when your feet just can't keep still

 ------------- [excerpt from All The President's Men] -----------------

They wanted her to tell them exactly who "L" and "M" and "P" were. Liddy or LaRue?  McCord?  Mitchell?   Magruder?  Porter?  How much money was paid out?   What about the others on the list? 

        The Bookkeeper was scared and was having second thoughts.   But she was calling Bernstein by his first name. 

        Woodward was silent at first.   Bernstein was throwing out figures.   He stopped at $700,000.

        "At least that, $350,000 is what's left in the fund."

        The ice seemed broken.   Had she meant Liddy for the "L," or had LaRue or someone else with that initial also gotten cash?

        She would not say. 

        They said they knew Liddy was the only L to be paid from the fund. 

        She confirmed it. 

        An unstated agreement was in the making.  She seemed willing to confirm or deny statements if the reporters remained casual and gave the impression that they simply needed confirmation, not primary information.  If people were to be convinced that Sloan  and Stans were innocent,  they told her,  it was critical that the Post's reporting be precise.  That was where she could help. 

---------------------------------

All The President's Men, by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.  1974.  Simon & Schuster. 

-------------‐--------------------

On YouTube,  find the video, 

Crocodile Rock

uploader / channel:  Elton John 

and PLAY!

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the length and breadth of this land

 ---------------- excerpt from All The President's Men, by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward ---------------

        The statement, taken literally, did not flatly deny what had been reported.

        That afternoon George McGovern held a press conference and called the Watergate investigation a "whitewash. . . . What is involved here is not only the political life of this nation, but the very morality of our leaders at a time when the United States desperately needs to revitalize its moral standards," he said.  "And that is why I shall pursue this case the length and breadth of this land."

        The next day, September 17, both the reporters went to the Bookkeeper's house.  It was a Sunday afternoon, and she was not inclined to talk to reporters, especially when a page-one story in the Post contained facts that only she and a few others at the Nixon committee knew.

        But she would rather have the reporters out of view than on the doorstep, where they were imploring her to listen to some information they had.  She let them inside.

_________________________

on YouTube find this video:

Neil Diamond - Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show (Audio)

uploader / channel - Neil Diamond

... and play.  Enjoy the drama that builds in the song!

-------------------------------------

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suspicions

 ------------- excerpt from All The President's Men -------------

The story also reported:  the fund contained more than $300,000 earmarked for sensitive political projects; Gordon Liddy was among those who received money from the fund; records relating to the account had been destroyed; Hugh Sloan's resignation had been the result of his suspicions about Watergate.  

Perhaps more important than the specific details of the story was its larger meaning:  The Watergate indictments had not broken the conspiracy.  And some of CRP's campaign workers had the answers to many of the remaining questions.

        As the 6:30 deadline for the Sunday paper approached, Woodward called Van Shumway for CRP's response.  Half an hour later, Shumway called back with a statement.

------------------------ There have been and are cash funds in this committee used for various legitimate purposes such as reimbursement of expenditures for advances on travel.  However, no one employed by this committee at this time has used any funds (for purposes) that were illegal or improper.

______________________________

On YouTube, listen in happiness to

Bonaparte's Retreat

uploader / channel: Glen Campbell

_______________________________

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spying funds

 ----------- [excerpt from All The President's Men] ----------

        The Bookkeeper had been right about the money in Maurice Stans' safe.  It had financed the Watergate bugging and "other intelligence-gathering activities," he said.  John Mitchell's top assistants were only "among those" who had controlled the fund.  He would not say if the former Attorney General had had prior knowledge of the bugging attempt.

        The wiretap logs had reached some of the same Mitchell aides who had disbursed the spying funds, he said.

        Following the conversation, Woodward read his scrawled notes to Bernstein, who typed a new lead:

------------------ Funds for the Watergate espionage operation were controlled by several principal assistants of John N. Mitchell, the former manager of President Nixon's campaign, and were kept in a special account at the Committee for the Re-election of the President, the Washington Post has learned.

_________________________

On YouTube

The Big Bopper - Chantilly Lace HQ

uploader / channel:  TheGrayCat

        and Play!

---------------------------------------

All The President's Men, by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. 1974.  Simon & Schuster 

_______________________

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sleeps on sofas

 The Outline of today is about a real person.

