tired

man, i am sooo tired tonight. like i don't know what my 'deal' is. i guess it could still be the 'time change' and everything. but whatever it is, i am soooo not feeling a zeal to post, but i couldn't leave those creeping 'shining' girls up as the first-image-to-hit-the-eyes. so yeah, i thought this great screen shot of rik mayall as 'rik' from 'the young ones,' dozing off with a copy of like, some book with karl marx (it looks like) on the cover. this is one of the first shots from the very funny 'cash' episode from the second season. yeah, i know how you feel, rik. i could use some quality z's myself. i love the way you can see vyvyan's arm like, extended into the frame, ready to rip the book out of his hands. and i love you all. more tommorrow, i hope.

louise and lisa burns, ladies and gentlemen

halloween was friday night, as you know. and i have no doubt hundreds of thousands of freaky folks stayed in and watched movies. and one such movie was 'the shining.' and one of the scariest things about that film is, are... the party-dressed ghostly twin girls, who roam hand in hand, interacting with danny from beyond the grave. being a twin myself, i know where those little ladies are coming from. and they deserve some serious credit. they are, indeed, powerful, indelible, horrifying, delightful, 20th century film icons. their names are louise and lisa burns. thanks girls, for all the terrible, long sleepless nights. and good luck to the both of you. (click to enlarge.)

a mad slice of life

man, you just can't beat authentic 1960's-70's MAD magazine for quality reading. seriously, that stuff, at its peak, could save your soul. jean-lucien just recently got his hands on a great well of MAD material, and as he sends me stuff, i'm posting bits. now, i haven't seen this strip detail in at least 20 years, but i remember every inkstroke. its hilarious. the drawings are by the absolutely great mr. george woodbridge. i love the way he conveys body movement, and i think the anger in the guy's face in the last frame is a scream. dig it. (click to enlarge)

rad and ralph

okay, i'm feeling a little bit jetlagged from the time change... and man, each time i go out on the chilly back deck for a smoke-under-the-stars, i hear the definite, 'real close by' leafy rumblings of either a raccoon or a skunk chonching around back there. which sucks-for-me, because i like to rule the deck in my 'smokin' own way. anyway, my jetlagged brain thought it would be worth a goof to post this hilarious shot of a press photo-gone huh?? it looks like it was obviously taken at some kind of 'harry potter' movie premiere situation. so we've got the often-elegant mr. feinnes, apparently thinking, '...hey, i'm gonna make like i wanna bite a chunk outta this kids head!' and lucky for us, the cameras were there to document his ill-conceived publicity goof. hey, maybe its not as funny as i think it is. like i said before, my 'internal clock' is all outta whack.

skipping church

i'm skipping church today. i'm just not feeling it. i love you.

jewel dog

yes, i find this hilarious, too. i can see the room of 'ad men' now. at one point, someone must have verbally suggested the following: lets get our hands on a real, live doberman dog, and make it bite down hard near the product, thus implying like, danger, risk, erotic submission, and wealth. but realistically, how did they get the dog and his 'dog jaw' to hungrily go after her arm? did they like, rub it with a steak or something? and wow, does that chick look unduly calm or what? something tells me they might have popped her ahhh- ludeity-lude. hey, someone should tell her, she's no jerry hall.

star hits style

now, am i the only one who thinks this is hilarious? if my memory serves me, it was around 1986 when this feature appeared in 'star hits' magazine. possibly late '85. the bloke is of course, tom bailey, from the still-good-in-my-opinion pop trio 'thompson twins.' hey, if there's one word that sums up the 'style' of that time, it would be 'layers.' or possibly 'baggy.' or 'satin-esque,' or 'purchased at four seasons mall.' and man, look at the cut of those clothes. how non-descript can you get? its like, 90-degree angles, be damned... we're just gonna 'stitch funkily,' and hope for the best. man, just seeing what he has on puts me right back in 'merchants' or 'contempo casuals.'

is four seasons mall even still standing? has it been reduced to a brontosaurus-sized pile of rubble yet? mmm, life goes on. (click to enlarge)

hot skates

hey, i don't know what's groovier about this picture; the mostly-naked girl, or the pristine pair of 'old school' rollerskates in the foreground? i don't remember where i snagged this shot, but i love it. the girl is healthy and curvy, and her skates are in tip-top shape. there was a roller rink in the town where i grew up, and most of my friends learned how to skate there. i can even remember the long, carpeted benches, the smally video arcade, the brightly-lit snack bar, and the girl's bathroom, which had a weridly-slanted floor and was always awash in sickly amber light. but it was fun there, and safe. i can still 'skate the rink' in my mind. they had a mirrored disco ball and everything. it was pretty groovy for a small town. and in retrospect, we were lucky to have it.

classy!

