Arriving at LAX

 

May 7, 2005

Golden Celebration

 

In 2005-2006 Disney Parks were celebrating the 50th anniversary of Disneyland.   It was called the Golden celebration and all sorts of "golden" things were on display and sold at all of the Disney parks around the world.   

Some Paul fans went to Disneyland in California in November 2005 before the Paul McCartney concert in Anaheim.   They bought a pair of golden Mickey ears and had "Paul" stitched on the back.    Toward the end of the concert,  one of the fans tossed the ears up on the stage and Paul picked them up and put them on.  Goofing around, he put them on Abe's head for a little bit, before putting them back on.  He wore them as he left the stage, as you can see here.   

The fan was wearing her black Mickey ears and Brian Riddle saw her and made a symbol like Mickey ears above his head.  

Super Ringo

All photos copyrght Henry Diltz

What ever happened to that project Ringo was doing with Stan Lee for a Ringo superhero comic?  I was all for reading about how Ringo saves the day with peace and love.

"these better not end up on ebay or I will quit signing things forever...peace and love."

Rock and roll Ringo!

A big time congratulations goes out to Ringo Starr on his upcoming induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame!!   When you think of all of the famous bands who's drummer credits Ringo for inspiring them to drum and the contribution Ringo has made to rock and roll music, it is shame that he didn't get in there ages ago.  

And you know what?  If you disagree...I don't want to hear it!    I think Ringo is an amazing drummer and I enjoy his live shows.   He was the first Beatle to have a #1 hit single after the Beatles broke up. 

So yeah...I am pretty proud of our Richy and celebrate this accomplishment with him.   In celebration I am sharing some photos my Beatle pal, Susan Ryan took on June 20, 2005 when Ringo was on the Early Show.   She was allowed to take photos without a flash.   She went to the John Stewart show today and saw Paul, but alas no photos were allowed.    But she graciously shares these Ringo photos with us!  Thanks to you Susan!   Make sure you look on the side of this blog for information about her Beatles tour of New York City!

all photos taken and copyright held by Susan Ryan.  Posted here with her permission.  Please do not post on your blog without her consent.

High in the Clouds 2005

This article is interesting because it shows the details in waiting for Paul to appear for a book signing.  I also think it might be documented proof of the first fans to get Paul to sign their arms for a tattoo.   Everyone thinks it was someone at a concert recently, but this story says two guys at this book signing had him sign their arms and got tattoos of the signature.    Since cameras weren't allowed, there doesn't seem to be any photos to Paul greeting the fans, which is a little odd. 

Anyhow, this story was written by Poppy and was found in issue #21 of the British Beatles Fan Club Magazine.

Press photo of Paul with some of the primary children he read to

Poppy's photos of Paul leaving the bookstore

Meet the Beatle

Paul McCartney book signing:  London – Wednesday 14^th December 2005

By Poppy

It was through the BBFC’s e-mail list that I first heard about this event.  Paul McCartney’s children’s book, High in the Clouds, was released in October and the news came out that he would be doing a signing, the entry for which would be restricted to wristband holders.  To get a wristband you had to be at Waterstones book store on Piccadilly at 7:30 am on Monday 12^th December.

I figured the queues would be large and so I arrived at mid-afternoon the day before and found my place in the queue with about 20 others already there standing out in the cold.  I was surprised that the queue wasn’t already significantly longer, but suppose the freezing weather had put some off.  The people in the queue were great; Emily, a student from Birmingham returned to her place in front of me, having been shopping for thermal blankets, and behind us was a lovely chap who’d flown over from Boston especially to meet Paul.  Once you got your place in the queue and camped out for a time, everyone was fine with holding other people’s places while they popped off for a break, so at about 6:00pm I went off to catch the number 9 bus to the Albert Hall for a previous arrangement 0 to see the Bootleg Beatles (the show was quite brilliant).  At the end of the gig I got a lift back to Piccadilly Circus where the rest of the night began.  The queue was maybe a hundred long by this point, still shorter than expected.  A couple of guys from Portsmouth, Michael and Richard, had spent a few hours at the pub and returned a little worse for the wear.  They spent the next few hours entertaining everyone and popping backwards and forwards, buying us much welcomed tea and coffee.  A few lucky ones were brought hot water bottles by friends.  Eventually, at about 3:00 am, I lay down and looked up at the sky and dozed off for a couple of hours, protected from the chill by layers of clothing and a sleeping bag.  If I ever do this sort of thing again, I’ll definitely take a foam camping mat; my body was warm enough but the cold from the pavement was horrible.

Awake again by 5:00 am and London was starting to come to life (well, it never went to sleep, really –cares and street-sweepers and passersby wondering what all the fuss was about) Murmurings and chat, excitement and speculation over exactly what we were queuing for, how many wristbands would be available, whether the books would be pre-signed or whether Paul would do dedications, whether there’d be a reading or if maybe he’d play a song or two.  The queue now stretched to maybe 200 or more, right down to the end of the street and round the corner.  Shop staff and McCartney security turned up at 7:00am and so it was time to roll up the sleeping bags and start trying to come round a bit.  A woman from the press arrived, wanting to interview anybody who’d come a long way for the night; Boston guy didn’t want to talk, so she wandered on down the queue.  The doors soon were opened and from there it was all over very quickly.

