An endurance marathon is such a unique experience…from my end, I tested the limits of how my body and mind would react to little and mostly no sleep for days…even weeks…on end and, yet doing something that I truly enjoyed and most importantly raising the consciousness level and funds for a worthwhile cause.
From the crew’s perspective, I suppose that most of them considered me to be a little crazy (OK, OK…a lot crazy!)…but, I’ve been involved in the music business for almost 40 years…what do you call that? They had to agree to support me, no matter what shape I was in…their job was to get me through it all. Some had it easier than others…some just came and fed me when I was hungry and marked my scores down and kept track of the time, while others held my head up as I used every last ounce of strength left inside me to flip the flipper one more time and kept my spirits up when they were scraping the bottom of the barrel. But WE did it! They rallied by my side and helped me do something in the world that nobody else had ever done…THREE TIMES! They are my heroes!
What I particularly loved about this event is that it created a sense of community between everyone involved… There are crew members who met each other for the first time back in ‘78 & ‘79 who are still friends today… I absolutely love it when that stuff happens! And to have some of those crew members back again in 2000, after 20 years, still believing in me and my dreams. I’m a lucky girl!
The bottom line is that I couldn’t have done it without the help of everyone involved… and that makes this even more special to me. And I get to bring attention to some wonderful charities who do great work… which gives me the purpose to successfully complete my mission.
My loving and supportive husband, Jerry, was so proud of my first two records… I’m sure he was smiling down from Heaven as I set my third pinball marathon world record in 2000… and I know he must have had a talk with God over this… I feel truly blessed to have enough good health to be able to this more than 20 years after the first couple of times. This was one heck of a 55th birthday party! Thank you Lord for giving me the strength… and thanks for keeping an eye out for my angel.
Perhaps I will give others the hope and belief in themselves they need to follow their hearts and make their dreams come true as well. I’m always available to pull some crew time…
mandi *__*
WOW!!! Can’t believe it’s all over. MANDI DID IT!!!! She’s simply amazing. 555 Hours, 55 minutes and 55 seconds. The caravan to Coffee Junction went great… in spite of one minor breakdown. The music in the parking lot in front of Coffee Junction was super. Thanks to Soul Dogs, Severin Browne and the others who performed. Special thanks to all of Mandi’s sponsors. Be sure to visit the “Charities” section of this Web site and donate to these great organizations.Press coverage of the final hours of Mandi Martin’s MillenniuM Pinball Marathon was simply amazing. Every national network and all the local stations turned out. But the special thanks goes to all of those friends who participated in helping Mandi during the past three weeks. She couldn’t have done it without you! THANK YOU!!!
More information about the documentary of this whole thing will follow soon, as well as sound bytes of Mandi’s songs and lots more!To all those who helped Mandi accomplish her goal, and you know who you are, THANK YOU!!
Hello friends, How can we ever thank you for all your love and support these last three weeks!! Those of you who have come and helped crew, and those of you who were sending your love, good energy, and prayers… we truly could not have done it without you… and ol’ Sam Cooke!!
ALERT, ALERT!! We want everyone at Coffee Junction on final Tuesday (March 28 for those of you who’ve been asleep… unlike us!!) instead of at Mandi’s house. There is going to be a lot of press following her there, and waiting there for her arrival, and we want a roaring welcome when Mandi arrives on the truck. Plan to be there between 6:00AM and 6:30AM. After that we will party at Coffee Junction until the final countdown to 1:40PM (YEAH!!)
We love you ALL!! See you Tuesday!! And remember…IT TAKES A LOT OF BALLS!!
And don’t forget: THE CD’S ARE IN!! Anyone wanting to order Mandi’s new CD Single “All The Love In Your Eyes”/”It Takes A Lot of Balls”, the cost is only $5 per CD. Make checks payable to “Jerry D. Fox Memorial Fund” and send them to: Jerry D. Fox Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 1008, Woodland Hills, CA 91365. CD’s will also be available at Coffee Junction on Tuesday.
Ok, ok, so I was half asleep when I wrote the last email… Sam Cooke was right with me… The fantastic ending is set for 6AM starting at Mandi’s house and going to Coffee Junction (at 19221 Ventura Blvd.) by about 7AM. We will party there until the great climax at 1:40PM when she makes her 555 hours, 55 minutes and 55 seconds!!
