Charles Tatum : When they bleached your hair, they must have bleached your brain too.
“Tatum gets work from his the local newspaper, but finds that there’s not much in the way of pressing news. However, when Tatum catches wind of a treasure hunter (Richard Benedict) trapped in a mineshaft, he turns the story into a media sensation. Soon Tatum is using unscrupulous tactics to draw out the situation, an approach that comes back to haunt him.” -Ace In the Hole.
“To draw out the situation.” The only reason Trump is not hugging his bunk in prison right now is because he creates a “media sensation.” The media is using him like the “treasure hunter trapped in a mineshaft.”
And we all know how the film Ace in the Hole (1951) ends.
“Leo (treasure hunter) begins to become ill as time passes and his health decides the futures of those making a profit from his demise.”
Sounds like you need to vote for me then …
Campaign for Mr. Fuck
Reporter for The Comic Times:
Mr. Fuck what do you think about Trump appealing states taking him off the ballot?
Mr. Fuck:
Listen I blame Trump for the January 6th insurrection.
Biden I blame for not locking him up and all his senators and house representatives cronies. They all need to be convicted of treason! NOW!
And remember my campaign slogan all Political quotes from me, a free citizen running for President. A champion for our democracy! Are given to you for a free shot of whiskey.🥃
“Rome is full of the sound of running water, near or distant, loud or barely distinguishable; running water and stone steps are almost as much the signature of the city as the cream-colored domes against the blue sky: and it was not a thing easy to believe, that the man standing at the other end of the window would be urinating against it.”
~ Tennessee Williams The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone.
Within the story is a journey of the feminine. A journey that is not often revealed in our current culture. I have watched this film many times. The characters have depth and are interesting. I purchased a Kindle Book copy to read a year or two back. Today I read it and I am glad that I did. The film is an exceptionally good rendering but lacks the full depth of William‘s novel.
Two characters in this short novel are the opposite from each other. One is a shy beautiful young man who rests on an Egyptian obelisk and the other is an aged woman who has lost her beauty and rests on an experience she calls drifting.
“American tourists who had stopped a little space away from him, under the Egyptian obelisk whose cryptic pagan engravings the man was appearing to study.”
His clothes are worn and there are holes in his shoes while her clothes become more and more of the highest fashion. This beautiful Apollo has no name and the aged woman is a famous actress, and both find they are in Rome. One was born there the other is a rich tourist. The young man is fixed on her,
“for when a man has an appointment with grandeur, he dares not stoop to comfort…”
She is aware of him yet ignores him. He tries to get her attention and she is frightened by his common ways and poverty. His archetype is her Dionysus, that is reaching for that part of herself that is empty. He wants to fill that emptiness with passion and happiness. A stillness that speaks of illumination. He taps, appears in reflections from windows and gestures an ancient salute to try and get her attention.
“His beauty was notable even in a province where the lack of it is more exceptional in a young man. It was the sort of beauty that is celebrated by the heroic male sculptures in the fountains of Rome.
Two things disguised it a little, the dreadful poverty of his clothes and his stealth of manner. The only decent garment he wore was a black overcoat which was too small for his body.
Its collar exposed a triangle of bare ivory flesh, no evidence of a shirt. The trouser-cuffs were coming to pieces. Naked feet showed through enormous gaps in his shoe leather. He seemed to want to escape the attention which his beauty invited, for whenever he caught a glance he turned aside from it. He kept his head lowered and his body hunched slightly forward.
And yet he had an air of alertness. The tension of his figure suggested that he was continually upon the verge of raising his voice or an arm in some kind of urgent call or salutation.”
The film does not touch in on many of the especially important elements that hint upon the magic of female initiation contained in Williams’s novel. The film is much darker than the path of the story.
“…by the balustrade of the terrace. She looked down from it, absently, into the well of the little piazza below. The last remnant of sunlight was touching the pagan inscriptions upon the dull rose granite of the obelisk.”
Film December 28, 1961: Karen Stone (Vivien Leigh)
Karen Stone is waking up to a place within herself. A place that is not moving. She lost her husband to death and has given up her acting career. Karen lost her beauty and the pretense of years of heartless ambition. Her drifting is now partly filled with another young man. He has a name, a position, and has many of the ambitious qualities that she herself once had.
