Salvador Dali on "What's My Line" - 1957

No one would ever associate Salvador Dali with television, but between the late 1950's and the mid 1960's he was a frequent, and amusing, guest on several of the leading shows of the time. Above is his appearance on the show "What's My Line" from 1957. He had also recently done "What's My Line." It is amazing how comfortable he appears in front of the camera, as opposed to a small gallery showing.

The interview on the Merv Griffin Show, below, was done on December 30, 1965. Merv is actually the one who seems out of place, appearing not to know what to ask of the great artist. But Dali's wit and humor combine to save the day.  Sharp eyes will notice that Andy Warhol is also on the show, sitting on the couch next to Arthur Treacher. You have to wonder what they could possibly have spoken about during the commercials!

You Tube is a veritable playground for me. Through it I have been able to garner the sights and sounds of all the shows and performers I enjoyed as a kid. I must confess to having missed both of these broadcasts, but the mere fact that Salvador Dali was ever on television to begin with has been a real revelation to me. I don't know why; after all, this is the man who gave us a new and interesting way of looking at art. It's not too much of a leap to suppose that he thought of television as another form of expressing his art; and of course, plugging his book. 

Me and My Shadow

This is me and my shadow, Midnight, my local stray cat who adopted me almost 2 years ago, out on a walk. We've been doing that lately, taking short walks together in the evening. It’s a bit complicated for him, as the other people who live in the neighborhood are usually all walking their dogs at that hour. Midnight is not on a leash, so he is free to scram if he feels in any danger.

Funny part of it all is that I when I stop to talk to neighbors who are walking their dogs, Midnight is right there at my feet; looking warily at the dog; but trusting me to protect him. Good thing he doesn’t have a leash and can run fast. I’m about 130 pounds; on a good day; so most of the dogs around here outweigh me!

Walking the cat is a new experience for me, and I gather for others as well. Midnight is more like a dog than a cat, mostly due to being a stray and dependent on me for his food I think. But he is loyal, and we have sat out quite a few storms together lately. He’s terrified of thunder; while the prospect of flooding from the creek across the road worries me. So, on rainy days we’re likely companions. He thinks I will save him, and he’s probably right.

So, now that we have taking a walk down fairly well, I can start training him to bring me the morning paper. After almost 2 years, it’s about time he started to earn his keep.

"La Vie En Rose" with Marion Cotillard (2007)

Marion Cotillard gives a truly outstanding performance in this film about the life of Edith Piaf, the legendary French “street singer” who became one of the world’s most well-known peformers, and a symbol of France itself.  Edith Piaf was born to a life on the edges of the society in which she lived. She was the child of a mother who thought of herself as a great artist; but was a hopeless alcoholic; and a father who struggled with demons of his own, though he did his best to raise her.

It was while performing in the street one day that he got the idea of using his daughter as a means of increasing the meager “tips” he was receiving for his street act, which consisted of his talents as a contortionist and some other tricks. But when little Edith opened her mouth to sing, it seemed as if the angels had given voice to his child. And so began one of the most fascinating, and sad, careers in show business history.

The film is stunningly filmed, with all of the grit and glamour of pre-war Paris veritably leaping from the screen. When Edith meets Louis Leplée, played by Gérard Depardieu, she falls in love with this determined man, who helps her discover how to present her voice on stage rather than in the streets. More than anyone else, he was the man most responsible for making her one of the world's most beloved stars.

With great sensitivity the film manages to convey the pain, hardships, addictions and love; all of which combined to make Edith Piaf the tragic star she was destined to be. Her alcoholism and dependence upon morphine are handled with gentleness instead of sensationalism. This was a woman who was in both physical and emotional pain which even all the drugs and alcohol could never erase. Yet, through it all, she always kept that remarkable voice.

The film is basically told as a flashback from 1963, when Ms. Piaf is recovering from illness and planning a comeback at age 48. She never made it. The pain which caused her to fall from grace finally caught up to “the Little Sparrow.”

Edith Piaf was actually named Édith Giovanna Gassion when she was born in 1915, named for a British nurse, Edith Cavell, who was serving in the First World War before the entry of the Americans in 1917. She was executed for helping the French POW’s escape their German captors.

By the time she was 14, she had lived in a brothel with her grandmother before being reunited with her father. In the opening years of the Great Depression she began her street performances before being discovered by Louis Leplée in 1935. This meeting would change her life, but nothing could change, or erase the pain of her past, which included the death of her infant daughter Marcelle, who died of meningitis at the age of 2, when Edith was only 19. This tragedy would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Louis Leplée, owned the club Le Gerny off the Champs-Élysées, and it was there that he first presented her to Paris. She was small and petit, and full of energy, which earned her the nickname “The Little Sparrow”, a name which would stay with her for her entire career.

