Hey, Camp Lovers!

It was back in 2014 that I initially posted about this late night comedy king, Conan O’Brien. A character that households came to fall in love with was a former summer camper. In the previous post about Mr. O’Brien, which you can read by clicking here, I shared his history at Cragged Mountain Farm where he attended summer camp and spoke a little about his time writing for ‘The Simpsons’ before going on to host NBC Late Night Show

But I want to dig deeper to really dissect the mind of the man behind the comedy. Let’s hold up the magnifying glass to take a closer look at Conan:

Who Nose?!
You wouldn’t think it to look at him, but Conan belongs to a dangerous past. Okay, not really…but he WAS attacked in a particular incident by a New York street gang when he was in high school. They beat him so badly that the nose he has now is not the one he had when he was born.

The Diet Coke Joke
As noted above, we already know that Conan wrote for ‘The Simpsons’. To spark spontaneity and create a loose atmosphere, Conan had a tendency to relieve his nervousness by opening a can of Diet Coke, pitching a joke, and then spraying himself down with his beverage no matter if his co-workers liked the joke or not. He always got a laugh.

No Support
For such a funny guy, NBC didn’t have much faith in Conan to host ‘Late Night’ when he first began. NBC even made him sign a new contract per week, expecting to lose him before long. They even went as far as to cancel the show for a day in an attempt to replace Conan. They found no one and brought him back to do the show the next day.

Call Him Coco
Presented as a reluctant nickname in a segment from an early ‘Late Night’ episode, Tom Hanks went on to perpetuate and popularize the nickname ‘Coco’. Despite Conan’s disdain for the name—or, more accurately, because of it—the nickname stuck and remains something that he will still answer to today.

Conan is still going strong and Late Night hosting as he always has before. On behalf of Everything Summer Camp, I’d like to extend a respectful nod to this funny man who, though he didn’t have much support, has had the courage to put himself out there to America and simply be a goofball! Thank you for all the laughs you’ve brought the world, Coco! And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Friends Fans!

We all love friends (that’s what friends are for), but I was talking about the TV show. And while every lead character was pretty friendly on that show (hence the show title), I always had a soft spot in my heart for the charm of Courteney Cox. In fact, this isn’t the first time I’ve talked about her on the Everything Summer Camp Blog!

As I posted about her some five years back, I thought it might be time to retread some water and look at Courteney a little closer. In her previous post, I discussed how she attended Camp Mac in Munford, Alabama and some other info on her, like how she is the ‘baby’ of her family with two older sisters and one older brother.

I also covered interesting little tidbits, like how she wasn’t actually going to be Monica. She was initially offered the role of Rachel in ‘Friends’, but she turned it down. Today, however, I want to go real deep so we can attempt to really get to know this woman.

She’s a Foodie
She really loves to eat. “At a diner, I’ll get scrambled egg whites, turkey bacon, sliced tomato, cottage cheese and a scooped-out onion bagel with cream cheese,” she’s said. “My favorite meal is New York grilled steak with sautéed garlic spinach and broccoli and maybe garlic chips or garlic fries.”

She Holds an Unbreakable Record—Period
Courteney Cox was actually the first person to ever say the word ‘period’ on American television—and she wasn’t referring to the grammatical symbol. She was featured back in 1985 (almost a decade before her role as Monica) in a Tampax commercial.

She’s Not JUST a Talented Actor
You may know her for her incredibly successful acting career, but Courteney is talented in the musical department as well! She plays the piano and drums. In fact, she opened the ceremony with a drum solo at MTV’s Movie Awards in 1995.

She’s into House-Flipping
Along with her acting career and musical interest, she’s also into house-flipping for a hobby! House-Flipping is when you purchase a house that needs some fixing up, renovate it, and then put it back on the market for more than what you initially paid.

We hope you enjoy the friendships you make at summer camp as Courteney appreciated the honest friendships she made throughout her summer stays. “I don’t have time for superficial friends,” she’s commented. You’re sure to make sincere friends during your summer camp stay. And check out Camp Mac by clicking here if it seems like a good fit for you. As always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Summer Camp Fans!

We love featuring celebrities who are former summer campers from back in the day. I first started posting about celebrities who had attended camp in 2013 and, since then, I’ve covered over 100 celebrities on this Blog. Having covered so much ground, it seems appropriate to backtrack and retread some of the famous folks who were already featured to take a deeper look.

So, as we posted five years ago on the Blog, as he had yet to don the black cape of the Dark Knight in his role as Batman in ‘Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice’, we revisit Bat—I mean, Ben Affleck who we learned attended Crossroads for Kids in Massachusetts.

Lesser known by his full name, Benjamin Geza Affleck-Boldt, I thought it might be fun to go over some other points about Mr. Affleck that you might not have known that we didn’t quite get around to in our first post:

What’s in a Name?
A simplification of his name for the stage and stardom is common among celebrities and, as we just covered, ‘Ben Affleck’ is not this celebrity’s full name. His full name is Benjamin Geza Affleck-Boldt. ‘Boldt’ is his mother’s last name and ‘Geza’ is his middle name in honor of a family friend who was a Hungarian Holocaust survivor.

