still, life

"........the rest is waiting"

love/hate

frank gehry

difficult not to have an opinion

shame

I was having a conversation with my nephew today about tattoos, we were picking up chinese food and right next door there is a tattoo parlor.

The question came up , Had I ever thought about getting a 'tat'

'No' sez I.

two reasons: 1 - not a big fan of pain
b- back in the 90's , I had a ponytail. Yep, bald guy with a ponytail. How would you like
to be stuck with that choice for the rest of your life?

no tattoos

roar of the greasepaint

preparation is all

behold!

jaques pepin in the kitchen.

I love cooking shows, always have. Graham Kerr, the galloping gourmet, good cook, charmimg host, seemingly half drunk most days.

Without question , for me, the gold standard is Jaques.

I could watch him dice onions all day

stock up on potted meats

Oh , all those earthquakes I referenced the other day?

Add a big ol' volcano

save me a seat

I'm a big movie fan. Have been for as long as I can remember. When i was a young 'un we would do the drive in most summmer weekends.

I feel bad for the young punks today ,that they missed the glories of the drive in. I will take some time in the future to bask in the past that was drive in attendance, the movie and everything that surrounded it.

I remember that being at college in the mid 70's was like living in a movie/film/cinema paradise. you had-the downtown theater (the batcave) The twin cinema in the local shopping center and the theater one town over, as well as the movies shown on campus. Foreign film clubs, classic repetory clubs, silent stuff! thrilling! If I didn't see at least 7 movies a week , in a theater, I felt deprived (depraved)

And to this day There are few things i enjoy more than a movie in a theater. Unfortunately the circumstances of my life right now preclude me from getting out to the local "plex" but I still love me some movies.

One of my fondest memories is sitting in a theater at college, (packed! every seat taken) Watching 'Nashville'. At the end of the movie everyone is getting up to leave and talking about the movie as they get ready. Now' Nashville' is one of those movies you either love it or hate it. It's difficult not to have an opinion about Altman stuff in general. So, people are getting up, some are griping about what they just saw, others are just short of nirvana. Opinions begin to be exchanged. Differences of opinion begin to be exchanged. opinions- shouted! responses- shouted!

Soon enough everyone is involved! sides are taken, people who were out the door come back in to be part of what's happening. The lights are up, the movie is over, but nobody is going any where! For at least a half hour the crowd stays and talks (shouts) about what they just saw.

It was Thrilling. I don't think anybody changed their opinion about the movie but it was a great thing to be a part of.

Now I know I'm treading into old coot territory but does stuff like that happen anymore? I hope so. Are we still passionate about movies? Maybe. I just might not hang around the right people anymore, I'm too old.

I will say that the whole world saw Avatar , but I don't hear anyone really worked up about it. They say they liked it and thats about as far as they go. Just go back a few years and look at Titanic, huge hit AND audiences lived and breathed that movie. Again maybe I'm just hangin' with the wrong crowd. My cat doesn't get out much.

That said I am giddy with anticipation about Kick-Ass. Normally this is not the kind of movie that's at the top of my List but, that coming attraction is absolutely thrilling (you know the one I mean--HitGirl) It would seem that this thing is a no compromise, take no prisoners hard core, comic book (there I said it) action movie. This could be huge,

or I might be setting myself up for a fall

mystic chords

I feel awful

I wrote down this quote a few years back, I do that often, I'll jot (great word) something down and put it in my wallet or in a book I'm reading and then years later-"well , hello little friend!"

I found this in a box of old scripts- one problem, I didn't write down the author! Hence, awful.

here's the quote anyhoo


"sometimes the water is yellow and sometimes it is red. But what color it may be in memory depends upon that day. I'm not going to tell the story the way it happened, I'm going to tell it the way I remember it"

Amen. unknown writer person!

The only type of memory I trust is faulty memory. I like the amendments we make as we remember things. Unless you're testifying at my murder trial I am more than happy to hear your memories- the way you remember them.

Often when I teach an acting class I'll ask people what their earliest memory is. Some folks tell me "I remember when I was was three months old. I was in my stroller and..........) That's great- it's bullshit but it's great.

