film noir festival

James Darren 


Eddie Muller & Richard Erdman 


casting director Marvin Paige / director James O'Keefe / actor Justin Carl 

early summer in Palm Springs

it was 105 when I arrivd & on its way to 112 as I flew out today.

I had such a good time at the film noir festival last year I wantd to attend again. however Pet Nanny was to go on vacation during the weekend. since she's the only one to care for Melina when I'm away I presumd I cdn't take this one in. however I decid'd a couple of films was better than none. the best I saw was Anthony Mann's "T-Men" with brilliant photography by John Alton.

I also pickd up some news at the festival: Tab Hunter is in hospital for hernia surgery & Ann Savage is making her comeback in Guy Maddin's next film.

a little easy

I'm not a fisherman so I never knew that halibut had cheeks. but there it was on the menu last nite: halibut cheeks. so I had to order it. & it was good.

Rita & Phil & I went to LeMoyne's Landing. this is one of those New Orleans restaurants which relocatd. so we wantd to give it a try. & it gets a mixd review. my cheeky dinner was superb but Rita's fried shrimp a disappointment. the lemon meringue pie was tasty but the creole chocolate cake dry as my backyard.

I'll return but not sure Rita ever will.

the perils of everyday life

on my walk home from the gym just now a bug flew into my mouth. luckily I was able to spit it out. but I kept imagining where that insect mite have been.

it's not over till it's over

Jamie Cullum brought his current American tour to a close in Santa Fe last nite. as much as he was looking forward to flying to Hawaii today for r&r   it was clear he didn't want it to end. he performd for nearly 2 & a half hours with the kind of energy that comes with youth.

Cullum is the size of a Munchkin but his talent is so tall he seems a giant on stage. he often attacks his songs. he climbs all over the piano & hits its keys with fists & feet & butt & piano bench. then he calms down & sings a standard ballad with all the intimacy of a lounge act. his career will last because he's not just a pop star. his roots are in jazz. & the ability of a jazz performer to riff enables him to change his set to his mood. & his mood last nite was one of wanting to go on & on. his almost final song was "I Could Have Danced All Night."

& how exciting to see such a young performer display generosity. when Tom Richards did a sax solo Jamie boltd into an empty seat in the audience & became a fan. & toward the end of his set he brought out the opening act Raul Midon for a sweet duet.

I'm so glad I was able to see him this early in his career. I had 5th row seats in a fairly small outdoor venue. it was a nite to remember.

arroz camisole

forget Canada. blame it on Tom Beckett. something he bloggd on foggd my circuitry & in that dizzy spin I rememberd the paper dress craze of the '60s. the one I particularly recall featurd Campbell Soup. or maybe I'm simply bringing back the one that was on "Antiques Roadshow." memory in the elderly is like that.

I did a search & found that both Kimberly-Clark & Scott producd such items.

better call Cuppa. she has so much in her closet I bet she cd mount an exhibition of paper dresses.

& the desert shall burst into bloom

, 

what if

T. S. Eliot
wrote a poem
abt his dick?

selfportrait in a Zagar wall

. 

CAConrad

my correspondence with CA began with his Neglectorino project. he's been a friend of Jim's for years. even catsits for him. so it was easy making contact.

during a falafel lunch we had a lively conversation which jumpd from character actress Sudie Bond to poet Stephen Jonas with visitations to architects & drag queens.

CA was sporting black fingernails a la Juliette Greco & they dancd as he spoke. he is a man of opinions which he's happy to share but not meanly. & his topics come from a deep well.

Soft Skull has just publishd his exciting collection Deviant Propulsions.


in Rittenhouse Square 

Jim Cory

, 

his energy is tornadic. he's probably the only person I know who walks faster than I do. & his conversation is as rapid. always a new idea or recollection of an old memory bursting forth. Jim's rather like those mirrord walls Isaiah Zagar constructs in Philadelphia. flashes of light. fragments of the past. colliding with now.

