Well, dear readers, this month is flying by, like a gazelle doing a pirouette whilst doing a grand jete. The gazelle is now in traction. Speaking of traction, I attended the Hollywood Show yesterday, my first time attending the Hollywood Show since Ray Courts sold it. I must say, it was very crowded, and I must say the admission charge is a whopping thirty bucks for the day. I remember when it was ten – maybe it was even five at the beginning. I met Barry Pearl at the Marriott. I’d gotten there first and the entrance I use is on Hollywood Way and both entrance and exit arms were up, so I found a nice place to park by the medical center that’s there, then I directed Barry to do the same. Normally, you use a different entrance and exit that requires payment of ten bucks or something. In any case, I’ll give you the Reader’s Digest version. I basically just followed Barry around – he knows a lot of folks. We began with Kristy McNichol, who looks pretty great for sixty years of age. Barry had never met her, but her handler has handled Barry so that was the in. We both were introduced to her and she’s just delightful. Later, I told her that we’d met at the Playboy Mansion way back in 1982 and that made her smile. Then we spent some time with a very nice man named Randall Carver and next to him, Shelley Herman, who has a new book out about being an NBC page. She’s also a fan of The First Nudie Musical and saw it when it came out, in Westwood. Oh, and before any of that, we’d said hello to Alan Oppenheimer, a wonderful character actor – he has to be in his mid-nineties, but he’s very alert. I told him I’d worked with him in a Partridge Family episode, and he said he’d done three of them and I smiled and said I’d done five. He was very lovely. I’m not going to remember everyone, because Barry likes to talk to everyone and I get very shy about it. I did see my friend Paul Magwood, who I’ve known for close to forty-five years now. He’s a dealer and was selling posters and CDs. Let’s see – who else? Well, we both knew Donna Pescow, so we had a great time with her – she’s the loveliest person. We chatted with Leslie Easterbrook, who was in my show Start at the Top back in 1972. We talked to Walter Koenig, who I’ve never met, but he knew who I was from my acting days, so that was fun. We talked to George Chakiris, who, for the first time ever, let his hair and beard be its natural color – gray – and I have to say he looked great like that. He looks great, period, and he has to be around ninety-two now. Barry spoke to William Shatner, but I didn’t go anywhere near that. He told Shatner how they met and Shatner with a mischievous smile said, “Don’t ever tell me that story again.” We spent a nice amount of time with our pal Adrian Zmed and Barry chatted up Donna Mills, who looks great and she brings her own professional ring light with her for photo ops. Oh yeah, we said hello to Lainie Kazan. I get really tired at these things, so we went to the Daily Grill in the hotel and had a really nice lunch – we both had the same thing – a cup of clam chowder (more like a bowl, really) and a wedge with ranch dressing, also very good. Then I took my leave and Barry went back in to say goodbye to a few folks.
Prior to that, I’d gotten about five hours of sleep and was out the door before nine and I met Robert Yacko at a place called Bea-Bea’s in a little strip mall right down the street from what was the Columbia Ranch, where I shot all those Partridge Family episodes. I’d been there at least once before but for lunch. I ordered a bacon and cheese omelet and I have to say it was the best omelet I’ve ever had. Light, fluffy, flavorful and just right. The hash browns were also excellently excellent. From there, I went directly to the Hollywood Show.
After the Hollywood Show, I moseyed on over to the mail place and thankfully both important envelopes were there. From there, I came right home, and it was already about three-thirty. I answered e-mails, and then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I watched a Blu and Ray, something I haven’t done in ages – a motion picture entitled The Bridges of Toko-Ri, based on a book by James Michener and starring William Holden, Grace Kelly, Mickey Rooney, and Fredric March. I’d never seen a frame of the film, even though I like the actors and am a fan of the director, Mark Robson. It’s a weird movie and I certainly didn’t love it, but the actors are all terrific and I have to say that the transfer is pretty great, with absolutely perfect color and it’s in its proper ratio of 1.85 for the very first time.
After that, I listened to some music and that was pretty much it.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll do some writing, but mostly it will be a ME day. Not sure what I’ll do about food – I’ll either go to Gelson’s and get a little New York steak and a baked potato, or I have an Uber Eats coupon and I have something I could get from a jernt I love. We’ll see how I feel – I think the most expedient thing would be Gelson’s. We shall see. Otherwise, I’ll just be lazy and watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow will be more of the same and I’m hoping banks are open – if so, I’ll go cash one check and deposit the cash. Tuesday is Independence Day and I’m staying in the house and going nowhere. I think the illegal fireworks will be horrible and those selfish jerks who do it should have bad, bad karma visit them. The rest of the week will be hoping for a major miracle, writing, and maybe a meeting and meal or two.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, do whatever needs doing, write, have a ME day, eat, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had fun visiting the Hollywood Show for the first time in well over a decade.