[joe-frank-list] 'Highways west'

[rbell at alumni.caltech.edu]

	Lenny's a pawnbroker in Harlem.  He'd rather play music but
lacks the talent to succeed.  He has a troubled relationship with his
wife, Vivian.
	Joe explains how the business works, describes Lenny's
customers and workers, and the police who take the stuff they want but
also rig the auction of abandoned merchandise in Lenny's favor.

	20: 'Yes, it is a wonderful day.  A wonderful day for walking
in the woods, for looking at trees and birds, and selecting one path,
and then another, without knowing where any path might lead.  I think
I'll relax under a tree.  I can sit there for hours, and forget time.
I can enjoy a pleasant, mindless state of inactivity.
        'You know, the weather is ideal for...  outing, for sailing on
a lake, or fishing in a stream, or rowing.  There's a scent of flowers
in the air.  I think I'll relax under a tree.  I can sit there for
hours, and forget about time.  
	'Or maybe I'll go down to the beach, where suntanned men and
women stretch out on the white sand, and people wade in the water up
to their chests, and others play volleyball, and a dog runs into the
water to retrieve a soggy tennis ball.  And there are seagulls, and
driftwood, and charred logs from a fire someone built last night, and
dunes, and a man with goggles and flippers wearing a snorkel walking
into the water.  Isn't it wonderful?
        'And maybe I'll rent a boat, and I'll go out into the water,
and I'll let the boat drift.  I'll lie back on the seat and gaze up at
the blue, cloudless sky.  It's a beautiful day.  I feel so good.  So
good.  I'm glad to be alive.'

	22:30: Bird picks up Danny at the airport.  They don't
acknowledge each other.  Bird takes Danny's bag from the luggage
carousel, Danny pretends he can't find it, files a claim with the
airline for $479, meets Bird at the car.
	23:10: They get a drive-away car to drive to Las Vegas.  It
breaks down in New Jersey.  The tow-truck driver drives them to his
trailer, near an all-night diner, where they plan to spend the night.
While in the diner someone breaks into the trunk of the car, steals
Bird's stuff.  They call the cops, find the bag, take the car to a
dealer for repair, end up in Las Vegas, where they gamble their money
away.
	26:35: Unexplained they end up on a gambling cruise ship out
of Miami to the Bahamas.  A storm ruins the trip,
	29:30: They smuggle cocaine in little latex bags in their
stomachs from Colombia to New York City, sell it to Jimmy, make big
money, live large.  Bird becomes addicted to cocaine.  When Jimmy
gives them a large amount to sell, Bird snorts most of it.  When Danny
tells Jimmy, Jimmy tells him to leave it to the enforcer.  A friend of
Bird's calls Danny to tell him he knows where he is, and if something
happens to Bird...  (In 'Bible Salesman' Johnny snorts an ounce of
cocaine he was supposed to sell; Joe kills him.)

	37:15:  'Yes, it is a wonderful day...' again
	39:45: Joe describes a business in the San Fernando valley
that 'serves as a warehouse, assembly, and distribution center of
promotional material for video companies.'  Don is the boss; Steve is
second.  Steve made big money promoting movies but ruined himself with
cocaine.  Jack manages the loading dock.  Joe describes the people who
work there.
	48:20: Jack, living in Sausalito, '2 days after Nixon was
elected', goes to the Haight to buy acid for everybody.  He takes his
on the way home, trips out, expects someone to kill him.
	50:10: Jack, living in Venice, drives the Santa Monica Freeway
(I-10) and the San Diego (I-405), for the view, is appalled by the
pollution.  (This is improbable.  There's nowhere to stop and it
really isn't all that high.)
	52:30:  'Yes, it is a wonderful day...' again

	http://jfwiki.org/index.php?title=Highways_West

	This sounds like Joe had 3 ideas for shows: one about the
pawnbroker, one about the crooks, one about Jack, gave up on making
separate shows, threw them together to make 1.

russell bell