Well, dear readers, you can just call me Senor BK, because yesterday I visited Olvera Street and ate a taco and enchilada. Senor BK hadn’t been to Olvera Street for over forty-five years, so it was quite nostalgic for Senor BK to revisit the very famous street. Do you know if you slip and inadvertently add an “i” to Senor you get Senior? Senior BK. That doesn’t work for me at all, frankly or even stevely. Where was I? Oh, yes, Senor BK’s Thursday Adventure. The Adventure began when I woke up. Waking up is always an adventure, especially when you’re my age. I had quite a few e-mails waiting for me. The most fun of them was a pdf of my galley, which I’m happy to say I approved within an hour. It looks swellegant, I must say. All that’s left is the cover proof to approve and I’ll have that by Monday at the latest. We hope to be able to start taking pre-orders very soon, perhaps even this weekend. After that, I had to jog and do an errand, and then cousin Alan and neighbor Tony showed up and off we went to the Metro Station. Alan and I had never ridden the subway before – Tony had, so he directed us to the parking lot of the station across from Universal Studios. The parking lot, unfortunately, was completely full. We drove down to Ventura Blvd. and parked in another lot two blocks away. We then purchased our tickets, although we never had to show them to anyone (if they catch you riding sans ticket you are fined $250, but no one was checking today). After about seven minutes the train arrived and we got on. It was a fascinating ride for me, because I had no idea how many places it actually stopped. First stop was Hollywood and Highland, then Hollywood and Vine, then Hollywood and Western, then Sunset and Vermont, then Santa Monica Blvd. and Vermont (the LACC stop), then a whole slew of other stops. It was a very smooth ride. I can’t say it’s a whole lot faster than driving, but it’s a whole lot less aggravating than sitting in traffic on the awful freeways. Our stop was the end of the line – Union Station. Now, in the hard-to-believe department, this was my first time inside Union Station – me, a fifty-eight year native of Los Angeles, California. Union Station is amazing, and it’s in gorgeous condition. We then left Union Station and walked across the street and there we were on Olvera Street, which is literally one block long. I must say it was exactly as I remembered it. I could feel a wave of the past float over me, and I could see my brother and I running around being mischievous and wanting all the toys and serapes and hats. It’s just the same – same vendors, same restaurants, same toys, same serapes, and same hats. We chose one of the nicer restaurants and had an excellent lunch. The chips were especially fresh and yummilicious. Alan bought a back-scratcher for his ever-lovin’ Dee Dee, and it was fun walking up and down the street and looking at the buildings and shops and stands. The street has what is the earliest known house in Los Angeles, built in 1812. The ride home was even faster, and Senor BK felt it was a grand Thursday Adventure.
I did manage to get some writing done, and I had to run a few more errands and such. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I have a busy day ahead of me and we must not dawdle, Amaryllis.
Last night I finished watching a motion picture on DVD entitled The Four Horsemen Of The Apocolypse, the 1962 version directed by Mr. Vincente Minnelli. I saw it when it first came out and I remember being terribly bored by it, although I loved its musical score and the production was impressive. Time has been kind to it, and I like it better now than I did then. It’s beautifully made and designed, and Mr. Andre Previn’s score is a key component of what makes the film tick. Glenn Ford is an actor I like very much and he’s quite good here. Carl Boehm is excellent, as is Paul Henried, Paul Lukas, and Charles Boyer. Yvette Mimieux is fetchingly fetching as Chi Chi -she did have some odd names in films, didn’t she, what with Weena and Chi Chi, which sound more like bathroom functions than names. The female lead is the beautiful Ingrid Thulin (one of Benjamin Kritzer’s first crushes). From her first line of dialogue it became instantly apparent that her entire performance was dubbed by another actress. Since Miss Thulin spoke very good English, it’s a mystery as to why. As soon as I heard the voice I knew that the dubber was Angela Lansbury. The film is too long (two-and-a-half hours worth) and it meanders a bit too much for its own good, and the melodrama gets a bit thick (Lee J. Cobb is at his hammiest – happily he’s gone after the first ten minutes), but it’s a handsome film. The ending is so abrupt, however, that you just sit there and scratch your head. The transfer on this region 2 (from France) DVD is excellent.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Don’t I have things to do today? Don’t I have a lunch with Miss Lauren Rubin, who will soon be starring in The Brain From Planet X? Don’t I have to meet with my stage manager to hammer out a rehearsal schedule? Don’t I have to come home and sit on my couch like so much fish and prepare to do the celebrity signing show this weekend? I do, therefore I am.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, lunch, meet, hammer, and do a whole slew of errands. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player, and your DVD player? I’ll start – CD, the soundtrack to The Constant Gardener, which I don’t think very much of. DVD, Fellini’s Amarcord, certainly not my favorite Fellini or even close to my favorite. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, senors y senoritas?