angels hard as they come [1971]

 

how hard?  haaaard!!! actually, watching this flick in full is the hardest part cuz tho this movie has all the requisite scuzzy biker dudes who are all in need of a lot of soap & water, with a base level of depravity & sadistic violence we come to expect from the biker genre, & even tho it was produced & co-penned by future oscar winner jonathan demme, this movie kinda lagged.  

demme's co-writer, joe viola, directed this entry in the knights errant of postwar dudes riding rough on their hogs thru highways & byways of mid-20th C america.  scott glenn is long john, the taciturn, but somewhat honorable leader of the Angels MC.  after a drug deal goes south long john & a few angels meet the Dragons MC, led by the histrionic psycho the general, played by charles dierkop.  come to the ghost town of Lost Cause, sayeth the Dragons, where the Angels & the Dragons can eat drink & be rowdy.

but lo!  Lost Cause is already a hippie commune led by peacenik henry, played by gary busey.  the hippies are trapped by the Dragons who confiscated their hippie van & are forced to feed & shelter this bad band of bikers.  enter a hippie goddess, astrid, played by gilda texter, who is a sensitive artist & watch long john fall in crazy in love.

does bad shit happen?  do bikers love their WD40?  soon the two MCs are at each other's throats with the hippies caught in the middle.  still, viola keeps the pace quick with bloody sadism.  apart from glenn who nearly whispers his half a dozen lines the dialogue is shouted rather than spoken.  the general is one crazy asshole but he's an imaginative one.  & when the two leaders go mano a mano it is a treat to see.  

i liked glenn's part.  his earthy good looks & his deep voice kept this movie from total boredom.  gilda was never given any depth of character but she was a lovely flowerchild & tho the chemistry between long john & gilda coulda used a catalyst of any kind i was invested in their budding romance.  call me a romantic!  for this biker flick is not the worst of the lot.  & the image of the outlaw biker does carry still a gravitas in our culture.  because, secretly, we are all rebels, right.  & when we are asked what we are rebelling against, remember johnny's answer to that question, played by marlon brando, in the wild one [1953], 'what you got?'

quote unquote

 

--nicanor parra

roller boogie

broken hearted & soul sick we decided to get out of the house.  like everyone we have doomscrolled the videos of horror, terror & abject cruelty.  we are outraged.  we are fucking fed up.  poetry is not a salve.  it is not a balm.  like WCW said, it is difficult to get the news from poetry but many men die everyday from lack of what is found there.  remember the reading/writing of poems is to engage the world, as it is, but if only maybe we can, thru language, change it a little for the better.

even so, we got out of the house tonight.  a little exercise was in order.  we picked up l., anna's sister, on the way to the roller-skating rink called, natch, The Rink.  it used to be called King Skate Country when we were wee kids.  but the place looks just the same.  even the bathroom hadn't changed.  tonight was Adult Skate.  anna & l. have their own skates.  but me, i haven't laced up a pair of roller skates in at least 10 years.  i needed to rent mine.

thing is, i managed to stay upright.  i might've been the oldest dude there too.  the music was mostly EDM & hip-hop.  played at a volume where the bass was not heard but felt in the solar plexus.  anna is a natural & looked great on the floor.  the effort to stay upright & skate the oval of the floor was some really freaking work!  my legs still feel like jelly.   

it would've been cool if the house DJ played some tunes that were on the PA when anna & i were regulars at King Skate Country.  like 'another one bites the dust' by queen.  & 'don't go breaking my heart' by elton john & kiki dee.  but the DJ played music for the mostly younger skaters.  & there were more than a few skaters that had moves & grooves that could give the skaters of the roller boogie era some competition.  

anna took a pic & video of me. doing my thing.  again, i hadn't laced up skates since nick was a cub scout many years ago & we had a cub scout event at The Rink.  i surprised myself as i managed to gain a bit more confidence in my skating.  tho i am sure the skaters on the floor probably saw this wobbly old man & made mental notes to steer clear!

there might be a poem in it!  at any rate, here is a pic of me, ready steady poeta, about to get into the groove of an ordinary night in america.

peace & love 

frog pond bullet koan

 what is the sound of boiling water & 8 bullets shot from a gun

light & shadow in NorCal

 

A B R

Always

Be

Reading

on the nite stand

 

quote unquote

it's a poem.  don't worry about it.

--duncan mcnaughton

glances in an alley

o body swayed to music, o brightening glance,

how can we know the dancer from the dance?

--william butler yeats