Five Months Down, And Seven To Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                  It may seem like not much happened during May, but, in a rather understated way, it did.

                                  May was the month of Mary and flowers.  The Feat Of Fatima took place on May 13, commemorating the recently canonized saints Lucia Santos and her cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto.  Jacinta is the holiest of the Fatima children.

                                   Mother's Day was celebrated in May, for those who could.  Of course, David and I made our now Classic Cape May trip this month; the highlight was seeing the prostitute and client negotiate at that cheap Grover Cleveland Rest Stop, in Jersey.  And I have my eye on that gorgeous pink house in Cape May!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                      No movies, or theater, but lots of books.

                                       And my health issues, which I am trying to deal with.

                                       On May 14, I celebrated my 42nd anniversary of my college graduation.  Where has the time gone.

                                          Last Sunday, I finally got David to Positano's for his belated birthday dinner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                          And we visited those two crazy kids, Lynda and Marilyn, in Morris Plains!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                           So it was a month of understated happenings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                            See you next month, in June, when all Hell breaks lose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Wait Is Over, Darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                  At last, the movie all us Gojira lovers have been waiting for has arrived.  Though titled "Godzilla, King Of The Monsters," it has absolutely no relation to the 1956 desecration Joseph E. Levine made of Ishiro Honda's 1954 artistic masterpiece, "Gojira," which was released and cheapened as the aforementioned title, as Levine felt Americans were too dumb to understand Honda's masterpiece.

                                  What counts is that our lovable reptile friend, Gojira, is back, and I am sure he has humanity's back.  Mothra, Rodan, Ghidorah (whom I always thought was pronounced and spelled "Ghidrah,") and, possibly, King Kong, are said to make appearances.

                                     But who cares, when Gojira is who we want to see, and how he and the humans communicate.

                                       Our reptile, Baby Gojira, is jumping for joy; he is so excited.  We are scheduled to go Sunday, so I promise a full report on this film, as soon as I see it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                          Roar on, Gojira!  You are sure to be the biggest box-office winner this Summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We love you, Gojira!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Belated Bitch Of The Week Is One Sick Fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    Kaine A. Louzader is only 20, but he has the hardened look of one having lived a White Trash life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  But it get worse, because this guy is really sick!

                                     He is known is the Criaigslist Cat Killer.  In his neighborhood of St. Peters, MO, he purchases felines from Craigslist, for the purpose of torturing and killing them.  Then, he displays the results on the lawns and in the yards of his neighbors, traumatizing everyone on the block.

                                       You got it; this guy is a textbook serial killer wannabe.  He is just the right age, he lives as a loser, so he starts with animals, like the real serial killers do.  Of course then they gravitate to human prey, and I am telling you, if this guy is not imprisoned, he will be on his way!  You just mark my words!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         The killings had been going on between January and May of this year.  This sicko was arrested on May 13.

   Remember the 1942 Val Lewton classic, "Cat People,  where Simone Simone, as Irena, turned into a predatory panther???? You must see it, darlings; it just fabulous, with its combination of Forties glamour and horror!

I would hope Mr. Louzader gets imprisoned for  good.  But how much more satisfying it would be to have him torn to pieces by a creature he  killed!   Like Irena's panther!

What a fitting end for him!  Torn apart by a pussy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!        

What's Up, Girls?????????????????

                              Darlings, let me tell you, it is tough being diabetic.  My A1C is up again, and so is my weight, so I am doing my morning walk, which is also good for the cardiovascular area, but what a bitch to cry out of bed, earlier than I like.  Maybe if I had Gillian Michaels, America's toughest trainer, to pull me out, or some hot thing like Steven Colbert or Colin Jost, who would have me out of there so fast you would not believe it.

                                So, that is where I have been, dolls.  Doctors, health worries, and an eternal promise of love.  Now, don't let this get out too much--but I PROMISED David, my David, that if he came with me to Dr. Valderama, my neurologist, I would accompany him to--gulp!--"King Kong" on Broadway.  Now, I would have to travel incognito, because I cannot be seen at such a travesty!  I mean, I have my reputation to protect!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 Now, David denies that he is not salivating over seeing it, but I knows he wants that, and if that is what he wants, well, I am willing to do it.

                                   Because I love him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   But I hate Trash Musical Theater!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    Help me bring those numbers down, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Have Been Forced To Ask Myself, Darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!! Has "The Exorcist" Devolved To Camp????????????????

