Seeing Johnny details.
Beth, you asked for it.
Yesterday, Tuesday, August 29, 2006 was a very memorable day to me. It was a day when one of my dreams came true. I saw the love of my life in person... the man I truly adore and praise. He's the man that in my eyes can do no wrong. The one and only JOHNNY DEPP :) I didn't really give much thought on going to the pier/Pirates 3 set earlier that day. I guess I kind of just went with the flow? It was more like depending on what kind of mood I was in especially after getting out from a 4-hour class. I kept looking @ my watch while I was driving on my home. It was around 3pm. I remembered it was around that time when the "papparazzi" guy told my friends and I Johnny came out in his costume. Then, I thought maybe he'd come out again around that time to do some more scenes. Meaning, I'd probably have a chance to see or even meet him. So, with that prediction, I thought of changing route. Haha. Well, I did think twice. I didn't wanna waste my time for nothing, but then I also had a feeling that I would actually see him. So, off to Redondo Beach Pier I drove. There I was walking on the boardwalk by myself. I saw that the whole set was completely barricaded. I guess maximum security must be in place for their last day of shooting there. But I was like, "Damn, how am I gonna see Johnny now?!" lol. Though as I walked around the corner, to my surprise, I saw a bunch of people waiting behind the "Don't Cross" line. AND there for a moment I thought I was the only one there. Boy, I was dead wrong. I saw a bazillion of teenagers holding stuff to sign, parents holding cameras, and kids whom some dressed up as Capt. Jack Sparrow. There I was came totally unprepared, brought nothing but my backpack, cell, and well, myself. Haha. The only thing that could identify me as a fan was my lil' "I ♥ Capt. Jack Sparrow" button which is always attached on my backpack. Heh. Anyway, I came up to some girls and asked them what was goin' on. They said that Johnny was gonna come out to give autographs. Shit, I almost wet my pants after hearing that! Well, not really but I was excited as hell! Like, aaahhhh I'm gonna see him! Haha. Those girls, Ariel and Rae, became my friends for the day. I was no longer a loner. Yay! They've been in line waiting since 12pm. I was a lil' embarrassed when they asked me how old I was. Haha. I mean, these girls are sophomores... in high school! Then again, I think they were more mature than me, so that age gap didn't matter at all. Heh. So, we were waiting there... crew and cinema security people were all in sight. Mark was one of them whom we thought was an angel but not so much in the end. Anyway, these girls told me that Mr. Gibbs (I don't know his real name) came out to sign autographs earlier. So I missed him. But, that's alright. Though I met Terry Rossio, one of the writers, when he came out to sign autographs. Actually, he was very humble about it. He was like, "Why do you need my autograph? I'm just the writer." Yeah, just the writer. Modest guy. He was nice and chatty, however. We asked him if Pirates 3 going to be better and he said, "I hope so." Heh. I asked who's Elizabeth gonna end up with in the end (typical!). He retorted, "He's gonna end up with the love of her life." Grrr... Haha. We'll just have to wait till Memorial Day, I guess. The crowd has gotten a lot thicker at this time... more people arriving by the minute. Then, Mark, the crew security, told us to move further down to our right 'cuz Johnny would be starting signing from there. So, we're like, "Okay, cool! The closer we are, the better!" Gosh, if only we didn't listen to him. Urgh. So, yeah... we were waiting there under the sun and it was hot a very hot day. I put some sunscreen lotion on, but I still got dark. The security peeps told everyone about the "One autograph. One picture. No picture w/Johnny" rule. I was like, "Auwww, no picture w/Johnny?! Oh well, that's okay as long as I get to meet him." Kris, Ariel and Rae's other friend arrived. Now, that girl came very prepared. She was sportin' all her Johnny Depp's stuff, from her lil' hat w/Johnny buttons to her purse labeled Mrs. Depp. AND I thought I was obsessed?! Ha! This girl blew me out of the water! lol. She also brought her Capt. Jack Sparrow notebook, where each page has Johnny's face on it. It was pretty neat. It was nice of her to give me a page for Johnny to sign in. Then, we talked about our Johnny obsession. Needless to say, we got on so well. Cool chick. Anyway, in more than an hour of waiting under the hot sun, Johnny finally came out. We couldn't see him though. They made some changes which hurt us the most. It turned out that Johnny was just gonna stay @ one place to sign autographs. They set up this huge long table by the barricaded area, just a lil' bit inside the trailers and it was all the way on the other side, far from