Eugene, Oregon (1984)

Caught the 7:15 showing of Repo Man at the Bijou tonight. Maybe a dozen people in the audience. Just enough trench coats and flannel to remind me I’m in Eugene, not some back-alley theater in Los Angeles where Otto and Bud would feel at home.

Before the movie, I swung by Earth River Records. Picked up a ticket for the Ramones show at the EMU on the 1st of December. The Rats from Portland are opening, along with a San Francisco band called Junk 57.

Diva is back at Cinema 7 this weekend. I want to see it again. Not purely for cinematic enrichment but to test whether my French has improved at all. Still dreaming of Paris almost daily. Someday I’ll get there, maybe wander the Left Bank in my German peacoat and pretend I’m a writer already.

Single Mary is playing at 8th and Oak on Friday night. I’m going to try to go, if I can switch shifts at work. Nosh bar regular, Laura Rathbun, is the lead singer. She and Todd Bryerton are the only members of the band I know.

Decent crowd at Lenny’s for a Wednesday night. I’m just here for some coffee and scribbling in my journal. After leaving the Bijou I hung out in front of Taylor’s to listen to the Chris Coltrane Blues Band for a bit. Went to Sy’s after for a slice and ate it while walking to the Courtyard.

Lamont is in the next booth, talking about a ’78 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce he’s going to buy if he can scrape up the cash. Says it’s got 33,000 miles on the odometer and a Blaupunkt AM/FM cassette deck. He’s wearing a black-and-gray wool herringbone sportcoat he picked up earlier today at Rags to Riches. I think it’s the same coat that was left here a few days ago and went missing.

If he knows he’s wearing stolen clothing he’s got balls showing up at the scene of the crime.

~ Richard La Rosa