“Paolo is by way of being a little—what was the word she had used? Oh, yes, marcbetta! Something a little superior to a whore but still something on the market superior mostly in being more expensive, an article of greater luxury and refinement, what the French called poule de luxe…”
One difference is he awakens a passion in her she has never experienced before. Even after menopause she is now finding a new place in her life.
“The past was, of course, the time when her body was still a channel for those red tides that bear organic life forward. Those rhythmic tides had now withdrawn from her body, leaving it like a tideless estuary on which desire rested like the moon’s image on a calm sheet of water.”
Maybe only moments open to her where she does not experience that feeling of drifting.
“She feels as if time has stopped. in her heart, what would she find as she moved? Was it simply a void, or did it contain some immaterial force that still might save as well as it might destroy her?”
A shining happiness is approaching Karen Stone that may be something ancient and good.
“Her head was remarkably quiet as if a savage bird had been locked in it which had now flown out through some invisible opening.”
I love the film but it is only a shy companion next to Tennessee William’s novel.
notes All quotes are from the film and or novel by Tennessee Williams The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
41°54′22.1″N 12°28′59.6″E Above the Spanish Steps. An Aurelian copy, although smaller, of the Flaminio obelisk of Ramses II in the Piazza del Popolo, for the Gardens of Sallust. Found by the Ludovisi and moved to the Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano in 1734, but kept horizontal. Erected in 1789 by Pope Pius VI.
Before the show I went to an Italian Restaurant nearby. I sat at the bar and had a Guinness and a plate of pasta.
Part of my DNA
I will be the time to join with punk comrades and celebrate our originators and characters of the early California punk scene. The Avengers, the Dils and the Alley Cats.
In memory of Jimmy Wilsey
Once someone dies, their life becomes a story, infinite, Like a song forever more.
Back then it was a tight underground, alternative punk. rock scene. Bands were unclassified and their songs unique. I found myself melting into a wild alchemy of youths that. had something new to say.
We were finding our voice. All the unknown characters were there. Nobodies create a scene together. Seeing punk bands during the early Los Angeles punk scene, I was not always aware of all the members in the band. Instead, the feel of drums, bass and guitar grabbed me. into a wild joyful submission. After a few times seeing a band, the lyrics and the vocals brought depth and understanding to any band’s song.
I was shaking to the sounds. wanting to go to all the shows. After getting involved with Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine All the players in the bands became focused and clear. I listened to their voices. I got to know them on a personal level. I went from being a face in the crowd. to writing about punk bands and getting to know band members as friends.
The sound of the Avengers was my grounding or anchoring into that early punk? scene. Those first days I awoke……
It was fantastic! The Dils I learned about indirectly through another Flipside staff writers. The Alley Cats was the band, they were the heart of the early punk scene which I got to know the best at that time. Jimmy was a part of that scene.
I did not know him personally but indirectly, Yet his sound moved me often into states of wild frenzy. I am grateful for all the vinyl records that contain that. story, song, or sound of our youthful rebellion. Of Jimmy’s youthful rebellion.
Yet a “live” band is always best. It is great to still be here, currently, part of our punk rock. history. Thanks to Randy and Penelope for letting me speak today. to show my love and respect.
Flipside Fanzine Image
I stumbled into the early punk scene. The Australian Saints and the San Franciscan Avengers gave me the courage to go and see any other alternative underground bands on my own. I found myself melting into a wild alchemy of youths that had something to say. We were finding our voices. All the unknown characters were there, nobodies creating a scene together. We were wild and knew all the songs by heart by The Dils, The Alley Cats and the Avengers.
I will be there handing out some badges joining in the event in memory of our youthful rebellion that is still the heart beat of this crazy continuity of punk rock that still drives our DNA onward.
Images from Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine
The Avengers, The Dils and The Alley Cats + many special guests (A Celebration of the Life of Jimmy Wilsey) at Echoplex
Before The Avengers went on a DJ at the event played this song. The sound went on and I swear the earth moved as the song grabbed my spine… an earthquake…. it was a Saints’ Hallelujah “amber” moment.
“Jared and Ivanka were on entertainment mogul and Democratic donor David Geffen’s $3000 million yacht-one of the largest in the world-off the coast of Croatia, on vacation with Wendi Deng, a businesswoman and former wife of Rupert Murdoch. “~ Fear, Trump In the White House.
