April 14, 2008
April 7, 2008
Happy place
Maybe the happiest place of all for me, even though he (the character) has a sad end.
And lastly. This image, to me, is a work of art.
I've never really written about 2002, not specifically anyway, not what happened or who I became. I've approached it from the side, from time to time. And here's a post directly about Moulin Rouge - which comes closer to talking about the horror of 2002. I've read posts where people scoff those who say "That movie saved my life! Reading that book saved my life!" And I suppose if every other thing appears to have "saved your life", then you might not be taken seriously. Or maybe those who scoff have never been so saved or changed by a movie or a book, and they would rather scorn you - than try to understand. Whatever the case may be. In 2002, Moulin Rouge (and I hadn't seen it in the movie theatre - for some reason, I missed it) saved my life. It was not pretty. And I had a roommate at the time, and whenever she brings up 2002 now, she gets kind of tentative, like she doesn't know what to say. I don't blame her. I started my blog in October of 2002, which was my true re-entry into the human race again. But that would never have happened without Moulin Rouge. And when I look at that last photo in my post, I remember. I have tears in my eyes right now, remembering. I remember where I was back then, and what it was like for me inside my head, and then I remember staring at the television, watching Moulin Rouge, and feeling, vaguely, like a bell from a distant mountaintop, like maybe I was going to be okay. Someday. Not now. But someday. That's what watching that movie was like for me.
To me, it's not a movie at all. I haven't read one review of it, I have no opinions about it, I have nothing to say. I haven't listened to any of the director's commentary on the copy of it I have. It is sheer experience, and it contains health, mental health, to me. Truly phenomenal - I wonder if Baz Luhrman would ever know or understand that THAT is what his movie gave me.
Who knows. Look at that last image. It looks like what love should feel like. Or - what love actually is.
All other Sheila "happy places" here!!
March 14, 2008
November 30, 2007
Happy (??) Place
I can't quite say these make me "happy" (like most of my other entries in this category) - but I can say that ever since I encountered de Chirico's stuff, in my Humanities class in high school, I have been fascinated by it. it's got its hooks in me. I find it scary - like a terrible dream - but I can't look away. There's something monotonous about it all - he always has the same elements: -- an approaching train (sometimes all you can see is the smoke coming into the "frame), elongated shadows, huge piazzas, some kind of Roman classical statuary - fragments - long distances - I don't know. I just love his stuff. It reminds me of something. Maybe Sylvia Plath's later poems, with the visions of statuary - and "bald mannequins" in Munich - those creepy un-populated landscapes.
Place Métaphysique Italienne 1921
Ariadne, 1913
Delights of the Poet 1913
Melancholy
Melancolie Hermetique, c.1918
Melancholy and Mystery of the Street, 1914
Song of Love
The Nostalgia of the Infinite,1913-14
The Conquest of the Philosopher
Ooh - and here's another nice one
November 1, 2007
Happy place
... on this dreary grey November day.
I first saw the light of day -- or rather the dark of night -- around 1:00 a.m. on a cold January morning, in a suburban stone house which, lacking modern heating conveniences, kept only one step ahead of freezing by means of small coal fires in small bedroom fireplaces; and ever since, I've persistently arranged to spend every possible moment where the sun shines warmest.-- Cary Grant
October 22, 2007
happy place
... cause I'm still sick. On meds now though. Not as many meds as the gentleman below, however (and mine are all legal).
For my new readers:
All "happy place" entries here
All Dean Stockwell posts here
October 12, 2007
Happy Place
Yo. I took this one. It's even more of a happy place because I took it. And I captured a pretty nice moment, if I do say so myself.
Dean Stockwell chatting with the head musician in the awesome marimba band at the party in Taos. Note the cigar. And the kind inclusive look towards her on his face. The band had been playing nonstop for about an hour, and people would come and go ... meander outside ... dance, carouse ... go back inside ... I danced, I chatted, I mingled, I browsed ... it was a great time ... Stockwell danced too, he stood back and listened to the music, he chatted with people ... It was a great vibe, as the sun went down in blazing glory over Taos.
Look at ALL of the faces, not just his. Aren't they happy?? The chick over to the right, laughing with her eyes closed, was also in the great marimba band. Stevie and I were amazed by her.
All happy places here. Sometimes, on blue days, I scroll through them. It helps - it really does!
July 31, 2007
Two-part Happy place
1. "A Little More Love" by Olivia Newton John. I don't know why I suddenly need (yes: NEED) to hear this song every other minute, but I do. I am transported by it. I've been listening to this song since I was a frickin' grade schooler, but whatever, this week - I have realized: Seriously. I love this song so much. Press "Play" again. And again. And again.
