"boogie woogie bugle boy"

after days of watching the revolution in Egypt it feels good today to relax & watch figure skating.

& it startd with a reprise of what may be the sexiest short program in the history of US men's competition -- Ryan Bradley.

"write something good today"

a send-off from one of my gym cohorts as I was leaving the locker room this ayem

alternate versions

I was 16 when I learnd that the movie I see in a theater isn't always the only version to be seen. there was quite a bit of publicity abt a small film calld "Cry Tough." Linda Cristal has a love scene with John Saxon. in the movie I saw she was wearing a black slip. but there was a version with her topless which was releasd in Europe.

now we're used to seeing director's cuts & alternate endings & all manner of "extras." James Robert Parish informs me abt a website which tracks these various versions of films. here is an example.

the other

set of negs were from a summer 1980 shoot for Jim Hinchee. this was for the back cover of my selectd poems The Avalanche of Time.

going thru

old files I discoverd 2 sets of b & w negatives. I took them to my nearby Walgreens to have prints made.

the first set was taken by Doug Unger in the fall of 1977 to use for a painting I commisiond as a gift for my mother.

Bruce Gordon (1916-2011)

to those of my generation this character actor is best rememberd as Frank Nitti on "The Untouchables." I first saw him in the national tour of "Man for All Seasons" at Cleveland's Hanna Theater.

Gordon spent his last years in Santa Fe. I'd see him at my grocery store & around town. we had a lively chat once. he had a perfect memory of the Hanna.

in LaJolla

adding an entry to the Book of Java at La Valencia:

while my computer

was in hospital I flew to San Diego to spend a couple of days with my friend Craig in his new digs.

it was an exhausting trip -- but in the good way. we did so much in a short time. among the many special moments were seeing Alice Ripley in "Next to Normal" & this fabulous Modigliani:

"back where I belong"

I feel like Dolly Levi returning to the Harmonia Gardens. all I need now is a chorus of handsome men to welcome me back.

my computer

awaits an operation.

not sure when I'll be able to post properly.

Lois at Yale

James Robert Parish sends me info on various film collections from time to time. the most recent was a notice of a collection of lobbycards for silent westerns at the Beinecke.

when I went to the website I immediately found a lobbycard featuring my friend Lois Wilson. but then when I went into the illustrations of the whole collection I discoverd this exquisite lobbycard of Lois in her most famous western:

Ellen Stewart (1919-2011)

one of the great ladies of American theater

Park Cemetery (Fairmount)

Alex Gildzen



Rufus Wainwright

Elyria

poetry capitol of the world

a gun

again

Aron Kincaid (1940-2011)

my first visit to the Sunset Strip was in the fall of 1972. I went to a restaurant no longer there calld Cyrano's. one of the other diners was the blond Kincaid looking as if he'd just come from the set of one of his surfer moives.

Butterfly McQueen (1911-1995)

this is an old clip but brings back some of the wonderful moments in the career of this actress who died so tragically. this wd be her 100th birthday.

personal asides:

1) I first saw her on stage in "Curley McDimple"

2) we spoke at a 1989 screening of "GWTW" in West Virginia

3) in Gildzen at 50 Jonathan Williams wrote:
"It goes without saying that Alex will have sent Butterfly McQueen a birthday card on her 82nd anniversary (just the day before Elvis's)."

"Reading with Eyes Closed"

white deer in snow

words that sear lids

do my lips move?

Brookdale Cemetery (Elyria)

"Lila Lee walks by
the history of film on her fragile shoulders"

          Ely Park

Lila Lee cover

borrowd from Allure

KIMONOKIMONO

I'm delightd to receive a copy of Bill Berger's limitd ed book of his kimono prints. I'm a long-time admirer of this work he's been doing for the last several years.

& it's a special thrill that he's included the one of my father that appeard here as well as another with the same photographic source.

thx Billy.

Anne Francis (1930-2011)

one of my favorite photos

I believe Donna Walker took this at Kent State University Museum in early 1994.



Dimitri Karageorgiou
Henry Van Dyke
Henry Walker
me
Alfred Cavaretta

I was in bed

shortly after 10. so when someone startd blasting fireworks at midnite it woke me from a sound sleep. & I was rather pissd. I turnd a hundred times before finally getting back to sleep. & in that sleep a hideous nitemare abt a grisly multiple murder.

so when I woke again I was on the grumpy side. I began a load of laundry. & then I washd down my vitamins with coffee Bob Barnes sent me for Xmas. now I'll start to search the house to see where I put my smile.