& he's a generous host. not many wd invite someone known only thru corrspondence to spend a week at their home. & what a tour guide. my scattering of visits to Philadelphia over the decades never gave me a sense of the city but Jim did.

thx Jim. so when are you coming to Santa Fe?


at the Academy of the Arts 

off to Philadelphia

I've been corresponding with poet Jim Cory for nearly a year. it began with an interest in Karl Tierney. we discoverd we had James Broughton & Jonathan Williams in common. as well as enough other things to make for a lively correspondence.

now I'm off to meet him.

congrats Eric

last nite the Village Voice presentd Eric Bentley the Obie for lifetime achievement.

Jean-Claude van Itallie introducd me to Eric at the Village Vanguard in 1968. Jean-Claude had written a short piece for "The DMZ"   Eric's anti-war cabaret. I publishd that work   "Take a Deep Breath"   alongside Eric's "Three Songs from The DMZ" in a special supplement to Toucan.

many years later Eric wrote this for Gildzen at 50: A Celebration :

For Alex is a man
Whose life began
In 1943
How old's he gonna be?
He don't give a damn 'cause he knows right now
It isn't how long. It's how.

Eric at 90 has been focusing on the how in a rich life. from this distance I cd hear last nite's applause.

the passing scene

in my morning phone chat with Cuppa I askd her if she'd be watching the president's speech tonite.

"why in the world wd I watch that man when Judy Garland is on TCM?"

happy Mothers Day

/ 

pin-ups past

it was a time when one cdn't download thousands of images in an hour. so we encounterd some photographs in newspapers or magazines which enterd our psyches & remain ageless. the historical ones everyone knows because they continue to be reproducd. but each one of us growing up in the '50s has private images that don't die.

that feeling came flooding back this afternoon as I weatchd Mary Harron's "The Notorious Bettie Page." I have only a vestigial memory of Page. when she was attracting attention I was more interestd in the physique poses of Richard Harrison & Bob Hover. no one calld those pin-ups but of course for many young men they were.

Harron does a terrific job in invoking that era. she's chosen a crackerjack cast & paid close attention to details.

hard to believe

29% of Americans think the president is doing a good job.

regal menus

Regality puts me to shame with his menus. so when I returnd from the gym I felt like creating a superior lunch.

I put olive oil in a pan with some hot pepper & oregano. next came chunks of garlic & onion. I took the knife to a tomato & some mushrooms & a broccoli stalk. these were thrown into the sizzling pan. next came organic fusili followd by lumps of feta. finally a whisper of balsamic vinegar made at a farm outside Truth or Consequences.

I devourd this delightful mix outside. on the blue swing.

movie heaven

some wd argue that the greatest actresses of the first 2 decades of Hollywood talkies were Barbara Stanwyck & Bette Davis. these two titans appeard opposite each other only once. that was in William Wellman"s "So Big" (1932). I never expectd to see it. in his 1984 Stanwyck book Homer Dickens wrote: "Much of the film has deteriorated and the Library of Congress is still trying to put it back together again. It has not been shown commercially for years."

so I was amazd to see that it was on TCM last nite. the print wasn't complete but most of it was there & appeard in good condition. it's Stanwyck's picture. she's the star. Davis appears briefly at the end. their characters have no real interaction & in this surviving print they're on screen at the same time for a matter of seconds. but for the true cinephile that's better than nothing & is enough to cause palpitations.

Stanwyck's art was so skillful she often didn't appear to be acting. on the other hand Davis was often so over-the-top that impersonators of both sexes have been "doing" her for decades. both actresses had long careers. altho Davis toild harder on the legend thing Stanwyck workd with more important directors & leading men.

& during their precious few seconds on screen together I broke out in tingles.

what Tru left in Santa Fe

as a former rare book librarian I'm endlessly fascinatd by tales of literary papers. the only Henry James work that ever appeald to me was The Aspern Papers. & when I wore the librarian's cap I was always on the chase for papers.

in his diary in the current Vanity Fair Dominick Dunne tells a new story. the friend of a friend of his inheritd a house here. it turns out that exactly 30 summers ago Truman Capote rentd that house with his then boyfriend. however they had a spat & Capote boltd. while cleaning out the house the woman who inheritd it found a cache of Capote letters & manuscripts on a closet shelf. what will become of them has yet to be determind.

in the bowl

because I chronicle pop culture I figurd I had to see David Blaine's stunt last nite. after all he is the Houdini of our time. what I found myself doing was focusing on his blond assistant. the man's name is Martin Stepanek. turns out he's a world class athelete.

goosestepping at CIA

as Cuppa Meringue brought out the warm cinnamon buns her earrings swayd in the spring breeze. she'd made them from nit combs.

