I call my friend Rob Spallone for the first time since last October.
Luke: "How’s it going?"
Rob: "It’s dead. What are you doing?"
Luke: "I’m blogging on Jewish stuff."
"Why are you still in it?"
Rob: "I’m not. I haven’t been in it for seven or eight months. I’m thinking of going to temple. Can you write about that on your blog?"
Luke: "What are you doing?"
Rob: "I’m trying to sell New York ices but I’m having difficulty with permits."
Luke: "Do you still have your agency?"
Rob: "I don’t deal with anything."
Luke: "Did you sell it?"
Rob: "No. There’s nothing to sell. Business is dead. Everybody you talk to is crying."
"You read the internet about the stuff?"
Luke: "No. I stopped as soon as I quit last October."
Rob: "You’re not allowed. Your eyes will fall out. You don’t speak to anybody?"
Luke: "I don’t."
Rob: "You heard about Max?"
Luke: "He got convicted?"
Rob: "Oh yeah.
"Remember Dick Miller? He killed himself. He moved back here from Prague in May. He was having health troubles. Saturday he blew his brains out.
"Everybody should do that. There’s nobody I talked to that has anything good to say."
Luke: "How do you like living in Northridge?"
Rob: "Nice. But I can’t afford it anymore. It’s brutal."
Luke: "And your girlfriend Leah?"
Rob: "She’s good."
Luke: "There’s no reason to be in the business unless you can make good money from it."
Rob: "That’s right and nobody is anymore, not even the big shots."
"Bob from Dane died. No talent are dead this week. They should all die. It’d be a happier Jewish place for you."
"You still have the Scooby Do van?"
Luke: "Yep. It’s no end of trouble."
"You still host your weekly poker game?"
Rob: "No. I play once in a blue moon."
Luke: "No gambling anymore?"
Rob: "No. I can’t afford it."
"If I don’t get this ice deal, I’m moving out of California."
Luke: "I’m a lot happier now I’m out."
Rob: "So am I. Headwise, for sure. But now it is money. It was an easy job. I made a lot of money. I didn’t do nothing. But now you’re not making any money, it hurts. I pay $12,000 a month in bills and I haven’t done anything in eight months."