"Wheerree ....
where did my innocence go ..."
I think it's those CHORDS that come after the second line of the verses - after "innocence go ..." or in the first verse "draggin' her feet ..." Then: a chord. Two chords! If you know the song, you'll know the chords of which I speak. I find them to be perfect, and every time I hear them, I feel satisfied. Like: ahhh, that was a moment well-played.
Random. Why suddenly that song?
I try not to question where such things lead me.
"Night is draggin' her feet
I wait alone in the heat ..." CHORD .... CHORD ...
And now for Happy Place part 2:
2. Photo of Dean Stockwell taken by Dennis Hopper
July 8, 2007
Happy place
I have been working so hard this week, and things are getting (getting?) kind of intense. There are hormonal forces at work as well.
I've been up since 5:30 this morning, working.
So I figure I've earned leisure time. For me, this means watching the Quantum Leap pilot. Now: I was a huge fan of the show originally - but I had forgotten much of it. The script is pretty terrific, for a pilot - and naturally, I think Dean Stockwell is the best thing in it. Although Scott Bakula is no small talent either. But it's all about Stockwell for me - and that was the case back when it was on originally, too. I just find him so entertaining - that's what I love about him. He's entertaining.
More thoughts on Dean Stockwell here.
June 27, 2007
May 31, 2007
Happy place
These images always make me think of my grandparents house in Newton - and my aunt Regina, who had a big book of Maxfield Parrish's work in her room. I was transported by him. Still love him - and every year when I buy a wall calendar, it's a Maxfield Parrish one. Maybe it's the smidgeon of romantic spirit left in me (Keith would laugh at me for saying that. "You're over-the-top romantic, Sheila. Gimme a break.") - but I find him almost gushingly fantastic. I look at his stuff and I find myself going off into lovely beautiful worlds in my head, ramparts upon ramparts, vaulted clouds in the sky. You know. Romantic! I'm not generally into fantasy (as a genre), or pretty Renaissance Faire princesses running through misty woods wearing big cone-hats. Not my style. But Maxfield Parrish? Bring it on. There's something psychedelic about him. Druggy. (More on Parrish here.)
Happy happy place!
(That last one is my favorite of all - I wrote a wee bit about it here.)
More happy places here!
April 25, 2007
April 20, 2007
A photo I love
Posted for Allison (we're going to see The Long Goodbye this weekend at the Film Forum.) So this is for her. (And also for Mitchell. and Alex. And Babs lovers everywhere.) I particularly ADORE her beehive. The beehive and the bikini.
Barbra Streisand and Elliot Gould
March 3, 2007
Happy place
Jen and I got together last night - and we had a sushi feast, and red wine - and Jen sat with her poor bum foot elevated on my lap - and we laughed until we freakin' cried about various things in our lives, and memories, and we had a huge Rocky fest (after all - she and I going to see Rocky Balboa is what started this whole thing) and the entire evening ended with the two of us feverishly looking on line to see if we could buy the uncut (pun intended apparently) version of Party at Kitty and Stud's - which led us into a web of insane links all over the web, as I am sure you can imagine - and we were laughing so hard at ourselves, and our ridiculous behavior ... tears were streaming down our faces - it was like this shared manic episode, the two of us searching for cheesy p0rn in this frenzied manner, as though it was of DIRE importance - and also any time either of us said the words, "Party at Kitty and Stud's" - which was quite often by that late point - we would both just LOSE it. It sounded funnier and funnier every time either of us said it. "Oh, here's a reference to 'Party at Kitty and Stud's'" Jen would say, excited, huddled over her laptop and the absurdity of it would just KILL me. It was as though we were BORN saying the words "Party at Kitty and Stud's". As I walked down the hallway to the elevator, at midnight, ready to meander home - I could still hear Jen laughing down the hall. "Kitty and Stud's???? What?" Once we find the uncut (ahem) version of this movie - we will have to watch it together. I am already laughing out loud just thinking about it.
On to the happy place.
February 15, 2007
Happy place
Sigh. Happy happy.
(Oh, and the anniversary of the Miracle on Ice is coming up - it's next week.)
February 2, 2007
Happy place
Definitely time for a happy place.
More happy places ...
Oh - and here's something else. It had to be done.
January 10, 2007
December 12, 2006
Happy place
Just looking at the following image makes me want to burst into laughter.
