Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Fun, Fun, Fun (1964)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song is about a girl who borrows her father's Ford Thunderbird. When is the last time you drove someone else's car? It was my cousin Rosemary's car. We were on a highway headed to Florida for a trip to Disneyworld. This man was President. (I was a terrible driver and don't do it at all today.)

2) The teen in question is well known for ability to drive "like an ace." If we were to ask your high school classmates what they remember most about you, what do you think they'd say? Nerd.

3) She told her father she needed the car to go to the library but used it instead to meet friends. Can you recall a time your parents caught you in a fib? Yes. I was in junior high and went to a party at Nancy's house. Nancy's parents weren't home and I knew I shouldn't stay. My mom was very strict about unsupervised parties. Anyway, I was too embarrassed to leave. When I got home, my mom asked me about Nancy's mom and I made up an elaborate tale about her hair and her bathing cap (Nancy's family had a pool). My mom ran into Nancy's mom at the grocery store a day or two later. Such is life in a small town. Being caught in the lie was mortifying.

4) For this girl and her friends, fun centered on cars and fast food. What did you and your friends do for fun during your teen years? The mall! Every Tuesday, Korvette's (the big department store) ran an ad that announced which record label was on sale that week. We'd spend days deciding which albums we'd snag for just $5 each and then on Saturday afternoon we'd take the bus over. In addition to Korvette's, we'd stop at either Orange Julius or McDonald's and maybe the movie theater. We saw the same movies over and over (The Sting, The Way We Were and Cabaret stand out in my memory). The mall is still there, but many of the smaller shops stand empty. The movie theater is now a Best Buy and Korvette's is Kohl's. 

5) Legend has it songwriters Brian Wilson and Mike Love got the idea for this song from a Salt Lake City disc jockey. He told them he'd lent his T-bird to his daughter so she could go to class at the community college but discovered her deception when the car was ticketed in front of a fast food restaurant. Can you think of another song inspired by true events? Abraham, Martin and John.

 
6) As in the song, the disc jockey punished his daughter by taking her driving privileges away. Were your parents strict when you were growing up? Not really. But they didn't need to be, either. The hijinks in #3 were about as naughty as I got.

7) This song was recorded on January 1, 1964. The Beach Boys had to work on the holiday because they were under pressure to meet a February release date. How did you spend New Year's Day 2026? I don't recall, but I bet I stayed in my pajamas all day.

 
8) 1964 was a great year for Capitol Records. They had chart-topping hits by the Beach Boys, Barbra Streisand and, most spectacularly, The Beatles. The Capitol Records Building in Los Angeles is considered iconic and it's a stop on tourist bus tours. Have you ever been to Southern California? If yes, what did you do? I just got back from Hollywood! I was there for the TCM Classic Film Festival and the movies kept me very busy. But I saw the Hollywood sign and the hand and footprints at the TCL Chinese Theater.

 

 
9) Random question: What's the last compliment you received? The aesthetician marveled at my unlined skin. Of course, I've been seeing her twice a month since February, so I'm not sure if she was complimenting me or herself.

 

It wasn't all movies

I socialized quite a bit when I was in Hollywood for the TCM Film Festival. I enjoyed it, and I learned a lot from it.

Spending time at Mel's. This iconic diner, right off Hollywood Blvd., is very convenient to both the festival and my hotel. I had two rather important meals there. 

The first was dinner with my oldest friend's daughter. I held her as a baby and now she's a tall, willowy woman. She's got a good job she enjoys with an LA ophthalmologist and lives with Jose, the 30-something she brought along. I was glad he was there. Her mother is a mess and it was valuable to hear his take, which is more objective than her daughter's or mine. Some of what he told me was legit disturbing – maybe I'll post about it later, maybe I won't – but it was important for me to hear. This situation is bad and my ability to impact it is maddeningly limited. I have to accept that, and try not be sucked into my friend's crazy.

I was happy to see that my friend's daughter and Jose are committed to one another and are really working at their relationship. They have even taken a couples' vacation to Vegas with her dad! I admit I never liked her father, but that's not the point. It's completely natural for her to want to have a relationship with him, and I think it's great that Jose encourages her in this while also supporting efforts to help her troubled mother.

Then there was "the kick-off breakfast." A rather tight group of TCMFF regulars meets on the first morning of the festival to catch up on their lives and compare notes on what they're looking forward to in the festival line-up. Last year I happened upon it rather accidentally. It meant a lot to me that this year I was specifically included. That felt good. Especially because of Doug. He's the husband of Laura, a passionate baseball fan like me only she roots for the Dodgers. I respect her commitment as she does mine and we have a nice time together. Doug has always been another kettle of fish. First of all, he loves John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and all that toxic masculinity. Online, he almost shits a brick when Jane Fonda's name comes up (and it comes up rather often in classic film discussion groups). And, during the first year of the festival after covid, he mocked those of us who wore masks (as per the rules) "sheeple." 

The thing of it is, last year he got such a kick out of listening to his wife and I fan girl over baseball that he actually now looks forward to seeing me. He hugged me every time we ran into each other throughout the festival. He gave me a pin. It's some cowboy actor I couldn't identify but that's not the point, he wanted me to have it. We even had a fun time together in line later, waiting to see Modern Times.  

Do I agree with Doug on just about anything? No. But this turn of events makes me happy. It's better to have someone out there liking me than disliking me.

Gazing upon the fountains.  There's a restaurant called La Piazza at The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles. The Italian food is very good – I had carbonara – and it was nice to dine outdoors. 

My lunch partner was Tina. We worked together a million years ago, back during the Clinton administration. She now lives outside Los Angeles and is happy to see me and get a little dose of Chicago when I come out for TCM.

I'm always surprised and gratified that she enjoys spending time with me. It reminds me of the olden days, when I was the "go-to" girl at the center of every project at the advertising agency. That's how Tina still sees me. She always was and still is gorgeous – thick black hair down her back, great clothes, slim figure. In the looks arena, she always intimidated me. But her career never really took off and after she had her first baby, she left the workforce. She and her husband are still together after all these years – no mean feat – and their two kids are both embarking on careers, so I don't think she regrets her choice at all. Yet she told me that her daughter asked who mom was dining with today and she described me as "super talented" and said she admired me. Wow. And here I thought I was a fat spinster who sold candles at a card shop, while Tina is living the LA lifestyle! 

There's a lesson in there somewhere.