had tita mabe not emailed me today and told me how they are all turning crazy in the philippines thinking about michael jackson's death, i wouldn't have entertained the idea of actually trekking to the staples center and be witness to history as it unfolds.
tonight, after having thai bbq dinner (again! lol) i called several of my friends to ask them if they wanted to join me at the staples. only my friends xtn and malou were willing to brave the police blockade and the expected mile-long walk to the staples center (the police cordoned off the area and cars are not allowed to park within a certain distance from the staples).
we agreed to meet at 10. i thought i could leave the office at 930 but a late discussion with my boss extended beyond 930. i was only able to leave at 10. they were already waiting for me at the pico-hope intersection where there were two remaining free parking spaces.
don't tell highway patrol but i again violated speeding limits and it only took me about 20 minutes what would normally take me 35-40 minutes to drive to downtown.
when i reached pico and hope, guess what would welcome me? two huge tow trucks. hahaha, call it perfect timing! we were forced to move our cars another block farther from the staples center. we got no choice :(
we found parking along grand and walked more than amile to the staples center.
it was no longer a surprise to find hundreds of people gathered near where the huge memorial poster of michael jackson is located. we took pictures and joined the queue. at the LA live square, i met three lucky people who all received the "golden ticket".
mother-daughter shirley and ivy have a very interesting story how they got to LA today. they were informed that they won tickets to the public memorial yesterday afternoon. they are based in oakland and had no idea how to get to LA the soonest time they can to be able to get their tickets today. they had no money for airfare so one of shirley's daughters, who's a masseuse, posted an ad on craigslist offering free massages in exchange for plane tickets. a kind gentleman took the offer and, voila, ivy and shirley found themselves at the dodgers stadium today and received their tickets to the nokia theater.
another person i met was this filipino guy who got his for a cool $1000 bucks! no more details necessary. ebay and craigslist, someone's able to break through! lol... robert teng was a cool guy and he let me hold his ticket for a closer look. it was the "golden ticket" alright.the staples center had a different aura tonight. structures surrounding the center were all lit up while a projector beams huge pictures of michael jackson on their walls. it was an amazing sight!
we wrote our messages on the memorial poster, took pictures and ran back to our cars worried that the police might have towed them already. luckily, our cars were still where we left it.
here are more pictures from our farewell visit to the king of pop...
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2 comments:
bye, bye.. see u in heaven
I wish the two boys who sued MJ for child molestation would really come out and tell the real deal. I never believed he molested them. A gay guy will be more engaging to than just two boys in his lifetime. If he was really the monster portrayed in the court, such would have outed more kids not just for the money but for the truth. The Staples Memorial was poignant and at times defensive but it opened the entire universe where Michael was human, loved and the beloved. Paris' few seconds of emotionally drenched words will forever paint MJ that way. Even in death , he was spectacular.
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