As most of you know, the Indy 500 was in my city of Indianapolis last weekend. And, as most of you also know, Indy is not often a hotbed for celebrity sightings. If you want to know where Paris Hilton ate dinner last night, and you want to know within 5 minutes of her exiting the restaurant, you go visit Perez, Popsugar, Trent, etc.

However, being the dutiful editor that I am, I try to bring you insider updates on those few occasions when Indy actually plays host to some big players. And, Indy 500 weekend was one of those occasions.

Good friend to the MP&S, Iceman, has graciously granted us with a write-up of his big weekend:

As the resident hip hop expert for MP&S, I figured I'd submit a brief write-up on an encounter I had over the big weekend here in Indianapolis. After a busy night on Saturday of boozing and making friends with some of Hollywood's own at a pre-race party (and then on into the wee hours of the night at an off-site location ... names to be kept off the web for privacy purposes), yours truly was invited to a post-race party (by those same new friends) at Seven, a club here in Indy owned by Pacers star Jermaine O'Neal. Hanging with established actors and conversing like you've known each other for years is one thing, but watching one of your favorite hip hop entertainers walk in and sit down right next to you is another.

It played out as follows: Iceman sees Ludacris, Iceman thinks about introducing himself and chatting for a bit (hey, I was on a big roll in the 24 hours prior, so why not?), Iceman sees 3 personal bodyguards flanking Ludacris and forming a wall at his table, Iceman changes his mind and considers other alternatives. Ahh, but what's the best way to get to an A-list superstar? Make small talk with his buddies while standing in line waiting to use the facilties, so to speak.

I make small talk with "Jason," who "writes material for Luda," and before you know it, he's tapping a 350-pound-oversized-figure, pointing at me, and waving me in to meet the man himself, one-on-one for a few minutes of small talk.

Bottom line - Ludacris is very genuine, appreciative, and an easy to talk to superstar. We share a drink, discuss his performance in "Hustle & Flow" (one of my favorite movies in years), he tells me that he's looking to branch out into other genres (read: clothing & jewelry), and I tell him that I'm still steaming over being bumped out of "Fast/Furious" for Paul Walker (okay, kidding about that part, but everything else is legit).

So there you have it ... thank you Indy 500 for giving this city an excuse to invite celebrities to come and party for 3 days straight, and thank you Ludacris for taking the time to chat with a true fan. STAND UP!

Iceman
G2 Co-Founder and Editor

Posted by Lawren at May 31, 2006 07:38 AM | Trackbacks (0)

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