Big Easy

one only begins to comprehend the devastation of Katrina traveling from airport to Marigny. blue tarps over roofs. uprootd trees. markings on abandonnd homes. tent city.

but walking around the French Quarter which has always been dirty one wd never guess a hurricane happend.

however there is sadness in the voices of locals.

bring on the beignets

off to New Orleans for the weekend . . .

those dark streets are everywhere

just after 9 last nite I heard an explosion. so I turnd on the news at 10. to my shock instead of learning anything abt the major noise there was live coverage from the apartments next door. a murder had been uncoverd.

still no details yet this morning.

word arrows

Cuppa calld. I was sure she'd be telling me that Brooke Shields' husband did not eat the placenta. but no she was all thrilld by receiving a package from an anonymous admirer. contents: a squirrel thong. one hopes she wears it as a hat.

"Toucan"

/ 

many years ago I editd this magazine. I was surprisd to learn that this copy of vol 2   no 2/3 (1970) is being calld "an incredible publication" on ebay where its starting bid is $49.99. strangely I don't have a copy of this issue. I recall there were 2 states of the cover. for the "general" edition the Judy Garland silkscreen was on an envelope. but there was a limitd with the print on a silver folder.

altho we publishd a variety of styles   the magazine today is probably best rememberd for work by the outlaw poets d.a. levy   Doug Blazek   Richard Krech   Hugh Fox   Steve Osterlund.

out of the past

, 

recently I was going thru some "stuff" & discoverd a small envelope. all that was in it was a single slide. I gave it to my friend Roger who has some device which converts slides into jpegs. & here it is.

that's me at 21. Garold Gardner took the slide on board the ocean liner Christoforo Colombo as it was dockd in Manhattan. time has robbd the image of detail & color but I'm amazd to see how I lookd so long ago.

hair(na)ku

Cuppa Meringue pretends not to read poetry blogs. but she trippd herself up a couple of weeks ago when she told me "I'd rather wrestle Bill Allegrezza than a water buffalo." the only reason I bring this up is as prelude to yesterday's brunch.

every Easter Cuppa tries to outdo herself in the bonnet department. perhaps the most striking was a collection of Peeps in all available colors. she feels one can wear anything. "ever since Carmen Miranda dumpd that fruit basket on her head she gave each & every one of us permission to put anything we want on our heads." welllllllll   yesterday she had on a huge pink wig & carefully tuckd in was a Vicious Bunny thong with real daisies at the corners. turns out she's a major Allegrezza fan.

but more striking than even her headgear was this announcement over Constant Comment & hardboild eggs:

"I've inventd a new poetic form."

"really?"

"it's calld the hair(na)ku."

I spit out a mouthful of tea.

"do you want to hear my first example?"

one never denies Cuppa her desires.

"my
wig hurts
when I fart."

I bit into another egg while attempting a response. rather than present a critique of her stab at poetry I sd "but Cuppa   it's abt a wig   not hair."

she zero'd her blue peepers at my baldness & sd "for some of us wigs are hair."

I tried to appease her by changing the subject to George Nader. she went along with me & didn't bring up poetry again. & when it was time to leave   she gave me her usual salutation: "I'd kiss you but I can't find my hair."

a tradition

, 

in the communities in which I grew up families wd mark spring by taking pictures at a large concrete Easter basket in Lakeview Park in Lorain. a park employee by the name of David Shukait creatd the basket in either 1937 or 1941 (both dates are used in various historical sources).

the b&w picture is of me as a boy -- probably taken by Dad. the color one was taken last year by cousin Regina.


, 

Sprague sprouts

the first visual I put up on this blog was a painting by my friend R.B. Sprague. he recently enterd the blogosphere. his blog may be unique. it offers a view into the process of painting by showing work as it progresses.

sharing a cup with Cuppa

so in yesterday's mail I get this annoucement of a piano concert. & the program includes Villa Lobos. well I had to call Cuppa Meringue.

"are you psychic?"

"you bet. & I can see us gabbing over coffee. so haul that sagging butt of yrs over here."

as I was walking into her apartment (yes I have a key) Cuppa was pouring steaming Cinchona into her huge Carmen Miranda mugs. & thus began our yack session. now Cuppa has many interests so the conversation crossd more borders than a van load of illegals.

Cuppa is the least political person I know. but she follows her celebs & treats DC denizens with the same respect -- or lack thereof -- as Hollywood folk. she's equally disdainful of both parties & dismisses greenies as well-intentiond loonies. "my friend Mildred won't eat meat but has a closet full of Ferragammos. & last time I heard they weren't making them out of cardboard."

Cuppa is eternally fixatd on Condi Rice's coiffures. "I haven't seen hair that stiff since Ann Miller died." & she can't stand Hillary's lack of style. "with Jackie in the White House it was like Audrey Hepburn. but Mrs. Clinton dressd like Ellen DeGeneres. don't get me wrong. I adore Ellen's wit but I close my eyes when she comes out in those pants." Cuppa still talks abt Jackie as if she were alive. & the only time I ever saw her in black was when Oleg Cassini died recently. "Mourning is so slimming."

