PART 2 OF THE ECLIPSE EXPERIENCE: Jackson Saves The Day!

Monkey Backup Singers - wasn't really feelin' them! Sorry, girls! :(

On the morning of the Eclipse premiere, I saw a tweet from 100 Monkeys saying that they're having a midnight show that night. WOO HOO!!! At least I could rest easy knowing Megan's day wouldn't be a TOTAL waste. God Bless Twitter!

J. Action n' Skeleton Man Ben G.

The crowd at the Roxy was super chill too. I think it was a mix of girls that came straight from the premiere like us, and other fans that got the news on Twitter. It wasn't super packed, but the Roxy isn't huge either. The guys came out and put on a great show as always. Jackson was still in his suit from the premiere, so he was looking adorable right off the bat!

Fast forward to the post show scene. As always, the girls all huddle around a doorway inside hoping to catch Jackson on his way out. Leave it to Meg to think ahead and figure that they've gotta be loading their equipment out back somewhere. So while the fans waited inside, we slipped out the back door and came around the side and low and behold -- there's Jackson unloading his equipment into the car. Giggling our way over, we catch Jackson coming out and ask if we could get a picture with him. He says "sure, just give me a sec to finish up here..."

HOLY COW! MUSIC TO OUR EARS. After all this time, could this finally be the day we actually get to take a picture with our object of affection?!!!!!

Well that 'sec' turned into an eternity and by then, everyone else from inside had filtered out into the parking lot too. DARN. But have no fear -- for what ensued was more than we could've asked for -- the parking lot of The Roxy turned into an impromptu meet n' greet for all who was fortunate to be there.

Let it be said that the 100 Monkeys are the nicest, most humble group of guys on the planet. They were all so laid back and enjoying all the interaction with their fans. Had it not been for the The Roxy security telling us we all had to go home, we could've easily stayed there all night!


CUT TO THE PICTORIAL (courtesy of Meg, as always! :-0):

Jackson announces that everyone gets lei'd at their shows...... SCORRREEEE!!!!! He personally went around and gave us each a lei. Here we are proudly displaying ours. I tried ever so hard to capture a picture of Jackson lei-ing the fans, but he was too quick and I was too excited. Kudos to Meg for asking Jackson if he's familiar with the hawaiian tradition of kissing someone after giving them a lei! haha So close, but no go on the smooch. Good try, Meg! :-0

*CRUSH ALERT* We LOVE Ben J! Could he be any more adorable & cute? He was UNBELIEVABLY nice n' mellow.... *SIGH* Until now, Ben J. was the only Monkey we've never interacted with and we assumed he just the private type. Boy, were we wrong -- he took time out to chat with us and allowed us to question his choice of performing with bare feet, how he's able to sing & drum at the same time, and is he worried that walking the streets of Hollywood could be unsanitary for his bare feet? haha Think Meg was secretly batting for Team Ben J. that night! :)

Always fun chatting it up with Ben G., probably because he's definitely the goofiest out of the group. And extremely cool. Meg inquired about whether they'd be returning to (our hometown) Stockton, and he said they'd love to but was asking if she could suggest venues. We were then entertained by Ben's funny recount of his experience in Stockton, how someone punched their manager and how ghetto it was. We gleefully agreed! haha

Meg n' J. Rad -- So photogenic & cute together -- They always take the best pics! :)

F.I.N.A.L.L.Y!!!! After how countless shows, Twi events, etc, etc., Megan finally connects with her Twilight True Love! :)

Look who comes slithering in after taking Meg's pic.... only I go in straight for the kill.... and go in for the biggest hug! His hand got cut off in the pic, but he was pointing at me like "who IS this chick feeling me up?!" hahaha When I hugged him, I said "oh my god.... I'm in heaven!" and Jackson's all "more like sweaty heaven!" haha After the pic, I told him "trust me, it was HEAVENLY!" *SIGH* I didn't wanna let go 'til Jackson said "now, now.... let's make sure everyone gets a turn". Yes, I was shunned by Jackson Rathbone. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!!!!!!!!!!

