Unicorn Theatre

“Whew”…I’m certainly glad we got that straightened out. While I’m sure we can all appreciate the “attributes” of Ms. Linda Blair, I hardly think that Rollerboggie"(1979)was her most sterling achievement, to say the least. I’m sure we all remember (but best forgotten)the “wonders” of the disco-craze and Hollywood’s jump unto that bandwagon for a time. Jeez! Throw in some skating and it’s “Beach Blanket Bingo” for the 1970’s. I’m surprised somebody hasn’t reworked this movie into another bad remake or at least adapted it for the stage. How about maybe a combo of “Rollerball” and “Rollerboggie”! Now there’s a movie for future generations to pause and wonder about…Ha!

We’re all just human and after a while everything just “blurs” together. I’m know that I “remember” a lot of the great times in the past, as per my numerous trips to the Unicorn and such…and tend to forget all the bad stuff. That’s part of the “fun” of being nostalgic and trying to “relive” past days. I worked in a few theaters, bookstores and even managed a record store in my younger days, and I tend to now and then sometimes confuse one movie with another…One “Rollerball” with a “Rollerboggie”…As per the Unicorn, for whatever reason; given the hundreds of times I visited the place…I completely forgot about the movie poster covered floors till someone mentioned it and jogged my memory. Getting older is just great, isn’t it?

Yeah, I think you had too many somethings.

HI everyone I started out as a janitor at the Unicorn/Mithras cinema bookstore and after two weeks I became the Manager of the Cinema. Tim was the projectionist.I loved it. They were so good to me I was a sole parent and they let me keep a cot in the downstairs office and sell tickets with my son in a backpack when I needed to. We always served free popcorn and special imported syrups with soda water. I learned so much about the movies and trying to get everything Leigh wrote into the phone message was often a challenge. I loved helping in the bookstore and Leigh and Elizabeth suggested I read everything I could at the store so I could discuss novels while I worked. I actually got thru the entire science fiction section. I was a long haired surfy in orange and had a guru and Leigh I think loved that and accepted that,although he could also be quite strict.I think the attention to detail and decor and that no junk books were on the shelves and oh all those movie posters. Sadly it was so exclusive we often would only have around 10 people at a movie. I was not their at the end and I m glad it would of been sad. Im now a writer myself and my son who I carried around is a political journalist on Australian TV and award winning writer on world politics. Im not sure now but for years after a luxury Car store was in the exact location. The place had tons of space below it. My girlfriend at that time ran The Strand Cinema in Ocean Beach where they showed Rocky Horror at midnight. Im in Australia now but the last time I went I ran into several old co-workers at The Pannikin in La Jolla which has a big bookstore next to it.

I went to the tiny 16mm theatre regularly 1970-1972 while attending San Diego State. It is where I discovered films as an art form. And Mithras was a great book store.