news sources

when I learnd online that the state court finally declard Franken winner of last year's election I made the mistake of turning on CNN. on what used to be a news show there was nothing but nonstop Jackson trivia. I had to go back to the computer to get news feeds of Franken's longcoming victory speech.

& did anyone catch yesterday's White House reception for gay leaders on network news shows? nope. no time on a half hour program when half of it is devotd to discussion of pills & wills.

finding the lost

so Joe came. he was lounging in a magazine. intriguid I went to the computer. there I found color portraits his lover Harvey made of him so long ago. memories of Factory cohorts. moments of a life.

after dinner (salad with brie) Arthur came. I'd read abt him some time ago. but now I cd see him   hear him. he was in the room playing his music for me.

so tonite I make this small circle. Joe Campbell & Arthur Russell & I take hands. of course it's awkward at first. we're all strangers & they're both dead. but I whisper to them how glad I am to be with them. & for that quick priceless moment the same shiver goes thru the three of us. we know how narrow is that bridge between life & death.

I doubt the three of us will sit together again. like so many of the good things it wasn't long. but I imagine future nites closing my eyes & remembering this circle.

more ties

all week poetry blogs have been abuzz abt the Buffalo reading by Huth & Beckett. I feel bad I was unable to attend. but in a small way I was a part of the weekend. Geof just sent me this picture of the readers wearing ties I maild them as part of "Tie One On."

more pride

if the Weho parade was a date then our local one is a blow & go.

the highlight of today's parade was an appearance by Landon Starnes who flew in from Big D for the day.



he appeard in character as Vera   one of the parts he playd so well in "Greater Tuna."

Beckett & Huth

major
poetry event
in Buffalo manana

what to add

to the glut of commentary on Michael Jackson...

the first time I saw him was at the Grammy awards in 1984. he came with child actor Emmanuel Lewis   the first of many boys with whom he shared his life. so that's the image that remains.

there's no denying the man's talent. but he was a freak. I have terribly mixd feelings abt him.

Farrah Fawcett (1947-2009)

I bought this many years ago for 88 cents.

remembering

I took this picture of Daniel Thompson at the 1985 dedication of a statue of Hart Crane in Cleveland.

work-in-progress

another step toward completing the tie project.

Kent State University Theater

Bo Metzler is putting together a website covering the theater scene at Kent in the 60s & 70s.

I startd

spending time in the little park in Plaza Entrada during my crack-up earlier this year. it was a sorting-out place for me.

now that I'm feeling like myself again I still enjoy some park time a couple of mornings a week. there's a calm there. I become part of a community flow. there's the godbless woman who calls me "sir." those who bring a parade of canines to the grooming parlor. this morning a hot young man with shaved head who works for the city & helps keep the place tidy. I can see the train go by. I can remember the bleakness of january while breathing deep the joy of being alive right now.

today had a special benefit -- the sprinklers were on. it had the soothing quality of the misters in Palm Springs. only better. the sound of the water is music. & the coolness in the air refreshes.

a lovely way to begin a day.

faces of history

Allison


Neda

a week ago today

just found this video. at 6:33 in you'll see me (in shocking pink) in the background taking a picture of Sheila James (Zelda on "Dobie Gillis" before becoming a politician). curiously the video was shot by another former child star Keith Coogan (grandson of yet another famous child star Jackie Coogan).

progress report

"Dad's Last Garden"

shocking

the video of the young girl murderd in the streets of Persia by the ayatollah's henchmen brings back those distant memories of my campus when the National Guard massacrd students.

it can happen anywhere.

in like Flynn

in celebration of Errol's centennial let's all get naked.

the arrogance

of the devout never ceases to baffle me. Khamenei takes center stage as another religious zealot living in the wrong century.

my heart goes out to the people of Iran who will see blood before freedom.

at the Lensic

a David Byrne concert is as much a theatrical experience as it is a musical event. he is a consummate performer whose every move is choreographd. I've never heard such thunderous applause at our venerable theater. & at 57 -- wearing all white -- Byrne remains one sexy dude.

