Lauren Bacall on "What's My Line"

If you want a real peek at a celebrity's impish side, the way they might have appeared at a cocktail party, AND you're interested in stars of Hollywood's golden age, there is no better way in than through the celebrity guest spots on What's My Line, the game show that aired from 1950-1967 and featured a very erudite and witty panel of columnists and media celebrities who tried to figure out what a person's "line" was through a series of "yes or no" questions.

The "mystery guest" spot required the panel to cover their eyes with face masks (Arlene Francis' is particularly reflective of her personal brand of kooky glamour) and the celebrity would employ tricks to disguise their voices, or if the celebrity's voice was instantly recognizable, as in the case of Judy Garland, the guest would have a bell to ring for "yes" and clicker for "no". 

In watching this particular clip featuring Lauren Bacall just after she finished filming How To Marry A Millionaire, I was surprised by how flirty and coquettish and almost...demure she was.  I've always known and loved Bacall as the sophisticated, confident, and salty lady she was onscreen, and that she relaxed into as she aged.  So to see her in this context was loads of fun.  Hope you enjoy.

 

And if this clip has piqued your interest, there are plenty more What's My Line celebrity spots available on Youtube, including Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Kim Novak, Jimmy Stewart, Judy Garland and Eleanore Roosevelt!  I personally recommend the clip with Rosalind Russell.

Uncertainty...

It's been a somewhat tenuous time as of late, as I've been trying to figure out what the future holds.  My job situation is somewhat unstable, my romantic life is undeveloped, and close friends of mine are off on exciting new adventures of one kind or another.

Me???  I'm beginning to realize that if I plan on staying in the Austin area, any hopes of making a larger income based on creativity is...limited.  That's not to say that some people haven't been able to make a go of it, but in my areas of expertise??  Let's just say Chicago has been calling, and has been calling ever since I my exploratory visit about five years ago.  Now I realize I'm not getting any younger, and that it might take some time to establish myself in a new town, and that it's a lot of hard work.  I hear you.  But, it would be exciting as well, and feel like really living, rather than just...coasting. And if the effort is motivated by desire, then it doesn't really feel as much like work, does it?  As far as here?  Austin?  At this moment I don't see the next four or five years as very different from what they have been, and I just don't want to accept a future of drifiing from  one job to another that has very little to do with my passions, true talents, and desires.   

That said, I am currently in a lease which goes to June, so until then, I am here.  In the mean time I am open to finding the perfect position, preferably in an industry focused on creativity and communications.  I can dream, right? 

Obsession: Once Upon A Brothers Grimm

I've loved fairy tales for as long as I can remember.  In kindergarten I had a huge book of them that I checked out from the library multiple times.  And I coveted the illustrated version of Disney's Snow White that my cousins owned, and whenever I visited them always found a time to break away from them and pore over its pages for a few moments.  My Aunt would always tell them to me when she put me to sleep, and the only way my mother could get me to sit still while she cleaned my ears out was to mention a long list of fairy tale and Disney characters that she was pulling out of there.  Disgusting, but true.   

So it stands to reason that a television special entitled Once Upon A Brothers Grimm was little kid eye candy.  So colorful, and exciting, and suspenseful.   When you're a kid you have this magical power to suspend all disbelief, and so I was truly and utterly engrossed.  It's a power I really miss in  my slightly snarky years.  It's available at Amazon, so I can't wait to order it and re watch it...

 

Yes it's campy as shit and unintentionally funny.  Yes, it's got Paul Sand (ugh) and yes Terri Garr is blatantly lip synching and yes Ruth Buzzi is an inappropriate cast as the Miller's daughter in Rumplestilsken, but it's fucking Ruth Buzzi!  In a 1970's fairy tale extravaganza!! 

Others in the cast include Dean Jones, Chita Rivera, Arte Lang, and many more...

Blast From The Past

 

 
Here's a fun little peek at the past that proves the fashion world has been pushing the boundaries in male fashion long before the "makeup for men" and "lingerie for men" trends in the nineties. 
I love that the youtube poster titled the clip "Outrageous Male Fashion Show", ie "GAY AS FUCK"!  And the wienie dog licking his lips?  Hilarious.

I am curious if the designer expected straight males to get into this trend, or if was designed for the "effete" male from the get-go?  Thoughts?

 

NPR Delights

NPR  has become my go to place for news and information, and no that's not me being a shitty pseudo-intellectual liberal (well, maybe it is, you decide).  I legitimately love the features, and how diverse, in-depth and affecting they are.  They often have me sobbing one solitary tear, a bit like Barbra Streisand in "The Way We Were" when she thinks she's about to make sweet sweaty 1940's love to a drunken Robert Redford. 



First Example: 

 This little story about what happens to military dogs when they've finished their service.  Hearing about the people in the military who are fighting to make sure these animals don't get left behind will make you feel great about being a human, but then you might just get mad as hell to think there are people who think it's ok to use them and then just dump them.  And then, like me, you might cry the aforementioned single tear when you hear a veteran who was a handler say that once he got back to the US, all he wanted was his dog back with him.



