25 Years Ago Today: Frank Sinatra Dies

May 14, 1998: Frank Sinatra dies of a heart attack. He's 82 years old.

Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey, to parents who were both immigrants from Italy. He got a ukulele for his 15th birthday and taught himself to play it. He made his first record as a singer in 1939. In November of that year, he became the lead singer of the Tommy Dorsey Band. He recorded his first hit song, "Polka Dots and Stardust," in 1940.

On January 19, 1942, Sinatra recorded one of my favorite Cole Porter songs, "Night and Day."

On May 6, 1944, Warner Bros. released a Porky Pig cartoon, "Swooner Crooner," that mocked Sinatra-mania.

In 1947, he recorded the song "Mam'selle" for the soundtrack of The Razor's Edge, based on the 1944 book by W. Somerset Maugham.

On November 7, 1951, he married Ava Gardner.

On March 25, 1954, Sinatra won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing Maggio in From Here to Eternity.

His 1954 album Songs for Young Lovers includes Cole Porter's "I Get a Kick Out of You" and the George Gershwin song "They Can't Take That Away From Me."

He recorded Porter's "I've Got You Under My Skin," reportedly in 22 takes, for the 1956 album Songs for Swingin' Lovers.

On July 2, 1966, the #1 song in the U.S. is Sinatra's "Strangers In the Night." The melody was composed by Bert Kaempfert, who's got the mad hits. That same year, 50-year-old Sinatra marries 21-year-old Mia Farrow.

On April 15, 1967, the #1 song in the U.S. is "Something Stupid" by Sinatra and his 26-year-old daughter Nancy. Where did I first hear this song? Performed by Kelsey Grammer and Julie Kavner as Sideshow Bob and Selma Bouvier on Simpsons episode 8F20, “Black Widower,” which originally aired April 9, 1992.

Nancy Sinatra is like Mary Wollstonecraft in that mother and daughter have the same name. Frank Sinatra's first wife and eldest child are both called Nancy Sinatra.

On November 13, 1967, NBC gives him a TV special with guest star Ella Fitzgerald.

https://www.jazzonthetube.com/john-gennari-flavor-and-soul/

Fitzgerald, Sinatra, Count Basie, and Pat Henry's Orchestra performed a revue together on June 6th through June 18th at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Although allegedly "retired," he recorded two best-selling Duets albums, the first in 1993 and Duets II in 1994. These include the "I've Got You Under My Skin" duet with Bono.

I don't have a source for this, but I remember watching Bono talking on TV about a night of drinking that the two had together. Bono fell asleep with a glass of whiskey in his hand and spilled it on himself in his sleep. He woke up and got terribly embarrassed that the great Frank Sinatra would think he, Bono, had gotten so drunk he pissed himself.

Frank Sinatra had a good, long, musical life. He died in 1998, and his second child Frank Sinatra Jr. died in 2016. Nancy and Tina Sinatra are still with us, as is Ronan Farrow, Mia Farrow's son of whom Sinatra may be the biological father. On paper, the alleged sexual predator Woody Allen is Ronan's father, but Ronan looks a lot more like Sinatra than Allen.

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Why You Should Watch ’11.22.63’ on Hulu

First, a confession: I’ve never read a Stephen King book. Not a one. I’ve read a short story from the Salem’s Lot universe in a vampire anthology, and I’ve read an excerpt from On Writing. I did not read 11.22.63. I didn’t even pay much attention to the Under the Dome miniseries when it was on, although I have seen Misery more than once.

I wanted to watch 11.22.63 because the gal one cube over from me at the Day Job recommended it. I soon discovered there are many reasons to watch this Hulu miniseries, reasons that make it much better than Under the Dome.

1. James Franco. I enumerated the reasons I appreciate the older Franco brother one Hanukkah night. He’s still my favorite film Allen Ginsberg. (Yeah, I still haven’t seen Kill Your Darlings. I’m behind on my writer biopics.) He may be one of my people, one of the bi/pans, but that remains undetermined. He’s definitely a cute Jewish boy with curly hair, though.

In this miniseries, he plays a high school English teacher. He does so convincingly. I think James Franco might actually make a good English teacher in real life. He would be a distraction to the students who like boys, but still.