Cuppa's all excitd abt the generals revolt against Rumsfeld. "that man has an estate in Taos so I guess we're neighbors but I won't be bringing him a chocolate souffle when he returns. I don't mind arrogance when it accompanies competence." I think secretly that Cuppa has the hots for one of those dissenting generals.

I had to sit thru another of her harangues against that cult member who jumps on couches. she won't even speak his name & constantly e-mails Netflix to stop distributing his impossible movies. it was such a full afternoon I had to take a nap when I got home.

submit

over at his blog Charles Jensen announces that I'll be editing the Santa Fe/Albuquerque section of Locuspoint. submission deadline is 30 july.

silver dollars in bloom

Melina does her spring banking 

burning the glooms

whenever I begin to succomb to sadness I place a call to my favorite drag queen Cuppa Meringue. "she" refuses to be glum abt anything. "it causes wrinkles   hun."

when I mentiond the talk abt bird flu she sd "well you've always had a thing abt toucans. maybe it's time to embrace yr fear & buy a real one. you cd wear it to concerts. any Villa Lobos coming up?"

then I told her abt the poetry reading. Cuppa pretends to know nothing abt poetry but I know she's a closet reader. "when I want poetry I go to Craig's list. I read one last nite: 'eight hard. eat me.' now that's positively Audenesque. & eight/eat. isn't that divine? I mean half a rime is better than none."

by the time I got off the phone I had a smile on my face.

Richard Siken

, 

he wantd a chair. "poetry makes me dizzy. especially my own poetry" he sd. then he sat & opend a copy of Crush. he read with the same punch of that book. & during one poem when our eyes met I thot I'd fall to the floor.

carpe diem indeed

I spent my time in Elyria with my parents. but one nite a cousin whooshd me off to a lecture by former surgeon general Antonia Novello at the community college. just what I need'd: it was the most depressing talk I've ever heard.

Novello spoke mostly abt bird flu. she stressd that right now it's strictly an avian disease. HOWEVER if it mutates to humans it'll cause a quick & devastating pandemic which cd kill 60 million worldwide in a matter of weeks. she's not predicting that it will mutate but if it does it cd come as soon as 8 months from now.

so let's all have one hell of a summer...

getting old is a bitch

whoever coind the phrase "golden agers" shd be punchd in the puss. I believe we do experience "golden years" but usually we're out of them before we even realize they were golden. & all that's left is the terrible tin of the end.

I'm back

but too exhaustd to write

off to Ohio

Dad's ailing

spring comes to Santa Fe

, 

the face of a friend

unless I'm at a film festival I don't watch movies in the morning. but today TCM was showing the 1934 version of "The Show Off." it's a minor film but the cast includes my old friend Lois Wilson. she'd playd the female lead in the silent production 8 years earlier. this time around she has 4th billing for a lackluster role but it was still a thrill to see her again. one of the great things abt film is how it captures a person & preserves part of them forever.

how did that slip by?

after the gym this ayem I poppd into one of my neighborhood groceries. they play music in the store but it's usually so bland I pay no attention to it. however today I was quite surprisd to hear Jill Sobule singing "I Kissed a Girl."

loons pant

take these trousers
& fill them

a spot of tea

when I was a rare book librarian whose collections were heavy with poetry I had some knowledge of little mags around the world. but these days I no longer have access. except -- that is -- on our grand international library   the internet.

a friend has e'd me abt an online digital archive of British poetry magazines. since summer of 2003   London's Poetry Library on the South Bank has been putting the contents of some of its periodicals online. currently the contents of 31 magazines are available.

life after death

it's hard to believe that Jimmy Kirkwood has been dead for 17 years.

he'd be so happy that 2 of his plays are being revivd. the beleagurd "Legends" will return with Joan Collins & Linda Evans. I saw the original production with Mary Martin & Carol Channing which had so many problems that Jimmy turnd its story into a book   Diary of a Mad Playwright.

& his longest running play "A Chorus Line" will reappear in San Francisco in a tryout for a Broadway return.

for sale

I read in the paper that the Bela Lugosi funeral book & pallbearer's card are being offerd for $10000.

what film can do

I've written here abt the ability of film to evoke place.

watching "Come Live With Me" last nite brought back memories of meeting some of the cast members.

when I encounterd Hedy Lamarr on Schubert Alley it was 4 years after she'd made her final film & 4 years before her notorious shoplifting arrest. she was nearly unrecognizable in dark glasses & babushka. welllllllll   I guess Hedy wd never wear a babuska. make that a scarf. but clearly not the silk turban she demonstrates for Stewart in the film.

the dashing but forgotten Edward Ashley was at my table for the AFI salute to Alfred Hitchcock. it was at another of those lifetime achievement award dinners that the film's cinematographer George Folsey was at a nearby table.

irascible character actor Fritz Feld   who has an uncreditd bit in the film   was table-hopping with his wife at a party for the cast of "Bubbling Brown Sugar" at the Brown Derby where the Cobb salad was invented. how sad that that historic restaurant cdn't have held on. right now Hollywood & Vine is once again becoming chic.