Meg calls this one "THE GREEDY PIC" 'cause I was being greedy w/ Jackson! haha I just wanted to take another pic 'cause I wasn't feeling the first one, so when Jackson freed up again, I asked for a "do over". He was all "A DO OVERRR????" haha Still being picky about how this pic came out, but hey -- we were on our feet all day and night and it's going on 3:00 a.m. at this point-- and I could look a lot WORSE! :-0

Overall, we had no room for complaint. We ended up experiencing a night that most fans dream about. Nothing but love for the 100 Monkeys..... BEST. NIGHT. EVER! :)

MY 'ECLIPSE' PREMIERE EXPERIENCE: PART 1

The minute I heard the 'Eclipse' premiere was switching from its usual Westwood location to Nokia Live, I took it as a bad omen. It was nowhere near as fun as Westwood and it was 10 times more crowded. Unless you camped out, you couldn't even see the celebs walking in. They had it COMPLETELY blocked off from the general public.

And then my Twi-Partner-In-Crime's flight got delayed, so we had to give in to the fact that we weren't going to get there early enough to find a good viewing spot. By the time we did get there, we found ourselves on a crowded corner in the hot sun with the other fans and some annoying little guidos. Not fun. We started off on this side of the street (see pic below), but it got too hot, so we crossed to go to the shade. Bad move since this ended up being where Rob went to greet fans when he first arrived! :(

No pics of Rob's arrival 'cause you know -- I was FREAKING OUT!!! But I will say that Taylor's arrival is a scene upon itself. I didn't think Staples Center's security was going to contain those crazy tweens, but they managed. He's a good kid though... or so he seems! Here he is taking pics with fans.... (sorry, we were far back, so pics aren't as close up - but photo kudos to Meg!):

Teens n' their TayTay

Move aside, lil' boy.... my Jackson has ARRIVED!!!! :)

Mr. Badass Cullen

Here's a pic of Kristen heading to the red carpet. In case you didn't see or hear, she arrived and then left shortly after in a car and came back again. Found out later, a fan had accidentally marked her face with a marker and she had to leave to clean it off. If you saw her talk about it on the red carpet, she wasn't sure if the fan was trying to be funny or not. Either way, she was not pleased. In other news.... who gives a [bleep].....muahaha

KStew rockin' the white mini!

After standing in the sun for hours, we have dinner and try to catch them on the way out after the movie. No go, since others had the same idea and security had it blocked off even worse. Hardly any of the cast walked by, and they whisked Rob, Kristen and Taylor off in a convoy just to get them to the after party across the street. Lame!

Watching the different celebs walk by was also weird -- it were as if someone made the announcement inside that NO ONE is allowed to speak to any of the spectators on their way to the after party. Seriously, everyone who walked by did just that -- walked right on by. They barely waved or even acknowledged us. Very strange. Almost eerie.

A brief pictorial:

Gil was sweet and waved, but he wasn't stopping since he could barely walk across the street with his cane. Does anyone know if he was injured? Curious.

Oohhh..... we were looking forward to seeing Xavier n' his fine self.... 'til he totally dissed everyone and walked right on by..... BOOOOOOO!

Bryce tried to wave and be nice, but she wasn't really havin' it either. Too bad 'cause I was gonna tell her how pretty her mustard gown was (NOT!) muahahaha

AND THE AWARD GOES TO..... BOOBOO STEWART!!!!! O.M.G., this is the cutest kid in the world. You know his mama raised him right. He was beyond gracious to the fans. When he first arrived to the premiere, he went to greet ALL the fans, even near those of us who were in Timbuktu. And as you can see here, he goes against security and greets the young girls who were calling him over. I got nothin' but love for BooBoo!

