Airy Fairy

When I was living in L.A., struggling to make money as an actor (money, the world's standard by which we can be tempted to judge our own value) I found a life altering book.  It was written by Carolyn Myss, who had made her name as a "medical intuitive".  She'd appeared on Oprah a few times and written a book called Spritual Anatomy: Why People Don't Heal and How They Can.  It discussed the connection between our emotional state and our physical state, and how some chronic emotions could link up with chronic physical pain.   This was something I found intriguing, but a little too airy fairy for me to get fully behind.  It wasn't until I read Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential, that I really resonated with what she had to say. 

She builds upon the work of Jung, Plato, and Joseph Campbell, exploring the concept of archetypes and the role they can play in our personal lives.  For those who aren't sure what an archetype is, it's a commonly understood and experienced pattern of behavior, as expressed through a character symbol.  They are easily found in religious texts and in myth, but are also teeming in our popular culture and our personal lives.  The queen, the divine child, the prostitute, the wounded healer...  These are archetypes.  And a prostitute isn't limited to our literal understanding of "prostitute".  It's not just the prostitute from the Bible, or from Pretty Woman.  It's anyone who compromises themselves or their word for worldly security.  The 55 year old pencil pusher who always dreamed of being a novelist and yet gave up his ambitions to live in a plush home in the right neighborhood with the accepted four door sedan?  That's the prostitute archetype in action. 

Archetypes are ways of understanding the behavior of our lives.  They are role models, examples we can learn from.  According to Myss, we all have four archetypes that we share.  They are common to all people, no matter their circumstances.  We also have a primary companion archetype which relates to our basic energy, our drive and our purpose.  All these archetypes can be used in a variety of ways. 

It was kind of a divine coincidence when I happened upon an acting teacher that really inspired me and seemed to understand everything I was going through in my life, and who's work was largely based upon finding our unique strengths as actors and personalities through the use of archetypes.  He really helped me find myself, my gifts, and to look at the things about me that I had always considered "flaws" that needed hiding, in a different light.  Those "flaws", according to Johnny, were part of my full self and needed to be shared.  Shining a light on them created intimacy with the audience and freed my true self.  Rather than try and hide something that the camera will inevitably see?  When your struggles will be apparent and the efforts will ring as false and forced.  Some of us will never be the "lumber jack".  It's not where our truth lies.  And if we struggle to be the burly lumberjack that we think others want to see in us, not only will we fail, but we will never let them see the "angel" that is our power and our reason for being.  I shouldn't have been surprised to learn that Johnny had worked with Carolyn Myss and that he used a lot of her principles as the basis for his work.

As a result of that class and Carolyn's book, I really learned how important it is to stop comparing myself to others, to stop trying to be something I wasn't and to "let my own light shine".  Cliché, but true.  It's a journey I'm still on, and am far from completing, and with lots of stumbling blocks on the way, but I do feel that every day I'm getting more and more in touch with and getting closer to expressing that divine spark as I uniquely embody it. 

Talk about "airy fairy".  But the thing is, if it's something that rings true for me, no matter how ethereal and whimsical it may seem to others, it ain't "airy fairy" to me.

The Front Seat

I recently heard Garrison Keillor on  NPR, reading from his book of poetry, O, What A Luxury: Verses Lyrical, Vulgar, Pathetic and Profound.  Like a lot of his work, the poetry he's written seems tailor made for the unpinnable "everyman", as it's simple, straightforward, and even rhymes.  And yet, within the simplicity of the work there is often something lovely to ponder on. 

Here's the poem that stuck with me, and made me feel nostalgic and slightly giddy:

"The Front Seat"

I fell in love in the front seat of a '56 Ford

At a drive-in movie, sliding over toward

A girl in shorts and necking a little

on a bench seat, no gearshift in the middle.

She was young and eager — it didn't take much

To slip her in gear and let out the clutch

But the beautiful bench where we performed our feats

Has been replaced by two bucket seats

And a brake lever, gearshift, and armrest

Between me and the girl I love best,

Which is sensible and safer, perhaps,

Two people restrained by safety straps,

But if safety were all that people thought of

Then who would ever fall in love?

