May 09, 2008


Volume 29: The Missing Volume
The Further Saga of Alemany ’66:
As Revealed by The Shadow
with minor assistance from
F.J. Bonaccorso

Edited by R. M. Johnson
Photoshop by R. M. Johnson
Free legal advice from R. M. Johnson

Special Dedication: To all those that donated to our Strides for Life Campaign
Way to go, Alemany Class of 1966

Special Guest Contribution:
An Alemany ’66 Teacher with Nom de Plume,
Caligula




Subtitle: “I was working in the Lab late one night……”
Second Subtitle: The substitute teacher from the Vatican


Editor’s Note: The following molding and damp manuscript fragments were found in a sea chest with the initials L. C. carved on the lip of the chest. The chest was in 90 feet of water inside a sea grotto off the coast of Kalapana, Hawaii. The Shadow Press has pieced together manuscript fragments with page headings “Volume 29” to the best of our ability. Meanwhile, Lamont Cranston still is cruising the Indian Ocean in the sloop, SS Pteropus. We at The Shadow Press felt an obligation to bring you this information and continue to work diligently to decipher addition notes in the sea chest which were written by Lamont Cranston as The Shadow.

Rinaldi Street, Mission Hills
Recently a bulldozer cleaning up debris on the original Alemany campus uncovered a sealed metal tube in a pile of pterodactyl pellets. Upon opening the tube, they discovered an aged manuscript, signed “Caligula”. The text of the manuscript follows.

DATE: Early Fall—1964—
LOCATION: Biology Lab
TIME: 10:05PM

Mr. Frank Diaz: “Well, Sister, I think we can proceed with our experiment. Everything seems to be in order.”
Sister William Joseph: “ This overnight reaction should produce excellent data on untried acid-base behavior”.
Sister Anne Elizabeth: “The only thing that concerns me is the effect it might have on the microscopic pletoid population in the reaction vessel.”
Mr. Diaz: “ Not to worry! Mr. Al Hogan and Mr. Andrew Eischeid will be sleeping down the hall in the janitor’s room with the bed and bath. They’ll be taking turns keeping an eye on things!”

Sr. W.J. : “- OK. Pouring in 10 ml of stultitic acid. Now we add 10 ml. of dementium hydroxide! If all goes well, by tomorrow, we’ll be analyzing the properties of an aqueous solution of dementium stultitiate!”
Sr. A.E.:” I already detect an unpleasant odor. Let’s get out of here!”


**********


TIME: 5:05 AM – NEXT MORNING.
Andrew Eischeid: “Wake Up, Al! There’s something weird happening in the Bio Lab!”
Al Hogan: “Those incompetent science teachers! What have they gotten us into now?”
The two men hurry to the laboratory, but halfway down the hall, they are confronted with a Class One attack on their olfactory receptors. They are forced to go back and retrieve their gas masks.
A.H.: “That stench is indescribable! It smells like a still decomposing million year old mastodon!”
A.E.: “ I shudder to think what it will look like!”

Peering through the square of spyglass in the Bio Lab door, they tremble at what lies inside! A hideous mound of putrescence fills the lab, oozing over and around everything inside, and thrusting out pseudopods whenever needed. It engulfs and absorbs everything in its path. In the center of the undulating horror, is a triad of bulbous, bloodshot eyes, and perched on a high mound of protoplasm just above them, is a brown baseball cap, with the letters “CC” emblazoned on it!

A.H.: “We’ve got to get rid of that thing! There’s a sophomore class due in here at 10 AM. We can’t have that thing feeding on the Class of ’66, regardless of what Mr. Diaz says!”
A.E.: “Let’s get the Fire Department in here and hose this place out! By the Privates of Crom, I’d like to know what that thing is!
A.H.: “ I think I know!
A.E.: “So what do you think it is?”
A.H.: “It’s the dreaded “Crespi Critter!”


**********
For the remainder of the week, the biology lab was closed and sealed off with garnet and grey ribbons thus preventing the hideous thing from oozing out doors and windows. The authorities were at a loss as to how to expel the brown blob. Finally, it was Friday night and the JV Football team Captain made an impassioned speech before the game with Crespi:

Captain Dan McMahon: “OK, Guys! Let’s let this Critter know that our Indians will never become food for its fearsome foraging! It’s our turn to undulate---right down the field against these Bruiser Blobs!”
J.V. TEAM: “Lead the way, Captain Dan, we’re behind you all the way! Way Behind!”

And so it came to pass, that Capt. Dan McMahon, Co-Captains Rich Corona, Eddie Quijada, and Terry Brockert, and the rest of the enraged Indians set the tone for the evening, shutting out Crespi by the score of 14-0. The Indian Varsity followed suit, destroying the Engorged Encino Ectomorphs 27-7. The Drill Team was so grateful, that Dianne Scollard, Sarah Vasco, and Pam Richard hosted a “Bar-B-Q Blob” picnic to celebrate the deliverance.


**********

EPILOG: The only trace of the Critter in the Bio Lab was a noxious-smelling brown trail leading out to the storm drain in the front parking lot, and a brown soaked piece of paper with this cryptic message:
“BEWARE, CLASS OF ’66, I shall regain strength in the ocean and return for payback!”

CALIGULA (an anonymous teacher from Alemany) COMMENTS: Could THIS be the source of the terrible Tidal Wave that almost sank the Pterodactyl? Has its energy finally been spent? Have we seen the last of it? Only time will tell!



Flashback to spring 1965, the Monarchs are Juniors.
Office of the Vice Principal:

Father Frank Wagner: “Mrs. Patella, what is it you have to tell me.”
Mrs. Rose Patella: Why Father, Mr. Smidt just phoned and he and his entire family are down with the Russian flu!
Frank: “ The Russian flu! Heavens, who can we get to cover Mr. Schmidt’s classes? First period starts in four minutes!”
Mrs. Patella: “Well Father, it is either you or…….
Frank: “Or who?”
Mrs. Patella: “Or our visitor from Rome”.
Frank: We can’t do that. He is on a special mission from Rome to the Archdiocese.
Mrs. Patella: “Then I reckon, I ought to cancel your 9 o’clock tee time with Father O’Riley from Bishop Amat. The first period class for Mr. Smidt is Geopolitics with the Section II Juniors. Have fun!
Frank: Section II? No, not them! Last time I substituted with that group they chalked my chair, put a garter snake in the desk, and covered my behind with spit wads whenever I turned to the chalkboard.
Mrs. Patella: “Well…….what’s it gonna be?”
Frank: “I would hate to disappoint Father O’Riley. You know how he loves his golf and we were to discuss some new educational policies to recommend to the archdiocese. Yes, perhaps our guest from Rome would like to meet some of our students and share his insights from the Vatican. It would be good for the students to broaden their horizons with an experience like this.

Three minutes later in Room 17, Geopolitics Class
Tom Carnegie is standing on a desktop with his right leg bent up and held by his left hand; and with all his textbooks balanced on his head. Terry Bowles is counting seconds on how long Tom can hold this position. Bob Lenzion has a peashooter out and aiming at the left buttock of Carnegie.
Art Fonseca is peeking out the class door and down the hall and calls out: “A priest that I don’t recognize is coming in the hallway”.
A dozen students rush for their seats, and Pat Dolan bangs his knee on Carnegie’s desktop causing books, Carnegie, and Dolan to go flying in different directions. Books crash down on Paul Frysak who had been sleeping through all this…… and the classroom door opens……

In walks a young priest wearing a black wide-brimmed hat. He wears meticulously polished Gucci shoes. He has black mustaches, wears large wireless rimmed, tinted glasses, and is holding a smoking, Marlboro cigarette (without filter) between the first and index fingers of his left hand in a very casual manner…..


Substitute Teacher, Father Guido Sarducci, O.M.I.

The young priest looks around the classroom with books on the floor. Tom Carnegie stares up at him from a prone position with a desk on top of him. The priest glances from student to student as he walks down an aisle. He blows smoke in Frank Bonaccorso’s face (cough, cough) and then says in a high-pitched voice ….