Although Meg n' I have a great time regardless, it wasn't the stellar evening we envisioned. But the night is still young. Stay tuned for Part 2.....

100 MONKEYS VR SHOW - Great Night & Some Words of Advice!:)

I had the pleasure of going to the Viper Room show on Friday night and while it was hotter than hell in there, I still had a BLAST! I thought it was one of the best shows the guys put on! They sounded awesome and the vibe was great. On that note....

I was in a sea of Jackson gazers. Don't get me wrong -- I know what it's like to go to my first Monkeys shows & just be in awe of seeing Jackson. I will mention that Jackson (without warning) didn't show up at my first Monkeys show at the Viper Room. We were heartbroken, but the band was good enough to hold our attention and get us to stay! :)

Getting back to the shows....it's no secret that we all wait around afterwards to try and get a glimpse of Jackson. I've had the pleasure of meeting/talking with Jackson and the rest of the band members at past shows and can honestly say, I've never met a nicer group of guys. They're all down to earth and extremely gracious towards their fans. And on that note...

USE GOOD JUDGMENT WHEN APPROACHING JACKSON OR ANY GUYS FROM THE BAND. If you ask them for a picture or autograph, make sure it's a good time and gauge whether it appears to be a good time for them. If not, don't bother them and worse, DON'T PUSH IT!

Jackson finally came out after the show and went straight to the bar to embrace some friends who were obviously good friends and people he hasn't seen in a while. He stayed huddled and was obviously trying to not be bothered, but that didn't stop the fans from swarming in. Don't get me wrong -- I GET IT. This was the first show for a lot of fans and who knows when you'll get a chance to be this close to Jackson.

Although Jackson was gracious enough to do pictures with a few fans, at one point, he finally turned his back and continued to talk to his friends - an obvious gesture to say he was done for the day. But that didn't stop fans from standing DIRECTLY behind Jackson and his friends, still waiting. I'm sorry -- at that point, if you're not embarrassed by your obvious lack of courtesy, then I become embarrassed for you. And I hate being uncomfortable due the actions of others, so please -- don't do it.

We all have our good, bad, and close encounters. Trust me when I say, the most perfect and awesome encounter will happen to you one day. Just make sure it's a day when everything falls into place - not when you have to do something to hurt or disrupt someone else's good time!

"We're fans, just like you!" :)

As I get off my soapbox, Jared was the only one we were able to catch that night. What a sweetheart! This guy is always so kind and fun EVERY single time. We finally solved a personal dilemma that has long haunted us -- is Jared married? And if so, where is his wedding ring? Some days he has it, sometimes not.

"We heart J. Rad!"

Jared told us he is, in fact, married and he didn't it have it on on 'cause he lost it. We TOTALLY jammed him up! haha It was hilarious! We're like "no, no... don't give us that excuse...we're married too", but he said he honestly lost it and it doesn't matter 'cause his wife trusts him and "as a matter of fact, I'm going home to her after this". (sigh) Can you just eat him up or what?!We went on to talk about the band, how we've noticed their improvement over time, and he totally agreed. He said they've been working really hard to get better. I told him their show compared to the first time we saw them at the Viper Room long ago was a world of difference. He was so appreciative of all we had to say. Then he was bombarded by a friend of his and guess what -- we thanked him and let him go on his merry way!

And yes, we did wait outside to see if Jackson would ever come out, but no such luck. We ran into Marty their "Bananager" as we were leaving and Meg told him "Well, it's time for us to go.... we've been mistakened for HOOKERS!" HAHA (another story) But Marty without missing a beat, just chuckled and said "OK then... have a good night... be safe!"

GOOD TIMES!

FANGIRL FAIL: The Closest I Ever Got to RPattz!

So I get tickets to the Jimmy Kimmel Q&A for Eclipse and my twi-buddy cancelled. Every other alternate I could think of was either sick or couldn't take off work. In a last minute decision, I opt to go alone. Something I normally wouldn't do, but the chance to see Rob was worth fighting Hollywood traffic.