------------------------------------------------------

I. took the subway in New York City to go to dance lessons, after school

II. starred in a movie biography of a real-life entertainer

III. made record albums, music videos, and movies

IV. married four times

V. in 2024, made a record album and a movie to express the album

________________________________

Surprise!  The answer is Jennifer Lopez.

(The reason this post is titled "sleeps on sofas" is a reference to the movie Dances With Wolves, where that is the Kevin Costner character's name...)

        I have heard or read that Jennifer Lopez's mother threw her out of the family home because Jennifer chose to pursue the career in entertainment whereas her mom was insisting on college.

        So she (JLo) had to stay with various friends temporarily, sleeping on their sofas, while she got established.

Throwing - throwing - ? - your teenage daughter out of the house in New York City?!

Yikes.

That's "old school" to the point of abuse / neglect.

----------------------------------

Jennifer did an interview talking about this music - movie project (This Is Me...Now).  She was wearing a long-sleeved black sweater, and on her right arm, a bracelet over top of the sleeve.

        A distracting black hat was part of the ensemble.  

(I could never wear a hat like that...!)

Jane Fonda is in the movie. 

Jane Fonda is 86 years old!  I adore that at this age she gets a phone call: "Would you like to be in a record-album-movie with Jennifer Lopez?" and she answers, "Oh hell to the yes!"

___________________________

-30-

lots of fish

 an original outline for today 

-----------------------------------

I.  something I never quite get used to, watching The Sopranos,  is when men meet and greet each other,  one kisses the other on each cheek. 

OK.  An Italian thing?  European thing?  Mafia thing? 

Looking this up in the online encyclopedia, one finds there is an entry titled,  "cheek kissing. "  It says the practice is common in the United States, too.

(Not sure which state they visited to ascertain that...)

II.  in season 2, episode 4, Tony Soprano and his crew go to Italy to make deals on cars.  Tony calls home and talks to his wife Carmela.   She asks, "How's the food?"

Tony answers,  "It's OK. Lots of fish."

He says it like he had not expected that much fish.

III.  an American man takes a trip to Europe, and his life is changed. 

IV.  an Italian man visits America and his life is changed. 

V.  in the middle of the night a woman sees a pickup truck's bright lights coming down the street - abruptly it makes a U-turn and drives back.

Is this what goes on, 3 a.m.?

__________________________

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"the paperwork will look just like the real"

 practice outline 

Feb. 21, 2024

___________________

I.  The statement, "the paperwork will look just like the real" comes from The Sopranos,  season 1, episode 1. They're explaining to a guy in the medical business how the scam is going to work. 

        Who are the worse crooks?  The medical business / scam, or the Mafia? 

II.  Tony Soprano: "You're born to this shit."

III.  We need to distinguish between when doing a positive thing and giving encouragement  is worthwhile,  and when it's a waste of time and effort. 

IV.  Sometimes we turn a blind eye to problematic  people and activities in order to not see.  Or at least in order to get through the day. 

V.  Do we do the right thing?  Or do we just save ourselves any inconvenience, turn our blind eye, and escape to our other reality, an ice-cream sundae and Facebook? 

______________________

-30-

you don't need a weatherman

2/20 practice outline 

--------------------------------

I.  inspiration 

II.  consistent effort 

III.  evil: sidestep it? or eradicate it?

IV.  see those who are eager to jump on the bandwagon of evil 

V.  "stay away from those who carry 'round a firehose" 

_______________________

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plans on the spur of the moment

 Outline of the Day

_______________________

I.  people hurrying in, hurrying out, racing against - what?

II.  what is the goal of a day's effort? - is it to achieve positive results? - to do the right thing? - to appease our fear?

III.  a saying in Hollywood is, "this town runs on fear" ...do organizations more mundane than the picture business "run on fear"?

IV.  "I'll tell you why they don't put a stop to his nonsense - they're all afraid of him."

V.  crazy people are frightening.  

--------------------------------

I made the title of this post 'outline of the day.'

That kind of sounds like I was writing an outline of this day. But that wasn't what I meant, I meant that during this week, M to F, I challenge myself to daily write a practice outline for a story, movie, or essay.

For example, tomorrow I will write an Outline Of The Day, but it won't be about Tuesday, it will just be the sample outline that I write on Tuesday the 20th.