My own first recollection of Ms. Piaf is from about the age of 3 or 4, while playing with my parent’s extensive record collection. There was one record which I would play over and over again, and was probably the first foreign language record I ever heard. It was “La Vie en Rose”, which is still one of my favorite recordings today. Of all the recorded versions of that song I am particularly drawn to the one by Louis Armstrong, with its plaintive coronet and beautiful translation of the French lyrics. I have posted both versions of the song here before. That post is at;

http://robertwilliamsofbrooklyn.blogspot.com/2011/04/la-vie-en-rose-en-deux.html

And here is another clip from You Tube showcasing the various artists over the years who have recorded this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEuD8UqnJfg

But of all the newer versions of this song, the one by Mireille Mathieu rings the truest for me. It is comparable, in my mind, to the performance by Beyoncé of Etta James’ recording of the song “At Last”, in the film Cadillac Records. It is that good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4_uN3Ztya4

And, finally, here is Edith Piaf, herself, performing her signature song live, and which will always have a place in my heart.

"My Hitch in Hell" by Lester I. Tenney (1995)

Today marks 68 years since the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. It is only fitting to post this review today in honor of all those who suffered at the hands of the Japanese during the war. You can debate it all you want to, but the bomb did shorten the war and save lives. And when you read this book you will realize that it was probably the only way to avoid taking Japan one house at a time.

Some people lament that the Japanese had already made overtures to sue for peace just before the bomb was dropped, and therefore the bomb was unnecessary. But, that line of reasoning falls flat when you take into consideration that the Japanese were also negotiating “peacefully” with us while their ships were steaming towards Pearl Harbor.

From the very first line of the foreword by Admiral James Stockdale; Professor Emeritus at Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and a former POW himself; this book rings with all the truth and horror of war and the human consequences it engenders. It is the story of a boy, gone off to fight for his country, who returns home to live a full and productive life. It’s not that his life was perfect; after the horrors which he had witnessed nothing could ever be perfect again; the real story here is how he coped with that burden, both at the time he was experiencing it, as well as in its aftermath.

Enlisting just after the first peacetime draft in American history, the author joined the National Guard in 1940, over a year before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was determined to do his one year hitch and get it out of the way. He had no idea what the next 5 years held in store for him.

Stationed in the Philippine Islands at Clark Field, he was just in time for the infamous “Bataan Death March” to Camp O’Donnell, a distance of about 100 miles, which was the first prison camp in which he was interred. The brutality of the Japanese towards their prisoners began immediately, and with such unimagined cruelty, that it stretches the imagination to understand it.

Knowing he would not survive long in this environment, Mr. Tenney decided to set goals for himself in order to survive the war. He would focus on the present and only the immediate future in order to make it home someday. He had secretly married his girlfriend just before shipping out, and for the entire war, his wife did not know where he was. For the first few years she had no idea if he was dead or alive.

Escaping from the first prison camp was easier than one would expect, as the Japanese had no numbering system in place at the beginning. After his initial escape he served with some natives operating with the few Americans who had managed to form a guerilla group, fighting the Japanese in their own way, inflicting damage wherever they could, and in any way possible. Eventually, he was turned in by a local youngster who was starving and exchanged Mr. Tenney’s location for some rice. To his credit, the author holds the boy blameless for his actions, which would have severe consequences for himself.

After a second stint in Camp O’Donnell, the author is moved to a prison camp further inland, the infamous Camp Cabanatuan. There was no real hope of escaping this camp, as by now the Japanese had in place a number system, whereby the 5 men before you and the 5 men behind you would be killed if you did escape. So, in essence, escaping meant that you were condemning 9 other men to death for your decision.

After some time there he was among the prisoners who were shipped to Japan aboard freighters which were not identified as carrying POW’s. This meant that our submarines would sink the ships, not knowing that their own fellow countrymen were aboard. Japan had never signed the Geneva Convention and, as such, was not required to mark those ships. That was the excuse they used after the war to justify the barbaric treatment afforded our POW’s.

In Japan the author was assigned to work in the coal mines about 35 miles from Nagasaki, the site of the second atomic bomb drop in August 1945. The prisoners were actually able to see the mushroom cloud from their location. But before that day, they had to go through 3 and a half years of hell working in the coal mines with no proper equipment and no medical treatment to speak of.