where we were :( Then, the crew security people just picking and pulling people from the middle of the very long line, to get in the line where you can meet and have Johnny's autograph. That totally pissed us off. It became so disorganized all of a sudden. We were so far from the middle of the line since we were on the other side. Damn that guy Mark. We could have been a lot closer to be pulled for the autograph line if he didn't tell us to move. Ugh. He was no longer cool in our book. Anyway, I was a lil' surprised not hearing any major screaming... and no one passed out (lol). I guess I can say that it was a "chilled" crowd. Heh. The autograph line was moving so slow. It was so frustrating to see and it didn't help when I saw more people arriving and the security people weren't really pulling anyone on our side of the line for the autograph line. I kept looking @ my watch and saw it had been more than 30 minutes since Johnny started signing yet we barely moved from our spot. It was such a slow signing, I swear. Then an hour passed... into an hour and a half, we were still nowhere near to get pulled for the signing line. It was fuckin' frustrating! I don't think most of those people who had gotten Johnny's autograph and met him weren't really fans. Like they just happened to pass by and saw Johnny was there signing, so they got in line and somehow worked their way in. So, that wasn't fair to the ones who have been there waiting since 10 that morning, like these girls in front of us who even came from Mission Viejo, which I believe is in Orange County. That day was actually their second attempt. They came last Thursday and saw no one at all. The security people started asking if anyone just wanted to take a pic of Johnny and some raised their hands. They escort the people... and the 1 pic only rule must be applied and you couldn't get close to him. So basically, you're standing 7-10 ft away from his table, take his picture from there and once you have, you leave right away. Of course, I know that was a bad sign. It wouldn't be long till Johnny had to leave. So, they let people take Johnny's pic, saying at least you have "something." *sighs* Kris mom arrived, so Kris asked her mom to take Johnny's pic. I wanted to give her my cell for a pic also but I got shy. So, when Kris mom came back from taking Johnny's pic, Kris turned to me and said, "No worries. I'll send you the pic on myspace or something." Auwwee... ain't she a sweetie? :) The same goes with the girls I met from Mission Viejo, Linda, Allie, and Jolie. So all those waiting in frustration pretty much left us hopeless towards the end. We kept calling Mark to acknowledge us but all he could say was, "Yeah, I know. Sorry guys." Ugh. Sorry doesn't cut it, buddy! You caused us our dreams of meeting Johnny! Grrr... Jolie and I decided to go for the "take a pic of Johnny." I wasn't too keen of the idea at first, but since it was leaving me all hopeless, I went for it. I didn't take a good pic though. Just too much glare from the sun. That was a bad spot to put a signing table for Johnny. It was hot out! But, he was lookin' cool and smokin' hot anyway. Omg, I was only 7 ft away from the love of my life. Aaaahhhh! When Jolie and I was heading back to our line, we saw this girl talking to Johnny and he was talking to her too. He even gave this girl a hug! Aaaaaahhhhh, I would have LOVED that so much! *sighs* This was the reason why the signing was moving so slow, 'cuz Johnny was interacting w/these people. He took his time w/them. It wasn't your regular, "Hi. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, too. *signs* Bye" signing. I really have to give props to the man. He didn't even have to do the signing. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley didn't. Pfft! It just shows how much Johnny really appreciates his fans. He's that great of a man and I love him even more for that. But, the moment I dreaded came, no matter how much we were begging the crew security people for us to be picked and pulled for the signing line. It was pretty much useless and hopeless. They stopped pulling when we were only about 10 people away from the middle. URGH. I knew right then and there that was it. He had to leave. He'd been signing under the hot sun for almost 2 hours. The man must have been so tired, let alone hungry... or he might have had other engagements to go to. But yeah, we totally understand that... Just really pissed about the whole waiting in line situation and pissed of the crew security. We could have met him. I could have met him, if only it had been much more organized and fair... but it wasn't :( So, I started saying my goodbyes to the girls I met... We were all so disappointed. I felt really bad for the girls from Mission Viejo. Their 2nd attempt was not a success. But Jolie got a pic of him. I'm not sure if it was a good one though. The yellow