Compiled from macca-list by Melissa Carrol and edited for this page by Mike Kovacich

From: "Martha McClintock"<martha_mcclintock@ppfa.org> Wed 17:12
Subject: SAW HIM!!!!!!!!
DIDN'T TOUCH HIM THOUGH!!!!!! yeah a bunch of us saw him at noon. adorable, incredible, he was taking photos of us! to think he has a photo of me blows my mind. he stayed inside carnegie hall until just about 10 minutes ago. utter pandemonium upon leaving, about 400 people hanging out bottlenecking the street.
Mike Kovacich (sp?) seemed to be getting a lot on video. we all took tons of photos. hope they turn out.
THANK YOU FOR THE GOOD VIBES EVERYONE! talk to you tomorrow after the Oprah taping. cheers. MARTHA MC
From: Pauluver@aol.com Thu 1:47
Subject: Report From NY!!!!
Hi, Cathy C. here, relaying a report from Ann (Amk Best) in NY. Ann phoned me, very excited, about 12:00 pm after returning to her hotel from SS. She said the "concert was fabulous, Paul took at least 4 curtain calls at the end and the confetti came down as was done in London. Ann, her friend Elise, and Janet (JLW44) met and went to NY together to the Macca-L luncheon. There was approximately 50-60 people at the luncheon. They met Betty , Sheryl Short, and  a lady ( ?) that made everyone little Macca pins with Pauls` picture on them. After lunch, about 5:30 they went to Carnegie Hall where they met Jorie standing near the entrance. Shortly after
HE HIMSELF came out in a very cheery mood, taking pictures of the crowd.  Ann was 2 feet from Paul and she waved her hand out and called his name-Paul then took a picture which will show Anns` right hand in it! She repeated several times how Beautiful he looked and how Gorgeous his hair was (We Knew That :))
! Paul was escorted by his manager into the limo andas Ann taped on the limo window the interior light came on and she got an even better look at Paul. I was so excited I forgot to ask her what he was wearing and how he smelled- but I am sure she`ll tell us when she returns on Friday! The Oprah Show is being taped this afternoon from 2 to 4.  Ann and Elise  are going to wait around outside the show and hope to get in or to see Paul arrive and depart.
Say a prayer and wish them luck!!!
I was home here in Houston Tx, trying all evening to get through to the SS live webcast with no luck. I was able to get on as soon as it was over :(  My husband and I played the SS website this afternoon  though and it is
wonderful!!! <A HREF="http://www.standingstone97.com/mmedia/">Multimedia Showcase</A>
From: JACK SUTTON <"babyj@injersey.com"@injersey.com> Thu 8:56
Subject: beautiful night video
Geoff Baker told me yesterday that the new Macca video, Beautiful Night is "incredible". "The best Macca video of all time". He also said it is "very contraversal". I asked him to explain what he means, but he said "wait till you see it for yourself". He also told me that he does'nt think it will get much air play on MTV or VH1 because it's "so raunchy". The video is supossed to be shown on Oprah's show but will probably be a edited version. I guess will just have to wait to see what he means. BTW, I had a great time yesterday and last night at Standing Stone.
I shook hands with Paul at least five times last night. I also spoke to Linda, blessing her with good health, she told me "thank you very much" and smiled at me. I told Stella that her father is fabulous and she said to me "thats right, hers awesome". I also told Stella that she looked lovely and she smiled and said "thanks mate". I told Mary that the performance was tonite was super and she said " it really was, was'nt it". When I talked to James he seemed to ignore me so I did'nt bother him again. I also spoke to Paul Simon and Michael Eisner(Disney) and Lorne Michaels(SNL) and they said they loved the concert. I spoke to Elvis Costello  many times last night. He's a great guy, very loose and friendly. He had "wonderful time, wonderful". He's very easy to talk to, like a old friend. I even invited him to come to my home whenever he's in town and he said "hey, maybe". I gave him my business card and told him to call me anytime.
That's all for now,maybe I'll write more later.
From: "Melissa K. Carroll" <bf18213@binghamton.edu> Thu 9:18
Subject: My SS Report! (quite long <g>)
Hi everyone!!
It's 8 AM on Thursday and I'm up waiting for Paul on GMA (doesn't look like he'll be on) despite the fact I got in at 12:30 last night from SS!!  I unfortunately wasn't able to wait for Paul in the morning, but there're fabulous stories from people who were there, as Mike has posted, and I'm sure you'll be hearing more of those.
My family and I got to the city a little later than we'd hoped so when we got to the hotel, there was no one there.  I think I know where they were now!  We went straight to the Hard Rock (should've gone to Carnegie) and at first it was a little strange because not many people were there and I didn't really know what to do, but then Hazel showed up and we had a lovely conversation while we waited.  My family and I sat with Hazel, Debbie, and latecomer Margaret who were all very nice and we had a wonderful time!  The restaurant was running its usual videos on the TV and they ran Twist and Shout, I Feel Fine, and then the vacation version of TWT - which earned many cheers from the huge crowd of Macca-Lers!  Then I got to meet the extremely peppy and excited Fotini who was still on a high from having seen Paul earlier that day.  As it turns out, Paul left Carnegie at about 5 PM so at about 5 after a group of very excited listers got to the restaurant with some great stories to share!  I didn't eat much but didn't really notice - Fotini said she hadn't eaten all day!  Then I went over to where Mike was quietly doing a Macca-radio broadcast along with Mark Tovey.  I must've sounded like a fool on there because I was so out of it!  I met Annie there who had a great story about seeing James earlier in the day.  Then Fo gave Annie, Cynthia Thompson, my brother and me a tour of the upstairs of the Hard Rock.  So much great Beatles memorabilia!  There was a letter to Brian Epstein, a Quarry Men business card, and a gorgeous autographed picture of a young Paul!  Then I met Betty and her Paul doll (who had a seat for himself).  I also said a quick hello to Sheryl who I wish I could've spent more time with but she was busy rushing around coordinating
everything!  After that, my family pretty much went straight to Carnegie (of course, the restaurant, hotel, and Carnegie are all within a couple of blocks from each other so people were rushing between all three all night -
great planning!).  By about 7:05 there was already a huge crowd in front of Carnegie.  I saw people with pictures out ready to be signed in the slim chance of a Paul encounter (including a young girl with a copy of the Blue album) so I took out my SS booklet and a pen even though I was in the middle of the crowd.  We waited for about a half hour then my dad decided we should go in (we were the last group to go in the main door in front of all the cameras and everything before they shut off that entrance).  Inside there was a crowd also.  We got inside and sat in our second tier seats and then I went back downstairs to wait for whatever everybody else was waiting for when who should I run into but Mike and Mark again!  As it turns out, Mark was sitting in the box right next to me!  We decided to wait for a few minutes for what everybody else was waiting for but then gave up and went to our seats (I still don't know if anything happened out front but I'm sure there are a lot of people on here who do!).  Sandy Doyle's Paul badges went over very well - a woman behind Mark who had flown in from Cali for her b-day present was asking us where we got them so we started plugging Macca-L!  In the middle of my conversation with Mark, my mom nudged me and said a woman was saying James and Mary were down below.  I looked to where I knew Paul would be sitting and THERE THEY WERE - James, Mary, and LINDA!  It was the most unreal feeling.  There weren't very many people sitting yet but those who were there started frantically waving to them.  By this time Stella was there too.  Linda looked right at our section (we were sitting SO CLOSE - one tier above and slightly off to the right - we had a great view of them!) and everyone around was waving and I frantically waved and gave her a huge thumbs up and SHE WAVED BACK!  Mark can be my
witness - she looked right at me and waved!  It's nothing like some of the other stories that night, but it's my personal encounter. :)  And then... I saw him!  He was RIGHT THERE!  How do you describe what it's like to see Paul in person for the first time?  For a few seconds, I felt like I was the only person in the building who saw him - and I just may have been because I yelled out "Paul" (I'm sure only the people right near me heard me) and within five seconds EVERYBODY in the building realized he was there and all the cheering began.  It was
crazy.  Everyone was waving at him and he was nice enough to make sure he turned to every section and waved.  This went on for quite some time - just waves back and forth between the McCartneys and the crowd.  Betty held up her famous banner and the Macca family acknowledged it and waved at her.  Stella and Mary were laughing and apparently yelled out "Hi Betty!".  Paul looked FABULOUS and YOUNG in a dark suit, Linda was wearing all black - a black jacket and skirt, and James was wearing black too (and a grey coat with red scarf <g>).  Stella had on a low cut silvery shirt and jacket and I believe slacks, though possibly a skirt. I can't remember what Mary was wearing and Heather wasn't there.  There were two guys in the box with them.  I don't know who they were.  I was thinking one might be Allistair (Mary's boyfriend), but he wasn't sitting next to Mary so I'm not sure.  I'm sure people on here know, though.  The music started (it began with Stately Horn) and I was still shaking (Mark and my mom were trying to calm me down).  I felt like I didn't want the music to start - I would've rather stood there waving to Paul all night!  After Stately Horn came Inebriation, then A Leaf and
Spiral.  I admit I spent a good deal of time watching the McCartney box!  James kept looking at the program and was pointing things out to Linda.  Paul and Linda held hands a lot and put their arms around each other.  During the intermission, the whole family left (I don't know where they went) and when they came back everyone was waving again and I gave Linda a super-huge thumbs up and Linda looked at our section and did her enthusiastic wave that she always does.  She was being very friendly to the audience.  James had a glass of wine (you're not supposed to have drinks in the boxes, not to mention he is underage!) and he had unbuttoned the top button of his shirt!  Then Standing Stone started.  Mark, who is writing the SS summary for Jean's Beatles publication, was writing the great American novel the entire night on a tiny piece of paper.  James was bobbing his head with the music and tapping out all the rhythms - he obviously knows the piece quite well!
Paul would periodically lean over to talk to James and Linda and point things out or he'd turn around to talk to Stella and Mary.  Sometime around the second or third movement, James began pointing something out to Stella which was obviously bothering him quite a bit.  Stella was agreeing with him and they began to point towards the third or fourth tier right (just above me) and were shaking their heads in disgust.  It became pretty clear that someone up there was doing something which bothered them.  It couldn't have been just someone staring at them because a lot of people were doing that.  I assume maybe someone was taking pictures of them.  They began sarcastically waving and finally became so annoyed they discreetly have him/her the finger!  Stella was gesturing and mouthing "Look over there!" towards the stage.  Towards the end of the fourth movement, Paul abruptly got up to go down to the stage and Stella moved up to his seat next to Linda.  It looked like she was complaining to Linda about whatever was bothering her and Linda looked like she was basically trying to calm her down and was pretty much ignoring the situation.  Stella was holding Linda's hand.  Anyway,
finally at the end of the piece, Paul came out four times and each time he was handed several flowers.  He waved a lot and gave a lot of thumbs up (mostly to the floor section).  When the ovations finished, the McCartneys slowly left and the building filed out quickly so eventually all that were left were scattered audience members and Stella (having a conversation with someone who looked like either Geoff Baker or Elvis Costello - I know I'll feel stupid when I find out who it was!).  I yelled out "Stella!" a couple of times and someone else was yelling out to her too, but she never looked up.  Everyone coming downstairs into the lobby was greeted by Foey ecstatically yelling something out to us (I'll let her tell you exactly what happened).  There was a little Macca-L gathering in the lobby, during which Betty was talking about her banner adventure.  I met Karen Lopez and was able to very briefly talk to Sheryl (who couldn't stop talking about how good Paul looked!).  Then I had to go, as did Foey. :(  But I'm sure there were many gatherings later on which the others can tell you about.  Anyway, that was my day. Sorry it was so long and I didn't talk about the music very much.  It was performed beautifully (and I could understand the lyrics a lot better!), but I'm sure most of you were listening on the webcast anyway!  I took some pictures (not nearly enough) and I hope to have those up soon.  It was really great meeting everyone I did - you're a super nice bunch of people and I had an INCREDIBLE time!

