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Dueling Zoomerangs with Groucho
I was 10 years old when my father won the jackpot. He was my hero. It was in the spring of 1955, and the money he won (almost a thousand dollars!) saved our family once more from the wolf pacing hungrily at our door. Groucho Marx’s TV show“You Bet Your Life ”—the quiz show vehicle for film star comic Groucho Marx—was one of the most popular programs on television, although we children (my younger brother, younger sister and I) had never seen it.
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Susan and Angie’s Road Trip
Thus liberated, we girls were free to go out and about. Angie Best is stunningly beautiful with a tight, lithe body to match. Every man (repeat, every man) we passed on the street found it next to impossible to resist a quick once-over of the whole package.
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Harrowing Travel: Aspen, Part 1— Flying Blind
It was snowing heavily, and, with no visibility at all, it put me on the edge of my seat for the duration. I remember we were sitting in the first row, face up against the carpeted bulkhead. After an eternity or two of that, we finally began the steep descent, always short and dramatic. As we broke through the low-lying clouds, it took one glance out the window for me to set my feet against that wall, thinking “this is it.” The thing was, we weren’t over the Aspen Airport. We were over Starwood Estates, a community of mansions right next to Red Mountain, a mile or so over from the airport. The plane shuddered loudly and shook violently as the pilot pulled the nose up to abort the landing. Suddenly, the engines stalled…and there came a heart-stopping silence…
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Into the Malibu House of Malevolence…(part 2)
Suddenly a terrifying buzzing sound reverberated throughout the room. I thought, “Insects? Hmmm. No. . . Rattlesnake? YES!” Nagaina was coiled, set to strike, on the mat just outside the door. I screamed “NO!” at Maggie
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Into the Malibu House of Malevolence…(part 1)
The first order of business was to persuade the insect and rodent population to evacuate the premises. I had a talk with the ants, silverfish and spiders. I was friendly but stern. Our Cornish Rex cat, Shadow, ate the heads off of a few of the hefty Norwegian roof rats. They all listened, cooperated, and left. I made a few friends in town, and soon began to hear some tales about our new homestead. Wild tales. I—a single mother with a young son—was now living in the house of a major drug dealer…
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The Waiting is Over: Julian Lennon
Maybe it had something to do with our being able to sit back and relax as John McCurry cut up and took over the scene at NYC’s China Club, but from the beginning, Julian and I shared an unspoken empathy. Jules always seemed perfectly comfortable in his own skin…
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John McCurry: When Accordion Players Go Bad!
Would you believe John McCurry started in music as a young accordion virtuoso? I’ve seen pictures — pretty nerdy (but so cute)! Eventually, the wild side took over. He got himself into a heap of trouble and ended up in the hoosegow. John’s good friend, Joe Pezzullo, presented him with an acoustic guitar to take in with him. So he settled down and taught himself to play. The rest is pop music history.
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An Irving Berlin Christmas look…
Most years we light up the place like this, although there was the one year when we returned from a Thanksgiving trip to the other Coast to find the gutters so cemented with ice that Michael had to use a wood-burning iron to melt holes for the lights to clip onto.
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What to Cook For Christmas Dinner? (part 2)
(A Prime Rib Primer – Conclusion) “Twas the Night Before Christmas Dinner and all through the house, not a creature was stirring… (well, except for you) as you sneak downstairs to rub the marinade you made earlier in the day into your now perfectly dry-aged prime rib roast. If it looks a little […]