okay, just under the E in fillmore moving left is a group of five kids. I’m the 2nd one from the right. the rest are friends from high school. there’s a 2nd picture which I’m not sure where, but maybe just along that same line to the left of spanky, two kids – me & my brother, I think. I’m the one drinking the beer. but not sure about that one.
thanks for the memories.
if you get around to taking some close-ups, that would be scary fun.
for some reason I thought it was called simply “robert downey (a fool)”. apparently, according to imdb it had a couple of titles. it was a series of short skits.
also, do you remember when he brought Pablo Ferro’s 20 minute history of america that he did for, I think ABC, and they hated it, but it was an amazing compilation of clips.
yes, I was gone from long island by ‘76. was out of the midnight scene by the time rocky horror kicked in.
I mutter “bingo cheeseburger” all the time and when I try to explain where that comes from to kids, they think I’m nuts.
sadly, jessie was right. the world has been taken more and more over by the evil “bingo gas station motel cheeseburger with a side of aircraft noise and you’ll be gary indiana.” so it goes.
there was a punk band in the early 80’s named Borman 6 but they’re not listed at all music guide. I have a 12" of theirs somewhere.
one of the saddest moments in my life was when I moved once and upon unpacking somehow my mini-cinema poster was gone. I remain to this day proud that I was included in that poster of all the fans – twice. the only one who was. because I was there every freakin' weekend of my teenage years, I think.
It was the greatest haven for a moviestruck teenager relagated to having to put up with living in suburbia. I realize there’s been a lot tame talk about the mini but I remember people passing bongs around the place, so let’s be honest about one of the things that made that place so great. it was a really a magical playland where people could come, get high, eat fun food (mr. shiftee ice cream, anyone!), and watch really great movies.
I became such a regular that the guys started letting me in for free and I used to help out taking tickets sometimes, sometimes even watching the front door for bathroom breaks. it was never just about the movies. it was about the people there. people who were having fun sharing the things they loved with other lovers of the same damn thing. and for the people who worked there? what other kind of job could you possibly want to have?
I wish I could remember names. there was one guy who worked there, we were taking tickets for 200 motels, and there were two guys really, really stoned coming in and we started echo-talking to freak them out. ah, yes. how young we all were…
I remember the night the place was robbed. I came out to see the employees and everyone was really flipped out, but held it together and didn’t stop the movie, if I remember correctly. the show must go on.
I was with four friends in the parking lot one night. a car came by and two undercover cops flashed their badges at us. they pulled us out of the car and wanted to know what we were smoking. they pulled a roach out of the ashtray and threatened to arrest us. they frisked us. took the pot that one of the guys had. and drove off. end of that story.
the best thing in the world were the all-nighters. freaks, marx brothers, god knows what else, contests. I won a contest once. I told a really awful joke with a friend of mine and we won. the all-nighters were a great big sleep over party with no grown-ups. what wonderful memories to compensate for the chronic anxiety that is most of the time during one’s later teen years. and the guys that worked there were like older brothers to me. just being who they were let me know that those tough teen angst will pass and even though somethings may make more sense someday, other things will make even less.
but my favorite movies, my absolute favorite shows were robert downey films. greaser’s palace. putney swope. pound.
and downey would come and speak. here was a real movie director coming to speak to a bunch of stoned kids on long island. about 10 years ago, I was with a friend in a restaurant in LA and he pointed out downey sitting alone at another table. he was reading the racing charts. I had my friend who knew him introduce me. we talked about me seeing him at the mini back in the day. that was nice.
the entire place was a dreamland that shaped my life forever. I make films now. and the mini helped me to fall in love with films of all kinds. it was there I discovered fellini. from goddard to godzilla, the mini was the best film school in the world, with all the popcorn you could eat.
and I would have to say that my love of world music began the first time I saw the harder they come one midnight at the mini.
have you ever tried to tell people, explain to them, what it was like there? you can’t. that’s just the way it is. it was special and you can’t really point to anything one other thing and say it was just like that. the mini was and is beyond description.
and now I have names to faces. remember billy and randy, josh and jeff.