2. Lucy Fry is Marina Oswald. You may remember Lucy Fry as the Moroi princess Lissa Dragomir in the Vampire Academy movie. Here she plays the physically and emotionally abused wife of Lee Harvey Oswald. She warms to the advances of historically fictitious character Bill Turcotte, played by the lovely young English actor George MacKay, a Kentucky farm boy enlisted as a helper by Franco’s character Jake. Sadly, Bill and Marina are not destined for the happy ending that Lissa and Christian Ozera enjoy.

I read in a Goodreads discussion group that the character Bill did not appear in the book, but was added for the miniseries.

3. The plot is genuinely intriguing. It has a wrinkle in time – a magical closet that takes a person back to a specific date in 1960, and no matter how long they stay, only two minutes have passed in the modern world. Diner owner Al, losing a battle with cancer, recruits Jake to use the portal to go back in time and follow Lee Harvey Oswald to determine if Oswald is, in fact, the sole killer responsible for the murder of President Kennedy. If he is sure of Oswald’s guilt, Jake is supposed to kill Oswald so that the president lives and, Al hopes, the Vietnam War will end much, much sooner than it did historically.

4. Al is played by Chris Cooper. I enumerated in the In Cold Blood post the film projects that make Cooper such an important character actor. It helps that he kissed Kevin Spacey. I mean, I don’t know if it helps his career, but it helps me, personally. It’s not a positive example of lgbtq+ media representation, but in the 1990s, we were lucky to see same-sex kisses on the big screen at all.

5. Speaking of kisses, this Stephen King-derived material is surprisingly romantic. Bill/Marina is only the secondary romantic plot; Jake finds love in the past with Sadie Dunhill (Sarah Gadon, the heroine of Dracula Untold), a librarian. Of course, as Al warns Jake, if you push against the past, the past pushes back. Jake’s pursuit of Oswald places Sadie in grave danger, causing Jake to wonder if his true mission is to live a long, happy life with Sadie, and the president be damned.

6. Sadie’s favorite book is From Here to Eternity. When Jake first lays eyes on Sadie, she’s sitting on a park bench, reading From Here to Eternity. The dust jacket photo of James Jones appears prominently in the scene. The two discuss the book, mentioning that the book is better than the movie. (It is. It is much, much better. And the movie’s still great.) Later, when Jake thinks all is lost, he hallucinates or imagines Sadie sitting on a bench in a bus depot, reading From Here to Eternity.

All 8 parts have now been released, so if you have access, check it out. It’s science fiction, and there’s a touch of Kingly horror, and there’s even a touch of a dystopian present, but don’t feel bound by any one genre. It’s much more interesting stuff than Under the Dome, although maybe not quite as spectacular as The Shining.

How to Play a Lovegame in 5 Gaga Steps

As I sit impatiently waiting for the Grammy Awards show with Lady Gaga's tribute to David Bowie (plus a musical number from the cast of Lin Manuel Miranda's brilliant show Hamilton), please enjoy this essay originally published at the now-defunct Oysters and Chocolate erotica website. 

Ever since the days of Sappho, poets and songwriters have been perfecting the art of the playful, uniquely worded verbal flirtation. It didn’t begin with Lady Gaga, but the pop superstar has both blatant sexuality and a way with memorable turns of a phrase. Pluck a few lines from her songs and you’ll find an intriguing roadmap for an erotic encounter with someone special. Go forth and have a wild, fashionable time in the name of Gaga.

Eyeliner and Cigarettes 

It starts with a look. Biologists will tell you the first stage of the human mating ritual is eye contact. Wide eyes signal interest; in fact, when we meet someone we’re really interested in, our pupils dilate. Eyeliner is an artificial way of making our eyes look bigger, a sort of cosmetic flirt. The effect can be especially striking on guys, for whom wearing make-up is a rebellious sign of going against society’s grain. Eyeliner instantly makes a guy look like a rock star, or like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. Either could be a very hot look.