anytime is the right time to post a shot from one of my favorite films; 'victor-victoria.' here's the great lesley ann warren playing the saucy and libidinous norma cassidy, doing her famous 'chicago illinois' number. man, the coreography is 'top shelf.' real classy moves... nothing says, 'hey, i'm a lady,' like bending way over and spreading your butt cheeks in a florid hot-red and pink costume worthy of like, 'vanity 6.' (mmm, i almost typed 'vanity 5,' which would've been hilariously very wrong.) just for the record, one of my best friends shares a birthday with lesley-ann. groovy. i happen to share a birthday with freddie mercury, dweezil zappa, racquel welch, and some others. not too shabby. i know a guy who was born on the same day as groucho marx and gandhi. man, how can you top that? like, what if you dated a guy, and he bragged on the fact that he was born on the same day as like, the crocodile hunter and chopin? (which is feb. 22nd, by the way.) i think i'd be somewhat underwhelmed. (click to enlarge)

swim meat : simon le bon

hey, i couldn't resist. just one last scare as halloween night ticks away. yes, that IS the one and only sexy mr. simon le bon, caught off guard as he 'rearranges' his 'union of the snake.' (mmm, that doesn't even make sense.) and yeah, i think almost all of these celebrity 'figure-flaw' pictures are pretty unfair. i mean, i don't care if simon was still 21 years old, he wouldn't exactly look 'smooth' digging for gold like that. and hey, i'm a realistic chick, and i really don't even think he looks too bad. like, he's closing in on 45 years old or something. and there's no picture out there that's gonna turn me against simon le bon. (unless someone comes up with footage of him throwing kittens into a fireplace or something.) yeah, it just goes with that worldwide fame; being caught looking less that 'ragged tiger' -ideal. don't sweat it simon, i love you.

the psychedelic-'tles

yes, another beatle horserace. needless to say, this is the fab four in their later, more psychedelic period. i'm guessing some time around 'penny lane.' now, i'm the first one to say that this brief 'look' was among john's best. seriously, i think he looked great with those little glasses and the walrusy moustache. and you all know george is my consistent fave, but... i think in this instance, based on this particular photograph, i think i have to give it to paul. yeah, he looks great. i wish i had something more interesting to say about this one. but that's it, kids, that's it! (oh, and just for the hell of it, jean-lucien and i think its pretty funny to refer to the boys with the apostrophed term; the 'tles.' )

the vampire wave

yeah, i'm not really sure how it started, but jean-lucien and i, being huge monkees fans, have taken to referring to davy jones almost exclusively as 'the wave.' anyway, in the spirit of halloween, here's a shot i took from the second season's 'the monstrous monkee mash' episode. here we see davy reluctantly about to further his vampire powers by drinking blood! bluh-blah! actually, its revealed that its only tomato juice. (WAVE: ...don't you mean 'tom-ah-to' juice?) he drinks it, to 'get used to the color.' anyway, i took the freeze frame from the dvd months ago, and i figured halloween was the right time to shoot it on out to 'planetcool.' he really was a good-looking kid back then in 1968.

danneee...!

yes, its the spookiest time of the year, ladies and gentlemen. and besides that, i wanted a black and white shot to go in this space. so i found this lovely shot of danny lloyd-as-daniel-torrance on some movie site. i made a color version, too... but i liked the way the black and white one came out, so i used it. wow, what a beautiful child, am i right? i mean, imagine how bad the movie would've sucked and fallen apart if they'd used some ugly annoying kid that couldn't act? (cut to a quick shot of the kids in 'jurassic park.') and yes, 'the shining' is the only movie danny lloyd ever made. and that's okay with me. he can be my little clairvoyant horror angel. that's alright with me.

virginz

mmm, i don't know if i have too much to post tonight. so just in case it is, i thought i'd let the kids from 'the last american virgin' mark my place. here they are, heading out to 'the point' to make out, and subsequently roll their car into the ocean. actually, now that i think about it, its not really their car... as anyone who's seen the movie can attest to, the car actually belongs to 'victor,' the cliche bespectacled nerd character. now, forgive me for not being able to name all the actors. let's see, from left to right, we've got the character 'rose,' who i assume we're supposed to think is a 'punk rocker,' because she has colored streaks in her hair... then we've got actress diane franklin as karen, ...then in the front seat is 'gary,' and his stud friend 'makeout rick.' man, i dig that movie. yes, i own it on dvd.

tim curry - anything can happen on halloween : video

tim curry as the 'grand wizard' in the 'for kids' movie, 'the worst witch,' also starring fairuza balk, diana rigg, and charlotte rae. it was 1986-87, i think. is it a trick or a treat? mmm, i'd say a little of both.

...peeping!

