North of Hollywood, South of Gay

Today we went to the big show!

If you've not heard me talk about this before, a couple times a year my friend Pat and I go to the Hollywood Collector Show. (We call it the 'autograph show'.) We've been doing this for 11 years now. I can verify the exact date of our first attendance since it was the day after Roddy McDowell died. It used to be that just he and I went regularly. In the early years we were sometimes joined by our friend Clayton, and sometimes by Pat's wife Lisa. In the past couple years our party has grown to include several of Pat and Lisa's friends from their school as well as their two daughters. Today, the party was myself, Pat, Dina, Robb, and Jessica, Pat's daughter.

Basically, one pays $20 to get in and then one wanders around a very large multi-use room at the Burbank Hilton. There are rows and rows of tables, and at each table are generally two or three former movie or TV stars, selling autographed pictures. For the most part these celebrities represent older shows and their own acting days are usually far behind them. Although, occasionally you'll see someone there who is still getting work. There are usually several ex-pin-up girls or models also in attendance.

When we first started going, you could pick up a black-and-white picture and have it autographed for $10, with color pictures being $15 or $20. Over the years that price drifted upwards to $20 per picture, generally regardless of the celebrity involved. (They all set their own prices.) Today we were shocked to find that almost every picture had jumped up to $30, with selected celebrities charging even higher prices. Myself, I rarely actually buy any pictures, and this price hike will certainly prevent me from buying many in the future. It's a lot of fun to walk around and gawk regardless.

My friends bought a variety of pictures today. We waited in lines of various lengths for:

Carrie Fisher, whose line was the longest and who was also charging $35 for picture, AND who was also probably the most professional in her demeanor and least friendly person we met;

Malcolm McDowell, who seemed very likable and not at all a murderous droog (see his picture below);

Paul Reubens, whom you'll remember as Pee Wee Herman and who now looks good but just a bit faded, like clothes that have been washed too often;

Richard Kiel, best known as Jaws in a couple James Bond movies,

Yaphet Kotto, the villain from Live and Let Die; and

Gloria Hendry, a Bond girl in Live and Let Die, but one who dies.

Also seen today were: Beau Bridges (the other Bridges brother), Judy Tenuta ('the Goddess'), John Wesley Shipp (played the Flash on the TV show of the same name), Susan Olsen (Cindy Brady), Robert Picardo, Garret Wang, and John de Lancie (all from various incarnations of Star Trek), Pat Harrington (Schneider from One Day at a Time), Ginger Lynn (former porn star who briefly went legit and former co-worker of Dale, a good friend of mine), Kevin Sorbo (Hercules!), Charles Robinson (from Night Court), Debbie Reynolds (yes, *that* Debbie Reynolds, who looks much, much better than her daughter, Carrie Fisher, these days), and Tony Curtis. I don't need to say anything about Tony Curtis' credits because he's Tony freakin' Curtis! Although, sadly, he looks really bad these days. He has that 'potato' look— white and hairless and shapeless— and he's getting around in a motorized wheelchair.

There were many other people there as well, people whose names don't mean anything to me or whose names I can't recall, like the voice of Charlie Brown and the guy who played Cousin Oliver on the Brady Bunch.

It was a fun day! Naturally, we also went to Portos for lunch before hand. Portos is a Cuban sandwich shop to die for. There is always a huge line of people to get food and it's a mad scramble to find places to sit, but the sandwiches are so worth it!

Until next time!

"Fame is like a shaved pig with a greased tail, and it is only after it has slipped through the hands of some thousands, that some fellow, by mere chance, holds on to it."— Davy Crockett

Dina with Malcom McDowell

Robb and Gloria Hendry

This evening I saw one of the most ridiculous fashion choices ever.

Ok, I'm not one to brag about my clothing. I wear a lot of military surplus and work-style clothing because that's what I'm comfortable in. It's generally on the loose side, which helps conceal some of the extra weight I'm carrying around. Deeper than that though, I grew up when hippies wearing fatigues were all the rage. I have little desire to espouse the hippie lifestyle, but in my head that look is equated to a certain level of rebellion.

So, now that we all know my clothing choices are 35 years out of date, I can own up to not understanding popular clothes of today. Maybe no single piece of clothing more exemplifies this chronological backwardness than the ultra-tight jeans with the ridiculously small legs that are the rage in the teenage set. I think they make kids look under-nourished, like models in training. They also have a very feminizing effect on young men. I 100% find them distasteful and unflattering. These are maybe the only pants I can think of that make me wish teenagers would show more underwear hanging out the tops of their pants.

Imagine my shock tonight at Starbucks when I saw a somewhat overweight man in his mid-30's wearing these pants.

The legs are so tight that they affect the wearer's ability to bend his legs. So, the wearer tends to walk in shorter, mincing steps. These pants would have been the rage back when the Chinese were binding women's feet. So, there I am reading and enjoying a grande drip when this guy prances by in his black constrictors and a black tee, the pants pushing his lower back upwards so as to emphasize a little pot belly in front. I wanted to laugh after getting over my disbelief. Did he look in the mirror and tell himself "Oh yeah!"?

/shakes head

So, I know you're all wondering, "What was John reading at Starbucks tonight?" I am deep into Anthony Trollope's The Warden these days. You'll recognize this as the first of his Barchester novels, from which sprang the book and BBC series Barchester Towers.

