Seabiscuit and Santa Anita
Monday, June 11th, 2007
Saturday, February 16 was the last full day of my California trip. I had been to Vegas, been to Palm Springs, met up with Lisa, met a monkey, met tons of celebrities, ate sushi, scouted Laurel and Hardy locations, been to the Hoover Dam, seen “The Tonight Show” live, visited Jack Hanlon, been to the Nixon Library, scouted some famous graves, toured the Disney Studios, been to the Magic Castle, seen Penn & Teller, seen (some of) “Love,” saw “Phantom,” been to Disneyland, visited Randy Skretvedt, spent money, shopped ’til I dropped, and ate like an out-of-control lumberjack…and now it had come down to this, the last day. Read the rest of this entry »
I was rather excited to meet Kristy McNichol at the Hollywood Collectors Show during the February 2007 show. Not sure why. Mostly because she was such a teen magazine cover star during the days that I picked up every issue of 16 Magazine (mostly for the KISS articles) during the late 1970’s. I thought she was cute in pictures from the film Little Darlings, a flick that to this day I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen. I also never saw her on the TV show Family, which she starred in for four years, but I’m sure I caught her in some ABC Afterschool Specials and I know I saw her in Two Moon Junction. 
My last trip to California in 2005 yielded one major disappointment as I was not able to meet Dennis DeYoung following his concert in Vegas. The big disappointment on this trip was Friday night, February 16, 2007 after the Courts show. Bob had gotten himself, David, and me tickets to see one of Ray Bradbury’s live plays Leviathan ’99 – an outer space version of Moby Dick at the Fremont Centre Theatre in South Pasadena. As exciting as it sounds, it simply wasn’t. The biggest letdown, however, was that Ray Bradbury himself was not in attendance. This theater was as small as they come, seating maybe fifty – and it was only about half full. Many – if not most – times, Ray Bradbury will be present at the performances and then have a rather intimate talk with the small crowd after the show. 
Okay, so it’s not my greatest celebrity encounter in the world – it’s still fun. During the Summer of 2006, I became obsessed with collecting every Number One Billboard song ever produced – and wedged snugly in the middle of 1956, not long after the dawn of rock, was a snappy little number called “The Wayward Wind” by Gogi Grant. It peaked at number one on June 16 and remained there for six weeks. Have to admit: first time I’d ever heard of her. Flash forward to February 16, 2007. I’m at the Hollywood Collector’s Show and who should I see sitting there, virtually alone? None other than Gogi Grant herself! And at only $5.00 for this cardboard 5 x 7 head shot, how could I go wrong? 
The warm, sticky air and the coming of the “J” months heralded the onslaught of Summer. And as if just to prove that it was coming, it was time to celebrate Memorial Day – the kickoff to swimming, laying out, cookouts, non-stop air conditioners, and long Summer walks. These are all things that before last Summer I wanted no part of (except for the air conditioners of course), but now am feverishly looking forward to. Denise wisely chose to hold her picnic on the Sunday before the actual holiday this year. This would give everyone a day to relax and recuperate on the holiday itself: Monday, May 28.