Hi Mari, I'll be leaving LA around noon. Hope to be there roughly seven. If you need to contact me it's possible to email my friend, Ray, at letitripal@hotmail.com He's expecting a possible email from you or Rick and will pass it on to me when I call him. Thanks. See you then, Paul

It's about time I voted on this one - 5's !

Leah! If you're back in town, come tonight--Paul R is coming.

Ahhh! I wish I could come tonight, I had been planning on it, but unfortunately I am needed elsewhere... there's a lot going on for me right now. I wish I could hang out with all of you! Have fun without me, maybe I'll come next week. Sorry I'll miss Paul. BTW, Mari, i like your song but can't vote as I don't know the original. Have fun tonight!

Leah, welcome back! It would have been great if you had been able to make it Thursday night, but there will be other nights at the cafe, and maybe another night with Paul. He's a trip! He may stop in on his way back, probably on Jan. 29. Johnny & Leah, thanks for the positive feedback. I sometimes parody obscure songs just because I feel like it. And my boss (who I like--not the boss in the song) kept playing it in the office a lot for a while, which put it in my head.

So what happened at six o'clock?

Mari D - Don't think I ever voted on this one, just had asked my friend to message you about my travel plans on any entry you por Rick might have made on that day (Jan. 8th). Oops! Site won't take my vote so Ray must have "Fived" it ahead of me (on same computer up here presently). Well, that's where I was going with my vote anyway. Another very fine job. Had a friend (a dumb one) in high school who wore a broken WRISTWATCH every day. When he and I and another friend would sneak off campus for lunch we asked him at least once for the time and he ALWAYS looked at it and said "12:16". . I'd look at the other guy and say, "well, we've still got plenty of time then before 5th period." And we'd roll down Van Nuys Blvd. laughing like loons, clueless Mike in the backseat looking somewhat confused. Funny, we got in a lot of trouble my Senior year for being late to 5th period. Don't know how that could have happened.

Thanks, Paul. Now there's a student who comes into the office from time to time wearing a wristwatch with a band that's more than twice the size of his wrist. It's a surprise that it hasn't fallen off yet. So you used to hang out on Van Nuys Blvd. Did you ever go there in a metallic purple Chevy about three inches from the ground?

Mari D - Funny you should ask that! The "lunch-time escape vehicle" was a Purple Corvair (is that a Chevy?). It wasn't lowered, per se, but due to the odd weight distribution of the Corvair (engine in the rear, trunk in the front) I recall it did sit rather low. It was originally White but my friend, Rick Kohl (you know, I THINK he lived in San Jose during the 80's, haven't spoken with him since then; who knows, he could still be there and you might know him, tho' I realize San Jose is a rather large city), had it painted purple at one of those $19.95 or $29.95 paint places ("Kar-Koa" or "Car-Coa", or something like that), just to be different. Van Nuys Blvd...Went there once a few years later in an old limo that belonged to a NJ Mob-type guy named Jack Molinas (NBA gambling scandal from the 1950's that engulfed Connie Hawkins, among others). He was out of town and I knew his L.A. driver/gofer at the time. About six of us were cruising the Blvd. in this thing and we probably didn't have a dollar's worth of dimes to rub together between us. We rolled down a back window and some kid hangin' out mistook us for Rock Stars or something and asked "Hey, are you guys rich?" I yelled out, "Rich? Ha-yeah, we're FILTHY RICH", cackled demonically a few times and rolled up the window as we pulled away and headed North down the Boulevard. About a month later someone "hit" Mr. Molinas while he was relaxing in his back year in the Hollywood Hills. Gave me the chills when I heard about it...