Gary Brockette (1947-2010)

his film career was almost 40 years but he never became a household name. altho his credits coverd many positions he mostly workd as an assistant director. however to me his shining moment in film was as an actor. he was the rich kid who had the naked swimming party in "The Last Picture Show."



I searchd the net & was unable to uncover a photo of that scene which in its day was quite bold. so I went to my personal film reference library. this is the only photo I found. it wasn't of the best quality & by the time I made a scan it got even worse. but here is a hint of Gary Brockette & his quick moment in film history.

Tom & I at Garford

we're side by side in the middle of the 2nd row:



in an e-mail Tom wrote
It is hard to believe we used to step into those recessed windows while playing hide and seek. If I go back to writing the architecture column for the paper I will give a mention to Garford School. It was designed by Silsbee who came to the area to supervise the construction of buildings at Oberlin College (the Arch on the Square and Men's Building I believe.) for his father back in Chicago. His father was the first man to hire Frank Lloyd Wright. Silsbee supervised the building of Garford School in two phases. The basement and the first floor were built several years before the top floor. I have walked over to look at it several times but cannot see the seam.

baseball

is a topic you seldom see in my writing because the game doesn't figure much in my life. living so close to Cleveland I grew up with the Indians & had a period in my boyhood when I actually followd the game. looking back I realize part of that was a crush on Al Rosen.

the photo below shows me playing the game at Eastern Heights during that short window of Indians fanhood. (the formidable woman was my teacher Mrs. Beck.)



the reason I mention the game is a book I'm reading. The Spitball Knuckleball Book is a well-researchd well-designd volume which will enthrall true fans of the sport. & its author is someone I've known for over 61 years. Tom Mahl & I were students at Garford Elementary School before we became neighbors. where my backyard end'd his began.



in my last chapbook is a poem calld "Tom Mahl Reminds Me." this video -- shot in front of what was Garford school -- lacks quality but here it is anyway.

tom mahl reminds me @ Yahoo! Video

Jack Mulhall (1887-1979)

it's been sd he was one of J. C. Leyendecker's models for the Arrow Collar Man.



I met him once. it was 2 years before he died. I was at an event at the former Warner Brothers studio with a pair of his onetime leading ladies May McAvoy & Lois Wilson. May was especially thrilld to see him & gave him a big hug.

Mulhall made his film debut for D. W. Griffith in 1910. after a trio of Griffith pictures he did two for James Kirkwood (father of the novelist/playwright) before becoming a popular leading man of the silent era. he workd for Cecil B. DeMille   Frank Borzage   King Vidor. he did the first dual role in talkies & despite his charm startd sliding in the credits. today he's probably best rememberd for supporting roles in Flash Gordon & Buck Rogers features. but there's something admirable abt any movie career that lasts a half century.

last nite I saw Mulhall in a forgotten Poverty Row feature from 1932 calld "Love Bound." minor stuff. but he was the star. his fall to bit parts must've been difficult. but like so many silent era stars he did it with dignity.

the mind...

              it's
not a Herod's oath that cannot change.

    Marianne Moore

more laundry

cleaning house is a New Years Day tradition. so when I returnd from the gym I got into it. by nightfall I was tired & watchd a Lawrence Tierney DVD.

this morning I've been out of the loop. it's the second day of the year. no holiday. but because of yesterday it doesn't feel like a routine day either. some of my sadness is gone. beginning another year with more dead friends & family is always tough. but there's still an edge of anxiety abt what the year will bring.

so I kept my bathrobe on too long as I did some cleansering here   some organizing there. clearly no direction. not like me. I prefer pointing to where I want to go then going there.

I finally got dressd. I have some wee tasks to accomplish. maybe wee is plenty for a day that isn't a holiday.

usually

on NYE I'm in bed by 10. but neighbor Phil invitd me to a party at the former Magtag mansion. playing for the guests was Guitar Shorty.



it was a loud & lively evening.

& in the roads

of Bob's corduroy shirt he felt the year finally slip away. feverd nites of madness on the couch. ache of a loved one on the floor. thug's footprint on his door. a bad year. but almost gone.

just survive one more nite he told himself   coffee cooling in his mug. there's another coming. only hours away. let it have light. allow it to swim with mirth. permit this new year to blossom.

Tavern on the Green (1934-2009)

at a 1989 dinner party for Bette Davis

upright subjunctive

when I saw Freud's couch all I cd think was who cd possibly feel comfortable on those old rugs. then I got on the Vienna trolley & returnd to ElDorado Park to swim naked. now that was comfortable. & when I viewd the Venus of Willendorf she was naked & lookd comfortable too. in that same week I saw Mr. Vienna crownd at my hotel. he wasn't totally naked. but in that skimpy outfit & grimacing thru those muscle poses he didn't look comfortable at all. then there were the others who shared the long table at Figgulmuller's where we all felt comfortable eating weinerschnitzle that floppd over the edges of the plate.

I'm not sure why Freud put rugs on his couch. I suspect he had no design sense. but you'd think he'd have tried out the couch before having his patients recline on it. it's less an issue of a discerning eye than of a comfortable ass. but that was a long time ago. maybe Austrians then threw rugs all over their rooms.

barn door

I thot the Bush admin was bad. given its first threat from another religious loonie & the Obama team over reacts bigtime. flying is unpleasant enuf but now there are more restrictions. I'm less afraid of being blown up than peeing in my seat.

Mary Wickes

yesterday morning I was in need of a laugh. so I went to You Tube & clickd on "I Love Lucy." I chose the ballet episode gueststarring Mary Wickes. then in the evening I learnd that You Tube had a pilot for an unseen series calld "The Decorator." its star was Bette Davis but in support was Wickes.



here's a picture I took of the character actress in Beverly Hills in 1992. we had a sweet chat. I was happy to be able to tell her that she'd brought me a great deal of joy over the decades.

boxing day

began as a time to give to charities but like all holidays has been turnd by business into another party day.

__________________________________________

after writing the above I encounterd this.

sometimes I need to smack myself. I'm not always gloomy. I'm emerging from a challenging year.

so Stephen.... enjoy the day & yr whole week.

off

to the gym
in my Taco Tonto tee

good

to see birds feasting on dry cat food I put out on the back portal.

Olga sends me

spam
from Russia.

13 ladies
wish
to date me.

that's
not the mail
I want.

but
the old lover
I think

will write
fills
my in box

with
invisible kisses
& ghost embraces.

"Brent Goodman woke up with the stars."

I read that on Facebook this morning. my simple reading is that he woke up in the middle of the nite.

I often wake up with stars. but they are movie stars who come to me in dreams. those who leave us their images on screen never die. & those screen images ooze into my head & bleed into my dreams.

Marilyn Monroe is a frequent visitor. I never met her in life but went to her grave again last month. the Marilyn I see in my dreams isn't the character she workd hard to present to the world. she's a quiet young woman who enjoys listening.

these nite movies my mind makes often disappear even as I lift my body from bed. but sometimes the forgotten ressurects itself with a word here   a line there. where else does poetry come from? it comes as much from the movies I see as from those my head makes in the nite.

so good morning Brent. how splendid we both woke up.

aging

I took dinner at a middle eastern place yesterday before going to the theater. the large table next to mine was full of nattering seniors fresh from church. they began to grumble abt technology. one complaind that her grandkids no longer spoke cause they were constantly on their Blueberries.

Alaina Reed Hall (1946-2009)

walkd to town & back -- happy I'm not on the east coast.