Pal Joey has showed up on Amazon Prime streaming -- along with Damn Yankees.
(I used to think the latter was about the Civil War, but turns out it's something about baseball....)
Pal Joey's billing, for the 1957 film version, was
Rita Hayworth
Frank Sinatra
Kim Novak.
A reporter asked the "Chairman of the Board" how Ms. Hayworth's name came to be at the top, rather than his -- Sinatra answered casually, "Ladies first."
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I have this book titled, The Art Of X-Ray Reading, by Roy Peter Clark.
I start reading it, and he starts talking about T.S. Eliot's poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," and I remember reading (and discussing, and analyzing) that poem in freshman year English literature class at Boston University. 15 students, approx., we sat around a table, and the professor sat with us, or walked around, talking and calling on people and writing stuff on a blackboard.
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[beginning of the poem]
Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question ...
Oh, do not ask, "What is it?"
Let us go and make our visit.
In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes,
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.
And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.
In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo. ...
[it continues]
______________________________
Clark begins, in his Introduction:
Where do writers learn their best moves? They learn them from a technique I call X-ray reading. They read for information or vicarious experience or pleasure, as we all do. But in their reading, they see something more. It's as if they had a third eye or a pair of X-ray glasses....
This special vision allows them to see beneath the surface of the text. There they observe the machinery of making meaning, invisible to the rest of us. Through a form of reverse engineering, a good phrase used by scholar Steven Pinker, they see the moving parts, the strategies that create the effects we experience from the page--effects such as clarity, suspense, humor, epiphany, and pain.
These working parts are then stored in the writer's toolshed in boxes with names such as grammar, syntax, punctuation, spelling, semantics, etymology, poetics, and that big box--rhetoric.
Let's get to work.
Please put on your new X-ray reading glasses so we can examine the titles of a couple of famous literary works. The first is "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (1915), by T.S. Eliot. (The poet died in 1965, my senior year in high school, when I became the keyboard player in a rock band called T.S. and the Eliots.)
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The movie Annie Hall is on Amazon Prime, you can stream it!
Full of surprises, laughs, and truths, this film has a lot of heart, story-wise, and visually it's got a plush, pithy magic that makes it sublimely relevant at any stage of the human experience.
There's a scene in the Los Angeles segment where it's a cocktail party -- bouncy, jazzy music, & people milling around smiling and talking -- movie-industry guys in conversation:
1st MAN
Well, you take a meeting with him, I'll take a meeting with you if you'll take a meeting with Freddy.
2nd MAN
I took a meeting with Freddy. Freddy took a meeting with Charlie. You take a meeting with him.
1st MAN
All the good meetings are taken.
3rd MAN
Right now it's only a notion, but I think I can get money to make it into a concept ... and later turn it into an idea.
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Recently, watching episodes of -- well -- "Episodes" on Netflix, it occurred to me that someone could have watched that brief scene in Annie Hall and then said, hey let's build on that and make a whole television series out of people like this "in the business" who are constantly going crazy because of all the pressure and duplicitousness.
I wanted to talk about Annie Hall here, but it's harder than I would have imagined. Not easy to explain why the movie works so well and I could watch it over again any time, any number of times.
The writer and director tells the story with a series of vignettes that just sort of say to the audience who these people are and who they are becoming, and the various yearnings and impulses that draw them together as a romantic couple, and split them apart.
It isn't linear -- this happened, then this, then this.... Instead it's like photographs spread out on a table, not in any order. A scene over here--an emotional connection over there...a little conflict or misunderstanding, as people evolve...
I would think it's the editing that makes this movie a quintessential expression of several cultural revolutions of the last century -- freedom of the individual, freedom of relationships, artistic freedom, and the necessity of being true to the self as well as to social and traditional obligations.
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On a Happy Thanksgiving, gratitude balloons can include --
blue sky
gray sky
warm rooms
cooking aromas
people we love to see
autumn leaves in crackly swirls
pure hearts
thoughtful stories
pumpkin pie
dogly companions
treasured cats
music and books
snappy cucumber
porch swings
appreciation for the life God gave us
peace
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Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothin' but blue skies do I see
Bluebirds singin' a song
Nothin' but blue skies from now on
I never saw the sun shinin' so bright
Never saw things goin' so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you're in love, my how they fly by
Blue days, all of them gone
Nothin' but blue skies from now on
Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothin' but blue skies do I see
Blue days all of them gone
Nothin' but blue skies from now on
Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothin' but blue skies do I see
Blue days all of them gone
Nothin' but blue skies from now on
Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothing but blue skies, do I see
Blue days all of them gone
Nothin' but blue skies from now on
{songwriter: Irving Berlin (1888 - 1989)
Willie Nelson recording of "Blue Skies" -- 1978}
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I went on You Tube recently to search for something to give me some comfort: you can always switch to another video or turn down the sound if it turns out to be not-helpful.... I realize it's just everybody on there talking, but sometimes there is a video that offers various ways to look at situations and life, and helps you manage your feelings.