Look at the expression in his eyes!!! And his tufts of hair on the sides of his head! But mainly the flat humorless eyes. It just ... I ADORE him. He is so so funny to me.
I am laughing as I type this. Major happy place. I don't even have to hear any of his hysterical one-liners ("You're all weirdos") ... it's the FACE.
Hey look what I found: Sam morphs through the years.
November 7, 2006
Happy place
Yet another photo of that "ordinary chap".
Yeah, you know. Totally ordinary. Uh huh. Reguluar dude.
Hitchcock saw something different in him. Suspicion (that's him with Joan Fontaine) was Hitchcock's first attempt to tap into the darkness beneath the gleam. It didn't work quite well although the film is SO worth seeing. Especially the spectacular shot of Grant ascending the staircase with the glowing glass of milk(Hitchcock put a lightbulb in the liquid.) But in Notorious - "ordinary chap" and Hitchcock really hit their stride together. I see Suspicion almost as a rehearsal for that other film (a film that I consider to be perfect. I don't say that about too many films. But to me - Notorious is without a flaw.)
Oh - and funnily enough - I get quite a bit of traffic to one of the quotes from my "movie quote" game - the one about "Your ucipital mapilary is quite beautiful". Ha! It's from Suspicion and I often wonder if people are looking for quotes from the film - or if they're looking for, you know, medical information: "My ucipital mapilary is swollen. Should I be worried?"
I guess I need a happy place because my gynecologist got kind of impatient with me today. Snapped at me a bit, and seemed like he didn't want to explain things more than once. And I feel really raw and upset about it. Like ... I just can't deal with that energy in that environment. It made me really upset.
Okay. Happy place.
October 10, 2006
Happy place
Here's a still from the movie Talk of the Town - with Jean Arthur in one of her goofiest roles (I love her in this), a wonderfully earnest and grown-up Ronald Colman - and Cary Grant - playing an idealistic soapbox-stick-up-for-the-little-guy radical - escaped from jail. It's not really Grant's type of part - but he is sooooo funny in this film, hiding out in Jean Arthur's attic, making trouble for her. He is nothing but trouble.
Anyway. I need it today. Here he is.
October 6, 2006
Happy place
I know that he, in reality, hated ballerinas. That just goes to show you how little a person's actual views on things has to do with the art that he makes.
I can't get enough of him. There's this beautiful mixture of practicality and fantasy in these paintings. Ballet dancers work HARD, man, and most of what they do to maintain their art is tedious (ya ever take a ballet class? Imagine doing that twice a damn day for 18 years, mkay?) - but then what they end up creating (if it's good) is something that looks so easy, effortless, and transportive ...
It's like a dream, these paintings. I have a Degas sketch on the wall in my bathroom - it's a drawing, an outline really, of a naked woman dancing, her back arched. But it's all one line - he never takes his pencil up off the page.
Beautiful.
October 4, 2006
Happy place #2
I'm havin' a rough day. I need another happy place.
I found this picture online and my eyes filled with tears. Liam? You out there? I know you'll feel the same way when you see this image.
The genius, the ferocity, the unafraid joy in his performing ... the fearlessness with which he shared his gift ... he just GAVE THAT CRAP AWAY ... he held onto nothing ... Whatever he HAD was meant to be OURS TOO. Nothing was his, and his alone. The generosity.
Nobody else like him.
Shaking head in wonderment at him.
Can't even speak any more.
Freddie freakin' Mercury.
September 27, 2006
Happy place
Charles Dana Gibson, 1903 illustration.
Hahahaha. A tough choice there, dude.
Happy place
Charles Dana Gibson.
This one is called "The Disappointing Letter", Life, August 1923
Oh, hon. I know. I've received one of those letters myself.
Happy place
Charles Dana Gibson ...
This one is called "Summer Sports", ca. 1904. First published in Life, 1904.
It is hard for me to even express how much I love the languorous woman flying her kite from a lying down position.
September 20, 2006
Happy place
I've been reading a perfectly HORRIBLE biography of Gary Cooper (and by "perfectly horrible" I mean "salacious and awesome") and there's a lot of great stuff in there about Carole Lombard . Lombard and Cooper "dated" before she married Gable and he married Rocky. But then again, she dated pretty much everyone. It drove Gable crazy once they were married, to know she had been (and still was) this wild and free lady - especially when she would say stuff like this to the press:
"God knows I love Clark, but he is the worst lay in town."
