Two Things I need to say:
#1 The Fireplace, Paramus NJ is no more. I ate there perhaps 10 times over the years. It was never on my list of great restaurants. Opened in 1956 by WW2 vet Frank Reilly. It was the type of place you met people at. Maybe your first date was there. After local football games, family dinners. When it opened it had dark wood booths and counters and stools and window frames. The place was one giant labyrinth of dark wood. They served thin sliced steak sandwiches and Burgers, fries and Franks. In later years they added Chicken.
The Fireplace was quintessentially New Jersey. You needed a car to get to it (exit 165 off the GSP). Every High School kid within 5 miles had worked or knew someone who had worked there. They gave to every charity and probably hosted every Birthday Party in the area. When The Fireplace was demolished in September 2023 it had dark wood booths and counters and stools and window frames. It smelled like thin sliced steak sandwiches and Burgers, fries and Franks with abit of Chicken. It is to be replaced by a Chick-fil-A. I hope Frank sees the irony!
#2 Yes That’s my g-Mail Account and there is no hidden meaning at all.
What you’ll get from BING:
Don Diego Vega’s Zorro debuted in Johnston McCulley‘s novel The Curse of Capistrano, serialized in five parts between August 9 and September 6, 1919. In The Curse of Capistrano, Señor Zorro became an outlaw in the pueblo of Los Angeles in California “to avenge the helpless, to punish cruel politicians, to aid the oppressed” and is dubbed the “Curse of Capistrano”.
What you’ll get from MY MIND:
Zorro in the 1950’s was Guy Williams and the Disney series remained mostly true to the early California legends. Zorro fit my budding mindset of an Avenging Angel image and was worked into my Ralph Phillips type day-dreaming. There are a few obscure Zorro silent serials that portray a troop of white caped mini-zorros coming to his aid. That image was always with me – still is. I can expect a troop of white caped clad helpers to come galloping to my aid at a whistle. It bestows a certain level of confidence – false, but real enough.
Over the years I’ve replaced the metaphor of mini-zorros with my Mom coming to my aid – perhaps interceding with God because, God knows, she had her ear the moment she arrived in Heaven. I would say to my son: “We’ve got a BIG advantage because we have Grandma watching out for us.” But in MY MIND, the Troop is always at ready – backup to Mom. The important point is I am free to avenge wherever avenging is needed. (cue music) get it?
kongoboken 