A night of passion doesn’t have to begin with eyeliner, though. Whatever kind of flair makes you feel like a sexier, flirtier version of yourself will work. The cigarettes, likewise, don’t have to be literal. Cigarettes, like eyeliner on a man, could be anything rebellious. They could also represent what relaxes you, whether it’s a dirty martini, an aromatherapy bath, or a mellow iTunes playlist. Of course, all you phlegms fatale are welcome to light up if it’s what floats your boat. Indulge yourself in a moment of relaxation and a little flair before the big night to boost your confidence.

Got your relaxation on? Good. Do you look as good as you feel? Excellent. Now go where the night takes you--drinks, dinner, dancing, maybe even something that doesn’t start with D.

French Kissed on a Subway Train 

You’ve gone out, showed off your look and done whatever it is you two crazy kids do for fun these days. You’ve decided on his/her place or yours--now you have to get back there. Driving offers privacy, but you can’t drive with a buzz on. If you’re lucky enough to live in a city with a subway, elevated train or trolley car system, train cars can be an ideal spot for foreplay.

It may help to know the laws in your area about sex acts in public and semi-public places to know how far you can push it. In the U.K., public nudity and sexual expression are covered by the Sexual Offences Act of 2003. Sexuality activity is permitted in any place a couple can reasonably expect to have privacy, and an otherwise-empty subway car may fit that definition. In the U.S., laws vary by state, but you may face a fine or even probation if cited for disturbing the peace or public indecency.

Don’t let the legal mumbo-jumbo scare you off, though. Kissing and light petting aren’t likely to raise a legal eyebrow, and a public encounter can provide an intoxicating rush of adrenaline. Actor Mary-Louise Parker recommends hotel hallways for hanky-panky and calls the risk of getting caught “worth it every time.”

Leather Studded Kiss in the Sand

Like eyeliner, black leather with metals studs In the ‘50s, leather and studs were for bikers, and they were decidedly bad company. Cultural relics like Vaughan Monroe’s record “Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots” helped cement that rebellious image, and rock stars have been rocking the leather look ever since. On one hand, leather has mainstreamed. Designers like Michael Kors and Donna Karan continually draw inspiration for couture creations from vintage leathers. On the other hand, leather is increasingly politically incorrect as animal rights gain momentum.

Leather is also a fashion--and function--staple of the BDSM scene. If you’re feeling a tiny bit adventurous, spice up your night look with a studded leather collar, belt, or bustier. If you’ve got a mate with a foot or leg fetish, a pair of studded boots might be just the ticket.

For vegans and those who choose not to use animal products, there are an ever-increasing variety of sexy leather alternatives. Some are made of latex or acrylic, and others are blended microfibers. If faux leather shoes make you think of Birkenstocks, think again. You can find stylish leather alternatives from Charlotte Russe, Kate Spade, Steve Madden, Fantasia Wear, Victoria’s Secret, and perennial lingerie favorite Frederick’s of Hollywood, among many others.

Tempting as it is to have the classic From Here to Eternity moment on a tide-swept beach, the sand doesn’t have to be literal either. It can represent your mental “happy place.” The happy place is about more than mere relaxation; it’s about actively fantasizing about everything that makes you happy. Your fantasies are safely confined inside your mind, so go wherever your deepest desires want to carry you.

Love You With My Hands Tied

You’ve flirted with the BDSM look; now you might choose to kick the kink up a notch. You could try leather restraints, leashes, a body harness, a straightjacket or another type of full-body restraint. Bondage and sex toy sites, whether on the Internet or in your neighborhood, offer intriguing adult playthings for all sexual tastes.

If you’d like to try restraint play for the first time (or the first time with a new partner), use common-sense safety and comfort measures. Establish some boundaries and agree on a safe word that stops all play, no questions asked. Keep an eye on a person who’s restrained, and never cover up both the nose and mouth, especially when using a gag. Play delicately around the joints, face, neck and other body parts that can easily be injured, and realize holding one position for a long time can cause fatigue and discomfort. If you choose handcuffs, look for the kind that don’t tighten under pressure. Beyond these practical matters, your comfort level and imagination are the only limits.

Take a Ride on Your Disco Stick 

One couldn’t be blamed for associating the stick with a dick, making this step rather self-evident. In the spirit of Gagaesque sexual adventure, you may want to mix it up a bit. While shopping for the leather-studded kiss in the sand, you might have come across a variety of vibrators and dildos. There seem to be as many varieties of faux dicks as flowers in the springtime. You may also have seen a strap-on harness or two; consider this permission to experiment with pegging, if you’ve ever wanted to. Make no apologies for your desires, ‘cause baby, you were born this way.

