Patrick Wayne and Stephanie Powers Reuniting January 11

Above, yours truly with Patrick Wayne in Colorado in 2022.

If I were still living in Los Angeles, I would likely attend this event in North Hollywood on January 11.

Patrick Wayne and Stephanie Powers, co-stars in the 1963 John Wayne feature McLintock! will be appearing at the El Portal Theater. 

They will be doing a one-night performance reading of Love Letters. The performance is to benefit the William Holden Wildlife Foundation.

The official John Wayne website posted the following:

For more information, go here.

LAPD Partners Caught In The Act

Above, the LAPD police car involved was similar to this one.

Back in the 1990s, I worked armed security patrol in-between insurance claim jobs. I had a permit to carry a .38 Special or .357 Magnum revolver while on duty.

I forget which security company I was working for when I came upon a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) squad car in the parking lot of a park in the North Hollywood/Sherman Oaks area. It was either AMSEC or Protection One I worked for at the time. 

The other day, a friend on Facebook jogged my memory of the incident I am about to describe. 

This is what happened:

I went to patrol the park's parking lot and in a far, dark corner, I saw a LAPD police car parked. A pair of bare legs sticking out the car window caught my attention when I first saw the police car. Driving closer, I saw one male and one female LAPD cops in the back seat of the squad car having "indoor Olympics". They got hit by my spotlight. The male cop got out and tried to give me a hard time. I just said, "Personally, I don't care. But we can have your watch commander deal with this." He backed off. During this time, the lady cop, a pretty blonde, was hurriedly getting dressed. I think the two were partners (in more ways than one).

I didn't bother to notify LAPD of the matter. I thought the officers were embarrassed enough. We all got a good laugh over this at the security company's headquarters. They all knew about it as I went "Code 6" (unit has arrived to location, conducting field investigation) with dispatch when I was approaching the police car. I don't recall if I had to submit a written report.

This kind of activity involving police officers isn't all that rare. All one has to do is Google it. 

Here's an example.

The Great Deluge of 2017

Above, yours truly in the car at the market today. 

The heaviest rainstorm this season struck Los Angeles today.

It was predicted that one inch of rain per hour is expected to fall in the area. I believe it! I had to drive to West L.A. and back in it.

Jes, her mom and I went to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center for a meeting that did not take place. Somebody got the information wrong. Well, we get to do it all again this coming Monday. Hopefully, we'll have dry weather that day. At least we had a good lunch at the hospital cafeteria.

The streets in the San Fernando Valley were like rivers. I hadn't seen such flooding in the Valley for a long time. It reminded me of the 1973 special election of a North Hollywood area state senate seat. Alan Robbins and Phil Johnson were in a head-to-head election showdown. It rained heavily on election night and a group of us from the Young Republicans of El Camino College took part in the GOTV that night. It was a lot of fun driving through the rain to get voters to the polls.

Johnson lost the special election. But, at least we had a good spaghetti dinner hosted by the Johnson campaign or the California Republican Party that night in a gymnasium. I later received  a thank-you note from then-Gov. Ronald Reagan, who said we all braved the storm for the GOP.

"Lake Tarzana" re-formed in my apartment's parking lot by the time I got home. My shoes were drenched through by the time I got inside. Looks like I am staying put tonight.

What drought?

Heartless Salomi Indian & Bangladeshi Restaurant of North Hollywood

Above, Salomi Indian & Bangladeshi Restaurant.

Jim Beaver posted the following update:

The restaurant in which my daughter had difficulty the other night has reached out to me. I am content with their response, and while I bear full responsibility for having set off the firestorm of comments, calls, and bad reviews on Yelp and other sites by merely posting my concerns about what happened, I wish to ask each of you who posted something negative about the restaurant on any site, Yelp, Facebook, or other, if you would delete your negative comment. This situation, despite my initial handling, is between me, my daughter, and the restaurant, and as far as I am concerned, it has been resolved to my satisfaction. 

I spoke with my daughter last night about how frightening it was that a small story about bad human behavior had led an enormous number of people into the same kind of reactive emotional action that I tell her everyday to fight against. We are defensive of those we love, and rightly so. But in the world in which I hope to live, we do not spank where we should upbraid, and we do not smash where we should spank. I set this off -- unintentionally, true, but nonetheless for that unintentionality. Now I must hope I can repair it somewhat. Please, if you value my friendship or our fan relationship, if you posted something negative about this restaurant based on anything but their food, please do me the honor and favor of deleting it. Thank you.

In compliance with Jim's request to his friends and fans, I have deleted my original posting. Since he's satisfied, that's all that matters.

One Fan's Memories of the Superman Celebration

Above, Jack Larson autographing a comic book for five-year-old Cisco Sanz-Agero. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

One of the best websites for "all things Superman" is the Superman Super Site. They have posted a new article on last weekend's festivities.

