Hi Chris.
>You jammie bastard ! I thought you were taking the piss when you said
>you were going to the Playboy mansion. I like your Easter bunnies more
>than mine ! LOL.
We were there less than 2 hours for what was supposed to be a 4-hour party...wish we didn't have to be back at the track bright and early at 8 the next morning!
And no, we never actually went inside the Mansion building itself, nor to the Grotto. Most of the time was spent in a tented area immediately adjacent to the Mansion, though we started with a 20-minute walking tour (led by one of the other Playmates) which included some of the menagerie areas (bird/monkey cages and amphibians), the lawn where they shot the Weezer video, the tennis courts and (very Seventies) game room. Hef showed up for a grand total of five minutes and was mobbed the entire time.
We got there kind of late to begin with (no thanks to McDowell nearly getting us killed several times driving from Long Beach), so there wasn't much light to work with...also there was some debate as to how much gear (if even any) I'd be allowed to bring through the door, so I had to scramble and leave some stuff behind. While I had a total of 3 SLRs with me, I opted for the D200 and my camcorder - then wound up forgetting the wide angle for the former and light for the latter...
I keep telling people at work that's why there are so few architectual shots of the exterior, and their reply is, "who cares about the architecture?"
It wasn't until Thurs. that I found out there were actually TWO parties, and my invitation to the latter must've gotten lost in the mail. Saturday night was to be in conjunction with Hef's 80th birthday bash and was described as a "lingerie party" - not sure if all female guests were supposed to wear that, but definitely the "residents," and the guys had to wear pajamas. Memo had a brand new pair of silk PJ's he was dying to break in, so he was as bummed about missing that as anything else. I should've just taken his damn invitation...
The important thing is that my hair lasted through this, and through the rest of the trip in fact...then it all fell out within 2 days after returning home.
>What went wrong in Long Beach then ? I did see highlights of the
>Celebrity Toyota crash fest !
That's one of them. In case I hadn't told you...one of my good high school friends was the one who shelled out $50k to win the eBay auction for the open seat for that race, so he was my #1 priority all weekend (Memo wasn't exactly too thrilled with that). He was due for no worse than a solid 4th place but "made a rookie mistake," didn't see the yellow, and plowed into the tires trying to avoid Rudnai's parked car (then Sabato simultaneously crashed into him/the tires). Subsequently he got a lot of feedback from others that they didn't see the yellow either, and with Rudnai parked for as long as he was, there really should've been a full course caution.
Meanwhile I was perched by the photo hole (where the remote video camera
was) on the backstretch and didn't see him come around...they'd cut the TV feed in the compound also, so nobody had a clue what was going on. Then they brought his car back in with the wrecker and IMMEDIATELY threw a tarp over it, which didn't exactly make me feel good. He only bumped his right knee, but nobody seemed to be in any hurry to relay that information...and all indications are that when I finally get to see the race on Speed next Sat., there will be heavy censorship of this accident having even taken place.
I was actually in the Pro/Celeb compound earlier that morning, trying to eat breakfast trackside for a change, when word of Memo's accident first reached me by cell phone, and I looked up just in time to see his car heading down the backstretch on a flatbed. Needless to say I couldn't simply flee for the hospital, so that was a very worrisome period. I wolfed down what was left of breakfast, gritted my teeth, went back out to shoot Champ Car warmup, then headed back to the Grand Am paddock to see what was left.
They had tons of bodywork shredded in a pile, and I instinctively grabbed the one small recognizable piece I could find. They then promptly scooped up the remainder and threw it into a trash can - not to dispose of on site but back at the shop. So this is my one unfortunately unique souvenir of the weekend.
Proving that bad things happen in threes, the huge Moran/Frisselle collision early in the Grand Am race ensured that everyone I consider a good personal friend who was behind the wheel of a car on Saturday wound up totalling it.
Then things got even better on Sunday when I inadvertently crossed a hot track after the Atlantic race (after the guard at the gate let me through), so when I went to turn in my vest after the Champ Car race (in other words, already essentially done for the weekend), they pulled my credentials, had a security guard escort me from the track (forcing me to walk 20 minutes around the perimeter, dragging all my gear, to get back to my hotel instead of 5 minutes), and threatened me with being blackballed from Long Beach for next year and beyond. I have since been promised no future reprisals, but the incident still doesn't exactly remove the bad taste in my mouth...
>I hadn't seen anything of the Grand Am so didn't know of any of the
>crashes. I trust Memo is ok.
Immediately after the end of the 20-minute practice session, the brakes failed as he continued down the front stretch. He spun and rear-ended the tires at 160 mph, launching himself high and landing hard on his wheels. There is apparently no photo or video documentation of this. He compressed two lower vertabrae, dragged himself out of the hospital that afternoon, was fitted for a back brace last week and is expected to be sidelined about 8 weeks. The car was hastily rebuilt in 6 hours, spent the first 5 laps still parked in pit lane, and finished 21st with Alex Barron taking his place.
>I hope you explained that the security guy said it was ok to cross the
>track. Surely not all your fault there !
I never had the chance to explain that, as they could not immediately tell me when or where this sin had occured. Supposedly there were three eyewitnesses to this - none of whom bothered to confront me at the time.
Earl
