baby night

i know this is gonna sound a little odd coming from someone as literate as myself. but i don't read actual books as often as i should. its not because i don't like books... i love them, but as an artist and writer, i just can't seem to find the time. i mean, anytime i have 'free time,' i seem to write my own stuff. but recently, i had to go to a big bad boring doctor's appointment, and i knew i had over an hour of time in the waiting room. so luckily for me, i had a paperback copy of ira levin's horror masterpiece 'rosemary's baby.' it's been one of my favorite movies for a long, long time. but i had never read the book. man, it was great. it really reminded me how transporting reading can be. like, there i was, damp and wilted from the northern spring rain, in the bright and clinical doctor's office waiting room, and once i cracked that book and fell into it, the time just flew by. i really had a ball. i had almost forgotten how much fun reading can be. (mmm, sounds like a corny psa to get kids to like, get off the video games and read.... mmm, like kids would listen to crazy ol' me.) so yeah, as a tribute to one of my favorite movies, and now one of my favorite books, i found this groovy shot of mia farrow and john cassavetes as rosemary and guy woodhouse. they're raising their glasses in celebration, because this night is 'baby night,' ... in other words, the night they've set aside for the conception of their first child. but, little does rosemary know, it won't be guy she'll be bompin' with tonight. it'll be the devil! hey, so dig the shot. i tricked it to look right-for-your-eyes! (click to enlarge)

happy late birthday robert powell

man, i'm tired. i had a full week. i was unable to post last night on account of a disruption in our internet service. and now, i'm typing with my right index finger bandaged due to a freak umbrella accident earlier in the day. so bear with me as far as like, typos and other carelessness due to fatigue and an injured finger. that being said, i checked my celebrity birthday source, and realized i should probably say happy 65th birthday to the english actor robert powell. apparently most people would probably recognize him from his starring role in the 'jesus of nazareth' miniseries. but i know him best from his great work in ken russell films. he played the doomed captain walker in 'tommy,' which was probably the first time i ever saw him. and then he also starred as gustav mahler in russell's 1974 fantastic biography picture 'mahler.' (one of ken's best... it manages to seamlessly stitch classic realism with moments of high camp outrageousness.) in this shot, we see powell-as-mahler, in one such fantasy sequence, sword in hand, silver swastika on his chest, atop an english hill, about to chow down hungrily on the head of a pig. in fact, it looks like he might already have his mouth full of snout. mmm, tasty isn't it, gustav? it might go down well with a big swig of milk. so umm, happy late birthday, robert. you are a very cool member of the planet.

oui, it is my new book, no?

oui, it is my new book YES! so yeah, thanks to my beloved jean-lucien sending me a sweet tasty bundle of new picksh, i was able to get my new dazzling volume of fantasy and laughs off the ground tonight. well, i just got the cover on. and i like it. let's see, as the Stars we have the gorgeous and ethereal miss georgina hale, as the sinning-and-seeking-absolution phillipe on the right, and mr. oliver reed as the trying-to-be-holy-yet-tormented-by-temptations father grandier on the left. the image is of course, from the ken russell masterpiece 'the devils.' (and wow, wow, wow.... if you can get your hands on an uncut copy of the film, then man, strap yourself in and get ready for the searing carnal ride. truly, not only is it one of the finest films ken russell has ever made, i daresay it is amongst the finest films of all the 1970's. it is as gorgeous as it is hellish and shocking.) and um, the title word, 'oui,' seems to speak for itself. it is an exotic and positive word. although i must admit i chose it for the look of the word as much as i did for the meaning. i have great hopes for this book, which was hatched on the first day of june. so okay, now for the medallions below the main picture... let's see, what do we have? from left to right, we have the late, great, tough and sexy mr. joe strummer, smoking a tough 'don't care' cig; then we have some random retro aqua lighting; then hey! let's hear it for the disco scene, because we've got a shot of the curvy and tough annette from 'saturday night fever,' lighting tony's disco cig. ('...but you'd ask me to lay down...') then we've got the lovely and legendary orchid-colored couple of lucy and dougie from 'sgt. pepper's lonely heart's club band,' doing 'you never give me your money,' ; and after them? well it's the marvelous karl malden as mitch from kazan's 'a streetcar named desire,' peeking through the drapes. then next up, in the blue circle, there's the loving sparring couple of 'empire's' princess leia and han solo, bickering in the south passage of Hoth. and last, but certainly never, ever least... we have the silver-haired and handsome, painfully sexy mr. ian holm, as tom frost in cronenberg's buggy epic 'naked lunch,' of course based (somewhat) on william s. burroughs great book. so here it is lovers, dig it... the clutch of blank pages that will soon be filled with literally thousands of separate inkstrokes. its always an odd feeling when i start a new book. like, i always find it hard to believe i'll ever get the whole thing filled up... but hey, i've got about nine year's worth of books like this, all full... so i guess it's all a matter of uncapping that pen, and starting with the first date, the first quote, and that first bit of wit that makes my darling laugh. thank you God. Seriously. (click to enlarge) (oh, and i've since realized that annette's not in fact lighting tony's cig. just wanted to correct that.)

sunday morning

... i did catch it.

i've got the fever!

okay, so... first up, it was a long, long day, with a lot of walking around, and humid, miserable grey weather... i had to get up early for my doctor's thing... but, after i got home and washed all the sweat and rain and grime off, i got the mail! yes, i got a generous 'care package' of picksh and stuff from my darling beloved jean-lucien. along with the picksh, and a fresh pair of knee socks, which i like, really needed, 'cause mine were like, soaked... was fresh cool dvd copy of 'saturday night fever!' i had never seen the whole thing before... like, i'd only seen about 17 collective minutes of it... on 'clean-language' cable. so, i popped it in, and now i feel like part of lucynell and lucien's 'disco club,' because once i started it, i didn't want to stop! and, it was at that precise moment that my computer's dvd drive decided to act up and freeze on me! i had to stop it, wait ten minutes, and start it over again where i left off. i almost said like, '...screw it, i'll watch the rest of it tommorrow,' ...but i was just so sucked into it, i didn't wanna wait that long. so, i just kept letting it calm down and then i started it back up again. it took me almost three and a half hours to finish it. but yeah, it was great. the dialogue in particular, was electric. i mean, the whole thing was great, but the writing in particular struck me. so... that explains this screen shot, which, as you may know, is the very last shot it in the movie. i mean, the dvd drive, when it was running properly, i was so afraid it would freeze up again if i stopped to snap a picture, that i waited until the very end and got the very last shot. so yeah, here it is disco lovers. and thanks jean-lucien, for always giving me a happy ending. (and beginning, and everything in between... like hey, jean-luc... i know 'how deep is your love,' ...like, you just proved it, with your flash care package of disco goods!) click to enlarge.

