Joan & Thurston & me

my own private phylogeny

a week after putting together another book of rain poems  I saw Ivor Francis deliver a rain sonnet to John Ericson in “Alien Zone.” at the moment it happend I knew that once again a snippet of film had become part of my evolutionary development.

this has been going on my entire life.  if what I record in Alex in Movieland is my actual history this collection of film fragments is a sort of parallel history. many of these moments are quick & some are of dubious cinematic quality. some of these moments have power only when they happen. I can remember a moment & upon seeing it again wonder why it was so important to me.  others can be seen & enjoyd viewing after viewing.

this other is a slippery history which I can’t pass on.  I don’t know when I became aware of it.  & it has no chart. it simply swims in my blood.

back to the past

I just discoverd this video of Ann Rutherford's appearance at the Palm Springs Film Noir festival a few years ago.  my nose makes a cameo for abt 2 seconds.

The Living dies

sad to learn of the end 

the problem

with the Oscarcast is the producers are never sure if they're putting on a variety show or an awards ceremony. so it inevitably begins with a half hour wastd on the host doing schtict.

I've never seen Seth MacFarlane before.  he's cute & I'm sure his timing will improve with practice.  but he needs to fire those teenage boys who are his writers.

some online have gushd abt the singing. I have been a fan of both Dame Shirley & Barbra.  both woman had vocal trouble last nite. Adele however is at the top of her form. but she sufferd from incompetent sound engineering & wasn't always heard over the orchestra.

as for those endless dreary acceptance speeches the Academy shd instruct all nominees to review the footage of Gloria Grahame accepting her Oscar.

the highlight of the evening was Jennifer Lawrence's fall -- until the surprise appearance of the First Lady.

Oscar

I startd watching as a child. & over the years I was quite the awards junkie.  even creatd my own early on.

but with time I grew to despise awards as crass & political. however I still like watching some of the awards shows.  usually the Tonys are the best.  Kennedy Center Honors can be entertaining. & before they startd handing them out to undeserving youngsters American Film Institute's life achievement awards were essential.

the Oscars are often the longest & most boring of all the shows.  but as a cinemaddict I find myself tuning in year after year hoping for that rare special moment.  I really don't care anymore who wins.  so many Oscar choices are ridiculous.  & this year I've seen so few of the films I don't even have personal favorites.  but I guess I still hope that for a short time I'll be transportd to that faraway nite when such an event cd thrill me like no other.

Matt Mattox (1921-2013)

Mattox was a student of Jack Cole. he had an important career as a dancer in Hollywood & on Broadway before moving to France to teach jazz dance.

earlier in the day I postd a You Tube video of Mattox dancing & singing in his best-known film role in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." strangely that video was removed during the day. but here's the traller with some of him on view:

written a decade ago today

Melina begins our day
by walking back & forth
across my body

since I'm not ready to leave bed
she parks near my head
running her motor loudly

Melina ends our day
by cuddling beside me
as I watch Donald Meek

after she's washd her face
her tongue rasps my hand
& we're both ready for sleep

as happens

I was working on another book of rain poems when I took a break to see the restoration of the silent version of "The Racket."  it opens on a rainy nite.

climate change or bad luck?

my last several visits to favorite hot spots have been diminishd by temperatures well below normal.  so I decided to give Florida another try. surely naked sunbathing in mid-winter wd do one good. wellllllll   I'm back from Fort Lauderdale pale & splenetic. my first 2 days the rain was nonstop. my last 2 days featurd cold winds -- often at storm level.  in short it was miserable.  the only emerald in the muck was meeting Neil de la Flor who kindly drove up from Miami for an evening of poet talk with a tincture of gossip.

my poem
is a meteor
that hit Russia
one native
digging a verb
from his scalp
yelpd "pierogie"
& droppd
to his knees
in dance

"A Novel Valentine"

twelve sailors all in blue
half a dozen curious chauffeurs
the Chinese doctor
broke into their ballades

their molecules shuttled to and fro
smelling in the dark for the blood
floods of blood

the truck driver sings
of gingersnaps
a red nylon posing strap
a piece of fabric from a silk umbrella
the celluloid rustling of insects
100's of love letters

piano keys wrinkle
navigating us safely to our beds

note:
the lines of this poem were borrowd from the following novels

 (in order of appearance)

Nightwood
The Great Gatsby
Genoa
Ladies of the Rachmaninoff Eyes
Ulysses
Moby Dick
Mrs. Dalloway
The Grapes of Wrath
The Day of the Locust
The Exquisite Corpse
Confederacy of Dunces
The Asiatics
Tha Black Dahlia
Malcolm
Nocturnes for the King of Naples    

                                                                  feb 2003:SF

recurring dream

for over a week now part of every nite has been spent with a vivid & repetitive dream.

I go to a place calld Les Blackwell's Gym wearing what I normally wear to my real gym.  there I begin my regular routine but quickly it turns into a sort of acrobatics in which I'm joind by a famous vaudevillian of the teens thru the 30s.  it's usually a woman but sometimes a man.  somewhere along the way we're suddenly naked & the acrobatics turn into sex.  & we often end up outside. sometimes in an orgy.

in my dream

I was taking out the garbage & the neighbor motiond for me to come over.  there were 4 blue monkeys in her tree.

it's been

a glorious week & I've been able to accomplish good yard work.  but as I walkd to the gym & back I cd feel the weather changing.  & now the winds have startd.

but this is nothing compared to what may strike the east coast.  wishing friends & family there all the best.

John Kerr (1931-2013)

Wampus Baby Stars of 1922

includes
Bessie Love
Colleen Moore
Lila Lee
Lois Wilson

today

the Royal Canadian Mint stops distributing pennies.

in my piece Pennies from Heaven I have but a single Canadian penny -- from my 2004 visit to Toronto.

Rosa Parks (1913-2005)

today is her centennial.



I saw her once -- on the vast stage of Radio City Music Hall -- alongside Cesar Chavez.

Ghost Ranch

with Chimney Rock to the left (photo by Gregory Ghent)

Abiquiu Inn

trout almondine with tamale cakes

"Big Joy"

will premiere at South x Southwest.

in my dreams

there are often good-looking men who are simply there.  they rarely advance the narrative.  it's sort of like old Hollywood.  one of them may be Alan Ladd or Dennis O'Keefe -- just waiting around for stardom.