Williams on a stick

[Big John 3]

This Christmas, I received a wonderful gift.

I had wanted to go see John Williams conduct the Pacific Symphony Orchestra last June. It would have been a double treat - my first concert with Williams, and luckily enough, at an orchestra in which a good family friend plays Viola. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the same day as another friend's wedding, so I gave up on the idea, confident that I would make the Hollywood Bowl concert later in the year.

Well, we did make the Hollywood Bowl concert, and it was great fun. Unfortunately, a computer crash took all of my pictures of the event and put them back into the ether whence they came. :cry:

Unbeknownst to me, Krista (the Violist) had contacted my wife, asking for a "head shot" of me. Kim (my wife) complied, but had no idea what Krista needed the shot for. Fast forward to Christmas. I'm at our friend's house, and she hands me a very strange shaped object to unwrap. It's a life-size shot of my head! I was confused, but pleased, as I had not yet owned a life-size head shot of myself.

However, Krista wasn't done. She had me open the 2nd part of the gift. I could hardly believe my eyes! Krista had told John Williams that her friend was a big fan of his, but couldn't make it to the concert. Would he mind posing with a picture? John Williams said he would, but was a little surprised when Krista showed up with a picture of me on a stick! Ever the good sport, he posed for the picture and I got the best Christmas gift ever. He even signed the back of my head shot, "John, Merry Christmas! John Williams" even though it was June.

You can see me giving Krista a hug, everything in one picture, and a close-up of the picture at these links.

All photos are availble at this page, with links to the larger images.

I couldn't be happier about my gift. I was shaking and near tears! I'd like to blow up the head shot of John Williams, put it on a stick, pose with a picture of it, and then send it to Williams! It's only fair that he have one of me, right?

Thanks to Krista's gumption and shamelessness, I have a wonderful treasure, hanging proudly on my office wall!

BigJohn

[Mr. Breathmask 624]

LOL Dude, that picture is awesome! Best. Gift. Ever.

[John Crichton 4]

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,390]

Damn.

Now I believe it's gotta be possible for someone to take a picture of williams holding a JWFAN.NET mug or wearing a JWFAN.NET T-Shirt.

I mean the guy's having pictures taken holding life-size heads.

[diskobolus 3]

Dude this is awesome!!! Start brainstorming for May, guys!

[Maurizio 6,913]

Wonderful! This is one of the funniest and sweetest thing I've ever seen, really!

Congrats for this great present!

[Lurker 5]

Congratulations John! That is much better than the socks that Hanukkah Harry got for me.

Neil

[Morlock 12]

Congratulations John!  That is much better than the socks that Hanukkah Harry got for me.

Neil

But it's a 6 pack! How can you beat that?

Morlock- who could not imagine a better gift than John's

[John McClane 1]

Very funny! It must be strange to open your present and find a photo of your head!!

[Lurker 5]

Not if your gift is a mirror.

Neil

[Ren 77]

Hey there!!!! Great story! Happy New Year. hope we can chat again soon!!!

[John McClane 1]

Not if your gift is a mirror.

But then it should be a mirror on a stick.

Let me know if you see the third emoticon (the green one...I'm trying an experiment).

Actually I see it. I might choose "show image" by clicking on it with the right button of the mouse if the red cross appear.

I see the red cross everytime I refresh the page.

It's not that important, it's just that I found an Italian MB that has some funny emoticons and I thought it would be cool if sometimes I put some of them here.

[Johnnyecks 44]

Very cool story John!!! You must've wanted to pass out when opening that.

I also think we should get Johnny's picture with a JWFAN mug or something. I mean.... he's why we're here!!

Well... der...

[Melange 448]

Well, we did make the Hollywood Bowl concert, and it was great fun. Unfortunately, a computer crash took all of my pictures of the event and put them back into the ether whence they came.  :cry:  

BigJohn

Have you tried something like HandyRecovery, Big John? It's Freeware, and only 540kb. I've recovered many files with this utility. You can use it on Hard Discs, Floppys, Compact Flash Cards, etc. If the crash was'nt something "physical" to the drive, then this program is good for rescue (it may even be able to retrieve under even worse circumstances). It can recover most files if they have not been corrupted by new data. And unlike other recovery utilitys, it allows you to choose which ones it retrieves, instead of a general blind retrieve sweep of everything on your drive.

I dont know the full situation with your PC crash. But if it wasn't serious, then give this program a shot anyway. Because it's worth a try and costs you nothing. I've used it on Digi camera cards when photos were lost accidentally, and on hard discs to recover files i thought were history from a couple of years ago. Using it is simple and self explanatory. Just analyze the media you want, C: D: G: etc, and it will reveal all the traces of files that it can usually retrieve. Below is the main site to download it from. But be sure to download the Free version (which is 1.0) , and not the Shareware version (2.0) which the site promotes primarily.

http://www.handyrecovery.com

Good luck

[Justin 2]

Always helpful, Adam.

Seriously that is a sweet story, John!

Justin

[QMM 4]

Oh man that's awesome!

[Big John 3]

Have you tried something like HandyRecovery, Big John?

Thanks for the tip, but it was a bonafide, screeching, crap-your-pants head crash. I'm fairly well-versed in data recovery, but was completely unable to do anything with this drive. It was under warranty, so they replaced the drive, but not the data. I'm on Macintosh, so my suite of utilities is different.

It was my own fault for not backing up the pictures. Bad John.

BigJohn

[Composer_Fan 2]

How cool is that! That's an awesome pic!

[Big John 3]

Very cool story John!!! You must've wanted to pass out when opening that.

That's for sure! I was all teary - but I'm not sure if it was from the laughing or from the excitement. It was probably both!

BigJohn

[Melange 448]

Thanks for the tip, but it was a bonafide, screeching, crap-your-pants head crash. I'm fairly well-versed in data recovery, but was completely unable to do anything with this drive. It was under warranty, so they replaced the drive, but not the data. I'm on Macintosh, so my suite of utilities is different.It was my own fault for not backing up the pictures.

Oh dear. Total disaster then.

But "Always look on the bright side of life" (as they say)

[John McClane 1]

Thanks for the tip, but it was a bonafide, screeching, crap-your-pants head crash. I'm fairly well-versed in data recovery, but was completely unable to do anything with this drive. It was under warranty, so they replaced the drive, but not the data. I'm on Macintosh, so my suite of utilities is different.

Get a Mac.

Oh...wait a minute....you bought a Mac, it's like choosing your own death.

Of course I'm joking, but I don't have a Mac, so I can't help you in this.

But, still, wonderful gift. You opened it, and you see your face. Without having a mirror as gift. Cool. :spiny:

[Big John 3]

Long overdue, but I've updated the main post so the links to the pictures are current.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,390]

Neil, Morlock, Mirko, Ren, Questionmarkman....

We have lost so much!

[BLUMENKOHL 1,110]

You drove Morlock away you fool!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,390]

No I didn't. He liked me.

Mirko....maybe

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Man I forgot about QMM.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,390]

What happened to him?

[BloodBoal 8,711]

He ended up at the end of your sentence.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,390]

.....

[BloodBoal 8,711]

[Thor 9,362]

I never saw this topic the first time around.

What a cute story, Big John!

I'm insanely envious of everyone who has gotten or still gets the opportunity to take their personal pic with Williams (I only have a selfie where he's signing autographs in the background), but this was something even more special!

[karelm 3,271]

Cute story but would have been really awesome if each year you two are holding last years photo like so:

[Incanus 5,890]

Wow that is a great story and a lovely present.