Bob bids Moses
a fond farewell
Charlton Heston and the Hollister connection I always love
telling: When I had my classic video store in Hollister a customer
told me he and his wife were in Hollywood once then they bumped
into Mr. and Mrs. Heston. They had come out of a movie on Hollywood
Boulevard but couldn’t remember which direction their hotel was.
Their puzzlement drew the attention of the Hestons who asked if
they could help.
Bob bids Moses
a fond farewell
Charlton Heston and the Hollister connection I always love telling: When I had my classic video store in Hollister a customer told me he and his wife were in Hollywood once then they bumped into Mr. and Mrs. Heston. They had come out of a movie on Hollywood Boulevard but couldn’t remember which direction their hotel was. Their puzzlement drew the attention of the Hestons who asked if they could help.
Not wanting to act like rubes when they recognized the voice of Moses they said as naturally as possible that they couldn’t remember which way their hotel was. They mentioned the name of the hotel and the Hestons said, “Oh, sure we know where it is. We’ll be walking by it to get to our car. Can we join you?” Sounds exactly like what I would expect from all that I have ever read about the Hestons. The Hestons were married 64 years. That in itself proves what a martyr he was. Aye chee waa waa.
Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Johnny Depp and Jack Nicholson are probably this generation’s greatest screen actors. But can you see any of them playing Moses, Michelangelo, President Andrew Jackson, a Pony Express rider, John the Baptist, an Indian, a quarterback, El Cid, Major Dundee, a jet pilot, Ben Hur or the lead in “Planet of the Apes,” “Soylent Green,” the last man on earth as the “Omega Man” and my favorite, a bad cowboy in the second-best Western ever, “The Big Country.” Thank you Mr. Hur.
My favorite Heston film is “Touch of Evil” where he plays a Mexican detective in a seedy border town with Orson Welles as a crooked American cop. Orson also directed this great cat and rat film noir. It came out in 1958, the year I got married. Thank you Mr. Heston for one good memory from 1958. Aye chee waa waa.
Speaking of 1958 Nancy just received her invite to her 50th high school reunion in Eagleville, Missouri. She lived on a farm with no electricity and an outhouse. She rode a horse to school and received her first kiss at a Four-H pancake breakfast. That is why you fathers should never let your daughters get involved in that wild Four-H organization. But if it’s too late then you better attend the San Benito County Four-H pancake breakfast April 20 from 7 a.m.-noon out at the Elks Lodge. This was always one of my favorite events to attend. Lots of great people. Every year I would leave with a new friend. Nancy was not amused.
Took the day off Monday from my hectic schedule of going to the movies to go to a bar and celebrate one of the greatest days in American history, April 7, 1933. The end of prohibition and the beer hasn’t stopped flowing in the Valenzuela household since. Aye chee waa waa, I love this country.
I used to like Mick Jagger and Keith Richard but I am no longer a fan. Still I know you will want to see “Shine a Light,” the new Martin Scorsese Rolling Stones concert film. Be sure to try to see it on the giant Imax screen.
The reason I don’t like Jagger or Richard is that here in Hollywood every third of the month they cut in line when Nancy and I are trying to get our Social Security checks. Then at the old folks’ home they hog all the green Jell-O.
I don’t usually well up with tears except when they refuse to serve me at an “all you can eat” buffet but I did when I saw that picture of Techeng and Lucy Fu, that beautiful couple who opened Cheung Sheng Restaurant on Sixth Street between San Benito and East. They are the most warm human beings and were so nice to me and saved my life many-a-time with their won ton soup. Better than any trip to the doctor for what ails you.
Speaking of doctors I love those ads in the Pinnacle for those great doctors, Daniel Y. Wang and Joseph Lee Klapper. Wish they would share an office together. Hell, I would drive from Hollywood to Hollister just to tell my friends I went to get my annual Wang-Klapper check-up. Aye chee waa waa.