From: Sheryl Shorts <sshorts@rocketmail.com> Thu 17:02
Subject: I saw the magnificent man! LONG
I got to NY and was very nervous! Could not wait to see SS.  Hoped the HRC went well.  Then I got to the hotel and saw Mike, Mike, Mark, Nadine and and her cousin and we went to see Paul come out of rehearsal.  It was very exciting!!! Geoff was walking back and forth and Mike got to speak with Geoff.  I can't wait to hear it.  We waited for 1 1/2 hours for Paul to come out.  Many times the side door would open and it was not Paul.  People lost allot of film that way.  When he finally came out I saw him for a few seconds.
BUT WHAT A LOVELY FEW SECONDS IT WAS.  HE IS GORGEOUS.
We then went to the HRC where thanks to everyone who was there it a very special night.  Mike was able to film everyone (thanks to Nadine)  Then we got dressed up and went to SS.  When we got there, we heard people screamig Paul. It was magnificent! He was on the same tier as us!!  I was looking at him most of the night.  It was hard not to stare at him.  He is beautiful.  The suit he wore looked like one of his Beatle suits!  He had his arm around Linda they are so much in love and it is lovely.  My favorite piece is A Leaf.  The song is full of life it comes out at you then it flows and takes you with it. When it was over Paul came down RIGHT IN PERFECT VIEW! AND HE SKIPPED AND BOWED 4 TIMES.  HE MOUTHED GO HOME TO EVERYONE.  You can see he was just loving it.  This is not the walk of a 55 year old man! I am just so glad I got to meet everyone from Macca-l and Macca chat.  They made the whole evening wonderful.  He is beautiful.  Sorry I could not stop with the superlatives!