                              I was thinking about this lately, girls, as I found myself viewing random clippings of the film on YouTube, and I could not help wanting to burst out into laughter.

                              When the novel hit the best-seller list in 1971, I managed to get my hands on a copy and read it voraciously.  I took it seriously, realistically, and I expected any movie to do the same.

                               The movie opened late in 1973, meaning I saw it in New York, during Christmas vacation, from my freshman year in college. I had just turned 19.  A very young 19.  Two of my friends went with me, and we were so blown away, we sat through it twice!  And the lines to get in--everything recorded about that time regarding this film is true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                But, with time and age, I wonder.  The last time I saw the film all the way through, more than a decade ago, on a recent re-release, I thought Ellen Burstyn and Jason Miller were what held the whole film together, grounding it in reality.  Max Von Sydow, too, though his part is smaller.  But all the Linda Blair-Regan scenes, in full possession, just did not seem right.  From the start, I thought the pea soup bile she vomited forth, was inaccurate, and the dubbing and mixing of Mercedes McCambridge's voice as the Demon, made it sound like a Warner Bros, cartoon character!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 For example--

                                 "Keep Away!  The sow is mine!  Fuck me!  Fuck me!

In 1973, this seemed shocking.  Now, if Ellen Burstyn were not in the scene, I think it would be all out comedy!

Now, the photo here gives only a hint!  But, watch this scene on YouTube, and try and tell me you could not resist the temptation to laugh out loud

"Let Jesus Fuck You!"--The words, and the child's actions make this the most shocking of all!  But a touch of an ominous, male, Anton LaVey, demon type, would have fared better than the cartoon antics of Mercedes McCambridge!!!!!!!!!!!  The scene is repugnant, but the humor dilates the repugnancy, so it is not as much that as it ought to be!

The Scrotum Grabbing Scene--The doctor in the forefront is the one who gets his scrotum grabbed, by the demonized Regan!  You almost want to root for Regan; with the cartoon voice, the scene is so hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I LOVE it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And it is shot the way Hitchcock shot Martin Balsam's murderous fall down the stairs in "Psycho!" Really camp, here, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Do You Know What She Did? Your Cunting Daughter?"--Even back in 1973, this emitted laughs, because everyone knew the head was not Linda Blair's, but some kind of puppet, and the voice, now that of actor Jack MacGowan, who gave a wonderful performance as film director Burke Dennings.  But, here, even he succumbs to camp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, of course, The Spider Walk Scene--The first time one watches it,  it is really disturbing.  But when Regan begins sticking out her lizard tongue, and then they wrassle her, it degenerates to camp.

But, of course, the outstanding performance in the film was delivered by Vasiliki Maliaros, as Mrs. Mary Karras, mother of Father Damien Karras, played by Jason Miller.  In her only screen performance, she transcended camp; her poignant delivery of "Dimmy...why you do this to me, Dimmy?  You leave me all alone to DIE!" was a battle cry for the aged and camp for the youngsters who thought it funny, as they could not perceive age,  Well, who is laughing now!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

And here is Linda Blair/Regan in the final scene.  One critic, at the time said of her, "How does one describe such a performance? One wonders how she survives barely unscathed."  That is because in all the pre-possession scenes, Linda was a marvelous actress, but when she went all cartoony and freaky, she could not help being campy, as the filmmakers really did not understand the subject.  Had the transition of Regan been more literal--realistic looking vomit, physical emaciation through unnatural weight loss--and had the film been shot in black and white, "The Exorcist" might have become the screen masterpiece it so wanted to be, rather than the half baked job it was at the time, and the level of camp it has descended to, now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And that's it for me, for today, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If Only This Book Had Been Written By Another Kate--Atkinson, Or Even McKinnon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                           Now, girls, I am telling you, if Kate McKinnon had written "The Alice Network," this book would have been something else.  I am not saying a woman could not write this story--but how I wish Frederick Forstyth or Fletcher Knebel or Charles W. Bailey, Jr. had gotten their hands on this--but the trouble with Kate Quinn is she has no prose style, and her structure is repetitive and predictable.

                                            The narrative is driving, and that is what kept me going.  "The Alice Network" examines, from both a recent present, and the past, an underground women's spy group working against the Nazis, in both England and France.  Two of these characters, Eve, and Charlie, and a car driver named Finn become the storytellers through this journey of intrigue, and torture and violence.
The latter is as grueling as it comes, and Kate Quinn pulls no punches.  The ending is extremely satisfying, but the pace and structure wear the reader down, making one wish the book was shorter than it actually is.  To make matters worse, there is an excerpt from her latest novel, "The Huntress," and, I swear, it reads just as badly as this.

