Dru, Steinbeck and the Book of Deer

Dear Juliet Thought for the day: I call you a princess a lot, but actually I scarcely think about the fact you're Hollywood royalty. And that, I suppose, is because you yourself were always a princess to me and I hardly gave any thought to the public/dynastic version. That's because you mean the world to me, not your celebrity title. Anyway, just thought I'd mention that. You were liked for yourself, not your connections. Also, sitting down today it occurred to me that you couldn't know much about my memorabilia. Well, I got a little statuette years ago which stands just in front and to the side of a certain framed front cover. There. And maybe you wondered how much interest I took in your film & TV career? Well, here's a shelf of my DVDs. The one without a title on its spine is Take Flight . I've seen Where The Road Runs Out on YouTube, but I don't think I can physically collect it. Good acting in The Bronx Bull . And the Drusilla doll's well take...

Dear Juliet I have to go out for the afternoon, so I'll blog a bit later in the day. Don't worry, I'm never far away. Love, James

Dear Juliet More precisely, Marathon Flats... I've always set some store by the fact that I walked from Carmel to Point Lobos, partly because I'm a macho idiot and partly because there was no other way. I even got quite fond of the Number 5 bus which dropped me off at the crossroads and the nearby Chevron filling station. However, I looked up news about Point Lobos for you and found out they're setting up a shuttle service to the Point from Marathon Flats, just south of the Chevron and near Safeway. It'll take a couple of years and 'til then it looks like the need to take a walk or crowd out the car park will stay the same. After that, though, you'll need a reservation to get into the Reserve even if you're on foot , it seems. I also ended up finding out Monterey does monthly condo/cottage rentals, which might be interesting. Right now, though, I feel like I've run a marathon and don't desire to go any further than Cleethorpes. Still, maybe one day.....

Dear Mrs Robinson Okay, bear with me! I noticed you read a couple of posts about Point Lobos (perhaps while eating a pastrami and rye sandwich?) in the wee small hours. Good, and the thing is, I like Point Lobos. I like writing about it. I've been three times and I wouldn't mind making it four. So let's look at it from another angle. After Robert Louis Stevenson might have got the idea for Treasure Island there ca. 1879, the Point featured in quite a few films, including: Treasure Island (1934) Rebecca (1940) Vertigo (1958) The Graduate (1967) I think Point Lobos can just about be seen at the start of this excerpt from The Graduate , as Benjamin Braddock shoots north in search of Elaine to the tune of Scarborough Fair . Funny thing is, I had Dru singing Scarborough Fair  too... "She walked up the stone steps to his grave every day, softly singing Scarborough Fair as she went on her way. Sometimes she took daisies, often she made posies, but most times she too...

Dear Juliet Yes, perhaps I'm getting short of subjects here but bear with me... In that famous scene in When Harry Met Sally , shot in Katz's Delicatessen , Sally was having (apart from the orgasm) an ordinary turkey sandwich on white bread. Katz's signature special, however, is pastrami and rye. And that's what I ate on that petrified log next door to Point Lobos on my 59th and 60th birthdays, sitting somewhere between Brad Pitt's place and the Market. I could make a lot of jokes right now. We even joked about it once ourselves. I'd taken Mum to Mallorca in late 2010, she saw a cocktails menu and asked me what a Screaming White Orgasm was... Well, I had to tell her, commenting that I'd rather have a Pina Colada Told you the joke from there, you said you'd rather have the Orgasm... Those were good days, laughing with you via Juliet the Notebook. I want to get her restored one day. I'd like to have a sandwich with you there sometime. Down by Brad...

Dear Juliet You've gone all quiet again and I miss you 😢. Well, anyway, I got back on the job again yesterday and, considering you might be feeling invisible, thought I'd do something macho and silly. Namely climb the steps from Bridgnorth's Low Town to its High Town (you remember Gene Kelly and Dancing In the Rain ?) in your honour, proving that, to me at least, you are highly visible. So I did. There's a Theatre On The Steps halfway up, quite a few inebriated kids/adults in short pants (not a style I admire) at the top, and I took a photo of the general situation from the Town Hall with Dear Miss Landau in the foreground. Please consider this explicit evidence that you are seen and visible. Remember, too, that you can also be seen in Dear Miss Landau itself. I certainly wasn't waiting for Dru that day... And I always liked going to comic-cons just to see you. Okay, I'm back in Bridgnorth tonight, think I'll try that climb again (I have to get fit some...