joe smokes

i found this gorgeous shot tonight. man, is he pretty or what? he died at age 50. he was born in ankara, turkey. apparently his father killed himself and joe had to identify his body after it had been dead for three days. he went to a welsh art school. he busked in the mid 70's. he was naturally left-handed, but taught himself how to play guitar with his right. he and the clash signed with cbs records in january of 1977. in the following years, joe was involved in anti-nazi causes and spoke out against racism. and the rich. in may, 1980 he was arrested for almost killing a violent member of their audience by striking him with a guitar... an incident which he later deeply regretted. if there's one thing i dig, its a complicated man with a great face. so dig him, he may be the only thing i post tonight.

duran duran - thank you : video

here is a very good fanvid made for the excellent duran duran cover of the led zeppelin song 'thank you.' listen and dig simon's take on this classic. warren's guitar and nick's synth powers make it real.

queen of the pack

no, its not a 'ska-reggae-flavored' pop hit by 90's songstress 'patra,' ...it IS however, miss elizabeth taylor, smoking, on the sprawling 'cash-monster' set of 'cleopatra.' now, i fully admit, i've never seen the whole movie. but uh, i've bumped into about 90 separate minutes of it, at random, over the years. so i think i've got it all figured out. i mean, this is pretty much it, right?: the movie starts, she changes clothes. they consult about ancient politics... she changes clothes again. she makes out with burton-and-or-rex-harrison, another costume change. a grand entrance combined with a costume change. they warn her about something having to do with ancient politics while she's changing clothes. then ultimately, she kills herself with a snake... only after changing clothes for 'one last time.' but she looks good, so she's also gonna help us out by providing us with a cool 'chicks smoking' entry here on the planet. who could 'asp' for anything more?

the bootleggiest

man, if i had a buck for every beatle bootleg out there. hey, i'm not knocking bootlegs... some of my finest music and video 'finds' have been bootlegs. (like for instance that japanese david bowie tour vhs that was labeled with some sticker with a cartoon cat on it playing an upright bass along with the caption 'the swinging cat.' ) but i don't think i've ever bought a beatle bootleg. but hey, don't let that fool you; i AM a 'true fan.' and i truly know the 'hilarity potential' inherent in a clunky, dubious bootleg. like for instance, there are several details i dig about this one. i'm not sure if it's readable on the blog, but the emblem in the upper right hand corner tells us this was pressed by the world-famous 'yellow dog' label. (yeah, i've never heard of it either.) the rest is obvious... the beatles look like a collective ass. john is saluting for some reason, richard looks like he has... is that a 'shoe-boot' on his head? george apparently thinks its gonna further his cause as a 'cool person' to blow into a prop trumpet, and paul is wearing a motorcycle helmet. i don't remember ever seeing paul on a motorcycle. hey, maybe he rode one breifly in the late 80's when i 'wasn't looking.' oh, and i also think its funny that the title of this record is 'unsurpassed demos.' yeah, i'd lay down some actual cash to bet a great many of their 'demos' were in fact, surpassed... surpassed by the expertly polished-and-perfected 'album track,' perhaps. (i mean, can you even 'imagine' what the demo track of 'wild honey pie' might've sounded like..?)

smokin' horserace

yes, its two, two, two things-in-one! its not just a cool shot of men smoking... its a cool shot of men smoking who also happen to be... the 'world famous' beatles! and you know i'm the first one to admit, all four of them look pretty good here; but its a 'fab' horserace, and as always, you've gotta judge it on not JUST who looks the hottest, but rather, who looks the hottest when you take into consideration how good each one is generally capable of looking. and when you think of it that way, then you've almost certainly got to give it to richard. (that's ringo, to most of you.) then i think john is second, then paul, then wow... surprise surprise, my sweet george is a rare 'dead last.' and do pop stars even smoke anymore? i mean tobbaco? i mean, out in public? hey, maybe they do. it just occurred to me i don't even know who 'today's pop stars' are, so i guess i wouldn't know if they were 'blazing up' for-all-to-see in front of the cameras. yeah, who are today's pop stars? i can't even come up with one name. i think the only modern song i've 'favorited' lately is that 'all the single ladies' thing that i can't get out of my head. and its almost 1 o'clock, so i should be getting tired of that one pretty soon.

