Yes, perfect, and what does the parking attendant tell Cameron? The first phrase any decent capitalist broker learns: “Relax, I’m a professional.” Except I always thought the attendant looked a bit like Frank Zappa. One year, while back in LA on business, staying near Santa Monica Blvd. and La Cienega, I took one of the co. cars up to the original Barney’s Beanery, and the guy in the lot was a dead ringer for the Ferris Bueller attendant, but when I did a double take and asked him if he’d ever won the look-a-like contest, he smiled and said, “Relax, I ain’t him.”
Hi, Joe! That's a good anecdote. It occurred to me later, when I was feeling less curmudgeonly, that the line "Relax, I'm a professional" might have a touch of self-parody in it. Filmmakers, after all, say something along those lines when they cajole cash out of investors, which, if they're any good, they then take out on a joyride.
Yes, perfect, and what does the parking attendant tell Cameron? The first phrase any decent capitalist broker learns: “Relax, I’m a professional.” Except I always thought the attendant looked a bit like Frank Zappa. One year, while back in LA on business, staying near Santa Monica Blvd. and La Cienega, I took one of the co. cars up to the original Barney’s Beanery, and the guy in the lot was a dead ringer for the Ferris Bueller attendant, but when I did a double take and asked him if he’d ever won the look-a-like contest, he smiled and said, “Relax, I ain’t him.”
Posted by: Joe Linker | Thursday, 20 January 2011 at 08:52 PM
Hey nice job landing on the daily dish! (of course, just being in the Paris Review is probably a bigger achievement, but still)
Posted by: Ben | Tuesday, 25 January 2011 at 12:42 PM
Hi, Joe! That's a good anecdote. It occurred to me later, when I was feeling less curmudgeonly, that the line "Relax, I'm a professional" might have a touch of self-parody in it. Filmmakers, after all, say something along those lines when they cajole cash out of investors, which, if they're any good, they then take out on a joyride.
Ben: Thanks! Cute movie.
Posted by: Caleb Crain | Tuesday, 25 January 2011 at 04:37 PM