The Second Example:

This next feature probably won't bring you to tears, but if you're a writer, it might get you thinking, and feeling a little inspired.  I know self publishing seems lame, but if self publishing an e-book can put some of the control in your hands and make your dream seem one step closer, and if there's money to be made...why discount it?

James Grissom on Elaine Stritch

 

 

I've been reading a lot of the tributes to Elaine Stritch over the past few days, and while I've enjoyed a great deal of them, this passage by James Grissom from his blog Follies Of God, is the last word. 

 





Rare Footage of Garland, Bacall, and Sinatra at a Noel Coward Performance in Vegas

Discovered some fascinating footage of a Noel Coward performance at the Desert Inn in Vegas, thanks to The Judy Garland Experience.  This must have been around the time Sinatra was doggedly pursuing Lauren to be his next wife, and it's interesting to see them being so chummy.  Garland looks great here, as the early to mid-fifties are my favorite period for her, both vocally and looks wise.  And, bonus points if someone can tell me who the sophisticated blonde is with Coward.  I'm guessing it's his wife.  Color me obsessed.

Small Books, Big Ideas

If you fancy yourself an artist, or creator of any kind, these two books need to be on your shelf, and Austin Kleon is someone you should be paying close attention to.

The first, Steal Like An Artist is all about the idea that the art you love can and should fuel the art you make. It clears away the obstacles in your mind that say "this has already been" said, done, written about, etc. Of course it has, but it will never be done in the same way that you will. 

The second, Show Your Work, discusses the importance of sharing your creative process with others.  It's about building and marketing your brand, in a non-mercenary or schmoozy way.  It's also completely current and loaded with techniques about using todays internet savvy world.

In other words, This shit is crucial, and will keep you inspired as you blaze your creative trail. 

The "Ideas Issue" of The Atlantic is Out

I'm always looking for new articles and bits of inspiration about the creative mind.  I'm kind of a self help junkie for creativity as a way to overcome writer's block. 

It's funny, the way I used to understand it, writer's block was what happened when you casually and freely sat down to create your next work, and...nothing came.  For whatever reason, the corner you'd written yourself into seemed impossible to escape. 

But, for me, and I think for most people, writer's block is what happens before you even sit down at the desk.  It's the fear that if you take that chance and sit down at the computer, nothing will come, or what will come will not be worth the time spent.  If that's the case, why not spend the time wading through episodes of "Breaking Bad" or chomping on popcorn at a mediocre movie, or playing Farm Hero's Saga?

The way I combat it is to keep creativity on my brain in tiny segments, to consume ideas as much as I can, and the most recent issue of The Atlantic is full of terrific bits of inspiration and techniques.  It's the "Idea Issue", and features articles on the power of a creative partnership, insights on where creativity comes from in the mind, and 6 creative solutions to "thorny" problems. 

There's also an interesting article on the trend of killing off mother's in children's media.  Sure this topic has been discussed ad nauseum, but the writer's thoughts on  the recent addition of the "fun" father figure in films like Despicable Me, and Wreck It Ralph are worth reading.

Podcast I Love: "You Must Remember This"

I'm an avid reader of Entertainment Weekly's "Must List".  It's loaded with great recommendations for those who devour media, and it doesn't stop at music and movies, but branches out into crazy shit like...theater!!  And podcasts!!  And BOOKS!!!  Yes, they still print em.   And if you actually seek out some of the little gems, you'll feel real damn proud of yourself afterwards.  Occasionally it feels like they have some kind of weird deal with the distributors, but most of the time it feels legit. 

A couple of weeks ago, this caught my eye...

 



It was my lady, once again, in print.  It happens every once in awhile that I catch her image in a magazine (I mean, she lives on peeps.  Her legend is far fucking reaching) and two things happen. 

Thing #1.  My eyes widen and I shriek on the inside like a child at Christmas time.  I'm so excited that she's still being paid attention to in this modern age!  She is RELEVANT! 

Thing #2.  My eyes dart madly across the page, like a meth addict seeking his next fix (yes, I'm watching "Breaking Bad" now, and it's every bit as putrid and crusty as I thought it would be.  It's also compelling television) I seek out whatever trash they may have printed, so I can gird my rage against the turd who wrote it.  Is the word "tragedy" less than three words to the left or right of her name?  Do they bring up the damned pills, yet again??  "WHY CAN'T THEY LEAVE THAT POOR LADY ALONE!!!!)

In this case?  No tragedy, no slander.  Instead they point to a podcast by the name of  "You Must Remember This" which focuses on the untold or forgotten histories of some of Hollywood's greats.  If done well, this little podcast could be a gold mine, and yet, I had pretty low expectations.  I've heard a lot of media pieces on Judy and a lot of them have been salacious, or cheaply produced, and it was quite possible this could be one or the other...and yet?