From: "Martha McClintock"<martha_mcclintock@ppfa.org> Thu 18:59
Subject: HE spoke to me today and....posed for pictures!!!!!!!!!
Um, I'm still recovering, so let me just jot down what I remember. Had a friend staying with me from Boston and she was dead set to get into Oprah today and I was equally determined to see Paul come in and give him a present that I've been schlepping around for 7 years for him. I was hoping to give it to him on the 18th so I could say it was 7 months early or 6.5 years late, but it didn't happen.  Anyway, neither one ofus slept because we were so wound up from all the fun before, during, and after at Carnegie Hall (more on that later..... the Macs were in the box below ours!!!!).
Neither one us knew that the other was awake though, so we didn't get up until the alarm went off. We got down there around 9:30 after an endless cab ride from my apt on the upper east side.  We could see the line outside the Manhattan Studio Center from quite far away and it gave me a knot in the pit of my stomach just looking at it.  Something was really urging me to go around the back on 35th as my friend Joyce had advised me that it was "under construction".
Sounded like the perfect way for Paul to come in.  EVERYONE else stayed around front except Kristi who was torn about where she should be waiting.  I had been making chit chat with the security guys at the studios and one guy even said I could sit on the one chair and wait if I wanted, but I declined.  I found out that the Princess of York had come in right there yesterday and so had lots of other people. Of all days to forget my glasses today was not the day, so of course I forgot them.
I One of Paul's guys, Mark Hamilton, I think it was came walking right past us and he could see that I was definitely the only one standing there.  After he left the studio security guys made some wisescracks about his suit, 'course these guys probably don't even own a suit.  But the important thing is that they also said to me, "Miss, I think he's going to come in down there"  and I could see that Mark was now waiting at a different set of doors as well as another one of Paul's own security men whom we had seen all day outside Carnegie Hall. I
headed that way just as Alexandra came 'round  to report that she had been told that Paul was already in the building. Again I just felt stongly about staying put even after she filled me in on the latest repts.  She headed back to 34th street to rejoin the standby line and I headed for the area near the doors where Paul's people were. I put my bag on the ground and had the brilliant idea that I should show my present to these guys so that they could clearly see what it was that I would be handing Paul. Before I had time to act on my intuition they were headed my way just as Paul's car pulled up. The big guy rightly grabbed my bag and moved it several feet away from me and looked me in the eye and said "Miss, we would really appreciate it if you would move back a little" or something like that. I looked right back at him and said, I would be happy to and moved right back.  The door opened, out came Paul and the two guys parted like the seas and gave me a clear view of Paul.  He looked right at me and stopped  when he saw my camera. I took a picture and then Paul said, "Did ya' get one?" and I
said "yes" and then he sorta' said "well, go on" and I think he made a little motion like directors do when they say 'roll 'em'. And so I just kept snapping away, and he was absolutely so kind and considerate and PATIENT with me because I do not have an autofocus, autowind camera! Between shots I was saying stuff like 'I had great fun at the show, Paul'. and as he got closer to the door I said 'love you' and then he went in.  I thanked
Paul's people several times and went to join the folks waiting in line. I felt like a real heel and still do, kinda'.  It's really hard to be so happy sometimes when those around you are kicking themselves, but as I noticed with the HMV thingy that with time all the missed opportunities fade very quickly and what remains is all the wonderful
stuff like Standing Stone at Carnegie Hall.  More about that in my next post.
Thank you
all so much for even more good vibes today!!! MARTHA MC

From: "Fotini" <fotini67@worldnet.att.net> Thu 22:53
Subject: OH MY GOD!!! I SAW PAUL!! OH MY GOD!!! (extremely loooong)
Im gonna be using caps for some of this so adjust your eyes ... fair warning ....

HIIIIIIIIIIII EVERYBODY!!! sorry i didnt get to you sooner but right now as i am typing this i am copying off of a piece of looseleaf i wrote up last night at 1:41 am. its 7:32 now. anyways, i will tell the story as well as i can.  i might not remember everyones name cause i am still in like shock.