Rising Sun is a motor yacht designed by Jon Bannenberg, and built in 2004 by Germany’s Lürssen for Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation, and last refitted in 2007. Rising Sun has been owned since 2010 by David Geffen, who had bought a half share of the yacht in late 2006. The yacht is the 11th largest in the world with a length of almost 138 meters (453 ft). It reportedly cost over US$200 million to build.
Wendi Deng Murdoch (simplified Chinese: 邓文迪; traditional Chinese: 鄧文迪; pinyin: Dèng Lewis, Hilary. “Happy Belated Birthday, Wendi Deng!” (Business Insider. Wéndí; born December 8, 1968)[3] is a Chinese-American businesswoman, and movie producer. She was the third wife of News Corporation chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, who filed for divorce from her in June 2013.[4] Deng’s debut in the media came with Fox TV, and she was subsequently offered an internship at Star TV in Hong Kong, part of News Corporation.)
Rupert Murdoch acting CEO of Fox News a is an Australian-born American media mogul. “”10 Most Influential Media Moguls in History”. Business Pundit. 20 July 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2017.)
David Lawrence Geffen (born February 21, 1943) [2] is an American business magnate, producer, film studio executive, and philanthropist. Geffen created or co-created Asylum Records in 1970, Geffen Records in 1980, DGC Records in 1990, and Dream Works SKG in 1994. As philanthropist he has donated to the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and other educational and research institutes. (Tom King, The Operator: David Geffen Builds, Buys, and Sells the New Hollywood, p. 12, Broadway Books (New York 2001).
I am handsome and also have a fucking big Luxury yacht called the Kingdom 5KR owned docked in Antibes, French Riviera
Since Donald Trump became the U.S. president, Murdoch has shown support for him through the news stories broadcast in his media empire, including on Fox News. [128] In early 2018, Mohammad bin Salman, the crown prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, had an intimate dinner at Murdoch’s Bel Air estate in Los Angeles. (“Prince Mohammed books out hotel to dine with Murdoch”. The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 April 2018.)
DGC Records (an initialism for the David Geffen Company) after they left Enigma Records
I don’t think Government is necessarily bad or completely corrupted. We elect people to represent us. The powers that move around our leaders can be very strange. Leadership is part of our human experience.
We at Flopside Comics have found two leaders that we want to support. One is a journalist that is not the enemy of the people, holds integrity and has vast journalistic experience. Another is an honest woman of leadership, the first African-American woman to run for Governor in the state of Georgia.
Bob Woodward and Stacy Abrams.
Bob went to Yale College but instead of becoming a lawyer he became involved in investigative journalism. “While a young reporter for The Washington Post in 1972, Woodward teamed up with Carl Bernstein; the two did much of the original news reporting on the Watergate scandal.”
Read his book FEAR !!
Stacy Abrams served on the Georgia General Assembly, 2007–2017 before this in 1999, she earned her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School. A business woman.
Read her book, Minority Leader: How to Lead from the Outside and Make Real Change
What inspires us is their shared support of diversity and how they use their knowledge and education to help us, “We the People.” They are, right this very minute, confronting corruption. Two individuals, a journalist and a politician, that seem to care.
Our humble character watercolor renderings of Bob and Stacy, with badges on the side. (out soon!!)
Mixing the Academy and lived PUNK culture is a concept like a giant punk rocket filled bulging with repertories of sight and sound. A giant punk rocket to the future that explodes into the sky like a fucking loud scream to a new world of fireballs and resistance…. women indulgently included!
UCLA Center for Musical Humanities Curating Resistance 10 February 2018
PhDS Pertaining to Punk & beyond …
“Freedom From Conditioned Trance”
I did not know that this two-day event was the first of its kind at UCLA. Yet I naturally follow Joe Strummer’s advice, which is to move naively into things. I think of this as letting the essence or spirit of an event unfold as it may. This is how I fell into punk rock. The right place at the right time. It was synchronicity and all that unconscious revealing by focus and experience. For me, as others, it was the first note of a song. The guitar riff or bass depth and drums ripping through my spine. It made me wake up!
