Pair of Kings

I should have known something was up the moment Tony agreed to King Tut.

See the King Tut exhibit is at the LA County Art Museum until November 15th, and I've really been wanting to go see it, but every date I suggested for a King Tut excursion seemed to be inconvenient for one reason or another.

Then I said, "Well, my birthday is in November. We could go down for my birthday."

"Fine," Tony said. "I'll order the tickets. I'll get us a room at the Ramada on Santa Monica. Maybe we'll go to Universal Studios while we're down there. What the hell! It's your birthday, and I know how much you love that King Kong ride."

Kings Tut and Kong in the same trip! Oh boy! I figured Tony must have been whomped upside the head by the Birthday Fairy's magic glitter wand this year!

So then I ask Tony where does he want to go for his birthday. He said "Oh I dunno. Let's invite some friends up to Chateau Souverain."

"That fancy pants winery?" I asked incredulously. "Isn't that kind of expensive?"

"Not as expensive as the LA County Art Museum and King Kong," Tony replied with a note of haughty insouciance reminiscent of Myrna Loy in "Shadow of the Thin Man."

Ooooh! Now Big Daddy gets it! So that's the angle, eh?

Well, we had a good time at the ol' Chateau anyway. I always get a kick out of seeing what the rich people blow their cash on.

One of the appetizers we ordered was a selection of fine artisan cheeses. That seemed to be a popular item, from what I could tell. Oh yeah. People were going nuts for the artisan cheese.

"Oh my, such a even-bodied Roquefort. Exquisite complement to the Sirah, don't you agree, Miff'?"

It's a plate of cheese, people! C'mon!

And you know what they serve with the fancy pants artisan chese? Carr's water crackers!

No, seriously. Straight out of the box.

Do the rich people not know you can get those two for one with your Safeway Club Card?

I served them at my Tupperware party, for Heaven's sake!

Kurt "big daddy" True
18 october 2005