i can see all the way to cleveland

mmm, there are three things i dig about this picture. 1) mr. terry jones... 2) miss carol cleveland... and 3) miss carol cleveland's upskirt panties. yeah, jean-lucien did some screen capturing from the python dvds earlier today, and this was one of his best shots. i'm not sure i remember all that much about the skit... but i do remember the artful panty-flash. i don't mean to cheapen carol at all. i think she's a real legend. and i think anyone who doesn't give her pretty serious 'python' credit is making a huge mistake. i mean, it would be impossible to get the arthur pewtey joke to 'come out right' if you just let john or terry go in drag as michael's wife. and the same can be said for the tapdancing showgirl in neil innes's 'urban spaceman' skit in 'hollywood bowl.' she's also hilarious in the 'arthur name' skit... ("...come on then luv, drop 'em!") and the 'dirty vicar' sketch... and wow, so many more. carol, we love you .

unicorny

when i was like, 9? 10? i totally fell for all that 'unicorn' stuff that was popular in like, 1982. i remember i (we) had one unicorn calendar, at least one unicorn jigsaw puzzle, a little plush stuffed animal unicorn, countless unicorn stickers, and i remember i also had this... 'the unicorn notebook.' it was really groovy inside... with parchment-looking paper, which was blank except for these all intricate, well-done wispy drawings of some jive-ass fantasy unicorn on all the borders and the margins in all sorts of 'jive-ass' unicorn 'scenes.' i guess you were supposed to write your own stuff inside, but i don't think jean-luc and i ever did. i think we just dug it for the drawings and the 'popular-at-the-time' unicorn 'vibe.' i remember that was also like, the same year we were desperately in love with olivia newton-john. man, if olivia had ever put out a song about unicorns i think our little heads would've exploded. oddly, i've never been into horses, just unicorns and pegasuses. (mmm, non-word.) for some reason i've never thought of unicorns behing 'horsey' in the same way horses were. it was like, horses were country music, and unicorns were 'new wave.' anyway, this was what the front of the notebook looked like. oh, and jean-luc and i also went to see 'the last unicorn' in the theater.

...ummm

...he is so NOT the 'do-right' man.

alphonse mucha - st. louis indian

umm, there's not much i really need to say about this. except that its from alphonse mucha, and its beautiful. i don't know for sure if this was for a calendar or what. but i love the deftly-executed drawing of the maiden draped in apricot-colored cotton and dullish necklace silver alongside the pensive and apparently smitten native american gentleman. god bless america... and the bullish, entitled american appetite.

a little roman

man, i feel sooo like i'm about to fall asleep. but i didn't want to leave the night un-marked, so i dug up some shots of film genius roman polanski. i love this one. he's at a gorgeous young age, and appears to be standing in some kind of hippy loft. hey, chicks... beware, he's been known to seduce a few in his time. he wouldn't have to work too hard on me, looking like that. yeah, that's apparently the best i can do tonight; a barely-awake sexual 'shout out' to a '60's' roman polanski. hey, maybe i'll post something else, but i really wanna 'get horizontal' and get to know the insides of my eyelids, so this might be it. i love you all.

joe: page one

jean-lucien sent me this gorgeous notebook illustration a couple of months ago, and i hope he doesn't mind that i'm posting it now. it shows the cool genius joe strummer in the hat, with a generous amount of jean-lucien's colorwork surrounding him. i love the colors... like, i can literally almost taste them. and i've discovered what i love about his face: it fools me. like, he can move his face mere millimeters, and i get a completely different impression. he can go from repulsive to sublime in a matter of split-seconds. i love to watch him play and perform. he's lost, but he always delivers. anyway... i don't want to get too poetic. the artwork speaks for itself. dig it.