I listened to one video from a rather peppy priest -- a young man, wearing the collar, speaking energetically to the camera, and I thought it was OK at first, except then he got into some differentiation that he says God makes, and I just couldn't believe it -- I thought, My goodness! -- That's a pretty petty God you're believin' in there, my friend.
God may be many things, but I do not believe He is petty. The teachings I grew up with were all -- "God is love."
Of course, this priest is a Roman Catholic -- but I didn't think his ideas would be far from mine. I assumed they would be basically the same. If a minister or rabbi would have showed up first, I would have clicked on that video....I always think Jewish, Protestant, Catholic -- all the same God and same idea: be nice; don't kill people.
But his video teachings were far from my ideas -- getting all authoritarian on us -- no wonder Martin Luther put up the notice on the door about starting a different church. Vatican was getting too bossy.
This is the potential problem for any institution, any hierarchy, or bureaucracy. They get carried away with making rules for other people and -- the ultimate "drug" for narcissists, sociopaths, psychopaths, and the personality-disordered: control.
Suffice it to say, I did not find comfort from that you tube video.
I almost typed in a comment to tell the guy why he was wrong ("you might be that petty, but God isn't!") -- and just thinking about doing this did give me a little comfort -- but then I said, Do I want to spend my free time "arguing" with miscellaneous members of the clergy, over the Internet?
Instead, I traveled to Netflix to watch "Episodes." This is a situation comedy that was on Showtime 2011 to 2017, starring Matt LeBlanc (Joey on "Friends") as himself.
Funny; true; cynical; not for children.
In the show, Matt's phone has a very catchy ringtone: Google tells us it is a jazz piece titled, "Two Time" by Syd Dale.
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The Washington Post had an article about getting rid of stuff --
from the Comment section:
* I don't care what anyone says. I'm hanging on to my father's giant monkey wrench, suitable for the lug nuts on a semi. (His reaction would be to shake his head at the stupidity, but to me it's an exemplary memento.)
* Just keep it by the front door and tell people it is in case of prowlers or coyotes.
* I'm with you! My father died about 6 years ago, and my mother asked me if there was anything of his that I'd like as a memento. I asked for his set of Spintite socket wrenches with wooden handles. He was forever tinkering with his car's engine, and did all the tune ups and repairs himself. They are today atop my bedroom dresser, and I smile whenever I look at them.
* Father-in-law shipped us a bunch of stuff we asked for but threw in a few things we specifically said we didn't want. Including a huge rug that had been on their living room floor forever. When the movers took it out of the van it literally broke apart and the movers put it right into a convenient dumpster.
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Readers batter back and forth:
"Keep it!"
"Get rid of it!"
___________________________________
Material objects can symbolize other aspects of life besides themselves. They can represent something.
And then you're into the realm of meaning, which really resides in the imagination, and memories and emotions a person associates with experiences.
A clean, blank wall.
A wall filled with pictures.
A clean, blank wall with one picture in the middle....
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When The Guardian runs a story about The Beatles' music, a thousand Reader Comments is not unusual. ...
* You fought either for democracy or fascism in this context. Modern Democracy is a project that aims towards greater and greater representation and inclusion, even if it doesn't always achieve this. Fascism is a counter-enlightenment project, that aims for the opposite.
* And the Beatles as exporters of British culture: I first saw this film in Germany, when it came out. When the police officers appeared on the roof the young audience clapped, which baffled me. I asked my German friend why they clapped and he responded that it was because the police officers were not wearing gun holsters or carrying guns
* Whatever one's opinion of Oasis, they openly discussed (and sometimes copied) their influences. To my then 12-year-old mind back in late '96, they were a gateway into the infinite realms of music. My first stop was The Beatles. We might be 60 years down the road but their progression remains mindblowing and, most importantly, the songwriting is still staggering.
* The Beatles were the real deal, a cultural phenomenon that might never be repeated.
One of the most amazing things about them was that they accomplished their historical achievements in a mere decade which saw them progress from their early rockabilly and pop phase to creating some of the most artistically compelling and innovative music of the rock era in albums like Revolver and Abbey Road.