Carole!!! Jeez, go easy a bit! But she had no reticence - that was just who she was. Also, Gable knew he was "the worst lay in town" apparently - which was why he preferred to sleep with prostitutes, who wouldn't kiss and tell.
There's a funny story about Gable - Gary Cooper had had a crazy love affair with Mexican actress Lupe Velez - a real firecracker who once shot a gun at a train Cooper was on. She was on a crowded train platform and shot her gun at the passing train. I mean, people who think celebs are out of control now have no idea what they're talking about, frankly. Lindsay Lohan is TAME compared to good ol' gun-slingin' Lupe. Also - imagine Angelina Jolie making a wisecrack like: "God knows I love Brad, but he's the worst lay in town." And to have it be an ENDEARMENT ... Like, Carole was married to the guy, and she said that. heh heh (I must say, though, if I could picture anyone making such a snarky remark in good humor, it would be Angelina Jolie.) But anyway, back to Lupe Velez: she and Gary Cooper had this nutso crazy sexual relationship - and all she did was babble to anyone who would listen about him - what a great lover he was, how she was addicted to his hands, how all he cared about was "satisfying ze woman" - etc. I mean, she would say ANYthing to ANYone. Cooper was kind of reticent - famous for answering reporter's questions with either "Yup" or "Nope" ... hahahaha - and was kind of embarrassed by Lupe Velez blabbing about his sexuality all through town. And apparently - Lupe Velez came on to Gable - and he turned her down. How the press would get a hold of this information is a mystery (uhm, I'm guessing Lupe herself) - but when asked for a response to the rumor - Gable said, "Sure, it's true. She came on to me - but I turned her down. I don't want her running around town telling everyone what a horrible lay I am."
This is so hysterical to me - because ... there Gable is ... telling the press what he feared Lupe would tell the press ... and then he marries a woman, the delectable and funny and snarky Carole Lombard, who says, "God knows I love Clark, but he's the worst lay in town."
I don't know why I find that so endearing. I just do. Sorry, Clark - I know it must have sucked. If someone said that about me to a national newspaper or tabloid, I'd be crushed and pissed.
But he loved her. When she died, he was inconsolable - and never really recovered. He never got that cocky boyish snark back.
I love this one. She's like a little pixy.
And I love this one too. They both look really happy.
Carole Lombard said:
"I think marriage is dangerous. The idea of two people trying to possess each other is wrong. I don't think the flare of love lasts. Your mind rather than your emotions must answer for the success of matrimony. It must be friendship -- a calm companionship which can last through the years."
I know Clark Gable lived with that "what if she had lived" question all the rest of his days. Love of his life.
September 13, 2006
Happy place
Oh, happy happy place. Seriously. There's just something about him. I love to get my brother talking about Dean Martin - he's really articulate about his appeal. This happy place is also for Michael - who loves Dean Martin. That ring-a-ding-ding jollity ... hiding a world of pain ... but what a guy. What a guy.
Peter Bogdonavich's essay about him is so wonderful - I'll post some excerpts of it later, because I think Dean Martin, while loved and all that, is HUGELY under-rated.
I look at Dean Martin and I feel happy. I cannot explain why this is so. I am sure it has SOMEthing to do with the fact that I am a gigantic nerd.
September 8, 2006
Love
I am absolutely in love with this photo. It's a total happy place photo. Look at Dino!! But look at both of them! Dino's tux, Wilder's checked cap, Dino's handkerchief, the huge stage lights in the background, the air grimy with cigarette smoke ... the smiles. Awesome. A world gone by. (Oh, and I also love it because it is so obvious that these two are up to no good. Whatever they are whispering is probably unprintable.)
September 5, 2006
Happy place
I have a bunch of stills from River of No Return - especially from this particular scene - but the one below is my favorite. It's hot. He's hot. In general.
August 29, 2006
August 22, 2006
August 8, 2006
Happy place
Two of my favorite actors ever. They starred in three films together - The Awful Truth, My Favorite Wife, and Penny Serenade. He always said, reluctantly because he didn't want to hurt his other leading ladies' feelings, that she was his favorite leading lady. Apparently he whispered to her once, "You're my favorite. You smell so nice."
There's something so ZANY about them together (uhm - Awful Truth??) - but also something so SWEET about them together (the scene at the beach in Penny Serenade when, frankly, I think he's never been sexier or more NORMAL. It's one of his only times playing a middle-class normal guy - and he's sooooo sweet and sexy). Clearly, they brought out the absolute BEST in one another.
