here's the thing, my friends and I have an unspoken agreement that whenever we meet people who are in bands or people like George, "our celebrities", I always make the first move. Its been that way... FOR CENTURIES! I was pretty shocked at the fact that he was even there, never mind the fact that I was standing right next to him, so I was unable to get any words out of my mouth for about five minutes. When I finally did say hello, he was more than friendly. First thing he did was ask me my name. He then shook my hand and asked me how I was doing. (NOTE: there was very loud music playing and we were fairly close to the speakers, so whenever I talked to him and vice versa, we had to go extremely close.) He greeted all of my friends in the same way. There were about 6 of us. He also took time to take pics with three of us, and sign something for all 6. He adds an extra unique little note to all of his autographs. We ended up talking about various stuff. Like APC, Max Cavelara, and me and my friends drumming abilities. He told us that he was here to see APC and I felt really bad for interrupting him while he was watching. (Sorry George!) We ended up watching the rest of APC together and were supposed to hook up with him for Foo Fighters, but we never found him. But we ran into him again by the backstage entrance while OLP was on and stood with him there for a while and chatted. We ended up being on Gonna Meet A Rock Star. Ummmm yeah... it was a good day!
George Encounter 5 :: Mira
Well, it was just this past Thursday [June 14, 2001]. Me and my friends were at the NHL awards at the ACC in Toronto. After the awards, we went in search of hockey players to get pictures and autographs when we noticed a real tall guy. Turned out to be Bradford. Next to him was Rick. We go up to say hello, when out of nowhere pops George. We were all really shocked to see them all so we stood there dumbfounded, trying to figure out who would approach them. They go out onto the street and we decided to follow. My friends arent really into George (the horror!) so they approached Rick. Me, being a total chicken followed them to Rick rather than go over to George. But as we were talking to Rick, George taps me on the shoulder and says he's gonna try to grab Rick's rear end. We all had a good laugh and Rick introduced us to George. He talked with us, took pics, and signed autographs with us til his cab came. Totally friendly. As he was going to get in, he took my hand and drew a happy face with some wierd thing below it. I havent quite figured out what it is. I said I'd never wash my hands, but that would just be nasty. And thats my George story. George RULES!
George Encounter 6 :: Rachel
When I went down to Toronto one nice sunny afternoon, I popped by MuchMusic! I walked in and Rick was standing in the environment and called me over... I asked if George was in the building and then he said, "Yea, George is here!" Then he asked if I wanted to see him... Rick was nice and called George from the control room to see me! Seconds later, a man in a blue shirt with a white long sleaved shirt under it came bouncin' like a rubber ball down the stairs. Did a double spin and ran over to me and gave me a gigantic hug. That man was none other than George Stroumboulopoulos!! I shook his hand 3 times and gave him 4 hugs! I took some pictures of him and with him and then got his autograph! That was truely the BEST day of my entire life! Now I can call him every once in a while for info STRAIGHT from the man for my site!
George Encounter 7 :: Amy
It's Friday, August 3rd, my friend Colleen and I get down to Much Music at around 12:30ish. No one is hanging around outside. We look in and there's George standing on the steps in Much signing an autograph. I tried to act all nonchalant because I've met him before and Colleen hadn't but yet, I couldn't control myself. After about half an hour of trying to get George's attention we put a make-shift sign up on the window and something else up. Namugenyi was there and thought we meant her but no... sorry Nam, we didn't. As we kept looking in, we finally saw George bound down the stairs and out of sight and about 5 seconds later, he's outside with a female friend. He came straight to me and Colleen. My knees were shaking, I don't even know why! We talked for a bit and got pics and autographs but as George went to leave some other girls stopped him, etc. and everytime he said bye, someone else would talk to him. But he took the time to shake everyone's hands and ask names and talk for a bit. As soon as he was out of sight, Colleen and I swooned. After a bit, Nam came out and we got pics with her and got an autograph. Later we saw Rick and asked him to come outside but he motioned for us to meet him in the Much lobby, so we went. He asked us our names, why we were there, ("for George") and stuff. We told him we, "Weren't feeling the new VJ Amanda" and he's like, "Give her time, she's the new kid on the block". Rick's actually pretty nice. I always thought he was a loser, but anyway back to George... I can't really remember how much time went by, but George came out again and we talked to him for a bit longer but this time Rick was out too, so there were a group of girls surrounding both of them. They were pushing us out of the way and everything. Sucky! But did you know George used to have a chelsea haircut?! That's so sweet! I asked him to sign my summer school report card and he failed math too. Whatta George! Then George left in a taxi or somthing and said he was coming back, but when he got back, we had to leave so I asked for a hug and he extended his right hand. "But can I get a hug?" I asked him and he still kept his hand extended. I grabbed it and he pulled me in for one. He hugs so tightly! We said bye and that was that. George gets better everytime. Go meet him guys.
