As requested I finally finished writing my novel, it's 8 pages long (covers 4 days) so I'm just gonna post the encounter for now. If you all really wanna bore yourself through the whole thing I guess e-mail me and I'll send it out to you, I don't know.
Basically, I got to go to Grammys and whenever U2 were up for anything I would get up and wave my neon yellow Brasilian jersey over my head, at one point I'm pretty sure Bono spotted it. After the Grammys I joined my friends outside the hotel to say congratulations and celebrate my friend Michele's birthday.
2/28/02
After much contemplation, after all I had spent more cash than I ever planned to already, I speak to my friend Melissa and find out she?s going cause her friend wanted to go. So I?m off, they?re having a party and I?m not missing it. I call the cab and I?m on my way to Sunset Dr. It was pretty hilarious when I arrived, cause I know everyone there (there?s about 15 of us), we all know each other, so when I got there they were all in shock, and yelled out ?MAAARINA!!!? LOL I had rock star entrance, and at this point I didn?t know who to say hi to first.
Ok now what you need to understand of the 15 people that were there only myself and Michele had never really met him. The others had all met him multiple times for various different reasons, some have been to over 40 shows others to 10, some had ran into him in random occasions, and one got to play with them on stage, regardless they?ve been running into him forever and weren?t there for autographs or anything they were just saying congrats and being our friends they were pulling for us to finally meet him. So besides being my friends they?re recognizable faces among the U2 organization.
In any case I got there around 11 pm while everyone had been around since the Grammys ended, around nine thirty. I sat down and we just chatted about the Grammys for about an hour. At around 12:30 am my friends decide to go check on their cars, they had parked in the McDonald?s lot across the street and the sign said you can park till 2 am without a prob, remember LA parking is hell. Surprisingly my friend who stayed behind gets a call from the two that were checking on the cars saying the cars were gone. So the three who were still with us proceed to run across Sunset Blvd like maniacs, completely disregarding traffic. Well it turns out 3 of the 4 cars were towed and taken to another parking lot, except this one costs well over a hundred bucks. So they get in a fight with the guy pointing to sign that was literally in front of the car, and the guy says ?well that?s an old sign this is the current one? points to a sign on the other side of the parking lot hidden behind bushes. So the arguing continued and ended with my Indian friends putting fake voodoo spells on the guy and scaring the shit out of him.
Of course when they finally came back they were telling us the story and we were all having a good laugh about it until all the jokes ran out about 1:50 am and my friend Michele had to wake up early the next day for work plus she still had to drop off two other people. We joked about how freezing it was and how we weren?t gonna see him till about 4 am and drunk. So at about 2 am she decided to call it quits, if he hadn?t shown up yet he was surely not gonna show up till the crack of down. Her cellphone had also died many hours before so we had no contact with her whatsoever.
Well sure enough it hadn?t even been 5 mins since she left and up comes a black BMW. We sat in shock it wasn?t till Bono walked over to us that we managed to move (I had a bigger entrance lol). He takes a look around and then he steps back I guess in shock of seeing so many familiar faces, first thing he says is "Well, we've got the whole family here? and that pretty much set the tone for the encounter everyone congratulated him for the Grammys and my friend Mel said "I'm sorry about not getting Album of the Year. I demand a re-count! What is this, Florida?" And he said, "Yeah, Al Gore...well you know T-Bone is a good friend of ours, and the record sounds amazing, so if you?re gonna lose at we lost to a friend, and he deserved it?
Then some girl that popped out of nowhere with an Explorer (guitar) and a some clunky old mic asked him how we could help with Drop The Debt. Well that set him off on his usual rant about ?just keep sending e-mails, I mean they keep telling me that their getting about 2000 e-mails a week?? so she asks ?so it?s working?? Bono: ?yeah it?s working.? Of course at this point I?m laughing cause I mean how many times have we heard or read this in interviews and now he?s less than a foot away reciting it to us. I bet it probably looked rude but I couldn?t contain myself.
Someone then suggested he should run for office. He jokingly said, "What? Vote for Bono." then added, "Why would I want to do anything but make music?? So then Irma said ?No but you?d make a good teacher?
Bono: Actually I was going to do that
Irma: What subject?
Bono: uhm?English or History
Irma: completely flipped ?Yay, that?s what I do I teach English and History?
Bono: ?really??
girl with the guitar: ?yeah I?m a teacher also it?s really bad, we?re really underpaid and under appreciated? (she?s carrying a $2K guitar wtf?)
Bono: ?Yeah, teachers, nurses, and dancers (wtf?) are professions that don?t get the recognition they deserve
The girl with the guitar then proceeds to ask for an autograph, he hesitates then asks what she does with it she says she collects them and hangs them in her room (again wtf? how does a teacher afford this?) He signs it and looks up with an expression asking us if there was anything else he could do? This is where I come in after being poked by friend to speak up.
