Our Man in Antigua

Where the hell is Roberto de Oro? ‘gets in Tuesday, we have dinner at Hectors…is he using vanishing cream? ‘ran into Barb a few days ago…something about an old friend visiting…hey, i dont’ take notes and you’re damn lucky I can remember what happened…el Cazadore Italiano? scored a group of identical black new….no, wait…a large group, with security, departing in a small fleet of identical new black Toyota SUV’s…left about 5ish…smiles on the faces of the wait staff…’guest the credit cards cleared..the ever delicious Emma and side-kick, on my street this morning…’remembered the invitation to come for dinner(thanks for Christmas)’showed her my house…’wait..I used to live here!”…screw…exceedingly small town, eh? looped back later, after making rounds(missed Peter G, who called earlier, chef Rico at the helm) and a small group of regulars esconced(seated) at Hector’s…he made us all drink copious (a lot) of wine and vodka)…emma, lori s and friends..i bailed once, twice, three times…pleading…no, begging off and out…no insight/news on the ‘double your money, double your fun’ simultaneous ‘pub quiz’s’ at Ocelot or Dos Reillys…meaning that i didn’t attend either one…no interest, frankly, Scarlett…town packed! traffic jams, the Mime Index off the chart, the Magician? lightly attended but La Prensa ran an article on him this week..Ricardo of Tabacos y Vinos still pulling in double the traffic…por que?..same block of 5th and a simple move across the street…ChocoLuLu in the old spot and not doing much…bad juju? feng shui? you tell me…lotta latina lolitas strolling about, looking most xlnt…I s’pose that i’ve earned another merit badge for my DOM medal (Dirty Old Man) John of El Muro out again this morning, ‘flyering’ his cafe El Cofre on 6th/7th…the man doesn’t know the meaning of ‘take a day off’…its still amazing, at least to me(and that’s not saying much)how the air/atmosphere has dissipated(shrunk)with the demise/departure of Reillys on upper 5th…lonely workers standing in the doorways, praying for some kinda relief($$) it’ll be interesting to compare the ‘pub quiz’ as produced by Eric Stone vs. Brendan…easier? less esoteric? let me know…I was never a fan of the concept…trivial pursuit, for me, came and went in the 70’s…plonking those little plastic pie-shaped pieces in the holder, picking a card…’what was Adolf Hitler’s real name? (Schicklgruber) sp? etc…the new photo gallery in the old bookshop at Nim Pot? doing a lot of foot traffic..’suggest that they rotate the photo in the window, at least to suggest that it’s been sold($$..marketing 1-A)…ok, stick a fork in me…i’m done…have a great week..Alex of Sobremesa’s latest ice cream? strawberry/lavender…reports a terrific day($$)