George Encounter 8 :: Nikki
Last week I assisted a photographer in a photo shoot, and the subject happened to be George Stoumboulopoulos. When I arrived at The Labyrinth (the bar where the photos were being taken), George came out right away to say hello to me, and he was very very friendly. We got everything prepared (lights set up, camera ready, what have you) upstairs and we pose George all over the place. He's super and funny, constantly making faces and dancing to the excellent jazz that was playing at the time. He was just great. When we went downstairs to continue our photographs he did parts of his interview [for FAZE magazine]. He talked about how difficult it was to get rid of his snake and his dog, due to his commitments with his work, he couldn't take proper care of them. He talked a lot about music and politics (which he knows a lot about, and was quite interesting to listen to). He told me about his experience at Humber College (I go there now, which is why we got on that topic) and gave me some good advice. I spent over two hours with him, and I really admired his passion for whatever he was talking about. He was so informed and honest with what he said. I can't relate a lot of that day, but I would like to tell you and everyone else that may read this that George is NICER than you see him on television. He's one of the nicest people I've ever met. Some people act nice and look nice on television, but he's for real. He talked to everyone who said hi to him or noticed him, and was genuinely nice to every person he talked to. I cannot stress enough how nice this man is! Anyways, it was a great experience. George is really funny and that day was one of the best I've had since I moved up here to Toronto.
George Encounter 9 :: Jenny
I live like 8 hours from Toronto, *Sault St. Marie-boo* but I go there a lot to the Hospital for Sick Children. On my last checkup (September 11- yea flying home that time was another story) but me and my mom decided to make a trip out of it. On the 10th we trucked down to Much to see what was going on- and I had my own little intentions... MEETING GEORGE... as we walked by the window- I was prepping myself to not see him, cause it was a spur of the moment type of thing. But as we walked by- I saw him through the window- he had a huge smile on his face, and he waved. Oh no it didn't stop there; my mom dragged me into the CHUM building, and as I watched him do RapidFAX live through the glass, I didn't notice it, but my mom had asked the girl at the desk if I could possibly meet George. A few seconds later I saw him jet off the set and I was kinda dissapointed to see him go until I turned around and didn't even have the chance to figure out what hit me before I walked right into a hug from none other. He seemed totally flattered that I wanted to meet him. We hugged a couple times (he does hug really hard) and chatted it up a bit before he had to go. I got some pics- of the happiest day of my life so far! LUV ya George- keep up the awesome work!
George Encounter 10 :: Stephanie
My George encounter happened a couple years ago at Warped tour in Barrie, Ontario. I had somehow lost my friends in the craziness of the concert.... and was walking around ever failing trying to find them. All of a sudden some guy who was running bumped right in to me!! Ouch... no no it was not George, hehe it was Rick Capenelli. It took me a second to recognize him, but I did, and we began chatting for a bit. Moments later someone comes up behind me and puts his arms on my shoulder... it was George!!!! He says to Rick, "I think that this girl wants to be on TV" Wooooohoooo, and where the hell are my friends to see this? was all that was running through my mind.... no one was gonna believe this, but then I spotted my best bud and both of us were lucky enough to be on Much Music with George and Rick! Not only do I have a nice shot with George's arm around me - I also got him to sign my arm! He is sweet, gorgeous, and successful; what more can a woman want!?
