Nov 19 2009
MY AWESOME NEW MOON WEEKEND!
As if I wasn’t excited already with the New Moon release this week, I was even more pumped when my Twi-Parter-in-Crime (aka my niece, Megan!) came into town this past weekend so that we could embark on our New Moon Kick Off Weekend together.
DAY 1: DATE WITH JASPER!
On Sunday afternoon, Jackson Rathbone performed with his band, 100 Monkeys at the Viper Room exclusively for his fans that were coming into town for the premiere. Jackson was in full rocker mode since this was also his first time performing at the Viper Room. Watching him in action was a pure slice of heaven. He’s got a sexy voice and played multiple instruments. The best $10 spent ever! The highlight of the evening: After the show, all the fangirls were waiting by the exit door to catch a glimpse of Jackson and what does my nosey butt do? Try to be funny and peek under the stage curtain like I always did as a little kid in elementary school. But whaddayaknow… just as we lifted the curtain, Jackson is right there bending over to pick something up! Our eyes met.
Me: “Oh! Why, hello there Jackson!”
Him: ”Hey there”
And he’s smiling and his lips are moving, but guess what — MY FREAKIN’ EARS ARE SHOT AND I CAN’T HEAR A FREAKIN’ WORD HE’S SAYING!!!! hahaha So I played it off with a few lines like ‘loved the show’……OMG! Freakin’ hysterical! After we finished saying ‘hi’ to the rest of the band, the security guard pulled the curtain down in our face. Ah, Good Times! I heart J. Action big time! Will have to do a separate 100 Monkeys blog to show my other pictures, but here’s a few for now:
DAY 2: NEW MOON PREMIERE
After the Monkeys show, we drove by Westwood for dinner and saw all the devoted fans camping out. Trust me, they deserved everything for their time and devotion and were all set up with the prime spots lining the red carpet, so good for all of them. Here’s a pic of the red carpet with all campout fans on both sides:
We decided to bear with the mayhem this year, after bypassing last year’s Twilight premiere. So we headed out Monday afternoon and after scoping out the scene, we ended up across the street. But here’s a shot of where we WISH we could’ve been! EEEEKKK!
Being across the street isn’t a bad place to be, but not close up either. But you can’t be choosy when you’re not a member of the media or a fan who was camping out for a week! I can’t complain. Got to see just about everyone. First of all, this has got to be the most gorgeous cast EVER! There was not one person who didn’t look stunning or stunningly handsome. I was floored. And the stylists were on the ball — everyone was fitted! And they are all so gracious to their fans. So many went out of their way to sign autographs and take pictures and just acknowledge them in some way. What will follow are some of the shots we (really, Megan since my camera died!) were fortunate to get with the various cast members. What you will not see (UNFORTUNATELY) are pictures of Rob or Kristen. I decided early on that I was going to be ‘in the moment’ and just focus on Rob and not worry about taking a picture or getting an autograph. More on that later. In the meantime, here are the shots:
JAMIE CAMPBELL BOWER: Unbelievably gracious and friendly. The first one to cross the street and greet the fans. And he made sure he covered most if not all of the fans that lined up! Nothin’ but love for the Volturri! 
DAKOTA FANNING: Exactly what’d you expect: cute, tiny, sweet. Other than the ‘Twi-Trinity’, Dakota was the only other cast member that got the young girls shrieking.
KELLAN LUTZ: My best crowd shot of the night. Kellan is so gung ho for the fans. He was looking amazingly hot. And that physique - he was wearin’ the hell out of that suit!
TAYLOR LAUTNER: Megan’s best and only shot of Taylor! Getting a picture of Taylor was damn near impossible. The swarms of young girls that converged on this tiny space in front of us was scary and surreal. But he was a vision of beauty and I couldn’t hate on any of them! They went WILD when he came around and he greeted them with his sweet smile. He is one handsome kid. And as always, he was stylin’ and looking dapper as ever.
The following pics were taken of the stars when they were on the interview podium, most of which did not come to greet the fans, so this was our only way to see them. It was also hard for those who went up and had their back turned to you the entire time! 
They’re also not the sharpest since we are trying to hold steady and zoom from ACROSS the street!