marc almond, soft

i don't have a lot of time tonight. i have to get up early, so i'm leaving the planet in the capable, legendary hands 0f the great marc almond. you all know he was the lead singer of soft cell, and an accomplished solo artist. there is noone like him. i wish i was in the proper state of mind to give him the poetic tribute he deserves. i hope to do something more for him in the future. in the meantime, i'm giving you all this gleaming, tasty screen capture i took from their video dvd. i think the song is 'say hello, wave goodbye.' not my favorite soft cell song, but it is still a classic bit of pop mastery. so dig it, and i hope to be in a better frame of mind for the weekend. i love you all. (click to enlarge)

lennon equals love

this is actually supposed to be funny, so ummm, i hope you think it is.

baby blue baby doll

miss carroll baker, ladies and gentlemen. wow, what a doll. this particular publicity shot of carroll; in the throne, with her shoes half-off; is surprisingly hard to come by. i found this one tonight, but it was all like, squashed... like, silly-putty distorted. so, after i snagged it, i had to put it through the photographic equivalent of a taffy puller. i tried to get as close as i could to her true physical proportions. (god knows i've studied her long and hard enough... i know every curve and corner and nuance of her body and face, due to my many rapt hours of 'carroll baker-worship.') so dig it, i think i ended up with a sultry result. man, i can't praise miss baker enough. hey, she's my favorite hollywood blonde! (even though she's truly a brunette.) so please dig this carroll shot as much as i do. and hey, carroll... if you're out there, we LOVE you here on 'the planet,' and some of us are dying to know exactly what it felt like to kiss eli wallach. (lucky!) (click to enlarge)

nick on film

yeah, i think i mentioned a couple of nights ago that i threw in my duran duran dvd to get some screen captures from. and this is one of them. here we see the genius lad, mr. nick rhodes, using a 'switch-comb' to fluff up those scarlet locks. i've never stopped loving nick rhodes. he takes being part of duran duran very seriously. and i just love that, because i think duran duran are a very serious part of pop music history. he's an extremely bright man, a talented musician, and above all... a tireless artist. and he's cute, too. so, here's to the glorious 'total package' that IS mr. nick rhodes. hey, boys on film... am i right, girls...? and its so decadent with that silver fur hanging on in the background. (click to enlarge)

llamas! - video

mardi blues

i think its fair to say that jean-lucien would raise an eyebrow if he heard the name 'mardi jacquet.' that's because i know that when he and i were children, we used to lay out all these deelish and sudsy centerfolds accross our hardwood bedroom floor and conduct 'beauty contests.' we read every girl's profile, we even invented voices for them and read out all the 'facts' on their playmate 'data sheet.' therefore, i know that jean-luc and i were relatively 'well-read' on the subject of mardi jacquet. here she is, from the waist up, looking cool and toplessly gorgeous. i should mention that she looks washed in blue light for a reason. well, unfortunately, i had to do that. the original picture i was working with was so underexposed and heavy with browns and rusts that i had no choice but to wash it out a little and 'ramp up' the more sapphire tones. but, all technical lingo aside, miss mardi jacquet is something special... she manages to wear a bolo tie and shimmery blue vest and somehow , she makes it look fantastic. perhaps its the silky, perfect, pear-shaped boobs and cute blonde shimmering bob-style haircut... perhaps its that flawless, glossy, porcelian make-up job... maybe its all of these things rolled together that make this one of my favorite pin-ups. i hope you dig it as much as i do. (click to enlarge)

planetary scream

hey, its hard for me to imagine a time when duran duran's videos were desperately hard to come by. fortunately, i was able to own a copy of their first video album on VHS almost as soon as we got a vcr... which i think was like, sometime around mid-85. so, i was able to watch, over and over again, gems like 'planet earth,' 'my own way,' and 'waiting for the nightboat,' ...videos which i don't believe i ever saw on MTV at that time. (back when MTV was 'the only game in town,' remember kids...??) so, fast forward to the bizarro year of 2009. all i had to do was reach for my shimmery, space-age dvd of duran duran's collected videos. all of them. all i had to do was hit a certain button when i wanted to freeze the picture. and keep it. thus, this groovy shot of simon in the band's first video 'planet earth.' sure, after i froze it and stored it, i cropped it a bit... fine-tuned the color and contrast, and here you have it. wow... sometimes it 'freaks me serious' when i think about how far we've come, as a society, technologically. so dig it, the space-age pop-rock artistically-altered freeze frame. (click to enlarge)

heel detail

you're gonna have to take my word for it... the best part of miss lynn schiller's mid-70's centerfold was this bit, right here; the shoes! i mean, yeah, the chick was cute and all, but...when i scanned the whole spread for the sexiest part, the part i most wanted to showcase, i kept coming back to these shoes! sturdy white leather strappy platform jobs with painted-on rose detail..! i ask you, could it get much sexier than that?! and, as if the shoes alone weren't sexy enough, miss schiller dared to pair them with smoky-blue sheer thigh-high stockings, and a classy white lace garter for the thigh area! you can get a hint of her provocative pose in the mirror, and you can take my word for it that she was smiling. i think we can also see a powder puff and a bowl of assorted fruits. and hey, by the look of things out the window... she was doing all this sexy posing in 'broad daylight!' once again, my very sincere praise goes out to miss schiller, and all the lovely ladies like her, that were willing to take it all off for the cameras. if not for them, i might've never known what true sexiness is. (click to enlarge for the deelish detail)

more caption fun

hey, i hope i'm not speaking too soon when i use the word 'fun,' ...like i'm totally gonna 'back into' these. (slang term for setting the premise up first, (this case, the photograph) then once i'm 'locked in;' thinking the 'funny' up afterwards.) this method often produces mixed results. just keep in mind when you read these, that i had like, zero planned for it, caption-wise, until this moment....now!