Vader's Little Princess

When I was a kid, like every other boy my age, I was a Star Wars fanatic.  I collected everything I could get my hands on, including Dixie cups, trading cards, and as many action figures as I could get my hands on.  I even asked the hair dresser to cut my hair like Luke Skywalker's.  The thing I never got, but always coveted when I saw it at a friend's house, was the Millenium Falcon, which had a secret compartment to hide a couple of your action figures in while the Empire searched for them in vain.  While I never got the Falcon, I did have one of my best Christmases ever, when I received a hand crafted Ice Planet Hoth playset that my Dad had made. 

I wish I had pictures, as I remember it being mammoth sized, and having a little cave, a battle station, a ramp...it was from Styrofoam mostly, and there were little pegs in strategic points to place the figures in.  Of course, the stories I made up with them were a little more like soap operas than I imagine the average kid's were, but I had a blast with those toys, and would play my Empire Strikes Back soundtrack as I played so I could have a soundtrack to work with.

As I got older, other fascinations took over, but I still am delighted when I see certain Star Wars collectibles and books, such as the one I found today, Vader's Little Princess.

 

It imagines what things might have been like if Darth Vader had had an active role in raising Leia.  It's a follow-up of course, to Jeffrey Brown's first book Darth Vader and Son.  And I just love how whimsical and humorous it is, and how big hearted it is.  Anyway, both books made me chuckle and gave me a fresh way to look at the Star Wars trilogy.

  

Fecking Awesome Kidhood Treasure: The View-Master

During my really young years, when it was just my Mom and me (aided by my seemingly ever present Aunts) we didn't have a lot of money, and so most of the toys I got, unless it was Christmas, or a birthday, came from garage sales and second hand stores.  I'm not saying this is the reason I love antiques today, but I will say I was instilled from the beginning with a love of things that had stories long before they came into my happy little hands.  And because of the garage sale finds, I got a lot of toys and treasures that that had gone out of fashion by the random whim of kids.  And sometimes we happened on an absolute treasure, like a View-Master, complete with a carrying case and multiple individual sets of View-Master "reels" that the person before me must have taken some time to collect, and purchased individually would have been more than we could have reasonably spent on toys for me.   

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the View-Master, it was a kids own personal slide show.  I would hold it up to my eyes and disappear into a 3 dimensional world starring the Flinstones, Bugs Bunny, Bambi, all the characters of my childhood.  I would click my way through an entire story and then view the whole story again, soaking up the details of the world.  There were little booklets that went along with the reels, and if you wanted you could stop and read the story as you clicked along, but I rarely did that, preferring to make up my own stories.

 I used to spend hours flipping through the different reels, of which there were two kinds.  There was the kind that looked like an animated drawing (eh) and the one that looked like a three dimensional world, like the characters might look if they were real.  It was the latter style that I went back to again and again, because it made me feel like I might be able to step right inside that world.  There was more care, more craftsmanship put into them, more life.


The advent of home video made the View-Master relatively unnecessary, but back in the day...magical.  It reminds me of what Ray Bradbury said about lack inspiring imagination, and it's true.  Limits inspire us to to do things we never would consider if we had everything at our beck and call.

Stereoscope, the precursor to the View-Master

I never really thought about how they made those View-Master slides back in the day, but I happened upon some pretty amazing pictures that show the process, and I can only imagine that this was a pretty delightful job to have back then, or would have been to me, and I'm awfully  grateful to the people who made these photos and allowed me to escape into this lovely little world for awhile.

 

Autumn and A New Album From Pink Martini

Autumn is on the way.  You can feel it in the breeze, in the lowering of temperatures, see it in the rain, and in front of stores where the pumpkins are stacked in rolling piles.  The traditional pumpkins are lovely, but I'm partial to the more exotic "Fairy Tale" pumpkins, which remind me alternately of the "crinkled leaves roasty toasty" presence of fall, and the magic of "Once Upon A Time" which seems possible just because these giant gourdes exist, because I've only ever seen them in the pages of folktales.