                                               Somewhere in here is a great story.  Kate Quinn did not have the skill to write it.  One step above chick lit, and taking itself far too seriously, without the inherent fun of the chick lit genre, I honestly cannot recommend this book to anyone.

                                                Reese, honey, that you have a book club is something I have not the time to go into here.  But, I have read several selections, and I have to credit you with picking good ones.  But you struck out with this one, darling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                  I'd love to hear what Kate McKinnon would say about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Cujo Update!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 Cujo, my lovable boxer friend, is going to be OK.  He had some procedure near one of his eyes, is on anti-biotics, and the cone is to keep him from scratching, which could annoy the area, and possibly the cornea.  The vet, according to one of his owners, has every reason to believe he will be fine, and he is going for a follow up, I believe, next week.

                                   The cone cramps his style, but he is a fighter, and will endure bravely.

                                    Thanks to Mary, yes, the Virgin Mary.  I always stop at a statue of her in front of a house on 76th Street, to pray, sending prayers to Cujo.  When I got to the house, someone must have seen me or heard me, and came out to give me an update.  They all know how much I love Cujo.

                                      Let's all wish Cujo a Happy Memorial Day, and a juicy burger!

"Oh, Baby, Come On, Let Me Take You Where The Action Is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                             This song, recorded by "Palisades Park" vocalist, was used as the theme song and title of an "American Bandstand" knock-off during my Sixties childhood.  I used to watch it, just for the opening, as it was the most exciting part of the show.

                               I decided to go not quite traditional this year, in wishing everyone on here a Happy Memorial Day.  I still have childhood memories of the parade in my hometown--the town's biggest event--and the subsequent one that marched up the street past my grandmother's house, in North Brunswick, with us all sitting on the front porch, having a first rate seat.

                                And, yes, it is the unofficial start of Summer.  For the next 80 plus days, the year is magic.  Just like the 35 days from Thanksgiving to New Years.  That leaves one with 250 days to make your own magic.

                                 Barbecues, parties, whatever you enjoy, remember this is a day of patriotism!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   Did you bring home a sailor yet, darlings????????????????????????????

                                   Here is an opening segment from the show, with Freddy Cannon's song!

Leslie Jones Speaks Her Mind--And Not Just For Women!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   Nothing so pointed or funny has been seen recently, since Leslie Jones' rant on the Alabama abortion decision.  Which causes me concern in two ways--first, that women return to the "knitting needle era," which you know will happen if Roe V. Wade is overturned.

                                    And, second, if this succeeds, guess who is next?  The LGBT community!!!!!!!!  That's right!   We all had better watch out, and spit in the faces of these right wing politicos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                      Back to abortion--if you don't get what I mean by the "knitting needle" era, or need an education on what that time was like, the best suggestion I can offer is to watch the "1952" segment of 1996's "If These Walls Could Talk," starring Demi Moore, who does the best acting job I have ever seen her do.

Here is Demi, as Claire Donnelly, in a pivotal scene from the "1952" segment.  Take a good look, everyone!  This is what we could return to!!!!!!!!!!!  Back alleys and kitchen tables!!!!!!!

And then gays and lesbians are next!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you don't believe me, darlings, listen to Leslie on You Tube!

She tells it like it is, hons!

Get A Load Of Celia, Girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                             Yes, darlings, that is the gifted TONY nominee, Celia Keenan-_Bolger, in a photo shoot for "Broadway.com," or "Broadway Buzz," done at the Morgan Library, no  less.  It might as well be for "VOGUE," may ultimately be.  ANNA, I am telling you, get a load of these shots!

                                               And, Celia, dear, we all want to know--who designed the gowns (the red, and that yellow?) and who did your hair??????????????????  I cannot recall having seen such visual perfection since the early days of Lee Radziwill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                               You go, Celia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And may TONY grace your hands on June 9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                 Here is the video interview Celia did, during the shoot.  I think there is a glimpse of the yellow dress!  Wait till you see it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                  We love you, Celia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Want All My Girls To Send Their Special Get Well Wishes To Cujo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                             On the 23rd, two days ago, David and I celebrated our seventh anniversary of residing here in Bay Ridge.  And we are still happy here.

                              As I have mentioned earlier, back then, when both of us were working, and we would walk to the subway at 77th Street, we would see, along the path, a handsome boxer dog, standing on the terrace of his family's house.  A locked gate leading into the garage pathway had a sign saying "Beware Of Dog."  At first, I took this sign at its word.