okay, just under the E in fillmore moving left is a group of five kids. I’m the 2nd one from the right. the rest are friends from high school. there’s a 2nd picture which I’m not sure where, but maybe just along that same line to the left of spanky, two kids – me & my brother, I think. I’m the one drinking the beer. but not sure about that one.
thanks for the memories.
if you get around to taking some close-ups, that would be scary fun.
definitely let me know when you post the poster!
for some reason I thought it was called simply “robert downey (a fool)”. apparently, according to imdb it had a couple of titles. it was a series of short skits.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427550/
also, do you remember when he brought Pablo Ferro’s 20 minute history of america that he did for, I think ABC, and they hated it, but it was an amazing compilation of clips.
yes, I was gone from long island by ‘76. was out of the midnight scene by the time rocky horror kicked in.
I mutter “bingo cheeseburger” all the time and when I try to explain where that comes from to kids, they think I’m nuts.
sadly, jessie was right. the world has been taken more and more over by the evil “bingo gas station motel cheeseburger with a side of aircraft noise and you’ll be gary indiana.” so it goes.
there was a punk band in the early 80’s named Borman 6 but they’re not listed at all music guide. I have a 12" of theirs somewhere.
oh, yeah. one more thing.
to this day I’m still haunted by that voice from the 3-D movie — “put the mask on! put the mask on!” and I search vainly for a pair of 3-D glasses….
one of the saddest moments in my life was when I moved once and upon unpacking somehow my mini-cinema poster was gone. I remain to this day proud that I was included in that poster of all the fans – twice. the only one who was. because I was there every freakin' weekend of my teenage years, I think.
It was the greatest haven for a moviestruck teenager relagated to having to put up with living in suburbia. I realize there’s been a lot tame talk about the mini but I remember people passing bongs around the place, so let’s be honest about one of the things that made that place so great. it was a really a magical playland where people could come, get high, eat fun food (mr. shiftee ice cream, anyone!), and watch really great movies.
I became such a regular that the guys started letting me in for free and I used to help out taking tickets sometimes, sometimes even watching the front door for bathroom breaks. it was never just about the movies. it was about the people there. people who were having fun sharing the things they loved with other lovers of the same damn thing. and for the people who worked there? what other kind of job could you possibly want to have?
I wish I could remember names. there was one guy who worked there, we were taking tickets for 200 motels, and there were two guys really, really stoned coming in and we started echo-talking to freak them out. ah, yes. how young we all were…
I remember the night the place was robbed. I came out to see the employees and everyone was really flipped out, but held it together and didn’t stop the movie, if I remember correctly. the show must go on.
I was with four friends in the parking lot one night. a car came by and two undercover cops flashed their badges at us. they pulled us out of the car and wanted to know what we were smoking. they pulled a roach out of the ashtray and threatened to arrest us. they frisked us. took the pot that one of the guys had. and drove off. end of that story.
the best thing in the world were the all-nighters. freaks, marx brothers, god knows what else, contests. I won a contest once. I told a really awful joke with a friend of mine and we won. the all-nighters were a great big sleep over party with no grown-ups. what wonderful memories to compensate for the chronic anxiety that is most of the time during one’s later teen years. and the guys that worked there were like older brothers to me. just being who they were let me know that those tough teen angst will pass and even though somethings may make more sense someday, other things will make even less.
but my favorite movies, my absolute favorite shows were robert downey films. greaser’s palace. putney swope. pound.
and downey would come and speak. here was a real movie director coming to speak to a bunch of stoned kids on long island. about 10 years ago, I was with a friend in a restaurant in LA and he pointed out downey sitting alone at another table. he was reading the racing charts. I had my friend who knew him introduce me. we talked about me seeing him at the mini back in the day. that was nice.
the entire place was a dreamland that shaped my life forever. I make films now. and the mini helped me to fall in love with films of all kinds. it was there I discovered fellini. from goddard to godzilla, the mini was the best film school in the world, with all the popcorn you could eat.
and I would have to say that my love of world music began the first time I saw the harder they come one midnight at the mini.
have you ever tried to tell people, explain to them, what it was like there? you can’t. that’s just the way it is. it was special and you can’t really point to anything one other thing and say it was just like that. the mini was and is beyond description.
if you were there, you know.
that’s about all…