I have a memory of being on the stoop of our apartment in the Bronx when I was three. It's a memory but, I wouldn't swear it happened. Oh , I was on the stoop a whole heck of a lot , I'm sure. But i don't remember it- that doesn't mean I can't construct a nice memory though.

Sometimes I'm on the stoop and it's winter and sometimes it's spring, depends on the day.

nerves, shaken. brains rattled

Awful lot of earth quakin' goin on recently



just an observation

a lesson

painting a small bedroom

a lovely mossy green

doing the window and door trim in a minty green (sounds odd, looks nice)

finished

done

packing up

I imagine i see a tiny spot on the window frame that could use one more brush stroke

small brush- dip it in the paint- paint the imagined spot

a glob of paint leaps off the brush and lands on the middle of the finished wall

light green on the darker green

middle of the wall



typical

I think I have to sit down

so, I'm meandering along the interweb today, pausing here and there to google a name that has popped into my head (Inger Stevens- lovely actress, tragic life) , spending some time watching a silly video once or twice (standing cat!) , reading a wonderful article by Dick Cavett writing about meeting John Wayne on the set of "Ths Shootist" (and then lo and behold, on TCM today- The Shootist!)

along the digital trail I came upon a quote that just snapped a synapse or two as I read it. It was a quote from Charles Du Bos. I was unfamiliar with Charlie so I went to Wiki -watchee, there was a lil' bit but, not much. I will chase down some more info,

the quote-

"The important thing is this; to be able, at any moment, to sacrifice what we are for what we could become"

whew- I got light headed just writing the damn thing.

I suspect that most of us read that and say "Of course, I agree entirely! here, here!"

Sure.

of course.......

yeah.....I guess............

Are you ready to take that jump?

"..at any moment....."?

If you need me , I'll be sitting over here in the corner, breathing into a paper bag.

your Mothers mustache

Doing some reading , listening, thinking about art and culture these past few nights (who am I kidding ,these past few decades)

In particular early '70's rock and roll. I know this is a boring middle aged guy thing looking back with fondness on the music of your long gone youth. but the shoe fits and I'll wear it out of the store thank you.

here are two or three random observations:

listening to Joe Cocker and the Mad Dogs and Englishmen band performing 'the Letter"- to me that is what a rock and roll band sounds like or should anyway. And I love that the stage was packed with like 50 band members and crew members and random hangers on. Still to this day absolutely stunning. Also it's interesting to see that Joe's career at the time was based on covers of songs that were hits for other people (Beatles, Box Tops, Lovin' Spoonful) Could you do that today?

A picture of Frank Zappa (not any one picture in particular) guitar in hand, long stringy hair, and that signature mustache -soul patch- jazz cat -facial hair thing. To me at the time,that was what rock and roll looked like. Eccentric, challenging, slightly threatening.

The opening track on "cheap thrills' by Big Brother and the Holding Company (oh yeah they had a chick singer...what was her name?) "Combination Of The Two" For a few seconds all you hear is the crowd at the Fillmore , the band tuning up a bit, Then Bill Grahams voice as he introduced the band "Four Gentleman and one great, great broad- Big Brother and the Holding Company" then the song starts. I was about 11 or 12 at the time and Oh yes I was rocked, my brain was fried a tad, my world shifted just a bit. I will never forget the sound of that room, on all the live albums that were recorded at the Fillmore there was a ring in that auditorium that was like another member of the band.

okay, enuff reverie- I'm old I have to go to sleep

sissy mary you

a boy and his dog?

no. a cat and his doll.

behold! 2

The 10 Commandments *

"Moses, moses, moses"

"Whatta ya think of ya Moses now, see?"






*the movie, not the tablets

behold!

the Secret Hideout By John Petersen


ah, this was the book that did it for me. This was MY book.

I hung on everyword- action, adventure, intrigue! The chubby next door neighbor providing comic relief- this had it all.

years later I love when this book is mentioned in conversation and you can see the joy on the face of fellow Secret Hideout members.

parking lot , rain , camera