Once More, With ...pain

I decided to go to Burbank again, this time to actually do something important. I was going to be on the tonight show! I had looked up who the guest was going to be the day before, and that settled it. Beauty incarnate was announced as the primary guest...I just had to be there. I'm obviously talking about Jessica Alba.

I started out the day by getting up at 4am. When you live in Santa Clarita, thats what you have to do when you want to go somewhere. As previously mentioned, the train only leaves about once every 2 hours, and I needed to be at NBC studios to get in line some time before 8am, when they open the doors to the ticketoffice. So I got up at 4, showered, packed my bag, ate breakfast, and realised that I was late, so I ran to the trainstation. Show up just minutes before it leaves, buy my ticket and jump onboard. Figured that from now on I would probably just sit still most of the day. I show up in Burbank, and find out that there's a bus waiting to take me to NBC studios. Perfect! Didn't even have to run down olive street Olive Street

When I show up at NBC, it's completely deserted. So I figure "yay, first in line, alright!". After a few minutes I realise that where I am is just the place where you line up to get in...I need the tickets first, and there are _no_ signs showing where to go. Thankfully tho, most americans are friendly and nice, and it was real easy to find the house called "Guest Relations", where I find a short (only 8 ppl) line is waiting to get tickets. Not too bad.
While in line to get the tickets, I start talking to the person behind me. Turns out he's from Switzerland. We laugh it over about how if an american would start talking to us, he'/she'd probably confuse us, thinking we're from the same country for some reason. After talking to Daniel (ze Swiss) for a while, the very cute and bubbley Heidi shows up, and exclaims "HEY, YOU LOOK FOREIGN!?". We talk for a while to Heidi, turns out she's "still out partying" and a bit tipsy. Maybe thats why she later on reinforces our stereotypes by having trouble understanding that Daniel n I are from two separate countries. After another few minutes, Heidis gorgeous friend Heidi joins the line, and we all have a nice, albeit slightly repetitive (thx to the "drunken girls") conversation. Turns out Heidi has Swedish ancestry, while Heidi had german grandparents. A little international gettogether if you will. Just before the line gets moving, we take pictures, exchange info, get tickets and say goodbyyyyeee.

Heidi is on my right, and Heidi is on the left side ;-p

I decide to walk down to McDonalds to get something to eat before I begin the actual linepart. Been about 4 hours since I ate last at this point, so I'm really hungry. Show up at McD after a short run/walk up olive street, and realise it's still "breakfasttime", so I order the "2 breakfast burritos" menu. When I get my meal, I'm at first shocked by the ridiculously small burritos lying in front of me. they're like half, if not a third, of the usual size from, say Taco Bell. "But at least it's food". Now this is where the second shock comes, and those who know me from back home realise how immense this really is. I eat the first little halfburrito, and.I'M.FULL ! ! !
I couldn't believe it. I hadn't eaten for four hours, I had been running around, carrying my heavy backpack, talking to nice ppl and pretty girls, ate a teensy tiny little burritothing, and I was FULL! Of course, I still ate the second one, I mean, come on, this is me we're (humm...schizo much?) talking about here =). It was still difficult to squeeze it down, and after I had eaten, I actually had to sit and wait for a few minutes before I could get up again. Those burritos sure pack a punch!
When I finally get up again, I realise I've been waiting for too long, and I'm worried that their might be a long line at the entrance by now. I so grab my huge backpack and start running. At this point, my legs start hurting. I ignore it and keep going, I'm getting in line to see Alba after all.

At NBC studios, it's as deserted as it was this morning. So I figure "yay, first in line, alright!". This time it was actually true. After about 20min or so (it's about 10am at this point), number 2 and 3 show up. Now it feels just like home, I'm sitting first in line, been there for quite some time, and several hours until it's actually time. Talk a bit to the guys next in line, but mostly either lean back and wait, or sit n work on sudokus I found in a free magazine. Surprisingly enough, the page with the wordpuzzles, sudokus n stuff, were right next to the "adult section"...how...peculiar.
The line behaves as usual, up until it covers most of the street, and new people coming to join the line start behaving seriously odd. They actually walk up, and stand in front of me, facing the entrance, just as I am, and think that they're going to get in line there. I quickly get rid of those fools, only to have another couple of weirdos walk up and stand in front of me. You'd think that the big sign, the large entrance and the fact that everybody are facing "this way" would clue people in that this is the beginning of the line, and that new people need to go down to the end, about 200 people away, but nooo, at least 20 (!!) imbeciles actually thought they could get in front of me...those idjits.

After standing in line for about 7 hours, we finally get in, and get to sit down. There was a whole obnoxious moment where I was handed a crappy seat, _me_, number1 in line (!!!), but it all worked out fine in the end, so I wont bring up that whole ordeal. Instead, I can mention that when you're watching the tonite show IRL as an audience, and you're waiting to see a certain guest, Jay's monologue and the stuff he does before the guest (in this case, headlines) seem utterly boring and longwinded. Especially since you're forced to clap and cheer for everything. After what felt like an eternity+1, Jay finally says those words.

"The lovely Jessica Alba...", and even tho I'm not as crazy as the guy sitting next to me, who screams out "I've been waiting for this moment since 1997", I still get a feeling of satisfaction, the kind you get when you finally get to open the gifts on christmas eve (still swedish, still don't open xmasgifts on the 25th). It really is a completely different experience to see a person in live, when you've seen him/her countless times on tv or the big screen. When it comes to the show itself, it was still fun. Got to see Ahnuld, as one of Jay's "surpriseguests" to sign the katrina bike. Can't remember much of the interview w/ Alba tho, since I was busy being mesmerized by her beauty ;o). (sidenote, later I found out that you can actually spot me in the audience, without my white pumasweater ofc)

Eventually, the show ends, we all leave and I decide to walk over to the comicbookstore (also mentioned previously) to say hello, pester them some more =). But just as I'm starting to walk up on Olive, I remember that I have no clue when the next train leaves, so I fish out my little note of departuretimes, and I realise that there's one leaving v soon, and then, as usual, a 2h gap until next train shows up. "Time to run...again...". I arrive at the trainstation, my legs hurt so much, my foot feels like it has swollen so much that it might burst open the lace on the shoe. I get on the train by as small of a margin as this morning, and begin my journey back home. Once in Santa Clarita, I call for a pickup, because at this point, my legs are numb, don't feel like carrying my body anywhere, I basically can't feel my feet...what a perfect day =D !!