“I Am My Hair” – Lady Gaga`s New Single ‘Hair,’ Familiar Theme
I`m okay with Lady Gaga`s new single, Hair. The full album, Born This Way, will be out on Tuesday. Okay, I`ve heard Monday as the release day also. Hair is Gaga`s take (as I see it) on “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair!” In other words, your hair is an extension of your personality or your spirit. That idea has been around for a while,
but I`m cool with it. Didn`t Bill Shakespeare come up with it? I still listen to and love the late 1960s musical, Hair.
You`re going to have to check out Jon Pareles (The New York Times) really huge piece on Lady Gaga, published just yesterday. Lots of insight into the creative process employed by Ms. Gaga to produce this new record, that`s likely to blow the charts out to sea and off the map. The Lady`s a zany girl, and Jon Pareles gets underneath some of this unfathomable gumption packaged in this Italian Wanderlust of a Diva Pop Queen.
Much of the record was actually created while she was on tour. Apparently, she has a studio set up in her tour bus, so that whenever an idea comes to her princess-ness, she can lay it down before the muse vanishes. I do that myself sometimes, with a digital portable Dictaphone gadget I have, The only problem is, I`ve misplaced it! Therefore, brilliant new songs are lost for all time, drifting out into open air and forgotten for eternity. Boo, Huh Huh….
B-Movie Idol Yvette Vickers Found Dead In Her Home!
Buried beneath all the Bin Laden stories streaming on the bottom screen news tickertape (MSNBC) this morning, something sensational caught my eye. A ‘mummified Playboy Playmate`s corpse’ had been found. I raced over to my Google search and pulled up the news stream that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up! This is in keeping
with traditions embraced by B-Movie Star Yvette Vickers, who found her way to fame byway of some cheesy horror films.
I recommend as your basic source for the gruesome account of a neighbor`s discovery, a Los Angeles Times piece that appeared just two days ago. Also, I recommend The Daily Mail article, which as usual, has plenty of nice pix to accompany the text. The other thing, is that there are a few extensions to Yvette`s life, such as she presumably had an affair with both Cary Grant and Lee Marvin. It was Jimmie Cagney who discovered her.
The other thing, which I almost forgot, is that The Mail has a great pic of her ram- shackled Beverly Hills mansion, which looks as spooky as could possibly be imagined! Yvette`s first role was in Sunset Boulevard, which is ironic in the sense that her own demise apparently mirrors Gloria Swanson`s final days, lost in the idle dream of a Silverscreen Comeback, doomed from its inception! (I`m projecting here, so don`t take this literally.) Want to examine the Russ Meyers connection now…
Victoria Arbiter at CBS Best Bet for Royal Wedding Coverage!
What network will you choose for the royal wedding of William and Kate? Which one will do the best job? Or which one will entertain you most? CBS, NBC, ABC or CNN? Maybe you`ll merely channel surf until you land on the coverage that fits your specs? But the real question is, which station will you want to commit to recording on your
DVR? The quality would have to be good enough to warrant playing it back over and over again.
The damn thing starts at 5 AM tomorrow here in Austin, but fortunately I`ve earmarked a holiday from work. I`m leaning towards CBS, since Victoria Arbiter will be covering the wedding with the dignity and grace of an expert. Judyth Piazza, with The SOP Radio Network, has interviewed Victoria just yesterday, and she (both Victoria and Judyth) seems like the best bet to manage the media circus surrounding the wedding of the century. Victoria is English and an expert on these matters.
This morning I`m conducting a history lesson on Westminister Abbey, which dates back to 960 AD. English coronations are conducted here. The Gothic building itself was built by Henry III in 1245. The Library and Muniment Rooms are of special interest to me. They house the multitude of manuscripts that comprise the Histories of Westminister, that preserve a thousand years of recorded marvels that is oh so British.
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof-Elizabeth Taylor`s Life Stormy in 1958!
A cool piano strain slips around a ravishing Maggie lounging in a white slip, as she battles with Brick over Big
Daddy`s mega-bucks. I had an uncontrollable urge to see any old Liz Taylor Classic, and I found one on Netflix Instant Watch, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. Production commenced in the spring of 1958, during which Liz got sick with a stomach virus, then to top that off, experienced the trauma of her husband, Mike Todd dying in a plane wreck.
When Liz returned to the shoot in April of 1958, she had lost weight because of her ordeal. I`m looking for a thinner Liz and I believe I notice her change, in the scene with the usual boozing Brick, where she has on that gorgeous white gown. I`m about 40 minutes into the film. This is just the kind of thing I`m looking for, surfing for details of Liz`s personal life against what she was doing on the Silver Screen. The personal vs. public conundrum, fodder for tabloids!
