The Terrible Catsafterme

Upon my return from my October 2005 trip to California (which strongly mirrored in many ways my most recent trip this past February), I had the itch to really create some sort of record, writing, scrapbook – whatever – of my misadventures and experiences from the vacation. As this was my ‘pre-website’ days, the only outlet I had was to write them into a Quark document for future possible printing – with photos – ala a newsletter of sorts. (The photo at left was the first one of the trip – Bob on the Walk of Fame). Because this required quite a bit of effort, I never finished it. In fact I only finished the first two days of chronicling the trip. Memory will help me fill in the blanks, but here’s what I had written for day one: Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday, July 31, 1980 brought a very exciting series of events at the Hollywood Sons of the Desert convention. While the preceding days brought excitement in meeting fellow Sons, watching Laurel and Hardy films that I had never seen before, and my first brushes with L&H royalty and fame, this day was really the kicker. This day would bring my first exposure to L&H film locations and many celebrities from the films of L&H and the Our Gang. It was my first trip to the Music Box stairs, Big Business house, downtown Culver City, the first time I saw Hal Roach himself, as well as Spanky, Buckwheat, Butch, and many other Our Gang members. What a day! Read the rest of this entry »

Following our enjoyable afternoon with Lois Laurel Hawes, Jimmy and I rushed over to Mori’s Teppan Grill, a Japanese steakhouse, where we were to meet up with the elder Wileys, the Duffs, and David. This was to be my very last evening with my California friends. As vacation time nears its end, it seems the clock is set into rapid-rotating motion. It felt like I had been out West for a month with all of the activity we had packed in, but now it was down to the wire – a relaxing evening with my friends at the steakhouse and then dessert at Dave’s place. Dinner was good, and everyone seemed chipper -despite our tardiness. John ate like three bowls of rice which seemed an incredible feat to me. Read the rest of this entry »