STEWART COPELAND

Before you read this, please understand that I don't have anywhere near the penmanship skills as some of the other prolific posters do here. I apologize for that. You won't be moved like you were reading say, Dirtymartini or EQ's accounts. I am in no way trying to boast about anything; I just felt compelled to share my angle and version of events as best I could. This forum has been too good to me for me not to. I will try not to repeat things that have already been said. So here goes:

Firstly please let me preface these memoirs by giving you a little Tamadude History 101:

PREFACE

It was the Fan Club pre-show gathering, May 27, 2007, and DirtyMartini and her little flaggy were there, and so was I. At the time, I didn't know Kelly, nor Flaggy. The Flag was "just a road sign" at the time, as she likes to say. No one knew what the future held, nor the legend that The Flag would become. As fortunate as I was to attend all three Vancouver shows, it was too early to catch the wave of Flag hysteria, and personal circumstances prevented me from getting to any other shows to try and catch it. I had purchased a ticket for Toronto in November 07, but that plan fell through, and luckily for me Grace (another one I wish I'd met in NY) stepped up and took the ticket off my hands. She didn't know me from a hole in the ground, but she wouldn't let me take less than face because she didn't want me to take a loss on it. Wow. How's that for character? That's just one sample of the many genuine acts of kindness that folks on this board would continue to show me to this day. Anyways, I felt that I had missed the chance to become part of Rock history, but I greatly enjoyed following the Flag's adventures vicariously through my fellow Nutters.

Fast forward to 2008. The tour got extended, and that meant that my chances of catching another show were looking a lot better. And maybe, just maybe, I'd finally get a chance to sign the Flag after all. Little did I know what was in store.....

THIS is one of the stories I was waiting for since meeting you at the Tick Tock Diner. And we want pics. I KNOW you've got them.

PT. 1

One day, just for curiosity I decided to check for tickets for one of the Jones Beach shows, and lo and behold there's a couple of good seats available for the second Jones Beach gig in row 11, Andy side. So I grab 'em both, and I book my flight. Mrs.Tama (who's the most understanding Mrs. in the world) could not attend, so I had a spare ticket, and offered it up to the Nutters in the tickets section of the forum. This was a move that would later prove to be a very fateful and fortunate one. I'll get into that later.

After watching the unfortunate ticketgate debacle unfold, I had come to the conclusion that MSG was not in the cards for me. So I was going to go to the final Police "amphitheatre" concert, and it was going to be my own damn finale. It was my best and last chance to sign the Flag, so I had to go for it. I just HAD to sign the Flag. As long as I could find DirtyMartini, and she didn't mind wookie paws scrawling on it, my mission would be accomplished; I could make my indelible mark on the Flag before it got to STEWART, and wrap up the tour with closure. Perfect.

What more could a nutter want, right? Right? Well....just a tad bit more, maybe. I mean, which nutter hasn't had a dream of being a Flagbearer?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Didn't think so.

TO BE CONTINUED

And then . . .

[quote="TheEqualizer"]And then . . . [/quote]

PT. 2

So then the next thing I decide to do is look at DM''s "Flagbearers wanted" monster-thread and see who's slated for the JB2 honors. There is no name posted beside JB2. WTF? How could that be? It's The Flag, for phuck sakes! So I figure the least I can do is to try out my luck, throw my hat in the ring and see what happens.

And so an email to DM I shoot. And then I wait. She assures me that she hasn't forgotten about me, but I fully understand that she is in a state of Flag limbo and can't make any promises. In return ask her to please not worry about it, and that my main priority is only to sign the Flag, and that I am completely cool with whatever happens, and that she better not worry about me or else... It was an attitude I'm grateful to have maintained all the way to the end. DM simply rocks.

TBC...........

PT.3

Then, a strange twist of fate happens.

A person you may know by the name of Dietmar, whom I had never spoken to before, emails me and expresses interest in my extra ticket. Cool! I get to watch my last Police gig with the Legendary Uberfan!

At that moment I could sense something. Something like a super-natural lucky force of some kind. I know it sounds cheesy but it's true. I assume he probably could have bought a better ticket from someone else, but he chose mine. Why? I have no idea. Dumb luck I guess.

Let me just say this about Dietmar: This man is the quintessential 'Yoda' of Police fandom. Hands down. Bar none. Exuding seasoned mastery, it seems as though he can harness the powers of the Force at will, and then use it to defeat any and all evils of the dark side. The man is cool as a cucumber, and is a class act all the way. No wonder STEWART likes him so much. He was born to receive the blue Ghost shirt. Thanks, Dietmar. I cannot say enough about Dietmar.

So then the MSG contest is launched, and my entry is in within a few minutes. But Madgrad beats me to it. She always beats me to stuff on this here forum. But then again, we think alike all the time, so I'm not surprised by that. She's great.

Then, as Madgrad predicted, an MSG ticket falls into my lap, thanks to STEWART. It's not pit, but now in hindsight I'm glad I didn't waste too much energy being upset about that. Not being in the pit didn't matter one iota in the end.

But now I needed to change my flight, and swing more time off work; no easy task. I had to pony up and pay the piper to make changes to my flight itinerary. I actually had to buy a whole new itinerary and take a credit for the first trip I bought because they wanted my firstborn as a fee for making changes.

Incidentally, through another totally separate miracle, I managed to talk my employer into not canning my ass for taking more unscheduled time off work. Suddenly I've cleared the last big hurdle and voila! I am going to the Police finale!

TBC.......

[quote="TheEqualizer"]since meeting you at the Tick Tock Diner. [/quote]

Are you talking about this occasion? :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29096307@N ... 1/sizes/l/

Hey TD: where's the rest? Did you fall asleep? No nightrest for you until this is finished!!

It was all that good Wookie Karma, TDude. Looking forward to the rest of the story.

Confused. What to do you mean Madgrad beats you to it? *just woke up, but I HAD to read the continuation*

[quote="Tamadude"][quote="TheEqualizer"]since meeting you at the Tick Tock Diner. [/quote]

Are you talking about this occasion? :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29096307@N ... 1/sizes/l/

[/quote]

Oh dear lord. i was hoping this was the group shot. I REEALLY should have combed my hair that morning.

[quote="TheEqualizer"]Confused. What to do you mean Madgrad beats you to it? *just woke up, but I HAD to read the continuation*[/quote]

Pretty sure he meant I entered before he did. Had been saying since the MSG show was announced that he'd "have" to go if a ticket dropped into his lap.

[quote="TheEqualizer"][quote="Tamadude"][quote="TheEqualizer"]since meeting you at the Tick Tock Diner. [/quote]

Are you talking about this occasion? :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29096307@N ... 1/sizes/l/

[/quote]

Oh dear lord. i was hoping this was the group shot. I REEALLY should have combed my hair that morning. [/quote]


No! That picture is totally cute! It captures the moment perfectly.

[quote="Madgrad"][quote="TheEqualizer"][quote="Tamadude"][quote="TheEqualizer"]since meeting you at the Tick Tock Diner. [/quote]

Are you talking about this occasion? :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29096307@N ... 1/sizes/l/

[/quote]

Oh dear lord. i was hoping this was the group shot. I REEALLY should have combed my hair that morning. [/quote]


No! That picture is totally cute! It captures the moment perfectly. [/quote]
If by "the moment" you mean I had just gotten off a red eye flight from the west coast and had no real sleep, I guess you're right.

Dude, you don't look tired. You look HAPPY.


Okay, we've been holding your place for awhile, TDude. Feel free to jump back in any time. . .