One thing I'll miss is the sound of the frogs at night as I fall asleep.  My apartment is near a little pond and I love opening the windows at night to hear to the chirping and humming of the bugs mingled with the croaking of frogs.  Occasionally, I even hear the hooting of an owl perched on the tree outside, and this natural symphony lulls me to sleep.  It reminds me that there are other creatures are out there living their own dramas, and I am not the center of life's universe, as I often imagine myself to be.  I'm just one of many creatures in this wild world. 

Thankfully the wasps are gone, and I won't miss them.  For awhile I was duking it out with them over who was going to own the back porch.  That little patio area can be a lovely place to read and nestle, feel at one with the outdoors, but it isn't when there's a mound of mud up in the corner with four or five hornets buzzing around it.  So every day or so, I'd have to throw a cup of soapy water up there and then race into the living room and slam the door, hoping I'd gotten them all and one wouldn't come flying at my face, stinger ablaze.  Luckily, I have the balls to get pretty close to the nest before I toss the water, and my aim is true.  That usually took care of them for awhile, unlike the dish of soapy water and sugar sitting on the porch, which didn't do anything, for the record. But August is over, and they are gone, which is nice, because not only am I free of them, but I'm free of the guilt I feel from killing them.

On a completely different topic, Pink Martini has come out with a new album called Get Happy, with lots of collaboration on it, from from Ari Shapiro (hubba- hubba you ball of delicious erudite sexiness) to Phyllis Diller in her final recording in which she sings "Smile".  Rufus Wainwright is also represented, dueting with China Forbes on the Judy/Barbra classic "Get Happy/Happy Days".  It's a lush, an lovely arrangement, but it also irks me a little bit, as it inevitably will when I hear anyone doing a Garland standard.  And I have to wonder how Rufus became the go to singer for Judy classics.  Just because he had the hutzpah to do  the Carnegie Hall tour? 

Wainwright is to my mind, one of the best song writers around, and his combining of classical and pop sounds is brilliant, with his languid, lolling vocal style is the perfect conduit for his lyrics and melodies.  He doesn't however, have the background or vocal technique to pull off Judy's material, or other material of that time period.   As far as I'm concerned, he's far better at interpreting his own works. 

 

Oohs and Oz

When I first heard that The Wizard of Oz was getting the 3D treatment, my mind immediately flashed to the notoriously slapdash 3D done for Clash of the Titans a few years back, and if you have similarly ambivelant feelings about 3D, I don't blame you, but let me put your mind at ease.

This experience is the best of what 3D can offer and made me feel like the proverbial fly on the wall as all of the action occurred in front of my eyes.  Even, the paintings that fill out the landscapes have been transferred to 3-D.  This technology combined with the huge screen and surround sound, made the film seem as present, modern, sleek and brilliant as it's ever been. 

It was as if it was filmed yesterday, but without CGI, and with the tremendous attention to craftsmanship that seems in many ways lost today.  And the lovely thing about the quality is how much detail you are able to see.  You can count Judy Garland's freckles, the wrinkles in her dress, her distorted reflection as she looks into the crystal ball (which has to be seen to be believed) as her Aunt Em transforms into the menacingly wicked Witch of the West.  You can even, in rare moments see Bert Lahr's wig line. 

I was aware for the first time of just how often little Toto was bounding around under the four friends constantly moving feet, and how constant the lion's tail was swinging, as if it had a life of its own.  Plus, because of the 3D, I felt as if I were moving with the camera, and was aware for the first time of all those beautiful crane shots.  It's just a stunning, immersive experience, and one with a saddenly short life span.  The critics all agree it looks wonderful, and I've linked to some reviews if you care to check them out.


Variety

USA Today

Entertainment Weekly

Below is a short promotional film which illustrates the restoration and the application of 3D and IMAX technology.  Hopefully it will get you to go, because you only have today and tomorrow and then it will be gone from theatres and heading to (gasp) television.

And finally, for the film buffs, there is a beautiful pictorial book that delves into the sets, lights, costumes, and props called The Wizardry of Oz, which you can get on Amazon.com.