PETE: "...oh crap! the library's actually charging me the 12.95-and-change for that fan book i checked out and stole like, fifteen years ago; '...True: The 'All-True,' Pure 'Gold' Story Of Spandau Ballet,' " subtitled, " '...the Crown Princes Of The New Romantics Tell All!' Oh man, what the hell am i gonna do? I don't have that kind of cash laying around!!"

MIKE: "Hey calm down, Pete... you know the rules in this house... the dude who opens the cable bill pays the cable bill... so I guess you picked the wrong month to add that pay-per-view channel, 'Dudes Soaping Up Other Dudes.' "

WAVE: "...what do you mean, 'deaththreats?' Lemme see... Aw man, how 'out of it' are you? It clearly says right here, 'DeadHeads.' ... man, haven't you ever heard of Jerry Garcia...??"

MICK: "...is that like, a vial of the guy's blood and a little plastic baggie full of eyelashes and toenails? Hey, i hate to be the one to call 'stalker' on this, but umm, maybe you oughta consider calling that guy back." (p.s. forgive the highly grainy image quality... the whole 'monkees in paris' episode looks like that because it was shot on film instead of videotape.)

the bronstress

yes, i know this picture's on the small side, but i wanted to post it anyway. there are so few available pictures of the lovely and legendary miss eleanor bron out there, so i try to make it a 'planet priority' to post any and all decent shots of the goddess i can get my hands on. i mean, wow... i don't know too many chicks out there that have touched all four of the beatles, oliver reed, ken russell, glenda jackson, alan bates, neil innes, dudley moore, peter cook, and probably more than one of the pythons. so yeah, any time i run across an opportunity to give a celebratory shout out to miss bron, i go for it. plus, she's a fox! hey eleanor, call me!

life, with love, to lucynell

hey lucynell, i found this shot a month or so ago, and i ran into it tonight, and thought of you. i know you love stuff like this. so dig this vintage shot of a Life magazine cover. it shows a gorgeous flapper-girl, 'going places,' with her flapper-tastic luggage and long stockinged legs. just know i love you lucynell, and i'm keeping you in my prayers. and thanks so much for following 'the planet.' it means a lot to us over here. oh, and please, kiss the Angel for me. he's the luckiest. (click to enlarge)

happy late birthday morrissey

yes, it sounds like he could write a song about it; the melancholy fact that i'm a day late wishing the glorious morrissey happy birthday. yes, the iconic master of introspective pop, steven patrick morrissey turned 50 years old on the 22nd of may. wow, he looks damn sexy-fantastic for the 'big 5-0.' i hope he had lots of fun, lots of healthy, meat-free vegetarian foods, lots of love from his adoring fans, and lots of 'celibate-no-more' tender and powerfully erotic sex with the um, ...person of his choice. yes, i just found this shot... and apparently it was taken like, just a few days ago. i love how you can see his hands in this picture, and his chest-beneath-the-shirt. i've loved morrissey since like, 1986...? (maybe longer ago, its hard to remember.) i know i got the smiths 'meat is murder' album for christmas like, the year it came out. and he's still making superior music today. so happy (late) 50th birthday, morrissey. i still love you... i think i always have, and i know i always will. kisses, whether you like it or not. (click to enlarge)

monkee caption fun!

hey, add or choose your own funny caption to this shot of the 'frodis four.' (taken from the first season episode 'too many girls')

1.) MICKY: "...man, just when you think boy george couldn't be more of a train wreck, the papparazzi catches him stealing scratch tickets in bedroom shoes."

2.) MIKE: "...anybody wanna bite of these crab ribs before i show 'em who's boss... namely, my mouth?"

3.) PETE: "...guys? four-way nude wrestling? anyone? ...guys?"

4.) WAVE: (davy) : "...man, is it just me, or is that clay aiken a little... you know, light-in-the-shoes?"

bowie smokes

hello lovers. hey, i don't have a whole lot of inspiration tonight... but i didn't want too many nights to go by without a post, so hey... dig this groovy lime-flavored shot of the great mr. david bowie, smokin' hot on the cover of a 70's rolling stone. man, thirty-some years ago. and he still looks alien-great now. i loved the way he looked around that time, with his 'man who fell to earth' styled orange hair. and those shades, they make him look 'lean and mean.' (?) and he also makes a dashing addition to my 'men smoking' thing. ummm, i wish i had something like, wicked-clever to say about it, but i don't really. i just think it looks real groovy. so um, dig it, and i hope i'll have more candy for you in the near future. (click to enlarge)

miss theodore

yes, anytime is the right time for some sudsy centerfold flesh. i went shopping for some slinky ladies tonight, and the sultry miss sondra theodore was a bit of the cream that rose to the top. now, i know some of us have been through a lot lately, but here's to hoping we can still appreciate a sweet spread like this one. such a creamy, coy pose... such fresh colors, tinged in natural spearmint and strawberry. man... look at those classic creamy cafe au lait-flavored stockingtops... dig those gleaming, silveresque, strappy disco heels on her feet! and hey, three lusty cheers for the 79-esque fabric she's reclining on top of... she's softly ferocious, gently sluttish, but altogether extremely persuasive. thank you, sondra... and god bless all the deelishus girls like you, that dared to be so bare before the cameras. (click to enlarge)

