Please sign my guitar

 

Kisses on the Bottom promotional tour

 

January 19, 2012  

Not sure where to look

 September 20, 2011 

Smile all around

 August 25, 2011 

Paul at Wrigley

 

July 31, 2011 -  Chicago, Illinois

Ringo is an icon

 July 21, 2011 

Motor City Macca

 

July 24, 2011 

Kate Moss Wedding

 July 1, 2011 

Flowers for Ringo

 6-29-11

All Together now

So if you were that guy waaaay in the back of this photo, would you say that you got your photo taken with a Beatle?   I sure would!

Leaving his print

By Jan Huňát (Databáze Jana Huňáta) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Ringo is giving his hand print after a concert in 2011 in Prague.  I am not sure what became of this hand print, but it wasn't the first time Ringo cemented his hand nor was it the last!  

Paul and the world's smallest guitar

FPC Name: Richard Courtney
FPC State: TN
Richard Courtney and his wife meet Paul McCartney.
Photo published under creative commons

Bea-Ball

Paul at a basketball game with his daughter, Beatrice behind him.    The people in the crowd seem to be paying more attention to Paul than to the game.   Is anyone even watching the game?

Lennon and a Joker

Apparently Sean attended a comic convention.   He needs to go to that one in Chicago that takes place the same time as Beatlefest!   This is a really funny picture.   The more I look at it, the more I enjoy it.

Happy together

I found this photo on a German site and the text was in German.   But I think this young man met Ringo either through a "Make a wish" charity or he won a contest.    Either way, the photo was taken in Hamburg during the celebration of Ringo's 71st birthday in 2011.

Edit:  I mistakenly said it was Ringo's 70th birthday, which was incorrect.  oops!

Hugging the real one!

I found this vegetarian blog online tonight that is written by a very big Paul McCartney fan, who met him at a hotel in Italy last year.  

Meeting Macca on Stage: Cincinnati 2011

The second installment of "Meeting Macca on stage" comes from Sarah Mourad who traveled from Egypt to Cincinnati, Ohio in order to see Paul in concert on her 23rd birthday. Well Sarah got more than just a Paul McCartney concert. She was able to come up on the stage during the soundcheck and give him a book she had been working on for him! What an unbelievable moment! Here is Sarah's story in her own words.

I don’t remember exact details of what had happened, unfortunately… It’s almost all a blur, like when you’re in a dream; exactly like a dream… you remember bits of pieces of what you were dreaming of, certain moments shine very brightly, but other moments –which are also as important- are totally forgotten… and most importantly, you almost can’t ‘touch’ it, even though it was real…

That’s when you’re in awe… when one’s extremely happy, and overwhelmed… they lose track of time and space, of the senses… in a good way…

I’ve dreamt of meeting Sir Paul for so long… well, dreamt of ‘seeing’ him, to tell the truth… never imagined I was going to ‘meet’ him… no matter how positively I thought, or optimistically I felt about it; I never imagined this would eventually really happen one day… Life isn’t that perfect…but apparently for one day, it decided to be so.

Sir Paul never performed in Egypt before, and I never heard a rumor of this happening… which made me think, if I want something I just had to let it be… it will take some time, energy, effort, money… but eventually, it can happen if you believe it will.

To cut it short, this year I made lots of preparations to see Paul McCartney Live somewhere; it wasn’t easy, yet I worked hard for it.. because I’ve been hoping for this, for almost 2 years. I made a vow that this year it will come true.

I was basically aiming for London or anywhere in UK since I’ve been wanting to visit it, but God obviously had other plans for me…

The day new tour dates were announced, and I found out there was going to be a concert on my birthday! It just hit me!… it struck me like lightning and I decided that whatever it takes, I’ll do this… the concert was in Cincinnati Ohio, USA.

I’ve never traveled to the US before, and I traveled just for this… I couldn’t let that chance pass…and had this inner feeling and faith that I should follow this. and I did follow my instincts. In less than 48 hours, tickets were out and I had to buy mine since I know they sell out the day they come out!… I brought my ticket, before I even knew for sure if I could travel… don’t know how I did this, but I brought front row package in presale, with all just believed God would make it happen, and that I shouldn’t worry much.

The day of the concert I was very excited and nervous, but I didn’t know what was to come for me… that it was about to be the most exciting day of my life and best birthday ever… I couldn’t imagine that I was the only one he picked to go on stage with him in sound check! And talk to him, and give him my book!

I’ve been making that book since last year. It’s a book of fan messages from all over the world. I asked fans worldwide to send me their messages to Sir Paul. Messages of how much Sir Paul have influenced their lives throughout the years… I was sent over 400 messages from people of 43 countries. And I managed to put them all together and print it in a book from, and give it to him that day… Also, the portrait on the book’s cover was drawn by my Irish artist friend Georgina Flood.

I never thought I’d be able to give it to him. In my wildest dreams, I did of course… but still, was just a dream that didn’t dare to tell because probably no one would have believed me.

A star like him. Who isn’t just a famous musician, but an icon who was one of 4 people that changed music forever, back in the 1960s. The greatest band of all time, The Beatles.