Anyways I had been wearing my Brasilian soccer jersey it for layering purposes, however it was hidden beneath to sweaters. So when he came I took it off so he could see it (I was too lazy to actually remove the 2 sweaters so I did it in the ?discreet manner? though it must seemed like I was taking off the only shirt I had on lol). I held up the jersey and asked "when do you guys plan to visit again?" The emblem wasn't showing so he took it from my hands and looked at it. He finally realized what it was and said "oh wow you know Romario gave me one of his jerseys" so I asked "didn't you all play soccer or something?" he smiles and says "yeah we did, we played in his backyard" then all proudly "I scored a goal" pause "but I think they let me." That had us all laughing for a bit.
In the meantime all these random people started popping out of nowhere so he just starts to say goodbye still holding my jersey he turns to some of my friends, the most familiar of them all gives them all kisses on the cheek and wishes everyone goodnight. I see my jersey leaving with him but nothing I could do at that point would be of any help. My friend turns to me ?you weren?t giving that to him were you?? NOOOO she just laughs. You know he could've just asked, I wouldn't mind, it's just not gonna fit him, lol.
Oh then afterward as we were packing up to leave Thom Yorke pulls up. At first we don?t believe our eyes and do a double take, then in unison everyone let?s out ?Thom?? he looks over his shoulder, ?Thom Yorke!!!? At this point we scared him, I don?t think Radiohead has following of obsessed fans that wait at hotels, he thought we were joking and just kind of just stares at us from across the street. Then Irma promptly reaches for her binder which has a Radiohead sticker on it and holds it up ?we?re fans really.? Thom smiles and slowly walks over, shyly, he takes her pen signs the binder (he?s soooo tiny) and shakes her hand ?nice to meet you? then waves to everyone ?goodnight? and then proceeds to take baby steps back to the hotel. He was so shy, and we were left picking up our jaws from the floor. It was really funny cause we were so much more start struck than we were with Bono cause Bono was so laid back whereas this was completely unexpected.
The night kept going up until 4 am as a bunch of series of random events continue to happen outside the hotel. Eventually we all get tired of talking to this one guy and leave.
But yeah that was basically what happened, it was all so fast but it took me a month to type up.
The evidence of Bono's not so civilized ways (look in left hand)
Poor little Thom Yorke scared outta his socks
------------------
Long live the lemon!!!
[This message has been edited by mbi16 (edited 03-25-2002).]
Basically, I got to go to Grammys and whenever U2 were up for anything I would get up and wave my neon yellow Brasilian jersey over my head, at one point I'm pretty sure Bono spotted it. After the Grammys I joined my friends outside the hotel to say congratulations and celebrate my friend Michele's birthday.
2/28/02
After much contemplation, after all I had spent more cash than I ever planned to already, I speak to my friend Melissa and find out she?s going cause her friend wanted to go. So I?m off, they?re having a party and I?m not missing it. I call the cab and I?m on my way to Sunset Dr. It was pretty hilarious when I arrived, cause I know everyone there (there?s about 15 of us), we all know each other, so when I got there they were all in shock, and yelled out ?MAAARINA!!!? LOL I had rock star entrance, and at this point I didn?t know who to say hi to first.
Ok now what you need to understand of the 15 people that were there only myself and Michele had never really met him. The others had all met him multiple times for various different reasons, some have been to over 40 shows others to 10, some had ran into him in random occasions, and one got to play with them on stage, regardless they?ve been running into him forever and weren?t there for autographs or anything they were just saying congrats and being our friends they were pulling for us to finally meet him. So besides being my friends they?re recognizable faces among the U2 organization.
In any case I got there around 11 pm while everyone had been around since the Grammys ended, around nine thirty. I sat down and we just chatted about the Grammys for about an hour. At around 12:30 am my friends decide to go check on their cars, they had parked in the McDonald?s lot across the street and the sign said you can park till 2 am without a prob, remember LA parking is hell. Surprisingly my friend who stayed behind gets a call from the two that were checking on the cars saying the cars were gone. So the three who were still with us proceed to run across Sunset Blvd like maniacs, completely disregarding traffic. Well it turns out 3 of the 4 cars were towed and taken to another parking lot, except this one costs well over a hundred bucks. So they get in a fight with the guy pointing to sign that was literally in front of the car, and the guy says ?well that?s an old sign this is the current one? points to a sign on the other side of the parking lot hidden behind bushes. So the arguing continued and ended with my Indian friends putting fake voodoo spells on the guy and scaring the shit out of him.
Of course when they finally came back they were telling us the story and we were all having a good laugh about it until all the jokes ran out about 1:50 am and my friend Michele had to wake up early the next day for work plus she still had to drop off two other people. We joked about how freezing it was and how we weren?t gonna see him till about 4 am and drunk. So at about 2 am she decided to call it quits, if he hadn?t shown up yet he was surely not gonna show up till the crack of down. Her cellphone had also died many hours before so we had no contact with her whatsoever.
