A Quinn-Martin Production

8.5.2k

I ride my bike a lot. I ride to and from work almost every day. The streets of San Francisco, for those of you who don't know, tend to be quite dangerous. Lotsa drivers don't seem to see bikes. Or pedestrians. Or cars, trucks, vans or busses for that matter. It also seems, and this is just my observation, that they are hell-bent on gettin' to wherever it is they're goin' - and damn the guy that gets in my way. In other words, IF they see you, they are probably very irritated to see that you are in their way.

A lot of people say that they would never ride a bike on the streets of San Francisco. Just too damn dangerous. They're right. I, however, continue to ride. No ... no, I don't have a death wish. I'm just committed to it. I also strive to be careful. I stop at red lights. I stop at stop signs. I yield for pedestrians. The most important thing I do is I behave "predictably." I ride straight, I don't weave around wildly, I don't act like a jerk. Bikes have a right to the road and I ain't afraid of traffic. Respectful, but not afraid. Wait. Yeah, okay, I am afraid of a certain component of traffic: those cement mixers. One of them huge suckers even nicks you and yer ridin' the high lonesome from now on. No chance.

Makes me think. I'm little and cement mixers are big. I'm afraid of them. They're not afraid of me. That seems natural. Little being afraid of big. Fine. How is it, then, that elephants (big) are afraid of mice (little)? Doesn't make a lot of sense. Elephants can stomp the crap out of a whole colony of mice. I think tonight we should find out the reason. We'll go to the source and ask an expert. Here:

Sadie's Flying Elephant
491 Potrero Ave, San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 551-7988

Tangs to Miss (nameless) Miller for suggesting the pachyderm. On to the business:

New to the list are the aforementioned Miss (nameless) Miller and Chef (he's really on the list this time). Soon to be off the list: Rosey (quitter) and "others."

TONIGHT'S CONTEST: The quarter-finals of the Hold-Your-Breath contest. Check the leader board and make your wagers. (See John Metsker for current odds.)

TONIGHT'S DRAMATIC REENACTMENT: The "invention" of Crepes Suzette.

Henry Charpentier was the personal chef of Edward, Prince of Wales. One night Charpentier was preparing a new dessert to honor his patron. They were to be crepes with an elaborate sauce of lemon rind, orange rind, sugar, butter and liqueur.

As the sauce was boiling, the liqueur accidentally ignited. Charpentier panicked. He couldn't serve this to the prince, nor could he start over. After a moment of anguish, he tried the sauce. It was delicious! He then boiled the crepes in the sauce, added even more liqueur and served the dessert to the prince - sauce aflame! The prince was delighted with both the presentation and the crepes. He asked his chef the name of the dish, to which Charpentier replied that he had just devised it and would call them Crepes Edward. The prince was honored, but asked Charpentier if he would name them Suzette - the prince's "companion" that evening. And thus - Crepes Suzette! Our players: Rosey plays Charpentier. Scott Harris plays Edward, Prince of Wales. Lori K. plays the beautiful but otherwise unknown woman named Suzette. Danielle plays a bunch of crepes. John Metsker takes on the difficult role of flaming lemon rind, orange rind, sugar, butter and liqueur.

TONIGHT'S SINGLED OUT LIST MEMBER: Rosey. This is the last time this quitter will be singled out, as it is his last week with us. Someone gave him a map to LA and he's going. Good luck to Rosey and we'll miss him. Happy Trails!

The lizard in the sour cream and onion potato chips was a hoax. They are safe to eat.

I don't know about you but I've always wanted to go to the Flying Elephant. Why not go and bring yer pals? Heck, bring yer softball team for all I care. See you there! Oh, and that stuff about "missing Rosey" was a bunch of doo-doo. What do you call a group of mice? bye-ee!