{"id":2207,"date":"2023-09-25T01:35:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T01:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/?p=2207"},"modified":"2023-08-19T13:38:07","modified_gmt":"2023-08-19T13:38:07","slug":"chap-13-the-beginning-of-a-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/?p=2207","title":{"rendered":"Chap. 13 – The Beginning of a Movie?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chapter 13<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Beginnings of a Movie?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Traveling down the Pacific Coast Highway, the next scheduled visit actually<\/em> on the list was Santa Cruz to visit Debbie, somebody Max said knew we were coming.  With Max back on the bus, Patty was excited to catch Max up with her new movie idea \u201cThe Rumpkins \u2013  A 2022 Merry Pranksters Story.\u201d  Sally asked what other movies she\u2019d been part of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cThe Public<\/em> Domain<\/em>!\u201d Huck interjected, \u201cI even had a leading role!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cHe didn\u2019t have a single line,\u201d Patty said, describing her 2015 movie about the I-35 bridge collapse, “but yes, Huck played the truck driver role I had in mind exquisitely<\/em>.  I had him backed up on the bridge waiting patiently for the traffic to get moving when he notices the lady in the convertible in front of him seems to be having an argument on her cell phone with her husband, or boyfriend.  Then in a fit of exasperation she flings her cell phone out the car and the camera, in slow motion, catches the downward flight of the phone into the Mississippi River, two hundred feet below.  Huck honks his horn and gives her the thumbs-up sign, perfectly capturing the look of someone who knew exactly what the lady driver in front of him was doing – and congratulating her on the decision to toss the phone, as well as the guy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u201cAfter he beeps, the lady, who just tossed the phone, glances into her rear-view mirror, sees Huck in his cab, his smile and the thumbs-up sign, and then Whoosh! Huck\u2019s truck drops out of sight in her rear-view mirror and plunges into the river, leaving the lady in front of him as the last car that made it past where the bridge collapsed.  You were just great Huck, better than a thousand words.  But the movie went on another two hours about that lady, and you never appeared again.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Rocky interrupted, \u201cSo who\u2019s this Debbie character we\u2019re off to visit?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cTurn your camera on,\u201d Max said.  \u201cThis is a good story.  On one of my earlier trips visiting Peace Corps friends around the country, traveling with a buddy named Bob, we get to Tucson and knock on the door of my old Peace Corps friend \u2013 an old girlfriend really, but she tells me, more or less, \u2018Nice to see you Max, but I\u2019ve moved on.\u2019  That night Bob and I slept in the car . . . it was a station wagon with a mattress in back . . . at the University of Arizona football stadium parking lot. The next morning, on the way out-of-town, we pass this old 1950s style motel with an outdoor swimming pool and there\u2019s maybe a dozen bathing beauties poolside \u2026 so we slow down, take a second look, and decide maybe we should stay one more night in Tucson.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cOh Boy!  I can\u2019t wait to meet Debbie!\u201d  Huck exclaimed, interrupting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cOK, keep listening, Max said.  \u201cAfter checking in and donning bathing suits, we go poolside and almost immediately are offered kahlua and coffee by this mighty fine-looking group of bikini-clad females.  Wow!  How lucky can two single guys get!  Turns out the Tucson Open, a pro golf tournament, was in town and these were the caddies\u2019 girlfriends who had little interest in watching their boyfriend hold some golfer\u2019s putter.  But they were not available that night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u201cAt any rate, reading the local paper, I spied a lecture at the University as something we might do instead.  Get there, and it’s packed. I perch myself on a ledge and in walks this tallish, nice-looking co-ed, looking for a seat, so I offer my perch. At the intermission I introduce her to Bob. Before the night is over, she says, ‘My name’s Debbie. Call me if you stick around.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u201cSo of course we stuck around and get invited to Debbie\u2019s place for dinner the following night.  It turns out Bob\u2019s the lucky one who gets to spend the night, and I\u2019m back at the football stadium parking lot \u2013 which wasn\u2019t so bad because you could get into the locker rooms for a shower . . . It was the old stadium and not locked up . . . After a couple nights of this, Bob says to me, \u2018You know, I think you and Debbie were made for each other, both tall, both Jewish, both good at wisecracks. Come on over tonight, and you stay, not me.