                               One morning, the dog was out, and David said to me, "That dog is like Cujo."  So, from that point, I began calling the dog "Cujo," even though, being owned by a Greek family, his name was Ares.

                               Cujo and I developed a bond.  I would speak to him on his terrace, gently, and he began to answer to "Cujo."  He would perk up his ears to listen to what I had to say.  When he was behind the gate, outside, he would approach me, give me kisses, and turn so I could pet him.  Once, a neighbor tried to reprimand me for being near the dog, and Cujo, protecting me, turned to her, and read her the riot act!  She retreated inside.

                                 Another time, the owner's daughter brought him out in the front yard.  Cujo came running over to me, jumped up, threw his front paws around me, and began licking my face.  I hugged him; there was so much love between us, and the owners know I love Cujo dearly.

                                  I saw Cujo twice last week,  and things were fine.  He was...Cujo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                  Yesterday, the terrace door was open,  I called for Cujo, but no one appeared.  I went near the gate, I thought I saw a pair of legs running, and thought maybe Cujo was not up for visitors today, or had some conference calls to make.

                                   But when I looked up at the terrace, there he was!  Someone must have heard me, and ushered him out there.  We were so happy to see each other, but I was concerned, because Cujo  was wearing a cone around his head, meaning something was amiss to prompt such action.

                                     "What's the matter with my Cujo?," I asked.  He answered by indicating he was not thrilled with this, but had to live with it, for the time.  Maybe Cujo has a rash, and this prevents him for irritating it.  Or maybe he had some kind of procedure done.

                                         Whatever, it was the first time I was made aware of Cujo's frailty, and that saddened me.  He always stands so strong and proud, and, even in this condition he was doing his best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                            So, I want all my readers, my girls, to send prayers and special get well wishes for Cujo!  You can see how much I love him, and if you met him, you would, too.

                                              Much love and wishes to you, sweet Cujo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Colin Jost Is SO Hot, Girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, Why Is He Marrying Scarlett Johansson?????????????????

                              I mean, really.  Colin Jost is so delicious looking, dolls, that, this being Fleet Week, wouldn't you all like to dress him up in a sailor suit, with visible panty lines, and have him over to your house, for a home cooked meal, and then desert?

                              Alas, he is straight, which I have no problem with, but he is going to marry Scarlett Johansson, and that bothers me.  Colin is so sweet he deserves the best, and I am telling you, while Scarlett is a genuinely talented actress and skilled comedienne, her marriage track record is not the greatest.  This is Colin's first marriage, but her third.   Now, some say three's the charm, but with that on her marriage resume, if I were Colin, I would think twice about taking that marital leap with Scarlett.  After all, my girls and I want him to be happy, and not just another trinket on her bracelet of broken hearts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                              Prettiness can be deceiving, dolls!  So, I am warning Colin to watch out.

                              Don't let Scarlett wed you, then bleed you dry, like a Black Widow spider!!!!!!!!!!!!

Girls, This Is The Real Thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                       I began "Little Fires Everywhere," with a bit of trepidation.  So many had told me they were disappointed by it, especially after Ng's debut with "Everything I Never Told You."
This second novel does not suffer from sophomore slump, maybe because Ng is becoming an author who is unafraid to explore dark places.  And what place is darker than American Suburbia?????

                                        Some things do not change, darlings.  The novel is set in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and while it is not Peyton Place, there are plenty of secrets that ultimately uproot and destroy people.  I kept thinking of Lillian Hellman's "The Children's Hour," though the issue explored here is not lesbianism, but the right to have or not have children, and who has the right, or not to call a child their own.

                                         Secrets are part of the literal meaning of the novel's title, though it does open, and climax, with a conflagration.  I loved Pearl connecting with the Richardson kids, and, being a different kid, myself, I related most to Izzy.  Though I lacked the courage she has to break free.

                                            While Mia, an artist, with secrets of her own, and her daughter, Pearl, are extremely sympathetic, as is the aforementioned Izzy, no one in the novel is altogether unsympathetic. Rather, they just get caught up in their own stuff, and some of that has harrowing consequences.

                                                I felt bad for Bebe, the mother of May Ling, and the Ryans, a New York couple, who desperately want a child, engage Bebe as a surrogate, except she makes a decision that comes back to bite her later on.  The reader meets the Ryans in the section charting Mia's back story, but then they are never mentioned again.  I felt the most for them; they were truly victimized.