Well sure enough it hadn?t even been 5 mins since she left and up comes a black BMW. We sat in shock it wasn?t till Bono walked over to us that we managed to move (I had a bigger entrance lol). He takes a look around and then he steps back I guess in shock of seeing so many familiar faces, first thing he says is "Well, we've got the whole family here? and that pretty much set the tone for the encounter everyone congratulated him for the Grammys and my friend Mel said "I'm sorry about not getting Album of the Year. I demand a re-count! What is this, Florida?" And he said, "Yeah, Al Gore...well you know T-Bone is a good friend of ours, and the record sounds amazing, so if you?re gonna lose at we lost to a friend, and he deserved it?
Then some girl that popped out of nowhere with an Explorer (guitar) and a some clunky old mic asked him how we could help with Drop The Debt. Well that set him off on his usual rant about ?just keep sending e-mails, I mean they keep telling me that their getting about 2000 e-mails a week?? so she asks ?so it?s working?? Bono: ?yeah it?s working.? Of course at this point I?m laughing cause I mean how many times have we heard or read this in interviews and now he?s less than a foot away reciting it to us. I bet it probably looked rude but I couldn?t contain myself.
Someone then suggested he should run for office. He jokingly said, "What? Vote for Bono." then added, "Why would I want to do anything but make music?? So then Irma said ?No but you?d make a good teacher?
Bono: Actually I was going to do that
Irma: What subject?
Bono: uhm?English or History
Irma: completely flipped ?Yay, that?s what I do I teach English and History?
Bono: ?really??
girl with the guitar: ?yeah I?m a teacher also it?s really bad, we?re really underpaid and under appreciated? (she?s carrying a $2K guitar wtf?)
Bono: ?Yeah, teachers, nurses, and dancers (wtf?) are professions that don?t get the recognition they deserve
The girl with the guitar then proceeds to ask for an autograph, he hesitates then asks what she does with it she says she collects them and hangs them in her room (again wtf? how does a teacher afford this?) He signs it and looks up with an expression asking us if there was anything else he could do? This is where I come in after being poked by friend to speak up.
Anyways I had been wearing my Brasilian soccer jersey it for layering purposes, however it was hidden beneath to sweaters. So when he came I took it off so he could see it (I was too lazy to actually remove the 2 sweaters so I did it in the ?discreet manner? though it must seemed like I was taking off the only shirt I had on lol). I held up the jersey and asked "when do you guys plan to visit again?" The emblem wasn't showing so he took it from my hands and looked at it. He finally realized what it was and said "oh wow you know Romario gave me one of his jerseys" so I asked "didn't you all play soccer or something?" he smiles and says "yeah we did, we played in his backyard" then all proudly "I scored a goal" pause "but I think they let me." That had us all laughing for a bit.
In the meantime all these random people started popping out of nowhere so he just starts to say goodbye still holding my jersey he turns to some of my friends, the most familiar of them all gives them all kisses on the cheek and wishes everyone goodnight. I see my jersey leaving with him but nothing I could do at that point would be of any help. My friend turns to me ?you weren?t giving that to him were you?? NOOOO she just laughs. You know he could've just asked, I wouldn't mind, it's just not gonna fit him, lol.
Oh then afterward as we were packing up to leave Thom Yorke pulls up. At first we don?t believe our eyes and do a double take, then in unison everyone let?s out ?Thom?? he looks over his shoulder, ?Thom Yorke!!!? At this point we scared him, I don?t think Radiohead has following of obsessed fans that wait at hotels, he thought we were joking and just kind of just stares at us from across the street. Then Irma promptly reaches for her binder which has a Radiohead sticker on it and holds it up ?we?re fans really.? Thom smiles and slowly walks over, shyly, he takes her pen signs the binder (he?s soooo tiny) and shakes her hand ?nice to meet you? then waves to everyone ?goodnight? and then proceeds to take baby steps back to the hotel. He was so shy, and we were left picking up our jaws from the floor. It was really funny cause we were so much more start struck than we were with Bono cause Bono was so laid back whereas this was completely unexpected.
The night kept going up until 4 am as a bunch of series of random events continue to happen outside the hotel. Eventually we all get tired of talking to this one guy and leave.
But yeah that was basically what happened, it was all so fast but it took me a month to type up.
The evidence of Bono's not so civilized ways (look in left hand)
Poor little Thom Yorke scared outta his socks
------------------
Long live the lemon!!!
[This message has been edited by mbi16 (edited 03-25-2002).]
: Of the group of people waiting outside the hotel at 9:30 PM, I was the first to leave at 11:00 PM. I was feeling soooo freakin' feverish, sick, and achey and the last thing I wanted to do was breathe on Bono. I sooo wish I had the endurance to stay - he could have signed my license plate. BLARGH. That's OK, though.... I got the whole Grammy experience via my cellphone thanks to Marina. Marina, I don't know if I ever thanked you for that - THANK YOU! You rock! 