Iran

what amazes me most abt the revolution is the vital role being playd by Facebook & You Tube & Twitter.

my 1st attempt at editing

after Bill Fogle -- that grand master of videography on You Tube -- made his last comment I went back to Movie Maker & came up with this.

16 silly seconds

Billy has a new camera & shot this at Urth Caffe in Santa Monica. but he held the camera the wrong way & I'm on my side. neither of us have figurd out how to rotate the image.

West Hollywood

LA Pride Parade & Festival


I'm much too old to be "pretty in pink" but I wantd Bob to see his shirt


I have no idea why these guys were in their underwear


Gavin Newsom


Ben Patrick Johnson

Santa Monica

we both love to eat. here we are at Shutters on the Beach.

Culver City

my host Billy with the adorable Emma


no one I know has a greener thumb than Billy. here he is with a lush succulent which grew from a cutting he brought back from our trip to Catalina in 2001.

heading west

will return in a few

Harold Norse (1916-2009)

the only picture I took of Norse was with Kevin Killian & James Broughton in San Francisco in 1987.

Ryan's new site

several readers askd me how to hear young Mr. McGarvey. he's just redone his website which includes club dates in Texas & Colorado on his way to fame.

awards

I'm old enuf to look back on many addictions in my lifetime. one was awards. I have countless moldering videotapes of shows of awards that no longer even exist. but as I slip into my dotage I've become vocal in my opposition to awards. all of them are so steepd in politics that they are meaningless. we all know that the Oscar for best director never went to Hitchcock or Altman. or the Pulitzer for poetry to Frank O'Hara.

but as silly as I find awards these days I'll still tune in the Tonys tonite. it's usually the best of those shows. & it gives a westerner a chance to catch up on what's happening on Broadway. this year a local boy Neil Patrick Harris has the daunting task of stepping into Hugh Jackman's emcee shoes. & I'll get a chance to see favorites -- both longtime like Alice Ripley & newer like sexy Nick Adams.

the next big star

Ryan McGarvey

preview

Luis Perez who paints birds switchd gears to photograph me at Inn Exile for my forthcoming work Tie One On.

David Carradine (1936-2009)

David Bromige (1933-2009)

Koko Taylor (1928-2009)

return of the panda

Ken Kitt has earnd an important place in the history of Cleveland's contemporary poetry scene by documenting its poets & poetry events.

I'm honord that he's just put up a sample of me reading last month:

the last movie

I saw at the festival was Joseph Pevney's "Female on the Beach." the camp classic cd easily be remade today with Charles Busch in the Joan Crawford role & a cameo by Lypsinka in the Judith Evelyn part.

as a surprise several members of the director's family were on hand for the screening. since Pevney had been married to Mitzi Green I was delightd to see 2 of their children there. here is Jan Pevney Holt & Jay Pevney:



after the film I had to introduce myself to Jay & tell him how much his mother meant to me. she was a child star in Hollywood   best known for playing Becky Thatcher twice & Little Orphan Annie. on Broadway she was the star of the original production of "Babes in Arms" & late in her career playd Mama Rose in the Las Vegas mounting of "Gypsy." but what I remember her best in was the 1955 sitcom "So This is Hollywood." she plays stunt woman Queenie Dugan. it only lastd 24 episodes but was for me one of those pivotal early tv experiences. in many ways it shaped my version of what Hollywood was. & even now when I walk some of the quiet side streets of Hollywood & see those old bungalows I think of the series.

I was 12 when I sent Miss Green a fan letter. she sent me this picture:


ironically when I told Jay how much "So This is Hollywood" meant to me he sd he'd just seen an episode the nite before.

& in another dark corner

Sherry Jackson


producer William Asher (husband of Elizabeth Montgomery for a decade) who also directd "I Love Lucy" & wrote/directd "Beach Blanket Bingo"

more noir

Anne Jeffreys   Ann Rutherford   Marsha Hunt


with Ron Oliver   director of the Donald Strachey mysteries

Palm Springs Film Noir Festival

            Barbara Rush


with Patty McCormack   star of one of my favorite movies from childhood "The Bad Seed"