witches of whatever

okay, i'm gonna go all the way back to 1987 for this one. man, i remember the late summer, 1987... high point, north carolina. my brother and i somehow became mesmirised by the ads for this movie. we wanted to see it so bad... i remember we even went as far as clipping the ad from the newspaper and sticking it to the front of the fridge for our mom to see, along with a little personal note that said something to the effect of: 'a great way to spend an evening, don't you think?' just to get her to drive us the less-than-ten-miles to the closest theater showing the thing. (and i'm trying like mad to remember the theater it was playing in... i think it was the capri triple... the one closest to the zayre's, if i'm remembering it correctly. lucynell... do you happen to remember? i don't think it was the Martin Twin... i think it was the other one.) anyway, our mother caved, and DID in fact take us to see it... i think the rainy weekend it premiered. i remember having a really good time, but even so... the sophisticated critic that lived deep within me realized it was at least two parts 'gobbling turkey.' (i mean, that ending... yeesh!) so, taking all of that into consideration, i made up this slide, which expresses my feelings now, everytime i catch 'eastwick' on re-runs.

fantasia de laurie lebon

okay, i think i have to take like, 99% credit on this gorgeous little slice of notebook art. this one was made of really no more than four cuttings, and was affixed to a page of one of my handwritten journals a long, long time ago. i think the original measured approximately 4 inches by two and a half, or something like that. but, although its small, it holds like a honeycomb within it; two of my greatest crushes. in the topmost circle, we have the achingly sexy hugh laurie, practically in drag for the mid-90's annie lennox hit video 'walking on broken glass.' underneath that, we have a disc cut of the marvelous simon le bon... not from any specific duran video; but, if i had to make an educated guess, i'd say that it was from sometime around 1983. 'rio'-era. so i hope you dig on it. umm, it really doesn't 'mean' anything, its just meant to look groovy, and to celebrate a couple of great sexy boys. (click to enlarge)

sandy!

hey, this is a small one, but i felt it was worth posting anyway. this is what i consider a 'one-panel' deal. if i may be so bold, i think its suitable for printing and sticking up on the fridge via a funky magnet. and hey, this one is expressly for lucynell, too. i'm sure i don't have to tell her, that here we have the incomparable miss teri garr, in the masterpiece 'tootsie.' here she is in black and white, rehearsing her soap audition way into the wee hours of the night. (we can tell its late because of when michael dorsey wearily looks at his watch whilst saying, '...just turn the tables on him, come on...') hey, lucynell knows what i'm talking about. so lucy, dig it. and know that she paid 24 dollars for those glasses! hey, what do i have to do, '...hit you with a stick?!' to get you dig this latest post!

dougie's on board!

yes, lately i've been rolling 'sgt. pepper' kind of on an endless loop. hey, i love that beatle-beegees sound! so, jean-lucien has the dvd, and he popped it in a couple of nights ago to get some great shots. here we see the incomparable paul nicholas as the 'greedy dougie shears,' all too ready to sign the 'big deal' recording contract with the slightly sleazy record exec, BD... played quite cooly by horror actor donald pleasance. (hey, here's one of almadora's secrets; she thinks mr. pleasance was really quite dashing and handsome in his day... in films like 'the great escape' and 'escape to witch mountain,' his groovy sinister ways stole the show) but hey, here he found a rock-opera musical escape in robert stigwood's flashy beatle-related production. hey, he 'wants them' to sign on the dotted line, and thus become overnight superstars. i often wonder why paul nicholas was never more famous than he managed to get. nobody has more energy and zeal with a part. few people have the same fervor and devotion when he gets the opportunity to sink his big white teeth into a role. so dig it, and i hope this won't be the only thing i post tonight. (click to enlarge)

lush lucy

okay, yeah... i know its been a while since i posted anything. and i know it doesn't carry a lot of weight to say that my little 'job' has affected my schedule to the point where i'm letting the planet slip. but that just happens to be the case. i went in this morning... walking almost ten blocks through the cold drizzle of lower new england. but hey, my spirits were light, and my head was all bright and dazzled with songs from the cult movie 'sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band,' starring the bee gees, peter frampton, dianne steinberg, and donald pleasance. here's a shot i found of miss steinberg as lucy, doing her flashy bit. yeah, i've had this wild flick on a virtual endless loop for the past three days. hey, i know the movie is considered by some to be an absolute turkey, but i must disagree. i mean, the music is great, the casting is... interesting? the story is only mildly plausible, and all the flashy clothing is the greatest! hey, you know i'm rolling it now! so, this might be the only thing i post tonight, so dig miss lucy, and her disco ways.

sleepy jeremy

mmm, yes i know its been a few days since i posted anything. i just haven't had the time when i was in the mood, and not in the mood when i had time, you know. and i picked up an extra day at my 'job,' which means i have to get in bed at a 'decent hour' tonight. but i did want to put something up, just to mark my place. annnd its a dreamy young sleepyheaded mr. jeremy irons! its a weird thing about jeremy irons... like, sometimes he's really sexy, sometimes he's really not. like, in 'damage,' 'dead ringers,' and 'die hard III,' pretty damn sexy. 'the mission,' not so much. (well, it has been a long time since i've seen that one... maybe he IS sexy in it.) 'reversal of fortune?' well, he's just brilliant. and yeah, he doesn't really look his best in 'man in the iron mask.' (he's in that, right?) i think this shot is from the 'cult?' british tv miniseries 'brideshead revisted.' i tried to watch that once, i think. i don't think i made it very far. either it was real boring or i just wasn't in the mood. still, this is a great shot. he's really great looking. sometimes.

