I invented something when I was 7.
There is a device for violins (and other stringed instruments) called a Dampit, which is used to humidify your instrument in cold/dry weather.
I've been playing violin since I was 5, and at age 7, i wondered aloud why there weren't Dampits for runt-sized violins like mine. So my parents contacted the inventor of the original thing, who thought it was a great idea. So we met, he started making Little Dampits, and I got to make the logo.
proof of my seven year old ingeniousness can be seen here.

Depressingly, I haven't invented anything (that got built, anyway) in the 16 years since.
(harmless kitty, Tue 1 Mar 2005, 4:07, Reply)

The drummer from Status Quo
gave a lecture on drumming at my old-old school. It totally failed to burn down after he left - I guess you need the true Parfitt/Rossi combination.

Beyond that, I've shown Desmond Llewelyn (Q from the James Bond films) around that same school where he was presenting a trophy for swimming (or something).
( benryves Now I'm radioactive! That can't be good!, Tue 1 Mar 2005, 1:59, Reply)

Shameful claim
My girlfriend went to a shithole private school here in my town and her classmate was the heiress to the Oscar Mayer fortune.

also, i was working a student carwash a few weeks ago at the local fastfood joint, and what do you know, Joey Fatone from the popular singing group n*snyc happens to drive up. At first i didn't know it was him, but then a few of my classmates went up and begged for money. he only gave us 5 bucks and wouldn't let us touch his car.
(Baron von Aaron CHARGE!, Tue 1 Mar 2005, 1:48, Reply)

Claims to fame
I made the @. I was writing an a, but had horrible cramps in my writing hand..
(Sverre my password is "password", Tue 1 Mar 2005, 1:12, Reply)

Descendants
My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents where called Eve and Adam. I share these ancestors with at least 50% of celebrities
(Amorous Anonymous im on the interweb >>> reiterated.co.uk, Tue 1 Mar 2005, 0:47, Reply)

Three shakes away from the fuhrer
I've shaken hands with the man who has shaken hands with the man shaken hands with Adolf Hitler.
(Amorous Anonymous im on the interweb >>> reiterated.co.uk, Tue 1 Mar 2005, 0:31, Reply)

Two weeks ago
I was the 'Hit The Decker' on Gideon Coe's 6 Music show. If you don't know what that is I won't bother explaining.
( The Legendary Pink Dot isn't impressed by this whole "internet" thing, Tue 1 Mar 2005, 0:25, Reply)

I met Brian Connelly on stage on my Birthday
Or, me on the ITV news when our school visited a nature centre to try and keep it open. From then on, I was like, a star... in my own little spacky way.
(Tezzrexx http://5punk.co.uk - b3ta gamers, Tue 1 Mar 2005, 0:19, Reply)

Haha, oh and...
I met B3TA uber-shopper Chicago Dave at a Christmas party in Manchester a couple of years back - he used to work with my missus.

Not really a claim to fame, but he did get very drunk, philosophical and existential. And then he passed out on a chaise-longe. Marvellous.
( naeonlite, Tue 1 Mar 2005, 0:01, Reply)

Radiohead...
for supposedly shy people, they are rather out and about on the streets of Oxford aren't they?

Anyway, this is obscenely arrogant, but Jonny Greenwood was in V-Shop (shit mini-Virgin that has since folded) where I was working and a woman calls out "Here, you're that bloke aren't you?". He runs out very quickly, then said woman comes up to me and recognises me from MY band! HAHAHA! Up yours Greenwood!

More of a claim of fame than to fame, but still.

PS- are there lots of Oxfordians about here then?
(the joe factory what makes joes, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 23:47, Reply)

Oh yes...
My Mum and I were in Waitrose car park, and Harry Enfield came up and asked us if we had any jump leads. We didn't. He was taller than you'd think.
(badgertastic badgers are people too, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 23:33, Reply)

hips
I had dislocated hip when I was a child, and I had my hip operated on by the same surgeon that did the queen mum's hip replacement....
(lard-tastic, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 23:26, Reply)

Penguin
Me and my friends were a little drunk and stole a penguin from Colchester zoo in a rucksack. Sobered up a bit and realised what are we going to do with the penguin in the bath!!!
We took it to the local park and made an call to the local police to say that I`d seen a penguin in the park.
Was in the paper for a few days as noone could work out where the fek a penguin had come from!!
Well thats my crappy claim to fame it was me I put the pengiuin in Christchurch park!!
(Smumps, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 23:24, Reply)

I've met Maxine Carr
I work in my local branch of a national hardware chain, and last summer I'm sure I served Maxine Carr. A woman came in who looked just like her- I even checked the name on the credit card. Obviously, it wasn't hers. I even told my mum that evening that I'd served her. Not that I really believed it myself.

A few months later, I read in the Times that Maxine Carr has been moved from the "Midlands Market Town" where she'd been living, and the article basically described where I live perfectly. Thinking about it, I did notice a larger police presence. Oo-er.

