walk in a 'dirty old town'

shane macgowan [1957 - 2023]

these are the ordinary things we love

i.e. gazing into the face of our beloveds

folding our clothes after taking them out of the dryer

the sound of an owl in the oak in the backyard

the opossum on the porch looking for kibble

& that laughter tempered by a tune

one we know by heart & heard a thousand times before

older than we care to admit 

& yet as new as a calf mewling for milk

we know you poeta after the concert is over

& we walk to our cars for the drive home

stepping over puddles & guided by discarded gum wrappers

this town is made ours once again

dirty yes dirty as your music echoes in our ears

& we can hear that laugh as raw & honest

as cigarette smoke breathed deeply into the lungs

heh heh heh heh heh heh heh 

watching the moon

turn on the news

the bloody footprints

of children on the moon

scarface: 40th anniversary viewing

now, this is a movie i know well.  it was a staple rental tape during the mom&pop video store era.  this flick has become part of the popular culture.  it's lexicon & hyper-stylized violence are part of the pop landscape.  it's been 40 years & you can still hear someone say, out of a wizened glee, a la al pacino, as drug lord tony montanta, 'say hello to my little friend' in a overwrought cuban accent.  but i've never seen this flick on the big screen.  until tonight.  b. & i headed to the local cineplex where we could watch the 40th anniversary showing of this great exploitation movie.  this pic is not for everyone.  indeed, it is ultra-violent.  montana is a real dick.  so are everyone in this movie, including a young michelle pfeiffer who played the love interest of both montana's first boss & teacher in the arts of dope dealing, frank lopez, played by a wonderful robert loggia, & later montana himself.  this is an american story of rags-to-riches-to-bloody-rags again.  but rather than the filmmaker, brian de palma, & his screenwriter, oliver stone, craft a morality play of right & wrong we are treated to the very themes that run long in human civiilzation, the hunger for power, money & fame.  today, our action anti-heroes, be they john wick, or the equalizer robert mccall, or even the hardened loner of the wasted outback of the rover [2014], eric, played by guy pearce, all these characters of this century are men of action seeking vengeance in the pursuit of justice.  not so the world of tony montana.  rather, he operates as the lusty id on the body of cocaine trafficking in south florida.  a man with ganas who wants to rule the world.  & but for a short time montana does rule the world.  at least the world of cocaine traffickers in south florida.  it was fun watching this flick on the big screen in all its day-glo saturated colors & synth score by giorgio moroder.  the sound system kicked ass so every note of the score & every bullet wizzing the air enveloped the theater.  seeing it on the big screen brought out smaller details in the background, such as when the hit squad attacks montana's compound you can see bodies dropping on tony's surveillance monitors.  i called this an exploitation flick.  i stand by it.  the hyper-violence, the fears of the drug wars - which were deeply held at the time, are all of a piece of its era, the 1980s, when the american dream was - & still is - to get rich & die trying.

a halloween memory

we were at a local commercial haunted house.  with my friend p.  it was all my fault.  p. was the more rational one.  he asked me how can two middle-aged men find a haunted house not only scary but entertaining.  c'mon!  have an open mind, i said.  which led us to the parking lot of the local haunted house.  the usual things were there.  scary music.  crowds psyching themselves up.  scare actors roaming the parking lot.  we bought our tickets, p. & i for all four houses.  one was a carnival gone berserk.  another one was a mental hospital taken over by the inmates.  the usual array of scary things.  but the last one, i can't remember what it was called.  it was in the basement.  & it was a maze.  but there were no lights in that maze.  it was pitch black.  i mean dark!  you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.  i shit you not.  when it was our turn to enter p. & i held hands so we wouldn't get separated.  there were noises in that pitch dark maze.  subtle screaming.  whispering just above audible range.  we got turned around.  i lost grip with p.'s hand.  i was alone.  i could1n't figure out which way to go.  then, in the distance, i heard p. call out my name.  faintly, 'richaaaaaaaard!'  i made my way toward his voice.  i managed to get out.  be among the living.  the ticket paying public of a commercial haunted house.  but where was p.?  i looked & looked & looked.  people who saw me enter the haunted house didn't remember p.  he disappeared as if he were a figment of my imagination.  but surely he would emerge from that pitch black maze.  i waited at the exit & i waited unitl it was closing time.  reluctantly i found my car in the parking lot & i was the last vehicle to leave.  as for p. i never saw him again!   

the art of smoking

i remember when it seemed like the whole world smoked

you could get the fancy table lighters & ashtrays

at department stores located among the fine china & flatware

even at McDonald's there were gold foil ashtrays on the tables

in the hospital recovery rooms you would find ashtrays

& books of matches could be had for a nickel & a song

at nearly every restaurant diner & gas station often with

the branding of the establishment on its cover

even in elementary school we would make pottery

for our parents an ashtray that would be fired in a kiln

so common & so ubiquitous was the fact of smoking

that in the disaster movie EARTHQUAKE [1974]

after the temblor does its damage a character warns

another character to go in the house to turn off the gas

& that man rushes inside with a lit cigarette between his lips

to turn off the gas & the house blows up

fucking beautiful!

absolute music

how can a song bring me to tears & makes me happy at the same time!

after issa

yes daddy

long legs

i make 

a nest 

of it 

too

late october haiku

on the window glass i see

                       a daddy long legs jumping

over the full hunter's moon

it's friday nite & you remember a '90s band that crafted some of the best powerpop songs, ever!

this band is fucking rad!  i've loved this song for 30 years

the after-halloween lowdown

happy Dias de los Muertos!  the day when our dead come visit us to wish us well.  last night was when the membrane between the living & the dead was at its thinnest.  i am bummed that my favorite holiday is behind us.  but then, halloween is in front of us too. a mere 365 days away!

nick & i drove around the neighborhood this evening running a few errands.  many halloween decorations are still up & shining & flashing but already there are signs announcing Christmas events mixed in.  halloween decor will mostly be taken down this weekend.  & we are steadfastly moving with greater velocity toward the Christmas Season.  as we should.

but then so, last night was a delight.  like i said in an earlier post this Scary Season was pretty mellow & chill for us.  all the work we did on the house exhausted us.  we didn't get candy until yesterday afternoon.   we tasked nick to getting the good stuff & he came home with 4 lbs of it.  lucky too.  because what started out real slow re Trick R Treaters really ramped up by 8 PM.  we nearly ran out of candy!  horrors!  i love handing out the good stuff to Trick R Treaters.  makes my heart happy.  lots of costumes i couldn't identify.  one batman.  a few princesses.  three clowns that were terrifying!  one jesse pinkman from the TV series Breaking Bad. [2008-2013].  i asked jesse where's the blue meth.  his friends cracked up & said he's got it!  lo!  jesse reached into his jeans pocket & pulled out a baggie fill with blue crystals!  oh shit!  then the evening ended with a single Wednesday Addams on the porch while her parents, Gomez & Morticia, watched on the sidewalk as Wednesday said, Trick R Treat!  

after that, we turned out the outside halloween lights & made ready for bed.  i snuggled with the cats & watched Tales of Halloween [2015], an anthology movie made with the same tongue-in-cheek & love of the Scary Season as Trick 'r Treat [2007].  the former is an imperfect film, but it had a manic energy & balls-to-wallness that i greatly enjoyed.  then it was lights out.  time for bed.  gotta get up a little early to get myself to the office.  then i drifted off to sleep dreaming of The Boogeyman, black cats & jack o'lanterns galore!  until next year!  always be holding halloween in your heart!

boo!