Random Thoughts from Last Night's Emmy Broadcast

Is it just me, or did the Emmy's REALLY try to beat the Tony's at their own game, and in most cases, fall far short of their mark?  NPH was borrowed from the Tony's and was great, but there's only so much you can do with poorly written material.  I'm just not a fan of supposedly impromptu bits which reek of being canned.  Another moment that reminded me how great The Tony's are?  A "trying way to hard to be clever" number called "The Number in the Middle of the Show".

The Variety category reminded me how much I miss actual Variety shows.  Today, comedic news programs and late night talk shows pass as Variety, and I enjoy them for what they are, but I'd love it if they could find a way to bring back shows like The Carol Burnett Show, Gary Moore, The Muppet Show, The Judy Garland Show, The Dean Martin Show, and "The Ed Sullivan Show".  They brought amazing talent together for once in a lifetime moments, had some unforgettable comedic sketches, and threw in the occasional plate spinning dog trainer thrown in for good measure.

I also think Merrit Wever's four word acceptance speech was pretty brilliant.  She was charming, unpretentious and refreshing.  However, I can't help but think that at some point she will regret not thanking her folks, or significant other... In case you agree, here she is being a little more talkative later that night.

Jim Parsons and his three Emmy wins is a little annoying and I'm not sure why he keeps winning, but the Emmy voters love him.  Maybe they just really miss David Hyde Pierce and figure Parsons fits the bill.  THAT SAID, he won me over by how absolutely endearing he was.  Grateful, humble, darling as all get out.  My grinchly heart grew three sizes thanks to his gamin like presence.

Bob Newhart's standing ovation was my favorite part of the evening and made me teary, unlike all the stilted, obviously teleprompter aided tribute speeches.  He's never won an Emmy until this year, which is weird as all get out, and he seemed just blown away by it all.

Claire Danes needs her own talk show.  I would pay to watch her in an impromptu forum where she feels all eyes on her on a nightly basis.  She was like a crazed show dog up there, and it was horrifying and enthralling.  And God bless Hugh Dancy because he's obviously in love as can be, and life with someone as tightly wound as Claire Danes can not be all hearts and rainbows.  She was however, cringe worthy in that whole Lexus (it was Lexus wasn't it?) campaign with Danes in a comedic setting.  She is many things, but cuddly and comedic she ain't.  It was completely out of her wheel house.  If you want to see her being abso-fucking-lutely brilliant, check out Temple Grandin.  The woman is obviously a massive talent. 

I loved Don Cheadle talking about 1963-1964 and how monumental it was, but I could definitely have done without Carrie Underwood yodeling "Yesterday".

Dear CBS, I will purposely not watch whatever show that is with Allison Janney and that blonde girl, nor will I watch Job from Arrested Development and his mom.  That's how blatant and grating those promotions were within the show.

Another great moment (aside from Michael Douglas' acceptance speech, which you've surely seen elsewhere by now) was the dance number created by the nominated choreographers.  Here it is, really getting started at about 1:50 minutes in, in case you missed it.

J.C. Leyendecker: Trail Blazing Illustrator

It's possible you've never heard of J.C. Leyendecker, but you've almost certainly seen his influence in advertising and illustration.  Famous as the creator of theArrow Collar Man, illustrator for 322 covers for the Saturday Evening Post, and mentor to Norman Rockwell, his creations are beautiful, polished, thought provoking,  some are surprisingly suggestive for the time, and all of them represent a long lost vision of America and, specifically, the American male. 

His private life was also ahead of its time, in that he lived with a man, and the two of them threw lavish parties in the 1920's.  His mate, Charles Beach was the model for many of the men he painted, including the Arrow Collar Man, and was the cause of feuding between Joseph and his siblings, who did not approve of the relationship.  Leyendecker's life reads like something out of the pages of a gay Great Gatsby, and Collector's Weekly published an excellent article about him last year, which you should definitely take the time to read.

 

 

                          

 

The Wizard of Oz 3D IMAX Experience

Yep, I'm pretty damn excited to see The Wizard of Oz in Imax 3-D.  It was an 18 month transfer process and this review from Edge On The Net has given me a lot of hope that this has been artfully done and will be an immersive experience in the best way possible.  No, I'm not a huge fan of 3-D technology, but I'm a true geek for this film and have seen it more than fifty times.  When I was a kid, the time when this movie came out on television was my Christmas.  I would look forward to it weeks in advance, and on the night it aired we would make special treats, plop down in front of the television, and I'd record it on a portable tape recorder for later enjoyment throughout the year (pre VHS). 