Father Guido Sarducci: “ Buon giorno, class.
Section II: A slight pause from a stunned class, then in chorus, “Good morning, Father”
Guido: I am Father Sarducci on a visit from Rome and I thought I would stop by and’a visit with you this morning. So, what are you studying?
Dave Nehen (raises his hand and Guido points at him to speak): This is Geopolitics class, Father.
Guido: “Geo---poly! What kinda crap they teaching you in this class?
Guy Proto (after acknowledged with hand up): We are learning about the iron curtain and the communist regime’s sinister stance in the cold war.
Guido: Listen, forget that stuff. I guarantee that five years from now you are not going to remember who Molotov was, or what Lenin did. And though I read Das Kapital, the only lines by Marx that I remember are by Groucho. Most of this stuff you are going to forget before your first kid is born. I can teach you everything really important to remember from high school in the next twenty minutes. So please pay attention and in twenty minutes I promise, you will know everything that you are going to need to remember five years after you graduate and beyond. Let’s start with language. It’s good to be multi-lingual. What language would you like to learn? (He points to Mike Feehan).
Mike: Well, I don’t think Latin is going to be very useful, how about Spanish?
Guido: Ok, Spanish. Bye the way, you are right about Latin because I have insider information direct from the Vatican. And I mean this comes from the very top guy.
Terry Bowles: You talk to the Pope?
Guido: Why sure I talk with the Pope. We play poker every Friday night. And he tells me that the mass is going to be all English for you guys over here in America in a few years. Mark my words, write it down.
Wayne Jzyk: Wow! Father, how do you say, “Bring me a beer, please” in Spanish.
Guido: Hey kid, your too young for that. No, no, no! All you need to know is, “Como esta, usted? How are you”? This establishes a bond of concern and friendship. After that your Spanish-speaking friend will accept you speaking in English, pantomime, and pointing at what you want. Besides, five years from now you will not remember anything more.
John Preble: That makes perfect sense to me. “Como esta, usted?”
Guido: Excellent. Now that we have finished high school Spanish, let’s move to something practical, Economics.
Tom Carnegie: But Father, Economics is not an offered course for the college preps at Alemany!
Guido: It is now. Here is what you need to know. Buy low, sell high.
There is a knock at the door, and Marty Molidor enters the class with a note from Father Wagner. Guido reads the note, and says to the class, “Father Wagner wants to know if everything is going ok? What shall I tell him?
Tom Marsh: Tell him everything is fine. We want to hear more of what you have to teach us, Father Guido.
Guido scribbles a quick note and hands to Molidor, who lingers by the open door to listen
Guido: Now where was I? Oh yes, the core concept of Economics. All that you have to remember: supply and demand, you buy something very cheap that people want and you sell it at a higher price. Supply and demand!
Marty Molidor from the doorway: Wow, that is so simple. I am going to remember that, Father. Can I come back to this class after I return the note?
Guido: Sure, why not. Now here is your Religion exam question? Why am I here? The answer, anyone?
Twenty-five bright students are pondering this eternal question hoping to arrive at an answer that will please this likeable priest.
Guido: Time is up. You are here because God loves you. That is all you need to know. God loves you and you are here. Now let’s move to history. Well, history always repeats itself, so if you miss what happens the first time around, be patient because it will happen again and eventually be on the 6 o’clock news. It will have a left wing slant because the media are liberal. But I predict that in 40 years, the cycle will swing to all media being right wing and super conservative. So you have to disregard the spin doctoring and interpret the facts for yourself.

Father Wagner could not believe the note, that everything was fine. Not in Section II. He walked by the classroom and peeked through the little window in the closed door. To his amazement, everyone was in their seat and appeared to have rapt attention on Father Sarducci as he walked up and down the aisles speaking. And thus Father Wagner no longer felt worried and left with peace of mind for his golf date. As soon as Wagner left the building, Marty Molidor slipped into the classroom and took an empty seat.

When the bell ended first period class, students repeated what they had learned in the hallways. Paul Frysak: “God loves me and I am here”. Terry Bowles to Bob Johnson (a Section I guy), “Como esta, usted? ” Bob: “Huh?” And Mary Molidor, “Buy low, sell high! What an idea! I am going to give that a try.” {And of course this was the precursor of Marty becoming the founder of Molidor’s Super Duper Sock It Too Them Sockerooni Sauce.}

Flashback to October 24, 1964, Friday Dance, Alemany Gym
Pam Mertens (speaking into a microphone): Golly, everyone looks so cool tonight. I hope you are enjoying this dance sponsored by the Junior Class. And now with great pressure, er, I mean pleasure, I would like to introduce the coolest DJ in Southern California who will introduce our musical guest of honor. Please give a big Alemany Indian welcome from KRLA Radio to the Hullaballooer, Dave Hull.

A legend in LA radio, the "Hullabalooer" was recently named one of the all-time top-ten radio personalities in Los Angeles. For three decades he was heard on KRLA, KFI, KMPC and KHJ. He became known as "the fifth Beatle" during the 60s promoting the Fab Four in Southern California and also worked with the Beach Boys, the Dave Clark Five and the Rolling Stones. He hosted the TV show "Matchmaker". Dave is a well-known commercial voice, having been spokesman for Union Oil, Hallmark Cards, Morton Salt, and Paper-Mate pens.


Dave Hull at Alemany Gym with Eileen Chapman ’67 on right, Spyder Villalobos ’66 in the way too cool checked sport coat, Bev Benefiel ’67 left center, and Becci Reynolds '67 left

Dave Hull: (Applause and screams) Thanks kids. It is a pleasure to be here at Alemany. I hear you womped Amat last night, Congratulations Coach Ahn (Cheers)! Well, I know you have been waiting all night to hear one of the great voices in Top 40 music today. Here to sing his grooooovy hit song, Suspicion, Mr. Terry Stafford.
Girls are screaming. Guys are running around asking girls to dance. And Terry Stafford walks on the stage dressed in a coat of red sequins and tight, tight black leather slacks. His white shirt is unbuttoned half way down his chest. The music begins….

Every time you kiss me
I’m still not certain that you love me...



Suspicion reached #3 on the Top 40 in early 1964.

Peggy Jones: (Screams) “I love you Terry!”
Kathleen Phelan: (Screams) “No, I love you more than anyone, Terry.”
Laurie Dudzik: (simply faints, but is fortunately caught by Leo Restrich who half carries and half drags her to a seat on the bleachers).
Sister Jeanne Anne: (shakes her head.) If that Stafford moves his pelvis one more time, I am going to pull the light switch and send everyone home.

I can’t help but think
your meeting someone else tonight…..

Father Leo Dummer: Now, now, Sister. The parent’s council agreed to allow Mr. Stafford to perform.
Sister Jeanne Anne: Yes, but he was supposed to perform standing behind a podium. Oh, my, I think I am going outside for some fresh air!! (On her way out) “Mr. Carvotta, if you hold that girl any tighter she is not going to be able to breathe”.
Barb Broeski (pushes Rich Carvotta a little farther away): Let’s not push our luck, Rich.

Suspicion, torments my heart,
Suspicion, keeps us apart….

Several hands have to pull Mary Seifert back down to the dance floor as she tries to climb up on the stage with hopes of planting a kiss on the cheek of Mr. Stafford while he is performing.
Ken Meddock is standing in front of the stage and sidles closer to Vikki Majors '67, whose rapt attention is focused on Stafford. After a moment he reaches for her hand, and then after a brief moment of hand holding, the hand is pulled away with a sidelong glance from Vikki that silently says, “You presume a lot, Mr.”.
Ken Meddock first turns radish red, then sugar beet red, shrugs his shoulders and walks over to the punch bowl
Moments later….
Jay Pelzer (an Alemany expatriate who crashed the dance): I saw that move you put on Vikki, Ken, better luck next time.

Following the song, Dave Bolduc and Patti Bazar, Sophmores representing the Toreadors of the class of 1967 climb up on stage……..
Patti: Wow, how about Terry Stafford? (Loud applause and screaming)
Dave: And thanks to Dave Hull for coming here tonight. We are going to change the pace now. Since this is a Junior Class of 1966 sponsored Dance, the Sophomores have planned a special event to honor the Monarchs. There is going to be a little competition between the class Jocks and the class Brains from the Class of 1966.
Patti: Ok, representing the Jocks of the Junior Class, would the following people please come up on stage: Dave Gieg, Judy Pfeifer, Daria Shanks, and Jim Dantona.
Dave: And representing the Brains of the Class of 1966 let’s welcome up on stage, Cece Duffy, Terry Mock, Bob Riske, and Paula Carrabelli.
Slowly the unwitting contestants move up on stage, bewildered as to what is taking place.
Patti: Before we begin and to protect your lovely dresses, ladies, and your shirts, guys, we have these bibs for you to put on. Vikki Borquez, Doug Rex, Tom Zoller, and Jody Gilmore will help you tie on your bibs.
Dave Gieg: What gives with the baby bibs, Patti?
Patti: Just trust us, Dave; we want to protect your clothes. Reluctantly, Gieg puts on his bib with a little help from the lovely Jody Gilmore.
Dave Bolduc: Now to officiate this here contest, please welcome a Southern California legend, from KHJ-TV Channel 9, Engineer Bill Stulla.


During its 12 year run, the ENGINEER BILL “Cartoon Express” showed cartoons and played Red-Light, Green-light behind an elaborate miniature railroad train set.

Engineer Bill (dressed in his pinstripe engineer overalls comes on stage): “Hi, kids, how are you all tonight?” Giggles and laughter come from the students on the dance floor and even from a certain group of girls sitting high up on the bleachers known as the “Wallflowers” (we know who you are!).