sorry i missed your birthday rudolph

yes, most people who know me know how i feel about rudolph valentino. he's sort of like, a patron saint of raw talent, natural physical gifts, and extraordinary good luck. he was one of the very first international stars of motion pictures, and arguably, was more famous at his peak than even the president of the united states. yes, before there was the beatles, before there was mick jagger or even ricky nelson, there was rudolph valentino. his career in american films was a blur of good pictures and not-so-good ones; of tedious typecasting; of his passive partnership with natacha rambova; ... and ultimately, his mystifying death at the age of 31. (reportedly an infection after a minor surgery.) so umm, i wish i was more like, 'awake,' so i could give rudolph the tribute he deserves... but i've been up for almost 24 hours. so, dig the picture, wish The Sheik a happy 114th, and thank him for like, paving the way for all the future pop idols... all the boy georges, the nick rhodes's and simon le bons. oh, and i purposefully chose a shot of his tom tierney paper doll book because, for better or worse, that was what he was... at least that's what he was to the studios and producers... who seemingly cranked rudy out in every single costume they could think of... no matter how flimsy the script. (kind of like if johnny depp had been around then, and had had bad writers and a less than adept manager.) in closing rudy... tonight you can wear whatever you want. i'll take you as you are, from skins to sequins... devotedly, eveywhere in between. i blow you a kiss. sleep well. and sweet dreams. (click to enlarge)

babies!

yes, i stumbled upon this shot of depeche mode a couple of nights ago. great damn band. seriously, even with all the acclaim they've gotten over the years, i still think they're underrated. i think they are (were) as close to perfect as any synth-based band from that era. always sounding original, cool, fresh, and relevant, depeche mode almost never... and i mean literally never, awaken in me the '...turn it off,' reflex. they were possibly the best of 'that flavor' of music. i can't kiss dave gahan's artistic leather-clad 'bompin'' ass enough... his vocals are brave and faultless. so... with all that said, how hilarious is this shot?? man, hey its like, '...gentlemen, can i see some ID before i sell you these wine coolers?' man, they almost look young enough to babysit. it really makes you realize how long they've been in this game, you know? i mean, dig martin gore, (third from the left) ... he doesn't look like he's even got any 'grass on the south field' yet, if you know what i mean. dave's already a budding cutie. but still looks like he'd have to let a friend sneak him in through the exit door if he wanted to get into an NC-17 rated movie. man... time really is a strange thing, isn't it? strange... and hilarious.

oliver wild

man, i have zero original or amusing ideas tonight... which kind of sucks-for-me, 'cause i'm not that tired. still, i don't like too many days to go by without posting anything, so tonight's post is very '...whatever.' i mean, don't get me wrong, i'm a huge fan of mr. oliver reed over here, but... apart from this picture being quite flattering and groovy, i don't have a hell of a lot to say about it. yeah, it was taken in the 70's, around the time he did 'women in love.' at the height of his looks, i daresay. but he's not looking particularly 'drinky-the-drunk-guy' or anything... like, its not some 'super-candid' shot of him being led away from a pub by the british cops, after getting into a fist fight over a darts dispute, with like, a bloody nose and like, urine-soaked dark areas down the insides of his jean-legs. no, this is just a cool groovy shot of The Man himself. sleep well, oliver. you deserve it. (click to enlarge)

hey, it's my cat!

yeah, miss joanna strumbelina was up on the wooden post outside my door the other day... so i 'real-quick' grabbed my camera and got a shot of her before she leaped down. i tried to make a litte 'squeak-squeak' noise to get her to turn around and show her pretty face, but she wasn't playing that game. but she's the grooviest. that's my baby. (click to enlarge)

late nite

allen ginsberg, ladies and gentlemen.

the headmasters' new album

yes, everyone was wondering when those mysterious modern semi-glam rockers would do it again. and this week, it blessfully happened. that genius band 'the headmasters' released their third (or fourth?) album. (nobody really knows for sure, due to their clever use of 'snootch-legs'* and secret identities.) but no matter which, this latest 'headmasters' release certainly does not disappoint. from the first look at the incredible cover, it is almost impossible that 'leia's lips' could let us down. (it is also reported that every 72nd pressing is printed with an 'on-purpose' negative image cover photograph... i hope to get my hands on one of those eventually, as it is supposed to contain a secret message from the band members themselves.) i haven't had time to listen to the entire thing yet... but if the first five tracks are any indication, this one's going to find a very snug and secure spot in my cd wallet. the opening song, 'dreams of blue cherry' is a crashing introduction, with hook-heavy, guitar-driven measures and faultless vocals by dustin plum. a couple of tracks later, co-'masters'-founder sam blood takes the microphone and commands almost-military-styled attention with the first of three blood-plum collaborations, the first entitled 'junk and treasure.' man, i can't wait to listen to the rest of it. but i think its safe to say that i recommend it, wholeheartedly. go out and buy it now!! and if you don't see it at your nearest record store... for christ's sake... ASK!! (click to enlarge)

happy birthday jack nicholson

need i say more? he turned 72 on april 22. we know him, we love him, he's crazy... its that wild collaborator with the monkees, mr. jack 'eyebrows' nicholson. (forgive this post for being so short, i've been awake for almost 24 hours.)

alma

i christened a new book tonight, lovers. i was working with limited supplies, all the same, i think i came up with a great-looking cover. the star is none other than mr. alain whyte. he was morrissey's guitarist and close collaborator for a long time. if my recollection is correct, i think this picture was taken backstage, sometime in the mid-90's. that's as close as i can get right now, as a time frame. i love alain whyte. according to the ghostly computer sources, he was born alain gordon whyte on july 3rd, 1967. he was not a performer on morrissey's latest tour, but is apparently still a collaborator. sort of like the 'mccartney' to morrissey's 'lennon.' i don't mean to imply anything, but the two men have been very close. it is even rumored by some that hot alain was 'the one' who broke morrissey out of his spell of long-suffering self-induced celibacy. but that's just a rumor. but hey, morrissey could do a lot worse, don't you think? alain is a brilliant songwriter and instrumentalist. he's a dreamy singer with an exquisite vocal range. and he looks great. he can be seen, prominently featured in the must-have dvd of morrissey's live show 'who put the M in Manchester?' (if you haven't seen it, then you haven't seen 'recent morrissey.') he's done a few rockabilly-flavored solo projects, but to me he'll always be one of morrissey's band. he's just marvelous. oh, and i almost forgot... the book title, 'alma,' comes from my own name, almadora. (mmm, no kidding.) and lets see who else is featured in the little medallions. okay, from left to right, we have: a young miss jane fonda, just starting out in new york, then we've got the one and only mr. neil innes in drag, then the one and only miss georgina hale, then mr. john (duran) taylor, getting his makeup on, in a still-frame from the 'girls on film' video, then just an aqua star, and last but never, never least, we've got a shot of davy jones from the monkees' classic 'fair tale' episode. so that's it. a brand new book with all those clean pages. wish me luck. (and click to enlarge)