rollerbitch

yeah, i'm not sure why i'm even posting this. its a shot of the somewhat-talented miss racquel welch in the 1972 classic 'kansas city bombers,' directed by the great jerrold freedman. (?) i have no idea what the movie is about, but i found this and i thought it was a hoot. i couldn't get the color right in color... it had wayyy too much orange in it, but i found it came accross just as well in black and white... like you 'get the idea.' man, i wouldn't wanna fight her. or maybe i would, i don't know... maybe she can't fight at all. i do know that she and i share the 'same birthday, different year,' so i guess i can cut her some slack for that. rock on, miss welch. virgo power. (?)

i am curious, mia

mmm, hey... its a vintage MAD magazine joke, ladies and gentlemen. but hey, its 'no joke' how groovy miss mia farrow looks in this rare shot. (or, she may have been mrs. frank sinatra at this point, i can't be sure.) still, i dig her on so many levels. she's living proof that you can be glamorously pretty, yet still retain a keen intellect and savage acting skills. i suppose everyone that knows me knows how crazy i am about her performance in 'rosemary's baby.' hey, i 'movie geek' -know it by heart! and believe it or not, its surprisingly difficult to get a good picture of her from that era. so i lucked out the other night and found more than one. but this one i decided to post on the grounds that she looks both lovely, glamourous, yet still girlish and curious. hey, i think she's 'proven historically' that absolutely no-one wears that haircut like she does. did. (click to groovily enlarge)

dorsey scores

i know i sort of 'bagged on' dustin's sex appeal a few posts ago... suggesting that he (as michael dorsey) wasn't savvy enough to get a broad to be 'the last one to' take their coat off his bed. but let me set the record straight. i love dustin... all the way from 'the graduate' to 'hook' and beyond. i ran accross this shot a few nights ago. i don't know if it said who the chick was... it might've been his wife... i think i read somewhere he was married back then. but whoever she is, it sure looks like she's getting some steamy 'mouth-to-mouth' treatment from the backseat-horny jean-clad mr. hoffman. hey, i actually find myself thinking that i wouldn't mind trading places with her for a minute... just to see if he's 'got the goods,' you know what i mean? anyway, i think its a great photo... and i wanted to post it to like, remedy my busting on him earlier in the week. (click to really enlarge)

lovely lyndons

here's another one i've had for a couple of months now. jean-lucien sent it to me and i just haven't gotten around to posting it until now. but i love it. its got that sweet jeweled look to it. that is, of course, ryan o'neal as redmond barry in the lower left, and the wispy and exquisite miss marisa berenson as lady lyndon, his rich wife. i don't have much to say about this one, except that its gorgeous and i hope you dig it.

the luckiest bride

hey, i'm not gonna lie... i'm like most 'girly' girls... i'd love to get married someday. like, i'd love to pick out and wear my own ultimate white dress, and enjoy the ceremony centered around myself... but since i can't legally marry jean-lucien, that's not likely to happen like, 'officially.' but it doesn't stop me from wondering what my dress would be like. all that aside, how's this for a groovy shot? it shows the game and gorgeous miss carol cleavland, all draped in lacy white, and fully supported by her five devoted brothers. and they are, from left to right: the handsome genius terry jones, the vain man-diva eric idle, the dependable and sensible michael palin, the very homosexual graham chapman, and the wicked and rougish john cleese. who could ask for a finer bridal party?

