Jim arrived at Universal Studios, where he had a job as assistant set decorator. While waiting to punch the time clock, Jim stood in line twirling the overlong key chain from the ample size trousers of his Zoot Suit. "Stop doing that," said Jim's friend Ricardo, who was standing behind him in line. "Don't call attention to yourself while wearing one of those Zoot Suits. In a few years, sailors will seek guys like you out just to beat the crap out of." Jim sneered. "This is a fashion look that will return many times. By the 1990s, kids in malls everywhere will wear oversize clothes, and call it the gangsta look," Jim said. "What's a mall?" Ricardo asked. Jim knew that in 1940, he was not living in a Gangsta's Paradise. After punching in, Jim was called into his boss's office. "Jim, you know we don't approve of employees associating with people who work for other studios; for reasons of information theft. So why are you still dating Sharon L'amore, the costume designer at RKO?" his boss asked. Just hearing Sharon's name set Jim's heart afflutter! A song filled his head: "My woman from RKO, she makes me sing! My woman from RKO, she's so good to me!" Just thinking about Sharon gave him a Deep Purple feeling. "What Sharon?" Jim answered his boss. "Okay! So get to work," he admonished Jim. Jim reported to the set of Universal's latest horror film, "The Wolf Man." He would help in setting up papier-mache trees for actor Lon Chaney Jr. to prance around in his werewolf makeup later in the day. As Jim began to move around the faux foliage, Ricardo approached to say:
Thu Jan 27 14:12:01 2000