Engineer Bill turns toward the bibbed contestants: “I think you all know how we play Red Light, Green Light”. But if not, all you have to remember is to drink your milk when I say Green Light and don’t stop drinking until I say Red Light. First team to have everyone finished with their milk wins. It’s that simple.
Patti: Of course, our Juniors are almost grown up now and need more than a little glass to drink.
Dave B.: Soooo, we have these 10-gallon aluminum milk cans for everyone to use for the contest. But don’t worry there is only one gallon of milk per can. Before we start we have judges from the Class of ’67 who will verify that your milk can really is empty when you finish, welcome, Maria Napolitano and Bobby Pichotta. The word of the judges is final.
Cece: Holy cow, gee whiz, a whole gallon! I can’t do this.
Bob Riske: Come on now, Cece, we can’t let these jocks show us up.
Terry Mock: (slowly is creeping offstage, but is pulled back by Dave Bolduc)
Paula: You can do it, Cece.
Cece: Well, I’ll try.
Jim Dantona: This will be a push over. Those nerds won’t be half finished before we win this contest.
Engineer Bill: Green light. (Everyone starts drinking). Red light. Milk is dribbling down eight faces all concentrating to hear the next command. Green light. The devious Engineer Bill watches as the students, drink and drink and drink. He doesn’t give the red light command. Cece is turning first blue, then purple, but she keeps drinking. Finally, Bill says, “Red light”. Even Gieg is gasping for air. And before you know it, “Green light” is heard. The students are hysterically shouting for their favorites to drink faster. Following several more red and green lights……
Dantona raises his milk can upside down over his head to show he has finished. Gieg is choking and has to stop for a moment. Paula Carrabelli is the first on the Brain team to finish. Then Pfeifer holds her can sideways to show it is empty. Mock takes a big gulp and tosses his can to the audience to inspect…..empty. Gieg has his breathe back and is furiously drinking again. Bob Riske falls over, but Carrabelli shows that his can is now empty. Daria lets out a high shriek, “I did it” and shows her can empty.

It is now Cece against Gieg in a race to the finish. Even Sister Jeanne Anne is jumping up and down yelling, “Drink faster, Cece”. Engineer Bill opens his mouth about to command, “Red light”, when Cece raises her milk can over Gieg and turns it upside down --- no milk remains.

Dave Bolduc: The Brains have beaten the Jocks.

A forlorn Gieg drops his milk can, and a small amount of milk, dribbles out onto the floor. And then the Dan McMahon Jive Five strikes up their rendition of “Glad All Over” and everyone has forgotten the milk drinking as they search for their dance partners.

Wallflower One: “I have never seen Dave Gieg so out of his element”
Wallflower Two: “Yeah, well I would still dance with him.
Wallflower Three: “Is that Bob Ryan, waving at me? Does he want to dance?
Wallflower One: No, he is just swatting at a fly. Who let these flies in anyway?
Wallflower Three: Gives a big sigh!

Bob Hull as DJ up on stage plays, Land of 1,000 Dances by the Headhunters. The floor is crowded with dancers as everyone has loosened up for the evening and most the shier guys have by now asked girls to dance. All the boys except that is Frank Bonaccorso sitting high up in the bleachers watching the dance alone now.
Wallflower #2 sits next to him. “Hi, Frank”
Frank: Oh, hi. Terry Stafford sure was good. Did you enjoy his song?
Wallflower: He’s awesome. Say, I haven’t seen you dancing yet. Why not?
Frank: Lifts his trouser leg and shows a huge ace bandage wrap around his ankle. “I sprained it in P.E. class today."


Wallflower: Sorry. Wow! Does it hurt? Well, I just thought I would say hello.
Frank: Thank you.
Wallflower: “Would you like to sit with us up at the top row?” She points up where Wallflowers #1 and #3 are giggling and waving.
Frank: Yeah, sure, my friends have all deserted me to dance, can’t blame them.
And so a very shy male who does not know how to dance even by his junior year (true confession) and faked a sprained ankle to avoid any girls that might hint they might like to dance is now officially Wallflower #4.


And so it went at the Junior Dance until the last dance was being played and Sister Jeanne Anne grabs Rich Carvotta by the ear and drags him out to the exit saying, “Entirely too close young man. You had your warning. Miss Broeski, my office first thing Monday morning. Otherwise a good time was had by all!!!!


Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Épée Olympic Team is training for the Beijing Olympics
Coach John Gugerty: No, no Monthaven. You are bending your wrist. Concentrate. Why, I bet your mother can do better than that.
It just so happens that Annie Gatusso Monthaven is observing her offspring from the bleachers.
Annie: Maybe, I can do better. Give me an épée. En garde, Gugerty!
Annie unleashes a blistering attack and Gugerty is on the defensive and backing up. Annie has her epee touch the facemask of Gugs.
John: Well, I wasn’t ready. Let’s try that again. Almost instantly, Annie has her epee tip touching the padding over the heart of the Coach.
John: Annie, where did you learn to fence?
Annie: Just from watching you coach.
John: You are a Natural!!!!!! Could I coach you?
Annie: Alas sir, I cannot fence.
John: Ahh, Shakespeare, from the Merry Wives of Windsor. But you have great potential, Madame. And indeed, I would like to coach you…..
And that is how Annie Gatusso Monthaven made the 2008 US Olympic Fencing Team.
I know you all will be rooting and watching her on NBC this summer in Beijing.

Lunch, October 23, 1964 at the Snack Bar under the Alemany Gym
Father Sarducci is puffing on a cigarette and conversing in Italian with Mr. Al Graci.
Marty Molidor with a slice of pizza and a cup of coke in hand is leaving the lunch counter and decides to talk to Father Sarducci.
Marty: Excuse me, Father Sarducci. I was wondering if I could speak with you for a moment.
Mr. Graci: Well excuse me, Father, I have to go work on a game plan for the Dee basketball team’s big game tonight against Notre Dame.
Guido: See you at the poker game after the basketball game, Al. Sure kid, whacha wanna talk about? But please, I am not hearing confessions today.
Marty: Oh no, Father. I was just wondering if I could learn a bit more about economics from you. What you said about supply and demand made a lot of sense in first period class this morning.
Guido (looks Marty over): Say, you seem like a really bright kid. You wanna help me with a business proposition and make some money………and so Father Sarducci partners with Marty to market his newly patented “Pope Soap On A Rope” on the Alemany campus – as you surely remember, it comes scented in olive oil, garlic, rosemary & thyme, as well as a precursor tomato-Tabasco aroma that later becomes Super Sockerooni Sauce. Sales go ballistic as Marty times his big sales push to commence just before Mother’s Day and just about every Alemany kid buys soap for their mother, grandmother. Many stock up the garlic scented soaps for Father’s Day. Marty has Kerry Beaulieu and Ken Matwickzak selling soap for him at Bob’s Big Boy after school. Even though Father Sarducci many years later markets Pope Soap On A Rope on Saturday Night Live, he can never match the sales Marty Molidor achieved in "65.

March 1988, somewhere in the highlands near Loch MacDougal, Scotland


Danny McMahon and Chuck Abel walk through a Scottish Village on their way to Castle Glenco McMahnogal

Three gents wearing kilts and holding torches are standing before the open drawbridge of a ruined Castle Glenco McMahanagal. Dark clouds are gathering from a westerly wind as night falls (Thud – that was night falling). A lightning bolt is heard to explode.
Chuck Abel: Yikes! What was that?
Tavis McTavish: Ah, Chuck and Danny, laddies, that was just a wee littl’ lightning. Nothing to scare a grown man with the Scotch and Irish blood in him. Now go on in, Dan, I am right behind you.
Dan McMahon: Why do I have to go first?
Tavis: Cause you inherited the castle from your Great Uncle Rory McMahon. I am just here for moral support.
Dan: And you say no one has lived in this castle for over 50 years because (gulp) its haunted?
Tavis: Oh, now, them is just local wives tales and gossip. Go on into the castle lads, let’s see what she contains. Your Great Uncle was said to have a treasure of jewels that your family protected since the days of Good Queen Mary of Scots
Dan: Takes two steps forward across the drawbridge. Then a cat lets out a loud, “Eoooow”. And Danny runs back and leaps into the arms of his cousin Tavis while Chuck is hiding behind Tavis with his kilts up over his face.

Now back to events in 2008…..
ABC News Studio, New York, NY

Bernard VanVlymen: Good evening, this is the news.
ABC News has just projected Bob Guerrero the winner of the Indiana primary in a landslide over Clinton and Obama. Guerrero took 73% of the vote with Clinton running second at 18%. A jubilant Guerrero, now with the delegate count that secures the Democratic nomination, met with his supporters at his campaign headquarters in the Alemany Gym and immediately challenged John McCain to a debate anywhere, anytime.