anyways, i woke up at my house, got ready to go. i was so excited. HOURS!! HOURS!! I called betty's and paula's and marylin's room in the morning to see if they could watch over me. they were great! my dad drove me in to manhattan and dropped me of at carnagie and i walked two blocks to the Park Central. i knocked at thier door and i heard from inside "FOTINI!!!!!" i was like "OH MAN, THIS IS IT. NO TURNING BACK! ITS STARTING TO HAPPEN." i went inside and everyone was so nice. definately the nicest group of people ive ever met! man, macca-l. you should just all applaud yourselves for being such a great group of people. i saw betty's paul doll! boy! that is the coolest doll i have ever seen! complete with beatle watch and a paul id bracelet! from one of the windows in their room we could see the corner of carnagie. we hung around there getting ready to go to carnagie and stuff.excitement was building for me. you have no clue how excited i was!! ok, so we went to
carnagie. there were baricades already set up and there were macca-lers already there waiting. the left side of the barricades were just fans when we got there and most of the right side were macca-l and macca-chatters. i
recognized jorie right away by her hair!! she was right there in front. lucky lucky girl. i saw the 2 andreas and who else. annie and her mom. and people kept coming. who else? i cant think now. names can be so hard to
remember sometimes. anyways, did i mention the banner!? guess not!! betty has this banner right and it says "SO GLAD TO SEE YOU HERE" it was signed by all of the band at the time of betty's visa commercial including paul and lin! YEEEEEEH! i put my hand on his signature.  you can see the banner and the doll at her page. http://members.aol.com/Maccabetty/index.html
anyways, so she had this great banner and some guy whos name escapes me right now. darn! he was wearing a gree coat and stuff, anybody wanna help me out on that guy's name was hanging outside. Betty took a picture of him and time was getting closer to when he should come. the crowd was getting a little bigger. mike and mark were coming around with the video camara. i gave my countdown. anyway,  john hammel must have told paul that they are really excited over there and they were taking pictures of him or something. HIS LIMO! OH MY GOD HIS LIMO! OH MY GOD! some guy came out and then PAUL! AHHHHHHHHHH! "PAUL! PAUL! PAUL!" i made sure i got an eyeful! HE LOOKED AMAZING! HE WAS SLIGHTLY TANNED. HIS HAIR WAS A LITTLE LONGER THAT LAST MONTH. HE LOOKED SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD! "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
i gotta tell you as i am typing this my hands are shaking. just thinking
back makes me all fidgety. anyways, HE GOT OUT OF HIS LIMO AND LOOKED TO HIS LEFT TO THE AUTOGRAPH MOB AND LOOKED TO HIS RIGHT! SAW BETTY WITH THE PAUL DOLL ON HER SHOULDERS AND THE BANNER CALLED OUT TO HER "BETTY!" TOOK PICTURES OF HER OR OUR AREA AND SINCE I WAS RIGHT NEXT TO BETTY ** PAUL HAS PICTURES OF ME!!!!!!!!!! ** *foey
falls of her computer chair and gets up and struts around her room like she did all yesterday * ok, im sitting again. SO AFTER HE TAKES THE PICTURES HE ... GET THIS ... BLOWS A KISS TO OUR AREA! I WAS DYYYYYYYYYYING! ASK ANYBODY THAT WAS THERE. I JUST KEPT REPEATING "OH MY GOD. I SAW PAUL. OH MY GOD. HE BLEW A KISS! OH MY GOD! I SAW PAUL!" he ran inside and thats all we
saw of him for another 5 hours. the limo driver told us to come back in 2 hours. Annie was crying tears of pure joy. the people i met while there that werent on macca-l were great too! This guy named Rick Glover, the "senior correspondant?" from Beatlefan magazine was there and we were talking to him. nice guy! ok, so mike and mark came around again and got our little stories in after he went in. great!!! after that i went to the limo and just ran my fingers around the limo door. wow. i got a disposable camara from the store across from the hotel cause after that i was gonna try not to miss a thing. we left and went back to the hotel. oh yeh. wings1978 was with us too. at the hotel i was in shock.i didnt really eat anything the entire day. thanks marylin for the snack! we wwnt back to carnagie a little while after that and by then there was a bigger crowd and a differnet crowd. some people still the same though. annie and her mom were on the left. so was and i think debbie and eileen. we waited and waited and waited and waited. this time we only had the banner. no doll. it was heavy. it was starting to get dark outside. while we were there we met this lady whos name i cant remember but she was from texas and worked across the street for the carnagie company. she made it inside to carnagie but she had to leave. oh well she tried. nice lady. anyways, james was on the sidewalk on the left and just casually walked in. im not sure if this was before 12 or after 12. i think it was while we were waiting for paul to come out. Annie was right next to him! like inches away!!! way to go annie!!  anyways, so the crowd was getting bigger and more pushy. no
barricades were blocking some people. i didnt like that. and some lady had a big head and was blocking whatever chance i had of a good view. so we decided to go further down in the street. we took the banner and went down the street. it was a one way street so paul would have to come down that way. we were waiting there for a reeeeeeally long time in the cold. then we heard the screams. Paul was coming!!! they all charged the car! if anyone saw anything, good for them but he got in that car fast! he was coming!!!!!
we got the banner ready! HE WAS DRIVING UP!!!! WE WERE SHOWING THE BANNER
AND  WAVING!! PAUL SAW US!! THERE WERE JUST 3 OF US!!! HE STUCK HIS WHOLE
ARM OUT THE WINDOW AND ... WAVED, PEACE SIGNED AND THUMBED UPED US!! I
SCREAMED!! I WAS SO HAPPY!!! so after that i found mike and told him and mark! i was sooooooo hyper! ok so the hard rock was soon. we ran to the hotel got the paul doll and went to the hard rock. some of the gang were already there. i went around and gave a countdown to everybody i thought was macca-l and stuff in my enthus, iastic little way and about everybody knew "hey that MUST be foey" yep twas i! everybody recognized betty by the paul doll. they played "i feel fine" on the radio i stood up and sang! and they played the world tonight video! when i first saw the yellow umbrella i stood up from my chair and screamed!!!! i was having a blast!!! and when paul gave linda that kiss i applauded and screamed and everything. that was around the time i went over to macca-radio if you were listening last night. Sheryll Shorts made nice pins for us all that had the picture of
paul on the cover of all the best and it said MCCARTNEY STANDING STONE - NOV 19 1997.
i showed melissa and her brother and annie and her friend cynthia all the beatles and paul stuff they had. that one picture of paul astrid took just blows my mind! so after that, we went back to the hotel and got ready for standing stone: MINUTES! MINUTES! 60 DAYS AND NOW IM DOWN TO MINUTES!!! i was wearing a brown dress with little flowers on it. so, while we were getting ready we heard screams. paul made his grand entry.
ok, before we left for carnagie we pinned betty's banner to the inside of her jacket. we left a went to carnagie. we all decided to meet in the lobby after it was over. we all went to our seats. i was in tier 1 box 61. paul was like close to the center. a little to the left of the center. but he wasnt at his seat yet. i was just waiting. i couldnt wait!! when you see paul once YOU MUST SEE HIM AGAIN! anyway, then i heard cheers and I SAW HIM! OH MY GOD! HE WAS GORGEOUS! IN HIS SUIT! MY EYES HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH A SIGHT. I SAW HIM EARLIER BUT TO HAVE SEEN HIM IN THAT SUIT WITH LIN AND JAMES AND MARY AND STELLA BEHIND HIM I JUST COULDNT HELP IT! I WAVED AND SCREAMED "PAUL!" AND I NOTICED HE WAS POINTING AT BETTY! JAMES SAW BETTY AND THEY WERE ALL POINTING AND CALLING BETTY!!! I WAS SO HAPPY FOR HER I WAS CRYING! HE IS THE MOST AMAZING MAN I HAVE EVER BEEN IN THE PRESENCE OF!
the lights went down and stately horn started. it was amazing. at this time i was all just in tears of joy that i finally made it. im here with paul! breathing his air! my heart was mush. i was so truly in love with the man! then after stately horn was inebriation. this was done by a string quartet. veeeery beautiful. i tried as hard as i could to concetrate on the music. it was very emotional. but i kept looking at paul! how could i resist! i turn my head to the right there he is! after that there was a leaf and spiral. both great pieces. i loved spiral. those two pieces were done with all the orchestra. fantastic. after that came the intermission. i knew i had to find betty. i had to! i ran up the stairs and she was coming down and we met and i was so happy for her!! i was crying when i saw her! i was just soooo happy! then betty came to my box. she sat in my chair i sat on the floor. i was fine. i was way to fidgety to sit in that chair! after the intermisson paul came back in everybody cheered and stuff again. it was great! then ... standing stone began. the "s" logo went up on the back and the choir was in. it started. this was it! during it james was wearing sandals and playing with ?clay?, stella was wearing a low cut shirt and paul was wearing a dark suit. like a charcoal color. he looked amazing like i said before. lin was beautiful. :) i was so happy to see her. i heard james gave someone the finger and the orchestra made a couple mistakes or something. i couldnt tell cause last night was the first time i heard it.
so as i heard "celebration" or track 19 i go to betty "this is the last one right?" and she goes yeh so we had to find a way to give paul flowers. we got up got our stuff and went to the people guarding the doors. we asked if
we could go in when its over to give the flowers to him. they said no. "i'll stay with youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" clapping! this was our cue! the lady guarding the door let me in and i ran to betty and i worked my way to the front with the flowers. betty was holding on the my jacket and I WAS WEAVING MY WAY CLOSER AND CLOSER TO PAUL STANDING UP THERE! JUST ON A LITTLE STAGE! HE WAS ONLY FEET AWAY NOW! AT THE 4TH OVATION I WAS BELOW HIM! we had tall flowers! HE LOOKED IN MY EYES!!! *screams and awakens the old ogre sleeping in the next room* AND TOOK THE FLOWERS! I FELT WEAK!
BETTY WAS LIKE "WE DID IT! YOU GAVE IT TO HIM! I WAS LIKE IN SHOCK! I FELT SO WEAK AND FIDGETY. A WAVE OF JUST "I DUNNO" I CANT DESCRIBE IT BUT IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE! HE WAS THERE! IN FRONT OF ME!! IT WAS A DREAM!! I WAS SOOOOO HAPPY! I STILL CANT REALLY DESCRIBE HOW I FELT. IT WAS JUST TOO AMAZING. I WAS SHAKING ONCE AGAIN. OH YEH! AS I WAS RUNNING DOWN STANDING STONE CONFETTI CAME DOWN ON US! IT WAS BEAUTIFUL AS I WAS RUNNING CLOSER TO PAUL IT SUDDENLY SNOWED! IT WAS SO TOUCHING! AFTER HIS LAST OVATION WHERE HE TOOK OUR FLOWERS WE WENT TO THE LOBBY! EVERY MACCA-LER I SAW THERE I SCREAMED TO "I GAVE PAUL FLOWERS!" AND PEOPLE WERE LIKE "NO WAY! GOOD FOR
YOU!" THE HUGS WERE GREAT! I AM SO SUBLIMELY HAPPY! YOU HAVE NO IDEA! BUT THEN AGAIN, ALOT OF YOU DO. ISNT IT THE BEST!!?!!??! I MUST SEE HIM AGAIN!
after that i had to leave and fast. my dad was expecting me at 11pm.  i met him at 11:30. i had to run back to the hotel and get my stuff and got some last pictures of the gang. then i left. it was all too much of a wonderful day just like a dream. so ending it id like to say one last thing .... " i love you all. thank you "
~~ foey
10:53 pm
nov. 20th 1997


From: Pearl <beatles@moose.ncia.net> Fri 0:46
Subject: Paul virginity gone I'm told!(Part one)
Well, I'm back from NY and very tired so please forgive me (part one)...

My mom and I arrived in NY Tuesday night after freshening up, we met up with Jorie to get our SS tickets from her. We chatted a bit, she was the first
Macca-L lister I met. BTW, Jorie...You're awesome!

Soon after this, we went to eat, but I couldn't. (The only thing I ate the whole three days was a grilled cheese sandwich , but I drank lots of tea.) We went to our hotel, but I was very restless and it was hard for me to get
to sleep.  So I turned on David Lettermen and he was talking about "Today's Celebrity Birthdays" and they flashed a pic of Paul and many other people whose birthday it wasn't. I got tired of that quickly and fell asleep
eventually.