my pash for ash

yes, my 'pash' for ian holm as science officer ash is still going strong. i was digging through some old files, and i found this excellent shot, and couldn't believe i hadn't posted it yet. i can't take credit for it, though. jean-lucien screen captured it, and tricked it to his exacting specifications before he sent it my way. i've been sitting on it, it seems, for over a year. cinematically speaking, its taken from the part near the end, where he goes all 'robot'-crazy and tries to kick the hell out of ripley. (sigourney weaver) yet, he remains cool the whole time he kicks ass and tries to choke her with a rolled-up magazine. like the great peter tork once said, '...yeah, cool, machine.' (?) this shot, when 'clicked-to-enlarge,' reveals the sublime quality of jean-lucien's equipment. the grain is lush and the shot is vibrant and clean. (its like he's got a bmw, and i've got a honda. hey, don't get me wrong, hondas are great... they're dependable, quick, and virtually indestructable, but i drove a bmw once, and there was a very creamy difference.) but back to the shot... great stuff, right? ahhh, ian... why don't you give me a call?

oh carroll

i lucked out last night on my pearldive. i found some great, rare, high quality shots of my darling miss carroll baker taken during the filming of the elia kazan masterpiece 'babydoll.' i really feel like, what can i say? she's so beautiful its weird... and i don't even like blondes. (georgina hale and helen mirren excepted.) in the movie, karl malden accuses her of having a 'mona lisa smile'... and he's right about that. slight and mysterious, but so lovely its hard to look away. this shot leapt out at me, on account of it was very 'never-before-seen' by my eyes. and trust me, i google carroll baker all the time. and she's not just a pretty face. she can 'shred the screen' as well as brando and vivien leigh... or any of those confirmed 'greats.' she was also fortunate enough to be in 'giant,' ...one of james dean's three films. she was nominated for Best Actress for her portrayal of the child bride in 'babydoll.' she lost to ingrid bergman for 'anastasia,' which i haven't seen, so i can't truthfully say whether or not she 'got robbed.' carroll's still around, last time i checked. so carroll, if you're reading this, i think you're the best.

stolen

here's the cover of the next-to-most-recent book i wrote. its called 'stolen,' because i was stuck for a fresh book... i happened to have one jean-lucien started, but never wrote it. he'd done the whole cover and everything, but then never used it. so i took it, glued a few more scraps on the cover, and titled it. it's a vague throwback to that great dead milkmen song... 'punk rock girl.' in the narrative of the song, they get into a car, and the singer asks, '...how much'dyou pay for this? ...she said, 'nothin' man, its stolen...'' i've always liked that song. and i sort of feel like i 'stole' 90 percent of jean-lucien's cover. the book's finished now. but i still thought it needed a slot on 'the planet.' the lavender lad on the right of the cover is a lovely shot of a very teenaged morrissey. there's a little bit of blue alphonse mucha in there, too. very pretty.

the eye roll

jean-lucien captured this a few days ago. its a shot of the sudsy christine ebersole as 'miss right' from the party scene in the beginning of 'tootsie.' yes, that's dustin hoffman as michael dorsey she's throwing the 'mercy hug' to. dig that eye roll. hilarious. that whole bit where he clumsily comes on to her is a scream. i think its so pathetic that, after that thudding hug, he actually says to her, '...thank you for liking me.' and that whole line about '...i don't know you, but i know you...' and '...i'll bet you like to walk barefoot on the beach.' and then she comes back with the deadly, '...why are you so wired?' just perfect. he wants her to be the last one to take her coat off his bed. what does that mean? like, is he imagining such a scene where they sit up 'all night long,' talking about 'everything and nothing,' until they finally 'make it real' at daybreak? mmm, its not gonna happen.

her name is norma

let everyone call her marilyn, but i can't look at her without seeing norma jeane. i went diving for picksh last night, and this gem was caught in my nets. i love the lushness of her flesh, keenly set off by her all-black costume. i know enough about norma to know this shot was taken relatively early in her career. i'd say around the time she made 'niagara' or something. wow... what a pretty girl she was. i've heard so many conflicting rumors, its impossible for me to testify as to whether or not she's had any 'work done.' but wow, she looks positively luminous in this shot, does she not? i love that sexy, low-lidded look in her eyes... i love her stylish 'up-do,' and that low, low cut front of that dress..! and the opera gloves are like the icing on the cake. so here's to you, miss norma jeane. you are always welcome on 'the planet.'