George Encounter 11 :: Anita
Last summer, in the month of August, my best friend decided to do some back to school shopping downtown before we went off to University. We went shopping at the Eaton Centre and we had dinner at this chinese resturant called, Spring Roll, and guess who was sitting right to our far right... yours truly George and some of his friends. Whoooa he looks way hotter in person then on TV, and he was having a blast eating and laughing; might I add really LOUDLY! Yah for a few minutes me and my friend were star streakin hahaha, but yah he looked way hot that day!
George Encounter 12 :: Colleen
I went to the Sum 41 concert in Missasauga a few days ago and as my friend and I went to join the end of the line to get in, guess who we saw? We went over to see him and he was signing lots of autographs and asked everybody's name. By the time my turn came to see him, the Much Music people he was with said he had to go shoot another segment, so he left. He stared at my friend for quite a while, but he didn't even glance at me and george had a box of glossette raisins in his back pocket. Don't ask how I noticed that! So I didn't really technically meet him, but I was within a foot of him so I was close. He's a lot shorterand more tanned than he looks on TV.
George Encounter 13
George is my favourite Much VJ of all-time (at least, as far back as I can remember, being only 17!) and I've always thought it'd be cool to meet him. On Sunday March 3, 2002, I was volunteering at Canadian Music Week in Toronto, which was being held at the Westin Harbour Castle hotel. My volunteer station was the info desk at the top of the escalator, and tons of people had been going in and out all day, but nothing prepared me for the moment George emerged from the escalators in the lobby right in front of me. My jaw just dropped (to put my love of him into perspective...I had been inches away from the Barenaked Ladies a few days earlier, but had decided they didn't need to be bugged, even though I had half and hour around them!) I told everyone around me, "George Stroumboulopoulos is HERE!" and they gave me the guts to go up and talk to him, just to tell him I was such a big fan. I'm pretty pro at keeping my cool around celebs, but I made a complete ass of myself in front of George! I walked up to him and started gushing about how much I loved him on Much Music (I said, "Just wanted to let you know that there are people out there who love you more than Rick! To which he said, "You love me more than Rick? I love Rick!") I told him how much I respected him as a journalist (cuz that's what he is, not just a TV personality- he's got the coolest journalism job in Canada!) and he said to me, "I never look at it as anything that important, you know? There are people in this business who who look at what we do and think they're changing the world, and you know, we're not curing cancer here!" He was so down to earth about it, and so unbelievably cool! One of my volunteer supervisers interrupted our conversation and said to me, "Abby, I KNOW you wanna meet George, but you're not supposed to leave your post!" So instead of leaving me then, George goes, "Oh, where are you stationed, and he came back with me, checked out my info desk... he was such a nice guy! He picked up a CD of indie girl group Untamed (who have a video at Much), recognized them, and I go, "They're pretty bad!" He just went, "I ain't sayin' NOTHIN'!" and that made me laugh. After that, he had to go meet with some other people he knew, but I was so thrilled he gave me those few minutes, even though I started off sounding like I was way TOO excited to be meeting him! I can't tell you how great it was that my perception of George didn't change in metting him (as it did for MANY celebrities that weekend!)