Bernie: In other news, we have Virginia Ortiz reporting from Fenway Park.
Virginia: Hi, Bernie. It is a doubly sad night for the Red Sox Nation. The Los Angeles Angels took the rubber match from the Red Sox today and now Carlos Santana has to go on the 15 Day Disabled List. Carlos dislocated a finger before yesterday’s game shagging fly balls at Fenway. Without his music, the Red Sox have lost two straight to the Angels and many fans fear the Sox may go into a dismal losing skid. Some are even talking that a new curse was put on the Red Sox last week by Derek Jeter. The Red Sox hitters just cannot get untracked without the strains of Oye Como Va and Black Magic Woman playing in their ears. Manager Francona is frantic and says he could call up a pitcher from Triple A but there is no way to replace Santana’s guitar. Not even the operatic duo of tenor John Stigman and soprano Cheryl Evanson singing Take Me Out To The Ball Game in the 7th inning could awaken the Red Sox silent bats. Red Sox GM, Gyoengyi Molnar Quinn called Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, Sir Paul McCartney and even Bruce Springsteen – but all of them said they are already under contract. Keith Richards flat out refused to play as a temporary replacement and says he is a Yankee fan anyway.
Gyoengyi (running in front of report Ortiz shouts): “Someone, get me Clapton’s phone number quick”.
Ginny: Meanwhile, Manny Ramierez is trying to overcome the loss of Santana with a voodoo shrine in front of his locker, and I have heard a rumor that someone has buried a David Ortiz jersey at Yankee Stadium to create a curse on the Yankees! That’s it from Fenway, back to you, Bernie.

Bernie: We will have more on the Ortiz buried jersey later. Say, Ginny, are you related to David Ortiz?
Ginny: Not that I know.
Bernie: Just thought I’d ask. And now this word from Karen King Bonsai Trees……the cutest little trees you will ever own. At Karen King’s you are never barking up the wrong tree……..

Bernie: Finally in the news tonight we have a report from California about new problems for California Condors. Here is Mary Jo LaPorte Cullum….
Mary Jo: Hi, Bernie. I am here with biologist, Frank Diaz. Mr. Diaz what seems to be the problem with this recent decline of the California Condor?
Frank: Well, Mary Jo, although the Condor still is on the endangered list, the wild population was growing in recent years. However, after monitoring the chick hatch this year with volunteer students from the Ecology Club at Alemany High School, I am disturbed that we have had a complete failure of chick survival this year.
Mary Jo: What is the cause of this reproductive failure?
Frank: All our field data indicates that California Condors are being out-competed for deer carcasses by pterodactyls. And the pteros seem to be having a bumper crop of chicks. The much larger pteros are intimidating the condors and preventing them from feeding. They simply cannot obtain and feed regurgitated rotten meat to their chicks. This is a prime example of the classic textbook theory of Competitive Exclusion.
Mary Jo: And that is…..
Frank: Were you sleeping in 10th grade biology, Mary Jo? No two species can live in the same niche. I am afraid I am going to have to recommend to the Fish and Wildlife Service a controlled hunt of pterodactyls.

Watching TV while hosting a tea party of Alemany grads in her home in West Hills
Christina Marie Gilmore Williams: Over my dead body will there be a pterodactyl hunt!
Kathy Gordon O’Riley: This calls for action. Call out the members of STPHC.
Dianne Muscolo Bergstrom: Yeah, call out STPHC. Then… What is STPHC?
Kathy: Stop The Pterodactyl Hunt Coalition. I just made you Vice President. Be on your guard, Mr. Diaz, there will be no hunting pterodactyls.
Richard Coscia: Diane, you should call Arnie Swartzenegger about this right now! We need to get all the political help we can muster on this one.
Al Vicuna: Don’t you worry, Christina, we are going to protect our pterodactyls. After all a formerly extinct species trumps a mere endangered species. I know that Frank Bonaccorso lobbied for that change in the Endangered Species Act with the Secretary of the Interior who spoke before Congress on the issue. Next thing you know, someone will want to start marketing the Dodo birds that Frank brought back from extinction as fast food. Say is Frank on another time traveling expedition?

Castle Glenco McMahnogal
Danny McMahon was deep inside the castle of his departed Great Uncle. Tavish McTavish lighted several torches hanging on the wall of the Great Hall. A portrait of Uncle Dougal McMahon hung high above over an empty fireplace and right beside it was one of Sean Connery.
Danny: I cannot but get the feeling his eyes are following me.
Tavish: Whose eyes would they be?
Danny: The eyes from the portrait of Uncle Dougal.
Tavish: Nonsense. Let’s proceed.
Chuck Abel: Whispering to Danny….. “I thought the eyes were following us too!
Danny: Well, if you wouldn’t mind, I am going to call in my bodyguards just to be safe.
Tavish: Oh, all right, but then they will want a share of the treasure.
Danny: And they are welcome to a share. (Danny took out his cell phone and dialed.) “Hey, Leo, bring the boys into the castle’s Great Hall.”
Tavish: So I take it we wait here until the boys arrive.
Danny: Yes. Ahhh, here they are now. How did you guys get here so fast?


Danny McMahon’s Elite Body Guards, Moe, Curly Joe, Leo, and Larry report for duty.

Curly: We were listening outside the door.
Moe: (Pokes Curly in the eyes with two fingers.) Shut up, knucklehead. (Then he slaps Larry and then Leo).
Larry: What did we do wrong?
Moe: Nothing yet. But that is for the next time you do do something wrong.
Leo Restrich: Actually, Danny, we travel double time wherever we go and that is how we got here so fast.
Larry: (Holding a torch and looking slightly spooked by the eerie surroundings) Where are we going now?
Tavish: We will split up and search the castle for the treasure.
Curly: Oh boy, I always wanted to be on a treasure hunt. Knucck, knucck, knucck!
Danny: And report immediately by cell phone if you encounter any ghosts.
Curly: “Yanga, yanga, yanga! Nobody told me about ghosts. I’ll wait in the car.
Danny: (Hits Curly on the head with a roundhouse blow.) You are not deserting me given the money I am paying you. Search the basement you stooges! I will take the upper floor and Tavis and Chuck will continue on this floor.
Moe: Yes sir, boss. (All four stooges, in their haste, run into each other. Curly then runs into Danny, and finally The 4 Stooges run down the stairs to the basement).
Danny: (walking up a spiral staircase, when suddenly an owl is heard to call) “Whooooo whooo-who”. And then a gust of wind from an open window blows out the torch Danny is carrying and a big brown bat flies into Danny’s face.




Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.



(To be continued when further information is decoded from the lost manuscript of L. Cranston)

April 08, 2008


STRIDES FOR LIFE AUCTION

(SCROLL DOWN FOR NEW AUCTION ITEMS)


Please Consider donating an item to the Auction.


(Crafts, Products, Services, Memorabilia are all welcome)



Current Auction Items



1.


Exquisite Jewelry




Item Donated by: Doni Swenson


Description: "Pretty in pink and delicious in caramel...The central polished nugget of golden agate looks good enough to eat! Clear lampwork beads gleam like copper stardust and flash shades of pink. And faceted pink strawberry quartz dance along the length of this necklace, contributing their flash and gleam to the overall look. The caramel color of the 8mm camel colored quartz beads echo the tones in the large agate. 4mm cultured pearls of a lustrous coppery pink complete the piece, which is finished with the swirl of an elegant sterling silver toggle clasp.Golden agate reputedly amplifies many desirable qualities. It is said to increase your happiness and intelligence, as well as enhance your eloquence. Doni will package and ship the necklace to the winner.


Retail Value: $180.00
Number of Bids: 5
Current Bid: $150.00
Highest Bidder (4-22-2008): Mary (Hawthorne) Maas

2.


Industry Hills Golfing Foursome


The Eisenhower Course





The Babe Zaharias Course



Item Donated by: Jay Pelzer
Description: A foursome of golfing at one of the highest rated golf courses in America, Industry Hills. You may bid on the entire foursome, or one or more spots in the group.
Retail Value: up to $400.00


Number of Bids: 2


Current Bid: $250.00


Highest Bidder (4-22-2008): Margaret Wurster (on behalf of her boss at Culver City Volvo)

3.