                                                 But that is me, darlings.  I have been on a roll of satisfying fiction lately, and "Little Fires Everywhere" turned out to be a wonderful surprise.   I urge you all to read it.

                                                  It will spark discussion, dears, book group, or not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Much Hyped 'SVU' Season Finale Is One Big Fizzle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 Girls, I know it has been a full week since the episode, "End Game" was aired, but I just could not muster the enthusiasm to write about it.  "SVU' has become so dreary, it takes effort for me to even write about it.  I like topics I can have fun with, and this show has not been such, for a long time.

                                  Nevertheless, there were some lively moments.  Like creepy looking Titus Welliver, as nasty Rob Miller.  Commercials kept harping someone on this episode was going to "go down," which I took as code for being killed.  This had me wondering all week--could it be Miller?  Or that ass kisser whom I cannot stand, Deputy Chief Dodds, played by Peter Gallagher.  Please, not Kelli Giddish or Peter Scanavino, who still deliver on this show.

                                    Well, unless you count the corpse of Lindsay Parker, whose parents were Miller's clients, and whom he had dispatched because he was afraid she might reveal him--though he could not be sure--at the under aged sex party, or the dog owned by Nikki Staines' daughter, no one went down!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And I still have not forgiven Sister Pegg!

                                    The best moment came from Callie Thorne, whose bar scene with Olivia was priceless. I was with Nikki all the way, especially when she was calling out Liv on her sanctimonious self-righteousness, which, I, for one, am sick of.  And so, apparently, are some people.

                                     And I expected a shooting, when Rob Miller, was dragged off guilty.  Is he really off to jail, for good, or will he return?  I wait to find out.

                                    But this still does not stop the show from being Olivia, with everyone buzzing around her like she was some Mother Superior that has to be protected!  It makes me sick!

And, speaking of sickening, this scene made me want to vomit!  Stone is leaving because he lost perspective, because he did it all for Olivia???????????  What kind of writers crap is that?  Not so much as a spark between them, and now this???????????  Peter Stone is hot enough, that he could get someone better than Downer Olivia.  And he will, on his next TV venture.

I am willing to bet he left the show because it was all about Olivia, and did not give his character a chance!  Or the writers did not know what to do with him.

If only it had not been mentioned Stone's father, Ben (played by Michael Moriarty, at the start of the franchise) was deceased.  Then he could have returned, and shown everyone what this show had once been made of!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This show has lost all its moxie!  God help us, with Season 21!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Desi Guiterrez Makes One Hell Of A Bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                            Once upon a time, a teenage girl named Lara Gutierrez, who was a tramp, had a baby out of wedlock.  She named the baby, Desi, treating her horribly, saying she had wished Desi had never been born, that she was an ugly little girl (untrue, according to the picture on top!) and abused her physically and emotionally, often locking her in a shed full of snakes, which terrified the child.  But they somehow bonded, so that the snakes, rather than harming her, came to protect Desi.  This endeared her to these creatures.

                                             Desi's story was told on the "Criminal Minds" episode, "Dust And Bone."
Desi was played by Doris Morgado, whose stunning performance makes her this week's winner of The Raving Queen Bitch Of The Week Award.  But the real bitch was Lara, Desi's mother.

                                             Lara goes on to marry, have a successful real estate career, a perfect daughter named Tina, and blows Desi away, as though she does not exist.   Which fuels Desi's anger further.  She hates her mother, her sister, (even though, Lara, in a conciliatory gesture, gives Desi money to start a tattoo parlor) and all women whom she sees as pretty, while she is horribly disfigured.  She sets out, as a serial killer, to eradicate these pretty woman by surgery, snake bites to sedate them--she amasses quite a collection of snakes, and uses them in her activities. Which is to facially disigure her victims.  One snake is found in a victim's car.  Eventually, Desi captures Tina, whom she hates, but wants as bait, to get back at her mother, whom she really wants to do in.

                                              There is no real enactment of Desi's abusive back story, but when I heard what Lara did, I realized she was the bitch that should be tortured, not the other victims.  If the show had ended with Desi seeking her bloodlust on Bitch Mommy, I would have cheered!

                                                Instead, Desi is caught, and does suicide by cop!

