i is for icons

mmm, could you tell i just wanted an excuse to post another picture of morrissey? actually, i love this picture, as it includes two of my fave male sex symbols; steven patrick morrissey and steve mcqueen. hey, the two steves! sigh... (man, i am tired tonight, and it shows.) this picture was taken sometime around the filming of the documentary 'the importance of being morrissey,' which i've never been able to watch all of, on account of i'm still so crazy in love with morrissey that it kind of makes me freak to like, see the 'common' charming stuff like his actual living room and visits to hetero strip joints. and hey, did you know he was real close friends with nancy sinatra? it was at least ten years ago, but the cross on the wall, the popstar on the sofa, and the movie star on the wall make for a trio of groovy icons that lands them all a spot on this self-indulgent alphabet. last i heard, he wasn't celibate anymore. (mmm, like i have a shot.) click to enlarge.

i am a bullitt

yes, my mate jean-lucien didn't know that mr. mcqueen's birthday was coming up when he sent me his treatment of this poster for the classic film 'bullit.' i must admit, i don't think iv'e ever seen it, but as poster art goes, its pretty groovy. i love orange. this poster uses it wonderfully. i could say more about how butch and cool and real steve seemed, but i'm realistic enough to know that maybe his idea of a good time was a frozen pizza, a tabby cat, and a pretty girl on the other side of a chess board. i could way off the mark, but steve didn't seem like a big dummy to me. hey, i just realized i've never seen 'papillon,' and i probably should, because i love 70's-80's dustin hoffman.

happy birthday steve

yes, its the birthday of the late, great steve mcqueen. he's my james dean. he first really struck me about eleven years ago when i saw him alongside ali mcgraw in the fast-paced 1972 film 'the getaway,' directed by sam peckinpah. i was struck by how he could be tough, but human. even though the movie was 100% action, steve managed to portray joy, confusion, frustration, anger, fear, and even jubilation. he and ali mcgraw worked so well together. it was a complicated part for her (ali) at that crucial time for women's liberation in america. she sacraficed for him, obeyed him, but yet, was very much in control of her choices, and handled a gun and a muscle car every bit as adeptly as mcqueen. in fact, i think her character Carol McCoy was the one behind the wheel like, 90% of the time, hence steve's oft-uttered refrain, '...punch it, baby!' as he sat in the passenger seat with a shotgun. do yourself a great favor, if you're keen on seeing 'the getaway,' make damn sure you don't pick up the alec baldwin-kim basinger version by mistake. (ecchh) the original is a hell of a movie, i highly recommend it.

grown ups

i'm sort of posting this half for me and half for my mother. the natalie wood part is for mom, and the steve mcqueen part is allll minnne! i love this shot. you just get the feeling these two were pretty sophisticated and shall we say, unabashed when it came to... enjoying eachother. niether one was an angel. i would've loved to have been like, their pet cat at that time, creeping around, spying on thier swinging and no doubt very adult hot times. i'll bet steve knew what 'love with the proper stranger' was all about. i liked watching them together because natalie, although beautiful, i think she needed someone as enigmatic and rough and 'ugly' as mcqueen to give her a bit of and edge. in my opinion, she was far more interesting as soon as she stood next to him. and he was prettier as soon as he stood next to her. and they both left us too soon.