masters pass

Bergman & Antonioni

afternoon storm

shut down computer

turnd off electricity

filld gopher holes

musical visitors in town

HK Gruber


Sonny Rollins

speaking of The Arcade

Regina arrives for her annual opera visit in 2 days. so I'm in the final stages of housecleaning. in the process I discoverd a cache of unorganizd snapshots (remember pre-digitial?). this one is of that great Cleveland landmark. if you squint you'll see me in my room above the sign. (& before you go there Vera -- that's a lampshade   not a hat.)

Cleveland rocks

my 1st favorite city was featurd on the "Early Show" just now. there was Les Roberts in the Arcade. & Laura Taxel talking abt pierogies. coverage of West Side Market & Sokolowski's. the magnificent Terminal Tower. & of course the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.

chamber music festival

best bargain in town is the noon concert. timeless music presentd by world-class musicians. today it was the extraordinary Zuill Bailey performing Beethoven's "Cello Sonata No. 3 in A Major."

suicide

understandable -- but always shocking.

first there was Jerry Hadley who I'd heard sing Jay Gatsby.

now Theresa Duncan & Jeremy Blake.

from the archives

with P. Craig Russell

The X Bolex

I've mentiond young Cleveland composer Nate Scheible before. I wrote some words for him for his current project. he just sent me the CD. I haven't had time to listen to the whole thing yet but of course immediately playd "my" pieces. the one which is pure autobiography is esp poignant to me. here are the words:

CHURCH

I don’t remember
when we had to go to church
but it was late
& the service
lastd forever

the cousins had to try hard
not to laugh
when the old man
in the choir
sang so low
the pews shook

the littlest cousin
fell asleep

power outage

Qwest faild again. since I had no internet this ayem &nsbsp; I went to town early. took another look at New Mexico paintings of Hartley & Sloan before imbibing in Mozart.

Laszlo Kovacs (1933-2007)

just months ago we chattd abt his surname which approximates my mother's.

fallen angels

Dominick Dunne informs us that Lana Clarkson & that weird music man on trial for her murder were watching "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" in the backseat of a Mercedes on the final nite of her life.

why does this tidbit tantalize me. because it's an intersection of tragic Hollywood lives. the leading lady of that film noir was Barbara Payton who went from stardom to the depths in her short life. Payton fascinates me. Clarkson less so but only because I don't know her work. I've seen some of the films in which she had bits but with no memory of her. I did come across her grave on my last visit to Hollywood Forever.

maybe only my tinseltown-soakd mind wd add to the stew Lana Turner. one presumes Clarkson was named for the MGM star who was involvd in one of the most famous Hollywood murders. Turner lost her virginity to playboy lawyer Greg Bautzer who later was engagd to Payton.

Hollywood after all is a small town.

high drama

when my next door neighbor's roof caught fire shortly after the deluge I presumd it was a lightning strike. when I learnd it was causd by a gas leak I was too afraid to sleep.

monsoon season arrives

I was an hour into a movie when the storm hit. it knockd out satellite so I turnd off the tv & went out to the back portal. I was there less than 30 seconds when a lightning bolt struck so close to the house that the concrete beneath me shook & there was a burnt smell in the wet air. I dashd inside   tintinabulous aftershocks surrounding my whole body. the rain became torrential   flooding my patio. then I cd hear the roar. Arroyo Chamisa once more became a river.

after an hour of hard rain   we're in a lull. but I can still hear my temporary river.

my ears aren't pretty

but they are acute.

cdn't get to sleep last nite. kept hearing something. I presume it was a bug.

Tom & I

at my retirement party 14 years ago

h.b. T. B.

today is Tom Beckett's birthday. I can think of no better present you can give him than to purchase a copy of Unprotected Texts. altho I'm familiar with much of the work in this collection   encountering them afresh is an infusion of oxygen. Tom wd blush if I sd many of his poems make me giddy. but he's one of the funniest poets out there. & he's one of the sexiest. he gets in yr underpants & won't move out. but he's also a serious artist & a thinker who makes his readers think.

let me offer a quick quote:

Seldom

used dildo.

I know. I'm lifting a few words from a long piece. but that's Beckett. the long piece is a castle made of many rooms. & this one deserves a reservation. I cd write reams abt it.

anyway Tom... I'm sorry we were unable to connect during my few hours in Kent. I love to laugh with you.

just remember yr age & don't spit on the cake when you blow out the candles.

what a dame

Joe.My.God. alertd us to the hot new Shirley Bassey video on You Tube.


here I am with her in Beverly Hills in 1992 when we both had more hair.

Emmy noms

competing for Best Song are "Dick in a Box" & "Guy Love."

"check out her gams"

it's taking me a while to catch up on blogs. Richard Lopez postd his poem "pulp noir" just as I was winging to Ohio (tues 10 july).

I'm honord   my friend.