Waiting with EmJay and Jimmy Olsen

The other night, I had the pleasure of having dinner with MJ & Ross, who were in the L.A. area for a vacation for the week.  We had dinner at Max's of Manila, a Filipino restaurant chain.  We were at the Glendale location.  The staff pretty much ignored us most of the time, which was annoying.  The size of the restaurant is smaller than the Puente Hills location.  I think that given the choice, I'll keep going to Puente Hills.  I don't remember waiting 1 hour just to get our food at Puente Hills.  Yes, I had halo-halo.  They only had the "special halo-halo," which annoyed me, too.  You couldn't just make it a regular?  Whatever.  I just looked on the website, and APPARENTLY, the Glendale location only has one style of Halo-Halo, while the Puente Hills location has 3 kinds.  PH wins.  


Anyway, I first met MJ & Ross in line at a Rockapella concert in 1999.  (I would link you to an old trip report here, but I wasn't doing those back then).  They were actually the 1st people that I met in line with whom I actually kept in touch with afterward.  They were really nice, and after a few shows, invited me to stay over at their place with my friends if we were ever in town for a show.  I mean, how nice is that?!  Back then, they lived in the Bay Area, and they also go to know the Bro because he would go to the Pella shows in the Bay Area with me, as he lived there for awhile, too.  One of my favorite moments waiting in line with MJ was when (then-Bro's-girlfriend) V asked her, "How do you spell MJ?"  I replied, "M. J."  It was hilarious.  


I can't believe that it's been almost 10 years since I met MJ & Ross.  Those days at the Great American Music Hall were great fun, with me giving out KFC & the homeless people wanting money instead, the juxtaposition of the exotic dancing theater nearby, and walking around San Francisco with Liz, hoping that she'd kick the ass of anybody that dared try to mug us.  Yeah, it was that kind of neighborhood.  


MJ & Ross were there in Saratoga on the night that Kevin chose me to be "Pretty Woman," and I could hear MJ screaming at the top of her lungs, and Angela doing the same from her seat, with Ross taking as many pictures as he could.  I'm glad they were there that night, because to me, my Pella friendships are all based on my experience with them, and they were there for my big night. Wow.  That was when George was so new that he had no idea what he was doing during "Zombie Jamboree."


Now Ross is pretty much the official publicity photographer for Rockapella in NYC.  His photos are magnificent, and I always look at the photo credits to see if the picture was taken by him.  I'm honored that he was the one that took pictures at Saratoga. :)

Here's a picture of me with MJ in Napa at the last show that I remember seeing them.

I don't think I have any pics of Ross, because he's usually the one holding the camera.  Of course, he was doing photos for the guys that night, too, which you can see here.  


Thanks for a great time, you two.  Thanks for dinner, Ross.  Thanks for all of the wonderful memories that we've shared.  I hope to see them on one of my Pella trips back East, actually hoping that I'll see them in Tampa for Kevin's last show.  It just seems appropriate for them to be there to cry with me. :)


As I drove home from Glendale, I thought of those happy memories, and I all of a sudden realized that the song playing in my car's CD player was none other than "Mary Jane" by Alanis Morissette.  Awwww....EmJay.  A big smile came to my face (just don't tell her that it's a sad song).  It's funny, now that I think about it.  I met MJ and Ross while I was waiting for Pella.  We always seem to be waiting for Pella when we get a chance to talk.  But tonight, without the Pella there, we were still waiting, for food, which was, I joked, on Filipino Time.


You two are welcome to stay at my house if you're ever back in town for Pella or whatever, no matter what time of day.  It's OK if you get here late.  I'll wait. :)