Silverlake Blvd.

"All things that mooue betweene the quiet poles / Shalbe at my commaund ..."

The Republican Convention reminded me of the Independent Shakespeare Company's production of Doctor Faustus. Christopher Marlowe is not Shakespeare, but the idea that conceit plus power equals disaster remains topical. The production was rowdy fun, capitalizing on the Three Stooges aspect of this dark, dark play. The finale—when all the devils appeared to drag Faustus away—made all the dogs in the audience join in with barking. 

The Hollywood Mogul

  The screening of Susan Mogul’s latest movie last night was a combination film premiere, birthday party, and political demonstration. About twice as many people showed up as AFI had seats. The filmmaker gave her own seat to a friend and passed the last moments before show time sitting (nervously) in my lap. She needn’t have been anxious: the crowd cheered Driving Men.

A friend once told me that one of the biggest challenges of becoming a mother was being awake so often at night you start to review your life. Driving Men takes as its material that kind of self-analysis. But because it’s by Susan Mogul, instead of depression the result is hilarity.

 

Not to say that it’s entirely a comedy. Included in SM’s adventures with men and cars are her father and brothers (and rest of her family) about which she is movingly earnest. And even the jokes had a way of emitting delayed explosions as I thought about them the rest of the evening. Talking about herself she ends up talking about me and you and everybody else.

Holy Mackerel! Call headquarters. Get the lieutenant.

Fox is remaking the 1951 classic The Day The Earth Stood Still. 

 

Why?

 

“Michael Rennie was ill / The Day the Earth Stood Still,” according to Rocky Horror Picture Show. What would Frank-N-Furter and the gang have made of Keanu Reeves as Klaatu?

 

While Jennifer Connelly may be the new Patricia Neal, I doubt the remake will have the benefit of Bernard Herrmann’s theremin music, or the eerie silvery visuals of the original.

 

Somebody might avert disaster before next December by running to Century City and shouting "Klaatu barada nikto.”

Berlusconi busted

  

The copy of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s Truth Revealed by Time in the press conference room of the Palazzo Chigi has been censored by President Berlusconi's staff. The figure of Truth’s nipple was appearing “like a halo” above the trash TV mogul's head in every TV image and press photo. So to remedy this, they painted a white hankie over it. Read more.

It’s only a copy, so nobody’s vandalizing a real Tiepolo, but still.

I love Tiepolo; he’s the Handel of painting; he's grand, theatrical and fun. I grew up admiring the Chicago Art Institute’s Rinaldo Enchanted by Armida. Later I discovered the Joke etchings, and lots more.

 

I suspect G.B.T. might have enjoyed this. Berlusconi has updated his painting into Politics Covering Up the Truth Revealed by Time. Which makes it really topical.

 

On the other hand, it's not even original. Remember John Ashcroft circa 2002? When he wasn't suspending habeus corpus and generally trashing the reality of justice, he found time to cover up the image of Justice.

 

The other night Dolly Parton disclaimed any interest in a political career by saying “There’s already too many boobs in office."

Parton @ The Greek

A terrifically entertaining and impressive show by Dolly Parton at the Greek last night. Highlights included not only the obvious highlights from her catalog but her latest provocation "Backwoods Barbie." A reminder of what a solid song crafts-person she is; even the novelty trifles have a beginning, middle, end, a hook, twist, pun and a point. As a performer, she skips from earnestness to irony without a wobble. Question of the evening: a corset or not? Stunner moment: a Country version of Fine Young Cannibals' "You drive me crazy." Everyone went crazy.

Puerto Vallarta

Home:

The neighborhood:

Concha Chinas & Los Muertos beaches:

The locals:

Twelfth Night @ Barnsdall Park

Sir Toby (David Melville), Feste (Bobby Plasencia), Sir Andrew (Thomas Ehas) from earlier this summer when Feste had, and Toby lacked, facial hair.

ISC surpassed themselves in Twelfth Night. Thomas Ehas’s Sir Andrew Aguecheek, in the style of Stan Laurel, stole the show.

These performances are no longer a secret known only to a few. Reservations are a must. Good for them!

 

 

 

Darlene Edwards, 1917-2008

   

Jo Stafford, the voice of the exquisitely off Darlene Edwards, died Sunday.

I remember tagging along with a friend to a CD store in San Francisco that specialized in musicals and show tunes. Not knowing what else to do there, I asked the owner "Do you have anything by Jonathan and Darlene Edwards?" He immediately turned off Judy Garland and put on Darlene's "Autumn in New York." The other customers froze in their tracks.

Her singing was hilarious because her natural voice was basically perfect. She could do anything.

Some nice person has put Jonathan and Darlene on MySpace, and you can listen to my favorite, "Take the 'A' Train." Beyond praise.

The original caption to the 1938-ish photo above:

Jo Stafford, "Queen of the Juke Boxes," and the nations most popular female singing star listens to her latest recordings on the first electronic juke-box in history which has just been introduced by the Aireon Mfg., Corp. Electronic jukes are expected to replace present-day machines which make a bedlam of the country's taverns and other social centers. It cannot blast or blare because its volume is automatically controlled by surrounding room-noise.

 

The Kids are Alright

Compound Security Systems is selling a “teenage dispersal device” that operates by emitting annoying tones that people over 20 can’t hear.

 

"With an effective range of between fifteen and twenty meters Compound Security Systems’ field trials have shown that teenagers are acutely aware of the Mosquito and usually move away from the area within an average of 8- 10 minutes. … It seems that there is a very real medical phenomenon known as presbycusis or age related hearing loss which, according to The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, "begins after the age of 20 but is usually significant only in persons over 65". It first affects the highest frequencies (18 to 20 kHz) notably in those who have turned 20 years of age". It is possible to generate a high frequency sound that is audible only to teenagers."

 

But don't worry: the technology has already been appropriated for cellphone ringtones

"This means that you can get phone calls and receive text messages in class or school without teachers hearing it."

Fresh & Easy (Part 2)

  

(Yummy olives by Fresh & Easy.)

Last December I wrote that Fresh & Easy was a a big nothing. But apparently the same focused demographic marketing database that makes one Fresh & Easy outlet lame, can make another one excellent. E.g. the F&E at Hollywood & Sycamore. Yes, in the thick of The Walk of Fame nastiness, you can get white pomegranate tea--cheaper than Trader Joe's! Sorry, Mr. Tesco, my mistake.