Dino Drosas has a birthday.

St Patrick's Day was my partner's 70th birthday.

When we built Cagneys I was a curley-headed 28 and he was a brown-headed 32. Heavens to mergutroid! Where'd the years flow? One million Prime Ribs, 750,000 Flounder Cagneys & 500,000 Steak Cagneys and a zillion "Good evening, welcome to Cagneys". And we've met beaucoup damn good friends along the way.

MOVIE STUFF- Greatest Child Performances

Let's talk movies for a moment.

By Dino Thompson

CHILD PERFORMANCES
THESE SQUIRTS MESMERIZE… NO METHOD MADNESS, NO JULIARD JUICE, NO BROADWAY BACKGROUNDS, I WATCH THESE MOVIES OVER AND OVER JUST TO SEE THESE KIDS STRUT THEIR STUFF.

HERE'S MY 15 GOTTA-SEE LIST WITH 15 WORTHY RUNNER-UPS.
THREE DID COP SUPPORTING-ACTRESS OSCARS, MARY BADHAM WAS BEAT OUT IN `62 BY PATTY DUKE. CLAUDE JARMAN JR. RECEIVED A SPECIAL OSCAR.
ALL THE REST WUZ ROBBED.

THE PROFESSIONAL- '94, NATALIE PORTMAN as Matilda, orphan'd wannabe cleaner.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD- '62, MARY BADHAM as tomboy Scout Finch.
CINEMA PARADISO- '88, SALVATORE CASCIO as blind projectionist's young friend Toto.
THE SIXTH SENSE- '99, HAYLEY J. OSMANT as the tortured boy who sees dead people.
SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER- '93, MAX POMERANC as reluctant chess prodigy.
MIRACLE WORKER- '62, PATTY DUKE * as the young untamable blind/deaf Helen Keller.
THE CHAMP- '31, JACKIE COOPER as the dying fighter's son.
PAPER MOON- '73, TATUM O'NEAL * as con man's sassy daughter.
OLD YELLER- '57, KEVIN CORCORAN as frontier boy with the ugly yeller dog.
THE BLACK STALLION- '79, KELLY RENO as shipwreck victim saved by a horse.
NATIONAL VELVET- '44, LIZ TAYLOR as prissy but steely horse racer.
THE YEARLING- '46, CLAUDE JARMAN JR * as dirt poor kid who rescues a fawn.
THE KID- `21, JACKIE COOGAN as Chaplin's adopted kid.
WIZARD OF OZ- '39, JUDY GARLAND as Kansas girl Dorothy.
CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS- '37, FREDDIE BATHOLOMEW as rescued rich boy

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE- 08, AYUSH KHEDECKAR as the young slumdog.
BOYS TOWN- '38, MICKEY ROONEY as one of Father Flannagan's orphans.
ET- '82, HENRY THOMAS as ET's only earthly buddy.
DAVID COPPERFIELD- '35, FREDDIE BARTHOLOMEW as child trapped with thieves.
ELEPHANT BOY- '37, Former stable boy SABU, is elephant boy.
EMPIRE OF THE SUN- '87, CHRISTIAN BALE as Japanese concentration camp prisoner.
THE PIANO- '93, ANNA PAQUIN * as daughter of a mute.
LASSIE COMES HOME- '43, RODDY McDOWELL is Lassie's owner.
MY GIRL- '91, ANNA CHLUMSKY as 11-yr-old funeral director's tomboy daughter.
OLIVER- '68, MARK LESTER as street urchin Oliver Twist
SHANE- '53, BRANDON DE WILDE as sodbuster's son.
SLING BLADE- '96, LUCAS BLACK as the only friend of the slow-witted asylum inmate.
TAXI DRIVER- '76, JODIE FOSTER as street-tough prostitute.
A PERFECT WORLD- '93, T.J. LOWTHER as Costner's fatherless 8-year old hostage.
A BRONX TALE- '93, as Deniro's 9-yr-old son wiseguy-infatuated son.

Harry Turner celebrates his 70th at Cagneys.

Harry Turner...music promoter, manager, DJ, historian and author, had a large time at his 70th birthday in Cagney's Dancin Room. Family and Friends came miles to honor Harry. The speeches and hugging woulda brought a tear to a glass eye.

