Taco 100% Shredded Beef, Corn Tortilla, Lettuce $ 1.35

woke up up at 5am and turned on CNN. the usual jabber-crap and whatnot. dumb politics as usual, right? i wasn’t sure how dependable this motel was so i asked a friend, Jane, to ring me at 6am. Her call came a few minutes after 6 and i thanked her. (she’s on the east coast so it’s not so early to her) Then i showered and handed in the keys and hit the road. checked some emails and looked for a house mate from 7am to 7:30am. (note: the email address mike@lovewitharthurlee.com hasn’t worked since December, sorry) Met up with Julian (who was with his Mum) at Urrth Cafe about 8am. After i put his bags in my car, an old friend who i grew up with (and played in my first bands!) walked up with a script in his hand. It was my ol pal, Colin Wolfe. Colin, Rusty and I go back to our teens, when we were first getting into playing music. Colin and I used to sit around and learn Zepplin licks and later, i helped him with music theory, since i had studied it for 3 years prior to being in a band. Since those days, Colin has gone on to record, perform and compose with Dr. Dre, TLC, Dallas Austin and Madonna. Check the credits, he’s all over that stuff. Colin and i had a mod band (with Rusty) called BAD PRESS, but before that he and i had a new wave band called CAMERA’S IN PARIS, and then, later on, he and Rusty and i had a really funny “Squeeze-like” group called ICELESS CHILLERS. i know it sounds funny but i swear it’s true. we used to play colleges all the time and even played Jason Bateman’s birthday party one time. back then, it was all about chicks and beer. (Mike, whadda ya mean BACK THEN???) So, Colin and i chewed the fat for a spell and he told me about the movie he was considering scoring and he asked me about the stuff i was working on and then i gave him my mobile number so he could stay in touch. Julian and i headed down Robertson, south, to the Santa Monica freeway (known round these parts as the “10”), and then west, towards the beach, exiting at 4th street and then heading south to Ashland ave. At that point, i made a right and coasted down the hill (no, i USETA coast. now there are stop signs) to main street and parked. Then we walked over to Joe’s diner for breakfast. Julian immediately became the rascal i’ve known his to be. he – get this – takes his straw and sucks jelly into it. and so, i’m thinking, what the f*ck is he gonna do that for? and then i feel the jet stray and pending stickiness of jelly on my forehead and in my hair. i kinda got angry but then i couldn’t help but laugh, once i thought it over. Julian 1, daddy nil. After that we went down to the beach and, well, i pretty much let the kid play for 4 hours while i got sunburned reading Richard Ellman’s Oscar Wilde Bio. After that, we drove to Rusty’s house for a bit and Rusty had to chase Julian away from his stereo speakers, as Julian was eyeing them very mischeiviously. After that, Julian and i wen tover to my aunt Becky’s house. She lives just south of Angeles Vista, off 60th street. But she had the flu so we didn’t stay long. She DID tell us that my aunt Mary-Sue had bought julian a big easter basket and we’d have to come over saturday (tomorrow) to pick it up. So we split there and checked into the Vista Motel on Sepulveda, which is dead smack on the border of mar vista and culver city. never stay in this place. it’s not a bad place but the guy who runs it, Ralph, is a real a**hole. after we checked in, we drove to my mom’s house and to drop off some Cuban coffee i’d brought her back from madrid. Went to the garage (which my brother, AJ, has converted into a studio) and played some Nitendo (Madden 2004 rules) with AJ and then he played me some trakcs he was working on and asked me to redo a bunch of stuff on guitar and bass so he wouldn’t have to get copyright clearances. i told him after the frist week of may. he offered to pay me. i said no way dude, you’re my brother for pete’s sake! So, we left there and i took Julian for his very first TITO’S TACOS experience. He LOVED it! Tito’s sits on Washington Place, just west of Sepuleda Bl. (Sepulveda is a long North/South Boulevard that goes north thru the hills and into the Valley. The “pass” is called ‘Sepvuleda Pass’) we ordered 6 tacos and, to my amazement, Julian ate 3! Now, i know what you’re thinking; why does Mike eat so much dang Mexican food? well, Deborah says that, since i was gone for so long, i am allowed to eat it till i get sick of it. Speaking of Deb, i still have’t seen her yet. when shall i bother her….????) We went back to the motel or hotel or whatever that place was, and watched cartoons for a spell. i wrote in my journal a bit and also my outline for 2 novels i am working on, not so secretly! Around 6pm, i draw Julian a bath and, as usual, he puts all his matchbox cars in with him and splashes water everywhere, despite my standard JULIAN, DON’T GET WATER ON THE FLOOR! cry. How men suffer for children. after he finished, we watched the discovery channell and, even thought the kid is 60 days removed from being 5 years old, he can understand science pretty well and found the story about mars very interesting. he asked me some funny questions but also mixed in some intelligent ones. He got sleepy so i read him a story. i tried to tell him a story about an Irishman who got really drunk and nearly got me thrown out my hotel in Italy but he didn’t like that so i read him a kids book and then he fell asleep and it was about 9:30. I read for another hour and called it a night. Tomorrow would be saturday, i figured, and people would be getting ready for easter. it still don’t know what easter is (please don’t email me to tell me…some folks are best left ignorant..just ask your president)

Mike Randle