The Latest In Bathroom Fashion, Darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gojira Shower Curtains!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                           Girls, I am telling you, our reptile friend Gojira is branching out.  He is becoming an entrepreneur as well as a movie star.  I understand he actually took the above pattern to ANNA, and she approved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                            Aren't they cute, darlings???????????  Little pictures of Gojira all over the curtain.  Children will especially love it.  You know how much Gojira loves children, and they love him!!!!!!!!!!

                             I am telling you this will the next hot fashion item!!!!!!!!!!!!  Your bathroom will be the talk of the neighborhood, darlings.  Make it look sparkling, like this, and not the convent cell in "The Song Of Bernadette."  Unless your taste and faith run to Catholicism.

                              I would be proud to have these curtains in my bathroom.  Everyone get out and support Gojira, who, of course, will donate to his favorite charity.

                              Probably St. Jude's Hospital For Children!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Forty-Nine Years Ago Today...........................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                        Darlings, I cannot believe it has been that long.  Today, on this very day, I graduated, with honors, from Seton Hall University, with a B.A. in Communications. Of course, I had my eyes set on being a critic on "The New York Times," but how could I have known that the journalism profession would tank?  Or that, in less than two years, my mother would be gone, creating a life change akin to the Civil War enacting a change in Scarlett.

                                           I had to survive the cruelty of some relatives; maintaining I was a loser because I had so much trouble finding a job!  And when I eventually proved them wrong, not a one apologized.  Forgiveness, maybe, forget no.

                                             Though I was a late bloomer, thanks to my education, going all the way back to Highland Park, I found a job perfectly suited for me, in the arts, and that I retired from after 35 years.  My generation, I believe will be the last of the long job termers.

                                              All in all, I have to say I have done pretty well, and I am happy in retirement.  Could I have been a lawyer?  Sure.  But could my stress level and other health issues take it; not to mention mountains of debt I accrued from student loans.

                                             So, thank you, Seton Hall.  Next year will be fifty years, and I am already talking of a party.  Can ANNA come?  I hope so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                             To those out there who may be in the situation I was--don't you let anyone, family or not, put you down.  You are better than they are.

                                               They just do not know it.

Happy Ascension Thursday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                          I don't know if happy is the word for it; a better choice might be celebratory.

                         Ascension Thursday, which takes places 40 days after Easter--yes, we are at that point already--when Jesus bid goodbye to his Apostles on Earth, and, before them, ascended into the sky to Heaven.  That's the way it was told in the Gospel I heard this morning--I was also singing in the choir--and as the Gospel was read, I could almost picture this happening before my eyes.

                             This day creeps up on us--last year I forgot--so I am grateful to be given the chance to rectify the past.  This particular day is also very important as I will reveal in the next post.

                            So, congratulations, Jesus, on completing your mission on Earth.  Now, you get to see how we all handle things down here.  God help us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                             However, you acknowledge this Thursday, make it one to remember, darlings!

                              And the season finales of "Law And Order" and 'SVU' are on tonight!

                              I wish they would get rid of Mariska Hargitay and Hugh Dancy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Just Love A Crescent Moon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

                                                                                   

                                                                            

                    

                                 I have always had a special relationship with the moon.  I love looking up at it, and when I was a child, in my prayers I would always say "God bless the Moon."  At the time, I thought the moon was my special friend, because it seemed, to me, that it followed me everywhere.  It was always there for me to look at, and when driving home from friends or relatives, it always seemed to be following me, watching, until I got home.

                                    When I got older, I developed a strong fondness for crescent moons.  They are beautiful to look at, because one can imagine what is hidden behind it, and I always do.  Georges Melies in his famous 1902 film "A Trip To The Moon" had chorus girls in satin gowns sitting on crescents, and how I would love to be one of them.

                                        Now, a full moon is beautiful but also creepy.  I thought so, even before I knew about werewolves.  Though I can honestly say, I never heard a wolf howl during the full moon, but I think it has something to do with humans and their sexual cycle.

                                        But the crescent moon is safe and comforting, which is why I love it.

                    I mean, look at this image.  Who wouldn't love to be on that crescent?

                  This would be great, expanded into a wall!  Images make great decorations!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Beaches" Gets Beached!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    This will be another post that may have spoilers, so let me say first if you have never seen the 1988 film "Beaches," with Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey, skip this post, but see the film, and avoid this musical!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                      The "Playbill" cover says more about the show than may be realized.  The musical is at its best when the focus is on the children--Little CeCe, played by Samantha Schwartz, and Little Bertie, played by Zeya Grace.  They are wonderful, and it is interesting how they move throughout the show as figures of memory.  Because when Jessica Vosk and Kelly Barrett take over, they are so lackluster.

                                         What prompted Lonny Price to get involved in this mess?  The Sondheim alum, and forever original cast member of "Merrily We Roll Along," uses the children in a "Follies-esque" way, but the unexciting book and even worse music and lyrics make this a disappointment.

                                           The biggest disappointment is the end, which should have given audiences who are so inclined--like me--a good catharsis.  If I recall the 1988 film correctly Hillary (the Barbara Hershey character; why the name change here I could not tell you) dies with CeCe at her side, holding hands.  Tears were shed over this moment. But the show denies the audience this; when Bertie gets sick, cancer is unmentioned.  If the audience blinks, they will miss Bertie's passing, which is so anit-climatic, rushing too soon into a not so moving rendition of the moving "Wind Beneath My Wings." 

