Suave Stedman sighted, but no Oprah

Stedman Graham was looking fine, as usual, on Nicollet Mall and at Ted Cook's 19th Hole BBQ.

E-mailer Kurt Unzicker reported spotting the author, educator and entrepreneur, who receives $12,000 to $15,000 per speaking engagement, according to Wikipedia, "walking south down Nicollet at 10th."

"He was very tall and obviously well-groomed, wearing an earthy green 'polished' suit. After I posted it on Facebook a friend told me [that Graham was here speaking at] a Reinvent seminar. I thought I saw you following him from several feet away (wearing a turban and dark glasses), which would have been hilarious if true," Unzicker wrote.

Wasn't me. Even though he looks like a Saint Bernard, were Graham an unattached Minnesotan he could maintain my attention. (Not afraid of Oprah; just have no interest in attached men.)

Graham was later spied at Ted Cook's, according to tipsters Lu Whitney and Jodie Quinn-Nelson, who were among some 15 people picking up dinner.

Whitney wrote, "Orders started piling up at the counter, cooling off, while folks hung out with Stedman." Quinn-Nelson gave me this photo of her with Graham, who may have been on his way to the airport.

Too tootsy a toast

I picked up this delicious tidbit the day WCCO-TV announced officially that Frank Vascellaro will succeed Don Shelby when he retires in November. As members of media mingled after the Q&A, Vascellaro mentioned to his wife, Amelia Santaniello, with whom he's been anchoring since joining WCCO in June 2006, that Crippa was present.

A smiling Santaniello said, "Crippa's here? I haven't seen him since the night he drank champagne from my shoe." Then she turned away to survey the room before dashing off.

Apparently, I missed an amusing chapter in the Vascellaro-Santaniello courtship, which has spawned a marriage, three children and a rare TV news anchor situation.

"I saw her on TV first," said Vascellaro. "But I saw her in person at Calhoun Beach Club at an event women in broadcast put on for the Chrysalis Center. I saw her from across the room, and then being the brave romantic soul I am, I sent my friend J.R. Mahon [a former KARE11 photojournalist] in; he did a little reconnaissance, came back and said, She seems pretty normal and pretty nice. Then I said, 'OK, I'm going in.'"

What kind of high heels was she wearing? "They were blue satin and so sexy Bob Crippa started drinking champagne out of them," he said.

He does, however, throw me a funny bone: "Everyone used to drink out of slippers back then. Times have changed. People drink out of flip-flops now."

Crippa wasn't so charming. Turning on his camera light to screw up my shot, Crippa morphed into one of those uncooperative photo subjects news photogs hate. I felt his pain. Not everybody's excited about having a camera shoved in their face -- even if they do it themselves for a living.

Tongue-wagging error

Sorry, Jay Snyder, but that probably wasn't the Kiss rocker and A&E "Family Jewels" star at Shaw's Bar & Grill.

"It looked like him," said Jeff, a Shaw staffer with whom I spoke after getting Synder's e-mail about seeing Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed recently.

"I think a few of my friends saw someone who they said was a dead ringer for Gene Simmons, but probably not him," said Obeda.