31 May 2010
30 May 2010
29 May 2010
Dennis Hopper (1936-2010)
a picture I took
# # #
& remembering the last time I saw him: at Santa Fe Rodeo Grounds when neighbor Rita & I were (unseen) extras in "Swing Vote."
# # #
& remembering the last time I saw him: at Santa Fe Rodeo Grounds when neighbor Rita & I were (unseen) extras in "Swing Vote."
28 May 2010
27 May 2010
o Mr. O
don't know what to make of this mess. the president's wonky press conference was hardly reassuring. still don't understand why he isn't mobilizing troops to the beaches for clean-up. sometimes it sounds as if he thinks he is but then where are they?
26 May 2010
happy 75th birthday
I was 13
when I discoverd
Richard Harrison
in physique magazines
I bought at the cigar store
(from "In the 50s")
sigh
on Silliman's blog today I heard of a new magazine -- Sal Mimeo. what a great title.
& it makes me think of Niall O'Sullivan's video tribute to Todd Moore in which he sez: "there was something calld the mimeograph..." now I know he had his tongue in his cheek. or did he? there's a whole generation out there who probably has no idea what a mimeograph machine was. certainly they never got inky fingers from trying to work one. altho O'Sullivan made me smile with his line he also made me feel old.
& it makes me think of Niall O'Sullivan's video tribute to Todd Moore in which he sez: "there was something calld the mimeograph..." now I know he had his tongue in his cheek. or did he? there's a whole generation out there who probably has no idea what a mimeograph machine was. certainly they never got inky fingers from trying to work one. altho O'Sullivan made me smile with his line he also made me feel old.
25 May 2010
24 May 2010
"Blossoms, Blossoms, oh lovely Blossoms"
oddly that line poppd in my head when I photographd this cactus next to my back portal just now. it's the opening line from the earliest poem of mine that I have (written at age 12).
23 May 2010
remembering Todd Moore
Tony Moffeit & Kyle Laws drove 4 & a half hours from Puebla. Lawrence Welsh drove 4 & a half hours from El Paso. others came from Dallas & a small town in Utah. they joind friends & family & fans of Todd for a celebration of his life & writing at Harwood Art Center in Albuquerque yesterday.
it was a testament to a life lived well. speaker after speaker commentd on Todd's humor & creativity & deep knowledge of literature & history & film. we read his poems & our poems. & we laughd.
Lawrence Welsh & Richard Vargas
with Mark Weber
with Tony Moffeit & Barbara Moore
& Todd's daughter-in-law has postd a wonderful album of her photos.
it was a testament to a life lived well. speaker after speaker commentd on Todd's humor & creativity & deep knowledge of literature & history & film. we read his poems & our poems. & we laughd.
Lawrence Welsh & Richard Vargas
with Mark Weber
with Tony Moffeit & Barbara Moore
& Todd's daughter-in-law has postd a wonderful album of her photos.
22 May 2010
I've withheld comment
on the oil spill out of frustration. everyone hates BP. but isn't our government as much at fault? past administrations allowd offshore drilling & the current one is sitting on its ass while wildlife is dying. the whole thing worsens by the hour & nothing is being done. is no one in charge here?
21 May 2010
transplanting
felt good getting my hands dirty. using Dad's trowel I made space outdoors for some plants I nursd thru winter indoors. then in those large containers I moved plants from smaller ones.
& in the mix items brought back from Elyria & Hollywood & Fort Lauderdale & Palm Springs. I love having my past growing beside me.
& in the mix items brought back from Elyria & Hollywood & Fort Lauderdale & Palm Springs. I love having my past growing beside me.
20 May 2010
Mrs. O
I may be having some problems with her husband on certain issues but wowzer... when was the last time we saw such a stunning woman in the WH?
Arakawa (1936-2010)
I met him on my 42nd birthday after having corresponded with his wife & partner.
19 May 2010
Hollywood Walk of Fame
like everything in Tinseltown this gimmick began as a way to make money. yes a construction company came up with the idea hoping to get more jobs.
the initial 1500-plus names were chosen by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. from the gitgo politics playd a part in the process. Charles Chaplin Jr. sued because his father wasn't in the original group.
nowadays a star can be bought.
but even knowing that the gimmick works. & the walk is as much a part of Hollywood history as the prints in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theater.
now there's a website where you can find those on the walk. for instance my friend Lois Wilson (who was on TCM overnite).
on my birthday I walkd from the Roosevelt to Grauman's echoing a line in my Victor Kilian poem. when I got to Lois' star I knelt down & touchd it. I was in Hollywood when she died & stoppd by her star then. there were flowers on it.
the initial 1500-plus names were chosen by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. from the gitgo politics playd a part in the process. Charles Chaplin Jr. sued because his father wasn't in the original group.
nowadays a star can be bought.
but even knowing that the gimmick works. & the walk is as much a part of Hollywood history as the prints in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theater.
now there's a website where you can find those on the walk. for instance my friend Lois Wilson (who was on TCM overnite).
on my birthday I walkd from the Roosevelt to Grauman's echoing a line in my Victor Kilian poem. when I got to Lois' star I knelt down & touchd it. I was in Hollywood when she died & stoppd by her star then. there were flowers on it.
