unknown play

here is a lovely shot i've had for a long time. its ian holm, quite young. i think the picture was taken mid-to-late 1960's. i've had the picture for so long i don't clearly remember what part he was playing. but judging by the costume, i'd bet it was 'henry v.' i know he did play that part. wow. i'll bet that was something to see. i think there should be some kind of law that mandates all performances of all shakespeare plays be filmed and stored in some tiny, unobtrusive digital format... to be viewed later, just in case anyone playing happens to actually be brilliant. i mean, i've seen it happen all the time... at a local level... some poor soul tearing themselves to bits night after night with no final record to attest to their work. the way it stands now, that is the nature of the game. but i believe history would be the richer for it.

courtship

here is an early shot of my darling ian holm doing 'romeo and juliet,' i think. which means he was probably playing romeo. i used to know the name of the girl, but i confess i can't remember it right now. its probably just as well, as its hard for me to look at this shot anyway without feeling a tightening little wire of jealousy. i think he might have even been married to her for a while, but as i said, i really can't remember. the girl aside, ian's so damned talented... even in this decades-old photograph, the required romantic longing comes through from his eyes. his voice must have been high, practiced, sleek, and perfectly intoxicating. ian, a thousand times good-night. kiss.

ian plays dead

i don't think i've posted this one yet. here is a shot of ian holm, on stage, i think its a production of 'romeo and juliet,' but i could be wrong. but wow... how beautiful he was. he still is. i see a shot like this, and two words come to mind : time machine. god, he's lovely. when i think of all those lucky ladies he had to kiss on stage, i go crazy. i'm not a bad actress myself, but i think if i had to kiss ian holm in front of cameras or an audience, i am quite convinced i might faint. ian, if you're out there, i love you. in fact, i'm rolling 'alien' right now as i write this. i think you're better than olivier, and every bit as good as guinness. where ever you are right now ian, i wholeheartedly kiss you good-night. sigh.

henry v : the speech before the battle - kenneth branagh - video

in honor of william shakespeare's birthday i post this stirring speech from the kenneth branagh's film version of the play, 'henry v.' i almost know it by heart. (if you look closely near the end of the speech, you can see ian holm cheering.)

rick

...or rather, richard III. this is a shot of my darling ian holm portraying the afflicted monarch on stage sometime in the mid-to-late 60's. he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. and he was incurably gorgeous. it seems almost a sin that stage productions are most often never recorded. it seems like there should have been some organization in place to ensure american and british stage productions were filmed... and expertly filmed, if even for only archival purposes. think of all the treasures we've lost... all those gems fallen to the shrinking, deepening, blackend abyss of frail human memory. its a real shame.

shakespeare, in love

yeah, i was wondering how much love and sex has been inspired like, historically, because of the works of william shakespeare? hey, i know if it wasn't for him, there are quite a few guys i wouldn't have ended up in bed with. man, actors. strange creatures. in the case of this picture from the mid-to-late 1960's, the handsome romeo with his head in some maiden's lap is none other than a young and lovely ian holm. is he sir ian holm yet? i should probably like, check up on that. wow...he was something. this photo kind of makes me like, 'girl-jealous' hate the girl he's posing with. i find myself having high-school-fight thoughts like, 'who does that bitch think she is??' but seriously, as 'fan-strange' as it sounds, i actually had a pretty long and detailed romatic dream about ian when i accidentally fell asleep after supper this evening whilst watching 'cops.' but my point is, i know there's a lot of sex out there that i would never have been had if it hadn't been for shakespeare, the guys who perform it, and the alliances forged amongst a company... not to mention allll those swinging, chemically-enhanced 'after-parties.' so, here's to william shakespeare, helping guys with limited conversational skills get laid since like, 1500-something.

sword

here is a gorgeous shot of ian holm... sometime in the 1960's, rehearsing shakespeare. i can't help but think of the holt-mcpherson center in downtown high point, nc... a groovy little building now that i'm picturing it. wow... how many hours did i spend there, taking art lessons, acting seminars, and other things, all the time under the age of 15. i just realized that when i imagine ian holm rehearsing, i'm actually picturing that building... with its heavy, outdated otis elevator and its plain views of the modest city from its old windows. anyway, i think ian may have been rehearsing 'macbeth,' i don't remember. still, look how young and hot he was. wow... he would've driven me completely crazy. alas...

practice

tonight's featured smoker is ian holm. i'm tired, so hopefully it will be enough to say that i don't remember what play he was rehearsing, but i couldn't wait to post this lusty, hazy shot of this (mostly) welsh gentleman, smoking in some unknown room, going through some unknown lines, wondering about god-knows-what. perhaps he was worried about keeping the heat on at his flat. perhaps he was comtemplating how he could best get away with making one of the wardrobe mistresses. perhaps he was only thinking of how he could craft his role to get the lion's share of the applause. i don't know. all i know is i've never seen a face like that of ian holm. and i wonder aimlessly and endlessly about the infinite variations of his preferences and habits. hey, maybe he loves scooby-doo, what do i know?