Soul Dogs will perform, as well as Severin Browne, Robin Bolden, Kate E. Oyler, Chad Watson, Larry Dean, Harold Payne, Chris Cardenas, and a special performance by Mandi during one of her hard earned breaktimes. We’re still working on Al Jarreau… we’ll have to have Sam Cooke call him… and for those of you who keep emailing me that you don’t know who Sam Cooke is… we’ll enlighten you Tuesday!!
The charities that Mandi is endorsing (Americas Breast Cancer Ride, Havenhill, Gildas Club and MusiCares) will be represented at the ending gala,and a letter commending Mandi from the Honorable Sheila Kuehl’s office will be read.
Also, THE CD’S ARE IN!! Anyone wanting to order Mandi’s new CD Single “All The Love In Your Eyes”/”It Takes A Lot of Balls”, the cost is only $5 per CD. Make checks payable to “Jerry D. Fox Memorial Fund” and send them to: Jerry D. Fox Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 1008, Woodland Hills, CA 91365. CD’s will also be available at Coffee Junction on Tuesday.
Mandi will actually be passing her previous record of 505 hours at 11:40AM tomorrow (Sunday) for a new world record. And don’t forget to watch the TODAY show, as she will be on Sunday AM! Thanks for all your help and support…we love you ALL!!
If you haven’t seen the Queen of Pins on the news recently, or heard her in radio interviews, you just haven’t had the telly or radio on… or you’ve been hanging out with ol Sam Cooke… she’s been on every major network and some of the smaller ones… Don’t miss her Sunday Morning on the Today Show.Ok, so we’re coming down the wire… the ending celebration is going to be amazing!! We have ABC coming to follow her all the way to Coffee Junction at 6:00AM, and two other stations have asked to have helicopters follow her. The Oxygen network is doing an interview after it is over, and channel 9 and 11 will be there at the ending as well.
Anyone who wants to join in the ending, please come at 5AM to join a procession of cars to Coffee Junction.
Thanks to everyone who has lent your help and support for this marathon… we couldn’t have done it without you!! Crew members, we are especially appreciative to you… we will have an ending on the flatbed truck with all the crew invited up on it to end Mandi’s last hour. We are going to rock to “It Takes a Lot of Balls”.
The last 24 hours have been very busy for the Queen of Pins!! Hope you caught her on one of the many news programs that have been featuring her. First, we had Fox News (KTTV) with Rod interviwing her live for the 6AM news, then KTLA Chanel 5 with Bill Smith came and did a live feed at 7AM and 8AM, and then came back at 10PM. KCBS came at 10am and did a pre-recorded feature that aired at 5PM with Mike Casteellucci. The LA Times came in the afternoon, and their article is in today’s paper on the front page of the Valley Section. The Daily News also came and their article is on the front page of the paper TODAY!! She just finished an interview with KNX news radio at 9AM with Jim Roope, and at 9:25AM went live on KFWB with Kathleen Sullivan and Dan Avey. WHEW!! I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted already!!
Bryant Gumbel is setting up at 3AM tonight to film the CBS Early Show for tomorrow, and ABC news is on their way over…CBS news will also be here at 10:30AM to film a spot to go out around the country to their National Affiliates!! And I just got an email from the Today Show that wants to film….this is becoming quite a story!!
And we need help!! These last few days we’re getting down to the wire, and the film crew really needs a break. They’ve been filling in on crew whenever needed, and are now down to the wire on the documentary. They really need to concentrate these last few days on getting the footage they need to make this documentary the best that it can be. So we NEED MORE CREW!! With all the media around, it puts extra pressure on crew. We’re down to the last few days, so it shouldn’t be long, but if anyone can help or anyone you know can help, especially in the wee hours of the AM, it would be greatly appreciated!! Email Renee Bodie at BBP23@aol.com if you can help! You can get your friends involved, email this to anyone you can!! THANK YOU!! Good ol Sam Cooke offered to help, but the news media just couldn’t buy that he was really around…Mandi kept telling them that he was “right here” though!! Think they bought it?