I`ve heard Tennessee Williams hated the film; don`t know just why, but maybe
since Brick`s role is watered down, in terms of his sexuality. Maggie is the sexually-animated one (She`s the Cat). This reversal of roles is the key to what drives the audience`s curiosity. The theme, in my eyes, is the deteriorating status of the Old South. A dying Big Daddy is a symbol for Dixieland Going South! While flawed, I love this film and could study Liz and Paul (and Burl Ives) all day long. Even better, I need to pick up a Tennessee Williams reader.
*(A nice side issue is alcoholism, that Brick is severely afflicted with.)
The Most Glamorous Movie Star Ever, Elizabeth Taylor, Has Left Us!
I watched Cleopatra recently, and experienced it for all of its majesty; it`s better than ever really. I just did an internet search on Elizabeth Taylor, and found more than 7,000 articles you may access online. I don`t have enough
time to read all 7,000 pieces, but I did find a few that are noteworthy. First of all, I`ll link you to the Daily Mirror Coverage. Of the thousands of pics I`ve ogled over, it has my favorite, Liz near the beach in a bathing suit (From the movie Suddenly Last Summer).
My favorite film of hers is Who`s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? Liz plays a great hag of a drunk! But I love just about anything from the 1960s, and what about the zany Crack`d Mirror from 1980? I actually went to the Big Screen for that one. Cat On A Hot Tin Roof is another great one. Oddly enough, the first thing that came to mind when I heard she died, was the robust tabloid coverage that I experienced (all my life). I will say it lasted all the way through the `60s, `70s, and `80s.
It would be interesting just to look at all that trash again, in terms of reflecting on how the media has functioned, or reacted to a real movie star, over the past 40 or 50 years. I`ll give you a few more links (before I bore you to death). The Wikipedia entry (it will take you about two weeks to read it, though) is good for a biographical summary. You might prefer to break down her life and career in segments, and systematically watch all her films, over the weeks that come. The New York Daily News has 36 glamorous Liz pics here. My pic is of daisies at Whole Foods, but I lay it as a wreath at the foot of the future grave of the last true movie star!
No Thrills or Surprises for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards!
The buzz on the internet this morning with regards to last night`s 83rd Academy Awards is that the youthful hosts, Anne Hathaway and James Franco, weren`t able to fill the shoes of old timers like Billy Crystal or the late,
great Bob Hope. They showed a clip of Bob and he was much better with the one liners. The problem here is that the writers didn`t give these two greenhorns any good lines to work with. Lots of cool costume changes for Anne though!
The Oscars themselves were exactly on script in terms who won, so there wasn`t much magic or spontaneity involved. When Randy Newman won for best song, he didn`t seem to much care, since he`s won so many times before (20 previous nominations). His song We Belong Together was practically a re-write of things he`s done before. If I Rise by Dido and A.R. Rahman was the most original and inspirational song for me.
The only time the icy mediocrity was broken was when Melissa Leo accepted the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for the film The Fighter. She was actually nervous and charged-up and accidentally let the F word slip out. Don`t worry, the censor button was on. Luke Metheny was good too, with a very wild Afro-hairdo. But poor James Franco phoned it in. This type of gig is not his forte. “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Academy Awards, or as it is known in my house, Passover.” Bob Hope had the best sound bite for 83rd!
Mahatma Gandhi (The Life and Times of a Modern Legend)
Is today national Mahatma Gandhi day? Probably not, but it might as well be if you are living in my world. Oh, I
know what set this All Things Gandhi rampage off – well, it`s two things actually. One, is a book I checked out from the Austin Public Library, Gandhi`s Passion by Stanley Wolpert. The other thing is a DVD I got through the mail from Netflix. It`s a one hour documentary entitled Mahatma Gandhi (The Life and Times of a modern Legend).
While it`s impossible to cover Gandhi`s life in one hour, this special functions good as an introduction to his career. An in depth study requires reviewing the historical context of Gandhi`s life, such as the British colonial grip on India, WWI, and WWII. The historical context is a valuable tool to use when reviewing how Ganghi managed to secure India`s independence from Britain. An example would be, that Britain had trouble controlling India when all their attention was focused on fighting the Nazis.
I found a review of the DVD on the internet by William David Lee. Take a look at this. And you can watch a Discovery biography (Mahatma Gandhi – Pilgrim of Peace) right on your laptop or Ipad (or maybe even your iphone). With the dramatic changes coming to the Middle East, studying Gandhi seems timely. Be careful with the concept of satyagraha; MG only gradually fully realized the meaning of this. Won`t you join me in my journey to better grasp how Mahatma changed the world forever and made it better.
Farrah Fawcett`s Swimsuit Poster-A PinUp of Immortality Preserved at Smithsonian!