& how many times over the years did I see Jimmy Stewart?

heavenly Hedy

yesterday afternoon I read the chapter of the Joseph Cornell bio which discusses his infatuation with Hedy Lamarr. it quotes a letter he wrote to Parker Tyler in which he admits seeing "Come Live With Me" 5 times. & it reproduces his "Enchanted Wanderer" in which he matches the best of all writers on film with his loving description of Lamarr in a scene near the end.

I had to put the book down yet again (I've been reading it in distant moments)to go to town for a friend's booksigning. when I returnd I flippd on the tv to see what mite be on. all hail synchronicity. Turner Classic Movies was screening "Come Live With Me."



the movie is utterly charming. Lamarr was at the peak of her beauty & her leading man James Stewart was perfect. he even quotes Christopher Marlowe. & thruout the film there's a fascinating riff with mirrors. neither the critics who met the Clarence Brown production in 1941 nor most commentators since have claimd any major status for the film. but its influence on Cornell alone is enough to make it important. throw in some stunning Adrian outfits & a solid supporting cast & it's as pleasant a way to spend 86 minutes as anyone cd ask.

rip the sky

I opend the drawer   withdrew the biggest knife   slashd gray. hole I made let my fist in. I grabbd the sun & pulld it out. blisterd knuckles mean less than this smile.

bustle & glow

there's a tradition that men don't reveal what happens in the locker room. as both loner & commentator on the human situation I have no compunction abt following such rules.

let me set the scene. I go to the gym every mon   wed & fri morning. however my recent depression pushd me there with more frequency. because I've been going more often & at different times I've been seeing different men there. & I've been noticing the spread into the hinterlands of what the magazines some time ago calld "metrosexuality."

my gaydar is good enough to detect the members of my tribe at the gym. but I see many straight guys who spend f-o-r-e-v-e-r in the locker room. they all bring large bags full of not just the expectd change of clothing but vast amounts of product. some pull out kits which are full of lotions & toners & god-only-knows-whats. they carefully massage nearly all spots of their bodies with said unguents. they use brushes & implements that look medieval to coax what hair remains into something pleasant to their eyes. one brings his own swabs for his ears. too many still use perfumes.

I admit that in my day I pamperd myself. but I never recall straight boys paying so much attention to their looks. perhaps it's a good sign -- a softening of the macho image. however I'm glad I'm old & out of the relationship market. the shock of furrows & spots lessens with the years. vanity among seniors is sad. I feel I've earnd my wrinkles (or "lines of emotion" as my buddy Bob names them). & I get a giggle out of observing tough guys in front of the mirror.

reviewing a career

Fleischer   unlike Cukor   was never known as a "women's director." but going over this filmography this ayem I was struck by the long list of my own favorite film females he directd:

Virginia Grey   "So This is New York"
Barbara Payton   "Trapped"
Adele Jergens   "Armored Car Robbery"
Marie Windsor   "Narrow Margin"
Polly Bergen   "Arena"
Sylvia Sidney   "Violent Saturday"
Joan Collins   "Girl in the Red Velvet Swing"
Diane Varsi   "Compulsion"
Lee Remick   "These Thousand Hills"
Silvana Mangano   "Barabbas"
Raquel Welch   "Fantastic Voyage"
Karen Huston   "Boston Strangler"
Colleen Dewhurst   "The Last Run"
Ina Balin   "The Don is Dead"
Glenda Jackson   "The Incredible Sarah"
Sybil Danning   "Crossed Swords"
Pam Grier   "Tough Enough"
Leora Dana   "Amityville 3-D"
Grace Jones   "Conan the Destroyer"

& he was no slouch with the men. besides heavyweights like Mitchum & Holden   he directd such hotties as Lloyd Bridges & Don Murray   Stephen Boyd & Barry Coe.

the only time I ever saw Fleischer was in nov of 2001. he was riding down Hollywood Blvd in the Xmas Parade.

Richard Fleischer (1916-2006)

/ 

what a jerk

Randy Quaid plays a horse's ass in "Brokeback Mountain." perhaps it was typecasting.

the actor is suing the film's producers for $10 million. he claims he workd for less than his usual fee because he'd been told he was making "an art movie."

if the Hollywood press corps still gives out those Sour Apple awards I nominate Mr. Q (who also happens to be the brother of the actor who calld Brokeback "a dick flick").

dancing with myself

when no one asks me I ask myself. & twirl around the room to music that isn't playing.

other times I answer letters no one's sent. I call them poems.

or stroke the nape of a stranger who hasn't knockd on my door.

