Call me a crabby misanthrope if you must, but although I like street life, I hate street fairs, and seeing Claremont’s streets overrun on Village Venture gives me the heebie-jeebies. I don’t want a handcarved wooden duck, I don’t want kountry klutter signs, I don’t want pottery or informational brochures or beaded jewelry.

So as usual I high-tailed it out of town. I went to Glendale’s lovely Alex Theater to see, of all things, “Creature From the Black Lagoon,” in 3-D.

Everyone upon entry was handed paper glasses, with a blue lens for your left eye and a red lens for your right. Wearing these with actual glasses proved tricky but not impossible, and the 3-D effects were, well, effective: fish swimming right at us, harpoons headed our way, clawed man-fish hands groping off the screen and toward our faces. The whole thing was a hoot.

Unanswered question: Why do monsters always want our women? Frankenstein, Werewolf, King Kong, the Creature, they always find human women fascinating. Hey, me too, but aren’t there werewomen, queen kongs and creaturettes for them to kidnap? Sheesh.

Anyway, it was the kind of afternoon I like, and if you went to Village Venture, hope you enjoyed it!!