The next morning...I set my alarm clock for 7 so I could get up and see lots of New York stuff.  I wanted to visit Dakota and Strawberry Fields.  I was just about to walk out the door and I was putting on my headband and a very sharp point of it snapped back and hit me in the eye!  Considering I was in a lot of pain and could barely open my eye, I decided to lay down and try to make better.  My mom, being a nurse, tried to look at it and said if it was a scratch that I would have to wear a patch to the show that night.  I was slightly upset that I did this...after an hour and a half of rest I finally got up and could see perfectly. It happened for a reason....

After my heavenly healing, my mom and I left the hotel, went in a few shops and took a "wrong turn".  Well who did I find, but a whole clan of Macca-listers waiting at the side door for Paul to come in for rehearsals. I recognized Fotini by her countdown.  I met a lot of people and a few minutes later (around noon) Paul arrived and jumped out of his limo with a camera in hand (pay back).  He was snapping pics of all of us and we were
snapping right back at him.  I never put my camera down, so I didn't see him without a lens between us. His hair was short and dark. He put down the camera, waved, gave the peace sign and entered Carnegie.  Shortly after, the cold got to the listers and they went somewhere after some shouting, crying and visiting.  I then jumped to the front of the "crazy fan area", and remained there for the next five or so hours.

During this time, Jack (fellow-lister) came over to the line and asked if Paul had gone in yet.  I told him yes, so he became the self-appointed official door holder while we all waited for "the exit".  One person I believe he opened the door for was James.  We had been waitng awhile and I was talking to the people behind me and I heard "James! Ahh! It's James!"  A couple flashes went off, but he was pretty quick at getting in the door. He looked good, hair in pony-tail, I'm told he lost weight, I don't know, hadn't scene him before that.

Time passed and passed and it grew colder as the sun set.  The bodyguards came out many times and instructed people to move...some of us assisted by singing "Get Back". <g>  There were paperazzi(sp?) surrounding the limo, randomly taking pics of excited fans.  One got arrested.  After most people had backed off, Paul came out. He was about 2 feet from me (taller than I expected),  I flung my hands up, and as one of them came down, it touched his arm.  Sorry, no smells. Lots of cheering. Unfortunately, the guards hadn't put up more barricades, so peopled rushed him and he moved quickly to the limo.  Rolled down the window and said bye, peace and luv ya.

As the limo was pulling away, I had a macca-moment. A couple paperazzi noticed this and started crazily taking pics of me.  One stopped, but the other didn't. I was mad and told him to stop and covered my face, after a
few more pics he did.

The Hard-Rock was great!  Loved meeting all the Macca folk.  TWT vid was a great bonus.  I didn't eat. But I got a pin that Sandy had made (thanks Sandy), Fotini showed me some great beatle stuff, met a few extra people and left a little early to get ready.

Again, my timing made me lucky.  As I was leaving my room, I had to run back in last minute to grab something.   After about five mins, when I finally found it, we left the hotel.  Just then as I was crossing the street, Paul's limo passed right infront of me, and I got to see him and Linda walk into Carnegie!

Luck was good!

After watching Paul and Linda (There could have been someone else there, but I couldn't see anyone else because of all the photographers and fans.) enter Carnagie Hall we went around front.  There was a big crowd of people outside, many wantng tickets and many being interviewed by camera crews. Inside Carnagie was also crowded.  People kept watching the door, not realizing the McCartney's had already arrived. After a wait, they let us in and we took our seats.  At around 8pm the McCartney's entered, the first I saw were Linda and James.  Infront of me a girl of about 16yrs, yelled out "Oh my God, it's James, it's James!" and emptied about 3 rolls of film on just him. Then I saw Paul.   In a nice suit (black).  They noticed a banner, that I believe was Betty's and began shouting approval. It said something like, "You are our beautiful knight!"   All I could see were Paul, Linda, James, Mary(occasionally) and some guy.  I didn't see Stella. They were all posing, laughing, and smiling. They were doing some upward motion with their hands, does anybody know what that was all about? The show was starting and people were still going crazy.  The flashes were incredible.

During the show, I didn't look back much, I wanted to let them enjoy the performance without too many staring people. The music was beautiful.  I loved "A Leaf".  It was great because I could picture a leaf in a wind storm
as I listened to it.  Intermission ended and people came back with their "I touched Paul" stories.  After more pics and yells to the McCartney's, Standing Stone began.  It was beautiful!  I normally don't like this type of music, but I could really feel it.  As expected, it sounds even more incredible performed live.  There were some parts that I hadn't noticed before, where it sounded very sad,  as if it wasn't supposed to sound sad, but it did because the composer was sad.  I hope this isn't true. I found it interesting that the last words spoken by the chorus sounded like "I'll stay with you." Kinda neat for an ending.

The peformance finished (BTW, I didn't see Paul play a flute.) I glanced up to see if Paul was coming down and someone I didn't recognize (Stella) took his place. That meant he was!  James appeared to be the first to stand in the entire audience.  (Proud of dad.) And we all followed as the conducter bowed.  Soon after the confetti fell and Paul ran out from behind stage. Took tons of flowers! Ran back on stage, and came out to collect more.  He must have done this at least four times. He did the "I love you" thing to Linda and I looked up and she did something back.  Mary was making a heart with her hands over her head.  It was really cute.  Then we collected some confetti and exited to huge crowds.  Fotini was yelling about giving Paul flowers.  Congrats Fotini!!!!!

We walked around outside to the side door, to find that Paul hadn't left yet.  There were tons of people so we decided to go down to the corner and wait.  We met an officer there that was instructed to let the limo through
the intersection.  We tried to convince him to please do it slowly.  As we were waiting in the freezing cold, we saw flashes from where the side door was, but no screams.   Then a car with extreamely dark windows pulled up and waited for the lights to turn green.  I looked in it best I could and saw blonde hair.  There was also another figure, appeared to be female with dark hair.  So we waved.  They appeared to be laughing,  (one of them probably flipped us off, LOL!) and then they drove away.  After a girl came running down the street and asked, "Did you just see Mary and James?" Hmm, maybe we did!

Then some time later we heard *the* screams.  It was Paul and Lin, unfortuneatly the light had just turned green so they sped right by us.  But we did see Paul's arm and face as he waved while he drove by. There was
confetti everywhere that had been thrown on the car.  People ran extremely fast to catch the limo, and people followed in cars.  Not me, I could barely move.  I was freezing cold from standing on a windy street corner.  We went back to our room and I tried to fall asleep.

The next morning we had to catch our train.  But right around the corner was the Manhatten Center, where they were filming Oprah.  So I went to visit everyone.  They were handing out free frappacinos to waiters in line.  I was asking around to see what time the show started and some woman said, "Hey, you look like a fan, I have to unexpectedly go to work, and I reserved two tickets to this. You aren't in line, do you want them?"  I said sure, but told her that my mom was at the train station and I didn't know if I would make it back in time.  I said if I didn't that she should give them to people in the stand-by line, cause technically they were bigger fans than me.

I ran to the train station at 11:15, my train was leaving at 11:20, so my mom said the timing was a little close since we had no hotel.  So I told her I understood, even though I was a little dissappointed, and the train left.
My mom regreted it later, but it was way to late by then.  But there will be other times!  Hope a Macca-Lister got those tickets!

I had a great time meeting all of you!  It's great to know so many other McCartney fans.  You're all very, very nice and you shocked my mom with your devotion.  You're amazing!  Thanx to all who gave me pictures and gifts at
the dinner because it was "my first time"!  Even if Paul hadn't been there, I would have had a great time meeting all of you! Course it was amazing to see him and realize he wasn't hoax.  What a cruel joke that would have been!
 