The tickets specifically said no purses or cameras, so I had to leave everything in the car. I even left my cell phone since I didn't want to risk being told at the gate that cell phones weren't allowed, and having to make the long walk back to the car and lose my place in line. So there I stood all alone in this sea of fans with no means of communication to the outside world. Loserrr!

But the taping was fun and I scored the right hand of the stage, which proved to be the best side -- perfect unobstructed view of Rob, as well as Xavier sitting behind him. Yum!

So as I'm leaving, I hear the younger girls saying "they're giving autographs". I followed them through the parking lot and toward the back of the studio. Since everyone was crowded along the fence, I decided to go around to the side where it was not so crowded.

I stood on my tip toes and could see both Ashley and Kristen signing autographs for the fans through the fence. Darn, should've went that route! But wait -- all of a sudden I look a mere two rows in front of me and there he stood -- in all his marvelous glory -- Rob signing autographs and taking pictures.

HOLY SH*T. I FROZE. Then I started to call out, but my usually loud ass seemed to sound like I was stuck in a tunnel. I was totally drowned out. I was also wrestling those annoying paparazzi/autograph hound type of guys to keep my spot. UGH! When I finally realized there was nothing I could do to capture this moment (with no phone, camera, pen... NOTHIN'!), I decide to just enjoy the moment and just stare. SIGH. I got to stare at Rob for about 20 seconds before he was whisked away, which seemed like an eternity.

NOTE TO SELF: NEVER show up at a Twilight event without the proper ammo! haha

ROCKIN' WITH THE MONKEYS AT SAINT ROCKE!

Yes, the Twi-Partner-In-Crime Megan met up with me again this weekend for the 100 Monkeys show in Hermosa Beach. Did she finally get her picture with Jackson? Not quite. But did we have a fun night together regardless? ABSOLUTELY! :-0

First up, two cool bands opened up for them: http://www.myspace.com/philconnelly and http://www.myspace.com/kidtheodore, so show some love to these guys! And for the record, Saint Rocke is an awesome live venue. It reminded me of a small and cozy version of the House of Blues. Follow them on twitter at @saintrocke.

OK, end of the plugs.... here is our night in pictures:

So the place is so small that we just walked right up to the stage after the opening acts and we're in the front row. NICE! So when the band started to set up, we got to say hi to everyone. Jackson was setting up near us, so we started talking to him and he was so sweet as always. Then I told him, "hey, you look like you can use one of these....." and held up my beer. He's all "ALWAYS". Wuuuuttttt..... was that an invitation to get you DRUNK, Mr. Rathbone? Megan starts asking if he's serious, 'cause she will seriously go and buy him a beer. He's all "sure" and Megan bolts like lightning to the bar! haha When she returns with the beer, Jackson takes it and thanks her and then he clinks glasses with us for a toast. We instantly become the envy of all women in the room. SCORRREEEE!!!!! :-0

Here's a pic of us with Jackson pulling up his pants to the right....WOO HOO!

Here's a pic of Jackson's beer that Megan bought him! :-0

We never knew Jared was married 'til we saw his wedding band that night. I told him he wasn't going to be able to play with those glasses on all night. But he's like "Bet I will!" Go on with your bad self, J. Rad! haha

Just as predicted -- I told you the glasses wouldn't stay on! Good save, Meg! And yes, Jared was shocked that he got 'em back! :-0

Jackson on the drums..... HOT!

Jackson on the mandolin.....heart be still!

Ben J. at the mic......

Ben G. takes a drink after fans got everyone to sing Happy Birthday to him!

Jackson on the keyboards......that stare will be the death of me! :-0

Ben G. up close n' personal!

Our fave pic of the night: Jackson where we love him most -- down on his KNEES!!!! YEAHHH!!!!! hee hee

Not quite the shot she wanted with Jackson, but she'll take it! :-0

End of the night and we see Uncle Larry and Ben G. getting ready to take off in the band's van. Here's a pic of Megan and Ben.