George Encounter 14 :: Barbie
It happened at New Music West where I was volunteering my ass off, hoping to meet some of my favorite singers like Bif Naked and Holly McNarland. It was the first day of the conferences and I was stoked cuz I got in for free! (Regularly $50-200 for wristbands) Matt Good and Gene Simmons were keynote speakers and I was pretty excited about seeing them too (although not a KISS fan, it's the experience that counts) Well, turns out George Stroumboulopoulos was one of the people in charge of handling questions. As Matt answered Q's and I got jealous of all the girls that got to be that close to him I tried to think of something to ask but was too timid to really raise my hand. By the time Gene Simmons finished his egotistical, money-grubbing, sexist talk I had thought of a good question and raised my hand and made eye contact with George to get him to come to me. I started to get a little scared as the time went by, but George finally motioned that I would be the last question. Horray!!!! He came over and squatted next to me as the other questions finished up and asked if I was going to start by saying Kiss is the best band ever. I assured him I wasn't and asked if I could get his autograph afterwards. He said "no problem" and asked my name. I told him it was Barbie and he thought that was the coolest thing ever :) I asked my question (not important cuz I wasn't looking at George then) and after everything shut down I found George again mingling with everyone. He signed my shirt, took a couple pics with me and chatted away about who he was excited to see and how much of an ass he thought gene was. LOL. It was great. I finally left his side as he seemed to get busy but I kept my eye open for him the rest of the day. I didn't see him again until the Holly McNarland show (where I got to meet her and Tyler Labine) as I was just about to leave. He actually missed her, and also missed my friend who REALLY wanted to get a pic with him. He saw me and put his arm around me and squeezed me tight. He had a couple friends with him and introduced me. I asked him if I could call him my boyfriend and he whispered in my ear (in that sexy deep voice) "sure". I was on cloud 9. I got his email address and he told me to email him (I did, twice, but he hasn't emailed me back yet!) The next day Bif was talking at the conferences so I headed over there and who do I run into again? GEORGE! Turns out he's on the same panel as Bif. I got another hug and talked to him for a bit. I told him my friend wanted an autograph and he asked why she wasn't there. I said she had to work so he asked for her phone number. He called her up and pretended he was Revenue Canada calling about back taxes. She was totally confused. He gave me the phone and I told her who it was and she screamed (turns out she was in the grocery store buying pads at the time too. How embarrassing!) She talked to him for a bit more while I sat there laughing my head off at her. Anyways, he had to do a couple interviews so I went and caught some other panels and chatted with some other bands. He was pretty quiet on his panel, it was mostly Bif talking, but when he did talk he had some good things to say. He's a very smart guy! I caught him afterwards and asked him to leave a message for my pager. He agreed with no hesitation but I guess he thought it was a cell phone and left a big long message about how I might be out, might be here, and it ended up cutting him off. But you can listen to it if you want :) I won't be deleting it for a very looooong time. So, we parted ways after that, but I've been listening to my pager and checking my email religiously ever since. And I still haven't left cloud 9 :)
George Encounter 15 :: Mawusi
M y little george encounter isn't that exciting but was the best day of my life :) Well I'll tell you all about it... on monday, may 27th, 2002 I went to Toronto on a french trip. My goal for the day was to go down to around Much Music and at least see George. Well me and my friends finished the assignment we had to do while down there, so we were walking around by Much and decided to go to Speaker's Corner. Well we're there talking about our rugby team at our school (gurl's rugby rules!!!!) and my friend Kara says casually "Hey there's George". Me and my friend Sarah run out of Speaker's Corner and yell hi to him, he waves and we went back into Speaker's Corner and finished talking. Well I wanted his autograph so we kinda followed him into a store. I was way too afraid to go talk to him so my friends bought stuff so we could stay in the store. Since I was so shy I wouldn't go talk to him and my friends wouldn't come with me, so we were gonna leave the store, but then my friend, knowing I'd be so upset if I didn't get his autograph, went up to him and said "I know y u probably get this a lot but my friend is like your biggest fan and she would like your autograph", Well since george is a nice guy he shook my hand and signed my paper for me it said "Hello Mawusi. Thanks very much, Hope you enjoy the day. George Stroumboulopoulos", then we said bye to him and left. it was the greatest experience ever!!!! Um but he's like really short... he doesn't look short on tv but is in real life :) but he's still sexy. Well that's my story hope you liked it.
