Elysée Wednesday tonight--"There are no optimists or pessimists. There are only happy idiots or unhappy ones"

Look for us Wednesday evenings on the patio from 8 pm (or shortly thereafter) until about 11pm at Caffe Primo, 8590 Sunset Blvd,
West Hollywood, CA 90069. Underground parking on Alta Loma just east of the Cafe and south of Sunset (with partial validation from Caffe Primo) or on the street.

No need to RSVP; just join us if you can.

 

This car was originally intended for another driver before the builder took it over. Can you name the driver who said 'No mas!'?
Carrera Panamericana

 

Look for us Wednesday evenings on the patio from 8 pm (or shortly thereafter) until about 11pm at Caffe Primo, 8590 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069. Underground parking on Alta Loma just east of the Cafe and south of Sunset (with partial validation from Caffe Primo) or on the street.

No need to RSVP; just join us if you can.

 

Last weekend I had dinner with friends at a steakhouse in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. When it came time to order dessert, the subject of Cherries Jubilee came up but the restaurant could not oblige us. They did the next best thing and recommended a place in town that none if us had ever heard of.

Arriving at The Golden Steer, we discovered an old-school, honest-to-God, Las Vegas steakhouse with Italian undertones--undercurrents?--that was impeccably turned out like a 'hot set' waiting for the dress extras and stars to take their places for the Italian banquet scene. By that I mean that the place was entirely empty at nine-thirty at night but with all the tables ready to serve (!!).

Oh, there were waiters milling about wearing tuxedos and no doubt waiting for Frank Sinatra to show up, but there wasn't a customer to be seen. Either Frank had reserved the entire restaurant or someone was planning a hit for later on in the evening.

'Are you open?'

'Yes, we are.'

'Do you have Cherries Jubilee?'

'Absolutely!'

It should have been enough that these tough guys were willing to serve us Cherries Jubilee in their gleaming and untouched restaurant, but I couldn't resist.

'I don't mean to be indiscreet, but where is everybody?'

'They all left.'

As you might imagine, I chose to ask no further questions. I suddenly realized that I didn't really need to know who 'they all' were or what motivated them to depart at such an early hour leaving behind an entire restaurant with nary a butter knife out of place. I even wondered if I shouldn't take the hint and make for the door but the idea of Cherries Jubilee is not an easy one to let go of.

By ten-thirty, we had enjoyed our dessert splendidly prepared on a cart purpose built for Cherries Jubilee and were sipping the last of our Grand Marnier when one of the old school tough guys made it known that dessert was over and it was time to leave.

Never mind that it was only ten-thirty and the posted hours promised a much later evenings for patrons of The Golden Steer, we thought it best to exit the establish before whatever was going to happen there actually did.

As we left, six gentlemen in tuxedos bid us goodnight and returned to their preparations for rest of the evening.

The next time you are in Las Vegas, I recommend you drop in at The Golden Steer. I would especially like to know if you were the only patrons.

 

The Elysée Wednesday: Drive! page is up and functioning. Looking at Episode 1 with a friend the other day, I was taken by how many EW attendees are in the show and at how many more are participating in Episode 2. It really has been a great group of enthusiasts with whom to associate.
Elysée Wednesday: DRIVE!

 

Elysée Wednesday tonight--"I'm not giving this pseudoinsurrectionary sedentarian a piece of my show!"

Look for us Wednesday evenings on the patio from 8 pm (or shortly thereafter) until about 11pm at Caffe Primo, 8590 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069. Underground parking on Alta Loma just east of the Cafe and south of Sunset (with partial validation from Caffe Primo) or on the street.

No need to RSVP; just join us if you can.

 

I have known John Andrews since the late sixties and have written about some of the adventures we've had together with his Lamborghini Miura, his Ferrari 275GTB 6/C and his Lusso. Most notably, there was a magnificent drive in the San Bernardino mountains with John in his Miura, Matthew Ettinger in the Ferrari Breadvan and me in the GTO. Therefore, it was a shock to learn that thieves have systematically stolen twenty-eight of John's cars (and titles)--including those listed in the opening to this blog. Shortly after dismissing the 'night watchman' who had been living on the premises of John's 1 1/2 acre location in John's motorhome and who had recently acquired a new pick-up truck and a restored '55 Chevy, John's house was destroyed by fire set by an arson. The fire occurred after the 'night watchman' had returned unbidden to live surreptitiously in the motorhome and was subsequently ejected by the police.