BILLY BURKE
THE ROB EFFECT: Okay, this is a good time to mention why we didn’t get a picture of Rob on the podium. When Rob was talking on the podium, it just happened to be the same time that I was caught in the Taylor Storm mentioned above! UGGHHH!!! Yes, Taylor Lautner is a cockblocker! haha So since I don’t have Rob pics, let me just give you a visual of what that experience was like. The buildup was incredible. We all knew they were going to save the Top 3 for last. My heart was pounding. And after seeing limos and town cars with tinted windows pass through all night, you can imagine my surprise when Rob pulls up in this regular town car WITH CLEAR WINDOWS!!!! OH.MI.GOD! And it happened in slow motion — this car rolls up and the flashing lights are so bright that he looked illuminated! And all you can see was that big, beaming smile. My heart dropped and I damn near fainted. The sound of the shrieking fans was indescribable. I’ve been around the Jonas Brothers crowd before and even that pales in comparison to this! Crazy! But he got out of the car to wave and the crowd just went BERZERK (duh!). Rob’s security team looked like an exact replica of the Secret Service. I thought they were going to whisk him off to the red carpet, but all of a sudden they take him around the car and he starts crossing the street to where we are. HEART, BE STILL! Nothing quite prepares you for the vision of Rob Pattinson walking towards you. And he wasn’t even walking DIRECTLY towards me, but it was still enough to stop me in my tracks! He went to the barrier and began signing, taking pictures, etc. for the fans and was going down the line, but by yet another unfortunate twist of fate — he crosses the street before he gets to the section I was in! NOOOOO!!! But he went to greet those fans on that side and then headed to the red carpet. Just seeing him walk from across the street was mesmerizing. The hair… the grin…. the strut. Pure heaven! Yes, he too was workin’ the hell out of his suit! I don’t even know how I’d react if I was front row at the barriers, but I’ll treasure those few instances until my next Rob sighting… (sigh)
THE KRISTEN EFFECT: Do not underestimate the power of the KStew fans! The girls went crazy upon her arrival too. Pales in comparison to the guys of course, but still impressive. And she did come all the way down to our section so that I could get a good look at her! :-0 She is the tiniest thing, but she looked beautiful. Her gown was stunning and for once, her hair and makeup were right on point. So proud of her! She was so friendly and patient with all of the young fans. I could never hate on her, because she obviously has a big heart when it comes to her work and her fans. If she handles everything in her career with this much grace, she has nothing to worry about.
Well after what seemed like HOURS, they finally made it into the theater for the screening. We had noticed that Rob, Kristen and Taylor had all gone into the first theater pictured here, while the rest of the cast went to the theater across the street.
All the fans cleared out after everyone went inside, with the exception of some who decided to hang around to see who they could catch on the way out. We were on the same wavelength. But we decided to grab a bite and come back in time for when the movie let out. We strategized over dinner and decided that Rob, Kristen and Taylor will be impossible to get in contact with, so we opted to zero in on the Wolf Pack because if you’ve seen these guys on the promo tour thus far, they are a HOOT! And they seem like such a fun group of guys. So we decide to stake out the theater and wait for Jackson and the Wolf Pack. Check out the prime spot we ended up getting….. to the right of the pic is the entrance to the theater! No one or nothing obstructing our view whatsoever…. SCORRRRRRRRE!!!
After about 15 minutes or so, the movie ended and people started walking out. We saw Emma Roberts (Julia’s niece) and a bunch of other celebs, but decided to only stop cast members! haha I’m a Gleek, so seeing the Glee cast there was pretty cool, but again, had to maintain our focus. Here’s a pic of two of the Glee guys with their friends:
Then I start to see some familiar faces. I spotted Bronson Pelletier immediately and we called him over, but he just smiled and waved. Which was disappointing ’cause we thought he’d be the most down to come over, but he looked like he was caught up with his agents or something. Oh well. He did smile and acknowledge us at least!
Then I got totally excited when I saw Alex Meraz come out. Oh.mi.god. In addition to Rob and Jackson, I LOVE me some Alex! He walked out with this beautiful wife. They are a stunning couple. They looked so great. We called for him to come over, but he kind of waved at us like he wasn’t sure whether he could come over or not. Then he looked over at us again and we were like “PLEASE?!” and he tells his wife he’ll be right back. HOLY COW. Alex Meraz walking towards ME was just as vicious as Rob crossing the street towards me. EEEEK! And just as he was walking over, Megan yells at Chaske and he comes smiling and running over to us!!! OH.MI.GOD. Just as we expected, the Wolf Pack was AWESOME!!!! Alex came and greeted me with the biggest hug and let me tell you — his hard body matched with his silky designer suit — PURE HEAVEN!!! I greeted him with a kiss on his cheek like he was a relative! haha Megan appreciated me starting that trend, since he went on to greet her with a kiss on the cheek too! Chaske came and greeted me with the biggest bear hug ever!!! I told them both how proud I was of them. I asked Chaske how the movie was and he was soooo EXCITED. He said the movie was so GREAT and we’re all gonna just love it. That was his first time watching the movie. He said the fans are gonna go crazy! Here’s the pic of us, which I had posted on Twitter earlier:
I am sooo Team Wolf Pack (second to Team Edward, of course!) But how HOT do these guys look? WOW. They looked so nice in their suits….. (sigh)
Cameron Bright did the same thing to us - waved at first, but then came back around. Here’s our pic with him:
Megan couldn’t resist telling Cameron she loved him in X-Men too, which he was appreciative. Shout out to my Twitter Peep @LilKel4 for tweeting her story about how Cameron and Kiowa went out to say hi to the campers, but they got their tents trampled on in the process. I mentioned this to Cameron, so this is how our conversation sorta went:
Me: That was so great what you did for the fans the other night.
