(NOTE: be WARNED: A very long true story. TL/DR if you don't like long reads, but you may skip it if you don't enjoy these. Or save/bookmark it for later. It is in 10 parts for your convenience. Possibly NSFW language too. This is NOT part of our four-part Crazy Days/Nights Blinds/Stories. That fourth and last installment will be published as soon as SOMEONE gets off his arse and sends it, possibly via rickshaw messenger. This was going to originally be our first – but it's been difficult to finish due to emotional reasons. It was written WITH the help and love of one of the people in the story and her words and blessing. Consider it a "bonus" to our series. Please check our Twitter if you desire. We post added items there too. We humbly thank you all so very much.)
I got this phone call just this year. It went like this. She said: "Jeez what balls on these guys. These pricks have the gall to ask me to endorse their half-assed remake plans. Worse, they want me to get YOU to come advise on it. Can you imagine that?"
I replied: "Yes, I can. Nothing they do shocks me. Tell them to give us and Cissy, all three of us - script approval and final cut. Hell, tell them we'll buy them out NOT to make it.", I said.
That was what I told her. Right before the overwhelming tidal flood of memories began to pull me down. I had to call her back, and four hours later we'd relived the entire ordeal again. In tears, in laughs…together again. The HER in this case? A dynamic woman whom I once dated, and is my best friend's sister. We'll call her "Nin", which is her nickname. She's a C list actress/celebrity offspring, who was mostly in a few direct-to-video/cable-style action movies and has also been a businesswoman.
She's the daughter of a former permanent A++list (action) mostly movie actor. She's also the sister of a former A-list (action) mostly movie actor too. We will call him "Buddy" and he's not just her brother; but also my best friend/buddy for over 20 years. Our families were always very close. She and I have known each other since childhood, and we even dated in the early 90's. She called me on this day to fume and spit nails about an idiotic studio that wants to remake a legendary iconic movie (which is very personal for us both). Worse, they want us and others to endorse it. No chance in hell.
The Cissy person to whom we referred was a former development executive back in the day, who worked for this foreign born, former A-list action director (who is still trying to get back up the ladder). Since I had a lot of business with that director, I knew Cissy well, and introduced her to set up Buddy on a date. They wound up engaged later. She and Nin became like sisters, and Nin called her Cissy (like "Sissy" but with odd spelling and all). She was a beautiful, brilliant, and tough young lady bound for big-shot future success as a producer in Hollywood. Back then, many nights were spent hanging out, drinking, or sneaking into $1 midnight movies. Carefree and careless. We were pals and delinquent products of "showbiz" childhoods (from our parents - not us). Just basically American kids rolling headlong into the bright big future where the world was our oyster. All we cared about? Music, movies, fun, convertible tops down, and more extra butter on our popcorn. Pretty please.
Buddy was my best friend, like my big brother, and my partner in crime going back to our childhoods in the 70s and 80s. He was a few years older than me, but it never mattered. When you're a kid even a few years age difference can be a huge canyon. For us? Never. We were like twins. We used to watch movies and shows when we were growing up – imitating what we saw. Dukes of Hazzard, Stripes, SWAT, A-Team, and the original Batman. Our favorite movie of all times? The Cannonball Run. Of course. We loved pro wrestling. We would beat…the…hell, out of each other. Like boys do. Like brothers do, playing ball in the yard. His mom always spanked our butts harder than my mom. So we spent a lot of time at MY parents place getting into trouble. We'd ALWAYS get caught, but Buddy would win Mom over with that little glint in his eyes and his charming little-boy grin. Our saying was always: "stranger things have happened". Every time our Moms would yell at us, or threaten us with grounding for life or shipping us to military school – we'd say in unison: "stranger things have happened". Then we'd run. We learned to be fast.
