bat shit crazy

 

the RFK Jr. hearings have put this term into constant replay. it had me wondering what it's origin is.

we have bats on property & they usually delight. abt 6 years ago I startd a poem calld "Nite Swim" like this:

            little draculas

            swoop down

            toward pool

            but

            I feel

            no menace

I simply don't know what abt bat excrement is crazy. I began searching. there is much speculation abt the term's origin. it seems to derive from "bats in the belfry" which traces to circa 1900. however that doesn't answer the shit element of the expression. there is "anecdotal evidence" that is dates to the 1950s where it appears in the US military. the OED has a confusing entry putting it at 1950 but as another term for "bullshit." others give credit to various writers & a cartoonist.

whatever its birth & precise meaning the term has a certain power & current daily usage concerning what's happening in Washington.

        

Cabaret 88

 we have this fabulous series at the theater at our art museum. talent from Broadway comes to town to perform. & instead of that large theater space the stage is convertd into the kind of boîte I remember from years ago in NYC.

the other nite I heard Noah J. Ricketts (currently in "The Great Gatsby"). you may remember him from "Fellow Travelers." he's as good at storytelling as singing. & he was in a drop-dead suit. 

& then yesterday I encounterd him in town & got a photo together.

 woke at 4 a.m. as soon as I realizd what day it is I became sick to my stomach.

"Braid of Ribbons"

 

Palm Springs International Film Festival

 the first big event of the year locally is our festival's award gala.

here's a photo I took of Nicole Kidman -- who gave the best speech of the evening.