           -Pearl (all in grins as she falls over remembering what a great time she had!)


From: Andrea Coyle <wublue@neca.com> Fri 11:00
Subject: My Paul Adventure - Part I (long)
Hi Everyone!

I wanted to add my Paul experiences to everyone elses and hope it won't be redundant.  I am still whirling from my 2 days in NY.

On Wednesday, I left my home in northeast Connecticut at 5:10 A.M.
Really didn't sleep much at all due to my excitement.  Got to Grand Central about 8:00 and taxied to Carnegie.  There a small line was already forming so I ran to my hotel, stored my bag, called Karen Lopez and her friend Joann, Martha McClintock and we all met and joined the line.  I was third from the door after Jorie and Alex.  After that was Martha, her friend and mine Kristi, Karen L and Joann, the ever enthusiastic Fotini, Annie, Betty, Pearl etc. I would say Macca-l was well-represented!! From 9:30 until 12:05 we waited patiently having fun, telling stories, meeting other Macc-listers as they joined the crowd.  Mike and Mark were everpresent with their great video/audio set-up.  I can't believe what a great group we have.  The excitement started to build around noon and then seemingly out of nowhere came the black limo with Connecticut plates.  Out hops zany Macca in rare form - bouncing and talking and taking pictures of us!!!  and I decided not to freshen my lipstick just a few minutes before!!  This was my first upclose Paul sighting and I can't describe my feelings in words.  I'm still experiencing wonderful flashbacks. He seemed larger than life and gone in a matter of seconds.  He looked gorgeous of course - even better in person if that's possible.

I got my pictures today both of Paul and our group.  I turned my camera to friends as soon as Paul went in for the SS rehearsal and captured Annie's tears, Foey's near hyperventilation, Martha's state of shock, Karen's sheer elation, Joann's awe and Kristi's joy.  I think Mike and Mark captured our reactions too. I must say it was such a great experience to share.  Watching Foey, Annie and Pearl - some of our younger members really brought back that stage of my life for me.  I think I was 10 all over again in my middle aged body. It brought me back to those first moments of All My Loving all those years ago.

I left off after Paul's entrance to the rehearsal on Wednesday.  A bunch of us posed next to his limo.  The limo driver was highly insulted when I asked him if he talked to Paul.  He said in his English accent - Why of course I did - he's a quite personable man you know.  He told someone that Paul had a long ride in - with Connecticut plates on the car I wonder where he was staying - any guesses???

Anyway - on clouds of air Martha, Kristi, Karen, Joann, Alex and I went to lunch after one of Paul's men assured me he wouldn't be out for at least 2 - 3 hours.  We all relived the one minute of Paul throughout lunch and then rushed back by 1:30 for another long wait.  Pearl and mom hadn't left at all and were right by the door so we edged in behind them.  So much excitement with musicians and singers going in and out. Martha quickly pointed out when Linda's brother John walked out.  It seemed like throughout the wait from 1:30 until 5:10 we though something was going to happen.  I think I was the first one to spot an unassuming James make his way through the crowd on the other side without recognition.  I yelled it's James just as he got through the door and he said hello to us.  He really is quite a handsome young man up close.

At 5:00 another flurry of activity as the security men start preparing for Paul.  Some of the crowd is uncooperative and one man is taken away in handcuffs for refusing to move.  We were disappointed that this would mean that Paul would not linger and we were right.  He burst through the doors at 5:10 and walked to the car with his classic waving and thumbs up etc.  Phew - what a day so far.  Feeling we would probably miss the Hard Rock, Alex, Karen, Joann and I went back to the hotel while Kristi and Martha went to change.  Little did I know what adventuresmy night at Carnegie Hall were still to come.  Stay tuned for Part 3!

As I left off, a group of us were running back to the hotel to get ready for SS having missed the Hard Roc.  Alex, Karen L, Joann, Martha, Kristi and I rallied in my room to walk together to the performance.  When I was leaving the room I finally met my roomie Gail and her friend Amy returning from the Hard Rock.  We told her we were all meeting in the hotel lobby after the performance to decide what to do.

We went to the hall and made our way to the front of the building.  What an air of excitement!!! Someone said LaurenBacall had come through and Liz Claiborne.  When the inner doors opened we all parted ways and made it to our respective seats.  I was seated in Box 65, 1st tier.  The furthest box on the left side that kind of sits over the stage.  I shared my box with 2 couples from Missouri.  One of the husbands explained that the other 3 were the Mccartney fans - particularly the other husband in the group.  He asked me if I was a classical or Paul fan and I told him Paul first!!  We traded Paul fan stories and I told him about Macca-l.  As I was talking an trailing my binoculars along the tier I spotted James walking into the left tier box closer to my side but right in the middle.  I was becoming quite a skilled James spotter!!  I said thwere they are and our whole box stood up as Stellla, Mary, Linda and PAUL entered the box.  The man next to me was yelling - tell me who is who.  Karen later told me that our box was the first to stand (she was sitting right across) and it created a ripple effect. The crowd started cheering and the Mcacrtneys were all quite animated - waving and smiling - what a thrill to see them.  The man next to me was very impressed with Stella's outfit - particularly her low cut decolletage (have I read too many romance novels??)

On to the performance - thriling, beautiful, moving - I wish I could clearly recreate the memories . . . Now onto intermission.

Wanting to see where the McCartney's would be going I ran out of my box and ran to the end of my hallway where the Maccas were sitting.  I caught the tail end of Mary entering a reception room to my right.  I joined a group of people moving through this room and entered another room only to find out that the McCartney's were in the next room!!  I had made it through some kind of security check.  I walked out of my room and stood at the door of the next room watching Paul trail through the room talking to a small group of friends and family.  At one point Paul Simon came to the door and entered.  I was hoping to see Billy Joel whom I never did see (was he there?) because he's a cousin to my best friend from graduate school.  At least I would have something to talk to him about without being a babbling fool.

The security guard at Paul's door kept ushering me away and told me to go back to the next room.  I was polite and chatted with him awhile but he was serious and firm so I moved back to the next room.  I guess a good security guard never forgets a face - which worked to my detrimwent when I tell you what happened after the show.  i went back to the next room and a waiter came up to me and asked me if I wanted a drink - my choice of champagne or assorted wines.  I ordered a white wine and went to pay the waiter - he said oh no - no tips and then I looked around to realize that noone was paying for anything and many people seemed to know each other.  When I asked someone if I was in the wrong place, I was told I had joined a private EMI party.  The doors to this room closed and then reopened about 2 minutes later.  I approached the waiter at the door and asked if the McCartney's had gone back in and he said yes because they had closed the doors and then reopened them.  I decided to go back to my seat to keep on Paul watching when I realized he was still next door.  The Mccartneys were obviously getting ready for their reentry to their box and the guard let me take a 30 second look before ushering me away again.

When I got to the entrance of theoutside room I called Gail over as I still had a great view of Paul.  She and I stood together as Mary, James, Stella, Linda and then PAUL walked right past us - also a rather sullen Paul Simon.  (Gail help me - did I miss anyone??)  We ran back to our seats after a guard told us the doors would be shutting and we would miss the second half.

I guess this is pretty long so I'll write about the Standing Stone performance and what happened to me after the show in Part 4 - as ifthis all wasn't enough.

Have a great day!!