(yes, i have to admit, the 'peeping' skit with the staarsgard guy really cracked me up. i don't know who was responsible for it, but i loved it, it chewed on it, my late-nite laugh-bone.) anyway, apart from that, i love finding all those old, sexy, pulpy illustrated 'dime novel' covers from years-gone-by. i'm glad so many of them are quality-scanned online for my convenience. now, this cover isn't all that much to look at, like, artistically, but i love all the copy. if you can't enlarge-to-read it, it says: '...he got his kicks from men -- but the thrills he longed for weren't enough -- and so he became the... Gay Peeper. ' what a scream. and what's with all the women? i thought he was the gay peeper? i guess they could mean 'gay-meaning-happy,' but i'm tempted to think some idiots were responsible for the print, and maybe assumed 'gay' just meant like, kinky. anyway, i think the whole thing is a scream. take me back to Atlas Book Exchange.

eno smokes

yeah, i haven't featured a smoker for a while. and since i couldn't decide whether to post a man with a cig or a chick with a cig, i decided to take the middle ground and post a shot of brian eno with a cig. i have to admit, this is a pretty groovy photograph. i mean, the grain and contrast is 'all good,' and he actually looks pretty. but hey, i get the feeling i wouldn't want to be stuck next to him on long, long cross-country flight. unless, of course, he was like, tipsy with 'loose lips' and more than willing to 'dish the dirt' on bono and the U2 boys... or share wild, first-hand accounts of some cokey roxy music groupie parties, or similar tales of ultra-bi backstage bowie shindigs. but... if he was just gonna talk all 'ambient' on me, i think i'd crank up my i-pod with some morrissey and-or beck and very much tune him out, out. (mmm, i soooo don't own an i-pod.)

peace shot

and wow, the genuis of jean-lucien never stops. here is a dazzlingly cool piece he sent me just about a year ago. and i can't even begin to express what's so cool about it. i mean, i'd be here all night. i love the icy colors. i love the hint of a lonely house in the upper background. i like the feeling that its almost looking back at you, with the camera lens pointed at the viewer, and all that. and, i'm not sure if you can see, but if you enlarge, you'll see the lovely pair in the center are aiming a 30's style bonnie-and-clyde-fied tommy gun at you too. its a 'shot that shoots back,' if you will. i love the slice of the MAD magazine table of contents in there; i love the dashboard of the car, the moistened flower petals, and the selective use of negative photography. its just so cool i could lose myself staring at it. it clicks to enlarge beautifully. it gets really big, so you can adequately appreciate the scissorwork and the clean gluing. i haven't been able to spot one single glue smudge or accidental cutting. just wonderful. so daring and pretty and cool. man, jean-luc is a genius. (oh, by the way, the blonde chick is french 60's-70's cutie recording artist france gall, and the dude is french svengali, serge gainsbourg.) click to really enlarge.

t wingate andrews high

hey lucynell... i tried to call you wednesday night to hip you to something, but i couldn't get you live on the phone. but jean-lucien directed me to a certain website. first of all, you will no doubt recognize the tiny photo as the front entrance to t. wingate andrews high school. we both implore you to look up the official site, and read up on the new dress code. its outright, positively insane. its so like, hair-splittingly specific, its hard to believe it's not a joke. seriously, a skit about high school dress codes couldn't be more hilarious. i mean, yeah, we all know times have changed and all that, but man, jean-luc and i thought this was a little above-and-beyond. but i couldn't help keeping in mind, as i read it, i couldn't help but think about all the clothes you and i and jean-lucien and all the other kids wore back in 'the day.' like, 90% of the stuff we wore then, would nowadays get us expelled. jelly shoes? jean skirts? tank tops? forget it! man, i'm so glad i got my high school career overwith when i did. just google ' t wingate andrews high school,' and scroll down below the red and black 'raider' guy on the horse, down to where it says in slim black letters, 'what's happening at Andrews,' and click on where it says, ' T. W. Andrews High School Standard Mode of Dress guide.' (they couldn't even keep the lettercasing consistent.) seriously, read it. i don't think i ever read that much on any standard night of homework when i went to that place. i mean, it actually says, 'no denim' !!! and this really cracks me up... like, down below the wildly long list of instructions, after all the rules, it has a quote.

THE QUOTE: "...it is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one that is most adaptable to change..." Charles Darwin.

like, as if they knew they'd be in for sooo much griping because of the new code, that they figured they'd better like, 'legitimize-it-in-advance' with the words of a 'great mind' from History. hilarious.

kate in costume

yes, kate bush... a girl with many 'looks' over the course of her career. here she is decked out, eee-scantily, in her look from the 'babooshka' video. yeah, since that halloween season is in full swing, i figured planetcool could stand to feature some outrageous rags. so here's kate dressed up as... well, umm... i'm not really sure what you'd call it. female warrioress from the forest of Top Of The Pops? it looks like she's got no less than two full-sized swords hanging on... along with some little ...chain mail purse? (i guess a girls' gotta keep her face powder somewhere.) but hey, don't get me wrong, she looks beautiful. i'd like to see her like, roll up to the taco bell drive-thru and order in a really high and melodramatic sing-song voice. the 'babooshka' video is cool, you should check it out, i'm not gonna post it here. i'm too damn lazy tonight, besides, i think i've already posted two of her's, so she can deal with it. (?) (this one enlarges quite nicely.)

