Celebrating John Lennon's 71st Birthday in Strawberry Fields, Central Park

[Annalina Lennon McCartney]

 

 

This story will consist of parts with videos + pictures and my own personal commentary. Bear with me! I'm doing this piece by piece. I've megabytes to work with.

 

***Scroll down to view the parts you'd like to read or watch. :) Enjoy!***

 

PREQUEL:

 

So, it was just another day...

 

*Looks at Beatles News. Oh, Paul McCartney's getting married. Hmm, next!...*

 

2:43 PM -- I woke up. There was something I forgot, right? I was supposed to go visit Strawberry Fields in Central Park today! I'm late, and the Beatles NYC meet-up group was supposed to meet at 3 PM. My mother told me that she would go with me. I got ready, went on BAR to make a John Lennon banner.

 

3:50 PM -- My mom was "trying" to get ready, but when she got out from the bath, she told me that she wasn't going anymore! So I looked up the subway path to go to S.F. in CP and tried to memorize it in my mind. Got cash and my MetroCard. Got on the bus, then on the train. 40 mins late, oops! Wrong stop. It was already

 

4:50 PM -- Ugh, Now I'm even more late!!! But I was going to make it ANYWAY. No matter what, for Johnny's Birthday!

 

5:15 PM -- Finally got my right train. Then another transfer. FULL TRAIN. I was so close to not getting off because it was too crowded.

 

5:35 PM -- And so it begins...

 

 

PART 1:

 

First thought: Crowded. Man will this be crazy.

 

I turned on my camera and started recording. I try to get through the crowd to get closer to the Imagine mosaic.

 

Finally, after standing there for what seems minutes, I got a better view.

 

Part 2: How I met "John" Lennon

 

So I tried to get my way through the all the people, when a guy who was strumming the guitar turned around, and it was John!

 

 

He looked so much like the real John AND even sounded like him too! Even had John's humor and height ;) Wouldn't be surprised if it were really John himself and decided to come celebrate his birthday none other than in person himself!!!

Even people who would glance at him would take another, and just stare in shock. It would be funny if new-Beatles fans thought he really was John! :))

I was so shy to approach him. I thought I might faint, so I waited until much later so if I faint, it would be after I got my picture with him!

 

I did later when it was already dark!

 

There was a woman whose name was Paula who was so smitten by "John" they had Milk & Honey (very sexy) pictures with each other. Took a while, then there were these 3 young ladies who reminded me of Emily, Fishy & Keri because they seemed so young & were super "fangirl" excited to take pictures with "John". Maybe they thought he was really John!

 

Part 3:

 

Not only was there John, but there were also talented, dedicated musicians amongst the group: guitar players, trumpet players, keyboardists, singalong artists, and people who pretended they knew the chords & words.

 

Give Peace A Chance/Across the Universe~

 

A Little Tribute To George/You're Gonna Lose That Girl~

Jealous Guy~

Love~I Feel Fine

 

Part Last:

 

'Till Night

 

~Not A Second Time/Rain/Because...

 

Mean Mr Mustard Finale

 

 

[Annalina Lennon McCartney]

Cool! I found another girl who attended the celebration at Strawberry Fields.

Along with her short video blog about her day, she includes clips throughout the singalong & reads her letter to John:

[Annalina Lennon McCartney]

I'm gonna try my best to make it to this year's John Lennon Birthday Celebration in Central Park again at the Strawberry Fields memorial :-) Expect to see a new video blog if I make it! ^__^

[Sadie]

YAY!!!!!!! That would be so awesome if you could go again, and even more awesome if you made a video log documentaring the experience! :D :D :D

[BeatleNut9]

One day, I'll get to celebrate at Strawberry Fields! :D

[BeatleBob]

BeatleGirl: This Is So Awesome!!!! Thanks for sharing this with us BeatleGirl!!! That guy looked and sounded so much like John!!! Unreal!!! And he even reminds me of the guy who played him in the TV movie "John & Yoko  - A Love Story" too! It was Great to see all the age groups of people who attended! And all of those talented musicians joining in! Loved the songs in the Videos! I Loved ALL the video clips and pictures!! I still can't get over how much he looked and sounded like John!! Must have been so Surreal being there!! I Love this Post!! Thanks So Much for sharing your Fantastic Experience being there with us, through your videos and words!! I Sure Hope you can make it there again, for this year's John Lennon Birthday Celebration!! And making a new video blog!! Best Wishes on making it there!!! Thanks again BeatleGirl, for sharing this with us!!! Just Awesome!!!  :-D  ALL of this blew me away!!! :-D

BTW...I viewed one of the videos here on YouTube. And seen your Plug to join this site! So Cool!! :-D

BeatleNut9: I hope you'll be able to!! One Day I Hope to go too!! :-D

Sadie: I Agree!! :-D

[Annalina Lennon McCartney]

LOL! Beatle Bob! When I saw John & Yoko - A Love Story, I was wondering if that could have been him! :-O Do all John lookalikes look the same? Hehehe.

Yes, it was very nice seeing people of all age groups, from young to old celebrating John and singing along to Beatles and his solo songs.

Those musicians I believe have been playing in and around the NYC-metro area throughout the years, so it's like they celebrate Beatles music at any day of the year.

I was also surprised when I had bumped into "John" - I couldn't believe I was so close to a John look AND soundalike!

Yay! I'm happy to have shared my experience with you all thru the videos, pictures, and my story! Maybe if I go again, I'll bump into Yoko - YES the real Yoko! LOL!

@BeatleNut9 I hope you will be able too, as well! It's a Fabtastic experience to be singing along with so many John and Beatles freaks!

@Sadie Aww I wish You could have came to visit me so we could celebrate together, but maybe another time! :-))

[BeatleBob]

BeatleGirl: So You were wondering if that could have been that actor too! LOL! :-O Yeah, do all John lookalikes look the same?? LMAO! ;-)

Yes, it must have been Great seeing all age groups from young to old celebrating John and singing along to the Beatles and his solo songs!! I think that's Fantastic!!

That's so Cool about those musicians!! :-D  I Bet you were so surprised when you bumped into "John", you couldn't believe you were so close to a John look and soundalike!!! I would have been so surprised too!!! WOW!! :-)

I Really Appreciate what you shared here about your experience!! It was almost like being there!! I Love It!!! Thanks Again!! WOW!! Wouldn't that be Fantastic if you bumped into the REAL Yoko if you go again!!!! LOL! Again, Thanks So Much for This!!! :-D

[BeatleBob]

I was looking at this post again. It's Truly Fantastic!! ALL the Videos are Great!! WE MISS YOU HERE SO MUCH BEATLEGIRL!!!!! Please Come Back!!!!

[BeatleNut9]

A friend of mine went there today, but of course today is Paul's 74th birthday. Funny!