If penetration isn’t your sexual cup of tea, feel free to focus less on the stick and more on the disco. Create an aural experience with music that puts you and your partner in the mood. If your LoveGame leads you toward female-dominated play, your soundtrack might include the Velvet Underground’s “Venus in Furs,” Tina Turner’s feminist-reclamation cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Under My Thumb,” and…well, lots of Lady Gaga’s songs.

References

Fisher, Helen E. March 31, 2010. “The Biology of Attraction.” Retrieved from the Psychology Today website: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199303/the-biology-attraction

July 26, 2007. “What IS Vegan Leather, Anyway?” Retrieved from The Gloss website: http://thegloss.com/fashion/what-is-vegan-leather-anyway/

Parker, Mary-Louise. March 26, 2009. “Why Having Sex in Public is Worth It (Every Time).” Retrieved from the Esquire website: http://www.esquire.com/features/Dilemmas/sex-in-public-0409

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. (n.d.) “PETA’s Shopping Guide to Compassionate Clothing: Companies That Sell Leather and Fur Alternatives.” Retrieved from the PETA website: http://www.peta.org/living/fashion/

Thompson, Holly. December 11, 2010. “Sex in Public.” Retrieved from TheSite.org: http://www.thesite.org/homelawandmoney/law/yourrights/sexinpublic

Veaux, Franklin. March 7, 2011. “BDSM Safety and Common Sense.” Retrieved from the Xeromag website: http://www.xeromag.com/fvbdsafety.html

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25 erotic short stories from the hot and bothered mind of Emily Cantore! To buy individually would cost a bundle! More than 130,000 words of first-time lesbians, threesomes, girls experimenting, sex toys and much more. Guaranteed to warm you up and get your mind racing!

'The Silkworm' by J.K. Rowling, Writing as Robert Galbraith

Brava, Ms. Rowling! Much of what I said for The Cuckoo's Calling can also be applied here: "Robert Galbraith" once again shows herself witty, hilarious, brilliant, and in command of both English literature and European mythology.

I had to look up at least two cultural references in this one: Rose West and Rowntree. The victim in this murder mystery is Owen Quine, and his wife Leonora is one of the suspects. The press compares her in physical appearance to Rose West – apparently, a real-life serial killer currently serving a life sentence in the U.K.

If I heard the audiobook correctly, Rowntree is the name of Robin Ellacott’s parents’ chocolate Labrador retriever. The name fits a chocolate-colored dog because it’s the name of the U.K. chocolate maker, the one that makes Aero bars. (Rainbow Rowell has teased an appearance by Aero bars in Carry On, which she promises is filled with nommy food references.)

Robin Venetia Ellacott is even more of a superheroine in this one than she was in the last. Guy Ritchie could direct the movie version.

Book Boyfriend #444: Cormoran Strike. If Edward Fairfax Rochester fell through half a dozen Raymond Chandler novels and From Here to Eternity on his way to the 21st century, the result would be Cormoran Strike.

And I am shipper trash because I desperately want Robin to leave Matthew for Cormoran. That kiss on the hand in the very last sentence of the novel - that's all the encouragement I need. The line has been crossed. Let the good ship CormoRobin set forth.

Robert Glenister is an amazing voice actor. I didn’t love his voice for Cormoran’s brother Al; Al was supposed to have a slight French accent, but to me he sounded too American. But otherwise, Glenister makes it too easy to forget I’m listening to a single person reading instead of to the characters themselves.

Do I really have to wait until October 20 for the third book, Career of Evil, though?

I checked this audiobook out of my local library and was not, in any way, obligated to review it.

P.S. I don’t think I’ll ever buy anything made from silk again unless it’s ahimsa or cruelty-free silk. I can’t stand the thought of the little silkworms being boiled alive inside their cocoons. 

'The Cuckoo's Calling' by #JKRowling Writing as Robert Galbraith

I loved this audiobook, so I'm as surprised as you are that I simply don't have very much more to say about it, other than what I covered in my March 1st post. Just a few talking points, then:

- The title, of course, comes from a poem by Christina Rossetti called "The Dirge." I haven't read much of Rossetti. I'm slightly more familiar with her notorious uncle, John William Polidori.