I always knew that he probably receives hundreds of gifts and letters everyday… so if I send him my book, no matter how special it might be, it might get lost in the middle all other fans; gifts.

I’m glad I took it with me and handed it to him, myself. Was such a great moment for me… I held up a sign that said I was from Egypt, it’s my birthday, and I have a gift for you from 400 fans of 43 countries around the world’; he read it out loud in front of everyone! And after a while, security guard came to me, and asked me to come with him since I’ll go on stage to Paul NOW I was shaking and extremely nervous… I couldn’t believe that finally this is happening. I think, writing those words now, I am still in shock and cannot believe any of it… if not for those pictures and people that were there with me, I might have still failed to realize I wasn’t dreaming… Anyway, when I went on stage, he was extremely unbelievably nice and humble. He broke the ice from the very first moment, he was joking around, and he even tried speaking Arabic! And he was so amazed with the book I made. Was the first time somebody makes a book as such for him, and that was something that got me so excited making it, and got him to be so moved and excited about it. That at the end of sound check, he thanked me after thanking the audience! In front of everyone!… I’m still overwhelmed and in awe, did I already mention that?

When I got off stage, it was euphoric… seriously, the feelings are indescribable… I stayed that way, until the concert started… and that was even more euphoric… he rocked for 3 hours without taking not even a one minute break!… and he rocked like no other… seeing a rock legend perform Live is something, and meeting him was another thing… yet both, were highlights of my life… a day that I’ll forever cherish and never forget… Thank you, Paul.

Wishing you all a Happy new year!

I wish all readers of the Meet the Beatles for Real blog a happy, healthy and safe new year! I am a little "freaked out" because I do not have very much in the works for January for this blog. I usually have a back-log of photos and stories planned for each month, and for the first time in the 2 1/2 years I have been doing this, I do not have enough material for the entire month. So if you have something you would like to share, a photo or story, please by all means send me an email! In the meantime I will keep searching for things and most likely will find many Beatle goodies.

I hope each of you have a great 2012. Anyone have any Beatle plans for the new year? I am beginning to save money for a trip to Liverpool and Hamburg in 2013. My biggest plan for 2012 is to lose a substantial amount of weight. I am going to do this by rewarding myself with Beatle goodies (such as DVDs and books) for every 20 pounds I lose. I hope this actually motivates me. Thanks again to everyone for the support of this blog and for putting up with this fat girl in Illinois who teaches reading and is a little too obsessed with the Beatles.

Meeting Macca on Stage: Manchester 2011

In the past few months I have realized that meeting Paul McCartney has changed every decade. In the 1960's you might have met him one by waiting outside of EMI or Apple. In the 1970's, you could have met him in a hotel or in a town where Wings was performing. Also in both of those decades many fan met him outside of his London home. Things changed a bit in the 1980's. However, many fans met him outside of AIR studios. In the 1990's, Paul set up autographing and meeting sessions at Record Shops. In the 2000's, (aka the Heather Mills era) Paul was making many charity appearances and many fans paid big bucks to support a charity and meet Paul. But now in the 2010's things have changed again. And it seems to me that the big way fans are currently meeting Paul is by being invited up on stage during a sound check or a concert. When I saw Paul in 2002, no one from the audience was invited up on stage with Paul. That was unheard of! But these days it seems like some lucky fan at every performance gets the wonderful opportunity to meet Paul on stage. And so I am starting a new feature on the Meet the Beatles for Real blog called "Meeting Macca on Stage." So if you are one of the lucky chosen to have been able to meet Paul on stage, please join in the fun and email me with your photo and/or story!

To kick things off, our first "Meeting Macca on stage" comes from Argentina. Earlier this month, two sister (who are readers of this blog. Hello girls!) named Mercedes and Rosario saw Paul in Manchester, England. And yes, you guessed it. They met him on stage! Congratulations girls!

Ringo's Timberland boots

Those of us who are true Beatle fans know that Ringo is a talented guy. But I never thought Ringo would design a shoe! However, Ringo has designed what I think looks like a great design on a Timberland boot. The design looks a lot like the Hard Rock Cafe shirts Ringo put out this past summer. We have seen Ringo and Babs wearing that shirt a lot this year. I wonder if we will now be seeing them wearing the matching boots! Anyhow, he has autographed 75 pair of these boots and they are going up for auction on December 1st. The money raised in the auction is going towards a charity called WaterAid, which is a non-profit organization that aids in providing clean water to poor nations.

We have discussed how Ringo no longer give autographs through the mail and has cut way down on giving autographs in person. He says that this is because people get his autograph and then turn around the sell it on ebay. So maybe this is Ringo's idea on how to make the best out of the situation. He figures that his fans are spending money on his autograph on ebay, so why not sign something and have it available on ebay with the money going to a charity instead of the pockets of greedy autograph hunters.

While I know that getting Ringo's autograph in person and meeting him is ideal, I thought I would get this information out to all of you who are wanting his autograph. Who knows....maybe I should bid?

To learn more about Ringo's teaming up with Timberland and Canvas that Cares and WaterAid, click here! (there is also a Ringo video at this link) Thanks to Olivia who contacted me about this. All photographs were used with permission (shocking I know!) courtesy of Timberland.