Like another one of the big stars of the day - Bogart - Grant didn't really work with a floozy lady. There was something wrong in the pairing. Jimmy Cagney seemed suited to floozies - there was something about him (as an actor, I mean) that WORKED with a kind of floozy broad. But it didn't seem right with Bogart or Grant. They didn't do well either with domesticated pretty little things either. No. They did well (and by that I mean: shone - as actors) with women who were sharp-witted, pretty, independent, and gave as good as she got. Women who played the mating game really smartly and wittily (watch how Irene Dunne makes Cary Grant SWEAT IT OUT at the end of My Favorite Wife until he is finally reduced to putting on a damn Santa outfit in order to be allowed to get into bed with her.)
Bogart and Grant needed "ladies". And by "ladies" I do not mean "good girls" because those two guys didn't work well with that type either. I mean: women. They needed a very specific type of woman in order to bring out their special individual brand of masculinity (and star quality as well). Ladies. Not doormats. Not polite women, either. God save us from polite women. Not women who succumbed to the stupid rules of society. But women who had their shit together.
Irene Dunne was always the epitome of that. I love it when she gets silly and zany. But when she lets her guard down ... it's exhilarating. Because ... she makes you wait for it. She doesn't give it all away. She reminds me of my friend Kate. She has that same deep-down decency - it radiates off of her - and yet there is also such a streak of utter LUNACY that LOOK OUT when she gets going.
Anyway - Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.
The two of them together. It kinda can't be topped.
August 3, 2006
Happy place
Beauty. The beauty is in the caught-by-the-camera candid feel of it.
August 2, 2006
August 1, 2006
Happy Place!!
There's so much I love about the image below.
1. The random pair of legs in the air. The girl is upside down. I love her. I want to be her. Can you see the grin on her upside-down face, too?
2. Look at the diversity of the crowd. This was taken in 1939. I just love how mixed it is - the true democratic spirit of good music, huh? - and good dance - and all the smiles on everyone's faces.
3. I love that pretty girl way over to the left, looking back over her shoulder, her eyes going off-camera. It's such a spontaneous moment. She looks like she's having fun. She's lovely. Like a teenage Jessica Lange.
4. I want to be there!
5. Check out the dancing dude in the center - with the horizontal striped shirt. He is SO having to ALL!! I love his suspenders, too.
July 28, 2006
Happy place!
I came across this really interesting photo this morning - and here it is. I'm posting this one for Mitch as well - because she's his favorite. I know a lot of people who count her (she who is so forgotten now by the general public!!) as their favorite.
What a lovely alive face she has. She's really in her face, if you know what I mean. There isn't a mask there.
I love this photo.
July 27, 2006
Happy place
Uhm ... never seen this image before. How much do I love it?? No wonder people fell in love with her.
Miker just sent me a 900 page biography of Howard Hawks - and words cannot express how excited I am to start it in earnest - 900 pages about him????? I've already flipped through it - and there was a whole section on how Hawks handled Hayworth on Only Angels Have Wings - her first big role. She happened to have a sexy body - but she didn't feel sexy, and couldn't "act" sexy. She was no Marilyn Monroe who knew how to turn that on. Hayworth was shy, and kind of damaged, psychologically. She also was a very new actress - and this was her biggest part she had ever had. She was stiff as a board at first. She couldn't do what Hawks asked her to do. So he would basically just "trick" her. He told her where to go, how to stand - and then made sure that the costume designer had given her a bodacious dress. So Rita didn't have to 'act' anything.
For example: she was in that flowy dress with the flowing V-neck. And Hawks said to her, "When you come into the room, close the door behind you, and then lean against the closed door, with your arms behind your back." And ... you know what? Rita Hayworth does exactly what he asks - you can see it in the film - and Hawks is right. The dress does 90% of the work for her. The pose does the final 10%. If he had said to Hayworth, "Okay, so walk into the room and be really sexy" - Hayworth would have been shy and awkward. By giving her very specific (and indirect) direction - he got her to do just what he wanted.
I was very impressed with that story.
Anyway.
HAPPY PLACE!!!! Beauty! What a smile!
July 26, 2006
Happy place
I like this new "happy place" thing I'm doing.
I know where I need to go to find the "happy place".
I love this photo. It struck me immediately as a really cool image. It's artificial - obviously posed - and yet he looks natural, totally unselfconscious.
Now THAT is a movie star.
July 25, 2006
More happy place ....
more happy place, please ....
(That's from Only Angels Have Wings, by the way, which I blab about ad nauseum here. That's Jean Arthur with him. Look at him. Look at his intent-ness. Jesusmaryandjoseph.)