                                                However, she is one of the most fascinating criminal/bitches I have seen in a long time.  I am sure she was obsessed with the 1973 film "Sssssssssss…….," where Strother Martin is a mad scientist trying to turn humans into snakes.  Heather Menzies, our beloved Louisa from "The Sound Of Music," is his daughter who freaks out, when she sees her boyfriend turning into a snake in front of her.  You have GOT to see this scene, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                   Desi is one of the great fictional bitches I have encountered in quite awhile.  Too bad she did not survive to witness this honor, or to be brought back on the show, for more mayhem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                     You are one of the favorite bitches on here, Desi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Am Telling You, Girls, We Were Appalled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In just nine days, "Godzilla, King Of The Monsters," destined to be the biggest movie of the Summer, opens, and, of course, David and I are awaiting the triumphant screen arrival of our beloved reptile friend, Gojira.

Yesterday just happened to find us in the city, with Gojira walking behind us.  We were, among other things, doing s Strand Bookstore run, but before hitting that store, we had to  pass Forbidden Planet, whose window displays, of late, have gone on too long, and are not encompassing enough.

Well, with Gojira's big movie coming out, naturally, we expected the window on the left to be devoted to no one but Gojira!

Wrong!  On the center deck, were two miniature figures of Gojira and King Kong, seeming to fight each other.

I know a bogus remake of "King Kong Vs. Godzilla," or is the other way around now, is coming out next year, so what does he have to do with the current movie!

At least, that upstart, Mothra, was not featured!

Gojira is a BIG movie star!  He has a major film coming out!  Is this the display HE deserves?   No!

Is this all that dumb store gives him?   Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, Gojira is going to take matters into his own hands!  By now, I am sure he has left a HUGE gift, in the front of the store's entrance!!!!!!!!!!!!

Poor Gojira!  We love him so, and he is shedding real tears over this!  Even though I have told him that his film will make more in a week than this store makes all year!

So, send some feel good wishes to Gojira, and be sure to see his movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baby Gojira can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Give This Book A Chance! Not As Depressing As Might Be Expected!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                        The back cover gave me pause, as I wondered if this was another depressing gay story, ending in suicide.  Instead, it is the story of Aaron Englund, who, through a series of circumstances, including his mother abandoning him at the age of seventeen, never quite found himself, out though he was as a gay man.  Lori Ostlund's novel travels back and forth in time, exploring Aaron's abusive childhood with his rotten father, the parade that changed everyone's lives, and his mother's abandonment of him, and the discoveries he makes about her, decades later.

                                         What I did not like was Aaron walking out on his older partner, Walter, just as his mother did to him.  Aaron journeys to San Francisco, to try and find his niche.  For some reason, perhaps that maternal abandonment all those years ago, Aaron feels more comfortable alone than in company.  This realization causes him to leave Walter, but the end suggests they will somehow stay in touch.

                                          To my relief, there was no moral punishing, no suicide, no one coming to a bad end.  Lori Ostlund's story is a smooth mix of Truman Capote and Carson McCullers, without quite the prose distinction of either.

                                             But it is not "The Well Of Loneliness," dolls, and for that we must be grateful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                               I want to see what Ostlund follows this up with.  She is among the better LGBT writers I have read recently!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                               Girls, it is a must!  Deeply insightful and penetrating!

                                                Just perfect for your next tea, with cakes and dainties!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome, Everyone, As Gojira Leads In The Ships For Fleet Week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                Darlings, Fleet Week would not be complete without our lovable reptile friend, Gojira, leading the ships in, at the start, and then leading them out at the end.  Of course, he embraces the children of the military, giving them hugs, and slides down his tail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 Like Gojira, we need to do our duty, during this time, as well!  So go out, and find some sailors!  Watch out for those visible panty lines, because this is the week where more men than women will show them!  And for good reason!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   This is a patriot's chance to invite a visible panty lined sailor home, for a home cooked meal!  Then, guess who will be the desert????????????  Yes, dears, make America proud, and have fun at the same time.

                                    Next to Gay Pride, which is next month, Fleet Week is a gay man's greatest opportunity for action!!!!!!!!!!!  So, all you gay singles take full advantage of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     Make those panty lines, visible, dolls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let Fleet Week Begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, Do You Know What Opened On Broadway 60 Years Ago Last Night????????????????

                                    Sixty years ago, last night--sixty!!!!!!!!!!!--"Gypsy," the original production with Ethel Merman, opened at the Broadway Theatre.  You know what is playing there now, girls?????  "King Kong!"  How low has musical theater sunk???????????????