I love reading Trollope. (Well, it can be said that I have an over-fondness for the entire Victorian period.) Trollope is a bit heavy-handed with his narrator's voice at times— but not in a fatal way. Rather, the reader is always sure that there is a narrator present. What I find most remarkable about Trollope though is the way he defines his characters one by one and then allows them to dictate the plot. It's as if he were a master clockmaker who only needs to wind up his invention in order to have the entire drama play out. In this particular novel, the unwinding of the plot begins on the first page with the introduction of the first characters. It's masterfully done. I recommend it for anyone looking to expand his/her reading selection. I was able to buy a copy at Barnes & Noble in their handsome imprint for less than $7.

Speaking of which, yesterday I received a couple coupon stickers from Barnes & Noble in the mail. Ever since mentioning it in these pages, I've been burning to dive into Pepys' diary so I used the first coupon to order that. Can't wait until it arrives!

Until next time!

"They are best dressed, whose dress no one observes."— Anthony Trollope

Today turned out to be quite pleasant despite a rocky beginning.

I say 'rocky beginning' because I went to bed about 5 AM and had difficulty falling asleep, as well as difficulty staying asleep. I set the alarm for 11 AM and managed to wake up a few minutes before it went off. Then, in less than an hour, I both showered and dressed. That may not sound like an accomplishment, but there are some days I'm still working on those things two hours after I've crawled out of bed.

My agenda this morning had three items on it: deposit my 401(k) cash-out check in the bank, call my friend Russell, and talk to my friend Pat. Busy day, eh! Long story short, I got out of bed to the alarm so I wouldn't accidentally oversleep banking hours. Everything after that was easy.

The day 'officially' ended well much later, when I realized that I was scheduled for jury duty tomorrow and made 'the phone call'. It may not work the same in other counties and states, but in San Bernardino county, you call the jury hotline number the night in advance in they'll tell you if you need to come down to the courthouse in the morning. In almost 30 years here, I have never had to report. (And, yes, I'm certain to be jinxing myself by stating that so publicly!)

I had a gut feeling that I would have to report this time. Customarily my jury service has always been at the downtown courthouse, but this latest summons was for the courthouse in Fontana. I don't know why I got simmoned so far away. The fact that it was outside of my driving range right now and that I would have to spend a few hours on the lover-ly San Bernardino bus system was the source of my foreboding. Thankfully, I'm out until next time.

To cap off the day, I decided to have dinner at IHOP. My friend Perry said on Facebook a few hours ago that he had dinner at the Waffle House. That put the idea in my head. However, since we don't have Waffle Houses in California, I thought I would settle for IHOP. Much to my surprise, the local IHOP was closed. I thought they were all open 24 hours, but I was either wrong or this particular restaurant is closed for good. I suspect, I was wrong. In my car now and hungry, I decided to head up to Denny's, which I knew to be open and serving breakfast foods. Not much more I can say about that— Denny's is Denny's.

Talk at ya later.

"Don't let me die at Denny's. If for some reason I do, please drag my body across the street."— Lauri Roggenkamp

I haven't posted for a few days. It was not my intention to take a holiday. I'm generally 'aware' of not posting. That is, most nights when I elect not to, it's a conscious decision. But, that said, those nights sometimes string together without be realizing how long the trend has grown. So, here I am tonight... even though I don't know as I have anything to say.

The major reason I've been away is a new video game— King's Bounty: The Legend. This game is ridiculously easy and fun to play. It's an update of a game I played and watched being played almost 20 years ago on the Sega Genesis. (That game was called simply King's Bounty.) After the death of the Genesis system, the game transitioned to PC's as Heroes of Might and Magic, spawning many sequels in the series over a period of 15 years. Then, a few years ago, the owner's of the Might and Magic license went belly up. I don't know how the original name became available again, but when I saw it on the shelf a month or so ago, I knew I had to play.

The original game was an early and simplified version of the RTS games that are so popular. ('RTS' = 'Real Time Simulation') Games like Warcraft and Civilization are popular examples of this type of game. (Warcraft, not World of Warcraft.) Basically, they're a type of game where you begin with limited resources, and you have to gather more resources, build your settlements, and generally build some sort of army to take on the bad guys who are doing the same as you somewhere else on the playing field. In King's Bounty ('KB') you're not going to be building anything other than your armies. You begin as a treasure searcher for the king with a small number of units available to fight battles for you. As you traipse about the map, you gather items and experience to further your goals. And you fight. There are many wandering and planned encounters for you to fight your way through.

When a battle occurs, the game field changes to a close-up grid of hexagons, with your army on one side and the opponent's army on the other. You may have up to five types of units fighting for you. (For instance, at my current play progress, I have Archers, Priests, Archmages, Guardsmen, and Chargers.) Based on the speed of each unit then, play progresses as unit after unit is moved or otherwise triggered. Units next to an enemy's unit may attack. As you may expect, each type of unit has its own abilities— Archers can shoot from a distance, Priests can heal units or bless them, etc.

The new game has a quest system which also drives a storyline. In addition to wandering the maps looking for resources, you will also be sent to new places as part of the story. Very often you come across fortifications or other structures from which you may buy new armies to replace your dwindling units. Although I play largely with different types of humans, there are also many different dwarven unit types, elven unit types, demon unit types, animal unit types, etc.

So far I'm having a blast playing the game. Any time I start it, it is usually hours before I log out again. Time goes by very quickly! Just by looking at the map segments that I've uncovered I'd say I'm about two-thirds to three-quarters complete now. As much fun as it is, I find myself hoping to finish soon now so I can get back to better uses of my time!

Until next time!

"I think it's wrong that only one company makes the game Monopoly."— Stephen Wright