George Encounter 16 :: Laura
My name is Laura Cieczkowski, I'm 14, and I'm from P.E.I. I was in Toronto last January because one of my Uncles had died, so I went there to attened his funeral. Since I was stayin' for a lil' while, my cousin (Melissa... she's 18) took my around town, and at the end of the "tour" we passed Much, and out of my luck I saw George crossing the road with I THINK Nam ,and my cousin and I just froze... I sooo didn't know what to do! I really wanted to ask him for his autograph, and picture but I didn't want too baother him, but I REALLY REGET DAT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK! Anyways, I don't think I have another chance of meeting him again... even though I could but... oh well... Well dats my story 'n' hope ya like it!
George Encounter 17 :: Steph
Well in may, my friend, Tonya, told me she got tickets to the Wham Bam Canada Day Jam, held by Kiss 92... tickets were $67.... and I didn't really want to go... but I decided to anyways... maybe it would be fun.... well a couple days before Wham Bam, I was watching Much Music and heard that Much Music was going to be there, I didn't think much of it. Well it wasn't till the day of Wham Bam and when I arrived at the Sky Dome that I realized I had floor seats... I still didn't really want to go... but I guess floor seats could be cool... so I got there and met up with my friends... I had this hope inside that maybe I would get to see or meet Rick and George from Much but I figured I wouldn't be as lucky. As I sat there waiting for the concert to start, I heard a bunch of people screaming. I looked and saw that Rick and Jen were in the middle of the crowd of people so I went over. The stupid security guards kept telling us to go back to our seats but nobody did! LOL...so eventually Rick and Jen had to get through the crowd and they both walked right by me. I ran up, got a hug from Rick and Jen signed my ticket... I was thrilled! I couldn't believe it so I thought well if I had that much luck... maybe... just maybe... I'll be able to meet George, but I couldn't find him.. .we looked everywhere and sometimes when we actually saw him he was in the middle of a screaming crowd that we couldn't get anywhere near so it came to the last acy... P-Diddy. I was just standing around waiting for him to come on and I turned around guess who was there?! It was George and Jen broadcasting live but I could talk to them cuz it was live so i stood paitently behind Jen (when I was watching the repeat broadcast I could see myself on TV!) LOL Finally they were finished and then it went like pitch black so every went back to their seats and I was like screw P-Diddy! I wanna meet George! So the lights went on a couple seconds later and Isaw him but he was walking away! So I ran after him sceaming his name LOL, he turned around, put his arm around me, and said 'What can I do for you?' and I was like 'Can I have a hug?' and he hugged me and picked me up and he's like 'Whats your name?' and I was like 'Stephanie' and he's like 'Its nice to meet you' Iwas about to cry! I was so happy!! LOL aight well just wanted to share my story and good luck on meeting him!!! You should try to get wristbands for Much OnDemand and try to meet him then.
