And it came to pass one day that I was representing someone accused of littering. The deputy, with a straight face and in all seriousness, said he found an envelope with my client’s name at the bottom of the pile of garbage. I burst out laughing. The deputy looked at me as if he had no idea why I was laughing. “Alice’s Restaurant.” He was still confused. “Arlo Guthrie” He was still confused. I gave up.
In order to use photos at a trial, the prosecution (that would be the deputy) had to disclose the photos to me 10 days in advance. Except he didn’t.
“I’ve got photos,” he told the judge. And he showed 27 4 by 6 colored glossy photos maybe with circles and arrows on the back. The judge wasn’t going to look at the photos.
I never saw the deputy again.
When I was in law school, I wanted to join the JAG corps. I was given a piece of paper with questions on it. I was supposed to explain, with four part harmony, the details of all my crimes, the arresting officers’ names, and any other thing I wanted to say about the crimes. They wanted to know about my parking tickets! MY PARKING TICKETS!!! Even the ones I beat!!! I got rejected.
I keep meaning to go up to a recruiter on campus and sing: You can get anything you want at Alicve’s Restaurant. And walk away.
I saw Arlo Guthrie in 1970 at Kleinhan’s Music Hall in Buffalo, NY. Tickets were $5. Arlo sang Alice’s Restaurant. I saw Arlo again in 2015 in Mesa, Arizona. Tickets were $50. It was the 50th anniversary of Alice’s Restaurant Massacree. Arlo had given up on singing Alice’s Restaurant, but he made an exception that year for the Alice’s Restaurant 50th anniversary tour.
The original is still the best.
Deb's Art 