18 May 2010
"Satie's Umbrellas"
after the burial
his friends finally
saw the apartment
compositions were stuffd
in pockets of
his velvet suits
84 identical handkerchieves
were lined up
in a drawer
& here there
eveywhere the umbrellas
stopping the rain
only Erik heard
his friends finally
saw the apartment
compositions were stuffd
in pockets of
his velvet suits
84 identical handkerchieves
were lined up
in a drawer
& here there
eveywhere the umbrellas
stopping the rain
only Erik heard
17 May 2010
on the cutting room floor
reading abt the new documentary by Ron Pajak got me to thinking.
Pajak filmd me in Las Vegas 7 years ago for a doc he was doing on photographer Bryan Ockert. that project was never finishd. likewise the last time Richard Myers filmd me -- alongside James Broughton no less -- he didn't use that footage. (altho I do appear in 2 of Dick's earlier films.)
in 1973 David Hockney drew me in Paris. he didn't particularly like the drawings. so if they still exist they've never been publishd. in 1976 Lainard Bush videotaped me in a performance of "Crossing" which I've never seen. in 1977 Timothy Greenfield-Sanders photographd me with Lois Wilson in Beverly Hills. I've never seen whatever he did & have no idea if it survives. in 2006 Kimberly Nichols taped part of my reading at Palm Springs Art Museum but didn't know how to use the camera & got nothing.
it feels odd to know that these little shards of my life disappeard before they ever appeard.
Pajak filmd me in Las Vegas 7 years ago for a doc he was doing on photographer Bryan Ockert. that project was never finishd. likewise the last time Richard Myers filmd me -- alongside James Broughton no less -- he didn't use that footage. (altho I do appear in 2 of Dick's earlier films.)
in 1973 David Hockney drew me in Paris. he didn't particularly like the drawings. so if they still exist they've never been publishd. in 1976 Lainard Bush videotaped me in a performance of "Crossing" which I've never seen. in 1977 Timothy Greenfield-Sanders photographd me with Lois Wilson in Beverly Hills. I've never seen whatever he did & have no idea if it survives. in 2006 Kimberly Nichols taped part of my reading at Palm Springs Art Museum but didn't know how to use the camera & got nothing.
it feels odd to know that these little shards of my life disappeard before they ever appeard.
16 May 2010
the gayest exhibition
I've ever seen at our local art musuem opend yesterday. this is the first thing you see on entering "Sole Mates: Cowboy Boots & Art" :
& it keeps getting gayer. alongside boots are ads for vintage cowboy duds as well as homoerotic art by Delmas Howe. there's a large Bill Schenck painting that appears to have an Audrey Totter movie still as its source. also an early John Fincher painting of a saddle. & this old postcard:
"Sole Mates" is a hoot.
& it keeps getting gayer. alongside boots are ads for vintage cowboy duds as well as homoerotic art by Delmas Howe. there's a large Bill Schenck painting that appears to have an Audrey Totter movie still as its source. also an early John Fincher painting of a saddle. & this old postcard:
"Sole Mates" is a hoot.
15 May 2010
for musical theater junkies
absent from this montage are the Roses of Mitzi Green (Las Vegas) & Angela Lansbury (London). & the last episode of "Glee" featurd what may be the first ever male rendering of "Rose's Turn" but obviously without this intro.
14 May 2010
13 May 2010
Carl Dixson
was one of my favorite models of the '60s. we met in Akron in spring of 1968 when he was in the chorus of "Hello Dolly" starring Dorothy Lamour.
in fall of 1971 he invitd me to the opening of a small movie he'd made. calld "School Play" it was the work of Charles Rydell who had appeard in a couple of off-Broadway musicals & may or may not have been a boyfriend of Andy Warhol. the film featurd underground stars Brigid Berlin & Wini Bryan. Carl's name in the credits is Oliver Kronen. I believe he told me he had to use another name for union reasons.
the film opend at Bleecker Street Cinema with Warhol in attendance along with everybody from Kenneth Koch to J. J. Mitchell. it was on a double bill with another short film Larry Rivers' "Tits." I don't remember much of either film. I do recall that Carl had a scene running thru a field & another in which we get a glimpse of him naked.
to my surprise I just found the movie online. at just over an hour long it's a chore to sit thru. but what a joy to see Carl again. & at the height of his beauty. over the years we lost touch. I have no idea what happend to him.
in fall of 1971 he invitd me to the opening of a small movie he'd made. calld "School Play" it was the work of Charles Rydell who had appeard in a couple of off-Broadway musicals & may or may not have been a boyfriend of Andy Warhol. the film featurd underground stars Brigid Berlin & Wini Bryan. Carl's name in the credits is Oliver Kronen. I believe he told me he had to use another name for union reasons.
the film opend at Bleecker Street Cinema with Warhol in attendance along with everybody from Kenneth Koch to J. J. Mitchell. it was on a double bill with another short film Larry Rivers' "Tits." I don't remember much of either film. I do recall that Carl had a scene running thru a field & another in which we get a glimpse of him naked.
to my surprise I just found the movie online. at just over an hour long it's a chore to sit thru. but what a joy to see Carl again. & at the height of his beauty. over the years we lost touch. I have no idea what happend to him.