Adventures of Superman fan Chris Brockow from New Jersey wrote up the article with his reflections on the Superman Celebration weekend in the Los Angeles area (primarily Tarzana, North Hollywood and the Benedict Canyon section of Beverly Hills). The article's title: "August 19, 2014: Memories Made at "Adventures of Superman" Plaque Unveiling."

To go directly to the article, go here.

Superman Plaque Dedication: One More Day

Above, the plaque. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

We have one more day to go before the official unveiling and dedication ceremony of the Adventures of Superman plaque in Tarzana, California.

It is hard to believe that this project had been in the making for over two years. But thanks to many people, especially Jim Nolt of The Adventures Continue website and Steven Kirk, we got it done. Many fans contributed to the plaque to get it made and installed. Here is the list of contributors.

The Superman-oriented websites such as the Superman Super Site and the Superman Homepage have also helped to spread the word. Our thanks to them!

You can tell the fans are excited over this weekend's festivities. Some have even posted special banners and jokes on Facebook:

Above, a banner by Dennis Hays.

Above, by Bruce Kanin

Above, by Brad Shey.

I will be meeting up with Jim Nolt (and whomever else is also on hand) at the Beverly Garland Hotel in North Hollywood tonight for some last-minute planning and to deliver several packages to Nolt. Maybe we'll have a little warm-up party in the hotel's restaurant or bar.

The plaque dedication will take place Saturday, August 16 at 9:00 AM at 5400 Wilbur Ave., Tarzana, California. The public is invited. This is purely a fan-generated event.

The local news media have been notified. Hopefully, we'll get some news coverage.

C'mon down and join Jack Larson, Beverly Washburn, Laura Siegel Larson and Stephanie Shayne Parkin Saturday morning!

Mad Monster Party Day Two: I Acted With Haruo Nakajima

Above, Godzilla poses with "Godzilla."  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Day Two of Mad Monster Party started out with a movie shoot outside in the light rain.  I did my second bit of "acting" with Haruo Nakajima (the first was a couple of years ago in Malibu).  This might have been the first acting work Mr. Nakajima has done in quite a while.  He proved that he still has his acting "chops" at age 84.  It was for a video that will be shown later this year.

Above, Haruo Nakajima and I during our movie shoot.

The convention itself was busy with many fans lined up to get Mr. Nakajima's autograph and to have their picture taken with him.  Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett sought out and met Mr. Nakajima while Nakajima was returning from a break in the V.I.P. room.

Above, Haruo Nakajima approaches "Godzilla."  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

One fan was dressed in a homemade Godzilla costume and they posed together for several photographs.

Above, Haruo Nakajima signs a rare Mattel Shogun Warrior Godzilla toy.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Tomorrow will begin with my Q & A session with Mr. Nakajima that will begin at 11:11 a.m.  Later, he will be posing for photographs (at 2:00 P.M.) in front of the green screen with fans.

Above, Haruo Nakajima signs a M1 Godzilla toy of himself.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, Haruo Nakajima and I during our scene.

A funny thing happened to me this evening as I was about to enter the bar that was holding the "Scaraoke" event.  A Charlotte police officer was standing guard at the entrance and asked to see my i.d.  I just grinned and said, "Thanks for the compliment!"  He laughed.  This was the first time in 37 years I've been carded!

For Bond Lovers Only

Rummaging in the Iliad Bookshop in North Hollywood a couple of weeks ago, I found a paperback copy of For Bond Lovers Only (1965, Dell Publishing), compiled and edited by Sheldon Lane.

This book came out in the midst of Bondmania that erupted following Goldfinger (1964).

For Bond Lovers Only contains a treasure trove of trivia on MI6 secret agent James Bond 007.  Some of which includes:

•  "007 and Me," which "candidly reveals the dangers and delights of having an alter-ego who lives in a world where beautiful girls and pulse-pounding excitement are always available."

• An interview with actor Sean Connery.

• Georges Simenon and Ian Fleming discuss "The Thriller Business" which compares perils, intrigues and pleasures.

• Raymond Chandler, creator of private eye Philip Marlow, faces "the fascinating question of what would happen if Marlow was ever up against 007.

• Bond's girls and weapons.  

• 16 pages of photographs.

And, a whole lot more.

One interesting tidbit from the book:

Ian Fleming thought Connery perfect for Bond.  "He has done it wonderfully," he said.  "It was a great piece of casting.  He certainly looks like 007, and I don't know who could have done it better."

Satsuma Avenue

I was headed over to a used bookstore in North Hollywood yesterday and saw a street sign that reminded me of the Heisei Godzilla suit actor, Kenpachiro Satsuma:

Above,  Ken Satsuma and Armand.

I wonder if there's a "Nakajima Avenue" in Los Angeles.

Above, Ken Satsuma with Showa Godzilla Haruo Nakajima.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

By the way, the used bookstore I was going to: The Iliad Bookshop at 5400 Cahuenga Blvd., North Hollywood.  Big selection of new and used books!