An underrated influence on the Let It Be period Beatles was The Band whose Music from Big Pink released in 1968 helped shift Rock away from psychedelia back to its roots in Blues, Country and Folk.
George especially had already come under the spell of The Band after his visit to their home in Woodstock NY and some of the tensions you see during the Get Back and Let It Be sessions are reflective of George trying to shift the Beatles towards a more organic The Band-like sound.
* Now in my late 60s, I want to get to the stage in life where people say how did you manage to get to this age and instead of the usual didn't drink, ate salad etc I want to say I listened to a Beatles song every day.
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I was thinking about when we are little, little kids -- kindergarten or younger -- and a grown-up would ask us, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
When I was 5 or 6, someone asked me that and I answered, "A nurse." I said nurse because the neighbor girl in Akron, Sherry Witherspoon, said nurse. She was two or three years older than me, and I copied many things she did and said.
I hardly knew what a nurse did - I had some idea, I guess. But I do remember the feeling I had a little later, that I had been insincere, that I really didn't want to be a nurse, but I thought I was required to have some kind of an answer.
Later, I had my own ideas.
Today I read someone's Comment under an article -- she wrote that all little girls want to be princesses (to dress up as princesses, I think she meant) and marry a rich man.
Reflecting on this, I realized that dressing up in a ballerina costume was the closest I came to wanting to be like a princess. And that by third or fourth grade, I wanted to be a spy. And an author.
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a poem
title:
oh crap, winter
Winter came too early and too cold
Brutal thwacking wind
Hammers our heads
When we go out.
Snow, unwelcome, swirled madly
Rejoicing in its wickedness,
To slicken our sidewalks and
Make everything more difficult.
A coal black cat
With copper green eyes
Gives us more optimism
Than any other influence
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In The Crown, Winston Churchill describes U.S. diplomatic skills:
"Americans like to wave the big stick and speak with a loud voice!"
That's not the quote! President Theodore Roosevelt said, "Speak softly and carry a big stick."
Did the people writing The Crown mess this up? Or are they hinting that Churchill probably mixed up the quote -- accidentally-on-purpose...?
Roosevelt said "a big stick." In the Netflix series, Churchill says "the big stick" -- as if there is only one.
Right now, I'm totally into Seasons 1 and 2. So well written and just rich with nuance, detail, and layering.
Prince Philip is quite a character. In the early years, he seems to have been pretty much the opposite of what was needed. Gosh, he's supposed to take care of the queen, and help her, & instead he adds to her problems.
If she has three problems, when he walks into the room, now she has four problems.
If she has five problems, her husband walks in the room now she has six.
If she has 9 problems...well, you get the drift.
When the queen mother discusses with the young queen what they can do as a send-off for Churchill when he retires, the mother suggests go to dinner with the Churchills at Downing Street (where the Prime Minister lives and works) because "it would be quite the compliment."
The queen says, "I'll ask Philip."
The queen mother rejoins: "You'll tell Philip."
When I heard that I thought, Right, because that guy never wants to do anything and complains about everything.
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And apparently in that era -- 1930s to '60s -- they were still having a cow if anyone connected with the royal family got a divorce. There were three things that provide grounds for divorce:
adultery
unreasonable behavior
insanity.
Stark.
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There are many interviews on the Internet where people talk but don't say anything.
Interestingly, if the interview is on you tube and Comments are allowed, while the interview says nothing, the Comments will say everything! Everything and more!
Way more than necessary, sometimes.
I've noticed three topics that will bring out the crazy in the comments:
politics
religion, and
the British royal family.
Not every video on these topics draws crazy comments, but some do. The blithering incoherence is astounding, at times. The words typed in get jumbled and thrown into chaos, like a blender. Reading, you often have to give up and skip on to the next comment, see if you can get any sense out of that one.
I've come to wonder whether royal family, politics, and religion drive normal commenters temporarily mad, or if perhaps these three subjects draw a different audience.
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I read in an Internet comment, "the stakes were too high" only the commenter spelled it as "steaks".
I love it when people do that.
It brings a whole new meaning -- gives a whole different picture.
The steaks are too high.
And you imagine several filet mignons on beautiful plates, floating up in the air above your head. Too high - we can't reach them - they're just drifting, up there.
The steaks --
are too ... high....
Watching the movie, "Going In Style" -- I couldn't decide if it was a good comedy, or a bit of a mistake.
It has some interesting music in it including "Memories Are Made Of This" - Dean Martin.
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