George Encounter 18 :: Sarah
Alright here's my meeting with George. I've met him a couple of times but just short little things, now this is totally unbelievable story and I am so in love with George ever since he did it. My sister is the manager of the Body Shop just across and left of Much Music and a lot of the VJ's come in there. Well, being as friendly and such as I am my sister let me work there for the summer. Well, one day I was working and I heard my sister taking a spazz on someone, as she usually does when someone comes in and just stares at us (the floor girls) and looks at our asses and never buys anything. So I turned around to see who her victim was and <gasp> it was George. I was so happy that I probably floated over but once I was there I tried super hard to play it cool. So I somehow got over there and I was like "Hey Kristy, I heard a crash upstairs, maybe Cathy needs some help up there, those boxes are heavy and inventory is really hard and she is new. I'll handle this." She obviously knew what I was up to and left but shot me a dirty look. So I had a fairly nice discussion with George when my sister started stampeding down the stairs, angry about some shit, so I expected my lovely convo to end and made a mental note to murder my sister when he goes, "Hey, when is your break?" and I sorta stood there in shock for a few minutes before I told him. Then he smiled and said that he'd better go and ran out of the store. I was so happy and was just going to shop on my 50 minute break when I walked out the door to see George, again. So I gave him a goofy smile and said, "I can't rescue you from her now, I'm going shopping!" and he looked at me funny and goes "I know, you told me you were going on your break so I came to talk to you some more" I was sooo thrilled. He ended up showing me his desk and stuff at Much and we hung out for most of the time. He also took me shopping for a "punk" look since he thought I wasn't vivacious enough. After about 45 minutes of fun and stuff he showed me back to the Body Shop and looked at his watch. He smiled and goes "5 minutes early, that chic can't hate me for keeping you late!" It was funny to see him so concerned and stuff. He's really passionate about what he does so now I don't see a fake on T.V. I stop by and see him whenever I can, and he recognises me now, not to mention that I have gotten a ring from Much once. And I haven't even told you the best part, and I'm not sure you'll believe me, but when he hugged me goodbye he sniffed my hair and goes "mmm, you smell so good, do you mind if I do something totally outgoing and really wild?" and I said no with a huge grin on my face and he looked into my eyes and, oooohhh this is so exciting........ KISSED ME! I was in so much shock I was 10 minutes late back from my break because I pulled him back in for another one, and so you all know he is incredible! Seriously though, he is soo good. I love him soo much. My sister was really mad at me and wouldn't let me stay at her place that night so I had to sleep on the street for once in my life but I was fine with it. One night wasn't that bad compared to some, plus it was warm because it was summer. Anyways, long story somewhat shorter, George and I had an amazing hour or so together and I totally love him to this day, and I hope that I get another phone call soon! Like I said, even I have trouble believing it, maybe George was just bored with nothing to do and he was enchanted by the smell of my hair or something but it was the greatest day of my life. Well George, if you ever read this- please call me! I miss you and I hope you miss me! I love you and you'll always have a spot in my heart, Luv Sarah
George Encounter 19 :: Amanda
I went away to school last year in Sudbury when Much on Demand was reinvented. A friend of mine went to Much for the day and called me that night to tell me she saw my "boyfriend" George Stroumboulopoulos. Curious, I tuned into the repeat at 11:00 and was hooked. When I came home for reading week, I was determined to go to Much and meet George. I had been a Geoge fan for a while - afterall, he seems to be one of the only VJs with a brain. 5:30 came and the news started and I caught a glimpse of him! I snapped a picture, but was assured that at the end of the broadcast, I would get to meet him. To my dismay, I didn't. He left the building, so we all had to leave. When I came home for good in April, we went again to Much on Demand. This time, I was determined to meet him, so when 5:30 rolled around, imagine my disappointment when Hannah Sung was "filling in for George Stroumboulopoulos". I left Much vowing that I wasn't going again. I was conned into going on July 18, 2002, but thankfully, I finally met George. At the end of the show, a million 14 year olds were rushing to meet him, asking him to sign his huge last name on their tiny little wristbands, but he didn't turn any of them down. When it was FINALLY my turn, a tall security guard was being a dick and told me I had 3 seconds. I did not come all that way to leave with nothing. George (being a sweetheart!) said, "Come on, we'll walk and take the pictures." And we did. That picture became my favourite until now. This past week I turned 21 and after an afternoon of drinking in Toronto, my friend Fatima and I went to (ugh) Much On Demand. I was in a bad mood - I mean, Come on, I'm basically over the hill! - and didn't want to be there. She had written an e-mail to Rick a few weeks earlier telling him that my birthday wish was for George to wish me a happy birthday. Me, being a self-proclaimed pessimist - knew it wouldn't happen. But, after being reminded, Rick told George, who said from his news post before going on air, "Happy Birthday Amanda!" I smile, nervously, and he said, "I'll come over there after this." And he did the news. My pessimism kicking in again and I truly thought he wouldn't, but he did. He came over, hugged me, kissed my cheek (what a gentleman) and said "Happy Birthday Sweetie." We had a little chat about what I planned to do that evening, and told me that I lived basically in his backyard (He's from Malton, I'm from Brampton) and had to leave because MOD was starting up again. I got a second picture with him, and floated on cloud nine for the rest of the day. Now that's a good encounter!