Lunch for Two at the Sunset Towers, The Terrace




STAR PATRONS: Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Biel, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger, Russell Crowe and Kirsten Dunst, (says InStyle Magazine) along with graduates of Alemany ’66 are found dining at the fabulous Terrace poolside at Jeff Klein’s Sunset Tower Hotel on the Sunset Strip.
Now you can dine in style and benefit classmate Larry Cappel’s Strides for Life by bidding on a gift certificate valued at $200 for lunch for two at the Terrace. Owner, Jeff Klein, generously donated this certificate for the Monarch campaign to raise funds for Strides for Life.
From the LA Times: It doesn't get much more L.A. than this casual poolside spot in the Sunset Tower Hotel, that Deco beauty on the strip. Chef Dakota Weiss' menu features big salads, such as a lobster Cobb, as well as steak frites. And you can't beat the view. That alone is worth the price of admission.
From la.com: Past the execs and celebs inside Sunset Tower Hotel is a peaceful poolside lounge, The Terrace, with fantastic small plates and a view only possible on the strip.
…Offerings include grilled foccaccias (with pecorino and shaved fennel, perhaps, or brie, heirloom tomatoes and bacon) seafood options (oysters, shrimp cocktail) and classy riffs on American fare, often with French and Italian influences. Fingerling potato skins arrive with serrano ham, rich Saint Andre cheese and white truffle oil; steak tartare has brioche toast points. (Open all day, The Terrace also serves a mimosa-friendly brunch.) With the help of a cocktail or two, it's easy to let time slip away, especially on a warm evening with nowhere else to go: Behind the small pool's glass wall, Los Angeles gleams after sundown. —Lonny Pugh

8358 Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069 323-654-7100


http://www.sunsettowerhotel.com/



Item donated by: Charmaine (Haley) Coimbra


Retail Value: $200.00

Number of Bids: 3
Current Bid: $175.00

Highest Bidder (4-22-2008): Christi (Brecht) Moore


4.

Ultimate Photo Fantasy


Ever dreamed of being center stage at Carnegie Hall or the Kodak Theater for the American Idol finals, batting cleanup for the Boston Red Sox, or scoring the winning touchdown in Super Bowl XXXX, cavorting with untamed beasts in the wilds of Africa or kicking up your heels in the Oval Office(no, they are not the same)? Well now you can. All you have to do is send your favorite photo to Dan (The Man) McMahon and Bob (The Apprentice) Johnson, along with your perfect fantasy. (CAUTION: Your fantasy must be G, PG or R-rated on the MPAA scale, since we run a family website). We will then magically transform you into your dream persona. When the photo magic is complete, you will receive an 8X10 glossy photo of your fantasy for all your family and friends to admire AND the photo will be published on our photo website, FLICKR.com.

Item Donated by: Mac and Beej

Retail value: Priceless
Opening Bid: Whatever you can afford (We will accommodate as many successful bidders as we can, with the highest bidder receiving first priority)
Number of Bids: N/A

Current Bid: -0-

Highest Bidder (to date): N/A


Get your Southwestern look perfect with these silver and turquoise pieces of jewelry. Bolo ties are great for both men and women. Good Luck. Charmaine


5.




Sterling Silver Kokopelli Bolo Tie.



Item Donated by Char (Haley) Coimbra
Retail Value $85.
Current Bid: N/A
Highest Bidder (to date): N/A
6.




Hopi Bolo Tie. Sterling Silver, inlayed onyx, muscle shell, turquoise and coral.



Retail Value $110
Item Donated by: Char (Haley) Coimbra
Current Bid: N/A
Highest Bidder (to date): N/A

7.


Sterling Silver and Turquoise Pierced Ear Rings. 1.5" Long.


Retail Value $50.
Item Donated by: Char (Haley) Coimbra
Current Bid: N/A
Highest Bidder (to date): N/A

8.




26" Turquoise Nugget and Silver Necklace. Santa Domingo Pueblo made.


Retail Value: $120
Item Donated by: Char (Haley) Coimbra
Current Bid: $60.00
Highest Bidder: Terry Mock (4-24-08)

January 03, 2008



Volume 30
The FINAL Saga of Alemany ’66:
As Revealed by The Shadow
with minor assistance from
F.J. Bonaccorso and
Photo Wizards R. M. Johnson and D. P. McMahon

Special Dedication:
To the 24 Alemany Angels from the Class of 1966
We miss you one and all

Subtitle: Garlic-powdered Kryptonite

Congratulations to Leo Restrich
The sole Alemanian to win two Shadow Triva Contests
Leo wins the Johnny Walker Red Collectors Edition*
*Lapel Pin


On the Way to the Phone Booth on Deck Three
Coach Mike King leaped the stairs three at a time down from the bridge. He hurdled loungers on the main deck, zigged and zagged around barking dogs and a llama on the Poop Deck, stepped in some dog poop, and then bounded up the three flights of stairs to Deck Three.
Sister William Joseph: Good morning, Mr. King.
Coach: Comes to a screaming halt burning rubber on his Converse tennis shoes, tipped his hat and said, “Good morning Sister William Joseph and Sister Mary Juanita”. (He walks three steps past them and then accelerates into a sprint).
Sister Mary Juanita: My, that man sure has energy for someone his age. (The good sister slipped a small bottle of Geritol from her habit and took a deep drink). I find that this keeps my energy up. Geritol, Sister?
Sister William Joseph: Maybe just a little nip. Ahh, that’s good, but here try a little of my tonic. My former student, Tom Marsh gave me this for my tired blood.
Sister Mary Juanita: “What is this?” She reads the label out loud, “Hayes Healing Honey Compound, Paris Medicine Company, St. Louis. Then she read the side panel, “Contains wild bee honey, balm of gilead buds, grindelia robusta, chloroform, white pine, glycerin, terpin hydrate, wild cherry bark, horehound, extract of Hycosyamus, benzoic acid, gum camphor, oil anise, and 7% alcohol. Sister MJ takes off the cap, takes a chug, her body shakes and she coughs. There is a pause, “My, that has a kick! Anything with horehound has gotta be good for you. Do you think Mr. Marsh can get me a bottle?”


At the Phone Booth
(If this were a musical you would be hearing the theme song from “Carwash” with the lyrics change to “at the phone booth”)
Coach King looks around, no one is nearby. He opens the folding door and steps into the booth. It does not take long for him to strip off his outer cloths revealing a red and blue suit of body tights with a big red “S” on the chest.


SuperCoach emerges in full regalia from the phone booth

Flying overhead along Deck 3 are two Alemany Angels:
Susan Bolduc: Holy Moses, did you know that Coach King was Superman?
Tom Walker: You didn’t know that, Sue?
Sue: Well, I only got my wings recently.
Tom: Yeah, yeah, angel apprentice school is a #$*^+@.
Sue: Tom, don’t let Father Gottenbos hear you say that. He runs a very strict apprentice program. C’mon, let’s follow Coach, er, I mean SuperCoach and see what he is up to.


Aileen Bruno on the bridge of her flagship the SS Pterodactyl

Bridge, SS Pterodactyl
Art Durazo: (Speaking over loudspeaker). This is the Captain speaking. I am on the bridge with Garnet & Grey Cruise Lines owner, Aileen Bruno. All passengers and crew are ordered indoors immediately. Life jackets must be worn. The crew will secure all watertight doors. The tsunami is approaching and will strike in approximately 6 minutes. Aileen: (Takes the intercom). We will get through this. Please help by following all of Captain Durazo’s orders. May God be with us!

Cabin 488 overlooking Poop Deck
Coach King knocks on Tom Marsh’s cabin door. There is no answer. He knocks again. Still there is no answer. He jumps into the air and with red cape trailing in the breeze, flies to the porthole of cabin 488. While hovering, he peers through the window to see that Marsh is praying to the porcelain god, or perhaps taking notes on the Coriolis force after a flush. Coach looks at his watch. Only three minutes until the tsunami will doom all aboard the Pterodactyl. He flies to the cabin door and smashes through it.
Tom: Hey what gives? (Tom’s jaw drops to his chest at the shock of seeing Coach King in red and blue tights? First he laughs and then he pukes again).
SuperCoach: Marsh, pull yourself together. Please don’t tell me you have ciguatera poisoning. I need the services of MarshMellow Man immediately or this ship is going down.
Tom: Naw, Coach. Just too many s’mores mixed with a few vodkas last night.
SuperCoach. (He removes a vial of an off-white powder from his belt, sees a box of graham crackers, takes one cracker from the box, and sprinkles some of the powder on the cracker.) “Eat this, Tom”.
Tom: What is this?
SuperCoach: Garlic-flavored kryptonite powder. It will do wonders for your strength and you are going to need it to carry out my plan.
Tom: Sniffs the cracker, and then bites into it.
SuperCoach: Tom, we are running out of time. Eat faster.
(Tom finishes the cracker and Coach leads him out the cabin door.)
Tom: “Wait, there is something I must do first, or my power will not be activated even with the kryptonite. He opens a chest drawer and pulls out a cellophane package of marshmallows. Then he reaches for a bottle on top of the chest and pours a dark liquid over the marshmallow.
SuperCoach: What is that stuff?
Tom: Geritol over a marshmallow gives me my superhero power. He is still chewing the concoction when Coach pulls him out the door.
SuperKing: Jump up on my shoulders. (A strong wind is felt and the surrounding seas are rough. SuperCoach and Marshmellow Man are up in the air and gaining altitude.)

Bridge, SS Pterodactyl
George Duggan: Holy shit. Look at that wave! It must be 240 ft high. What can we do?
Aileen: Place your faith in your Captain and in God, Mr. Duggan.
Art Durazo: Mr. Duggan, bring the ship to a heading of 270 degrees. Engine room, give me full speed. Everyone else, pray.

