Jump Jivin' Reno
Jason and Gentry wake me up at 330p in afternoon (I had gone to
sleep at 10a) on a brilliant Saturday and ask if I want to go to Reno,
NV. I resist the urge to go back to bed and agree, one of the best
decisions I've made. We drive to Santa Rosa to pick up David. High
(or low, depending on how you look at it) points of the trip included:
- Great music (well, the three others were courteous enough to
let me indulge myself with the CDs I brought), including, but not
limited to, Johnny Cash, The Beatles, the Doors, Rainbow, Queensryche, Dire Straits,
Primus, and the Butthole Surfers.
- Gentry screaming "yee haw!" as soon as we left Santa Rosa,
excited at the prospect of going to Reno. The problem: we had a
four-hour journey ahead of us!
- Haunting views of the Sierra mountains in the moonlight.
- Cool swing band in the El Dorado casino playing great tunes
like Jump Jivin' and I Wanna Be Like You.
- David playing guitar in the Circus Circus parking lot with all
of us adding lyrics spontaneously (and quite well, I must add) until
security officers show up.
- David continuing to play guitar not realising the security
officers were behind him.
- David continuing to sing to the security officers after
seeing them.
- David throwing a beer bottle out on the road, not noticing
there was someone getting in (or out) of his car and the bottle
crashing right in front of him.
- David jumping up to hit a motel "no vacancy" neon sign and part
of the sign falling down.
- David bolting like a rabbit when the sign crashed, even though
it was 3a and there was no one in sight.
- Some random guy wanting to buy my Marvel Mania stone washed
jacket with Spiderman on the back.
- Various random people who thought we were cool and wanted to
hang out with us.
- Various random people (the larger proportion) who probably
never wanted to us again, particularly girls!
- David being asked by the manager, in an El Dorado casino
restaurant, to watch his language for saying the word "fuck" because
it was a "family establishment".
- David's response asking how the manager could have the
effrontery to ask such a question given that this was in a state
with legalised gambling and prostitution.
- David giving Jason the Godfather "kiss of death"
on the lips.
- Walking down the street singing Stayin' Alive in
almost-perfect sync.
- Beautiful views of the mountains in the early morning hours
with the sun shining brightly.
- Great conversation on the way back with David while Jason and
Gentry remained in a fixed position for almost four hours!
- Topping off the trip with Bloody Marys and a vanilla milk shake
at the local Lyon's in Santa Rosa.
Oh, there was some gambling in there; the nickel slot machines
were fun. We realised Gentry's addition to gambling. I walked out
having doubled my initial amount.
Pseudointellectual ramblings
|| Ram Samudrala
|| me@ram.org
February 27-28, 1999