I recently got back from the Living Legends of Aviation event in Beverly Hills. As usual, it was a great event and it’s always fun to see old friends and meet new ones. While I’m not big suit and tie guy, I love to get dressed up in my tux!
One of the fun things about being a Living Legend (other than the alternative), is being able to bypass the “normal” entrance and walk the red carpet for the Paparazzi!
Posing for the Paparazzi!
When I walked up to begin, I couldn’t help but notice I was following Morgan Freeman and his entourage!
Walking the Red Carpet!
For some reason, I didn’t notice as many flashes going off when I went through! Hmmm? Oh, well . . . so much for being famous! :-)
With LLoA Founder Jerry Lips and Morgan
On the flip-side, you know you’ve arrived when they have your favorite drink sitting next to your table and won’t let you get to the bottom of your glass! In the past I’ve had to walk to the bar in the back to get a drink and have to live with the white rum (I won’t name the label) they stock, which I can’t stand! One day, my Naked in Jamaica rum with orange juice will be my drink of choice!
You know you’ve arrived when . . .
This year though I got put to work so, maybe that’s why they had a stash for me close-by! Actually, I was honored to be part of the program in several ways. First of all, as a Living Legend myself, I got to hang a medal around one of the new Legends, Jeff Plunkett. Next, I was was included in a tribute to Cliff Robertson, who recently passed away.
Go back and look at last years LLoA blog post where I included several pics of Cliff and myself. The tribute we all did can be seen at http://youtu.be/2k7CT6mrspE . I’m right at the beginning, but feel free to watch the rest of the tribute by others to Cliff as well.
The coolest thing I got to do, was to present the Award to Boeing for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It was a great opportunity to touch everyone with a bit of Fantasy of Flight philosophy and I got several great comments later.
I thought it somewhat interesting that, while I was waiting backstage before presenting the Award, I found myself following Morgan Freeman again! There seemed to be a pattern forming!
Backstage and up next!
Friend and Film Director, Tony Bill (Movies – Flyboys and The Sting), was introducing Morgan for the Aviation Inspiration and Patriotism Award. I soon followed to introduce the Aircraft of Legend Award and present it to Michael Sinnett, who accepted in on behalf of the Boeing Dreamteam.
Presenting Award to Michael Sinnett!
The following clip of the presentation will be seen by tens of thousands of people that brought the Dreamliner into reality! Pretty Cool! Check it out at – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9qTxAWq6mk
All in all, it was a great event for me and everyone else. I can’t wait until next year!
Kermit