There were two types of wristbands.  I got one of the 200 blue “priority” ones which guaranteed entry so it was all worth while.  People from further back in the queue were given yellow “reserve” wristbands, entitling them to a signed book but not necessarily a meeting with Paul.  We learned that it was to be one book per wristband holder (unless you took an under 16 year old with you in which case one each), no photos allowed and apparently Paul wouldn’t be doing dedications, just putting his squiggle in the books. 

Wednesday couldn’t come soon enough.  I left home and arrived to find a fair queue outside the store already.  I grabbed a coffee from over the road, was fond by Richard Porter and his daughter Ilona (my resident under 16 year old) and went to stand in the queue, where it promptly began to rain.  The event was tightly choreographed and there were plenty of security buzzing around.  They showed us inside a few at a time and took us off to buy our copies of High in the clouds (it turned out they were all pre-signed so they had to take our unsigned books away from us again) then ushered us to the second floor where we dropped off coats and bags and had our pockets checked.  Then up to the third floor to wait for an hour until the signing.  We watched the queue of people growing, snaking around the entire floor.

12:30 eventually came and before the masses were allowed in, Paul gave a reading to a class of primary school children.  Then the queues started moving.  I wasn’t nervous until getting pretty near to the signing area.  We could tell where it was happening because we could see the press before we could see Paul himself.  But there he was, with a tray of tea set before him.  Oh-my-god – it’s Paul McCartney!  The whole thing was over quickly.  The security guys spoke to us in line and told us not to say too much to Paul; to keep the line moving as quickly as possible as there were a lot of people to get through.  Paul was awesome.  He shook my hand, presented me with the book, said thank you for coming and for waiting out in the cold, that he hoped I’d enjoy the book and wished me a Happy Christmas.  It was very much a conveyor belt affair, no photos allowed, no dedications in the books and no chance to say much, but Paul spoke to each and every one of us as if we were the only people there, proper eye contact and he seemed wonderful and lovely, genuinely pleased to meet his fans.

After the signing, I met up with others we’d spoken to in the queue on Sunday.  After a few moments of shell-shock we shared experiences.  The two guys from Portsmouth had got Paul to sign their arms and were heading off to get it tattooed on – Paul had seemed uneasy about it first but did it anyway and another guy had managed to sneak a CD of his own music through and had given it to Paul, who said he’d give it a listen.  We went to the back of the bookshop where Paul’s car was waiting, and hung around until the event was over.  When Paul finally emerged it was mad, people clambering to take his photo and called “hello.”  He gave us a wave and was in the car and off in no time.

After that we went back into the bookshop to see if there were any spare books left.  There weren’t, but the shop staff gave us some of the promotional stuff that they didn’t need anymore – posters and cardboard mobiles and cut-outs. It was a shame to see that so many of the signed books popped up on eBay in the days after the event (selling for £200 and more), but I supposed it was always going to happen.  As for the book itself, well, it’s not something I would have bought if it hadn’t been for the chance to meet Paul McCartney but it’s a fun read, a rather sweet tale with plenty of morals for the kids and references for those who know (a frog with a wooden leg, a baddy called Gretsch) and Geoff Dunbar’s graphics are magnificent.

I caught a chill from sleeping out in  the cold but it was totally worth it.  I met a Beatle – something I thought would never happen and the memories are ones I’ll keep forever!

Magician mets Paul in 2005

While looking for things to include in this blog (it isn't always easy!) I came across this story online. Here http://www.rolysmagicshow.co.uk/ I have read a somewhat similar story with not as happy of an ending about a guy who did a puppet show for Sean's birthday party in 1979.

We were booked to provide a 2 hour party for 3 year old Anya in Hampton,
Middlesex. We had provided entertainment for the their Son on
2 previous occasions. The parents told us that at some time during
the party, Anya's God parents would be arriving to see her blow out the candles
on her cake. They didn't tell us who they were! Towards the end of
the party, whilst I was still doing my show, I glanced to the back of the room,
& after a couple of double takes, was amazed to see Paul & Heather
McCartney standing there!

I think a lot of the parents who were with their 3
year olds were as suprised as me. Once the children & parents had
left, Paul came up to me & said something along the lines of 'You did a good
job entertining so many 3 year olds'. I think It was then that it dawned on
me just who it was That I was speaking to, I was absolutely star
struck!. Paul was great, he just chatted away with an interest in how long
I had been a childrens entertainment. I think I made a bad joke
saying 'he wouldn't understand the pressures of being an
entertainer' Luckily, he laughed.

He then asked us if we would
like to have a picture with him? Which the birthday girl's Mum took for us.
& signed an autograph.