happy birthday tim curry

ohhhh yesss! this is definitely a birthday i wouldn't want to go by unnoticed. he was born on april 19th, 1946. if my math is right, that would make him... 63 today? wow... tim curry, ladies and gentlemen. i think its safe to say there's nobody 'in the business' quite like him. he can really do it all. and that voice!! so silky and dark and richly dramatic... but he never quite goes overboard. (vocally.) um, there's so much i could say about tim... he really never flops, does he? i mean, even if he's in a real 'turkey-roo' of a movie, he sometimes manages not to suck in it, personally. i was aware of tim curry before i fell head-first into the fishnet subculture that was the 'rocky horror' scene in greensboro, north carolina... its hard for me to remember not being aware of him, but something happened in the wild year that was 1987. that 'something' was 'the rocky horror picture show,' ...and there wouldn't really have been a 'rocky horror picture show' without tim curry's dazzlingly classic portrayal of the devious and gloriously sexy dr. frank-n-furter. i don't care, as many times as i've seen 'rocky horror,' (and we're talking about well over 100 times just in the theater) ...as many times as i've seen it, frank's entrance can still give me chills. hey, it makes me wanna roll 'sweet transvestite' right now!! it must be weird for other actors to 'take on' that part in the stage production. it must be rather daunting to make the role of frank-n-furter your own creation, with the glittering, saucy, sensual, sexy, electric tim curry peformance always lurking somewhere in the background, representing the standard. so um, hey... i almost forgot to mention... happy birthday tim. i really do love you. and thanks. (this shot is a gleaming image from the 'floorshow' near the end... the bit known by rocky horror fans as 'whatever happened to fay wray?') (click to enlarge, babies...!! )

leaud smokes

i've been 'aware of' jean-pierre leaud for a long time... more or less since the time my brother got a job in a local video chain. but i've really only seen him 'in action' in one film; 'last tango in paris.' he's so french and gorgeous, you know? so um, since he was more or less a stranger to me, i looked up his mini-biography to see if there was any striking information that would make him more to me than just a pretty face... but hey, guess what? i didn't find anything! he seems like just a groovy french actor that led a pretty typical 'french actor' life. i have no idea if he's like, 'boring for real,' but that really doesn't matter here on 'planetcool.' tonight he's only required to smoke a sleek cig and look very gorgeous whilst doing it. so dig him, he's lovely and french!

cool leia

ahhh, classic princess leia. i stumbled upon some great screen shots of the slinky princess a couple of nights ago. i have no idea who took them, but whoever it was, they had a pretty good eye. i've always loved this frame of leia retouching her sweet 'buns' after the ordeal in the trash compactor. but if you watch the film, the shot is almost 'blink and miss it,' so i thank the talented fan who snagged it for me. she looks pretty sweet for a girl who was almost mangled amidst a rancid swamp of 'death star' liquid waste. and hey, don't even get me started on the huge 'snakey thing' that almost drowned luke. so umm, yeah i think this one enlarges pretty well. man, she was beautiful. its on my desktop as we speak.

happy birthday samuel beckett

there are certain birthdays i cannot let go by unnoticed. samuel beckett's is most definitely one of them. i haven't read that much beckett. i have seen precious little of his work performed. but it is sure that the love of my life would not be who he is today without this man and his work... almost literally; for my love even took his name from the dangling florets of beckett's words. in my 'house,' the name beckett is virtually holy. i admit, i don't know very much about the man himself... except what i've learned through some hastened research. he was born 103 years ago today, in Ireland. he was a friend... or perhaps more accurately, and apprentice of james joyce. he was raised in a Dublin suburb with the superb name of Foxrock, in a large house complete with a garden and tennis court. he was involved in the French Resistance near the end of WWII. he was lucky enough to be recognized for his writing in his own time. and wow, the more i read of his biography, the more i realize i really shouldn't be the one writing this. his life was so varied and strange. so i'll stick to what i know. i used to have an audio recording of Lucky's Speech from 'waiting for godot' on a tape... used to play it in my headphones as i blew up balloons from a huge helium tank in the storage room of a restaurant i used to work in. it reminded me that brilliance and depth and meaning, as well as folly and balloons, both existed, and were necessary. and in the end, both unimportant. mmm, what else? oh yes, the photo. it probably goes without saying that there were clearer and more 'professional' -looking pictures of beckett available when i went diving for one, but for some reason, i just kept coming back to this one. perhaps because the hazy nature of it somehow illustrates the imcomplete picture i have of him, mentally... and also because i don't think i've ever seen it before. samuel, thank you... that's all i can say.

last tango

i think i first saw 'last tango in paris' about 20 years ago. and i willingly admit the fact that i think i missed the point. the sex itself was not a shocker to me. i'd seen triple x films long before then. and i don't think i yet had the maturity required to really appreciate the meaning of 'last tango.' so i watched it again a couple of nights ago, and it brought me to tears by the end. like, heaving sobs. i was devastated by it. it might possibly be one of the saddest films i've ever seen... as well as one of the most brilliant. i think it goes without saying that when in was released in 1972 (the year i was born) it caused a scandalous sensation... both in the states, and overseas. directed by bernardo bertolucci, and starring marlon brando and the incredible maria schneider, it is a haunting tale of curiosity, introspection, regression, loss, personal discovery... and perhaps most importantly, control. notice i didn't mention sexuality? that is because i do not think the movie is about sex. sex is brilliantly implicated merely as a vehicle... it is the paint in which the deeper lessons are rendered and presented. so i popped the movie in, just planning to snatch some pretty shots, but it took hold of me and didn't let go. at several different points in the film, i identified with both schneider (jeanne), and brando. (paul.) they are, at different times, either cats or goldfish... entranced with one another in their respective personal habitats... gazing in amazement at one another... wanting lustfully for what the other one has and is... it is a crushing blow for each of them when they realize the truth. a cat and a goldfish can fall in love with eachother... but where are they going to live? if they decide to get close enough to really know eachother, one of them cannot survive. (click to enlarge)