the season of the wig

o yea, its a lazy night on 'planetcool,' but you know its also time for like, broomsticks and pumpkins and like, candy and junk like that. and since i happen to be a twiggy fan, i thought it would be an appropriate time to post this swinging shot. as the b-52's once famously said, '...what's that on your head, a wig!!' (woah, i am sooo out of good ideas tonight.) so here's miss twiggy, doing her best to make the wig 'work for her.' and i know i bag on blondes a lot, but i think twiggy is one of those chicks who looks best that way. and she can 'rock' the short hair that is her model 'normal.' (man, what the hell am i talking about?) mmm, you know i love you all, and i wish i could make entries more 'interesting' in the traditional sense, but hey, its late. (?)

lazy lush life

yeah, its a reeeal lazy night on planetcool. like, i'm in a decent mood and all that, but i'm feeling real sleepy... like the kind of sleepy you used to get if you had like, biology as your next-to-last class of the day. (i'm not busting on biology, but coincidentally, i always got drowsy around that time.) so yeah, i'm not feeling real creative or energized, but you know me, i like to mark my place, so i dug out this sexy, silky picture of bryan ferry, laid out for the laying. mmm, i wanna like, climb on that bed and open his up like a birthday present. he's sexy, sexy-when-he-wants-be. his belt is like, just begging to be undone. man, i soooo don't have anything real zippy to say... just juvenile comments about the once-roxy music 'front dude.' sigh. dig it, or don't... i don't care.

creamy jeeves

yeah, i admit it... last night, for 'old time's sake,' i threw in one of my jeeves and wooster dvds and couldn't help taking a couple of shots. the film stock on that series is very 'hit and miss,' as they used several directors and photographers and all that. but one thing is inarguable: stephen fry never looked better. here's a shot i snagged last night of the always-crafty jeeves, smirking. i think he's trying to get his master, bertie wooster, out of jail for something. those wodehouse plots are all so similar its almost as predictable as some upper-crust english 'scooby-doo.' like, in every episode, about four of the same constant elements converge to knit up the zany plot neatly, and always in favor of the protagonists. (man, am i in 'lit class' or something?) still, i was lucky to get this minty, dreamy, creamy shot of stephen-as-jeeves. he was on the screen for less than like, four and a half seconds, making that face. and i tricked the contrast, of course. it enlarges quite nicely.

hey jane, let's see more!

yes, tonight is the night for juvenile jokes-on-starlet's-names. i like this shot for a lot of reasons. i like the fact that she's smiling. it makes her seem playful and more accessible. (plus, i wanted a black and white shot in here for aesthetic reasons.) i love the groovy long hair. and i like the fact that jane handled her fame quite well. i mean, i never heard of her going crazy or anything like that. oddly, i've really only seen her in like, three things. but what the hell, here she is with her sleeky hair, marking my place for me.

male bonding

okay, real quick, check this out. its hilarious, and i think it speaks for itself. i haven't seen a 'craig' bond yet, so i'm not gonna bust on his 007 capabilities. and i may be real juvenile, but this gets a yuk out of me. man, it must suck to be famous. like, when i was a clueless high school girl, i thought i wanted to get 'famous,' but man, i'm soooo glad i'm not. i mean, i wouldn't mind being 'known behind the scenes,' but all that crap about not being able to go out without cameramen flashing bulbs in your face, you can keep all that. the older i get, the more anonymity appeals to me.

rosemary's gone mad

again, i have to thank jean-lucien for sending me this. it is, of course, the first panel of the MAD magazine parody of the 1968 roman polanski horror flick, 'rosemary's baby.' i love this movie. i have it on heavy rotation, and i think i know it by heart. this MAD strip was the first exposure i had to this film. it's Mort Drucker at his late 60's best. i love all the fine inkwork, and all the hidden jokes drawn into the background. this scan is actually pretty good. however, i think the john cassavetes illustration is a lot more accurate than the mia farrow. (in this frame, anyway.) man, i don't know what i would've done without vintage MAD's growing up. (click to enlarge.)

marisa, baring some

yeah, i know... that's a lame play-on-words. but hey, what a groovy picture of the slinky and always beautiful miss marisa berenson! i first became aware of her in fosse's 'cabaret.' subsequently, i swooned over her in kubrick's 'barry lyndon.' and, until the computer age came sluicing in on me, i had no idea she'd done so much straight-up fashion modeling in the late 60's-70's. jean-lucien has been great at finding groovy rare pictures of her like this one. i love that style of serpentine bracelet... when i was a kid, i thought that was like, the 'exotic-est,' and often attempted to draw them on girls... back when i used to draw. i love the twisted hair, too. she's sort of like the brunette twiggy... and you know most men of taste prefer brunettes... am i right, dark-haired girls?