don't cross line were getting crossed as the signing line got shorter w/only like 10 people left. At this time, almost everyone was allowed to take Johnny's pic, but had to leave right after... I did that again, only this time I called out his name. AND he acknowledged it! I said, "Hi, Johnny!" I got his attention. He looked up, saw me, waved Hi back smiling... which took about 5 seconds. Gosh, I was in cloud 9! I almost forgot to take his pic! lol. Then, the crew security started shoving us off telling us to get out of there. I was like, "I haven't taken a picture yet." This guy was like, "Yes, you have. You have plenty already." Plenty?! Wtf?! I was trying to get a better picture, away from the glare. So, I haven't taken any! UGH. He was blocking my way... and it didn't help when they were closing the gate. It was bye bye Johnny :( This Asian lady who seemed to be one of the crew people saw my frustration... so she came up to me and asked, "What have you got?" I was like, "Huh? Oh. Nothing. I haven't taken a pic yet." (lol) She offered to take Johnny's pic for me. I quickly told her how to take it on my camera phone, then she rushed inside the closing gate and took Johnny's pic. She came back out just before they totally shut the gate. That woman was good! Haha. I appreciated what she did. Bless her. Then, as I was walking away... I suddenly heard girls screaming, I quickly turned around and there I saw Johnny climbed up the fence and waving Bye to everyone. It was like very childish but in a hot way. I don't know I couldn't describe it, but it got me soo excited! I mean, he climbed up the fence! Everyone just rushed back to that area... Hell, I climbed up the fence too and I saw him got inside a black SUV and it drove away. I was like, "Bye my love..." Haha. Wow, I don't think I've ever climbed up the fence for anyone before. It's just really too bad that I didn't actually meet him. I would have loved to talk to him... and I would have loved to get a hug from him. *sighs* I hope I'll have another chance... and maybe the next time, I won't forget to say, "Kumusta ka?" I'm sure he doesn't hear that often. I mean, what else is there to say the man? I'm sure he's heard it all before. So, that's my lil' adventure seeing Johnny in person. I'm slowly getting over the fact that I didn't meet him. But, I'll be okay. I'll live... Now, it's time to grow up (lol) and face reality and the world I know.
The one I took.
The Asian crew lady took.
Yesterday, Tuesday, August 29, 2006 was a very memorable day to me. It was a day when one of my dreams came true. I saw the love of my life in person... the man I truly adore and praise. He's the man that in my eyes can do no wrong. The one and only JOHNNY DEPP :) I didn't really give much thought on going to the pier/Pirates 3 set earlier that day. I guess I kind of just went with the flow? It was more like depending on what kind of mood I was in especially after getting out from a 4-hour class. I kept looking @ my watch while I was driving on my home. It was around 3pm. I remembered it was around that time when the "papparazzi" guy told my friends and I Johnny came out in his costume. Then, I thought maybe he'd come out again around that time to do some more scenes. Meaning, I'd probably have a chance to see or even meet him. So, with that prediction, I thought of changing route. Haha. Well, I did think twice. I didn't wanna waste my time for nothing, but then I also had a feeling that I would actually see him. So, off to Redondo Beach Pier I drove. There I was walking on the boardwalk by myself. I saw that the whole set was completely barricaded. I guess maximum security must be in place for their last day of shooting there. But I was like, "Damn, how am I gonna see Johnny now?!" lol. Though as I walked around the corner, to my surprise, I saw a bunch of people waiting behind the "Don't Cross" line. AND there for a moment I thought I was the only one there. Boy, I was dead wrong. I saw a bazillion of teenagers holding stuff to sign, parents holding cameras, and kids whom some dressed up as Capt. Jack Sparrow. There I was came totally unprepared, brought nothing but my backpack, cell, and well, myself. Haha. The only thing that could identify me as a fan was my lil' "I ♥ Capt. Jack Sparrow" button which is always attached on my backpack. Heh. Anyway, I came up to some girls and asked them what was goin' on. They said that Johnny was gonna come out to give autographs. Shit, I almost wet my pants after hearing that! Well, not really but I was excited as hell! Like, aaahhhh I'm gonna see him! Haha. Those girls, Ariel and Rae, became my friends for the day. I was no longer a loner. Yay! They've been in line waiting since 12pm. I was a lil' embarrassed when they asked me how old I was. Haha. I mean, these girls are sophomores... in high school! Then again, I think they were more mature than