----------------------------------------------------

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...if you try sometimes...

The JFK Library has many good videos on YouTube.  Fascinating topics.

They had an event back in 2012 (I think) where literary song lyrics were celebrated. 

Just as I wondered, at the beginning, if Keith Richards might be there -- he walked in!  I picked him out of the crowd! 

And Chuck Berry was there! 

(Good job,  Caroline...)

-----------------------

Trying to copy and paste a picture onto this blog post.  I pressed and got "copy" to appear and clicked on it.  Same with "paste" - I thought I was making progress, but I got results that were not a picture on this post. 

A state speaker of the house used to say the word "wrestle" to describe debating issues,  he would say with pleasant equanimity, "Well, we're going to wrestle with that..."

I feel like I have to "wrestle" with technology - but I keep losing! 

Eeehhhrrrggg!

____________________________

-30-

make me a pallet

 The American musician Mississippi John Hurt has been featured in this blog before:

You tube -

Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor 

uploader / channel:  Mississippi John Hurt - Topic

Recently this song turned up in a blizzard of you tube videos,  played by -- Woody Allen! 

        He not only has his record collection,  he plays clarinet with a New Orleans jazz band, as well. 

Make Me a Pallet On the Floor 

uploader / channel:  Bunk Johnson and his Superior Jazz Band - Topic 

       As you listen to these two versions of the song, I recommend playing Mississippi John first, then follow with the more complex jazz version. 

What an interesting and nice surprise this is! 

_______________________

-30-

the artist's job

------------ (excerpts from  Jason Solomons interview with Woody Allen, 2015) -------------

WA:  I've not succeeded in the job of the artist ... to show people that you can at least enjoy life, or why there's a positive side to it somewhere.  I find this very hard--in 45 movies I have failed to be able to do it, the most I could do is distract people.

So I've said, "Come to my movie, see Bananas or Annie Hall," and for two hours I forget my problems because there's other people up there, and music and maybe laughs, but then you come out of the theatre and you're faced with real life again and I don't like it.

___________________ And that's a great pleasure to me, the best part of making the movie, you know, putting on the music.  

When you finish a movie and there's no music in it, it's cold as ice, and then I go to the other room and pick out from the many records I keep in the room next to my cutting room, and we pick out Mozart, or Louis Armstrong and we bring 'em in and it can still look terrible, so we try another--quite randomly in some cases.  

        In the case of Irrational Man, we put on the Ramsey Lewis, and click, instantly, the whole thing came to life.

-----------------------------

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"nothin'" - "nothin'?"

 For New York City in the 80s,

go to the YouTube video titled,

NYC in 1983: Reporter's hilarious tour of Manhattan's streets

uploader / channel: Eyewitness News ABC7NY

__________________________

-30-

1970s New York - a metaphor?

 On YouTube,

the video titled

Manhattan Opening (Woody Allen)

uploader / channel: Justin Luey

... Watch and listen. That's New York in the Seventies.

(The song is "Rhapsody In Blue.")

Chapter One.

He adored New York City.

He idolized it all out of proportion.  Oh, yeah, no, make that, he romanticized it all out of proportion.

Yeah.

To him--no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed in black-and-white, and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin.

Uh--no, lemme start this over.

Chapter One.

He was too romantic about Manhattan--as he was about everything else.  He thrived on the hustle-bustle of the crowds and the traffic.  To him New York meant beautiful women, and street-smart guys, who seemed to know all the angles.

        Eeeh--corny, too corny for - my taste.

        Ehrm - lemme try and make it more profound.

He adored New York City.  To him, it was a metaphor--for the decay of contemporary culture.  The same lack of individual integrity that caused so many people to take the easy way out was rapidly turning the town of his dreams in-

        No, it's gonna be too preachy, I mean, you know, let's face it, I want to sell some books here.

Chapter One.

He adored New York City.  Although to him, it was a metaphor, for the decay of contemporary culture.  How hard it was to exist in a society desensitized by drugs, loud music, television, crime, garbage.

        Ehr--too angry.  I don't want to be angry...

Chapter One.

He was as tough and romantic as the city he loved.  Behind his black -rimmed glasses was the coiled, sexual power of a jungle cat.  

(Oh, I love this.)

New York was his town, and it always would be.