I really think it was her. I can now say I've met a serial killers accomplice, too.
(Psythor, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 23:21, Reply)

Maggie
When I was 12 I shook hands with Maggie Thatcher she came to our town and I shoved to the front of the crowd and thrust my hand in her face she took my hand and squeased it too tight and told me `it is soooo lovely to meet he young people`. I am soooo proud !!
(Smumps, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 23:20, Reply)

FUCK YEAH!
Almost forgot this one, my biggest claim to fame is:
I taught Bez (happy mondays, black grape, celeb big brother) how to dance!!!
I was right at the front of a mondays gig at apollo and he looked right at me, just some spotty fat cunt aged 16 waving his arms about like an idiot, and started to copy my dance and he's been doing it since. Ive had more drugs than him too ;)
(C0UN7:z3r0, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 23:13, Reply)

Karma bloke
I think I once saw the bloke from the Karma Police video (not Thom, t'other one) getting off a train in London.
(eifs, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 23:05, Reply)

Dear Gamesmaster...
.... when i was a wee yin, i wrote to dominik (even back then i could spell) diamond to ask if i could be on games master (A computer games programme, 4u yanks). I was invited for an interview with the researchers. Even as an 10 yr old i could feel the presure mounting but i handled the interview confidently and after destroying them on mario kart and wowing them with my charisma and personality they asked me to be on the show. I was delighted, i waited a couple of months for shooting to start and when the day came my family and i all piled into my dads toyota corolla and we drove for hours down south. And for hours more further down south. My dad, useless fucker and part-time cabbie, got lost, we never even found the place, just drove around the fucking countryside until we realised we were not gonna find the place in time and were too late and went home. I didnt speak to him for 2 months. Hopeless fucker.
(if you want a mental image of my father, he looks like george best and acts like frank gallagher)
(C0UN7:z3r0, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 23:01, Reply)

Video game tastic
I invented a device that changed the aspect ratio of SNES and Megadrive consoles so that their US/Jap 525-line picture showed up full screen on 625 line UK TVs instead of letterboxed and squashed. While my patent application was resting in 12-month limbo while I looked for investors, the Saturn, N64 and Playstation were all launched, with 625-line 4:3 ratio outputs on UK TVs. Bastards. Goodbye £tens-of-thousands.

Never mind though. My brother used to share a house with the sound engineer who did Ned's Atomic Dustbin live gigs. So I found myself in a pub quiz team one Sunday night with Jonn (singer), my bro and his missus. We didn't win.
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Mon 28 Feb 2005, 22:46, Reply)

hhgttg
my name is Douglas Adams...
I wish I could say it was because of my parent's awesome taste but according my dad it's taken from the Just William books...i still prefer the other reason though
(sextuple rooty, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 22:46, Reply)

My claims to fame
When they opened Mount Pleasant airport in the Falklands, me and my kid brother built the model 747 which slid down a wire at the opening ceremony. Painting on the BA logo took ages!

Sat behind Kylie's boyfriend at the Event Horizon premiere in Edinburgh, hairy, vest wearing type that he was. My brother was luckier - he was behind Kylie, and the jumper on the back of her seat fell down between his legs...

Oh and my wife looked after Bez when he was in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for a bit - says he's really nice:-)

Oh and does having a Douglas Adams signed special edition HHGTTG count - or am I just being a pain in the neck now?
(The Insidious Dr Mayhem ...conquering all on Metaltech.me, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 22:19, Reply)

It is a true fact that
my mum knew Adrian Mole scribe Sue Townsend (they worked at the same social centre). My direct link to this? When I was a nipper I wore her kid's hand-me-down clothes.

Pa-the-tic.
( Squeaky Shoes *riao riao*, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 21:59, Reply)

Bugger
I forgot the guy's name but there you go. I think it was the guy who played Grant mitchell, or some bad guy, in Eastenders(and other stuff))

We went up to London to see the Harness Horse Parade thingy. When we got back to the car we stood outside and leaned on his fence. We just stood there having a picnic and then this delivery guy came up. He tried to deliver a package or something but the famous guy said to wait till we had buggered off or something.
We just stood there, leaning on his fence, and never got to see him. :( We also laughed at delivery guy cos he stood there giving himself a manicure.

Seen Ginger Chris at Whit Horse, Hascombe.

I swear I saw Jeremy Beadle in sainsburys.

I was in Songs of Praise when it was in Guildford.

My Mum's friend's daughter's friend is Jonny Depp's nanny. Woo
(/lurks], Mon 28 Feb 2005, 21:44, Reply)

chivalrous boom!!!!!
i am the sexy beast third person down looking straight into the camera being a chivalrous bastard on www.xaverian.ac.uk! kiss my irrelevant non-fame-claimage!




make your daddy random, son!
(No. 52, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 21:32, Reply)

famous
had Nigel Mansells daughter, twas great
(texasjohn, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 21:13, Reply)

damn local band...
@potato faces

have you tried walking around oxford and *not* bumping into thom yorke / other members of radiohead?

they're everywhere!! even appeared in my village the other day!! cnuts!!
(adeh, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 21:01, Reply)

I once jammed with a jazz band
and the sax player was the bloke who used to present playschool and choc-a-bloc.

And my aunt's ex-husband is Michael Ferguson, who used to be a BBC big wig. He was the producer of Eastenders and invented the Mitchell brothers because, and I quote, "the series needed some men with bollocks". He also created the seminal cartoon Bertha, with the machine that could build anything, and Panjit the fork-lift driver.
(tree hugger putting the "semen" in "basement"..., Mon 28 Feb 2005, 20:55, Reply)

Potato faces
I saw Thom Yorke chatting to Will Self outside the Randolph Hotel (famous itself from Inspector Morse) in Oxford. I'm sure I've mentioned that here somewhere before.
(DoctorJ last upset some twat who doesn't like swearing on, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 20:49, Reply)

Radiohead
I was once Jonny Greenwood's penpal, met him and went for a meal before a Manchester gig, caught the plectrum that shot from his fingers during "Creep"
Then they got really famous...
(shameonme, Mon 28 Feb 2005, 20:43, Reply)