hey hey, they hung out

i'm a huge monkees fan, as everyone knows. and i'm also a lifelong beatles fan. and being fans of both, i can attest to the fact that, back in the 60's, all the teen mags and stuff preyed on the manufactured concept that the two bands were harsh rivals, and were often like, openly hostile and competitive about it. it sounds like a cliche, but nothing could be further from the truth. once the monkees got 'big,' they inevitably met their english 'rivals,' and often did the 'hippy thing' together. both bands had common ground when it came to hassles with contracts and managers and publicity stunts and stuff like that. by the third album, the monkees were playing all their own music, and they were pretty damn good at it, considering davy and micky weren't primarily musicians. so here's groovy photographic proof that they weren't exactly tearing eachother's throats out. needless to say, we've got the legendary george harrison on the left, and the breezy, carefree hippy peter tork on the right. just for the record, i seriously don't think i've ever seen this picture before. god bless this wild machine.

smokin' beatles

mmm, hey lovers. i'm pretty sleepy tonight. so this might be the only thing i post. yeah, i know its not much, but whatever. it is, as you can see, a nice dreamy shot of the fabulous four beatles, all lighting up some hot fags. (soundz dirty.) and after giving it a quick look, i think i'm gonna proclaim that john is the easy winner in this horserace. so um, don't really have much of anything humorous to say about the pic, but i thought it was groovy enough to pass on without any kind of joke. so um, dig it.

easy jack

being a jack nicholson fan is a tightrope walk. for instance, i can't praise his performance of jack torrance in 'the shining' hard enough; and his role in 'terms of endearment' was an oasis of complex life in an otherwise schmaltzy escapade. and who can discount his work in 'easy rider,' or in 'one flew over the cuckoo's nest,' or even in the dry, enigmatic 'chinatown?'

and then ...on the other hand, there's 'the joker' from the keaton batman. (yikes...!) then there's the overdone, pointless 'devil' daryl van horne in 'witches of eastwick.' (okay, i know... we can't really fault jack for all the failures of that picture. in most cases, he lifted that limp script up to a glory it most assuredly did not deserve.) so you see what i mean... digging jack means forgiving lackluster efforts like 'hoffa' and 'wolf.' (actually, i admit, i haven't seen all of 'hoffa.') but i have seen 'psych-out.' its great. and he did have an active hand in writing the 'script' for the monkees' cinematic patchwork feature film 'head.' so it seems one must entertain a particularly bissected psyche to be a fan of mr. jack nicholson. but i'll gladly split myself in half... because the half of him that's worth it, IS... indeed, very worth it. (just for the record, i think this picture was taken in 1980... or just before. his absolute peak, looks-wise, if you ask me.)

girly for me

today, jean-lucien sent me this lovely lilac velvety illustration of a perriot holding a rose. i was touched. hey, come on... its not as drippy as it sounds. he sent it to me as sort of a love letter from a brother to a sister. from a brother who knew his sister liked lovely, pretty, dreamy, girly things. by sending me this picture, he was telling me how glad and proud he was that i was a girl.
i remember one time in middle school i was invited to a birthday party for an upper-middle class girl... a classmate, named amy williams. it was a sleepover. and we were, naturally, all expected to bring a present. i remember going out with my mother to the mall. i felt a lot of pressure. i liked amy... even though i knew 'class' divided us. i thought she was rich... i knew i was not. but i liked her. i knew she was smart. i wanted the birthday gift to 'measure up.' i don't remember where, but i found this object... this light purple satin cushion about the size of a softball, with a real porcelian perriot head on top, surrounded by wisps of delicate white feathers. i thought it was classy... reasonably priced (at about nine dollars), and only very slightly romantic. oddly, i hardly remember her opening it. i hardly remember her reacting to it. but i do wonder if she still has it. and if so, i wonder if she remember who gave it to her. i remember her house was on a steep, wooded hill... with dozens of small, white, stone steps leading up to the front door. no great new friendships grew out of that party. but amy was never directly ugly to me. so god bless her for that.

fear of the unknown

i hope jean-lucien doesn't mind me posting this. he sent me this grim and dazzling notebook illustration several months ago. and since we're closing in on halloween soon, i thought it was appropriate to post it now. from left to right, we've got miss imogene claire, tipping the bottle of communion wine to her lips. its actually an excised part of a still frame taken from the 'eyesight to the blind' number from the who and ken russell's 'tommy.' (the part where ann-margret takes tommy to the church of marilyn monroe.) the orange punch wash and bubbles that make up the background is a fine example of jean-lucien's abstract painting skills. i think i sent him the skeleton in the top hat a long time ago, and i must say he put it to good use. i have no idea where the little girl in the blindfold came from, but its a perfect symbol of captivity, powerlessness, anonymity, and fear. i love this piece. its one of my favorites of his. even so, if he wants me to take it down, i will do so in twenty-four hours. until then, dig on it. genius. his talent for this art form leaves me forever amazed. just beautiful. (click to enlarge.)