"you know I can't resist a man in uniform"   she sd as she pourd roast so dark its aroma permeatd the apartment.

"but this General Hayden worries me. his hat's too big. I know he's bald which probably makes it look bigger. but I never trust a general whose hat is too big. makes him look like one of those operetta buffoons."

Cuppa began to inhale her cinnamon bun but came up for enough air to voice another opinion: "& did you hear what our noble president told the German press? he feels the most important accomplishment of his reign was catching some fish." she began one of those giggles which soon erupts into a belly laugh way off the Richter Scale.

"the vice president shoots one of his hunting buddies & the president wets himself over a fish. too bad Laurel & Hardy aren't still around for the film version." Cuppa's laugh will carry me thru the week.

"Brown Cow"

that's what my mother calld a root beer float. it was one of her favorites. I don't rememebr having had one in decades.

today is so scrumptious I took a long walk. on the way home I stoppd at Delectables for some lemonade. once inside I saw for the first time that they make ice cream floats. in keeping with this morning's nostalgia I optd for a root beer one. more memories.

words amid ashes

I haven't seen "The Glass Slipper" since my initial viewing exactly 51 years ago. at that time I was totally taken by Leslie Caron & saw her in everything. I vaguely recall being fascinatd by the padding in Michael Wilding's tights. but my special memory was of Estelle Winwood as the Fairy Godmother.

this morning I finally saw MGM's retelling of the Cinderella story again. & Winwood remains magical. she was the consummate example of that certain type of classically-traind British stage actress. but she always put her own eccentric spin on her roles. perhaps part of my adoration of her in this part was her character's fondness for words. among those she found joy in repeating were windowsill & elbow.

so it was an enchanting morning   remembering the boy who liked to go to the movies & was beginning to find happiness in wordplay.

"Iraq: Get Out Now"

the most e-maild story currently at the LA Times is this piece by retired general & current Yale prof William Odom.

how like a pool this momentary flag

jump in 

"Dialogue Project"

, 

San Franciscan Mike Garibaldi (the guy in the long pants) brought his traveling piece to the plaza yesterday. it's an odd assortment of quotations -- from Whitman & Melville to Fats Domino & Bette Davis.

whoopeeeeeeee

Steve Tills is blogging again...

unkept secret

heart of artichoke
hides it
tight encryption
whose lips
slip down
vacant pelvis

black borders

I suspect I got it from Mother. the first thing she does of a morning -- even before coffee -- is to spread open the newspaper to the obituary page. in my case it's the online obit pages of the Times of both NY & LA.

today I read of the death of Heinz Poll. altho I never got to know him or his partner Tom Skelton   they were around. & I did know one of his dancers David Bondio. & reading of his passing brought back memories of Ohio's dance world of 2 decades ago. I remember going to Ohio Ballet productions with visitors such as Coburn Britton & William Como.

then there was the Kent dance scene with Connie May & Genie Schoettler & Michael Milligan. who cd ever forget Michael's brash solo on pointe? future Broadway star Alice Ripley took her turn in one university dance recital. & then there were all those boys in tights: Paul Ludick   Timothy Green   David Shearrow.

nothing like a death to grease the memory machine.

a day sans immigrants

Cuppa Meringue never ceases to amaze me. she claims to be apolitical but I think she simply adores yanking my chain. when I happend on today's parade of dishwashers & maids who shd be smack in the middle? yup   the divine Miss M. she had fashiond a halter from a Mexican & an American flag. her huge wig was desert beige with a significant part symbolizing the border. on one side were little toy soldiers playing Minutemen with rifles. on the other side were immigrants-in-waiting.

