... home of the world-famous SPAM museum....
....but where the big news in town is that the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will be playing on July 17 (missing "SPAM Days" by just a week or two).
My family will be there, remembering the time that Ralph, Jimmie, and maybe Jeff and/or Bruce were all sleeping on our living room floor in Tustin, and Tiger Jim would visit with his tiger.
And I'm sure my Aunt, who was also staying there at the time, will want to remind Jimmie of the time he warned everyone to "watch their socks" because there was a crazy woman (my grandmother) who would steal them in the morning to throw them in the wash. As I recall, we had quite the house full that summer.
Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone.
7 comments:
Fun post... thanks, Diane! I hadn't thought of Tiger Jim and his tiger Angela in ages. Wow, what an interesting but odd little piece of Paradox history. As I recall (dimly), didn't Jim have some marketing deal with "put a tiger in your tank" Exxon? Because it was (and remains) such a unique experience in my life, I'll never forget the first and only time I met Angela.
Noonan and I went over to Jim's house just for that purpose. We sat in the living room for a minute while Jim explained that Angela was big and strong and playful, and assured us we'd be in no danger at all. However, he added that we should do our best not to show any fear we might be feeling. Swell, I thought. When he disappeared upstairs to retrieve Angela, Steve and I stayed seated on the couch, and I remember Steve had this expression of excitement and delight on his face. I, on the other hand, was terrified.
The stairs went up the left wall of the living room and led to an upstairs walkway the width of the room. There was a low wall with a handrail along both the stairs and the walkway. We heard some heavy, dull thumping and bumping from upstairs, and then Jim appeared above the railing on the far right of the walkway. He was pulling back on a chain and leaning back hard, clearly moving forward at a pace he could barely control... maybe on the verge of losing his footing, I thought. When Angela rounded the corner onto the stairs, I just couldn't believe my eyes. She was just huge! I remember thinking maybe this Jim guy, who I really didn't know very well, was some kind of psychopath who got a kick out of feeding humans to his pet tiger... or that maybe Angela had already decided on her own that Steve and I were dinner.
When they got to the living room, Angela just sat down on her haunches, making very low near-growl rumblings with every breath, her mouth open and tongue hanging out. It was a real treat to be that close to a full-grown Bengal tiger, but I couldn't shake that spooky feeling I was pushing the margins of my personal safety, regardless of Jim's assurances.
The visit was short (I'm guessing because even Jim knew there were safety margins), but before we left someone actually rolled around on the floor with this big cat... played within Angela's powerful but metered grasp... rubbed his face in the fur under her chin within inches of those enormous teeth. I'd like to think it was Steve, somehow finding a way to shed any fear and taking advantage of the rare opportunity we'd been given. But logic tells me it was probably Jim, demonstrating how safe being around his tiger really was. I may have had other chances to visit with Angela, but once was enough for me.
Thanks again, Diane, for your post and for tickling the memory core. It felt good.
Wow I didn't realize you were lucky enough to host the world famous Spam Museum. I've thought about Tiger Jim many times and remember my own sureal experience at his house. I remember Angela had this huge truck tire that she batted against the walls of her upstairs bedroom like it was a tiny field mouse. The whole house would shake. I was pretty comfortable with Angela but what used to freak me out was his Ocelot. It made you feel like you were being actually being stalked for dinner!
Speaking of dinner;
Gary's Semi Famous Spam Fried Rice
1 pkg Sun-Bird fried rice mix
1 cn. Low Sodium Spam med. dice
1 Sm. Onion med. dice
1/2 fine grated carrot
2-3 green onions 1/2" pcs.
3 Cps. cooked Japanese style cooked rice cooled
1 egg scrambled
Soy sauce to taste
Salt & Pepper to taste
Saute onion and spam till browned set aside
In Wok or Lg.frying pan;
Fry rice in small amount of oil
Add Sun-Bird mix and a few shakes of soy sauce, stir fry till heated
Add Spam and onions continue tossing till mixed
Add carrot
Add green onions toss
add scrambled egg toss
Note:
If you're feeling particularly self indulgent finish with a dollop of softened butter (Benihanna style) and "Serve Hot"
Enjoy!
"Fun things to do with Spam" http://spamalot.spam.com/go/game/
What great memories, Tony and Gary!
I had totally forgotten the name of the tiger. Angela. Perfect.
At the reunion I heard this great story about this strange guy always talking about his tiger at the Paradox. At some point the question inevitably came around to "Oh, yeah? A tiger?" And so, of course, Jim walked out to his van and let Angela out into the parking lot.
All I remember is Jim pulling up in front of our house, unloading the tiger from the back of his van, and walking it (or the tiger walking him) on a heavily fortified leash. All my relatives from Minnesota (and my pet monkey) stayed safely inside. This was, by the way, just a small tract house in Orange County. I wonder what in the world the neighbors thought.
Gary, you can explore the SPAM museum next time you make your SPAM scramble:
http://www.spam.com/museum/museum_explore.aspx
(note the SPAM spa -- and the caveat that notes that the SPAM spa does not exist)
Oh yes, Angela. Thanks Tony, I didn't remember her name. We went over to meet Angela, I hung my coat over the chair I was seating in. First the Ocelot came into the room and looked at us with great big green eyes, during this time we were hearing thumping from above us, then this large head appeared around the corner and Angela made her entrance, walked by my chair and reached out a paw and batted at my coat sleeve, think I wasn't a tad nervous! Tiger Jim told us of leaving in the morning with Angela as the milk man was delivering in the wee hours of the morning, the milk man saw Angela and dropped his glass bottles of milk. Intesting times...
Until now I had no idea such a museum even existed. I thought Spam was what you took on camping trips. Gary, you can make you spam dish for our next reunion.
Don't miss out on The Spamalot game. It's great fun tossing cows ,chickens & pigs at the French or the English if you're so inclined! http://spamalot.spam.com/go/game/
You'll just have to trust me on the recipe,If it's not the best fried rice ever, I'll eat a chicken (cow...pig)???
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