I've been known to expose myself to a mirror.

today I ate a whole pineapple from 2 different plates. I was so full I had to take a nap before requesting a waltz.

a Santa Fean on the Great White Way

let me be honest. I never felt Ali MacGraw was much of a film actress. but the lady lives in my town. she's a good citizen. & stunningly beautiful. I see her every once in a while. she's usually in jeans with something simple yet elegant.

tonite is the first preview for "Festen" at the Music Box in NYC. in it MacGraw will be making her Broadway debut as the mother. I wish her well.

weather report

the wind was so loud last nite I had trouble falling asleep. I finally did but was soon awaken by mournful moans from the livingroom. apparently Melina was having nitemares. I calld to her & she ran to the bedroom & jumpd on the bed. together we fell asleep again.

remembering Ramon

cinephiles remember Ramon Novarro as one of the great beauties of the silent era. to see him nearly nude in "Ben Hur" is an experience that doesn't fade. unfortunately more people remember him for his brutal murder.

this morning I saw Novarro as "Laughing Boy." this was the tepid 1934 adaptation of the novel by Santa Fe's Oliver LaFarge. sadly his performance is so soft he's wiped off the screen by saucy Lupe Velez. when she tells him "you do not know a woman from a steer" it's painfully obvious. he tried Broadway unsuccessfully & workd from time to time in small movie roles   ending his career on tv.

even tho I was disappointd in what I saw of his work today there were a few moments when I suspectd that if the sound were turnd off I cd picture the hunk that was.

Iraq

I have nothing fresh to add to the debate.

I feel sad   so sad.

dream a little dream

I've never made a study of my dreams or kept a dream journal. I think part of the reason is that I rarely remember my dreams. only when something wakes me in the middle of one do I usually know what's been going on in that realm.

when Melina woke me this morning I was dreaming abt Gregson Bautzer. I have no idea why. I saw him once at a big Hollywood party 4 years before he died at age 76. & I've seen his grave in the Westwood cemetery whose residents also include Marilyn Monroe & Percy Helton. I've even written a poem in the new Hollywood book abt him. but he's always been a character on the edges & I haven't read anything abt him recently.



Greg Bautzer was a high-profile Hollywood lawyer best known for his bedroom activities. he's the man who brought an end to Lana Turner's virginity & was introducd to Joan Crawford's children as Uncle Greg on his frequent sleepovers. other women in his life were Dorothy Lamour & Buff Cobb   Barbara Payton & Ginger Rogers   Jane Wyman & Dana Wynter. one wonders when he had time for the office.

so why wd Bautzer come to me in the middle of the nite? for the same reason someone I knew in high school a century ago suddenly appears. we hold all this material in our cells & it creeps out when it wants to.

flores por los muertos

on the way home from the gym I went thru the strip mall where the crash happend. people have made a shrine there. the dead were a 20 y/o receptionist   a 43 y/o woman & her 17 y/o son.

vita brevis

from the post office I walkd to a favorite bakery. at the strip mall I saw ambulances & fire trucks & tv cameras. it lookd a bit like Iraq. & then I saw the front of a building smashd in. I went into the bakery & the woman who runs it told me that a woman drove her pickup truck into the waiting room of a medical center killing 3 & injuring at least a half dozen others.

feeling blue

on my way to the post office. if there's enuf sun   perhaps I'll feel purple.

just say no

way to go Jessica . . .

cat as critic

I've never read much poetry criticism. I'd rather read poetry.

but Tony Trigilio trickd me. in his excellent blog he offers a discussion of Aase Berg's "In the Heart of the Guinea Pig Darkness" that's so unique you don't realize you're reading criticism.

another passing

when I was a kid one of the local Cleveland tv personalities was "Uncle Joe." behind the banjo was a young actor by the name of Joseph Bova. his father sold produce at West Side Market. I had Uncle Joe's signature in an autograph book I kept as a boy.

eventually he went to New York & appeard on stage & tv & in movies. he was best known as Carol Burnett's leading man in the original "Once Upon a Matress." the last time I saw him was in "42nd Street" with Delores Gray.

I learnd tonite that he died at the age of 81.

delicious casting

read there may be a film happening with Shirley MacLaine as Louise Brooks. then I read that Keanu Reeves will play Johnny Stompanato.

Maureen Stapleton (1925-2006)

dream on

my net bud Luca just e'd to say I was in his dreams last nite:

we were visiting
some memorial for a young actor dead befor his day.
you were the designer of the memorial. it was
fantastical. lots of wrought iron and stone. we then
mingled with lots of people there. you knew many of
the old actors and they knew you. the only one i
recognized was ms. bondi. she looked as good as ever
for being almost 120.

don't recall ever telling Luca abt the one time I was in the presence of Beaulah Bondi but he knows me well enuf to know of my infatuation with the denizens of Movieland.

I love being in other people's dreams -- even if I don't know it while it's happening.