me, so that age gap didn't matter at all. Heh. So, we were waiting there... crew and cinema security people were all in sight. Mark was one of them whom we thought was an angel but not so much in the end. Anyway, these girls told me that Mr. Gibbs (I don't know his real name) came out to sign autographs earlier. So I missed him. But, that's alright. Though I met Terry Rossio, one of the writers, when he came out to sign autographs. Actually, he was very humble about it. He was like, "Why do you need my autograph? I'm just the writer." Yeah, just the writer. Modest guy. He was nice and chatty, however. We asked him if Pirates 3 going to be better and he said, "I hope so." Heh. I asked who's Elizabeth gonna end up with in the end (typical!). He retorted, "He's gonna end up with the love of her life." Grrr... Haha. We'll just have to wait till Memorial Day, I guess. The crowd has gotten a lot thicker at this time... more people arriving by the minute. Then, Mark, the crew security, told us to move further down to our right 'cuz Johnny would be starting signing from there. So, we're like, "Okay, cool! The closer we are, the better!" Gosh, if only we didn't listen to him. Urgh. So, yeah... we were waiting there under the sun and it was hot a very hot day. I put some sunscreen lotion on, but I still got dark. The security peeps told everyone about the "One autograph. One picture. No picture w/Johnny" rule. I was like, "Auwww, no picture w/Johnny?! Oh well, that's okay as long as I get to meet him." Kris, Ariel and Rae's other friend arrived. Now, that girl came very prepared. She was sportin' all her Johnny Depp's stuff, from her lil' hat w/Johnny buttons to her purse labeled Mrs. Depp. AND I thought I was obsessed?! Ha! This girl blew me out of the water! lol. She also brought her Capt. Jack Sparrow notebook, where each page has Johnny's face on it. It was pretty neat. It was nice of her to give me a page for Johnny to sign in. Then, we talked about our Johnny obsession. Needless to say, we got on so well. Cool chick. Anyway, in more than an hour of waiting under the hot sun, Johnny finally came out. We couldn't see him though. They made some changes which hurt us the most. It turned out that Johnny was just gonna stay @ one place to sign autographs. They set up this huge long table by the barricaded area, just a lil' bit inside the trailers and it was all the way on the other side, far from where we were :( Then, the crew security people just picking and pulling people from the middle of the very long line, to get in the line where you can meet and have Johnny's autograph. That totally pissed us off. It became so disorganized all of a sudden. We were so far from the middle of the line since we were on the other side. Damn that guy Mark. We could have been a lot closer to be pulled for the autograph line if he didn't tell us to move. Ugh. He was no longer cool in our book. Anyway, I was a lil' surprised not hearing any major screaming... and no one passed out (lol). I guess I can say that it was a "chilled" crowd. Heh. The autograph line was moving so slow. It was so frustrating to see and it didn't help when I saw more people arriving and the security people weren't really pulling anyone on our side of the line for the autograph line. I kept looking @ my watch and saw it had been more than 30 minutes since Johnny started signing yet we barely moved from our spot. It was such a slow signing, I swear. Then an hour passed... into an hour and a half, we were still nowhere near to get pulled for the signing line. It was fuckin' frustrating! I don't think most of those people who had gotten Johnny's autograph and met him weren't really fans. Like they just happened to pass by and saw Johnny was there signing, so they got in line and somehow worked their way in. So, that wasn't fair to the ones who have been there waiting since 10 that morning, like these girls in front of us who even came from Mission Viejo, which I believe is in Orange County. That day was actually their second attempt. They came last Thursday and saw no one at all. The security people started asking if anyone just wanted to take a pic of Johnny and some raised their hands. They escort the people... and the 1 pic only rule must be applied and you couldn't get close to him. So basically, you're standing 7-10 ft away from his table, take his picture from there and once you have, you leave right away. Of course, I know that was a bad sign. It wouldn't be long till Johnny had to leave. So, they let people take Johnny's pic, saying at least you have "something." *sighs* Kris mom arrived, so Kris asked her mom to take Johnny's pic. I wanted to give her my cell for a pic also but I got shy. So, when Kris mom came back from taking Johnny's pic, Kris turned to me and said, "No worries. I'll send you the pic on myspace or something." Auwwee... ain't she a sweetie? :) The