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Later, I learned more about all this cupid-playing. It was Debbie’s idea, not Bob’s that I spend the night with her. Debbie tells me, \u2018You know, I just had to try this fling with guys to see if I really preferred being a lesbian.\u2019  Okay, it was a set up . . . but we\u2019ve stayed friends, good friends, and I\u2019ve gotten to know her entire family.  Debbie\u2019s now living with her mother in Santa Cruz.  They\u2019re excited to meet all of you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cWell, yeah, fun story, Max,\u201d Patty says, \u201cbut we\u2019re not doing re-enactments.\u201d  Which led Patty to secretly ask Rocky\u2019s help in dreaming up some fishing escapade for Sally to star in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Arriving in Santa Cruz, Debbie had her own place not far from her mother\u2019s.  Between the two of them they had room for us all.  It was amazing how much Debbie and her mom, Leba, loved Max – which easily attached to the rest of us.  They wanted to hear all our stories.  They took us to the wharf for dinner.   They wanted Max to tell the entire story about him and Debbie.  They encouraged us to rabble-rouse the entire state of California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     They also provided some really good political types to look up if we ended up in Arizona doing the Rumpkins organizing.  Max, in his story, had forgotten to mention that Debbie\u2019s dad, who died young, had been Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives and best friends with the Udalls, one of whom was still around. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The second day in Santa Cruz, Max and Sally hired a boat to go deep-sea fishing.  Rocky decided to go too.  Patty went along to do some filming \u2013 us not knowing she had a plot with Rocky to make it movie-worthy.  They came back with either a tall fishing tale, according to Sally, or almost the biggest catch ever, according to Rocky, but no fish.  \u201cIt\u2019s all on film,\u201d Patty says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film\u2019s rolling:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 .  . . the Monterey Bay waters a brilliant blue, the Pier and its distinctive roller coaster disappearing in the distance, when Rocky starts telling Sally the shallow waters near the pier are famous for these large dolphin-sized fish that glisten yellow, green and blue, called Mahi Mahi.  \u201cLet\u2019s go back by the pier.  Land one of those, and you\u2019ll make the paper,\u201d Rocky tells her. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A little later we all gasp as Sally tries to pull up this huge dolphin-sized fish exclaiming it\u2019s a Mahi Mahi!  [while Rocky explains to us viewers that unbeknownst to Sally he had swum under the boat and attached a large sequined shimmering mannequin to her line].  In the movie she keeps tugging and tugging, and Max says \u201cHere\u2019s a net.  I\u2019ll hold the line; you jump in and help get it up with the net.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cUnfortunately,\u201d Patty interjects, \u201cSally didn\u2019t take the bait, didn\u2019t jump-in, didn\u2019t get her blouse all clinging wet, and so the film is going to the cutting room floor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, we watch Sally saying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo!  You jump in \u2013 that sucker is big enough to eat me.\u201d  A little later the film shows the fish getting away (Rocky having untethered it), and Max saying to Sally, \u201cAnd you said you knew how to fish!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Back at Debbie\u2019s watching all this, Sally defends herself.  \u201cI knew it wasn\u2019t a Mahi Mahi.  Mahi Mahi don\u2019t come this far north.  I was just playing along with your silly gag movie idea.\u201d  Yeah, right, we all thought.      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     After 48 hours in Santa Cruz, we motored on towards San Luis Obispo – not knowing that our blog was about to become a sensation and that Patty would have a movie that included our <\/em>role in a terroristic plot to blow up the Los Angeles Dodger’s baseball stadium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter 13 The Beginnings of a Movie?      Traveling down the Pacific Coast Highway, the next scheduled visit actually on the list was Santa Cruz to visit Debbie, somebody Max said knew we were coming.  With Max back on the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2207"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2758,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207\/revisions\/2758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}