prophetic

when my penpal Bob e'd me from Texas that Alex had become a hurricane I immediately thot of a poster hanging in my guest bathroom. it was for the 1999 concert I producd at Santa Fe Opera. all of the stars signd it for me & in the top right corner Ned Sublette addresses me as Hurricane Alex.

Corey Allen (1934-2010)

Marilyn's chest

3
X-rays of
Marilyn Monroe's chest
taken
during a
1954 hospital visit
sold
for $45,000
in Las Vegas

Scopitone

after Soundies but before music videos came the Scopitone.

originally a product of France these short films featurd stars such as Brigitte Bardot & Jeanmarie. Claude Lelouch was a prolific director of Scopitones including a couple starring Petula Clark. when it crossd the pond there were films by James Darren   Lesley Gore   Peggy Lee. even Joi Lansing. & Robert Altman directd one with Herb Alpert.

here's an example from Barbara McNair with some campy choreography:

pride parade

grand marshall Eugene Robinson ...


... faces the haters who used a bullhorn to scream at him "homos go to hell."

she steps

down from the wall of my guest bathroom for Bill Fogle

slowd down
by allergies

Todd Moore's desk

I spent the day in Albuquerque beginning the pre-cataloging of his papers. I filld 9 boxes with correspondence & manuscripts. there were letters from Paul Metcalf   Jonathan Williams   Theodore Enslin   Kell Robertson   Tony Moffeit   Robert Peters. & thousands of poems handwritten in notebooks   on sheets of paper   on almost anything he had handy -- from napkins to cash register receipts.

celebrating J. Stuart Blackton

the "star" of that short film is largely forgotten today. however during the run of "The Dissolve" he acquires a new sort of fame as his film is on a loop screening time after time day after day.



if Blackton is rememberd at all today it's not as an actor but as a director & "the father of American animation." 5 years after this film he directd Maurice Costello as Sherlock Holmes. he was on the streets of San Francisco filming after the earthquake. in 1908 in Central Park he directd Florence Lawrence -- considerd the 1st movie star -- as Juliet opposite the Romeo of Paul Panzer -- who some years later wd achieve film immortality as the villain in "Perils of Pauline."

in his 35-year directorial career Blackton was a frequent director of May McAvoy. he also directd such early film stars as Clara Kimball Young   Nazimova   Mae Marsh   Bessie Love   Myrna Loy. (& as a curious footnote for a few years his daughter was married to novelist Cornell Woolrich.)

he calld himself "the dean of the screen" but his end was another sad Hollywood tale. he was out of work & broke when he was run over by a bus.

neighbor Jonathan

my back portal was too hot for him so he found a plant to sleep on

progress report

"Dad's

Last

Garden"

Pantages

one of my favorite theaters turns 80 this month

I SEE SEENA OWEN
IN "INTOLERANCE"

lips & lashes
ubiquitous pearls

Owen enters
film history
bringing blossoms
to cheek

it's Griffith's
Babylonian set
a century before
its whisper
at Hollywood & Highland

she swirls
reaches across time
to teens
who don't know
her name

in the movie
Princess Beloved
plunges a dagger
into her chest

in life the words
she spoke fell flat
so she wrote
instead

when I climb
those stairs
under Babylon's elephants
I still see
Seena Owen
& when her hand
searches
it finds mine



(earlier this year Bill Berger took this picture of George Pavik & I under the elephants at Hollywood & Highland)

for sale

Kerouac's last typewriter

&

Trigger

where did his mojo go?

the Obama wandering around these days isn't the Obama I voted for.

I'm not sure any human being is up to dealing with this oil disaster but I sure expectd more of the current occupant of the White House. it took him 56 days to address us from the Oval Office & when he finally did it seems he wants us to pray the catastrophe away.

I feel sadder every day.

too late

Santa Fe Indian School -- facing unprecedentd criticism for dismantling campus   killing ancient trees   abt to destroy an architectural gem -- has hired a p.r. firm.

good luck.

my stance

on awards is that they are political & often downright silly.

however the one awards show I do enjoy is the Tony event. it gives me a chance to see what's going on on Broadway. some years that's not much.

last nite had its expectd highs & lows. for a Sondheim addict the lowest point for me was the murdering of "Send in the Clowns." I've never heard such a bad interpretation. & then when its singer won an award I was ready to puke.

"La Mission" : benefit screening

writer/director Peter Bratt


co-star Jeremy Ray Valdez

"Travel Kit"

the leather label on this little bag says "First Class." as I recall it was given to me by Regina Yando. I suspect it is a reminder of the halcyon days of air travel. for many years I put my toiletries in it for various trips. then came the post-911 security blitz. now we must put such items in a plastic baggie. so this little bag hasn't been used for almost a decade.