                                     This human Christmas Tree at Minsky's is my favorite image in the show, and was only used in the original. How I wish some production would reinstate it.  You see, what Jerome Robbins wanted, with "Gypsy," would that it would be a series of vignettes turned out as a concept musical, celebrating the history of the American variety stage.  How Rose and her daughters would have figured in this would have been fascinating to see.  Instead, the show ended up as a routine book musical, but one of the best.

                                      So, I include the Christmas tree, but cannot go without mentioning Merman.  Though Patti Lu Pone, whom I saw twice, gave Merman a run for her money, Merman is still the gold standard when it comes to this show.

                                        I think it is fit to honor "Gypsy" with one of Merman's renderings!

                                        Here is Merman in the dressing room scene, and "Rose's Turn."  Those who say she was not being an actress here...……..well, what do they know?  Those others who played  Rose would never have gotten the opportunity, had it not been for Ethel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         "Hold your hats, and hallelujah!  Mama's gonna show it to ya!"

Another Nail In The Coffin Of New York City Culture!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                Culture is what so many of my generation--the Baby Boomers--fled to New York City for.  Now that that is dwindling, the question many begin to ask themselves, is "What's the point of staying here, anyway?"

                                   The sadness is prompted by my discovery that BookBook, now  located on 266 Bleecker Street, will be closing in May.  That is this month, darlings!  What I am not clear about is WHEN in May the closing is.  One article says the end of the month, while others say the 15th or the 19th, which means I am going to have to make a trek to the city this week, and see what is what. I hope it is still open, so I can take some items away with me,  as a tribute to owners, Carolyn Epstein and Chuck Mullen.

                                  I knew them well.  Or, got to know them as a regular customer, during my spinster years.  The store originally opened in 1984, as Biography Bookstore, on the corner of Bleecker and Charles Streets.  The address was 111 Bleecker Street, and, eventually, across the street, along came something called the Magnolia Bakery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                  For years, if I were free, it was my Friday night ritual to dine in the Village, then make the rounds of this store, and maybe pick  up some savories at the Magnolia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   This went on till about ten years ago, when Marc Jacobs took over the Biography Building, Bleecker Street went all Upper East Side, and the store moved to 111 Bleecker, under the name BookBook.

                                    Now, it is not like I never visited it.  But over the years, because of its now out of the way locale, and Three Lives closer, the store got kind of lost, for me, in the shuffle!  I took it for granted it would always be there.

                                     I should have known better.  I will miss this store.  I still wonder what ever happened  to aspiring film maker Juan, who worked there, and with whom I discussed some lively ideas.

Carolyn, and Chuck, I shall miss you, and the store, not only for the books, but for the emotional comfort the store and your warmth provided during some years that were difficult for me to navigate.

If you turn up anywhere else, I will be there!

But what a cultural loss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another Award Comes Celia's Way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                Keep going, Celia, as I track your journey to what I hope culminates in a TONY Award win.  It had better.  Anyway, Celia has just won the Outer Critics Circle Award, for her brilliant turn in "To Kill A Mockingbird."  Everyone, you must see this breathtaking performance, one of the finest I have ever seen on the stage.

                                   But, even in interview, Celia will not reveal where she gets that killer hair of hers done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We all want to be as stylized as Celia, darlings, especially when those of us out there, are sitting in front of our TV's, watching the TONYS.

                                     To hell with the Super Bowl, the TONYS are more important!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     Keep going, Celia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not Quite The Other Side Of The Rainbow, But........................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                       Like Geoff Ryman's "WAS," Elizabeth Letts' interconnects two aspects relating to "The Wizard Of Oz," both book and film.

                                        During the making of the film, the MGM publicity department turned out a photo, seen here, of Judy Garland and Maud Baum, Frank's widow, reading the book together on the set.  Letts took this as inspiration and combines a story that links the travails Garland faced on making this movie, from her mother, the execs, and the drugs she was fed, to the nurturing, loving, almost maternal relationship she had with Baum's widow.  The film also recounts the REAL love story that existed between L. Frank Baum and his wife, and children, and both stories are deeply moving.

                                           Two things I want to say.  The first is, in reading of the real love existing between the Baums, it reminded how much I love and appreciate my David.  The other is I never realized L. Frank Baum was such a hot man!!!!!!!!!!   Damn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                             The warmth and love flowing through both stories, coupled with the intervention and help of Ida Koverman at MGM, give this story a sentimentality, without being mawkish.  It has the most perfect ending for this book, and I have to confess it brought me to tears.

