"I Coulda Been a Contenda"

The other night, Fearless Hero laid on the floor of our apartment. He had had dental work done that day, involving a painful tooth extraction. The right side of his mouth was packed with gauze. When he talked, he sounded like Marlon Brando’s The Godfather. Apparently the side effect of getting his tooth pulled out had the side effect of turning him into a Brando impersonator. “I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody…” (from “On the Waterfront”)

He has to go back for a follow up appointment next week. I wonder who he will turn into after that one. Pacino? DeNiro?

Speaking of those two actors, a recent weekend had us visiting the site of their most famous scene together in one of my favorite movies (I am completely ignoring their recent "Righteous Kill" film. And if you'd seen it, you'd say "Rightly so"). Get thee hence to a video store and get the movie "Heat." It stars these two men as well as Val Kilmer, Jon Voigt, Ashley Judd, Tom Sizemore, Amy Brenneman and Natalie Portman. It is an action film with a brain that tells the story of a master thief and his crew and the police team tracking them. It is directed by Michael Mann, who was also the director for :\"Collateral", "The Last of the Mohicans", "The Insider", "Ali" and was the producer of the TV series "Miami Vice".

He is also the director of the Johnny Depp film "Public Enemies" about John Dillinger. Part of the movie was shot in Wisconsin; Depp's presence in the state during shooting was one of the only things to replace Brett Favre as the lead story on the local news. It was a free screening at the Academy in Beverly Hills, so with our handy dandy pass we went on a Saturday afternoon. We sat in the same row as Edie McClurg, the actress who played the secretary in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and saw an actor who has been in action movies such as "Romeo Must Die."

So it was fitting that after the new Michael Mann movie, which we enjoyed thoroughly, we would head down the street to the restaurant where the memorable scene from one of his other films was shot. The restaurant is called Kate Mantilini and it is a Hollywood hangout of sorts, that serves excellent comfort food and where you might be able to see a star or two.

We were part of the post-screening rush and were seated at what was possibly the exact table where the Pacino and DeNiro sat for their meeting over a cup of coffee, where they acknowledge their similarities, their skill in their jobs, but ultimately vow to bring the other down if other gets in their way. There is a huge photo of them hanging over the door.

I ordered the chicken pot pie, which L.A. magazine has pronounced the best in L.A. It arrived which delicious looking pastry on top. I tore a part of it open to release the steam. This really was a futile gesture. I have never been served food this hot in my life. It was part lava. Blowing on spoonfuls didn't help. Fearless Hero was finished with his entree before I could even take a bite. When I actually dared to, after blowing on the spoonful, I was unlucky enough to bite into a little pearl onion that was hiding in the liquid and it squirted the lava out and burned the back of my throat. Seriously. It smelled so good, but who can eat magma?

Our waitress came to check on us. When I expressed my dismay at being ravenous but unable to eat my dish, she leaned in closer and explained that a large portion of their clientele are older individuals who kept sending back the dish as being not hot enough and that now the chefs make it lava hot to satisfy these folks. We looked around and saw several older couples with expensive yet understated clothes, a few men with Cary Grant glasses. We also saw Leslie Ann Warren, who I remembered from Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella".

Yep, these are the highlights in the life and time of Fearless Hero and Comagirl. With apologies to Fearless Hero, since dental work is usually not placed in the highlight category. Burned mouths and all, we do manage to have fun.

In another example of our extreme seriousness, we recently fell into a discussion about Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. I blame it on wedding-planning induced slaphappiness. We were trying to name all of them, I think we did but just couldn’t count properly. We also came up with a few new ones:

Greedy, Dirty, Jolly, Stumpy, Bumpy, Giggly, Busy, Lazy, Corny, Scary, Noisy, Silly, Bubbly, Perky, Sappy, Picky, Skinny, Tidy, Giddy, Messy, Sleazy and Mellow (he’s from California). Your suggestions are welcome.

It brought to mind one of my favorite cartoons:

The wedding planning is coming along slowly but surely. Be sure to submit your ideas of songs to play at the reception to the DJ (aka Fearless Hero). Thanks to everyone who has sent back their RSVPs. I don’t know how we are going to adjust to just getting regular mail from now on. And gifts showing up on your doorstep is just fun fun fun. If you haven’t sent us your RSVP please send it on it’s way as soon as you can!

The alterations on my dress are complete. I had another one of my surreal moments as I drove down Pacific Coast Highway with my dress hanging in the backseat. The usual “What am I doing here” blah blah blah. The garment bag that safeguard it when I bring it on the plane, handcuffed to my wrist (woe be it to any flight attendant who tries to get me to squoosh it into some overhead compartment) arrived today. Little by little it is all coming together.

My mom sent this to me today, quoting me back to me:

“What I will always remember about our ceremony is how much I felt surrounded by love; from Fearless Hero most of all and from all of our loved ones there. I can't wait for Wedding Part Deux to experience and share that again. (Remind me I said that when I am a stressball mired in the planning of a wedding taking place 2000 miles away, okay? Thanks.)”
– Beth Adelman, September 2008.

It is definitely exciting as we look forward to our visit and the big day.

For tonight’s glamorous agenda, we are going to set up my new MP3 player. My trusty one has lately been acting like a gadget with a mental illness and has been causing me considerable stress. Fearless Hero came home one day from work with a gift bag that contained a new one, in the hopes of reducing my frustration in this area at least. I use my player a lot at work, it helps create a bubble that’s much nicer to work in.

Speaking of work, a bit of advice for my coworkers, humbly given. Don’t stand around for 15-20 minutes complaining that you do not have time to attend a meeting because you are so busy since the act of standing around doing nothing effectively cancels out your argument. Just a strategy tip for ya.

On the brighter side, a recent all staff meeting had our executive director stating that our jobs are safe. The chaos created by the lack of a budget and the bleak economy has raised the specter of furlough days or lay offs. The future is hard to predict but for now we are okay. As she often says, ”It’s not that I’m keeping you in the dark, it’s just that it’s dark out there.”

I have been trying to get out during my lunch hours as the cattlepen lifestyle can be wearing. On Tuesdays I go to the Torrance Farmer’s Market; it's a great way to enjoy my first summer in L.A. I’ve been getting strawberries that are the exact taste of summer. Slice some strawberries, toast some pecans, toss them with romaine lettuce and add a little raspberry vinaigrette. That’s my best advice for this week.