ummm, okay

jean-lucien sent me this shot sunday, and as soon as i saw it, i knew it was going on the blog. i mean, do i really even need to write anything? let's see... we've got the very unmistakeable trio of yoko ono, andy warhol, and john winston lennon, all playing a weird and heated game of 'crotch-grab.' you look at a shot like this and you can't help but wonder... what led up to this priceless little slice of 'freak life.' i mean, did they see the guy with the camera and sort of like, on 'the sly' said to eachother, '...hey, let's really give this photographer a shot worth his time.' ? or was it a totally spontaneous moment that was just unfortunately immortalized on film? either way, its still very hilarious. andy doesn't even look like he knows what planet he's on. yoko, who hasn't even bothered to put down her cig, seems to be more or less 'along for the ride.' so, i'm left to draw the conclusion that the whole thing is john's idea. which doesn't exactly surprise me. i have no idea where jean-luc found it, but i think its priceless. rock on, you three. and give peace a chance.

church : the beatles - piggies - the white album

bacon for sunday breakfast. deelicious... !

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.

his eyes say yes...

but his lips say no. don't believe him. valmont is a mysterious and dangerous creature. you can't trust him. you cannot resist him. those eyes, those lips... those artificial curls, that bone structure... that insincere tricky wisp in his voice. what planet is this one from? you ask yourself. that ugly one who wears brocade and lace as naturally as dusty, trail-busted denim... that one who speaks with serpentine ease. this one must want something. and you know what? you are going to give it to him. you are going to give this silverthreaded slitherer all he requests. so... you break a few rules... so you betray a few long-held beliefs... what difference does it make? valmont wants to meet you. drop everything, dammit. blow out the candles and leave a day's worth of milk out for the cat. just split and don't forget to lock the door behind you. he's waiting...

malkovich as murnau

sorry, i couldn't resist. i've had john malkovich on the brain lately. i've had 'dangerous liaisons' on my regular rotation, as well as his theatrical effort as 'lee' from sam shepherd's 'true west.' (in which he starred opposite a young gary sinise.) i snatched this shot myself from the 'shadow of the vampire' dvd. and it wasn't easy. the quality of the transfer on the official dvd is like, the grainy-worst. maybe it was the fault of the photography in the first place, i dunno. all i know is it's murder trying to get a decent, clear freeze-frame from that movie. but here he is, my gorgeous and wicked mr. malkovich as the enigmatic freiderich murnau, in a freaky cave, bargaining with the vampiric creature known as 'orlock.' (played with hilarious brilliance by willem dafoe.) i think this movie is well worth a look. it also features eddie izzard, ronan vibert, cary elwes, and udo kier. it's an imperfect film, but great fun. it grew on me like wild ivy. its a very voyeuristic film. you get the feeling the actors have no idea anyone is ever watching. and i love that. (ps. this one enlarges gorgeously.)

ignore at your own risk

mmm, you know what i always say: anytime is the right time for a sexy screen capture of morrissey. (...mm, i don't 'say that.') anyway, here's a shot i took a long time ago from the 'oye esteban' dvd. its from the video for the song 'the more you ignore me, the closer i get.' its not one of my all-time faves by morrissey, but it IS a good one. and he looks very, very, good in the video. he gets a lot of 'face time.' ( i think that's the correct industry term.) so i managed to get this shot... which was tricky, because there's a lot of strobe-ish lighting, and the camera swoops around like a dragonfly. still, its a great picture. it almost makes me want to dig out the dvd... but yeah, i know... why go through all that trouble with the big, bad miraculous YT at my fingertips? (...yes, why indeed.) click to enlarge... it enlarges nicely.

lemon cologne

(i know the copy is a little delicate... so the caption is : '...i just don't like smelling like a lemon grove. i'm more subtle than that.' as if 'lemon' is 'real slutty' or something.)

yes, i have to admit, i dig most citrusy cologne. but i think this ad is for more of a 'body splash' than a cologne. actually, since the model is bagging on smelling like a lemon grove, i assume this ad was for a different fragrance, but i've cut off most of the copy, so i can't really tell which smell she was actively hawking. but i love her embroidered blouse, her jeans, her pretty make-up, and her wispy, sandy, gretel-braided hair. i wonder what book she's reading? 'are you there god, its me, margaret?' judy blume's more adult novel 'forever?' or 'wifey?' (i highly recommend 'wifey' by the way... its a hell of a good read.) or maybe she's reading (predictably) emily dickinson. or perhaps '101 of the world's most tasteless jokes.' and i dig the hazy dude in the yellow shirt in the background reaching down to pluck clover or something. i love this ad, just for the nostalgia. and the girl's a darling. i wish the grain and resolution was better, but hey... it was the best version i could find.