- I said Rowling has a casual familiarity with 400 years of British literature, but she also makes at least passing reference to American literature in this volume. A poem by Walt Whitman is mentioned. During the episode in which he learns of his ex-fiance's engagement and has too much to drink, Cormoran Strike reveals himself to have something in common with Robert E. Lee Prewitt in From Here to Eternity. Namely, both were boxers in their respective armies. Also, Strike is very, very drunk, as Prew so often gets in the War Trilogy.

Physically, Strike is described as a large, lumbering man with curly hair - less Montgomery Clift as Prew in From Here to Eternity, more John C. Reilly as John Storm in The Thin Red Line.

- Apart from Cormoran, Robin, and Lula herself, I think my favorite character is Guy Somé. First of all, it's hilarious that he gave himself a professional name that's a faux-Frenchified version of "some guy." Second of all, being gay, he had no sexual interest in Lula, yet he still loved her very, very much in a platonic way. I love their friendship. I hope he shows up again in The Silkworm.

But I really hope that in a future short story or drabble based on her Harry Potter characters, J.K. Rowling has one of them wear a Guy Somé design. I'd love to see Draco Malfoy in a studded hoodie. Astoria Greengrass can wear it when he's not home.

- Vashti is a great name for a high-end clothes shop. You may remember Queen Vashti of Persia from the Biblical book of Esther. When her drunken husband orders her to appear before him and his rowdy, drunken friends, Vashti refuses. She has sometimes been thought of as haughty and self-important in Jewish tradition, but to feminists it simply seems as if she valued her own worth over her husband's senseless "command." Vashti's reward is to be replaced by the more submissive Esther, much in the same way Lilith is replaced by the more submissive Eve.

- Nothing ever explained how Lula got that scar on her arm, so I'm just going to have to assume "from Voldemort" is the correct answer.

- Headcanon: Lula Landry and Fred Weasley are dating in heaven.

Thoughts on Veterans Day 2013

Veterans Day Pictures - Quotes - Photobucket

(I know they're silly, but I absolutely love the retro-style, patriotic pin-ups. See this post for other examples.)

In the U.S., we call November 11th "Veterans Day," and in Canada it's known as "Remembrance Day." For a lovely Remembrance Day post that incorporated Canadian poet John McCrae's immortal World War I poem "In Flanders Field," please visit Mumfection. I'd like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all U.S., Canadian and allied veterans for their service to our way of life.

My husband, Tit Elingtin, is a Navy veteran, and so is my Uncle Lee. So was my grandfather, who was wounded at Pearl Harbor when he was a mere 17 years old. Actually, both of my grandfathers served in the Navy in WWII. My mom's dad once told me his military job was to "sit at a desk and smoke cigarettes," but I'm certain there's much more to the story than that. I believe my mom's dad served in the European theater.

I was thinking about my mom's late father, Marion (known within the family as Blackie because of his black hair and relatively dark complexion; he was of Russian and Polish descent), when Tit and I went to a family wedding on Saturday. My grandfather's older brother Joseph, who's been deceased for many years, has a grandson named Adam, and Adam married a woman named Andrea. Now that Andrea has my grandfather's last name, her married name is the same as my mom's maiden name, since my mom is also named Andrea. (Different middle names, though.)

Andrea and Adam had a photobooth at the their wedding. I added the hearts on PicMonkey.

Appropriately enough, Veterans Day is also the birthday of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. The author was born in Indianapolis in 1922. Sadly, he is no longer with us. Vonnegut was an army veteran who survived the firebombing of Dresden, Germany, by British troops. He turned this horrifying experience into the brilliant novel Slaughterhouse-Five. It remains one of the best war novels ever.

Of course, I also highly recommend reading James Jones' war trilogy. From Here to Eternity tells you what it's like when a war is imminent, The Thin Red Line tells you what it's like to be in the middle of a war, and Whistle tells you about the after-effects. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Veterans Day Pictures - Quotes - Photobucket

Ms. Destiny, 9 and 14 - Happy 30th Birthday, Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse would have turned 30 years old today.