______________________________

-30-

we want folksingers here

Under yesterday's video one commenter wrote, 

"Damn I want all my arguments to end in a synchronized dance scene"

---------------------

Under a NYC in the '60s video someone wrote, 

"I wasn't much of a believer in past lives,  ... but I miss and love this city like I do no other  .... perhaps just the memory, or a dream."

_____________________________

To consider New York City in the 1960s, here are two videos:

Bob Dylan - Talkin' New York (Official Audio)

Uploader / channel - Bob Dylan 

New York  1960 Attractions - [New York 4k]

Uploader / channel - New York 4k

In the Dylan song, this line where the guy tells him, "You sound like a hillbilly.  We want folk singers here." -- just, somehow, so dopey and funny...

        The New York 1960 recording is without any annoying,  exaggerated background music or narration. It's just daytime city sounds, as if you're walking around.  Pretty unique. 

___________________________

On one New York (Greenwich Village) video, a commenter said, 

I used to hang out in the village in the early 90s, a lot.  been to all of the well known places there.  best time of my life. 

-------------------------------

-30-

O.K. by me in America

------------- [excerpt from History 101.nyc] ----------- 

History of New York City - 1950 to 1955

        At the apex of its postwar recovery, New York City continues to prosper at an unprecedented rate.  A collaboration of Allies was successful not just in winning the war, but building bridges as the city welcomed a record number of immigrants seeking a new life. 

Puerto Rico became a US territory in 1952, opening up a wave of migrant citizens from the island and ultimately leading to the first Puerto Rican Day Parade, along with pop / cultural representation in classic NYC films such as West Side Story. -------------- [end / excerpt]

____________________________

On YouTube,  type in video title:

West Side Story - America  (1080p HD)

Uploader  / channel:  Timestop Entertainment 

                and PLAY! 

---------------------------------

- -  History 101.nyc.  An ad-free Educational Platform Offering Access to Restored Vintage Photographs and Prints Documenting New York's Rich History. 

Expertly Curated by Joseph A. Gornail  & Steven D. Garcia of Fine Print New York, 315 Madison Avenue - -

______________________________

-30-

time machine

I love how that kid from Brazil yearns for a picturesque, snow-globe version of New York City.

Specifically from the 50s to the 80s.

If he was "a pre teen" in 1987, then he was probably born about 1976. - What does he know from the 50s??  LOL.

I like that he had, and still has his own idealized image of NYC that represents something for him.

__________________________

-30-

...the Bronx and Staten Island, too...

 On YouTube they have put up a television movie from 1987 called I'll Take Manhattan. 

In the comments was this missive:

*  OMG!! I was a pre teen in Brazil dreaming of living in NYC.  Today I live in Manhattan but I'm so obsessed with NYC from 50's till 80's. Now is becoming a "Monte Carlo".

_______________________

-30-

a Friday

 (a painting of the evening sky)

Jewels In The Usual Darkness

_______________________________

to understand --

to enjoy a mere

small slice of

understanding

for the truth,

goodness, beauty,

and justice

that are shown

to us

in awareness and reflection

_________________________________

-30-

our love is like a ship on the ocean

In her 2010 book, My life in pictures , Jerry Hall has a photograph from New Year's Day 1978 at Studio 54.  It includes, besides her, Bob Colacello (publisher of Interview magazine), Andy Warhol, Debbie Harry, Truman Capote, and Paloma Picasso.

I'm surprised the camera didn't break under the pressure of all that notoriety and talent.

A moment in time, with sparkle, flash, and excitement for all the spontaneous possibilities that 1978 might hold.

Lost forever in the past?

Or alive forever in memories, imaginations, spirits, and sudden pictures?

On the opposite page from the photo Jerry writes,

--------- When Mick was away touring, Andy or Fred, his business manager and partner, would be my escort.  We went out a lot.  We'd often go to Studio 54, the happening place in New York then, and meet up with actors, artists, models and musicians.

______________________________

On You Tube type in and play one or both of these videos:

Hues Corporation - Rock The Boat

Uploader / channel. TopPop

Hues Corporation - Rock the Boat (Audio)

Uploader / channel:  HuesCorporationVEVO

The Vevo one has the best sound.

The Top Pop one shows film from a live performance.

______________________________________

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