On Friday evening, July 13, I drove out to Hollywood with a companion of mine (who wishes to remain anonymous for this post) to celebrate the second anniversary of our first date. Somehow we hadn’t been back to eat at Canters on Fairfax since July 13, 2005.
My beef sandwich was ridiculously dry, I’m never going to order it again. I was in a hurry to get to our movie so I stuffed about the last quarter of the sandwich into my mouth. As I sat there, unable to speak or swallow for about seven minutes, I reminded myself of nephew Jarod who, as a toddler, used to insert three quarters of a banana into his mouth and then work on chewing the whole thing up all at once.
The movie we were on our way to see was “Grindhouse”. It was playing at the perfect venue for this film, the New Beverly theater, the last classic revival theater in Los Angeles.
There was a good Friday night turnout at the New Beverly, the movie did not disappoint, and all was well until the last ten minutes of the film.
My companion turned to me and said she needed some water. I was surprised that she couldn’t go to the drinking fountain but needed a cup of water. The snack bar was closed and dark and there weren’t any cups. I came back and told her and asked if we needed to leave. She said that she might be having low blood sugar and asked me to take her pulse. The pulse was zipping along like she was running a sprint, her left arm was hurting, hands tingling and she was feeling like she was going to pass out.
As the theater was emptying out, instead of climbing over the snack bar counter to get at the cups for some water, I went up to the projectionist booth and let him know what was going on. He came down and gave me a cup, sold me some Reeses peanut butter cups. My sick companion had some water and ate a little but did seem to be getting better.
To make a long story shorter, the projectionist called an ambulance. The fire department arrived first, then the paramedics, and my date was taken away from the New Beverly in an ambulance with me following in the car.
We spent the night in the Cedars-Sinai emergency department, eventually getting some tests done, waiting around for results, more tests, more waiting. At one point a West Indian security guard took me aside and impressed upon me the importance of my not taking photos in the emergency room, so I just got the one. (Her pulse rate says 84 in the picture so I caught her at one of her calmest moments, much of the time she was up to 115.)
We left the hospital without any more information than that my companion was feeling better. Unfortunately she had more incidents during the week along with some inconclusive visits to the doctor. Last Friday, July 20, we ended up in the Huntington Memorial emergency room. We spent the weekend there, had lots of tests done, and went through a semi-Code Blue on Saturday, after which they got her an oxygen tube for rough moments.
Huntington Memorial released her yesterday since whatever is going on isn’t life-threatening. We’re waiting to hear about a test that she may have to do again, she’s going to go see her primary care physician, they gave her a prescription for anxiety that hopefully won’t result in side effects of nausea or depression, and she’s supposed to stay away from stimulants like caffeine.
In the middle of last week we read this on the New Beverly theater website:
“Due to the sudden and completely unexpected passing of my dear beloved father Sherman, the New Beverly's programming will be cancelled until further notice.
“Sherman was my father and my best friend, and his passing has left me and my family completely devastated. He was the main force behind the New Beverly from May 5, 1978 until the present. I simply do not known when I will be able to fill his shoes. My pain and sorrow are truly too much to bear right now. He was still so young and full of life, and was doing what he loved so much, riding his bike on the Santa Monica bike path, when he died. My mom and I are in utter shock.
“Thank you to everyone for their support during this difficult time.
“Please check this website for any updates on public memorials and the future of the New Beverly Cinema.
“With love, Michael Torgan”
When it rains, it pours. I think we all need to take the rest of the week off.
If I do get “Grindhouse” on DVD I don’t think I’ll keep it prominently displayed, it’ll be behind the counter, you’ll have to ask for it. Those Rob Zombie, Eli Roth, etc., fake trailers were my favorite part. “Don’t” - ha!