kate and cousin

i don't remember where i found this shot. but i love it. it shows a young miss kate bush and her young cousin. wow, she looks exactly the same, am i right? just like kate, but smaller. its 'kitten kate.' and her cousin looks groovy too, playmate-wise. what's that he's holding? a zither? or is it an 'autoharp?' all i know is that our music teacher used to use one back at kirkman park elementary school. i always wanted to play with it. and i think i did at some point, because my brain has sensory memory about like, what it felt like and all that. even at that age, she seemed to have the wild mind of a genius freaker behind her little british hazel eyes. groovy.

ash takes a peek

yeah, i spent some more time tonight rescuing some of the files i 'lost' when my computer crashed a while back. so, ummm, i don't really have any groundbreaking ideas, but just to mark my place i thought i'd post a shot of science officer ash. (ian holm from 'alien') i haven't posted a shot of him for a long time. here, you see him taking a sneakity-peek at the 'organism.' actually the 'peek' is not so sneaky... its his job. this might be the only thing i post tonight. i was literally awake until the sun came up last night, so i'm hoping to hit the pillow a little sooner tonight. i haven't rolled 'alien' in quite a while. i rolled it enough to memorize it, and the seasons changed and... well, that's the way it happens sometimes.

she wants paul

yes, being a huge sylvie vartan fan, i was thrilled when i learned she was the opening act for the beatles on several of their european tour dates. hey, yet another reason to want a big bad time machine, am i right kids? anyway, here's a publicity shot she and the liverpool lads posed for sometime around, mmm... '65? maybe? i know i could look it up, but i don't feel like digging around for info right now. i love the shot because they all look pretty good here. and check out miss sylvie's line of eyesight... is she giving paul the lusty 'hot broad' stare-down or what? hey, maybe she bagged him, i don't know. i mean, i think she was married then, but that wouldn't stop me, so maybe it didn't stop her. oh, and just for the record, i have no idea who the bloke is that isn't a beatle. but whoever he is, i'll bet he has a copy of this photo, and often reminds people of it.

shok!

i hope jean-lucien doesn't mind me posting this. its a gorgeous notebook illustration he 'collaged-up' a few years ago. i think its stained-glassy and very beautiful. the couple in bed are, yes... that's roger daltrey, and the chick in his arms in none other than nell campbell. she's the chick who played the sequined columbia in 'the rocky horror picture show.' why are these two cuddled in bed together? well, its from the wild and wonderful ken russell movie about the composer franz liszt; 'lisztomania.' (i hope i spelled that right.) its one of my favorite pieces jean-luc made around that time. i think its glassy and i can almost taste it, if that makes any sense. in enlarges pretty well too. so yeah, all credit goes to jean-lucien for this one. and if he objects, i'll take it down within 24 hours.

body cartoon

hey lovers. i'm still not feeling all that prolific. but at least i've got a fire going on a cold night like this. and my mood is good. so, until my creativity juices kick back in, dig on this one-frame cartoon i made using a shot from brian de palma's hilarious sex thriller, 'body double.'

(click to enlarge if you can't read it.)

the rope blokes

yeah, i'm exhausted. i just really feel like hitting the bed early tonight. i'm in a good mood and all, i'm just like, sleepy and junk. so, just to mark my page, here's a shot of the hair-sheen murderous dudes from 'rope!' that's john dall as 'brandon' on the left, and farley granger as 'phillip' on the right. i love that movie, man. (that's the film 'rope' by alfred hitchcock.) so umm, i love you all and hopefully i'll have more for you tomorrow night.

the real suzanne

now, i'm not the biggest suzanne somers fan in the world. yes, i dug 'three's company,' but that's pretty much the only thing in know her from. i'm posting this picture because i believe it speaks volumes about how twisted and weird the whole 'sex symbol' thing has become over the years. when this picture was taken, miss somers was considered one of the hottest bodies and faces in entertainment. i remember; i was there. now, if she was on some show, and this picture was published, i have no doubt it would be torn apart on all the fame mags. there would be all sorts of rude arrows pointing out each and every imaginary figure 'flaw.' but it just goes to show how much more real the girls were back then. these days, they'd airbrush an impossibly flatter tummy, boost up her already-natural and groovy boobs, they'd even out her skin tone, and even inexplicably do away with any fleshy folds and-or paleness under her arms. if i think about it too long, it makes me mad... man, all the artificial crap they do to modern starlet photos. i'm sure you wouldn't have to go too far to find a gaggle of brainwashed 13 year olds to testify with disgust that she was ... fat! wow, the longer i look at a picture like this, the more i realize how phony things have become. even her feet look far more 'real' than they do these days. you hardly ever see naked feet anymore. bizarre.