It is not the average thief who targets for theft exotic cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollar--or millions on aggregate. Obviously, the cars cannot be sold openly in the usual channels. John's cars are being sold, however, by someone who has a book of names and numbers of people who are known to be able to afford such cars. Who would have a list of potential Ferrari buyers who could purchase a Ferrari worth hundreds of thousands of dollars over the phone, possibly from someone they know and trust? The interview seen here is the first step towards getting an answer to that question. I suspect we will find that the party in question is someone well known to Ferrari enthusiasts and, upon reflection once his identity is known, that his involvement will come as no big surprise. Those who end up with the cars will be required to disclose from whence they came and under what circumstances.

The photograph above shows me with John standing in front of his house that was destroyed by fire last month. Click on the link below to see John's interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GL_4ihPhlQ

 

I had a girlfriend who worked at the William Morris agency before moving on to manage comedians. Whether it was a strategic move or by happenstance, she took a job booking the main room at The Comedy Store where the likes of Mort Sahl, Dick Gregory and Shelley Berman would appear. As a side note, David Letterman was making his start at the time and was the de facto host and emcee at The Comedy Store, his subtle humor and refined skills were already on display. The acts my girlfriend managed were regulars at the Store.

So it was that I found myself spending most of my evenings listening to comedians and their routines at one or the other of The Comedy Stores in Los Angeles--the main location on the Sunset Strip where we now hold our Elysée Wednesday gatherings and at the annex on Westwood Boulevard where comics would showcase for producers, managers and agents. When Mitzi Shore was looking for someone to run the main room, I took on the task since I was there almost every night just hanging out.

One evening, we were at the home of one of The Graduates--Jim Stahl, Tino Insana and Jim Fisher--a three-man comedy act who had been a part of Chicago's Second City which famously launched a number of successful comedians. As we were drinking wine and talking, the phone rings and it is John Belushi. He had just landed at LAX and wanted to know what was happening. When he heard we were all there, he decided to join us.

A little later, John's taxi dropped him at our doorstep and we sat around talking business and telling anecdotes. Someone--it may have been John--suggested we all tell a favorite joke which, if you exclude me, seemed like a good idea. I was not a comedian. One by one, everyone told a joke. These were professional comedians and they were funny. I suppose the trick was to tell a joke we all hadn't already heard. In a way, the evening reminded me of those parties thrown by Tony Ford where Red Buttons would sing and dance while 'Doc' Simon played the piano.

Inevitably, it was my turn to tell a joke though I had somehow contrived to be last. I wanted to demur but we were on a roll and there was too much expectation to beg off. The situation demanded a joke. "I don't have a joke," I told them, "but I have a true story, if that's alright." Yes, they all replied enthusiastically, let's hear it. At that point, I launched into a joke I'd heard that was of a sexual nature but telling it as though it were a true story about a date I'd had with a girl from my answering service. It is not a joke I would tell today--and certainly not here--but when I delivered the punch line, everyone laughed. When the laughter died down, John Belushi started laughing again and everyone else started laughing at Belushi's reaction. The laughter died down a second time and the room was quiet for a moment. And then Belushi started to laugh again and this time he couldn't stop. His laughter was contagious and we all found ourselves laughing because Belushi had been laid low by the unexpected punch line to my joke.

It took awhile but John--red in the face with tears streaming down his face--finally settled down and it seemed as though the incident had passed. Then, he started laughing again!

I'll never forget that evening and I'll always regret that a man who provided us so many laughs didn't find a state of grace for himself.

 

Elysée Wednesday tonight--"Son,all you paid was the looking price. Lessons are extra."

Look for us Wednesday evenings on the patio from 8 pm (or shortly thereafter) until about 11pm at Caffe Primo, 8590 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069. Underground parking on Alta Loma just east of the Cafe and south of Sunset (with partial validation from Caffe Primo) or on the street.

No need to RSVP; just join us if you can.

 

Elysée Wednesday tonight--"A man can't always be in uniform."

Look for us Wednesday evenings on the patio from 8 pm (or shortly thereafter) until about 11pm at Caffe Primo, 8590 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069. Underground parking on Alta Loma just east of the Cafe and south of Sunset (with partial validation from Caffe Primo) or on the street.

No need to RSVP; just join us if you can.