Monday, January 03, 2005

How Sweet It Still Is

USC held a spirited pep rally Monday night in the ballroom of Miami Beach's famed Fountainebleau Hotel. I'm guessing there were 2,500 there and lots more outside trying to get a ticket to get in.

Our longtime Band Director, Dr. Arthur C. Bartner, really got the crowd going by reminding us of the Trojan's Orange Bowl victory two years ago, our slight at the hands of the BCS last year and this year's tremendous fourth quarter defensive stand against Cal to preserve our undefeated season record. The band and spirit squads looked great and the acoustics in the ballroom made the Fight Songs sound real intimidating.

Of course, any excuse to go the the Fountainebleau is a good one. Opened in 1954 and designed by architect Morris Lapides -- this hotel remains a mid-century luxury classic. It's famous for it's slightly spiraling staircase to the lobby. Ladies used to get off the elevator at the second floor and descend the stairs to show off their fineries and meet their escorts at the bottom in the lobby.

The same staircase was used to an hilarious effect by Jerry Lewis in "The Bellboy." You might remember the scene of him bumbling up the stairs carrying way too many suitcases.

Earlier Monday I saw Kevin Spacey's "Beyond the Sea" a bio pic about Bobby Darin. Ever see a movie where you think, "who greenlighted this and who put up the money?" That's how I felt about BTS. The credits show Spacey wrote and directed the movie -- and I bet he put up most of the money. What a disaster of a film.

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