I now fill it with touchstones of travels past:

soap
Quarter House
New Orleans

hand & body lotion
Timberfell Lodge
Greeneville

conditioner
Luxor
Las Vegas

collapsible toothbrush
Southwest Chief
Amtrak

lip balm
Phoenician
Scottsdale

moist towelette
El Dorado
Vienna

condom
Inn Exile
Palm Springs

sewing kit
Chateau Marmont
Hollywood

mints
Restaurant Luisiana
Monterrey

notepad
Grande Bretagne
Athens

pen
Hilton
Budapest

lucky penny
Alcazar
Fort Lauderdale

___________________________________

this piece may become part of Making Circles

Obama is

taking much guff for failing to provide comfort to a nation depressd by the oil spill. I too have been critical but I have to come to the guy's defense on one front. Concerned Women For America are attacking him for using the word "ass" in public.

now no sane person wd care what this basket of ringwing loons thinks. they regularly rail against folks who are different. I suspect they are emboldend by this week's election in which a crop of silly ladies won.

in solidarity with the president I proclaim CWFA an assembly of assholes.

another find

Charles Ludlam was one of many theater artists lost to AIDS in the '80s. I saw his Camille which was a joy. he didn't do much film work. I recall small roles in the legendary "Pink Narcissus" & a supporting part in "The Big Easy." there were a few other films I haven't seen.

now what remains of his unfinishd project "Museum of Wax" is being shown at gay film festivals. it's a b&w silent film. a sort of homage to Lon Chaney. & happily it includes footage of him with his partner in life & art Everett Quinton.

dreamt

I was at a Black Dahlia conference

another day another disgrace

our local Native American population is quick to pose as spiritual people with a respect for history & the environment.

those who run the Santa Fe Indian School mite try cleaning their mirrors. without warning they brought down historic buildings on campus. then they cut down trees that were a century old. for what seemd forever they did nothing to clean up the campus   leaving piles of detritus.

now the administration of the Indian School will tear down the Paolo Soleri Amphitheater.

first Soleri is an important architect & this is a work of art which deserves respect.

but it's also an historic venue in the history of popular music. over the years I've heard Carlos Santana & k.d. lang & Jamie Cullum & Rufus Wainwright on that stage.

it's always sad to see unnecessary destruction. I guess I was expecting more from Native Americans.

a Chaplin discovery

a cameo as a Keystone Kop

Helen Krich Chinoy (1922-2010)

winner of 1994 Robert Lewis Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Theater Research

a date with Jack

depressd. probably biggest known ecological disaster of my lifetime. falling apart of Obama presidency. bad citizenship of North Korea & Israel. hateful anti-gay policies in Africa. economy still not out of the toilet. all that teabag nonsense. & more murders.

what can one do? instead of returning to Zoloft I had a date nite. it was with a dead man.

let's go back to april. at the TCM festival I saw Jack LaRue in 2 films on the big screen. he wasn't the greatest actor but he was intense. that greasd back hair & those eyes. with a certain swagger. so last nite I watchd him some more. "Yellow Cargo" is a minor movie. but any film whose cast includes someone I care abt is no longer minor to me.

I followd that up with an episode of Reed Hadley's '50s series "Racket Squad" which I used to watch as a boy. in this one LaRue had the good fortume of appearing opposite a pair of big screen faves -- Adele Jergens as his wife & silent star Betty Blythe as the person he's trying to con.

so for 2 hours I forgot the world & how fast my life is speeding by. it was the best date I've had in ages.

early summer

our first heatwave

"Breakfast Around Town"

Mark Bloch postd these pictures on Facebook. he took them in july 1978. in this performance piece he & William Hermann literally had breakfast at various spots in Kent. this was at Robert Smithson's "Partially Buried Woodshed." in addition to Mark & Bill & me the other person is Deena Manis.

Rue McClanahan (1934-2010)

"Knight of the Guitar"

my excuse to go to Las Vegas for the weekend (does one need an excuse to go?) was to catch New Mexico's great young guitarist Ryan McGarvey play at the Las Vegas Hilton. his mentor Robert Knight -- the famous documentarian of rock 'n roll -- was opening a gallery & as part of the evening put together a show featuring the future of rock guitar. Ryan joind even younger musicians for an enthralling show.


Ryan McGarvey


Graham Whitford


Whitford   McGarvey   Tony Franklin   Josh Gooch


Chris Frazier   Whitford   McGarvey   Franklin   Gooch   Knight   Yayo Sanchez

opening of Knight Gallery in Las Vegas Hilton

with Robert Knight


Josh Gooch


Knight   Janie Hendrix   Tony Franklin

back

from
holiday weekend
in Las Vegas