Clay Brown and Billy Scott knocked us out with several beach classics. Billy Scott and Rose Rock showed some serious boogie moves. And so did all of Harry's family.

Thanks to all who came to honor Harry.

Quitting with a Beautiful Poem

Just wanted to share Joanna Owen's "Two Week Notice"

She wrote it in a poem. Bring a tear to a glass eye.

8 years ago I joined Flamingo Grill family through a member of my own.

Began my hostess training and explaining Preferred seating a million times on the phone.

Every employee desires employers who genuinely care.

Something unfortunately uncommon in many working affairs.

While in college and away from the Flamingo Grill,

I always looked forward to coming home to see yall and eat at the grill.

Going from hostess to server was one of the best decisions I made,

Rekindling friendships, learning hospitality and of course getting paid.

I knew there would come a time when I would have to leave,

Not to say say "Goodbye" because that would only make me grieve.

Yes I'll miss the lobster chunks, oscar topping and bearnaise,

But more so the employers and co-workers with whom I can only praise.

Thank you for every hello, compliment, suggestion, gratuity, conversation, table sat, check out and walk to my car. You all mean so much to me.

Love your forever friend, Joanna Owens.

Roy Mitchell, jr...a good man.

Cagney's lost a loyal friend this week, Roy Mitchell, jr of Durham. He and his sweet gentle wife Millie, probably dined with us 3 or 4 hundred times over the years. Always quick with a smile, a witty comment, a hearty laugh, and an UNC coaching suggestion, good folks like Roy and Millie made owning a restaurant joyful. Roy had an outstanding professional career, but what we remember best is how he treated others. Our warmest thoughts go out to Millie and the children.
Thanks for the memories Roy.
Dino, Dino, Danny, Michelle and all the Cagney's staff.file:///Users/dinothompson/Pictures/iPhoto%20Library/Originals/2009/Jan%201,%202009/IMG_0025.JPG

Ann and Albert Thornton

I met Ann and Albert Thornton maybe 40 years ago. Eating at my pancake house, playing on the beach, then years later serving them and their wonderful family in Cagneys and Flamingo Grill. Albert walked in opening day May 1976. introduced himself and became the first customer who ever dined at Cagneys.

It was my pleasure to watch the wonderful Thornton family grow from adorable, adventurous tots to beautiful people. Ann passed away suddenly last week. A classy, stylish and great lady and loving mother. Words to soothe loss always sound inadequate.

Carolyn, Dee, Greg...we remember your mom and your dad with smiles and respect.

Good people as we say down south.

Can I Get an Apology?

It's a New Year. What do we wish for? We wished for 2011 to end and we wished for an apology from somebody, from anybody for causing this mother of all downturns.

An apology from...

1. The completely oblivious congressional and banking committees.
2. The mortgage-bungling-bundling brokerage houses.
3. The mealy-mouth FDIC.
4. The liar-loaners and the get-a-loan liars.
5. The pork-addicted congress who dig passing laws that don't effect them.
6. The see-no-evil regulators.
7. Every Presidential administration since Truman.
8. The last five treasury secretaries.
9. The fill-in-the-blanks appraisers.
10. The ponzi-schemers.
11. The endless GOP/Dem pissin contest.
12. The toothless, testicle-less SEC.
13. The sub-prime factories like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who are now monkeyed under a manure load of mangled mortgages.
14. The ethanol boondoggle.
15. Every egghead economist with a title.
16. From any congressman who served during the even-odd gas rationing days and swore on a stack of Guideon bibles they'd solve this energy crisis.
17. And for whoever invented Credit Default Swaps and Collateralized Debt Obligations and every other snake-oil commodity, I want an apology and a bumpy bunk in San Quentin.

And I'd like an especially glib apology from all the TV talkin savants who kept us posted on the Kardashians bra sizes, Charlie Sheen's latest rant, The Donald's comb-over, Tebowing, Gaga's girdles, Bieber's bowlcuts, Ashton's tweets and Simon's t-shirts...but completely missed the oncoming economic tsunami.

Can't someone somewhere just man-up and say "My bad! Not only did I not say anything but I helped cause this mess."