I never owned the Farrah Fawcett swimsuit pinup poster, but feel as if I did, in a different life! I may just get one for
myself, finally, as a way of paying tribute to the past in terms of popular culture. Ryan O`Neil has donated the red swimsuit to the Smithsonian Institution`s popular culture history collections. I conjecture here, but I bet her exhibit will get a record volume of visits at the museum! (Source-The Envelope)
Other items from Farrah`s estate donated include: an original copy of the iconic poster, a leather bound book of Fawcett`s personal copies of the scripts for her featured first season of Charlie`s Angels, magazines with her on the cover, a Farrah doll and some other stuff. *(Note: Today is my birthday, so I`m waxing `70s nostalgic the whole day through!)
The poster sold 12 million copies in 1976; I remember seeing it everywhere I went
(in my yellow 1966 Mustang); at shopping malls, in Dude`s gym lockers, on the walls of local Cat`s flats. UBIQUITOUS! I`m a very big fan of Farrah Fawcett (Majors) and was most sad when she died a couple of years ago. Charlie`s Angels slipped downhill after she left. My favorite role of hers is as a bad girl, Diane Downs in the 1980s miniseries Small Sacrifices. Check out those hotpants in the final scene!
Okay, so the screen is a little crowded with Farrah pics! What do you want, more of my words, or more pretty Fawcett pics? That`s what I thought. Let`s stay in FF moment the entire day through, why not? Pin that poster up, boy!
“But Let Us Begin”-It`s the 50th Anniversary of JFK`s Inaugural Address!
Today is the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy`s Inaugural Address. That was January 20, 1961, a cold day in Washington D.C. You can tell how cold it is from the President`s breath which has the vapors of chilliness (cold
smoke?). How do you say that? Anyway, one quality that stood out for me, as I watched JFK`s historic speech this morning, is how nonchalant his celebrity audience was. It`s as if they were witnessing an ordinary, everyday speech.
Perhaps it was taking a moment for the words and ideas to sink in. It still does today. One thing I get from it, however, is that JFK was attempting to break the iron grip of the Cold War, the tyranny of nuclear weapons, and the oppressive cloak of world poverty. By addressing this issue, and by the United States taking on the responsibility of helping the needy of the world, we could better counter the threat of International Communism. Thus, we have the Peace Corp, where people would commit to help the needy around the globe.
There`s much more, oh so much more! That pic is of my family from 1961. That`s my Dad, Eugene, Terry and Jenny, and my sister, Meredy (my older sister). That`s me on the end. Oh, my mother, Shirley was taking the photo, so she`s not in the frame. This is on Easter, I believe. We lived in Houston, Texas. This is what it was like to live in America during the New Frontier. Americans were filled with hope and vigor and a commitment to make our country great. The President told us we had a moral commitment to serve, and we listened and followed what he said.
The plain black and white photos help me to remember. It was so long ago it seems like a faded dream. A different era, a more trusting time. WWII had ended only 16 years before. People were still healing from that war. And so the early 1960s was a time of new hope. I was 8 years old at the time of JFK`s Inaugural Address. Our family was actually invited to the event. Hopefully, my Mom still has this invitation in the family vault. An important keepsake to “pass the torch to a new generation of Americans,” you might say.
Peter Fonda Finds A Dead Body In A Car On Sunset Boulevard!
Peter Fonda finds a body in a car by the side of the road. This is the best story I`ve seen on the news this morning. Somewhat under reported, but at least the Daily Mail ran a nice little piece on it. I didn`t get as must detail as I
desired, but I did learn Peter found the body right on Sunset Boulevard on Wednesday afternoon, after he had noticed that this car was parked in the exact spot the day before. Why didn`t anyone else notice this oddity? Fonda has a sharp eye and should be commended for this public service. (It`s good copy too!)
They`re saying it`s a suicide, the man died from exhaust fumes. One wonders how or why this unidentified man would commit Harry Karry in his car right on historic Sunset Boulevard? Perhaps he was connected with show business? He did find a post mortem fortune of fame though, since it was the famous actor who discovered his corpse. A gifted screenwriter couldn`t have penned a more intriguing demise, I surmise!
Just a coincidence maybe, but I had just viewed Roger Corman`s campy flick, The Trip, last weekend, which stars Peter Fonda going on an LSD Trip. The film dates from 1967 (Duh!) and had Jack Nicholson writing the quirky script. My favorite scene is when Peter watches a lady`s laundry tumble in an industrial dryer. Naturally, he hallucinates people`s faces in the twirling dryer. This mysterious tale of Fonda finding the body in a car should be developed into an internet movie, or an instant watch produced by Netflix. Maybe I`ll write it myself!