Girl on the Run and The Runaways

Girl on the Run is a hoot! These movies are so much fun to watch. It's like watching something that came out of a time capsule. Qwerky characters, well tailored clothing, and "hot dames" abound. I remember the hootch show tents at the county fair when I was a kid. The master of ceremonies would trot out these scantily clad women and tease the audience with what they would see in the actual show under the big tent. He must've known what he was doing as long lines would form for the next show. 

A couple of weeks ago, I ran across these pics from Brad Etleman on CNN and I just couldn't stop looking at them. At some point I stumbled onto a blurb about The Runaways movie.  

I tried watching The Runaways movie about a year ago and I didn't last 5 minutes. Boo! I was a Runaways fan growing up; this movie looked like crap. Well, let's see if I can get past the ridiculous opening scene. Ok, silly opening aside, it's an ok movie. There seemed to be a pretty good effort to at least be true to some of the facts. I read in an interview with Brad Etleman, that Kim Fowley used "dog" as an adjective for everything. Cherie Currie's bed spread in one scene looks exactly like the one in one of Brad's pics. 

The movie reminded me of how feral things are when you're sixteen. I made my own t-shirts like Joan and I hid "special" clothes or jewelry to wear outside of the house like Cherie. I couldn't sing, couldn't play an instrument, and I didn't have looks. 

Fritz Lang's Destiny

I saw Fritz Lang's Destiny last night @ the Irving Theater. Eric Greyson ran the projector and gave a brief history before the film and a question and answer session after. The special effects, interesting characters, and stories within a story that occur in vastly different time periods make this film a must see. Seriously, it's worth watching just to see the final tale that involves an ancient Chinese magician.  I feel lucky that I got to see it on 35 mm film with a live piano accompanist in an old theater in the midst of renovation which really helped "set the stage" for this classic. You'll notice more than a few scenes that have clearly been snatched and used by other film makers; Fritz Lang did it first.

Frankenstein and some Skeletons - 'Tis the Season

I remember when Frankenstein hit the Midwest airwaves. I had no idea about the background of the song, however, until now. I also didn't know that Edgar was the first person to strap on keyboard. I love the mini banter session at the beginning of the video between Edgar and Rick Derringer. Goodness, such soft spoken gentlemen. Edgar Winter is so thin and elegantly pale; his hair just shimmers. Man, he can rock the glad rags too.



Ordinarily, a poem set to music is called a song. In this case, it's a poem accompanied by music. Timely piece.

Joseph Szabo

Tom on his car

I am such a sucker for black and white photos, but Joseph Szabo's pics take the cake. He captures what it meant to be a teenager in the late 70's splendidly. No, I wasn't some hot, popular babe by any stretch - uh no. I do, however, remember riding around in a car, listening to music, and trying oh so hard to be what I thought was cool. Thank the godz this was all pre-cell. If you wanted to call someone you had to use a pay phone.

Apparently there is a documentary film of his photos. 

Arising From the Ashes of its Predecessor

Many moons ago I woke up in a hospital after a pretty horrific car wreck. My car had been broad-sided and torn in half - everything from the wind shield on down was on the other side of the road. For whatever reason, I ended up with no major injuries. I had maybe 6 stitches in my knee and 5 stitches on my head. That's it. No brain injury at all. I realize how much of a game changer that could've been. I could've woken up to a brand new me. Like these two artists, would I have been able to forge a new identity from what remand of the old me?

I am humbled by the life they have managed to create for themselves. We, the audience, can only peer inside their lives and never be able to understand what it would mean to rebuild yourself with no memories for a point of reference.

I highly recommend watching Marwencol - you will be blown away. I've watched 2 fantastic movies this year, and Marwencol is one of them.

I Should've Been a Fan of The Cars

 I never cared for The Cars when they "came onto the scene". I never cared for that new wave rock synth sound. I absolutely refused to give it a listen. I longed for what I though of as the "true" rock groups - Led Zeppelin for example. Yes, I am rolling my eyes as I type this. I thought that Ric Ocasek sang all the songs and that it was basically vocals over synth. Uh....no. I'm convinced now that The Cars were the perfect antidote to the testosterone fueled mega-super groups who rented jets to get from point A to point B to avoid checking out of hotels. "Has anyone taken groupie roll call yet?" Yawn.

My brother and I lived with my grandmother and we used to watch Midnight Special on Friday nights. By the time The Cars made an appearance on Midnight Special, my grandmother had passed away and we were living with my dad and step mother. This was a real game changer. My dad ruled the TV and that was that. If he didn't want to watch something that was that. We were never able to watch Midnight Special again (that was the least of our worries, however).

I'm wondering if I'd had a chance to watch that episode I would've seen that The Cars were a real band and they were probably worth following. The synth/keyboards added this additional layer that sort of blended with the guitars. I must say, they picked the ultimate name for an American band. Ric Ocasek played rhythm guitar and wrote the songs. He embraced his odd appearance by choosing very cool, modified rockabilly jackets with wacky ties. Ben Orr sang at least half the songs. While he actually looked like a rock star, I don't get the impression he acted like one. Clearly the camera guy had a bit of thing for Ben while filming this performance. I had no idea that Ric and Ben were originally from Columbus, Ohio, which proves that, yes, cool people can come from the great Midwest. They were friends in high school and clearly each other's alter ego. Greg, Elliot, and David seemed like those really nerdy but talented guys you'd know in high school.

I have to admit, "...I don't mind you hanging out and talking in your sleep..." is adorable compared to the in-your-face command to ..."squeeze my lemon..." Yep, I can see myself cruising around in the summer listening to The Cars on my eight tracker player if I had it to do over.

40 Days of Dating - You Can't Fight Pheromones

Confession: Like a large number of other folks, I followed the 40 Days of Dating blog. I also admit to voting that the pair would not be together at the end of the experiment. I never thought they were right for each other. There's always a good reason someone is single even though they've dated 65 females. I'm still amazed he could get women to go out with him. Tim always appeared quite odd looking to me in pictures. What was going on here?  I couldn't put my finger on it until I realized he has a massive comb over. I'm bringing this up since he seems to go to great lengths to focus on someones short comings (wrong color shoes, hates job, wears too much black) and he's not willing to deal with the CO. Tim comes off as trying too hard to look younger and just looking ridiculous in the process (too short pants, backwards ball cap, rolled up sleeves). He couldn't care less about art. Really? He came across as having a job he didn't particularly hate, but he didn't love either.

Jessica has it right. Thanks to evolution, and the chemicals released in the brain during orgasm, couples bond. Online dating will never work. We can't pick our preferred mate off of the shelf; we have to smell them. Have you ever met someone who is physically attractive but there's just nothing there once you get closer? On the other hand, have you met someone who you initally thought wouldn't be someone you'd spend time with only to find you are completely captivated by the smell of their skin and shape of their teeth? You can't fight pheromones.

Initially I thought Tim had the higher profile job of the two. Uh....no. It turns out Jessica is a partner at Sagmeister & Walsh. Oh! What a finding this turned out to be. I don't recall ever hearing about Stefan Sagmeister before. Talk about a truly interesting person! At 52 he has this effortless boy-ish charm of someone who is quite clever but quite humble at the same time. I've trawled YouTube for his videos. Below Stefan talks about the power of taking time off.