CB: Oh yeah, thanks - it was my pleasure.
Me: But you know what (puts hand on his shoulder) - I don’t know if you realize the mayhem you caused. Fans got crazy and trampled over my friend’s tent!
CB: OH NO! That’s horrible.
Me: YES… promise me you will never do that again…. that was very DANGEROUS!
CB: OK!
He was such a sweetie. I told him I was kidding… well half kidding on the endangering of my peeps…. but he was such a good sport. He meant well and he is too cute.
VOLTURRI SPOTTING #2: Only Megan could spot Christopher Heyerdahl (aka Marcus) in a crowd. She called him and he came right over. Very sweet. I told him I didn’t recognize him outside of his costume and he smiled at me like I was crazy. I know, I know… sorry, was still reeling from the Wolf Pack! :-0
WOLF PACK SIGHTING #2: We saw BooBoo Stewart pass by, but I think he was unsure of whether we wanted him to come over or not. But we caught Kiowa Gordon. First of all, is it just me or do we look like we could all be RELATED?! hahaha
Megan and I love joking that we are Quileutes! ;-0 Anyhow, had to tell Kiowa the same story I told Cameron, so this is sorta how I remember it going:
ME: That was so great what you did for the fans the other night.
KG: Oh yeah, thanks - it was my pleasure.
ME: Did you know you caused a commotion with the fans though?
KG: I did?
ME: Yes, and my friend’s tent got trampled on by your crazed fans!
KG: WUUUUUTTTT…. no way!
ME: Uh huh….. so promise me you will never do that again…. at least unless I’M there of course! haha
KG: Well then you’re just gonna have to camp out next year!!!!!!!
OK, mind you while this whole conversation is going on, I don’t realize that I’m subconsciously feeling on Kiowa’s buffed biceps. WTF? This was only discovered as he was walking away and Megan totally calls me on it, which prompted Kiowa to say “Hey, hey!” Like easy there, you perverted ol’ lady!!! haha Sorry, had a delayed reaction to what I had intended to do Alex. Darn! haha Kiowa’s such a good sport….. love that kid, too!
Mike Welch came by and said hi, but made it clear that he was not doing pictures, only autographs - which was fine for us since we had met him at the MTV Awards and got to have some one on one time with him then. Totally legit guy! :-0
By then everyone had pretty much emptied out of the theater except for Jackson. We knew he was still in there, plus we saw the 100 Monkeys band members still hanging out in the lobby. So we waited. While we waited, as luck would have it, Rob comes walking out of the theater from across the street and gets into his car. We shouted “ROB, WE LOVE YOU!!” and he looked up, smiled, and waved. *SWOON* And yes, we took that as a direct response to US and not the crowd of fans! :-0
What a wonderful end to our night….Well ALMOST! We thought if we could score a pic with Jackson, our mission would be complete. Jackson was NOT feeling the crowd that night. He was avoiding us like the plague. And I think I scared him? Maybe he doesn’t like the chaos, but he was a good sport and saying hi and smiling (oh, that smile will be the death of me!), but he kept walking like he was being told he didn’t have time to stop. Grrrr!!! Here’s a pic of him talking to his friend, and acting like he can’t see or hear me calling for him! DAMN YOU, JACKSON!!!!! :-0
BTW, that friend he’s talking to is also the director of the band’s “Ugly Girl” video. He’s a cutie too.
NON-TWI CELEB SIGHTING: Jamie Kennedy and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Jennifer is a HUGE Twilight fan and is also TEAM EDWARD! YAY! We said hi to them as they walked by and I asked Jennifer if she enjoyed the movie, which she replied “OHMIGOD… it was sooooo GOOD and AWESOME…. you guys are gonna LOVE IT!”
And that concludes my New Moon saga! I know it was wordy, but I just wanted to recap everything I could remember from that night. So much fun….. hope to be able to do it again for ‘Eclipse’! :-0