cool paul

hey lovers. i don't have a whole lot to post tonight. i've been up since like, dawn... i mean, my mood is okay, but i just don't have much in the way of pictoral inventory. so i thought i couldn't go wrong with a cool screen capture of sweet paul mccartney from 'a hard day's night.' the shot is from the 'i should've known better' number, when they're in the cargo area of the train, 'adorably' horsing around and playing cards. that is the song they're doing in that scene, isn't it? paul sure looks cute, am i right? sighhh... well i hope to have more for everybody soon. i love you all. peace.

happy birthday bette davis

wow, i couldn't let this birthday go by... but i'm afraid by the time it's posted, it will be one day too late. still, i must give a cheer to the always crucial, always tough, always incredible miss bette davis. i did a little research before i posted this... and i learned something i think is very interesting. she was born in the town of lowell, massachussetts. that's not far from my house. i never knew that. she was born april 5, 1908. she died in france in 1989. if she'd lived, yesterday, she would've been 101 years old. when i went diving for a picture, i specifically wanted to get a shot i'd never seen before. and i also wanted to get a shot of her smoking. i think i lucked out with this ethereal shot of a very young bette, taking a 'film noir'-fied drag on a cig. looking at a shot like this, it seems almost impossible that some studios at the time shyed away from her; thinking she wasn't pretty enough. she was born ruth elizabeth davis. and wow, she was shorter than me! (5' 3") and, as morbid as it may sound to some... i dig what she has on her tombstone: 'she did it the hard way'

brothers

yes, as you might read in the post below, i had a pretty anxious weekend. i just couldn't seem to find my 'center,' as goofy as that sounds. i guess i've just felt discouraged, lazy, and a little bit less than pretty. so, you know what really helps at times like these...? when a girl feels like even playtime has lost its luster? you know who she can depend on to make her laugh, smile, wrestle with, joke with... to feel wanted... and perhaps most importantly... included? a girl can always turn to her brothers and cousins. as it happens, my brothers and cousins come in all guises and forms. like these fellows here... i have always been able to depend on them to be there for me. they always come over when i call them, and they're always in the mood to play. and more than one of them is 'kiss cute.' so yes, its at least one part pure fantasy... i realize that. i'm not that crazy. but the fact is, these lads have always been able to trigger very real chemicals in my brain that impart a sense of joy, peace, jubilance, inclusion, and peace. those chemicals aren't on tv... they're not on a vynil record, cd, or movie screen... these lads, my loyal brothers and cousins, have very often been the best medicine. so cheers to all of them... i love them all. i wouldn't have become ME withouth them. (and i love the rare shot... i've never seen it before... from left to right, we've got terrygilliam, neil innes, eric idle, and sigh... my love, terry jones.)

i gotta get my head together...!

oooh, girlfriend! i've been feeling anxious all day... much like prison-bound queen 'molina' in 'kiss of the spider woman,' i feel like i've got to get my head together, you know? like, honey...its like i woke up in my car, fully dressed in club clothes, (clothes i didn't have any memory of putting on...! ) hey, why did i fall asleep in my car, you might ask? ohhh, honey, don't i wish i knew! yes, life is a lot like that, sometimes. you just wake up, look around yourself, you look at your surroundings; you're thousands of miles from your hometown, and you can't seem to grasp how you got there. i guess i'm making it sound bleaker than it is. actually, my mood is pretty even and cool... its just that (sigh) ...sometimes the enormity of real life just seems to swirl around me like an over-hyped, clunky, garish disney ride, and i can't even remember lining up to get ON...! so, what's a girl to do at times like these? you gotta wash those bad vibes right outta your hair, and wrap up all that moist clarity in a scarlet towel. then, you grab your nearest oriental-themed robe, put on jussst enough eye make-up, and then, when all is quiet, you put on some of your favorite sounds, crack open an ice cream sandwich, and try, try, try to 'get your head together.' you know ...by yourself. so good luck, girls... molina and i know how you feel. (click to enlarge... he enlarges beautifully. its a great shot.)

nite life

yeah, there's some crazy crazy nightlife going on in my cottage tonight. i've gotta go in to my 'job' tomorrow, and i'm just relaxing, having already set my hair, and now i'm 'rockin' an intense bag' of pepperidge farm goldfish crackers. and like, i blindy put my hand in, right? and i feel something that definitely doesn't feel like the standard 'fish,' ... like, its flat, round, and has some kind of 'quilted' texture. so like, puzzled, i take a closer look at the front of the bag, and apparently, they're doing some kind of NBA 'march madness' sports tie-in. like its got a picture of some player i've never heard of on the front, named dwayne wade. then, underneath, it proclaims that its got 'basketball shapes' inside. so that explains the mutant round ones. still, they taste 100% the same... and after all, that's what i paid my 2.19 for. so, umm... i love you all, and hopefully the planet will be 'rockin' as per normal.

happy birthday alec guinness

hey, you know i've been watching all three (original)