I've seen it at least fifteen different times on the big screen (including once at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in L.A.) since then and every time I do, I am gifted with a little bit of the kidlike wonder I felt back then.  It makes me feel innocent again, the way I felt when I was certain there was magic in the world, and there's no better feeling than that.

I highly encourage everyone to check it out and show the suits that there is still interest in the film, even seventy five years after it was originally screened.  Here's the trailer to pique your interest.

 

 

I'm seeing it tomorrow with my best friend, and promise to report back.

McDonalds responds...

Ok, so as you know, I wrote to McDonalds and complained about the fact that the toys in their Happy Meals are being given out with specificity to the child's gender (ie:  boys get Batman toys, girls get Wizard of Oz toys) and here is their response to my complaint, which I admit was slightly bitchy as I was riled up and I admit to implying I had a little boy, which I plainly do not have...
_____________________________

Hello Joe:

Thank you for taking the time to write McDonald's and to share your thoughts with us about our Happy Meals.

I'm sorry you're disappointed with some of our Happy Meal programs. First, please be assured that none of our toys are meant to be gender-restricted. Rather, all of our toys are meant to be enjoyed by all our younger customers -- both girls AND boys.

When we offer a Happy Meal with two different themes, our employees have been specifically trained to ask customers which of the two toys offered that week they would like, and not whether they would like a "girl" toy or a "boy" toy. I'm sorry if you've experienced anything different.

Please be assured, we would never want any of our promotions, games or premium items to disappoint our customers. Because you're a valued customer, your comments are very important to us, and have been shared with our Marketing staff for their on-going review.

Again, thank you for contacting McDonald's. We look forward to serving you for many years to come.

Quinn
McDonald's Customer Response Center

ref#:10390781

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You wrote:

I was pretty disappointed to discover that when parents ask for a Happy Meal for their child they are then asked if the toy will be for a girl or a boy.  Apparently, at this time if it's a toy for a girl they are presented with "Wizard of Oz" toys, and Batman toys for boys.  What if you have a girl who loves Batman or a boy who loves "The Wizard of Oz"?  When did Oz become strictly girl fare?  Why make gender judgments at all?

I'm sure you just want to make your customers happy and not make my little boy feel awkward for wanting a Wizard of Oz toy?  Am I correct in this?

I admit to being appreciative of their quick response, and their progressive policy, although I DO have a hard time thinking that they are actively enforcing this policy, as this isn't the first time I've heard of this happening, and they've had other campaigns which were much more blatantly targeted to different genders. 

This being said, I may have to get ahold of these Happy Meal toys, even if I don't buy the food that it comes with.  They are so CUTE!

Aaron Paul on The Price is Right, and A Podcast Recommendation

I have never seen an episode of Breaking Bad, and frankly I've never really been tempted to watch it, and yes I've heard a ton of people, critics and friends alike, saying how addictive it is.  I just can't get over the thought of all the dirty, unclean people, covered in tattoos, doing crystal meth.  Those visuals are extremely unappealing.  Likewise you will probably never catch me watching Sons Of Anarchy, Walking Dead, Justified, or even Duck Dynasty.  Someone has a beaver in their sink?  A dead and bleeding one?  No ma'am Pam.  I don't care how much they love each other or how much they thank Jesus for the opossum they are about to receive from His bounty.

That said, I was turned on to this clip of Aaron Paul, who is in Breaking Bad, is real darn cute, and was featured in an episode of The Price Is Right.  Lemme just say he's real excited to be there.

 



I found this clip thanks to one of my favorite podcasts, NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, which is currently my favorite podcast out there.  It's a weekly panel show with four critics specializing in different aspects of pop culture (comics, music, tv, film) and they discuss what's new, what's old, and what's currently making them happy.  It's a really light and breezy hour, and after awhile they get to feel like your friends, your really smart, highly informed friends.  I couldn't recommend it more.