Otoliths

the first issue of Mark Young's e-zine is up. I'm absolutely giddy to be in such fine company. it's the poetry equivalent of an all-star movie. altho I'm not sure if I'm John Barrymore in "Grand Hotel" or Marlene Dietrich in "Around in the World in 80 Days."

overnite snow

/ 

familiar faces

I'm not a fan of the scary movie. the only reason I watchd "Dead End" last nite was because I knew 2 of the cast members when they were young.

the film's star   Ray Wise   was a student at Kent State in the mid '60s. he was quite the campus matinee idol. I remember him in the musical "She Loves Me" & as Brick in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." & when Jean-Claude van Itallie came to campus in 1968 Ray appeard in his "Interview." somewhere there's film of Jean-Claude & Ray with the other cast members traipsing thru the woods near the theater. Ray is probably best known for the David Lynch series "Twin Peaks."

Jimmie F. Skaggs only has a few lines at the very end of the film. he was two classes behind me at Elyria High School. I have few memories of him but do recall he was in the choir. I knew his buddy Bill Miller better. when Jimmie tourd in "Grease" he based his performance as Eugene on Bill. this film was his last.

mango

just ate one

like sex

messy but divine

Cuppa won't kneel

every other shop on Bourbon St was hawking feather boas. so I bought a pink one for Cuppa Meringue. ever since she saw the picture Andy Towle postd of the pope in pink it's been her color of choice.

"didn't His Rodentness look fab? I mean   move over Molly Ringwald! I just wonder if his Prada pumps were pink too."

now don't get excitd by Cuppa's seeming infatuation with the pope. her only interest in him is as a fashionplate. religions make her nervous.

"I'm a member in good standing of The Church of Jan Sterling. you know: 'I don't pray. kneeling bags my nylons'."

hearing history

Howard Zinn   that great hero of the left   was in town tonite. he intro'd readings from his anthology Voices of a People's History of the United States.

highlights:
Kerry Washington reading Sojourner Truth's famous Akron speech
Lucille Clifton presenting Fanny Lou Hamer's testimony before the 1964 Democratic National Convention
Jane Fonda reading Cindy Sherman's "It's time the antiwar choir started singing"

the last got the most sustaind applause & hearing Fonda giving the anti-Bush speech brought back memories of some 35 years ago.

reading in the sky

the other day Ray Ruiz suggestd I meet Otis Fennell. so on my last nite in NOLA I stoppd by FAB & intro'd myself. Otis showd me some of Ray's paintings. & I bought a couple of new books abt John Kennedy Toole. on yesterday's flights back I read Joel Fletcher's memoir of the novelist & his mother Ken & Thelma. it's a perfect example of remembrance & gossip blending into literary history.

"Congo Square" premieres at Congo Square 

backing up Fats Domino 

with Rita & Phil at Galatoire's 

French Quarter Festival

the second-line parade inchd down Rampart & into Louis Armstrong Park. a glum Jesse Jackson arrivd with entourage. Mitch Landrieu walkd by   hugging every other potential voter. abt 45 minutes behind schedule Wynton Marsalis began conducting his new piece "Congo Square."

we were close to the stage but the intensity of sun sent us thru the crowd to under a tree. the music was spiritd but it was difficult to concentrate. yes   there were jerks on their cell phones. & as stiffling & close as it was there were superjerks smoking. so I'd have to listen again to comment at all intelligently abt the music. but as event it was lively & meaningful.

the joy of survival

yesterday I let neighbors Rita & Phil do the museum thing. I ambld over to Lion's Inn where Stuart kindly allowd me to take off my clothes & relax by the pool & adjacent garden.

later we three Santa Feans put on our glad rags & enjoyd a sumptious dinner at Galatoire's. this monument to good eating has been going on for nearly a century. we startd with crawfish bisque. Rita's entree was crab au gratin. Phil did something with shrimp & rice. I savord pompano. much walking separatd this from late-nite beignets & coffee at Cafe Du Monde.

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)

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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.