Playin’ with Damon
Life-long friends Ben and Matt Damon first met as neighborhood pals when Ben was only 8 and Matt was 10. They attended school together and it was Ben who would eventually spark Mr. Damon’s interest in an acting career. After Ben’s appearance in an educational drama and a Burger King commercial, Matt finally joined his friend as an extra in ‘Field of Dreams’ before the two decided to write their own script, ‘Good Will Hunting’.

Triple Threat
Ben has now portrayed three different superheroes as he took on the role of Daredevil from the imagination of Stan Lee in 2003. In the 2006 film ‘Hollywoodland’, Ben played George Reeve, an actor from the 1950’s who starred as Superman in the television series ‘Adventures of Superman’. And now that he has put on the bat-suit, he has become the only major actor to have worn both Batman and Superman costumes on screen.

Good Will Cleaning
Ben and his buddy Matt caught their big break when they stopped looking for roles and created their own by writing ‘Good Will Hunting’. The story of a janitor at MIT whose unrecognized, self-taught genius is finally discovered. There’s an element of truth to this character as Ben’s father was a janitor at the Ivy League Institution.

I’m sure we’ll all enjoy watching the rest of Mr. Affleck’s career unfold as there seems to be no stopping this bright actor. “It doesn’t matter how you get knocked down in life,” he has said. “Because that’s going to happen. All that matters is that you got to get up.” Try living by these simple yet powerful words and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Summer Camp Fans!

We get a kick out of posting about celebrities who attended summer camp back in the day. And since I first started posting in 2013, I’ve covered over 100 celebrities who have been involved with summer camp somehow in their past. Having covered so many celebrities, it seems appropriate to backtrack and retread some of the famous folks we’ve already featured to take a deeper look.

So, as we posted five years ago on the Blog, Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr. was also a fan of summer camp as he attended French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts located in Hancock, New York as well as Stage Door Manor in Massachusetts.

Despite a difficult upbringing, Robert Downey Jr. was able to get his life on the right track of success and responsibility. Winner of a Golden Globe Award and star of Marvel’s Iron Man movies as Tony Stark, here are some more facts about Robert Downy Jr. that we didn’t quite get into in our first post:

Singer
Robert isn’t just an actor. He released his debut album “The Futurist” in 2004. The album sales were not so great but he was at least able to give this other artistic side of himself an outlet for the world to hear.

Go-Getter
At the age of only 17, Robert Downey Jr. moved to New York and struggled through part-time jobs, busing tables, performing in off-Broadway shows, and one time he was even hired as a piece of living art in a New York City nightclub.

Vegabond
Growing up, Robert’s family was constantly moving all over the world as a result of his father’s career in filmmaking. He lived in New York, Connecticut, Woodstock, California, London, and Paris. Yeesh!

Trained in the Martial Arts
Robert Downey Jr. has been a devout martial artist for the last 18 years, spending much of his time in the practice of Wing Chun—a concept-based Chinese martial art and form of self-defense.

The world celebrates Robert as he expands his health and self betterment in his current years. Despite his difficult upbringing, he seems to have no real regrets. “I think you end up doing the stuff you were supposed to do at the time you were supposed to do it,” Robert Downy Jr. has said.

Enjoy whatever stuff you are supposed to be doing once you’re done reading this Blog post and, as always, thanks for reading it!

- John

Hey, Camp Lovers!

In 2013, I first started posting about famous folks who have a history at summer camp and lately I’ve been having fun returning to previously featured celebrities to learn more about these famous folks. In Neil Diamond’s original post, which you can see by clicking here, we talked about how he attended Surprise Lake Camp in Cold Spring, New York and how he went on to become a culturally celebrated singer/songwriter of great recognition!

But we didn’t get around to looking at some interesting details about Mr. Diamond. So, let’s give Neil a closer look right now:

NOT…Diamond?
Little known fact: Neil Diamond was considering a stage name before eventually deciding against it and going with his real name. Among other aliases he had considered, he had thrown around ‘Ice Charry’ for some time as well as ‘Noah Kaminsky’. Good call stickin’ with Neil, Neil.

Who’s Caroline?
It was actually the president’s daughter that inspired Neil Diamond’s smash hit “Sweet Caroline”. Sweet Caroline is Caroline Kennedy, John F. Kennedy’s daughter who planted the seed for this famous song in Neil’s head. Having kept it a mystery who this song referenced for many years, he eventually revealed the song came to him after seeing Ms. Kennedy on the cover of Life Magazine in an equestrian riding outfit.

High School Buds
Many people can tell you that Neil Diamond performed the hit song ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers’ as a duet, partnered with Barbara Streisand. What’s lesser known, however, is that Neil and his duet partner were friends in the All City Choir at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn! Let’s hear it for the Class of 1958!

The Music Man
The man has become a legend in his own time where the music industry is concerned. Neil Diamond has secured himself 11 Grammy nominations as well as various honorary awards like being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was also honored at the Kennedy Center. Oh yeah—and he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Today, at the wise age of 77, Neil continues enjoying his life and he’s still making music as he’s just released a new Christmas album a couple years ago. On behalf of Everything Summer Camp, I’d like to extend a respectful nod to one of America’s greatest singer/songwriters! Thank you for such excellent music, Mr. Diamond! And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John