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Rubio’s off ering free fi sh tacos

BY WEST VALLEY VIEW STAFF

Celebrate National Fish Taco Day — Tuesday, Jan. 25 — at Rubio’s and receive a free, Baja-inspired, original fi sh taco with any purchase.

Order online at rubios.com or through the app, enter coupon code FISHTACO at checkout, or scan the QR code on the coupon in restaurants.

Jan. 25 is also marks the 39th anniversary of Ralph Rubio opening the fi rst restaurant in Mission Bay, San Diego. The tiny, walk-up stand started the fi sh taco trend.

Rubio’s menu includes a variety of grilled seafood, including responsibly sourced shrimp and salmon, wild-caught pollack and wild-caught mahi mahi.

The menu also features fl avorful options under 600 calories, including the California bowl with caulifl ower rice and grilled chicken (10 grams net carbs), the wild-caught mahi mahi two-taco plate with caulifl ower rice and black beans (4 grams sugar), the avocado corn taco salad with grilled shrimp (15 grams net carbs) and the chopped salad with grilled chicken (28 grams protein).

Rubio’s has locations in Goodyear, Glendale and Peoria. For details, visit rubios.com.

Rubio’s is off ering a free original fi sh taco with any purchase Jan. 25. (Submitted photo)

West Valley View Dining

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19 History Channel’s ‘American Pickers’ coming to Arizona

BY MATTHEW ELITZ

West Valley View Staff Writer

The History Channel is looking for interesting individuals with fascinating finds for a March trip to the Valley.

The hosts of “American Pickers” would love to meet private collectors who live in Arizona with “rusty gold”— rare and unusual items stored in basements, garages, attics and storage sheds.

“We’re trying to find people with large private collections, people who have been collecting for years,” said Meredith Ball, associate producer for the show. “Automobile memorabilia, random toys, full garages wall to wall with stuff. We like to visit tons of places, and the bigger, the better. Our hosts love to sift through things and discover new treasures and antiques.”

A “picker” is any avid collector who gets a rush out of the journey of finding an unusual item. They’re excited about discovering or finding an unusual valuable in the most unexpected of locations.

Throughout the show’s run, these finds have been showcased and sold. They range from the original prototypes of the Yoda puppet from “The Empire Strikes Back” to a massive taxidermized elephant head worth more than $10,000.

“There’s something so humbling about working on the show,” Ball said. “It’s much realer than something you’d get from another reality show. You don’t have to stage things. We’re finding history and talking to people, and it’s always humbling talking to people and hearing their true, real-life stories. We spend a ton of time on the Americana. It’s all about bringing an item to life, giving the item the background information it deserves, and finding cool information about the city or place we stop into. It’s fascinating.”

Anyone who might have the next big find can contact the show with their name, phone number, location, a description of what they have, and pictures of their finds. Email americanpickers@ cineflix.com or call 646-493-2184.

Host of “American Pickers” Mike Wolf will be making a trip to the Valley this coming

March. (Submitted photo)

WEST VALLEY VIEW NEWS | JANUARY 19, 2022

Laughs come naturally to Pat Finn

BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI

West Valley View Executive Editor

As a kid growing up in the Chicago area, Pat Finn was introduced to Toyotas. His mom drove a Camry, and his family loyally supported the brand.

So, it was fate that Finn landed the role as the overenthusiastic Pat in the car company’s commercials.

“On the first audition for the spot, I thought, ‘This commercial is so fun. It’s like a mini sitcom about this likeable, bumbling dad who loves Toyotas,’” he recalled from his LA-area home.

“It’s a mini snippet of his day or life. LaneTerralever, the ad agency, comes up with the concepts, and they do a great job. I always say one of my favorite days of the year is when they send the scripts.”

Recently, he filmed a commercial with his real-life daughter, who, in the commercial, drives a Toyota off to college. While she’s in the driveway, he and his wife, played by Kristen O’Meara, tear up.

“He’s obviously emotional, and my wife is questioning whether I’m upset about her leaving or the Toyota leaving,” he said with a laugh. “You kind of don’t know. That’s what makes them fun.”

Finn will screen his documentary, “Pat TV: The First 15 Years,” during the Chandler International Film Festival, which is set for Tuesday, Jan. 18, to Sunday, Jan. 23. The event venues include Harkins Chandler Fashion 20, Hilton Garden Inn Chandler Downtown, Chandler Center for the Arts parking lot, Ginger Money Gastropub and La Ristra New Mexican Kitchen.

Directed by Jordan Brady, “Pat TV: The First 15 Years” screens from 6:10 to 6:45 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22, at LOOK Dine-In Cinemas, 1 W. Chandler Boulevard, Chandler.

“Jordan Brady is an amazing director. He directs a lot of the Toyota spots, which is an amazing accomplishment,”

Pat Finn is known for Toyota ads. (Submitted photo)

Finn said.

“We shoot three or four commercials in one day. A commercial generally can take anywhere from one to five days to shoot. The fact that we can film nine commercials in three days is pretty remarkable. The 35-minute documentary is a behindthe-scenes look at what makes it work from his end. It’s a cool little behind the curtain look at some of the really fun stuff

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WEST VALLEY VIEW NEWS | JANUARY 19, 2022 we’ve been able to put out.”

Meeting Chris Farley

Finn is one of six kids who grew up in a three-bedroom house. He enjoyed dinners with his family as they shared stories. He gravitated toward comedy. After all, “nobody dislikes comedy.”