Above the SS Pterodactyl
Tom Marsh: Timing is everything, Coach. I will only be able to hold the weight of the ship for a few seconds, even with your kryptonite supplement. I need to grab the ship about two seconds before the bow will be covered by the wave. Keep me over the smokestack. That is where I will grab the ship.
Coach K: No problem, Tom.
Tom: Good thing my costume is made out of asbestos or this MarshmellowMan would be toasted because that smokestack is steaming hot.

Bridge, SS Pterodactyl
Art: Hold a steady course, Mr. Duggan. We are going to find out what this ship is made of in about 20 seconds.

And the wave approached with a roar……..

Wrigley Field, Chicago
Jim Dantona: Nice visiting with you, Ernie. Here, you keep the rest of the Geritol. I have to get back to the Reunion Cruise.
Ernie Banks: Are you pulling my leg about that, that contraption being a Time Machine.
Jim: The Monarch II is capable of traveling in time millions of years forward or backward. I only came back 12 hours in history so I could give Derek Lee a few tips during the a batting practice we had scheduled. Derek was stepping in the bucket, but he seems on track now. See you after the cruise. Frank Bonaccorso will never give me a loaner again if I don’t return this crate on time.

Dantona enters the Monarch that was parked behind second base and a minute later, Mr. Ernie Banks saw only a puff of steam and heard, “Poof”, the sound of the Monarch II breaking the time barrier.

Flying above the SS Pterodactyl

Coach: Ok, now Tom.

MarshMellow Man’s arms extend and grab the smokestack of SS Pterodactyl. Water runs over the bow – but the ship lifts 20, 60, 100, 250 feet above sea level and only 10 feet above the crest of the SuperTsunami. A loud “klunk” was heard and Tom felt an impact of weight add to the ship that he is holding. This causes Tom to lose his grip on the ship. Of course you know the impact is Dantona landing Monarch II at the worst possible moment. The bad news is that the ship drops bow end first. The good news is that it drops clear of the passing wave. The bow dips below water which rises half way up the bridge and causes foamy spray to rise over the bridge windows and even over the upper deck -- and then flows off the ship’s decking like water off the back of a duck. The ship bobs like a cork three times and then steadies.

Coach: You did it, Tom!
Tom: We did it, SuperCoach.

Bridge, SS Pterodactyl
Aileen: What did you do, Captain? We are saved!
Art: What did you do, Mr. Duggan? The ship flew above the wave. Can you explain that?
George: I have no idea what happened, Cap’n. I did nothing but hold steady on course and then all that foamy water covered the windows.
Lamont: (Laughing). The Shadow Knows. Come outside and see who is flying high above. (George picks up his beloved dog, Cookie, who has piddled on one leg of the Captain’s chair, and everyone runs outside to look up into the skies).

Monarch II on Upper Deck of SS Pterodactyl:
The door to the Monarch II creaks open. Out steps Jim Dantona.

Jim: (Looking around and talking to himself). I wonder where everybody is? Mid-day and no one sunning themselves on such a beautiful day! There must have been a heavy rain recently, the deck is wet. That’s why everyone is indoors.

People and dogs are now streaming out of hatches and doors all over the ship. They go to the railing and see a humongous wave receding in the distance behind the ship. Then someone looks up and points to the flying superheros:


Jan Wherley: It’s a bird!
Michael Bateson: It’s a plane!
Annie Gattuso: No, it’s….
Lil’ Donnie Swenson: No, its….

SuperCoach circles the decks with MarshMellow Man waving to the crowd below.
Even a recovered Liz Wingfoot Healy is out on deck cheering with Spud “The Black Magister” Spadero and all the ‘66ers.
Coach sets Tom down on the deck and flies off to go have another look at the tsunami rapidly making its way to the coast of an uninhabited section of Baja.


Faster than a roaring tsunami, SuperCoach!



Any body care to make some s’mores with me? I’m starving.


Louie the Dachsund runs from Teri Arteaga and jumps into the arms of MarshMellow Man and licks his face.
Tom: Aw, cut that out Louie. I knew I could count on you to want some Smoors. Hank also jumps up on Tom. Soon a crowd of dogs are around him, curious at the man that smells of marshmallows, and garlic, and kryptonite.

The Reunion Cruise continues back north toward San Pedro without further assassination attempts, illnesses, or disastrous weather events. All the ‘66’ers enjoy camaraderie, good food, laughter, and responsible use of alcohol. MarshMellow Man was hooked on kryptonite, however, and SuperCoach made a quick flight to his home planet to stock-up for his new superhero friend.

There were a few more Alemany talent shows. Hank and Louie formed a team in which they trained their “handlers”, Charmaine and Teri, to jump through flaming hoops for treats (bites of s’mores). Frank Diaz gave a lecture on the life-cycle of the liverworts and followed that with an excellent slide show birds encountered on his travels through Peru. Mr. Diaz also taught Charmaine the calls of the Great Potoo and the Drab Water Tyrant among other bird calls. Frank Bonaccorso surprised Danny McMahon by transporting The Charlie Daniels Band to the SS Pterodactyl aboard the Monarch II and the mother of all concerts followed. Aviators, Tim Jordan and Brad Kopp, and Aviatrix, Jane Lind, kept outdoing each other with new aerial tricks on Tim’s gyrocopter, but none of them could match the stunts done by the free flying Liz Healy, Tom Marsh, and Mike King. Yes, after consuming so much kryptonite, Marsh actually soloed without Herr King.

Let us look and listen as the ‘66ers enjoy the last sunset aboard the SS Pterodactyl as the ship nears home port.

Mrs. Rose Patella: “Little Frankie Joe! I can’t believe how you have grown-up. I remember all the weekend pasta feasts your grandmother, Francis, used to host on the ranch at Devonshire and Odessa.
David Nehen: Mrs. Patella, did you ever have Grandma Streva’s chicken pastina soup?
Rose: Oh, David, that soup was to “die-for”. Francis Streva was the greatest cook the San Fernando Valley has ever known. Her ravioli in Napolitan sauce was out of this world too.
Frank Bonaccorso: Good, thing Dave never looked in the pot with the floating chicken-feet and beaks. My grandma believed in using everything that came off Grampa’s chopping block.

Barbara Smith: I can remember being heartbroken at the Sophomore Sock-hop. My dreamboat hunk kept dancing with a certain homecoming queen and he ignored me all night (Sigh!)
Sarah Vasco: Consider yourself lucky, Barb, my dreamboat hunk kept stepping on my toes and later spilt a Dr. Pepper down the front on my dress.

Tom Stratton: Did you know that the steam-powered Land Speed Record for an automobile is 127.659 mph? It was set by a Stanley Steamer in 1906?
John Sumser: So happens that I am nearly finished restoring a 1906 Stanley Steamer. Maybe we should try to break that record, Tom, after the 2009 Rose Parade. I already have had offers to drive the car in the Rose Parade. I just need to decide whether to paint it traditional jet black or candy apple red.
Mike Wilkes: Why be conservative, go with the candy apple. Do you make your own parts? I can’t imagine where you would find them?
John: I do all the tool and die wok on my own parts, Mike.
Donald Hughes: So now you build cars, John. I remember you being the guy who collapsed the roof of that old junker with one swing of a sledge hammer. What a fund-raiser that was at Alemany.
John: Yeah, that was me. It was my greatest achievement at Alemany. Along with “Big Ray Day” it was probably the most fun we ever had in high school.

Ed Brusasco: Spyder, I can still remember the thrill of victory from my first JV wrestling match in the Alemany gym. Coach showed me a trick by greasing me up with neat’s-foot oil. My opponent from Crespi could never guess how I slipped every hold he put on me.
Earnest “Spyder” Villalobos: Gee, Ed, my mom used to slick down my hair with that stuff. I hated it.
Ed: I could have won the CIF section championship, senior year; except, I had the bottle of neat’s-foot oil in my back pocket and sat on it during the bus ride to the match. Without the oil, I was pinned in the first 20 seconds of my match.

Theresa Bryen: Did I ever tell you about the time that Prince Charles took me to the races at Royal Ascot, darling?
Mary Cain: No, honey. What kind of hat did you wear?
Bonnie Timpe: Forget the hat, did the Prince kiss you?
Theresa: He couldn’t, the Queen was watching us like a hawk. But the Prince did place a bet for me and I won 3,000 pounds on a horse called “Big Ray”. Rich Coscia rode that horse to victory. Let me tell you, Rich was much better looking in his silks than Prince Charles any time.
Claudia Thompson: There is Rich now, let’s go get his autograph while he’s talking to Elvis.