"what did you think all them saddles & boots was abt?"

yesterday's paper had an interview with Ned Sublette abt the song he wrote back in 1981 which Willie Nelson just record'd. the inspiration was the gay bar Boots & Saddles on Christopher St. how wonderful to see an old haunt transformd into art.

it was once a local dive calld George Herdt's. by the time I happend on to it the western name & theme had been adoptd. haven't been there in more than 20 years but I've heard it's now calld simply B & S. I remember seeing Tom Wirth there often. & once I had a long conversation there with Broadway director Stephen Porter. it was never my favorite bar but in my heavy-drinking days I made the rounds. & I recall a group of wags who prefer'd to call it Bras & Girdles.

winter finally comes to Santa Fe

/ 

just back from the movies

Winterbottom's take on Tristram Shandy has a few good moments but is mostly tedious.

take that Academy

fans of "Brokeback Mountain" collected $16000 in 48 hours to run this ad in today's Daily Variety.

what gives?

today's LA Times announces the death of Barbara Guest. don't they read other papers? she died almost a month ago.

in dreams

yesterday I read online that it was Cyd Charisse's 85th birthday. so during the nite the leggy lady appeard in my dreams.

in the land of kerchoo

back in Ohio we had something calld ragweed. when it came out in the fall I was a mess. so it was lovely to move to the southwest where there was no ragweed. my first several years were fine. then I began to sniffle. turns out that chamisa is the local version of ragweed. so now my autumns are a time of drippy nose & itchy eyes.

in the last few years I've begun to experience a bit of the same in spring when various tree pollens fill the air. we're just emerging from the driest winter since 1890. you'd think that wd dampen pollen. just the opposite. more people are suffering spring allergies than ever. I woke in the middle of the nite with my nose doing a Niagara imitation.

& now for some good news

Mary Cheney's dad has sunk to an 18% approval rating. he's now the least popular veep in American history.

lucky man

forget the Oscar. Ang Lee got a kiss from Jake. (thx to Towleroad for the picture.)

get over it

I'm shockd to awake to such vitriol across the internet from gay people against the academy for failing to name "Brokeback Mountain" best picture. come on   gay people   you're supposd to know yr Hollywood history. the Oscar was inventd by a bunch of greedy businessmen as a means to increase the flow of shekels into the box office. it's never been abt art. just take a look at the award's history.

"Citizen Kane" lost best picture. Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Blvd" lost. Judy Garland in "A Star is Born" lost. Imelda Staunton in "Vera Drake" lost. James Dean lost best actor twice. Barbara Stanwyck lost best actress 4 times. Thelma Ritter lost supporting actress 6 times. Marilyn Monroe was never even nominatd. best director never went to Hitchcock or Altman or Scorcese.

the important thing abt "Brokeback Mountain" is that it's become a watershed film whose social importance will only grow with time. the academy can't diminish that.

Lance

Mindy Tucker knew someone for 8 years. when he died she found she had no photograph of him. this is her project of remembrance.

thx to Barry Hoggard on whose site I found this work.

Independent Spirit Awards

Felicity Huffman won't win the Oscar she deserves tomorrow nite so it was glorious to see her bag a Spirit this afternoon. & I was happy to watch it live on IFC because her hilarious & colorful acceptance will be censord by the time AMC rebroadcasts the show tonite.

"so funky you can smell it"

second row center last nite. usually I don't like to sit that close to hear music. but part of the Buddy Guy experience is his elastic face so I'm glad I did. it was the first time I've heard the Chicago singer/guitarist & the whiff of funk was invigorating.

births & deaths

a double beginning. embed'd in the premiere issue of Red Mountain Review is the first chapbook of Charles Jensen   Little Burning Edens. in the first stanza of the first of 20 poems: "I am my own death." in the last stanza of the last poem: "a sun rises like deadly fevers." & in between: "There are dead boys / inside us right now."

these are poems abt "dirty kisses"   "dirty needles"   "dirty world." my first reading of this dark collection left me wanting to devour a box of truffles. these are poems that reflect a century of concentration camps   nuclear games   AIDS. but as bleak as the poet's world view I still mine delight in his language:

    The lick of the river
reminds the eye of the flick
of tongues, the sudden thrust
that parts lips.

I find tumescence of image:

We can never forgive
their ambulance of lips that rushed
over the body like a city
in seige, taking vitals wherever
they found a pulse buried deep.

Charles Jensen is a poet to watch.

reading

the bio of Joseph Cornell. how endearing that he wrote a fan letter to Fay Wray. & that she answerd it.

LA in 1956

"Indestructible Man" is a minor Lon Chaney Jr. film. what makes it fascinating for anyone who loves the City of Angels is its location shooting. one scene uses the magnificent Bradbury Building. there is also a sequence on Angels Flight. that was the funicular which ran between 3rd & Hill streets from 1901-1969. originally the minute ride cost a penny.

interestingly the film was photographd by John L. Russell 4 years after undertaking the experimental cinematography for Fuller's "Park Row" & 4 years before achieving film immortality for shooting Hitchcock's "Psycho."

more black borders

in the past few days the obituarial news from LA has centerd on the acting profession. but in our morning paper I read of the death of Otis Chandler.

