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Show o , THE ZEPHYROCTOBER 1990 1 v Outskto again, on our way to Trader Vic's we walked up Powell Street again The Hyatt Amidst the expensive, double breasted Perry Ellis suits, and expulslte passing dresses, and smell of perfume and cologne, one particular sight stood out An elderly woman sat on the sidewalk leaning against a marble wall, her knees under her chin. She was wearing eyeshadow and rouge, but she wasn't overly made up. Her clothes were simple but not ragged. Her eyes though.....her eyes were vacant She stared straight ahead. Beside her was a plastic cup. Across her feet was a small sign. It simply said: Hard Times. I thought of Tracy Chapman's "fast car. "You're right Willy. I have been In Moab too long; I forget eometlmes. My nodded. Later, we rode BART back across The Bay to Alameda. When we got to attorney the condo, my attorney flipped on the TV. "Its finally time for Dr. Gene, he said Flocko had vj.f been raving about Dr. Gene Scott for weeks. Was he an evangelist? Well no. A philosopher? Well maybe. Is he sincere? Who knows? On screen came the Image of a man stretched out In a strato-loungwith white hair, a white beard, a pair of bifocals perched on the end of his nose. He wore a white plantation hat, an ascot, and a white linen suit In his right hand, he played with and puffed on and chewed on a long thin cigar. He was Just staring at the camera. Five seconds passed. Ten seconds. Finally... "We're talking about giving tonight Making the sacrifice, he growled In a gravelly voice. "There Is nothing purer In the eyes of God than making a contribution to the collection plate, If It's done the right wav. Now lets get on the phones. I want ten $1,000 pledges this hour ... Lets go. His Image fades from the screen and Is replaced by a toll free number, and shaky ; home videos of sunsets and cities. Jazz music plays In the background. And that's It After a few minutes, the camera comes back to Dr. Gene. Invariably, ' ' : he'll Just puff his cigar and rotate his Index finger, which means roll the tape again. He . apparently brings In a lot of money and refuses to tell his contributors how It's spent I'm convinced that he's either the greatest flimflam man that ever lived or else he's God. God $ er, X ! : Himself. And the week passed. We ate Crab Louies at Scomas on the Wharf, and tea duck t The St Francis. I was eating way out of my class. I felt like a damn piglet eater. I knew If I grew too accustomed to all this, Id be demanding finger bowls In a matter of time. We went to a Korean restaurant In Oakland and ate a fermented cabbage, marinated In garlic sauce. Walking back to the car later, three to mug us but ran like Hell tried guys we breathed on them. At the St Francis, I'd ordered baloots but again the waiter Ignored me. "Youve really set me up, havent you? I told Flocko. "Why. Whatever do you mean?" he replied Innocently. "There are no such things as baloots, I demanded. jp "Of course there are; they're Just ... well ... out of season. On our last day, we returned to The City so that Willy could stock up on cigars arid trinkets and presents. We stopped at Nelman Marcus where everything costs more than buy my net worth. We rode the escalator to the fourth floor to the gourmet food department There was everything from chocolate-cover- ed grasshoppers to Instant Bird's Nest Soup, i . to a ordered florentlnes few home with him. A clerk reached under the take Willy counter to retrieve them, and I said, "While youre at It, how about a dozen or so baloots? The clerk stood up. "I'm sorry sir. We're out of baloots. We could special order them, and theyd be here from Manila In 24 hours. "Uh no ... no. That's OK, I stammered. "I'm leaving town In the morning, Kim-Ch- ee, . anyway. He packaged Willy's Florentines and we headed down the "Very well, sir. elevator. Flocko didnt say a word but his eyes were laughing his ass off. "You did It to me again, I complained. "You set me upl How much did you pay i, that guy anyway? "I dont know what youre talking about, my attorney shrugged. "But Its a damn shame were not staying longer. Those baloots would have been delicious. PAGE 21 1 vote KEN SLEIGHT the time has come... o to improve our standard of living, to provide rewarding jobs and to eliminate poverty. o to improve the economic climate favorable to small businesses and to institute a revolving loan fund for the acquisition of other funds to encourage capitol investments by prospective new and existing businesses. o to plan and develop our towns in a responsible manner so that all of us may have a good environment in which to live. o to improve our educational standards and school teacher benefits, to get back to a week, to equalize educational opportunities throughout the state. o to clean up and remove the Atlas tailings to another location for health and economic 5-da- y reasons. o to improve the G128 river corridor. to protect our public lands and natural resources from indiscriminate development and to assure our area does not become a toxic waste dumping ground. to continue to make our area an educational center and to support efforts toward the formation of a Moab college to support the University of Utah college of fine arts in their establishment of a campus in Moab. f This story first appeared In the Stinking Desert Gazette. E'ERViWil'l6 YOU HAVE TOST "READ IS UM1KU6 y f f VOTE FOR KEN SLEIGHT i I '' Democratic Candidate, House of Representatives Utah Legislature 74th District (Grand & San Juan Counties) 259-857- 5 t 6 t I PAID FOR BY A GRANT FROM THE WIT T. IF. FLOCKO FOUNDATION or 259-887- 9 paid political announcement |