Unicorn Vampire Mermaid In Space

YEE HAW! That's MY foreign policy!

Freebie Month Continues, and Cleaning Dilemmas

This book press, shown sitting on a dolly in Barron's back yard because it weighs 80 pounds (I didn't believe it until he actually put it on a scale to prove it) was free. I knew I would eventually get a free book press if I just waited long enough, but it was about ten years. I hope I don't have to wait that long for the free canoe (small enough for one person to carry, not ine of those giant family-size ones). The press is home-made but well-built, with a cast metal platform that shows signs of having been some sort of electrically heated griddle long ago, with some welded parts. It will clamp the hell out of anything. Hauling it upstairs was not that tough because I am physically fit. Clearing a spot on my book repair table provoked a fit of actual cleaning, moving. re-organizing and throwing away of things. It is astounding what kind of crap I have filled my studio with because I thought I would use it some day. Why do I have a tin of brown shoe polish and a can of Huberd's Shoe Grease - and why am I still keeping them? What was I meaning to do with a pink hi-liter? Why didn't I get rid of dozens of things long long ago? The nice thing was finding a pretty little chopstick box with a sliding lid, containing a couple of good paint brushes and yet another X-acto knife, and a box of watercolor supplies I got at a yard sale when I wasn't painting watercolors yet. But what did I think I would do with ancient sample containers of dry tempera paint? Why can't I dispose of the last of my oil painting supplies? Life is a puzzle and a muddle.

HAW HAW HAW

It's funny because it is like a satire.

Movies - June 7

Rose of Washington Square (1939) I guess I am looking for a movie which utilizes the talents of Alice Faye as ably as Hello Frisco, Hello - with little success. As usual, a few good musical numbers in a welter of melodrama, somewhat enlivened by Bill Frawley and Joyce Compton. Al Jolson gets more songs than Faye does - I like a little Jolson occasionally but this is too much for me. I have been trying for years to truly enjoy him, but though I do not lack the knowledge I lack the comprehension. Anyway, 6.5/10 and I am ending this course of inquiry for a while.

Movies - June 5

The Stork Club (1945) Hat check girl Betty Hutton is beneficiary of millionaire's anonymous generosity - romantic complications follow. Hutton's tendency to comedic overacting is greatly restrained here, except in one ghastly musical number. The rendition of her Hoagy Carmichael hit The Doctor, the Lawyer and the Indian Chief is right on the money though, and a high point of the film. Wisecracking chum Iris Adrian always adds value to any movie, and the fashions, hats and hairdos fall just short of outrageous. Also evident is the mid/late 40s decorative style of isolated classical motifs inflated into huge white replicas. Generally entertaining. 7/10

Movies - Recent Viewing

Zis Boom Bah (1941) B-movie vehicle for forgotten Vaudeville star Grace Hayes, who helps save her son's college by opening a student-staffed night club. More educational than entertaining, but some adequate musical performances. 6/10

The Dance of Life (1929) Donna tracked this down because she is experiencing an Oscar Levant craze and this is his first film appearance, as well as one of the earliest screen musicals. Sadly, he only gets about thirty seconds total screen time, the remaining two hours being a dreary backstage melodrama. I am quite tolerant of creaky archaic cinema but this one had me weary after half an hour, though the deadly pace was greatly relieved in the middle by a spectacular Ziegfeld Follies sequence with insanely huge stage set and costumes. Your chances of ever encountering this film are extremely slim. 4.5/10

El bolero de Raquel (1957) A Cantinflas movie - lots of humor, a little pathos, a couple of dance numbers, and wedding bells at the end. Unfortunately the subtitles were not well translated so a lot of the impact of his humor was obviously lost. The first 20 minutes is a sequence related to the death of his friend and the resulting funeral - Cantinflas ultimately arrives at the cemetery drunk, goes to the wrong funeral and kisses all the ladies, delivers a bizarre eulogy and falls into the grave. While everyone else grieves, his remarks are sardonic, self-serving and not a little lustful. Not at all what you would see in an American film of that day. The title is a pun - he is a bootblack (bolero) with a girlfriend named Raquel; as the result of a misunderstanding he ends up dancing on a nightclub stage to the Bolero of Ravel. Funny. Sorta. He also accidentally dives off the cliff at Acapulco. It's always something with that guy. 7/10