I'm slippin' into the lava.

The weekend started out relatively calm. Colleen arrived from San Francisco on Friday and came over to the apartment, along with Gaby and Lauren Ashley. We watched the amazing Olympic opening ceremonies while discussing dudes, music, Warped, crazy people, etc. etc. etc. I wish it was on video for the sheer hilariousness.

Okay, I have something to admit: my mind has been changed about the Jonas Brothers. I KNOW! So, I've written previously about how I didn't know any of their schtick, and then Erica and I decided to watch Camp Rock and were seriously underwhelmed. Thing is, my friend Joyce is in town because she's on tour for those kids. She asked me if I wanted to stop by Madison Square Garden on Saturday to hang out while she worked. I said sure and found myself in for Jonas Brothers Mania.

[Jonas Brothers plus Zac Efron, ha]

See, Joyce and her friend Misty work for a tour sponsor that's in charge of picking three contest winners each day for a Jonas meet-and-greet. So, usually Joyce and Misty have a tent in which the contestants line up and show off their "Go Green" posters for a chance to win. Joyce said that there's usually 600 people in line and they take an hour to judge them. Well, Madison Square Garden is a bit of a different venue than the fields and stadiums in other tour stops - there's no room for a tent. So they met at the box office, in an area in the plaza. There was no line, just a crowd of people. There were 300 or so girls (and their mothers/fathers) clamoring for Joyce and Misty's attention so they could meet the teen dreams.

I didn't realize what was going on, or if this wasn't the usual happening, and I just stood off to the side watching their stuff. Joyce came over to me at one point to hand me something and went back to taking the pictures and keeping the crowd calm. All of a sudden a father starts asking me questions about the contest and why it's so unorganized and I'm just standing there like, "uh, I don't know..." - I'm just standing there! And then Joyce runs over to me, grabs her hoodie and puts it on really fast and the father turns his attention to her and starts asking her questions in a strong tone, and then Joyce looks at me and says "GO!" and we run around the side of MSG, as she's pulling her hood down and trying to cover her sponsor tee.

Apparently security came around to Joyce and Misty during the chaos and told them it was getting too rowdy (yelling, screaming, pushing) and that they should leave immediately before the crowd anger escalated. Misty ran in the opposite direction and was chased down by a few mothers, including one that was berating her pretty forcefully before she got past the security barrier.

Woah.

These people were SERIOUS. Joyce and Misty didn't stay for the entire hour, but had gotten enough entries and pictures that they picked three winners. They called them, politely saying on the phone, "You've won the contest - DO NOT SCREAM." If others caught on to where the winners would be picked up, there might be more commotion. And funny enough, when Joyce, Misty and I went downstairs to the meeting place, there were a bevy of contestants who did not get chosen, and the irate mothers. Misty and Joyce couldn't show their faces, so I volunteered to go out there and escort them past security because nobody would scream at little anonymous me.

We got the first two winners no problem. The third winner hadn't shown up yet. Misty decided to show her face and come out to the crowd to try to find her. Big mistake. As soon as Misty showed up, the mothers started yelling at her. I couldn't believe it. Legitimately screaming. Misty ran behind a barrier and crouched down to be out of sight. It was ridiculous.

Eventually the third winner showed up and they were all escorted to the meet-and-greet where they could meet those three teens.

Contestants outside crowing Joyce & Misty.

Inside, the angry mob of contestants being held at bay by security in the background.

After that craziness was settled, Joyce and I went to the production office to grab some stuff and as we were heading back out in the hallway, we stopped to make room for the actual Jonas Brothers to pass. Big Rob, who used to be security for Britney Spears, is now JB security. Saw him, then the three boys who were all very cute and nice - they said, "Hey girls" to us (I strangely kind of squealed inside, I think from the hype and craziness, you know?? Contagious?) and then their bassist, a young man by the name of Greg Garbowsky (lol please look at that pic), pointed at my Radiohead shirt and was like, "Did you see them last night??" and I was like, "nah, saw them last weekend at Lollapalooza.." and he goes, "They are amazing!" and continued on his way. It was pretty sweet, cause Nick turned around with a look on his face like, "uh, what is he talking about with this girl?"

Wow - that last paragraph sounded total fangirl, huh? Whatever.

My passy pass pass.

Joyce enjoying a cold one after the craziness. Yeah, there's a pretzel stick in that handle.

After that, Joyce and I chilled and then she wondered if I wanted to see some of the show. So we watched the first twenty minutes and it was insane! I was blown away by the pyro and boys flipping on stage, but mainly by the sheer decibel of the teenage screaming. I felt like it was a sleepover with 16,000 girls. It was actually really rad. And their songs? Kind of legit. Just sayin'. Guilty pleasure central.

Joyce and I got to really catch up after we left, and we met up with Gaby and Adam at Barcelona Bar for a night of shots. It quickly evolved into Olympic watching on the screens and then me bantering about how weirdly awesome I now find the Jonas Brothers. We crashed at Joyce's hotel near MSG and woke up at like 9 am for a jaunt around the city.

When I decided to head home to Brooklyn, Erica was finally returning from her weeklong vacation in Maine, and we caught up for the next few hours with Gaby and Colleen at the apartment. Then we met up with Joyce after the meet-and-greet and got some drinks. Apparently Sunday was better. Good stuff.

It was my first weekend home in a couple of weeks, and it felt good to be having fun with awesome people whom I usually don't see! And of course, my friends here rule as well.

Oh, did you hear the Jonas Brothers are playing three SOLD OUT nights at MSG? Yeah, well, guess who's going to catch the entire show tonight because apparently the end is amazing and apparently I now love the brothers Jonas.