Apparently, Jonathan Richman participated in a screening of There’s Something About Mary or something. I think it’s safe to say that he has a lot of fans here in the Mission.
Wow, that’s quite a line! This was the scene in front of Lost Weekend Video on Valencia Street yesterday.
Once inside, those who didn’t get one of the 30 or so seats either crowded in to stand in the back or sat down in the aisles.
The place was definitely packed to capacity. The always-friendly Lost Weekend staff was behind the counter serving homemade cookies and scrumptious popcorn balls (imagine a rice crispy treat made with popcorn instead of rice crispies) along with $1 Tecates, so everyone was happy despite the Twister-like multitude of stray limbs everywhere. The staff even generously allowed guests to use their bathroom in the back, even though this left their entire movie collection vulnerable to people waiting in line. I hope no one was a douchebag and stole anything.
Of course, the main attraction was Jonathan Richman and his acoustic guitar. He lovingly strummed his guitar along to parts where he appeared in the movie, all the while offering behind-the-scenes commentary of the onscreen action. Little snippets like, “We decided on using an accordion here. We felt it added a whole European touch” to which everyone busted up laughing.
His most revealing commentary had to do with why Mary (Cameron Diaz’s character, just in case) seemed like such the prototypical bro fantasy girlfriend. Basically (paraphrased):
The director was an overgrown manchild and this is his conception of what an ideal girlfriend would be like. Essentially, a chick whose favorite things are baseball, hotdogs, and beer.
Hmmm, just what we always suspected. More movie nights please Lost Weekend!
“a chick whose favorite things are baseball, hotdogs, and beer.” I too am an overgrown manchild.
Looking forward to catching Richman, and many others, at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, Oct. 1st, 2nd and 3rd.