“My mom and I watched ‘The Carol Burnett Show’ and ‘The Odd Couple,’” he said. “I really liked the idea of sitcoms. Growing up in Chicago, nobody said they wanted to be an actor. They wanted to be firefighters or in sales.”

Things changed when he attended Marquette University.

“I met my wife, Donna, my freshman year when I was 18,” he said. “I also met one of my best friends, Chris Farley. The two of us were inseparable. We listened to comedy albums by Steve Martin and National Lampoon.”

Farley’s goal was to star on “Saturday Night Live,” and Finn knew he would thrive there. The two prepared for their comedy career at the Chicago improv troupe The Second City.

“I used to go there and almost study it,” he said. “Why did that laugh work? Why did that song work? Why did they do this scene? I was like a baseball player rewatching a game. A career in comedy didn’t become a reality until I was picked up by The Second City and then the main stage.”

Finn said Farley’s personality mirrored his performance on “Saturday Night Live’s” “Chris Farley Show.” In one episode, he legendarily interviews Paul McCartney and calls himself an idiot after awkwardly starting the interview.

“We were at The Second City, taking classes, and Dan Ackroyd walks in through the back doors,” he recalled. “I said, ‘There’s Dan Ackroyd. That’s so cool.’ I told Chris we should go talk to him. Chris said he wasn’t sure what to say.

“Literally, Chris walks over to him, mentions ‘The Blues Brothers’ and said, ‘That’s awesome.’ There was literally no conversation. He just babbled about ‘The Blues Brothers.’ Chris is like a golden retriever who can talk. And actually, Dan Ackroyd was very smitten by him.”

Soon came Finn’s big break. As fate would have it, the show’s director was actor George Wendt’s wife, Bernadette Birkett. Wendt needed someone to play his brother in “The George Wendt Show.”

Pat Finn will screen his documentary, “Pat TV: The First 15 Years,” at the Chandler International Film Festival. (Submitted photo)

“She called her husband in LA and said, ‘I have a guy out here. He has curly hair, he’s stocky and used to work on a pop truck like you did. He grew up in Chicago and is a big Bears fan,’” he recalled.

“I was flown out for a big interview, and I ended up getting the job on ‘The George Wendt Show.’ It lasted about a year but George, Bernadette and I are still friends and he’s the godfather to my youngest son.”

Finn also appeared in a couple episodes of “Friends” as Dr. Roger and “Seinfeld” as Joe Mayo. From there, he “lily padded” into work. He and Donna moved to the LA area to pursue his career further.

“I always say, if you were to tell me as a college kid or high school kid I’d be living in LA, driving to the beach, surfing with my son, I’d think you were crazy. I don’t know how I fell into it. I feel so fortunate, and it fits. It feels right.”

If You Go...

WHAT: Screening of short film “Pat TV: The First 15 Years” starring Pat Finn WHEN: 6:10 to 6:45 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22 WHERE: LOOK Dine-In Cinemas Chandler, 1 W. Chandler Boulevard, Chandler COST: $10 INFO: eventbrite.com or chandlerfilmfestival.com

ANSWERS ON PAGE 25

King Crossword

ACROSS

1 Hula swivelers 5 Kvetch 9 Comedian Margaret 12 Inky stain 13 Stead 14 Bond rating 15 Sooner State native 17 “The A-Team” actor 18 Trails 19 Rose parts 21 Halloween disguises 24 Rating unit 25 iPhone downloads 26 Skunk relatives 30 “-- was saying ...” 31 Passion 32 -- tai 33 Olympic winner 35 Poet of yore 36 Dutch cheese 37 Arm bones 38 Peer in a box 40 The Emerald Isle 42 Branch 43 Intermediary 48 “Patience -- virtue” 49 Thus 50 Corn recipe 51 PC linkup 52 Calendar squares 53 Fill up

DOWN

1 “Veep” airer 2 Sort 3 D.C. figure 4 Celery servings 5 Drain blockage 6 Intends 7 Actor Stephen 8 Groan-inducing humorist 9 TV station employee 10 Injure 11 Feed-bag filler 16 Possesses 20 Tic- -- -toe 21 Sir’s counterpart 22 Church section 23 Peter Parker’s alter ego 24 Coin aperture 26 Prudish 27 Takes too much, in med. lingo 28 Skater Lipinski 29 Faction 31 Fear-stricken 34 Big fuss 35 Censors 37 Internet address 38 Hoosegow 39 Celestial bear 40 Jittery 41 Altar vows 44 Roth svgs. plan 45 Extinct bird 46 Picnic crasher 47 Born

by Linda Thistle

The idea of Go Figure is to arrive at the figures given at the bottom and right-hand columns of the diagram by following the arithmetic signs in the order they are given (that is, from left to right and top to bottom). Use only the numbers below the diagram to complete its blank squares and use each of the nine numbers only once.

DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK H H H

H Moderate HH Challenging HHH HOO BOY!

Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each small 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine.

DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK H

H Moderate HH Challenging HHH HOO BOY!

EVEN EXCHANGE

by Donna Pettman

Each numbered row contains two clues and two answers. The two answers differ from each other by only one letter, which has already been inserted. For example, if you exchange the A from MASTER for an I, you get MISTER. Do not change the order of the letters.

SCRAMBLERS

Unscramble the letters within each rectangle to form four ordinary words. Then rearrange the boxed letters to form the mystery word, which will complete the gag!