January 8, 2007
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The Daily News
1 Okay, okay, so I was wrong.2 Sorry.
3 About what?
4 Ah, good!
5 Well, on Friday I was all stoked about the FREE movies playing at the California Theatre at 345 S. First Street, just a few doors up from Original Joe’s.
6 Evidently I was wrong about the FREE. I do have an excuse, albeit a tepid one.
7 I first noticed the free movies when I stumbled out of Joe’s (I don’t drink, so please! I’m just clumsy!) and onto South First. When I regained my composure, I glanced up and there, spearing the sky in shining lights and standing quite tall was the majestic California Theatre marquee. And it’s winter message on a frosty night? Free Admission!
8 I believe at the time the film showing was It’s a Wonderful Life.
9 I’ve seen It’s a Wonderful Life around six thousand times, so I didn’t really pursue it, but I did note that anyone could go into the California Theatre for FREE. That alone was worth it.
10 Looking for fun items to place in the DN becomes me, and I looked through last week’s Merc News Eye section, and saw all the films they were doing. No prices were mentioned, and I assumed it was free because of the sign on the marquee.
11 I figured wrongly that they didn’t want to announce it TOO much because every homeless guy in town would be ducking into the place in cold weather.
12 Anyway, I have to guess that the free admission is for the afternoon showings and not for the evening ones. I’ll hunt it all down when I have a bit more time, but as for now, I want to apologize to anyone who had to shell out a fiver to go see Casablanca this past weekend.
13 Anyway, the rest of it was accurate, all the dates and all, so by all means go inside and look at the place! It’s absolutely a gem, and one of our finest attractions. If you want get an idea of what I mean, simply follow this link:
http://www.shomler.com/calsj/14 Beyond that, I could give you links all day long, but I’m guessing you could navigate the remainder from here.15 I’m VERY busy goofing off on a Sunday night, so puh-LEEZE.
16 Anyway, all apologies. it’s still a grand place and a wonderful addition to our grand old town.
17 MOVING ON: Speaking of Joe’s, I found out around a month ago that Ozai Hassan, the greatest waiter in the history of waiters, will be retiring from Joe’s after 32 years of impeccable service. I was sorry to hear this, as he is without a doubt my favorite waiter ever.
18 Anyone who has ever gone to Joe’s with me, and that would probably be anyone who reads the DN, will recognize Hassan immediately as the gentleman who refers to me as “Professor!” Naturally I love it.
19 I reported this in a piece I did on Joe’s September 4, 2005, but it bears repeating.
20 When the Merc News sent the immortal Joe Rodriguez to do a story on Joe’s a few years ago, he asked the waiters who their favorite famous guests were.
21 Among the names mentioned were Bill Cosby, the rock band KISS, and former President George H. W. Bush. One of the younger waiters, David, mentioned that Bush was his favorite, and reported that Hassan waited on Bush at the time. Nobody, not the President nor the Secret Service knew that sitting in the next booth were “two San Jose pimps and their prostitutes.” Here is the exact quote from the article, and which I reported in my DN of 4 September, 2005:
The president and his Secret Service bodyguards didn’t know it
but in the next booth sat two San Jose pimps and their prostitutes.
Who left the bigger tip?
“The pimps!”
21 I gotta love it.22 Good ol’ Joe’s, and good ol’ Hassan. That’s a story that would only happen to him.
23 I’ll get more info about when he is going to retire, AND a picture of him, which amazingly I don’t have.
24 Meanwhile, you don’t need a camera to go down to Joe’s and get some of their chicken soup and fresh bread. The cost is minimal and the experience: priceless.
25 Okay, so you probably expected that cliche’, so why disappoint?
26 That’s about it for today, just a little trip downtown.
27 The sun is up. The sky is blue.
28 Have a great day. See you tomorrow.
29 Peace.
~H~Good Ol’ Original Joe’s!
