Chip Foose – Ryno – Genevieve Chappell
Last Wednesday we were hanging out in the Ford arena, the guys from GAS are doing their thing against the back wall – and dude, seriously, get a freakin haircut will you, you’re not 13 anymore, Chip Foose is signing autographs in the corner, Ryno from CMT’s Trick My Truck is just hanging out watching the crowd go by, Kris Angel walks by and confirms what I’ve always thought. He’s a Tool! It was one of the highlights of my visit to SEMA, to have snubbed Kris Angel.
On Second Thoughts
So Kris Angel is walking towards me, he’s all dramatic like, got that whole disgruntled Goth teenage attitude going on, pulling some half dressed chick behind who we can only presume is impressed by the fakeness of it all. He’s about 7 or 8 feet from me and we look directly at each other, I start to pull up my camera, then as it’s about three quarters of the way up he stalls realizing he’s about to have his picture taken, just about the same time I come to my senses and realize I don’t want a picture of this dude, I don’t even like him! So I very obviously screw up my face, shake my head and say “Naaa!”, while turning away and continue taking images of a Mustang behind me. It was sweet.
Ryan “Ryno” Templeton
Thankfully not everyone who’s experienced five minutes of fame had to be “special”.
Ryan Templeton – Ryno from Trick My Truck was a cool guy, we stood and talked for ten minutes about the TV show, what he was working on, and what he was doing at the SEMA show. He explained they still haven’t committed to another season of Trick My Truck, it sounded like they want to but the costs involved with overhauling 18-wheelers are too high. He’s got a few possible projects in the works, he shared that he’s done a few pilots and been approached by a number of people offering him opportunities to move in a different direction, but it was clear he wasn’t going to just take anything to grab the money, he bluntly told me if something doesn’t come along he wants that he’s comfortable going back to a regular 9 to 5 painting in his shop. As we stood and talked, it was comfortable, this guy was totally grounded and honest, not an ounce of ‘fame’ has gone to his head.
Stand up guy, hope we get the chance to talk again.
Genevieve Chappell
A Top-Class Lady, there is no other way to describe the one and only Genevieve Chappell, she truly stood out from other women at the show, astonishingly beautiful and so down to earth. It was a pleasure to meet her, she is such a sweet girl. Conversation was mostly one-sided, from her to me. The damn cat had run off with my tongue at the most inconvenient of times, and I would bet I’m not the first to experience this reaction upon meeting Genevieve.
Chip Foose
Chip Foose is a legend, a genius and master of his trade. There’s no doubt about that. At the BASF ‘Cuda unveiling he took the time to talk with people, when even small-time reporters asked him a question he made sure he looked in their camera, and would even re-do an interview if he knew it didn’t come off right. He even found it difficult to take credit for the Cuda build, plainly stating he only come up with the color. As he talked to people he didn’t differentiate between the ‘nobody’s’ and ‘somebody’s’ as others at the show did.
All I can conclude from watching Foose over a couple of days is that he is as genuine as he appears on the show you’ve seen him on. If you get the chance to meet him, he will talk comfortably with anybody and it doesn’t have to be about him, in fact it seemed more relaxed when it wasn’t about him.