                                             It also instilled in me a desire to read Baum's 'Oz' books, and, of course, see the movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                Published in 1900, "The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz" could be called the twentieth century's first classic.  It has earned every right to that title!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                Read Letts' book, darlings!  It will have you glowing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Que Sera, Sera," Doris!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    Not to overlook Peggy Lipton, or Tim Conway, but the loss of Doris Day  was the biggest of all.  She lived to 97, and may have been the only actor, save for Jennifer Jones, who went from not being a virgin, to being one, and then back again.  Those Rock Hudson comedies she made--posing the question  of how long it would take him to get her to bed, back then, now have a whole new subtext, and a whole new outlook on Rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                       Her loss, on May 13, saddened me.  Her loss is ours.

                                      Of course, I recall her TV sitcom, but what I loved were the musicals-- "Calamity Jane," "Love Me Or Leave Me," and "The Pajama Game."  Doris' clear, resonant voice would have been fabulous on stage; it is a mystery to me, why she did not attempt it.

                                           She was no slouch at drama either, in films like Alfred Hitchcock's (Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!) 1954 "The Man Who Knew Too Much," and or the 1960 film, "Midnight Lace."

                                             But for queens of all genders and orientations, Doris excelled at music.

                                              Here I will include three of my favorite Doris renditions!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                              "Que Sera, Sera!"
                                              "Shaking The Blues Away!"
                                              "I'm Not At All In Love!"

                                                Rest In Peace, Doris!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's Talk About "WAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                      Somewhere, out there, now, or in the future, someone is going to write a dissertation of thesis, centering around all that is referenced in this book.  Of the two works previewed, "WAS" is the more literary work, disturbing, sad, yet insightful.

                                        It hypothesizes the unhappiness of Dorothy's life on the Kansas frontier.  It was no Judy Garland fantasy.  Uncle Henry and Auntie Em are hateful; she, whose maiden name was Branscomb, was branded an outcast by the small town she so much wanted to be accepted in; hell, she wanted to be the doyenne.  She settled for marriage to Harry, and life on a barren farm.  Interestingly, in this book, Henry's last name, is Gulch, which is what hers becomes.  Readers who know make the connection at once.  When Toto mysteriously vanishes, it is clear he was killed.  It turns out Aunt Em did it, connecting the whole Almira Gulch thing at the start of the movie.

                                         Dorothy here is Aunt Em's niece.  Her surname is Gael (similar to Gale, in the MGM film, where, apparently, she was Uncle Henry's niece.)   As Dorothy matures, Uncle Henry begins to sexually abuse her.  It is only when a substitute teacher, at school, by the name of Lyman Frank Baum, witnesses Dorothy having a nervous breakdown in front of the class, and intervenes, that the town knows what is going on.  The Gulches are further outcast, and Dorothy runs away.  But, instead of running to a Technicolor fantasy, she ends up in a mental health facility, where a worker and his psychology educated fiancée try to get at the root of Dorothy's story,  unable to make the connections that the reader is able.

                                          Yes, there is reference to the Judy Garland film, and its making.  There could have been a bit more of this, as far as I am concerned, but gives just enough to give readers insight into Garland's future troubles, suggesting that making this film was not, for her, the fun experience all of us as children imagined.  There is even a minor character, a confidant, named Millie, whom I am pretty sure is the real Dorothy's mother, and Em' s sister, who began as an actress in St. Louis--Dorothy here is born into a theatrical world, but was sent to Em when diphtheria killed off her mother.  Or did it?  Or is Millie just another connection??????????  You decide.

                                             Then there is Jonathan a 38-year-old working actor, who never became a star.  He is obsessed with all things Oz, pretaining to the movie, and makes a cross country journey, aided by his partner and psychologist, as he is dying of AIDS, culminating in an Oz-like disappearance in an American desert.

                                                What sounds like three separate novellas are fused by Ryman remarkably into a seamless work.  His research is clear, and his insights so revealing that it may change one's conception about the whole Oz mythology.  This book was the literary event of 1992, and, when I first read it, I wished I could have optioned it, to be filmed by David Lynch, so I could have played Jonathan.  After all, my thing for the movie is known to all since I was a baby, and to readers, on here, since they have been reading this blog.

                                                     Ryman wrote other books, but interestingly nothing to equal "WAS."
The title refers to how one wishes to go back to a time when things seemed easier.  Rather like the Sondheim lyric from "Sweeney Todd" which gets to me--"If only angels could prevail/We'd be the way we were."

                                                       Had "WAS" been Rym-

an's only book, he would have been remembered for it.  Even with other works, it remains forever his signature book.

                                                         All Oz devotees are urged to read it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!