'star wars' movies lately, so alec guinness has been in my room a lot lately. and its time to wish him happy birthday. to be totally honest, i don't even know if he's still alive, and i don't feel like checking right now. but if he IS still alive, he's turning a crazy 94 years old today. and weirdly, i tried to find a groovy picture of him as obi wan kenobi on the web, but when i typed in that name, i overwhelmingly got shots of ewan mcgregor from the recent flicks. like, the ratio was sort of like, 92 pics of ewan to like, eight shots of alec. and some of those were actually pictures of an action figure or some other kind of collectible statues. so... realizing i wasn't gonna get an 'obi-shot' that was to my liking, i decided to throw in my copy of 'lawrence of arabia' and get a shot of him as the ornate prince feisal. so i did. and here it is. so dig it. (click to enlarge)

happy birthday ali macgraw

you know, i'm really a little surprised ali macgraw never really made it to the solid position of like, 'sex symbol superstar.' i mean, she was in the media a lot in the late 70's when she was making 'love story,' and the fantastic peckinpah chase flick, 'the getaway.' (with my man steve mcqueen.) i mean, yeah... everybody knew who she was around that time, but she never really got to like, 'jane fonda' level. i think she was definitely good enough to be like, taken more seriously than she apparently was. i love her because she's dark and sexy and tough... she can (cinematically) burn serious rubber in a 'muscle car' and fire off a double-barrell shotgun, all the while looking breezy and cool and beautiful. and today, april 1st, is her birthday. and get ready... are you ready for this? today the 'dark girlfriend' turns... 71 (!) years old. so happy birthday, ali. you know i've always got 'your back,' so to speak. so punch it, baby... take a cool, beautiful deep breath and blow out those candles. you rule.

sugarvirgo

man, i'm a little off-track tonight... i thought i had to go in to my little volunteer position in the morning, but i was informed a couple hours after supper that they weren't going to need me until friday. so here i am, up late when i wasn't expecting to be. so i figured i might as well post something. i needed a little splash of color, so i chose this notebook illustration from... wow, several years ago. jean-lucien assembled it out of various cuttings. the 'model' is a young and hot mr. harrison ford, from the francis ford-coppola ...thriller? 'the conversation,' also starring gene hackman in one of his most compelling roles. but in the flick, harrison follows gene around, more or less just to 'eff' with him, it seems. even though its an older one, scanned in on older equipment, i still think its very much worth showcasing. so dig it. and i love you all.

a rare shot

good evening, rebels. so um, what's up? i'm gonna be busy tonight, adding fresh picksh to my new file, so i'm leaving the planet in the appropriately capable hands of these intergalactic warriors! hey, wouldn't it be a scream if you were dating someone who was like, '...i have no idea who these people are.' anyway, i'm sure you recognize them as hot young luke skywalker, the feisty and lip-glossy no-bra princess leia, hairy-and-scary chewbacca, and last but never ever least, that butch, sexy, scruffy-lookin' 'scoundrel-slash-pirate' himself, han solo. hey, how come the droids weren't invited to this little photo shoot? maybe they've bribed C-3P0 to take the shots himself, in exchange for some 'sex in the city' dvds. (?) i dig this shot, because its a rare pose... i mean, i don't think i've ever seen it before. and plus, i've been rolling all three of the original movies these days. (...yes, including 'jedi.') they all make me feel cozy... like i'm gonna be getting pizza and capri suns later, when we hang out with our cool male cousins and play the atari 2600. ahhhh, those nights. anyway, i'm gonna have more later in the week, i guess. until then, i love you all, and... (am i really gonna say it?) ...may the force be with you.

playing the game

so um, listen up. i've got to start a new picture file tonight... an operation that will require most of my attention until i 'get sleepy.' so, as a place marker, please dig on this emerald 60's playboy magazine cover that i don't think i've posted yet. i'm not really a big football fan, but i AM-IS a big fan of sexy, sexy girls baring it and playfully sharing it with the cameras. honestly girls, you're the best, and the coolest to let the rest of the world peek in on your sexiness. in all honesty, i wasn't born yet in 1967, and i don't think i've ever owned this particular edition. unless, of course, i had an issue with the cover ripped off. but the girl is cute, no? she looks good in the big guy's jersey... but hey, you know i'll bet she looks better out of it. so um, i send my love to all of you out there, and i hope to have more for you tomorrow night. peace.

tommy gun

yes, as i mentioned below, i did some screen capturing from david cronenberg's 'naked lunch' last night. and, as i also mentioned, the film stock was extremely

'friendly.' like, the grain almost stuck its tongue down my throat and felt up my breast! sighh... no, seriously though, it was a pleasure to work with such high quality. even the most difficult shots with the hardest lighting proved to be trickable on some level... even if i had to turn them black and white. this shot shows the lovely suited-up ian holm as tom frost. he's sticking up lee to get his typewriter back, i think. hey, as a writer, i can definitely relate. but lucky for me, my 'martinelli' is in my mind. i must've taken a dozen shots of him in this sequence. ian just has one of those faces... even the most miniscule change in expression makes for an altogether different picture. i almost discarded this one of ian baring his teeth, but fortunately, i decided to keep it and trick it, and ultimately, i liked the result. jean-luc might even be able to tell you what line of dialogue he's speaking. he's seen the flick a few dozen times more than me. i allowed myself to get a little bit creative with the color, though. i mean, if you just watch this scene straight from the dvd, it doesn't really look that green at all. but like i said, i'm pleased with the way it came out. oh, and tom... sorry about your beloved martinelli. (click to enlarge)

lunch with julian

yeah, i threw in the collector's edition dvd copy of 'naked lunch' last night and decided to try my luck playing around with it. released in 1991, this david cronenberg 'interpretation' of the william s. burroughs novel has some of the finest film grain i've ever worked with, as far as capturing and tricking goes. i got some excellent shots. like this one, of julian sands as the mincing and clean-cut eve cloquet. he's dabbing his lips with a scarlet napkin during a dinner with bill lee. (paul weller) personally, i've often wondered why julian sands isn't a bigger star than he is. i mean, he's got obvious blonde good looks, and his acting is more than adequate. perhaps its a case of his prettieness working against him. maybe some people don't believe he can be that pretty, and 'legit' at the same time. whilst i was outside smoking earlier, my mind found itself making up a little poem about him. it went something like: '...julian sands, julian sands... on your body, i want to make some sensual demands. you steamed up the screen in the thriller 'warlock,' and in 'room with a view,' you dared to flash your nude balls and cock...' that's more or less as far as i got. anyway, dig this silky capture of miss cloquet. very pretty.