the lighter side of fall

yes, its my favorite season; autumn. outside my door, the leaves are falling. i love it. i love the crisp smell of smoke in the air. and i also love the comic genius of MAD magazine's brilliant realist, mr. dave berg. as for actually physically raking leaves? i think i've only done it about four times in my life. and that may be a generous estimate. i don't think its 'below' me or anything, i just haven't done it all that much. i remember trudging through leaves on the way home from kirkman park elementary school and blindly stepped on a discarded board with a nail sticking out of it; and the nail went straight through my shoe and my foot. i don't remember it even hurting... i just remember being fascinated by it. it was the only time i ever got a tetanus shot. it was on ferris avenue, if i'm not mistaken. but that's beside the point. i love the old dave berg strips. they were the best.

click to enlarge.

sandy serves herself

"...silly me, i already had dinner... i didn't know there would be this much food..." (2-3-4) "...its for my dog... he likes fruit..." mmm, that's wonderful. the way she says it, its like she can't even convince herself that it doesn't sound like 100% totally transparent BS. there's so much funny about this shot. i mean, her lines alone are a scream. but i've always thought it was hilarious that she's trying to shove a napkin full of ripe, fresh grapes into her rigid little brown suede purse; a purse that doesn't even look large enough to hold a hairbrush, face powder, and keys. and i also dig looks on the faces of the upper-crust couple she's feeding the line to. do you think they're buying it? i don't think they're buying it. comedy gold.

a good reed

yeah, this is just straight-up hilarious, if you ask me. i've been sitting on this one for a long time. i almost don't think i need to comment on it. i mean, i think the humor speaks for itself. the title is just like, well... it sounds like i or jean-luc made it up. but seriously, i found it just like that. i'll bet it's an interesting book, though. i think its been pretty well established that the late, great oliver reed knew a thing or two about 'raising the ol' pint,' as it were. like i suspect the chapters would be something like, 'the night i got into a fight,' then like, two chapters later, 'yet another fist fight,' then two chapters later, 'drunken fisticuffs in the midnight hour,' then one chapter after that, 'you should see the other bloke.' then the next one like, '...pardon, constable.' i'll bet the book is almost impossible to find, even today with our robot-auctions and booksellers named after south american rivers. god bless, oliver. sleep well.

morrissey, so coy

yes, i wanted a little color, and i also wanted a little morrissey. this is a fine example of jean-lucien's video sharpshooting. this shot was taken from the video for the 1995 single 'dangenham dave.' it can be found on the highly recommended 'oye esteban' dvd. at first i didn't think i liked the song, but it grew on me. seriously, about 90% of his solo stuff is excellent. (in my opinion) if you've seen the video, you'll know that this shot was pretty hard to get. in the video, morrissey is walking (rather briskly) through a dimly-lit pub. jean-lucien managed to get one of maybe only three actually usable frames. just perfect. and jean-luc did the 'tricking' too. i just love it. i even used it for one of my few full-color notebook covers. i love the coy look on his face. and the grain is just silky and gorgeous. so dig his hot face, and if you happen across the video, dig on that, too. (click to enlarge)

palin and bush get my vote!

only ummm, not the 'palin and bush' you might think. yes, my big bad groovy vote goes to the terribly cool couple of python's michael palin, and the exotic and talented miss kate bush! now there's a team i get 'get behind,' coolness-wise. i have no information as to like, what kind of event this picture was taken at. probably some kind of 'prince's trust' something-or-other. they seem to have a 'prince's trust' shindig over there like, every other weekend. it looks like they're holding some kind of award? who knows. it could be a 'child's bank' for all i know. i've given it a close look, and it looks like a little... gallows or something? who knows. hey, at least they look happy. actually, judging by their clothes, the event doesn't look all that formal. anyway, i thought it was a cool picture. i wonder who else they hung out with that night? (cut to a smoke-filled back room. on the sofa, locked in a 'make-out three-way' are kate, mr. palin, and david byrne.) ...i'm going with david byrne on that one? sigh...

rag dolls

man, i really don't feel very inspired tonight, but i wanted to mark my place. so, i love looking for old and interesting paperback covers when i go pearldiving. i found this one a while back, and i love it. its probably not surprising that i've never heard of this piece of classic literature. but i dig the vibe, and i like the cover. i like the fact that live models were used instead of the far-more common use of illustration. i would've loved to have been hanging around during the photo shoot. and where are these people now? as far as the subject matter goes, i don't think 'the fashion world' would grip me, grip me by the page-turning brain. i don't even watch 'project runway.' (despite a weirdly bewildering amount of people telling me that i '...just have to watch it!!') but yeah, i dig this cover, in all its late 60's manufactured freakiness. let's take a look at the small print. if you click to enlarge, you'll see it says: '...they were the Rag Dolls - London's top young models and designers who set the style in kicky clothes and kinky sex...' mmm, sounds great.