The description of life in the POW barracks reads like James Clavell’s “King Rat”, with the prisoners trading and bargaining anything they could in order to survive. They even managed to put on a show, a sort of Ziegfeld Follies, to amuse themselves and keep sane. The author’s description of these shows and the help he received from some of the men who were homosexual is very touching, as he was initially disgusted by these men, but was able to overcome that feeling while working with them. This experience changed his entire view about homosexuality, making him realize that we are all human beings, something which is easy to forget when you are being treated like an animal.

Some of the prisoners would actually pay someone to break their hand in order to get a few days off from the coal minds. There were “breakers” in camp who, for some rice or cigarettes, would break whatever bone you wanted. These men were not considered to be evil in any way. They were merely performing a job for a set fee. Faking skin ulcers on the leg was another way to avoid work, and the author expertly describes how this is accomplished. I have stored this knowledge away for future use should it ever become necessary.

A breathtaking narrative of almost 5 years in hell, this book is a valuable record of what it was like to be interred by the Japanese during the war. It is also the story of one man’s journey into the darkness, and how the lessons he learned from his parents about integrity and hope, gave him the will to survive.

After his return home in 1945 the book really becomes almost heartbreaking, as the author faces the many struggles to regain the life he once knew, the least of which was to get back with his wife Laura. His ordeal in the Japanese coal mines fades into the past as he focuses on regaining his health, and his wife, as well as to find a place in the world for which he had endured so much. I am happy to report that, unsurprisingly, Mr. Tenney went on to achieve those goals, and much more with his life.

This is an extraordinary record of the experiences which thousands of men went through at the hands of the Japanese during the war. It is also the remarkable story of one man’s will to survive it.

Holier Than Thou

Televangelists are everywhere these days, and getting more and more sophisticated with each passing year. Gone are most of the big scandal makers of the 1980’s and 90’s, who have been replaced by more slick marketing, with promises of huge rewards in this life; here and now; with no more waiting for the afterlife to collect. These days it’s pay and collect now, as you go.

There is one televangelist in my area who promises a tenfold return on an investment of only $1,000 dollars. As a matter of fact, it’s not called an investment; it’s known as “planting a seed with Jesus.” Who says money doesn’t grow on trees? Clearly, they are not watching enough television, or they would know.

The clip above, from You Tube, is a look back at the good old days; when the televangelists were comparatively honest liars, looking for whatever you were willing to send. The proof of that is in the Jimmy Swaggart affair, in which; being a good steward of his congregation’s money; he ticked off a prostitute by paying her only $10 for her services. He was in his Lincoln Town Car at the time.

Religion is an important part of my life in that I am spiritual in nature. I believe in God, and also free will. I also believe that the heaven or hell we are destined for are of our own making; and further; that as such, we live now in those worlds by the choice of our everyday actions. The bill is not deferred. The bill is always due.

"Keep In Style" - Betty Boop (1934)

A very special hello to Aliyah and Trinity in Texas. This is an extremely funny cartoon which, in the end, pokes fun of it's own theme; keeping in style; when everybody takes Ms. Boop's advice to heart. The results are satirical as everyone from man to woman, and even beasts, attempt to "keep in style" with the latest whimsical fashion.

These old cartoons are so well made, and the messages in them still so applicable, making them all the more worth while watching. With the usual direction of Dave Fleischer and his team, the cartoon flows like no other cartoons; including Disney's "big screen" epics, ever have, or will.

With the usual combination of wit and art, along with a bit of song, Betty has everyone filling the movie house for the show; a one week engagement from May 31st through July 31st; and then afterward, trying to live out their fantasies through the "style" she has displayed. Gee, sounds like real life...

Old Photos - Every Picture Tells a Story

Some photos don’t need captions. They speak for themselves. Here are several old photos which came my way via my wife, Sue, who got them in an e-mail from a friend. I have captioned them minimally, so as not to ruin the stark beauty, and mystery, displayed in these photos. This one above is Miss Philadelphia of 1924.

Belva Annan, the murderess whose story became the basis for the musical “Chicago.”

Maude Allen, dancer, seductress and German spy in World War One.

Charlie Chaplin with Helen Keller.

Civil War veterans at Gettysburg in 1913.

Sacajawea. She was kidnapped and was also was the guide for Lewis and Clark in 1805. Traveling with her husband Toussaint Charbonneau, she carried her son, Jean Baptiste, on her back.

 Amelia Earhart, getting ready to go down, rather than up.

Queen Elizabeth meeting Marilyn Monroe. They were both 30 years old at the time.

Geraldine Doyle, the original “Rosie the Riveter.”

Filming the MGM lion.