Mary Ganssle Johnson (Owner of Johnson & Johnson Racing): I find that lemon Pledge is the best wax to use on the wooden parts of the Ski-Box Championship trophy. What do you use in Boston, Gyoengi?
Gyoengyi Molnar Quinn (General Manager of Boston Red Sox): Oh, the World Series trophy has no wooden parts.
Mary A. O’Malley (Minority Owner of the Chicago Cubs): I just wish we had a World Series trophy from this century in Chicago. I would polish it every day, but Jim Dantona assures me we are a lock this year.
Gyoengyi: Don’t count on it, Mary.

Sir Guy Proto
: My theory, Sir John, is that if we hang out with winners, it will rub off and we shall take the Ryder Cup back to Merry England this year.
Sir John Preble: Then stay away from Mary O’Malley. Those Cubs have the curse of the goat on them. If we don’t win this year, Elizabeth may de-knight us.

King Olliff: If the Ski-Box Championship does not come to Sweden this year heads will roll.
Frankie Depasquale: I have to tell you, your highness, that Dispenza has invented a frictionless ski runner that will revolutionize the sport. And only the USA has it!
Marilyn Gadomski: And they call him King Rex Olliff The Good!

Oscar Rivera, Jr.: I was thinking of buying the Fiji Islands this year, Marty.
Martin Molidor: Which islands in Fiji, Oscar?
Oscar: All of them.

Madame Zazza: May I see your palm, Joannie?
Joan McKinney: Why sure, Madame Z. What do you see in my palm?
Madame Z: I see great wealth coming your way in Las Vegas. Bet number 22.
Wally Franklin: Have you got a tip for me Madame Z?
Madame Z: Yes, try Listerine, Wally!

Dave Surges: Yep, I remember the dog race of ’98, temperature was soooo cold…..
Ed Bertell: You ought to hear his ice-fishing stories about the giant muskelunge that was so big it took six hours to saw a hole big enough to get it out of the lake.
Paul Pichotta: See you guys up in Alaska for the Iditerod.
Ann Turner Olsen: Yeah, and we can all go crabbing together after the race. I have trained Seymour and Henrietta and their brood of little squidlings to pull the crab traps up, so there is really little work involved.

Terry Boyle Southwick: And now my editor wants to know why I don’t have super heros like The Shadow and MarshMellow Man in my books.
Charmaine Haley Coimbra: That darn Shadow Press has raised the bar too high for the rest of us writers; plus all those Hollywood writers on strike are cranking out books like no tomorrow. I think I might give up writing and open a restaurant. I happen to know a pretty good chef who just might bring all her possum and armadillo recipes.
Teri Artega Romero: I could be your pastry chef, Char. Why don’t we call the place Char’s Possum Hollow?

Diane Muscolo Bergstrom: Now, now Arnie, I know Washington has been giving you a hard time about the California clean air standards. I will talk to President Hawkes and Vice President Guerrero. We will get a favorable settlement, I’m sure.
Arnie Swartzenegger: That’s what I like about you Diane. You always see the bright side. You know how to negotiate. Where’s Teri? She said she would bake me some cookies today, I am so tired of s’mores!

Barb Broeski: So, Dr. Holmes, I was wondering if I could consult with you about a patient of mine that just is not making any progress with the therapy I have been giving him for nearly a year now.
Dr. Emory Holmes: This patient wouldn’t be Ja(Y) Pelzer, would it?
Barb: Why yes. How did you know?
Dr. Holmes: I began treating him freshman year at Alemany. Hopeless case if ever there was one. Today, as soon as we neared San Pedro harbor, he started chanting, “It’s not over”, “It’s not over.”

Pete Herron: Has anybody seen my rabbit? It went missing again?
Mary Chris Checkie: Check the Poop Deck, Pete. A greyhound was chasing a bunny around and around the pool.

Mary Langan: I promise you. Linda, I can teach you the new 540 Kwap-ni-owski jump, that Dan drew up on a napkin last night at the party.
Linda Haney: Are you trying to kill me? It just can’t be done. At least not by a lady skiboard-jumper of my age – I mean I am almost 39! Can’t we just stay with the Broeski Twisel?
Virgina Ortiz: C’mon, Linda, no guts no glory. If you do it, I promise Wide World of Sports Hill will be there for the Thrill of Victory.
Linda: Or Agony of Defeat! I thought you worked for CNN, Ginny?
Virginia: ABC just offered me a better contract. I am going to be working with that darling Bernie Van Vlymen.

James MacIssac: I am telling you, if you come down to Felix Chevrolet, I can give you a beauty of a ‘59 Impala for no down payment and 0.1% interest financing. This car has been driven by Dr. Ellie McConnaughy only on Sundays to church and back. It still has the original white-wall tires.
David Krohman: You say it is still under warranty?
James: Absolutely, yes. And you know you can trust me for one-day service if anything does goes wrong.

Len DiTrapani: So when I popped out of the trunk and grabbed the tray of double decker burgers from the Mustang next to us at Big Boy’s the waitress screamed……..
Pat Lucatorto: Hey, DiTrapp, you’re the guy that stole my hamburgers and malteds on the hottest date I ever had going. Wait ‘til I get my hands on you. (Len takes off and Pat is chasing him.)

Mr. Alfred Graci: So Ralph, I still don’t know how we managed to survive these knucklehead kids without all our hair falling out. And they haven’t changed. Look at them throwing cabers, unleashing prehistoric flying monsters on Southern California. What is this generation coming to?
Mr. Ralph Rath: I got so discombobulated trying to explain the symbolism of the albatross in The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, Al. No one ever got it.
Al: Let me quote the poet, Ralph. “Nevermore”, I am staying far away from these maniacs and their “high school” behavior as soon as this ship docks. Hey Restrich, get back in the detention hall with Marsh. You two have another hour to serve.
Leo Restrich: Ah gee, Mr. Graci, it’s the last night of the cruise. Can’t you give us a break?
Al: Do you know the meaning of the word, no. It means “No”.
(DiTrapani runs into Mr. Graci and Lucatorto runs into both of them, knocking the three of them to the deck.
Ralph Rath: Looks like you got two more for detention, Al.
Al: (Already writing furiously on his pad of citations.) How many “p’s” in DiTrapani?
Lennie: One, Mr. Graci.
Al: And to think you both are Italian kids who were raised better than that!

Chris Carney: Yes, I am sure of what I heard on radio KHJ. Charley Tuna announced that The Las Panteras Rosas Gang escaped from Soledad Prison yesterday and they spray-painted “We will get you, Christi Brecht!” in pink paint over the entrance to tunnel in Malibu Canyon.
Christi Brecht: What am I going to do?
Chris Belle Monroe: We better go find Scchief Inspectore Eugene Rapposelli. Oh my gosh, I better alert security at the Rijksmuseum, the collections are not safe.

Eugene Rapposelli: I am so terribly sorry, Commissioner Iannolo. I don’t know how my fountain pen managed to slip out of my hand. Please, let me remove it from your forehead, the ink is dripping down and spoiling your silk tie.
Commissioner Robert Iannolo: Get away from me you fool. Help! Dr. Shows. Do not touch me, Rapposelli.

Rich Carvotta: Have you booked Elvis on the Carvotta Show yet, Maggie.
Maggie Calaba: Sorry Rich, McMahon already got Elvis for the Tonight Show.
Rich: Rats! Go offer him twice as much as McMahon. This will be the biggest event on TV since Ed Sullivan booked the Beatles.

Mary Siefert: Do you have any money or food you don’t want?
Pat Maryon: Tsk. Oooooooh!
(Tip from The Shadow: check 1966 Recuerdos on this one).

Ruth Snell: Which one of you is Greg? (Addressing Greg and Mark Smith)
Mark Smith: I am.

Don Turkal: The Cap’n says we are going to be 15 minutes late into port.
Ron Turkal: Damn, that means we are going to miss the last bus to Lancaster.
Claudia Thompson: It’s ok. Cha-cha says all the Lancaster kids can stay at the Playboy Mansion tonight.

Mary Lyons: Are you kidding me?
Adam Marx: Afraid not. We just won’t be able to print the “Closing the Cruise” edition of the Pow-Wow.
Mr. McClanahan: (Just walking up to the two). Why can’t we print the Pow-wow?
Mary: Our Monarch mascot, the lion, ate the mimeograph machine.

Dave Gieg: Listen guys, I know if we bulk up we can do it. Where is your spirit of competition?
Jim Jacobs: I say we go for it.
Bob Ryan: Yeah, last time we went for it, I got impaled by a Ceratotherium and you guys left me up in an acacia tree for hours.
Dave: But elephant tipping has never been done before, it’s the last frontier of ‘cow tipping’.
Judy Pfeifer: I’ll be on your elephant-tipping team, Dave.

Monique Lussier Padberg: We are so far in the red now with all the new charges that Art Durazo is adding to the bill. I mean the power spraying alone for all the dog poop and hairballs is costing a fortune.
Claudia Haugh Stepan: I don’t see these Monarchs paying another hundred bucks each for cleaning and damages to the ship.