George Encounter 20 :: Amber
1st encounter - I was at Ozzfest and Iwas walking by all the booths cause Slaves On Dope were suppost to be doing a signing. I saw a camera out of the side of my eye, and no one else was around. Suddenly George comes out of a booth with Kevin from Slaves. I turned to the person I was with and he said casually "Oh look, it's George." I did a double take and ran for him. After the interview me and my friend talked to him about the punk show (it was just getting started then), I got him to sign my Ozzfest mag, and got my pic taken with him. He had to go cause he was in the middle of doing Who Wants To Meet A Rockstar too.
2nd encounter - I was at System of a Down/MSI/Clutch and I was walking around because Clutch was on and they weren't good at all. Anyways, I was with these 2 girls I had just met and one of them turned and pointed. I looked over and who could it be? George. We walked over and he gave one of the other girls a hug. I gave a puppy dog face and George went "Whats wrong?". I said "I'm needy too". He laughed and hugged me, talked about what was going on with Loud, The Punk Show and MSI and then we decided to do some more celeb hunting. I got him to sign some flyer this guy was giving out outside the venue. He commented on the signatures already on there (MSI who I had hung out with earlier) and he said that was cool. He is a really nice guy. I am probably going to talk to him again in a month. We always seem to go to the same shows.
George Encounter 21 :: Rocker Babe
Alright so heres how it goes, me and two friends went to the recent Sum 41 concert, we don't like them but hey it was a cheap concert so why not right? So we stand for 2 hours in -38 degree weather, and finally get in totally frostbitten and totally regretting coming. We go into the washroom and attempt to warm ourselves with the dryers and walk out to join the mosh pit and who do we see but George! So we all stop dead in our tracks and here I am poking his jacket to see if he's real, and my other friends are petting him (LMAO) so he turns to us and says "Hey baby" and opened his arms for a hug... all I can say is that was the happiest day of my life, and needless to say waiting two hours and getting frostbite was so worth meeting him even though we didn't know he was there! And there is my George encounter!
George Encounter 22 :: David
I've actually met George twice. The first time I met him was when I was in line waiting to see the Foo Fighters last November or October (I'm not sure!). I saw George come out and I said "HEY GEORGIE!." I just happened to be wearing my Napster shirt at the time. George looked over at me and said "We got a guy with a Napster t-shirt on out here!." The second time I met him was in a restroom at my work. (Get ur mind outta the gutter!) Anyways I walked in to use the bathroom and George was standing there at the mirror makin himself look pretty. I said hi to him and asked if he rememebred me. I was wearing my Napster shirt again at the time. He saw my shirt and laughed. We chatted and then he was gone.