12 May 2010
"and the rice grows by itself"
Joel Singer has returnd to filmmaking.
his collaborations with James Broughton were some 25 years ago. in those he was usually behind the camera -- altho he famously appeard in "Hermes Bird."
it's wonderful to see him making films again.
his collaborations with James Broughton were some 25 years ago. in those he was usually behind the camera -- altho he famously appeard in "Hermes Bird."
it's wonderful to see him making films again.
11 May 2010
sweets
for Valentines Day Bill Berger sent my mother personalizd M&Ms. there are 4 different "messages": her name mine "Bill & Emma" Emma's face.
Mom saved a bag for me.
10 May 2010
09 May 2010
06 May 2010
05 May 2010
celebrating his third
the 3 musketeers of Brother Abdon
(Phil & Rita & I)
pose with Cinco on his birthday
04 May 2010
03 May 2010
50 years ago today
"The Fantasticks" opend at Sullivan Street Theater for its record-breaking run.
I first heard the Jones-Schmidt musical on the original cast recording. I no longer recall who brought it to the office of the Daily Kent Stater in Merrill Hall. but we playd it over & over.
then in early may of 1963 David Freeman -- who wd become a celebratd playwright & screenwriter -- did a campus production. my friend Duane Hartzell was David's assistant. Ron Policy was a dashing El Gallo & Jamie L. Brown was the old actor. my fellow DKS journalists joind me to see it several times during its short run in University Auditorium. altho memory fades I recall this as one of my happiest times sitting in a theater.
it's been some time since I've seen a production so I don't know how it holds up. it was the simplest of shows. & I suspect having been so young was a factor in my liking it so. but I'm happy that it was in my life when it was.
I first heard the Jones-Schmidt musical on the original cast recording. I no longer recall who brought it to the office of the Daily Kent Stater in Merrill Hall. but we playd it over & over.
then in early may of 1963 David Freeman -- who wd become a celebratd playwright & screenwriter -- did a campus production. my friend Duane Hartzell was David's assistant. Ron Policy was a dashing El Gallo & Jamie L. Brown was the old actor. my fellow DKS journalists joind me to see it several times during its short run in University Auditorium. altho memory fades I recall this as one of my happiest times sitting in a theater.
it's been some time since I've seen a production so I don't know how it holds up. it was the simplest of shows. & I suspect having been so young was a factor in my liking it so. but I'm happy that it was in my life when it was.
02 May 2010
yesterday's event
Rick Lupert reports that Percy & Bess was downloaded 54 times.
thx to all of you who visitd Poetry Superhighway yesterday.
I'm esp grateful for Kevin Killian's comment:
"Your accounts of Percy Helton's great movies and about the mysterious Bess Flowers are lovely.
Now alerted, I will be watching for them till I die!"
thx to all of you who visitd Poetry Superhighway yesterday.
I'm esp grateful for Kevin Killian's comment:
"Your accounts of Percy Helton's great movies and about the mysterious Bess Flowers are lovely.
Now alerted, I will be watching for them till I die!"
01 May 2010
"Percy & Bess"
the opening nite of the TCM Film Festival brought the latest restoration of George Cukor's "A Star is Born" to the giant screen of Grauman's Chinese Theater. & there were a pair of my favorites: character actor Percy Helton with several lines & "queen of the dress extras" Bess Flowers in one of her hundreds of quick appearances. it wasn't the only movie featuring both performers but I've never seen them bigger.
now the two are back together again. my chapbook featuring works abt them is available for a free download for 24 hours only as part of the annual Poetry Super Highway project. go here for the book.
my thx to Rick Lupert for doing this project & to Bill Berger for his cover & to Tom Beckett for originally publishing the Helton poems.
I need to offer one disclaimer. for some reason when I make a pdf of a manuscript the spacing gets changd & I don't seem to be able to return it to the original. it happend again with this book. I think you'll be able to tell where each poem begins & ends. but it is frustrating to see it less than perfect.
now the two are back together again. my chapbook featuring works abt them is available for a free download for 24 hours only as part of the annual Poetry Super Highway project. go here for the book.
my thx to Rick Lupert for doing this project & to Bill Berger for his cover & to Tom Beckett for originally publishing the Helton poems.
I need to offer one disclaimer. for some reason when I make a pdf of a manuscript the spacing gets changd & I don't seem to be able to return it to the original. it happend again with this book. I think you'll be able to tell where each poem begins & ends. but it is frustrating to see it less than perfect.
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