                                              "Beaches" might have been the entertaining tearjerker it is capable of being had it been better cast, scored, and more attention paid to the key emotional aspects.   Like the song in "Gigi" says, "Thank Heaven For Little Girls."

                                                   Because when they are on stage, the two little girls transform "Beaches" into what might have been.  Pity it was not.

I Would Like Some Answers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                           After seeing "Fried Green Tomatoes" yesterday, I found myself asking questions I have not asked in years.  There will be extensive plots aspects mentioned, so if you have not seen the film or read the book, skip this post.

                           The film is beautiful and heartbreaking, well-crafted cinematically and heartbreaking at the same time.  The line that haunts me most from yesterday is when Sipsie (Cicely Tyson) is comforting the grieving Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson) and says to her, "You know, Miss Ruth was a lady.  And a lady...always knows.... when to leave."  I sobbed over that one.

                             It is also one of the best cast films I have seen.

                                This is not THE question I want answered but as I recall, when Idgie turns to the window and tells the story of the lake, doesn't Sipsie "help Ruth along" with an injection?  This viewing I was not sure.  It has been years, maybe decades since I saw this.

                                   Speaking as a gay man from a current time, it is no question to me that Idgie and Ruth had a loving lesbian relationship.  A lot better than straight couples.  This was the South in the Twenties and Thirties, it was a small town, and everyone knew.  Had this been two men, they would have been killed, tarred and feathered and castrated.  And I offer this theory via another gay couple's film.

                                                                     

                    That film was "Brokeback Mountain," made fourteen years after "Fried Green Tomatoes" in 2005, taking place in Wyoming.  It is the early Sixties, I believe and while both Ennis and Jack are married to women, it is clear their love is real.

                     Midway through the film there is a scene when Ennis is a child.  He and his father take a walk, and he shows the boy this abandoned house, which used to be a ranch.  He said years ago two men who were cowboys lived on their own, had their own ranch--but they lived as a couple!  They were out of range of the town, but it knew, and one night they were attacked and killed.  I remember being appalled at this but also wondering why the father was telling this young boy, far from puberty, about this? Did he sense his son was a burgeoning gay man?  Like "Fried Green Tomatoes," this film is beautiful and heartbreaking, but I have never forgotten this part.  It makes me uncomfortable.

                          I may be naive, but I still want to know why Idgie and Ruth were able to "get away with it," and those two men, as well as Ennis and Jack, could not.  Today, thankfully, David and I live as comfortably--he is the Ruth to my Idgie--and we have never had a problem.  Yet back then we might have and I would have had to fight.

                          During childhood I recall my cousins had an uncle on their father's side, who lived in Belmar, New Jersey, near his sister and her husband.  The uncle ran a flower shop, was not married, but had a "companion." though they did not live together.  When the uncle's time came, the "companion" took care of him.

                           When I was old enough to understand, I wondered.  Was not living together a choice, or imposed by the time?  I suppose I will never know, but at least they were open enough to be there for each other.  Which is what I love about Idgie and Ruth.

                              To sum up, tell me why women can get away (or could?) with it, easier than men?

                             And I still want to wear all the outfits from "The Devil Wears Prada 2."

                           I would even wear some of Ruth's dresses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Two Most Perfect Movies For Mother's Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                           "The Bad Seed," 1956--Oh, my God, darlings, when Nancy Kelly's hysteria ratchets up after realizing she has a homicidal child, she sets new screen heights for hysteria, that did not even come close to anything else until Veronica Cartwright came along in "The Children's Hour" in 1961.

                              Darlings, even the alcohol ridden Mrs. Daigle, the wonderful Eileen Heckart, had Rhoda's number--well, sort of.  She had all the pieces assembled, but not in the proper place.  And that Monica Breedlove, the garrulous Evelyn Varden.  I still maintain the picture should have lasted long enough to have Rhoda push her from the roof!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                This film is a mother's nightmarish delight.  Having a missing child is a tragedy, but a murderous one is something to fear.  How long before she kills you?  And once puberty and hormones would have set in that becomes a frightening reality.

                                 Yes, girls, this film is perfect for Mother's Day, reminding us also of the importance of morning coffee and facial treatment.

                                                                 

                          Mildred Pierce," 1945--My mother's name was Mildred--she hated it--and when I first heard of this film, I briefly was calling her Mildred Pierce.  Until I had seen the film.  This is another film where a mother has a nasty daughter, though, with Joan Crawford, take your pick.  She had one here, in "Strait-Jacket" and in "Berserk!"   But "Mildred Pierce" is the best.  Ann Blyth, as daughter Veda advances to murder on her nineteenth birthday, only to get hauled off to prison.  On her birthday; can you imagine?  Her line about the dress being cheap is spot on: I mean, what would ANNA have said?  Everyone has Veda's number, but Mildred.  Even at the end, I was never sure she figured it out yet.  I always said it was too bad Kay died; she might have given Veda the comeuppance she needed.  But Joan is at her masochistic self-sacrificing best, and Eve Arden's acidity is along for the ride, and Zachary Scott cuts a dashing figure as Monty.  Oh, hons, it is such fun, especially with Ann Blyth livening things up as Veda.  And wait till you see the nightclub sequence.

                          So, take your pick, darlings!!!!!!!!  Each one is guaranteed to ensure a delightful Mother's Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                           Happy, happy, all you mothers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!