I only remember seeing him once. at one of the American Film Institute dinners. he was tall & oddly handsome. the former surfer made his mark as publisher of the LA Times. he was the son of Norman Chandler who may or may not have known Elizabeth Short & Dorothy Chandler who gave her name to the pavillion whose red carpet I walkd to the Oscars for the only time.

resurrection

some time ago I wrote here abt the fate of a potato chip. the Thomasson family of Elyria made the best chip in the world but sold the company to a firm in Mansfield. that company changd the recipe supposdly in an attempt to cut down on transfats.

my love affair with Thomasson potato chips goes back to high school. I even include a reference to them in one of the poems from Ohio Triangle. so I was delightd to receive in Mother's last batch of clippings an article announcing that the takeover company is returning to the original recipe. when I visit the folks in abt 5 weeks I'll have to purchase the product yet again.

reflectd glory

speaking of The Avalanche of Time I happend across a copy being sold on eBay for $3.21. ouch. so I checkd Alibris & there it was $3.16. double ouch. finally I went to Abe & was happy to see a copy being offerd for $40. but that only because it was from Paul Metcalf's library.

& the winner is

in yesterday's mail a small package from Judy Henske. it was the CD rerelease of "Farewell Alebaran." there's a reason she sent it to me. the first cut on the album was "Snowblind"   a song Judy wrote with Jerry Yester & Zal Yanovsky. a line in that song -- "20 sonnets bound in gold" -- inspird me to write my sonnet sequence which I dedicatd to Judy. Canada's Killaly Press printd it as the first in their chapbook series in 1972. in an edition of only 100 copies it's one of my most collectible items.

the only time Robert Duncan ever acknowledgd reading me was his verbal appreciation of the sonnet sequence. I used them to open my selectd poems The Avalanche of Time (1986). my publisher Richard Grossinger wasn't happy with my decision. he thot the sequence "too difficult" to start the book. perhaps he was right. I became a neglectorino while still in print.

I've written here before abt my devotion to Judy Henske. she's one of those touchstone personalities who bob up & down thruout my life. if you haven't heard her   go to her website & order a batch of her CDs. you won't be sorry. she's the real thing.

one reason I tend to turn off the Grammy awards is my embarrassment at the wins by nontalents. I became an awards junkie as a boy & have trouble shaking it. however it didn't take long to learn that awards are more abt politics than art. Frank O'Hara never won a Pulitzer. Hitchock never heard his name calld as best director at the Oscars. & where the bleep is Henske's Grammy? well Judy -- if you read this -- know that it's in my heart.

Darren McGavin (1922-2006)

, 

early spring

it's sunny & in the 60s today so I've opend up the windows. Melina had her brushing on the patio. & then there are those other seasonal indicators. the other day I bought my first package of Peeps. I opend them so they cd become "stale" before gobbling them up. & then this morning I purchasd Girl Scout cookies. thin mints of course.

my sweet girl

I feel closest to Melina when she decides to groom me. for me it's the greatest gift she can give. for that short time our spirits blend. 

a new resource

cinemaddicts either love Internet Movie Database or don't. yes there are errors. everything man touches has. but for me it's an invaluable tool which I consult daily.

for some time we've heard that Turner Classic Movies & American Film Institute were collaborating on a rival resource. it's finally here. as a test I lookd up Percy Helton. the new database gives his birthdate as 31 jan 1998. it's actually 31 jan 1894. strangely the death date is absent. his filmography lists 88 films. most others have the number nearer 100.

if competition is healthy then this addition is welcome.

till death do us

the obit for 90 y/o dancer Peter Hamilton containd the news that he was survivd by his partner of 62 years Don Liberto.

memory on my mind

yesterday I was reading an article which mentiond a largely forgotten newspaper columnist Hal Boyle. I immediately rememberd being part of a mass interview of him while I was still in high school. that moment of my life has been buried for decades.
from that my mind was skittering around & somehow I began to think of people -- like Clay -- who were in my life ever so briefly. he was a photographer I met in Manhattan. altho I have a photograph of his I have no photograph of him. & his face has disappeard from memory.

because I work on Alex in Movieland every day & have for several years now the whole idea of memory continues to be potent. what do we remember & why? what do we forget & why? what can bring a memory back? where was it while it was "away"?

I've forgotten

what Clay Chancellor lookd like

birthdays

John Kenley turns 100 today & Robert Altman a mere 81.

to hell with Oscar

I suspect Hollywood will be too chickenshit to give "Brokeback" a sweep. (remember Reagan was once president of SAG.) so it was lovely to watch the BAFTA awards last nite from London. when Jake's name was calld for best supporting actor he was obviously surprisd & thrilld. onstage he gave a sweet little speech. also in his interview after the ceremony he was generous & dear.


