As the anniversary of Altamont rounds the corner–December 6th, I am reminded of the timeline as I watch the following video and want to scream at the screen….Don’t Get on the Helicopter..Go Back Don’t Go..!!
For a few reasons: there are so many cliches that come to mind with this opening scene- while we are waiting on the helicopter that will take us to hell, the film ‘The Deer Hunter’ comes to mind, the innocents partying before the next shot that has them in Viet Nam. The Lull before the Storm also comes to mind (that is self explanatory for those that know the story and in this case the documented story).
Another reason is that I always hated my voice. When I was entering the University of Miami I had to to take a physical and based on the sound of my voice, they thought I had polyps or throat cancer and I wouldn’t be admitted until I saw a throat doctor. My mother freaked and we went immediately to the doctor ..he said I had flaccid vocal cords that were loose in the middle and caused my throaty weird pitched voice (at 2:04 into the video-I speak)and he said it could be ‘fixed’. So I took a poll as to whether girls liked my voice or not. Unanimously they liked it…okay my poll was limited to about 8 but whatever..I kept the voice and people who haven’t heard from me in years always know it’s me. It is a bit of a curse as I can never make obscene phone calls without being recognized.
and further
When I heard that the helicopters wouldn’t fly at night and there was no way we were going to fight traffic to get out of there, I told one of my security guys (he was either a Fed-off duty- or a NYC detective), “keep the helicopter for our departure” This was before we knew what was happening. He told the pilot to wait and he got the ‘we can’t fly at night’… the security guy pulled his gun and said.. Wait Here! You note that we flew that night..and what a scary flight it was..
