Thursday, June 25, 2009

My Michael Jackson Encounter

Wow….crazy news about Michael Jackson, eh?  I used to have such a crush on him when I was a kid, although he kind of lost me at the Bad album.  Probably since I was still pretty young.  Anyhow, I thought I would share my Michael Jackson story with you.

For Labour Day long weekend back in 2003 (I think…) my friend Cecilia and I booked a super cheap last minute trip to Las Vegas.  We stayed at the utterly craptastic Westward Ho (which surprisingly no longer exists) because it was the cheapest option on the strip.  It was wayyyy down on the strip next to Circus Circus.  The only thing I remember about it was that they had 99 cent margaritas and advertised it with a big blow up margarita out front: Las Vegas - Labour Day Long Weekend 2003 3
My friend and I decided to go see the Tournament of Kings at the Excalibur.  They had a drink special – some frozen concoction in a take home mug.  I like beverages!  And I like souvenir glasses too!  Sign me up!  I don’t remember what I drank, but my friend had a strawberry margarita or daiquiri.Las Vegas - Labour Day Long Weekend 2003 1
After the show we wandered over to New York New York towards the bus stop.  We were sidetracked by a small group of people gathering outside the magic shop inside the casino.  We asked a few folks what was going on, and apparently Michael Jackson was shopping inside because he really liked magic!  My friend and I looked at each other and figured how many times would we have the chance to say that we saw Michael Jackson?  So we decided to wait.  And we waited.  And the crowd grew bigger.  What was maybe 10 people to start with wound up forming into a huge group of people that were pretty well taking up the entire walkway past the shop.

Finally it looked like Michael was going to be coming out.  I got my camera ready.  As soon as the doors opened up and Michael came out the crowd just went WHOOSH!! and moved inwards toward Michael.  Both Cecilia and I got pushed forward.  I lost one of my flip flops.  A guy a few folks ahead got pushed into a security guard and he got punched in the face by the guard.  All of a sudden it was just a crazy melee and I tried to grab a picture of Michael as he went past:Las Vegas - Labour Day Long Weekend 2003 2
Cecilia taps on my arm.  She hadn’t finished her strawberry beverage and when we got pushed forward she accidently dumped the rest of her drink on to a lady’s white shirt.  We’d better get out of there, fast!  I scurried around to find my flip flop, then we made the long journey back to our hotel, amazed by the strange turn our night took.

13 comments:

Wes said...

I never liked Michael Jackson soooooo I gotz nothing...

Mel-2nd Chances said...

ya, it's a little shocking eh? Neat that you got so close to him!!

Keith said...

I remember watching the Osmonds and Jackson 5 on TV when I was a kid, and marveling that people my age, or a little younger were on TV. Then, as I got older, and he got whiter, I lost interest. In my mind for the last 20 years he's been just another weird celebrity.

Isn't the rule "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas"?

TNTcoach Ken said...

Wow, rubbing shoulders with a celeb!!!! The Westward HO, LOL...........

Lindsay said...

how fun! i'm not into mj (too young?) but always cool to have a celebrity encounter :)

lol about your friend spilling her drink on some lady. the woman didn't realize her back was all of a sudden really cold (and wet)? haha.

Marlene said...

No way! What a cool little brush with fame.

I was definitely shocked by the news yesterday.

Lily on the Road said...

I'm with Keith, I loved the Jackson's, I wore out tape after tape on my Walkman (I know, I'm old,LOL),

Then he started getting odd, word has it, his inner circle were not very nice and it has been said that his death is similar to Anna Nicole....sad huh?

RunToTheFinish said...

seriously i can't believe he did...at least you had a moment with the king of pop

Lauren said...

Aw. That's awesome. Aren't you glad you stayed. Now I'll never get to spill my daiquiri on anyone trying to get close to him.

Aron said...

haha love that story :)

Bootchez said...

Great singer, great dancer, incredibly talented -- yet he just creeps me out. Too much weirdness there, with the boys, the nose, the baby Blanket, the ranch, the chimp. Weirdo.

teacherwoman said...

That is so crazy! LOL

Danielle said...

I liked him back on Thriller...when he hadn't quite gone so weird and didn't have some issues that maybe were wrong but were bought off by lawsuits...and when he was still an attractive black man, as opposed to how I refer to his transformation to an ugly white woman...