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a passing

2 weeks ago today I watchd the DVD Ira Joel Haber sent me of "Odds Against Tomorrow." in the impressive cast I was struck by Richard Bright playing a character with gay dimensions. it was his first film. Bright went on to appear in "The Godfather" films & work by Peckinpah & Leone. poetry fans may remember his 1965 arrest on obscenity charges for appearing in Michael McClure's "The Beard" in San Francisco.

minutes ago I rec'd an e from James Robert Parish informing me that Bright is dead. he was run over by a bus in Manhattan.

the country of survivors

it's good to share the pages of St. Vitus with Hugh Fox. it's been 37 years since he put me in his famous anthology The Living Underground. a few years ago I gave Matthew Wascovich a copy of it. then Wasco brought us back together in the pages of his premiere issue of Thee Flat Bike.

Hugh's abt a decade older than I am & has been battling cancer. his poem in St. Vitus is esp poignant. one line: "I'm in the last lap of the Kentucky Derby."

mailbox full of mags

so yesterday I got a trio of quite different periodicals in the mail.

since we run in different circles I have yet to encounter Tom Ford in town. so I can't call him up to chat abt "his" issue of Vanity Fair. after all the hype it's rather disappointing. the Annie Leibovitz portrait of Jake Gyllenhaal is terrific. the eyes & pout of Jonathan Rhys Meyers turn me on. & what a blast to see Mamie Van Doren right there with all of today's stars.


Out includes a piece on David Hockney with solid illustrations. his portrait of Divine I first saw on a visit to his studio on Santa Monica Blvd & it sort of follows me around.

the new issue of St. Vitus Press & Poetry Review deserves future comment. it's the little mag editd by Todd Moore & his son Theron. this number includes my Black Dahlia poem from the collection-in-progress abt Hollywood.

Barbara Guest (1920-2006)

I go separately
We have reached the arithmetics, are partially quenched
while it growls and hints in the lost trapper's voice
She is coming toward us like a session of pines
in the wild, wooden air where rabbits are frozen
O mother of lakes and glaciers save us gamblers
whose wagon is perilously apt.

    "Santa Fe Trail" (1958)

when pretty boys disappoint

o Johnny. were you worn out from shopping? or bushd from producing so much sass in all those interviews? that performance was tea left too long in the cup.

yr sad tale remind'd me of another talentd & brash young skater. Christopher Bowman. his personal excesses burnd him up before gold cd come his way.

Ned Sublette

the success of "Brokeback Mountain" has emboldend Willie Nelson to record "Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other)"   a song Ned Sublette wrote 25 years ago. I read abt it online yesterday afternoon & then saw Ned interviewd on the evening news.



in 1999 I producd the first pop music concert in the history of Santa Fe Opera. it was a benefit for our local AIDS fundraising organization. Ned was the opening act. the show was emcee'd by Bea Arthur & featurd Albita   Rufus Wainwright & Amanda McBroom. quite an evening. Ned in his tight jeans & western hat was a striking figure. & the songs were from his ripsnorting CD "Cowboy Rumba."

last time I saw Ned he was in town for an exhibition of photographs he'd taken in Cuba. quite a talentd man. I'm happy for this new success.

those skating judges

the worst judging in the Olympics has always been in figure skating. the new rules were supposd to protect skaters from politics & bias. so it's interesting to read today's commentary abt yesterday's skate. the backlash against Plushenko's inflatd marks is spreading across Turin. it doesn't help that the skater has the arrogance of Dick Cheney.

with Plushenko already given the gold the real contest tomorrow will be for the other medals. & the skaters who probably will take those are all more artistic than the Russian. how much do you want to bet that Weir's off-ice flamboyance cost him the top spot?

Olympic ice

Plushenko's short program was masterful. Weir   the Rufus Wainwright of skaters   was stunning. Lambiel displayd great style. & despite his stumbles wasn't Jeffrey Buttle adorable?

Dick Button is the dean of figure skating commentators. I respect & appreciate the eveness of his reportage & his ability to footnote a performance with his knowledge of the sport's history. why the network add'd the irritating Scott Hamilton is a mystery.

in speedskating Joey Cheek became a model for good sportsmanship. he wasn't afraid to show emotion on the podium & he donatd his bonus to charity. a class act at a time when so many athletes are grandstanding.

from the trip

here I am with Frank Piper & Garold Gardner decades after seeing them in "Camelot" :


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Luca sent me this picture of me putting the Century Dimes on London Bridge. he insists I was flipping him the bird. actually I didn't even know he was taking a picture. it was windy & I was trying to keep my hat on.


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a weekend to savor

good friends. good weather. good adventures.

yesterday ayem Luca pickd me up & we were off to Henderson to visit Darryl in his new digs. he's out internet buddy from New Orleans who was displacd by Katrina. together we did the gospel brunch at House of Blues. then the Rubens exhibition at the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum & the Chinese New Year's floral display at the Bellagio. finally it was Harvey Fierstein who was a different kind of divine in "Hairspray." a slightly shorter but lively production with a superb cast.