Jackson was already sitting inside the van, but he waved to Megan before taking off. Made her night! :-0

Another great monkey experience... (sigh)

'Til the next time..... :-0

THE TWI-CONVERTS & THEIR TWI-ENCOUNTER

My nieces Megan and Melina are my twi-converts 'cause without me, they would've never been forced to read the books that have forever changed their lives. Sigh. On that note, it has given us a reason to be giddy over things and put us on a quest for any possible sighting of a Twilight cast member.

Enter this man -- Jackson Rathbone. We love us some Jasper!

We try to catch Jackson's band, 100 Monkeys on tour whenever we can, so imagine our surprise when we discovered that the band was coming to our very own hometown of Stockton, California. CRAZY! Since I live in Los Angeles, I had no plans to make the trip, but told my two lovely nieces to go and fill me in on the details. Then I get a text from Megan saying "why did I just stutter when I met Jackson?" W.T.F???? EEEKKKK!!! You know I needed the scoop, right??

So after twisting Megan's arm (slightly), I got her to give me her firsthand account of the evening in her own words:

CHATTING WITH THE MONKEYS

I gather up the courage to drag Melina over to meet the band, who happen to be hanging out in the parking lot having a smoke break where no one can see them. My mind is racing a million miles a minute. I walk up to them and say "hi guys, i know you're the 100 monkeys and we wanted to meet you and say hi before the show". Introductions are made (in this order) Ben J., Ben G., Marty, Jerad, then Uncle Larry. Meeting the Bens and Marty, I am perfectly fine and say my name. But low and behold, Jackson comes from around the boys and walks over to say "Hi, I'm Jackson". Melina says, "Hi, I'm Melina". He comes up to me and says "Hi, I'm Jackson" and my brain freezes. I lose all control of my brain and mouth muscles and I completely stutter..."I'm M-M-M-egan"...and he looks at me and smiles and says "you're M-M-Megan?" I was super embarrassed and attempted to fix it by laughing and saying 'Sorry, I mean Megan!' From that moment, I am super flustered and my voice cracks the whole time we are carrying on a conversation. Leave it to my 13 year old sister to bring attention to my nerves by grabbing my face and saying "Megan, it's ok". haha The boys get a chuckle out of it, but continue to be nice for a few exchanges of small talk before we decide to go into the venue. Mission accomplished -- we got to meet them and Jackson. Mind you, I don't remember too much because I feel like I blacked out and I couldn't bring myself to even look the man in the eye when I met him. I'm such a spaz!"

BOOGYING WITH A BANANA!

Melina and I get our dance on with Banana Man throughout the show. He enjoyed us because we were into the show and the music!

"I SEE YOU JOCKIN', BEN G!!!!!"

I'm pretty sure it wasn't in my head, but Ben G. was totally checkin' out yours truly....staring for a good 2 minutes. He was looking, but I didn't pay much attention. Then he turns away and comes back and re-engages contact. I decide to look around thinking it's in my head, but then I smile to test and he smiles right back and continues singing the song. I turn to my sister for confirmation and she saw it too! *sigh* That's the self esteem booster I needed! haha

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Isn't that the cutest story? We never know how we'll react when we meet these guys, but then you finally do, and you get teased about it? How cute is Jackson??? These are the nicest guys who were gracious enough to take the time out to chat with the girls. They didn't get any pictures with the band since they said they'd do it 'after the show', but ended up rushing Jackson out the back door as usual. Just confirms what I already know -- Jackson's the biggest TEASE! Just look at him... lookin' all hot, and then he just runs off into the night, leaving you begging for more. DAMN YOU, J. ACTION!!!!!!!! muahahaha

But one can never be too greedy when it comes to such experiences, eh? Until the next Monkey show, my friends! :-0