Andrea


From: "MG" <ghiggins@erols.com> Fri 18:45
Subject: Macca-listers on the loose
Hi everyone,

Well, I don't think I can add much to the Standing Stone reports already posted.  We have a lot of truly WONDERFUL people here at Macca-L.  Aside from Sheryl, I hadn't really met anyone else we spent time with, but they were all fantastic.

It started out that I was late arriving at the Hard Rock due to long lines at the check in booth at the Park Central.  It took a minute for the girl behind the desk to find my name(they had it listed wrong), which is funny because I set up the group rate at the hotel in the first place<g>.
Finally she found it, gave me a key and I rushed up, threw my luggage in the closet and ran over to the Hard Rock about 30 minutes late.  There was a table with an empty seat, so I asked if I could sit there and we introduced ourselves.  It turned out the person across from me was Hazel, one of my roommates, so this was our first time meeting, with me confused and out of breath.  I must have made quite an impression:-)   Also at the table were Debbie, her husband and cute little son and Melissa and her family.  Everyone was so nice.  The Hard Rock was great.  Sandy gave out pins she had made for everyone so we could identify each other as Macca-L'er's.   All cheered when they played the video for TWT.   Sheryl and Natalie did a great job in organizing the Hard Rock gathering.

A little before 7pm we went back to the hotel to change into our "evening wear".  Sheryl had to slow Hazel and I down a bit as we started rushing into our clothes over an hour before we had to leave for the 2 minute walk to Carnegie Hall.  Obviously we _weren't_ the *least* bit excited.   Then we walked over to the Hall.  We headed to our seats which were directly over the stage.  Hazel's and Debbie's were one level above.   I met the Mike Kovacich and Mike Leland for the first time here.

The McCartney's were seated around box 20 so were had a pretty good view, if not a close one.  There was a young, dark haired guy seated to the right of Paul, Linda was on his left and James was next to her.  Linda looked marvelous in her dark suit.  Behind them were Mary, Stella and another younger guy.  I don't know if this was Mary's boyfriend because he wasn't sitting next to her.   There was quite a bit of interaction going on between them all.  Paul held Linda's hand most of the time.  He also sat with his arm around her shoulder's.  It's so nice to see romance still alive after nearly thirty years of marriage.  We commented that it was interesting that Paul and Linda both sat very straight and proper and James sat, well, like the 20 year old he is, slouched over the seat.  Stella was very animated, particularly during the first part of the performance.  It was great that she could be there seeing that she had to miss the premier in London.   There was so much familial warmth.  Elvis Costello was in the box next to them.  To be honest I didn't see any of the celebrities who were supposed to be there.

The performance itself was terrific.  Stately Horn was a great way to start the evening.  Not too dramatic, slightly understated but very good.  A Leaf, performed with orchestra, was brilliant.  It really wrapped itself around you    I can't wait to hear these again when Paul releases his album of shorter classical pieces.  Although hearing them live in Carnegie Hall certainly would be hard to top.

Standing Stone itself sounded better live than on the recording, although I liked that a lot as well.  It had a more balanced sound(if that make any sense, I know nothing about real musical terms).    The dramatic parts were truly dramatic and St. Luke's Orchestra seemed to be really into the piece.  There are a few memorable melodies.   I wish I could give more description to the music, but unfortunately I don't know any technical terms.   All I can say is that I loved it.

Paul knew just how to work getting down to the stage though.  During the point at the end when everyone's attention was completely drawn into the music, Stella stealthily took his seat.  Then he came out for 4 encores.
He was only 30 or 40 feet away and he looked fabulous, tall and slender. He does not move like a "typical" 55 year old.  He bounces when he walks. He seemed to be absolutely on air during the ovations and gestured towards Linda their box.  He also gave a hand to the orchestra and conductor.  At one point he ran out onto the stage.  From our seats, we could see backstage when the door was opened and after the last ovation Paul gave Lawrence Foster, the conductor a big hug.  It is so hard to describe how wonderful it all was and how happy he seemed with the evening performance and audience's reaction.

Afterwards, quite a few of us went to a diner for coffee including Sheryl, Hazel, Mark, Mike K., Mike L, Natalie and Allison.  Then we headed back to the Park Central.  Sheryl, Hazel and I changed "into something more comfortable" and headed to Mike, Mike and Mark's room where Macca-Radio and Macca-Chat were set up and there were a few other listers there as well.  At first Mike was hosting then he started turned it over to Mark, but pretty soon all of us were caught up in a sing-a-long of McCartney and Beatles tunes, with a few Badfinger's thrown in for good measure, with Mike on guitar.  I'd never heard them sing before, so let me say that Mike and Mark both have really good voices.  Alas, our hopes of re-enacting the rooftop concert from Let It Be were to go sadly unrealised, as none of the neighbours called security about the raucous singing going on in Room 618 until 3am.   We had some really good laughs, someone ordered pizza(I wonder what the delivery guy thought), played armchair psychologists, generally had a lot of fun, but finally headed back to our room 1453 sometime after 4:30am.

At around 7:30am we got up and headed down to the Manhattan Center where the Oprah show was taking place.  We saw Mike, Mark, Natalie, etc, for the last time on the line to get in.  We decided it was unlikely we would get any stand-by tickets and even so, if let's say, only two tickets were available it would have made it awkward as there were 3 of us together. We all decided we would have felt to guilty about leaving the others out, so we headed back to Rm 1453.  It was wonderful to be able to spend 3 and a half hours just talking about Paul and the Beatles.

Finally it was time to leave.  So we checked out.  Hazel and Sheryl were kind enough to wait until the valet *finally* brought my car around.  Hugs all around and then headed home to NJ.  I had started to miss everyone even before leaving.  A mutual love of McCartney has certainly managed to bring a really special group of people together.

Is it time to start planning for Beatlefest yet?  Anyone for Lincoln Center in June?<g>

Margaret


From: NoMreLoNts@aol.com Sat 13:37
Subject: I'm Baaaaaaaaack!!!!
Well folks I'm back. It was a wonderful and funfilled trip. Needless to say I'm not enjoying myself right now. I just got the pictures back. Took in 6 rolls of film and only 4 came back, the rest were underexposed, and those were the best pics. I can't understand why. I used a $430 camera, so, yes, I'm very upset at the results. The memories tho were fantastic!!! :)  It was just wonderful to meet all of those who came. It was also just fabulous to see Paul in person for the first time. Had I have known those pics weren't going to turn out I would have looked through the binoculars more often. Figures. Well like I said, the memories were good, I'll never forget them. I'm going to take the time this weekend to write down my whole Paul experience and then I'll post it to the list. It really is worth mentioning!
 ;)
Well that's about it for now, Jets!
NoWds4MyLv
    & now...
NoMreLoNts@aol.com

Well, everyone... you knew it was inevitable.  Everyone else had their say, and the smoke seems to have cleared a bit... I was delayed in my own review because of a houseguest this past week (Don't smirk, Amy -- at least I'm not driving into trees...), but I'm free and clear now, and in need of some serious catching up...

I'll try to keep it to a reasonable length, but you know me...

First of all, there's not much that I can add in terms of personal encounters with the man himself -- I managed to leave the side door of Carnegie Hall about seven minutes before he left rehursal... I firmly believe, however, that it was my leaving that *prompted* his exit -- if I had waited, we'd all *still* be freezing our behinds off outside that damn door...

I reached New York by train, took a cab to the Park Central Hotel. However, the cabbie apparently thought I was staying at the Parker Meridien... didn't mind, though, as his route took me right past the aforementioned stage door, and I caught a long glimpse of a black stretch limo surrounded by very cold people holding signs... amazing... I realized the situation at once, and actually found myself saying... That's His Limousine!   I think the cabdriver might have rolled his eyes at that point, I'm not sure.