I was in 3 states today

Luca pickd me up early this ayem. we drove to Boulder City for breakfast. then we went to Lake Havasu so I cd put the Century Dimes on London Bridge. finally dinner in Laughlin.

flew to Las Vegas yesterday

the first musical I ever saw on Broadway was "Camelot" with Julie Andrews. in the chorus were Garold Gardner & Frank Piper. I met Garold 2 years later & we've been friends for more than 40 years. today he & I joind 2 other friends & drove to Pahrump where I finally met Frank Piper. before appearing on Broadway Frank had dancd with Alicia Alonzo's company in Cuba & then in the corps de ballet at the Met.
after much dance gossip we all went to a local casino for a buffet lunch & told stories abt our mutual friend T.R. Queen.

Grammy

does Madonna have the same plastic surgeon as Faye Dunaway?

perspectives change

I remember a century ago being excitd when I was first askd to be in "Who's Who in America." the other day Marquis sent me an update request to add my bio to "Who's Who in the World." I threw it out.

as one gets older things that were important are less so while some quite ordinary things are staggering.

lick this

to celebrate Valentine's Day a department store in Seoul has made a life-size statute of Brad Pitt out of chocolate.

Danish blue

I'm an old fart living on a pension. so to spend $6.12 on a small wedge of cheese is an event. but this wedge is clearly markd "importd cheese from Denmark."

when will Shrub invade Iran?

from the front page of my local paper:

former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter was in town yesterday. he predictd the current regime in Washington has plans for the invasion. he claims John Bolton's speech to the UN is already written: "It says America cannot allow Iran to threaten the United States and we must unilaterally defend ourselves."

strange

when I'm in town I try to post something here everyday. if you look you'll see nothing for the 4th. however if you checkd yesterday you will have read an entry calld "buy Danish cheese by the ton." this morning it's gone. I didn't erase it. where did it go? why?

a tale of 2 docs

yesterday I walkd to the cinemateque at the college where "Ballets Russes" was being held over. the film begins with archival footage of a ballerina. it's b&w. it's grainy. we know it's only an approximation of an evanescent art. but it's still full of life. by telling the stories of competing ballet companies   the film becomes a major document preserving the history of dance in the 20th century. the interviews with survivors are as lively as the interviewees. several nearing 90 continue to teach & some even to dance. it's inspiring. I left the theater wanting to reach out to the sky & jump.

several hours later I began watching "Grizzly Man." it begins with its subject crouching with a bear behind him. almost as soon as he begins to speak we know we're facing a disturbd man. one of the blackest films in Herzog's dark canon   the documentary becomes increasingly difficult to watch. it's such a painful film that by the time it was over I felt draind.

2 very different docs producing strong emotions.

Karloff

when you walk into the guest bathroom this is the wall you see:


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all film stars. & mostly pictures I collectd as a kid. here is one close-up:


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Boris Karloff has long been a favorite. altho I see him on this wall everyday   he's esp with me today. Film Forum in NYC opens its Karloff retrospective tonite. wish I cd be there for the whole event.

what celluloid preserves

the shelf life of a made-for-tv movie is similar to that of a strawberry. but now that there are all-movie channels even telefilms are being dug up.

last nite I saw a clunker calld "Scandal Sheet" (originally broadcast in 1985). I was attractd by the cast -- from Burt Lancaster who had driftd away from stardom to Frances McDormand who was on her way there. & wasn't that Lukas Haas in a small role?

what I enjoyd most was the location shooting. the final scenes are at the cemetery now calld Hollywood Forever. but more importantly there is some wonderful footage of Janes House.

when I first startd going to Hollywood regularly some 30 years ago the dilapidatd Victorian which had been built in 1903 was the last house on Hollywood Blvd in which people still lived. it was a mess but one heard its whispers. I probably saw the place's final inhabitant Carrie Belle Janes on the porch. for 15 years in the teens & 20s she & her sisters ran a private school there. the children in attendance had last names like Chaplin & Chandler.

Carrie Belle died in 1982 & some 2 years later this telefilm used the property. in the film there is wire fencing around it. eventually it was restored & became the Hollywood Visitors Center in the middle of a mini-mall calld Janes Square. it was then that I walkd thru it.

just this year historic Janes House opend as a cajun restaurant calld Memphis. my sense of history propels me to its tables.

time for a visual

Mother & I were browsing antique shops in Manhattan 35 years ago. I took a shine to this head & she bought it for me. I suspect it belongd to a doll in the 20s & possibly French. 

let's hear it for the biblethumpers

an evangelical film company is releasing "End of the Spear." it tells the true story of American missionaries slain in Ecuador a half century ago. & it's creating a controversy. seems some preachers found out its lead Chad Allen is an openly gay actor. perhaps these same preachers subscribe to The Advocate? I guess the pulpit bullies have exhaustd their rants against Brokeback already & need fresh material.

stimulating reading

what a thrill to be part of CA Conrad's Neglectorino Project.