Sssh! I'm Hunting for Celebrities
By SABRINA JALEES
How to stalk the most famous prey
If you look hard enough in Toronto clubs, you could probably spot Paris Hilton. (Getty)
Out of every brand of hunting in the game, celebrity hunting is by far the greatest. You don't need a gun, it (usually) doesn't involve blood and you don't have to hide the success stories from your vegan friends.
Since the Toronto Film Festival's kick off marks our city's prime season for catching confrontations with the famous, I've compiled a list of places most likely to be frequented by, our prey, the celebrity.
Cheesily Named Clubs
If there's one thing this year has taught us, it's that celebrities looooooove to get drunk. (The second is that they hate paying cab fare). Tacky names like Money, Schmooze, and This Is London (which probably wouldn't be as popular if the name had ", Ontario" tacked on) are great bait for tourists in general. After fiddling with several scientific analyses of the words in an effort to find the reason for their allure, I eventually realized they're just easy names to come up with. Chances are, the tourist/celebrity/both connect the club name with a bar they frequent in their hometown and hop in based on nostalgia.
Hotel Gyms
Because many stars have the words "must appear to be anorexic" written into their various contracts, it is important for them to burn calories. The Travelodge weight room 'n office won't do here, you're gonna wanna head to the ritzier joints. Any hotel that either gives out free apples or has an older white man as a bellhop is in the preferred echelon. Happy hunting.
Starbucks
There's no place like home. Thanks to this coffee chain's ability to infest every North American town, city and village, there's not a rich American on the planet who won't feel some sort of hidden pride by reciting their familiar "Venti" ending chant. Extra tip: Stand by the skim milk.
Concerts
Celebrities love going to concerts for two reasons: a) it's a way of appreciating creativity, and in doing so, reminding themsleves how glamorous it is to be a creative person and therefore how glamorous it is to be them, and b) Photographers show up to
Under a Pair of Tied Shoes Hanging off of Telephone Wire
Although it is only a select breed of celebrity that goes to sleep jonesin' for a spoonful of crack, the breed is very much out there. Not that they'd admit it. Today's famous fiends are well aware that letting their team of assistants know about their habit is as good as calling the paparazzi for a direct confession. Combine their secrecy with today's strict border laws and the universal "shoe on wire" code for "I'm selling drugs" becomes the newest magnet for touring stars desperate for a lift. Beware when lurking around these premises for too long...as mentioned in the opening, the potential for a hunting accident is always present under the wire.
Check out Sabrina Jalees' website.