After abandoning my wait at the door of Carnegie Hall, I headed over to the Hard Rock Cafe, where I immediately made the acquaintance of Lady Melissa Carroll and her lovely family.  (Her brother is a George fan, and suitably quiet...) We were the first of the Standing Stone bunch there, and talked until the flow of Macca fans started to overwhelm the narrow doors to the cafe.  And I do mean overflow.  I thought there would be a crowd --  I never expected over 50 listers taking up tables, circulating, and gabbing about Paul and the Beatles.  I also discovered that the man that I'd been standing in front of at Carnegie Hall was the husband of Debbie, who would be sitting next to me for the concert... Halfway through the dinner, a flustered and out of breath young woman arrived, who turned out to be Margaret, one of my roommates.  In very short order, she introduced me to
Sheryl, my other roommate. One of the highlights of the trip for me was listening to Debbie and Melissa's mother reminisce about seeing the Beatles perform -- followed quickly by Fotini's breathless and peerless arrival at our table, reporting her Paul encounters.  It was clear that this brought back memories, and it really struck me how amazing it was that young girls of the 60s were now old enough to watch other young girls have the same reactions ... to the same man.

Then it was back to the hotel.  As Margaret has said, Sheryl had to almost physically restrain us... we were perhaps the slightest bit eager to get to Carnegie Hall.  But we all changed into our concert gear (and looked
smashing, I must say) and headed over, in the nick of time.

As I found my seat, I heard an incredible shout go up -- I sat down, looked around -- I had expected to be higher up than we were, and was given a jolt when I realized that Paul and Linda and the kids were on the same level as us.  The seats were great; a lovely view of the stage, and with a slight turn of the head to about 11:00, a great view of Paul and his family.  The first thought, upon seeing him, was, at the risk of being anticlimactic..."cool."  What really struck me was that he was *real*.  He was waving to the crowd, and giving the thumbs up -- all those familiar gestures, that I had seen so many times before... ON FILM.  This was real, and *he* was real.  Amazing.  People have described what he was wearing, but I don't know whether anyone's stressed how Beatlish it looked.  I know it sounds silly, but in the grey jacket, he just looked . . . like a Beatle.  In later discussions, it was decided that he really knows the importance and value of an occasion -- and how to play it to the hilt.  The Beatle look was absolutely deliberate, I felt.  Linda, as everyone has said, looked great.  During the course of the concert, it became obvious that James has perfected the patented slouch that is the province of the 20-year-old.  We
also had some rather speculative discussions about Stella (who is lovely,
by the way, as is Mary) . . . but modesty forbids . . .

Debbie was to my left; to my right was a somewhat older lady (and I stress
LADY), who was dressed to the nines.  As the audience whooped and hollered
and waved, she commented to me, "Oh, dear, this is quite out of tone for
Carnegie Hall."  I spotted the problem immediately.  "Are you a
subscriber?"  "Yes, I'm a patron."  I smiled sheepishly.  "I hope you don't
mind us lunatics taking the place over for the evening?"  She smiled, and
patted my arm, "Oh, no, dear, it's the occasion, isn't it?"  This lady gave
herself away about three minutes into the first piece, as her pearl-handled
opera glasses slowly but deliberately swiveled away from the stage, to
about 11:00.  After the first piece was over, she nudged me, and said,
"Elvis Costello is sitting behind him!"  I didn't ask how she knew who
Elvis Costello was, only accepted the information, and lunged for Debbie's
binoculars.

The music was incredible.  The horn quartet was wonderful; in fact, what I
had been looking forward to most.  As someone who used to play the french
horn, I've never lost my love of this beautiful instrument.  However, what
completely swept me away was A Leaf.  I was the one who expressed doubt to
the list about this being translated from piano... I admit now that I was
completely, utterly wrong.  If anything, it was more powerful, and more
delicate... now I'm waiting breathlessly for the release of this, because I
must have a recording.  As much as I loved Standing Stone, I think it is in
pieces like this that Paul shows his true potential as a classical
composer.  Absolutely brilliant.

Standing Stone also did not disappoint.  While listening to the opening
sections, it struck me -- the many times that I had listened to the CD, it
never really penetrated through my mind how staggeringly complex the
rhythms are. I watched and listened in awe and with something like fear; I
couldn't believe that the orchestra could keep it up.  Surely someone would
falter, someone would lose the unifying rhythm that my ears couldn't even
detect, but that must be there somewhere... someone would look up at the
conductor and realize they had no idea where in the hell they were... the
orchestra played aggressively, and the creation sequences had a violence
and a barely leashed chaos that the recorded version only hinted at.
Whereas the recording seemed to suggest the slow evolution from primordial
soup, the performed version presented a creation that was not comfortable,
easy, or indistinct.  I was amazed that someone could have written that,
and, once written, that anyone could play it.  The highpoint of Standing
Stone, for me, was what is clocked as section 15 on the CD; although some
reviewers said that the loud, aggressive bits were paradoxically the
weakest, this left *me* weak.  And, of course, the ending was gorgeous;
yes, I admit, I was wiping away a tear or two as the final notes faded
away.  The melody of the final section has a way of entwining itself around
your heart... before you even know it's there, it's there for good.

Others have described Paul's curtain calls, so I won't go into them.  I
will, however, say, that as we were rising, I asked the lady to my right if
she had enjoyed the program -- she nodded graciously and said yes, that
seeing him and being at the premiere was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Unsatisfied (what is it with us McCartney fans?), I prompted, "But it all
would have been beside the point if the music hadn't been good."  She
looked at me, and gave me a broad, genuine grin, and said, "Oh my yes, the
music was *wonderful.*"  Gave me a little warm glow to know that our Paul
had won over someone who loves Classical music enough to have season
tickets to Carnegie Hall.  Blurring those edges, indeed.  Although if she
could pick Elvis Costello out of a crowd, perhaps her edges were already
sufficiently blurred...

After the concert, Debbie and her husband and beautiful son hit the road,
and I met up with Sheryl and Margaret, and was introduced to some other
Macca-fans, including Mark, the two Mikes, and Natalie... although, come to
think of it, I'm not sure I liked Mark's reaction when I introduced
myself... "Oh, so *you're* Hazel..."  Care to explain, Mark?  We repaired
to a coffee shop, infused ourselves with caffeine... at the end of the
evening, we all ended up in one hotel room, eating pizza, drinking wine,
and singing songs... only one observation to make about this talented group
of troubadors... never before have I been in a group of people singing
Beatles songs and realized halfway through that *everyone* is singing
Paul's harmonies, and *no one* is singing John's melody line.  Eventually
one brave soul made the noble sacrifice on If I Fell, and things were back
on course.  Of course, a highlight (or lowlight, depending on where you
were sitting) of the evening was having a long discussion with Mark and
Margaret about . . . I have no idea what, but it seemed very relevant at
the time.  We were deep in armchair  psychology mode . . . when we realized
that Macca-radio was still broadcasting, and we were all hovering around
the microphone.

Anyway, I'll cut it all short here -- draw a veil over our undignified
carryings-on.  Suffice it to say that it was a heck of a lot of fun.  It
was a bit disappointing to realize that the trip was over and I hadn't seen
all the people I wanted to... but I can't help but think that there will be
another time. Special thanks to Melissa, who organized the separate SS-NY
list, to Sheryl, who organized the Hard Rock experience, and to Margaret,
who made the hotel arrangements.  And of course, to Mike, who brought his
guitar.

Okay, who's up for Beatlefest?

Hazel