I wanted to attend the full event but didn’t because of my bad back and family responsibilities. I attended the full event on Saturday. I made as many of the sessions as I was able to. Each session inspired me to see from a different perspective. Some of the panelists are very academic. Their blending punk with thesis was a challenging reality for most of them. Also, the need to archive punk, in general, was something that challenged all of them. I have questioned this one myself. I was hoping that by being here some of my questions might be answered. Their arguments are satisfactory. Over time, I will consider all of them.
Session 2B: Punk Epistemologies.
9:30 to 10:30 AM was my first session to focus my mind on. I listened actively to Sarah Gelbard speak about punk as being “neutralized,” or “ask a punk,” and “ask a punk academia.” She is a PhD candidate. She defines herself as a punk planner and architect.
A punkarchitect! She said the Academy, conformity to institutions or university, does reject her feminist and or punk attitude. The title of her presentation, “Ask a punk: from informality to anti-formality and anti-authority and when to say fuck.” I felt an irritatingly shy stirring in her that filled the room. I have not felt that feeling for some time. Her integrity and honesty moved me. She mentioned storytelling may be a type of approach to her chosen field of study.
Robert Haworth.
Was next, and his theme was on” radical learning spaces.” As an educator and practicing anarchist he shared some biographical stories about his punk rock experience. A theme that ran throughout his talk seemed to focus on building character. How society and educational (Academy) focuses on a type of expendable economic character that forms our children. He mentioned a good book to study by Emma Goldman, “The Child and its Enemies.”
Session 5B: Punk Political Economies.
Presented three panelists. What came forth here is,
“We should consider continuing to support the cracks.”
I enjoyed Kathryn Heffner speaking about women fanzine publishers of science fiction writing. Briefly I can say that I learned about the history of fanzines. She talked about the community formed by fanzines and how they communicated. It is about women and resistance.
My heart about jumped out of my chest. She defined so many elements of what a fanzine is all about. It is about community, friends, and a subject. The punk scene is about friends and the continuity of friendships over time. I did not hear much about this at this conference!
Kathryn did tell a short story about a sister ‘zinester who misspelled a word and made a whole movement out of it. I about jumped up and screamed hallelujah.
The point being that with fanzines the information is current and was often printed up quickly to spread like a good wildfire of communication. I knew this to be true. Her talk gave meaning to my community. We need to keep writing and self-publishing.
The final Session 21B:
Decay, Ruins, Dystopias was very enjoyable and academic. S. Mark Gubb: “God So Loves Decay,” is an unusual perspective on achieving punk material. He is a PhD candidate. Simply put he had a friend read lyrics such as punk poetry, UK Decay, in front of beautiful architecture in London (England… there about)?
This is presented as performance art. My insight into what he said is that the archiving of punk repertories can inspire others to be creative. Taking archived material and recycling its essence to a new generation to use creatively.
The Lyrics of UK Decay, Performed by Russ Crimewave
Michelle Gonzales.
Presentation made a strong comparison between George Orwell and Joe Strummer. Her brief history of punk, music and films as influencing a generation of punks is a bit superficial to me. Yet her argument was sound and interesting. I noticed how she compared their lives and their lifelong intentions. As she suggested, I am going to google the best of Utopian literature and do some reading. An honest look at what can move someone! A book and or a song.
Overall, I did not include everything from this punk academy conference. Yet in general I had a great time. My impression is that archiving punk is a very sound perspective and a reality for some such as Slash Magazine and MaximumRocknroll.
I am not sure If I am ready yet to turn over my stuff. As a friend Kat Talley-Jones said,
Presidencetial Advisory Commission on Election Integrity Vice President Mike Pence chairs the Commission, and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach serves as the vice chair.
DAH Dence Members
* Vice President Mike Pence, Chair * Kris Kobach, Secretary of State of Kansas, Vice-Chair * Connie Lawson, Secretary of State of Indiana * Bill Gardner, Secretary of State of New Hampshire * Matthew Dunlap, Secretary of State of Maine * Ken Blackwell, Former Secretary of State of Ohio * Christy McCormick, Commissioner, Election Assistance Commission * David Dunn, Former Arkansas State Representative * Mark Rhodes, Clerk of Wood County, West Virginia * Hans von Spakovsky, Senior Legal Fellow and Manager of Election Law Reform Initiative, Edwin Meese Center for Legal & Judicial Studies, The Heritage Foundation * J. Christian Adams, President and General Counsel, Public Interest Legal Foundation * Alan King, Probate Judge, Jefferson County, Alabama
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