the silver ball

here is a gorgeous example of the art of screen capturing. this is a single frame from ken russell's film 'tommy' that jean-lucien sharpshot a long time ago. it was taken from the 'pinball wizard' sequence; and anyone who's seen that film knows how damn fast it gets. a quick eye froze it, and the artist tricked and coaxed it to a perfect color and shimmer. the end result is dazzling, but altogether faithful to the original image.

venus and mars

what a picture... what a couple of mad geniuses these two are. that's ann-margret on the left, looking very ...ahuh, smashing, if you'll pardon the pun, and the wild master himself, mr. ken russell on the right. this was taken some time during the filming of the great rock opera 'tommy.' if you've ever seen the movie, then you know what happens to that all-white room they're posing in. i often wondered if they filmed 'the scene' last, or if there was perhaps more than one white set built. because i seriously doubt they let ann and the chocolate and beans and suds have one take, then went through the trouble of cleaning everything up. this picture struck me because i've never seen it before, even though i've seen the movie more times than i can count. i wish i could remember where i found it, but sadly i don't.

starry sally as herself

i snagged this cool shot from ken russell's 'tommy' just to see if i could coax the tricky color out of it. i think it turned out well. this is the lovestruck sally simpson getting ready for the big concert. her vignette is a cool and crucial facet in pete townshend's well-paced and expertly crafted libretto. and hey, the song is great!! mmm, can you tell i'm tired tonight or what? sigh... so um, dig it.

church

what is church? where is church? these simple questions have gotten men killed. i maintain church is where you find it. a person with a brain and a heart knows whether or not he is honestly worshipping. therefore, an altar built on the plaster guise of marilyn monroe and a chorus led by eric clapton and directed by ken russell is, in my opinion, as legitimate a church as i have ever seen. my own church, well... this is America. And accordingly, my church is my concern.

the assistants

this is a still from ken russell's musical masterpiece, 'tommy.' the man is, of course, roger daltry, and man... i really should know the chick's names; seeing as how they're twins. hey, thanks to this Wild Machine, i just learned they are uncredited identical twins Susan and Jennifer Baker. i was somewhere around... mmm, it must've been seven or maybe eight years old, maybe younger, the first time i saw this film on HBO. the 'acid queen' sequence was the only part that i remember creeping me out, but even then, i was thrilled to see twins. twins are great. no matter what language someone speaks, they know twins when they see them. as i've often said, twins are a universal language.

holy cross

here is a still i shot from the monumental ken russell rock n'roll opera, the shocking 'tommy.' it is positively in my top five films of all time. this shot comes from the hallucinatory 'amazing journey' number. all songs were written by pete townshend, a great self-proclaimed bisexual. this fractured genius film dropped into my lap when i was less than ten. and it did a great deal to define my sense of fantasy and spare storytelling. it scared the hell out of me, but i loved every minute of it. even so young, i knew the difference between an intelligent, quality scare and just some dumb scare.

sally

groupies are interesting girls. i believe they're a cosmic necessity. they make sure the band gets to bed at a decent hour. and makes sure they're tired enough to sleep. every girl should have one or two groupie moments in her life, if she's lucky enough to do so. just make sure you pick a worthy performer, bring a friend, and for god's sake, make sure you're not scheduled to go into work in the morning.