George Encounter 23 :: Brittany
I live here in Toronto so sometimes when there is nothing else to do on a nice day I take a trip to much music to sit in the MOD audience (usually just to see George do the news but whatever sometimes the show can be real funny) The show started out so funny, Rainbow went crazy yelling their cue in guys' name "Manny" then tried to wip a ball at Rick which ended up hitting this other girl in the arm (quite funny) Well the Jersey song "Generation Genocide" came on and I was just kinda singing along (I love that song) then who comes walking around the corner singing along... No other than George *sigh* He was right behind me talking to some other girls taking pictures and talking about the song then he stopped to pretend to play a few chords on his "air" guitar LOL. Whenever I see him I just have nothing to say and am always to scared to talk to him so he just walked back to get his paper for the Much News. I thought I had missed my chance. Then I could see him walking back in my direction staring straight at me "OMG he's coming over here" I remember thinking. He knealt right down beside me and removed my stud bracelet and asked me If he could wear it for the news and I said "of course,yes!". I mean who couldn't to that face so he put it on and Nirvana was on and he was telling me how he liked Nirvana and was kinda trying to explain the beat of the song and he said "its like..." and he kinda tapped my arm explaining the beat. I had like died and gone to heaven at that point. He had to go and do the news (wearing my bracelet) then he came back to return it to me he gave me a hand to help me off the floor where I was sitting he took a picture with me head to head (imagine your head touching Georges head!) and then signed me an autograph saying 'Hey Brit, thanks for letting me use the bracelet, George Stroumboulopoulos". It was a good day I went home to brag to everyone about my encounter no one cared they just thought I was obsessed or somthing but I'm not I'm just a happy girl who had a great encounter with one of her biggest roll models :)
George Encounter 24 :: Lisa
I am living in what a real estate company would call a "handyman's dream". Everything needs work. As a result, I'm often found at Home Depot. On one such visit, I was picking up yet another bottle of carpenter's glue when who should come walking past but, George with lots of outdoor plants. I recognized him and smiled and said hello. He smiled and said hello back. He is much cuter in person.
George Encounter 25 :: Jackie
My and my friend Megan were at West Edmonton Mall shopping, and we were just walking around. We actually just walked past him and this guy he was with. He looked right at us, and kinda nodded at us. For some reason, we didn't really realize who it was until like 5 seconds later. I turned to Megan, and was like, "Isn't that George from Much Music?" She was like, "Omg!" We stopped, turned around, and went to try and find him, but he had disappeared. So we hung around for like 10 minutes, hoping we'd see him again. No such luck. Then we decided that we'd go into this tattoo and piercing place to look at tounge rings. When we were in there, we heard them talking about George, and they mentioned that he had come in, but then he was coming back! So of course, we stayed, and sure enough, he walked into the store about 3 minutes later! He went into the back and took some pictures, then when he was coming back out, me, Megan, and these 2 other girls asked if we could have his autograph. He said of course, but that we should move out of the way. So we went outside the store, and he was asking our names and stuff, and talking to us. He said he was in town for the special hockey game here. Then he asked Megan if she had just gotten her tounge pierced, cause he had noticed her playing with it earlier! (He had totally noticed us!) So we each got an autograph, a handshake and a hug! He looked so good too! Then he left and Megan and I continued to walk down the mall. We later passed him, signing more autographs. I decided that we should go into the drugstore quickly and buy a disposable camera to get a picture, but when we went back, he had left. But at least I have the autograph!!!
George Encounter 26 :: Will Pate (copied from WillPate.org)
Imagine my suprise today while walking around downtown Charlottetown meeting with various clients and prospects, when I should walk past no other than George Stroumboulopoulos himself. I literally stopped in my tracks, and after he passed he was kind enough to turn around, come back and introduce himself to me. George is exactly in real life as you would expect from his on air personality: humble, with eyes that barely hide simmering intelligence. I met Sook-Yin Lee once (hardly down to earth) and pased by strumpet Amanda Walsh in downtown Toronto a few times (she seemed afraid of the public, and not quite as pretty as on television). Needless to say, with only an honest handshake and quick chat George impressed me more than than his esteemed colleagues. You gotta give the guy credit, he says what he wants and usually what most people are thinking about the music business, which has become a bit of a farce of late. I don't watch Much Music like I used to, I just can't get into the "cool to be sad" or "bling fling" videos. Somehow, I imagine that George feels the same way too. Besides, he french kissed Namugenyi Kiwanuka , who's so hot rumor is she doesn't date because of too many potential suitors.
George Encounter 26 :: Joobie
I was walking in downtown Ottawa and who did I bump into? GEORGE!!! I was like, HEY! and we talked for a bit and we sat down and ate at Subway! LOL, I had so much fun! In the end I got pictures and talked about bands like System of a Down and A Perfect Circle. He said Joobie is a beautiful name and he was overall a nice guy! |