same goes with the girls I met from Mission Viejo, Linda, Allie, and Jolie. So all those waiting in frustration pretty much left us hopeless towards the end. We kept calling Mark to acknowledge us but all he could say was, "Yeah, I know. Sorry guys." Ugh. Sorry doesn't cut it, buddy! You caused us our dreams of meeting Johnny! Grrr... Jolie and I decided to go for the "take a pic of Johnny." I wasn't too keen of the idea at first, but since it was leaving me all hopeless, I went for it. I didn't take a good pic though. Just too much glare from the sun. That was a bad spot to put a signing table for Johnny. It was hot out! But, he was lookin' cool and smokin' hot anyway. Omg, I was only 7 ft away from the love of my life. Aaaahhhh! When Jolie and I was heading back to our line, we saw this girl talking to Johnny and he was talking to her too. He even gave this girl a hug! Aaaaaahhhhh, I would have LOVED that so much! *sighs* This was the reason why the signing was moving so slow, 'cuz Johnny was interacting w/these people. He took his time w/them. It wasn't your regular, "Hi. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, too. *signs* Bye" signing. I really have to give props to the man. He didn't even have to do the signing. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley didn't. Pfft! It just shows how much Johnny really appreciates his fans. He's that great of a man and I love him even more for that. But, the moment I dreaded came, no matter how much we were begging the crew security people for us to be picked and pulled for the signing line. It was pretty much useless and hopeless. They stopped pulling when we were only about 10 people away from the middle. URGH. I knew right then and there that was it. He had to leave. He'd been signing under the hot sun for almost 2 hours. The man must have been so tired, let alone hungry... or he might have had other engagements to go to. But yeah, we totally understand that... Just really pissed about the whole waiting in line situation and pissed of the crew security. We could have met him. I could have met him, if only it had been much more organized and fair... but it wasn't :( So, I started saying my goodbyes to the girls I met... We were all so disappointed. I felt really bad for the girls from Mission Viejo. Their 2nd attempt was not a success. But Jolie got a pic of him. I'm not sure if it was a good one though. The yellow don't cross line were getting crossed as the signing line got shorter w/only like 10 people left. At this time, almost everyone was allowed to take Johnny's pic, but had to leave right after... I did that again, only this time I called out his name. AND he acknowledged it! I said, "Hi, Johnny!" I got his attention. He looked up, saw me, waved Hi back smiling... which took about 5 seconds. Gosh, I was in cloud 9! I almost forgot to take his pic! lol. Then, the crew security started shoving us off telling us to get out of there. I was like, "I haven't taken a picture yet." This guy was like, "Yes, you have. You have plenty already." Plenty?! Wtf?! I was trying to get a better picture, away from the glare. So, I haven't taken any! UGH. He was blocking my way... and it didn't help when they were closing the gate. It was bye bye Johnny :( This Asian lady who seemed to be one of the crew people saw my frustration... so she came up to me and asked, "What have you got?" I was like, "Huh? Oh. Nothing. I haven't taken a pic yet." (lol) She offered to take Johnny's pic for me. I quickly told her how to take it on my camera phone, then she rushed inside the closing gate and took Johnny's pic. She came back out just before they totally shut the gate. That woman was good! Haha. I appreciated what she did. Bless her. Then, as I was walking away... I suddenly heard girls screaming, I quickly turned around and there I saw Johnny climbed up the fence and waving Bye to everyone. It was like very childish but in a hot way. I don't know I couldn't describe it, but it got me soo excited! I mean, he climbed up the fence! Everyone just rushed back to that area... Hell, I climbed up the fence too and I saw him got inside a black SUV and it drove away. I was like, "Bye my love..." Haha. Wow, I don't think I've ever climbed up the fence for anyone before. It's just really too bad that I didn't actually meet him. I would have loved to talk to him... and I would have loved to get a hug from him. *sighs* I hope I'll have another chance... and maybe the next time, I won't forget to say, "Kumusta ka?" I'm sure he doesn't hear that often. I mean, what else is there to say the man? I'm sure he's heard it all before. So, that's my lil' adventure seeing Johnny in person. I'm slowly getting over the fact that I didn't meet him. But, I'll be okay. I'll live... Now, it's time to grow up (lol) and face reality and the world I know.
The one I took.
The Asian crew lady took.