Crash, tinkle, tinkle.

Monique: What was that?
Claudia: Just Bob Lendzion demonstrating his golf chipping technique through the picture window of the Dolphin Lounge. That should be another $500.
Bill Merriken: Bob did it. (Merriken is pointing at Lendzion).
Al Graci: Lendzion, detention hall, right now!

Betty Perales: A porpoise just jumped out of the water and stole my ruby earring!
Kathyrn Martin Rahm: That would be Flipper telling me he wants to carry me back to shore. I’ll get your earring back, Betty.
Patti Sellers: Hi, Jay. How are you today? Well the cruise is almost over, are you glad to be getting home soon?
Jay Pelzer: “It’s not over! It’s not over, I tell you.”
Patti: Oh, duck, Jay. Danny just tossed a caber this way. Gosh he goes crazy when he wears his kilts. (Caber goes crashing into bulkhead).

Stern railing on the upper deck of the SS Pterodactyl
All the participants from the Cretaceous Time Traveling Pterodactyl Expedition were gathered. Frank popped the cork on a 1966 bottle of Dom Pérignon.
Art Fonseca: The champagne was donated by King Rex Oliff The Good in appreciation for the pterodactyl skeleton that we donated to the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet in Stockholm. The Chief Curator of Paleontology is very pleased to own the best preserved and most complete ptero skeleton in the world.
John Barreiro: I donated all my action photos of our pteros to the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum. The exhibit opens on Groundhog Day.
Kathy Gordon: So cheer up, Frank. Our expedition was not a scientific or artistic failure.
Frank: May I propose a toast. Here’s to good friends who supported each other during not one but two cataclysmic volcanic eruptions, Mt. Vesusvius in 69 AD and Mt. Doom in 65,000,000 BC.
Chachita Faitel: I will drink to that. Did I tell you that I got a phone call from Hef, today. He says we can move back into the Mansion for the same rent.
Bobbie Mosher: That’s wonderful, Cha Cha. The old goat misses you.

Bill Danaher: You look a bit tired, Alan?
Alan Shows: I was up all night treating the ciguatera victims. Nevertheless, I am happy to say everyone is on their feet again, if not yet eating hearty.
Pliny The Elder: You are an excellent physician, Alan. I wish you would come back to Rome with me and teach the Phoenician doctors of my era a few things. I do miss Rome, especially the breads and virgin olive oils.
Pat Dolan
: Say, speaking of feeding. There is one last batch of mussels and clams from the swamps of the Cretaceous on ice in Monarch. Why don’t I ask the chef to prepare them for us?
Peggy Jones: You stay here and have another glass, Pat. I will go talk to the chef.
Tim Jordan: I think Frank is still disappointed that we could not bring back a live pterodactyl. It would have been a great Alemany High mascot. Imagine those school administrations changing the mascot from the Indians to the Warriors. Harummmph! They just are not visionary enough to understand what a noble animal the pterodactyl is. Or should I say was?
Greg Pokorski: Say, Tim, you spent a lot of time flying your gyro right up there with the pteros. What was that like? How do you characterize them?
Tim: Graceful. They must be the best gliders ever to soar through the skies. And as long as I stayed clear of the nesting cliffs they treated me like I was just another flying vertebrate. I looked in the eye of one ptero no further from me than you now stand.
Terry Mock: And what did you see in the eye of the ptero?
Tim: I saw…..

(Hold that thought, Tim. Everyone, backflash 1 minute to another nearby conversation)

Chris Gilmore: Awful good champagne, Frankie Joe.
Frank: I guess. I still feel a little blue that we came so close to bringing back a live ptero, and yet we failed. (He turned toward the stern railing and tossed his glass overboard). What is that flying this way? Looks like a group of brown pelicans flying low over the water in V-formation, but they are not exactly moving like pelicans.
Chris: (Reaching into her tote bag.) You better have a look through my opera-glasses.
Frank: He focuses the glasses, and then declares, “Ooooooh myyyyy Goodness, Christina Marie! It cannot be? (He looks at Chris totally confused). How? When? You?
Chris: Frankie Joe, just before I rappelled down the cliff as the volcano was about to toast us, I found a nest with five eggs. I put the eggs in the cartons and sacks that we carried for just that purpose. That is why I was the last one down the cliffs. But I didn’t know if the eggs were fertile and didn’t want to disappoint you. And then of course we just about died from toxic fumes not to mention the second-degree burns. I didn’t wake up until we were in the UCLA medical center.
Frank: And all five eggs were fertile! But, but there has not been time enough for the chicks to hatch, grow and fledge. Those are subadult pterodactyls.
Chris: Well, without telling anyone, Kathy Gordon and I went back to the Cretaceous in the Monarch II. We found a female who adopted the eggs and raised them. Here they come over the ship. That is Drusilla in the lead, Pliny on her left, Atticus on the far side, Caesar on the right inside, and the runt, beg pardon, is little Frankie Joe.

Now back to Tim Jordan
Tim: I saw……… Look up there it’s a bird. No it’s a glider plane. It certainly to hell is not SuperCoach. Those are pterodactyls!

The five pteros led by Drusilla circled the ship. Little Frankie Joe dipped down and caught a barracuda, flipped it in the air and swallowed it down in one gulp.

Alan Shows: Hope Frankie Joe doesn’t get ciguatera.

Of course no one could see them, but also flying right up there with the Ptero’s and dipping and barrel-rolling among them were 24 Alemany Angels from the graduating class of 1966 enjoying the evening and the sunset as much as anybody: Margaret Bamrick, Sue Bolduc, Charlene Brash, Paula Carabelli, Frank Del Olmo, Mary Dermody, Russel Doutre, Don Falstitch, Paul Frysak, Lynn Marie Gayetty, Randy Guerrero, Timothy Hollywood, Wayne Jzyk, Peggy Kiley, James Lahey, John Lorenze, Pamela Morris, Pamela Richard, Sharon Rondou, Ned Ryan, Daria Shanks, Greg Villalva, Tom Walker, and Don Writer.

Paul Frysak: Look down there. I almost thought Coach Ralph Ahn was waving. Doesn’t he look great?
Frank Del Olmo: Look at the gaggle of girls around Bob Johnson. Nothing has changed in 45 years. How does he do that?
Don Writer: Hey, John Gugerty and Johnny Thompson are shooting hoops on the outdoor court. If only I could join them for a game of H-O-R-S-E. I would show them a few moves.
Paula Carrabelli: They all look so happy. God bless them.
Tim Hollywood: He does bless them every day, Paula.

Then a very high-pitched whistle was blown. The kind of whistle that is way above human hearing and that only angels and dogs can hear. Soon, the 43 stow-away dogs that had been smuggled aboard the Pterodactyl began barking, baying, howling and yapping. Let’s not concern ourselves with the dogs.
Pam Checkie: Oh shoot, that is John Christenson blowing the signal that we have to go back to Heaven.
Peggy Kiley: It can’t be time yet. I am just going to go down there and buzz by Peggy Jones’ head and see if she notices the wind in her ear.
John Christenson: All right, all you Angels. You have been granted a special favor and time is up. You know that recreational permission to visit earth is only granted once a decade for one hour and now we must get back. Father Weber is expecting all of us for choir practice. Frysak, try not to be off-key again.

Paul Frysak sang especially well that night in choir practice.

And so my fellow Alemanians, with five precocious pterodactyls soaring over Mission Hills, you can expect any day now that the Board of Directors of Bishop Alemany High School just might change the official school mascot to…


"Th-th-th-that's all folks!"



Suffering succotash! Wait just a cotton-pickin’ minute.


Why hasn’t the Shadow Press used a real superstar like me in this farce of a serial story?
I, Daffy Duck, am the true icon of the ‘60’s, not that stuttering porcine palooka.
Not that scarf-wearing shadowy dude that walks in the fog.
And certainly not that pink catatonic panther-cat!
I know for a fact that Sue Shannon or Kathi Gibson would have been overjoyed to have a role in The Shadow opposite a superior leading duck like me.
You should have used me, Daffy Duck, Hollywood Phenom as your SuperHero!

SuperDuckkie says “Pass the Kryptonite, Coach”.

Bob Johnson: Gee, Daffy, I think we might have a role for you.
Hey Dan and Frank, do you like duck l’orange?
Dan McMahon: I love duck l’orange, Bob.
Frank Bonaccorso: I’m kind of hungry now, Bob. I will preheat the oven, you grab the duck?
Daffy Duck: You know it’s already January and I haven’t undergone my annual migration to San Ignacio Lagoon down in Baja. My dear old mother is probably worried that I have not arrived yet. And I promised Ken Meddock that I would show him the whales. See you guys later.

THE END

Jay Pelzer: Wait. It’s not over!
Frank: Believe me, Jay, it’s over. You are NOT getting the last word this time.

THE END!!!!!!!!!