I went straight to the episode focusing on Garland's later years hoping to love it and fearing I wouldn't.   Verdict?  The creator, writer and host, Karina Longworth has crafted a really thoughtful, very well written and insightful podcast with her unique perspective.  The Garland episode actually made me think about things I'd never thought before, which I certainly should have.  Possible-  Garland's hold on gay men was anathema to the male dominated straight media?  They used the connection to dismiss her and discount her hold on people?  Yeah.  Yeah they did.  Listen to the podcast, as Longworth illustrates it better than I could. 

 One of the great things about this show is that it doesn't just do a blanket bio on whatever star it's currently focusing on.  It zooms in on a particular moment, and unpacks it for the listener.  And she speaks with a very distinctive voice.  She's best when she's looking at the lives of women, as she does in the Garland, Novak, Frances Farmer, and Isabella Rossellini episodes, because you can feel her passion for the topic.

I'm personally hoping she'll do an episode on the weird pictures of Sammy Davis Jr and Jayne Mansfield at some freaky satanic ritual in the sixties.  I need that shit debunked or I'll never listen to Sammy Davis Jr with a completely untainted ear.

Stacked!

Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in potential, pages of it in fact.  Drowning in books that I haven't opened because my head was turned by something else, or that I've abandoned because what lay within its pages wasn't as instantly addictive as I had hoped.  Below are just a few of the contenders for my next read, concluding with my current read, which I am determined to make it through.

Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi-  I am a sucker for Fairy Tales.  They cut through the bullshit and get right to the core of things.  Some people are good, some are evil, some beautiful people are clothed in the mask of beasts, dead people can talk to you through trees, and when you are nice to the world it will be nice to you back when you least expect it and most need it.  It's a brutal, but hopeful world where good triumphs in the end even if a few fingers or heels get cut off, or children are sold into indebted servitude, it will turn out right.  So when I heard that this latest novel by Helen Oyeyemi was a re-telling of the Snow White story which takes place in mid-twentieth century America?  I bit.  It digs deep into our feelings of race and beauty and what it means to be "good"?  Yes please.  One of the protagonists (in the role equivalent to the Evil Queen) is a Hitchcockian blonde?  All right already!!  And yet, in it's first fifteen pages as I lay drowsily in bed, it did not hook me.  And so, on the pile it goes, to sit until I have more resolve.

Not Without You by Harriet Evans-  A young woman in the forties becomes a major film star, and in the present day, a rising star who idolizes her begins to unravel the mysteries she left behind.  It's been likened to the films of Douglas Sirk in book form. 

A Stranger In A Strange Land, 1984, One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Slaughter-house Five, In Cold Blood-  These books I picked up in a surge of desire to read some of the great works that I've always wanted to dip my feet into and understand.  And yet, I haven't yet.  There's always something newer, and shiner, and less stalwart and true that attracts me before I truly give these a shot.  And yet, I own them, they sit in my home, so they are one step closer to being read by me.  Sometimes I wish you could soak books up like sunlight, just hold them close and absorb their wisdom.

Dorothy Must Die by some chick I'll probably end up resenting-  How much easier it is to cannabilize on a masterpiece than to write one from scratch.  I say "cannibalize" because this writer literally takes the heroes of the story and turns them into villains.  Dorothy, the Tinman, The Scarecrow, The Cowardly Lion?  They turned out to be real assholes and are enslaving all of Oz.  Glinda?  Grade-A bitch.  Who's the true heroine?  The character this chick dreamt up using as a template the very heroine she shits upon in print.  And still, I have to give it a shot even though this has already been done to death and I wasn't too pleased with the results of previous efforts.

You Must Remember This by Robert Wagner and some ghost writer-  An appreciation of the Hollywood way of life back in its golden age.  I checked it out from the library as part of research for a current project I'm working on, or projects I'm hoping to work on.  As fascinated as I am with Hollywood in its hey-day, it helps to know what the day to day life was like, even if it is a rose tinted semblance of it.

The Trip To Echo Spring by Olivia Lang-  The relationship between writers and alcohol is one that hasn't really been written about in depth, and it's something I've always been intrigued by.  In part, because I had fantasies that a couple shots would release my genius, and set me on a course of  typing that Kerouac would envy and that would lead to sleepless nights and pages full of heartbreaking wonder.  This is also the reason I've sometimes wanted to get my hands on Benzedrine.  Yes I know it's a terrible drug, and led to a life of sometimes Hell for one of my heroines, and yet, those writers in the the thirties and forties got A LOT of shit done!!!  Anyway, this book focuses on a couple of my favorites (Tennessee Williams and F.Scott Fitzgerald) one that I'm curious to know more about (Hemingway) and a few I really know nothing more than the superficial (Raymond Carver, John Cheever).  It's part group bio and part travelogue and it's not been cohesive enough, so far, to keep my attention.  I recently abandoned it to read my latest book...

10% Happier by Dan Harris-  My current book.  I'm nearly a hundred pages in and I'm hooked.  I don't recall ever having seen Harris on television, but his story of neuroses tamed through meditation, and his search for productivity without the hair pulling is readable and relatable.  Hopefully the answers he finds will prove applicable.