I wrote a beautiful Amy Winehouse tribute post that I published on Sept. 10, 2012. Unfortunately, it used the old Pinterest codes and the old YouTube embedding format, and when I tried to update it, I destroyed it. That may be the first time in five years that I deleted a blog post, but my html knowledge is more basic than that required to fix the boo-boos.

So I had to start anew.

The first time I ever heard an Amy Winehouse song, I was at my small town's lgbtqia bar (sadly, now but a memory - you can read its elegy in "Gold Lipstick at the End of the Rainbow"). Someone sang "Rehab" at the karaoke bar. I thought it was an interesting song, but it wasn't love at first listen.



The songs that made me fall in love with Amy Winehouse's voice were "Me and Mr. Jones" and "You Know I'm No Good." Then I started reading From Here to Eternity, fell ass-backwards in love with the words of James Jones (it was my major obsession last year), and in my mind I linked "Me and Mr. Jones" with Mr. James Jones.



This is how my mind works. (See also: "Whistle")

This happened. And I haven't stopped listening to Amy since.



Jewish chicks and black eyeliner - a match made in ancient Egypt.



I think this is one of the loveliest songs Amy ever recorded.

I still haven't read Mitch Winehouse's book Amy, My Daughter. I think it would make me sad to read about Amy through the eyes of the dad who loved her so much. I'm sure he shares lots of happy memories of her, though. Not just the tough stuff.

If you've ever loved an addict, then you know how you can regard them with a mixture of love, anger and loathing - but you still love them.

A-Z Book Survey (Nicked From Somewhere Between the Pages)

I found this fun book survey at Somewhere Between the Pages, and it was created by The Perpetual Page-Turner.

Author you've read the most books from: Charlaine Harris, probably, since I read the entire Sookie Stackhouse series

Best sequel ever: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Currently reading: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Drink of choice while reading: at home, coffee; at a Starbuck's, tropical green tea

E-reader or physical book? Both

Fictional character you probably would have actually dated in high school: Augustus Waters

Glad you gave this book a chance: The Hunger Games

Hidden gem book: Master by Colette Gale

Important moment in your reading life: Finishing the first draft of The Smell of Gas, because once I knew I could finish writing a book, I knew I could write whatever I wanted to read that wasn't written yet

Just finished: Hotter Than Hell by Jackie Kessler

Kind of books you won't read: I generally don't read hard science fiction or high fantasy, and I'm not much of a mystery reader either - but I'll give any genre a chance if there's a particularly well-written example

Longest book you've read: probably From Here to Eternity. It's 860 pages (and worth every second of the time it takes to read)

Major book hangover because of: The Count of Monte Cristo

 Number of bookcases you own: One free-standing, two built-in

One book you have read multiple times: Wuthering Heights

Preferred place to read: Comfy spot on the couch

Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you've read: "Tell all the Truth, but tell it Slant/Success in circuit lies..." ~ Emily Dickinson

Reading regret: I waited too long between each of the His Dark Materials books. If I'd known how great The Amber Spyglass is, I'd have read them one right after another

Series you started and need to finish (all books are out in series): the original Vampire Diaries series, the ones actually written by L.J. Smith. I have one more to go.

Three of your all-time favorite books: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass, Little Women, Slaughterhouse-Five

Unapologetic fangirl for: Harry Potter

Very excited for this release more than all the others: Deborah Harkness's third All Souls Trilogy book

Worst bookish habit: reading in the bathroom

X marks the spot (the 27th book from the top left of your shelf): The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History by John Ortved

Your latest book purchase: Hm, my last few acquisitions were freebies, so I think my last actual purchase was of three Nalini Singhs at the discount book store

ZZZ-snatcher (the last book that kept you up way late): Lover at Last by J.R. Ward

Oh How Pinteresting (OHP): Vintage/Black and White

Happy Wednesday! Let's link up with Michelle at TheVintageApple.com for Oh, How Pinteresting.



Pinterest has a large collection of pictures of Marilyn Monroe reading; she read often. I made a this post with just some of those images.



I'm glad Tennessee Williams won a Pulitzer for Streetcar and not Suddenly Last Summer. I'm still somewhat traumatized by the latter. Did you know Brando was native to Omaha, Nebraska?

