While Phillipe and Jorge are fond of passing judgment on everyone, including ourselves (the latter, surprisingly, are often glowing), we are happy to see that old sociopath/raconteur/comedian Buddy “Vincent A.” out of stir and at a halfway house in Beantown, with plans to work at a swank hotel.
We have experienced him at his best and worst, cracking jokes at a fundraiser, about how he didn’t have to pay for toilet paper when he lived at the Biltmore, or at a similar fete, telling P&J as we left the stage after a quick turn, “You guys sucked.” We enjoyed his role as a roaster of your superior correspondents to celebrate the 25th anniversary of this column’s appearance, during a benefit the Fund for Community Progress. He had a bad case of the sniffles (nudge-nudge, wink-wink) at the time.
One item that has escaped notice is how Paul Roiff, the owner of 15 Beacon, has Rhode Island connections that go beyond knowing Boy Joe Paolino, another former mayor of Our Little Towne.
While Boy Joe hooked up the Bud-I with the hotel marketing gig, Roiff previously did some fairly lucrative condo development work at Bonnet Shores, which has been known to have some clientele not unfamiliar with everyday life at the ACI.
Since Bonnet and Narragansett appear to be the final resting places of legions of former residents of La Prov, the Bucket, and points north — including some good friends of P&J, who earned their stripes in the state police — we would not be surprised if the Bud-I and Roiff have previously crossed paths, despite Senor Cianci’s love of Newport. This is worth looking into if anyone is interested.
Meanwhile, as most every other scribbler has gone into high dudgeon mode, we will love to see the old rascal come back to town, just to make our self-anointed knights of the keyboard, like Special Ed Achorn and M. Chuckie Bakst, become even more apoplectic.
However, we must admit that former Cianci aide Artie Coloian did the Bud-I no service when he commented that the former mayor could lead a parade, back in the Biggest Little, from Westerly to Woonsocket. Remember, like it or lump it, Buddy will be back, and as he would say, he knows where more bodies are buried than Boyle’s Funeral Home. We can’t wait.
Hee-hee. Welcome to Vo Dilun.