Yesterday was Jack Kerouac's birthday. Kerouac desperately wanted Marlon Brando to play the lead in a movie version of On the Road, but it never happened. You can read Kerouac's letter here.



This is a gorgeous screencap from From Here to Eternity: Montgomery Clift (another native Nebraskan, btw) as Prewitt, doing what Prew does best, and Donna Reed as Lorene, the ultimate ride-or-die chick, down for whatever. Donna Reed has the best costumes in this movie - especially the party dress she's wearing when Prew first sees her at the club. Gorgeous.



The English actress Lily Elsie.



Live fast, die young, bad girls do it well.



Okay, this one's not vintage. It's just a lovely image from Alex O'Hurley's Sexy Man Monday posts.

A few snaps from my trip to Los Angeles

On of the first things hubby and I did in Los Angeles? See the Pacific Ocean - my first time, his real first time even though he may have seen glimpses when he was a truck driver. We walked from Venice Beach to the Santa Monica pier on Sunday. We saw a pod of wild dolphins - I never saw wild dolphins before, either, not even in Key West.

Here I am having a beer at the Sidewalk Cafe on the boardwalk in Venice Beach. I also had a cheeseburger and fries. The menu has a "Bookshelf" section, which includes sandwiches named for the Iliad and the Odyssey, the thesaurus, Daniel Pinkwater, Mario Puzo, Henry Miller, and Ernest Hemingway. Why no female authors, I wonder?

The street art outside the cafe was also bookish: this is Edgar Allan Poe with Alice Cooper-esque eye makeup. Why Poe? I wonder. I would think John Steinbeck would be more California's style.

Next to the Sidewalk Cafe was Small World Books. I bought a blank journal there, and was sorely tempted to buy the latest Lemony Snicket volume, Who Could That Be at This Hour? I also wanted to buy - but didn't - The Dial Press trade paperback of From Here to Eternity:

...and The Thin Red Line:

...although I cannot for the life of me figure out why The Dial Press has not released a new edition of Whistle. My book obsessiveness demands they complete the trilogy. My favorite part of Small World Books? Petting Conan the Librarian, the bookstore cat.

You can't see it because he's sleeping, but he has a black spot on the nose. He's almost, but not quite, a Cat That Looks Like Hitler.

Venice, California, is named Venice because of its human-created canals. They're quite beautiful.

It's nice to just wander around in the canal neighborhood and sight-see, and then come out and have a beer at the Baja Cantina or another place. Next time I come to Venice Beach, I am definitely renting a wet suit and a surfboard. (This time, we rented a tandem bike. That was fun, too.) I still contend that if I can stand up on a paddleboard, I could totally learn to stand up on a traditional longboard. 

Coffee Talk #6, the one with tattoos

Nat and I had quite an interesting discussion of reality TV star/Kardashian baby daddy Scott Disick last night.

Scott Disick is one of the asshole guys who I absolutely should not think is hot, but I still think he's hot. Scott Disick is a style favorite of Writer's Retreat, a U.K. Tumblr blogger who enjoys books and men's fashion.

Now, on to Nat's weekly Coffee Talk questions, this time co-hosted by Lovely Life of Leah.

1. Let's talk about ink: Do you have tattoos? How many?? 

I have no tattoos and no immediate plans to get one - hubby is not a big fan. If I ever got a tattoo, it would be "I love words" in 14-point Times New Roman around my wrist like a bracelet. 

I've also contemplated getting a wrist tattoo that says Isaac Nathan Bloom (a tragically doomed character in From Here to Eternity) in Hebrew letters. It would look like this:

ןדששב משאישמ נךםםצ

My parents are thinking about getting their first tattoos. Dad wants the Jack Daniel's logo to go with his Jack-themed man cave. I've previously written about my mom's vampire fixation, and she's contemplating a vampire bat tattoo.

Mom's all excited because I went to the library yesterday and checked her out a copy of The Twelve by Justin Cronin. Cronin's vampires are the post-apocalyptic horror variety. 

Please excuse The Big Book of Porn in the background. I use it for research, I swear. 

2. Let's talk about hair styles: Bangs, do you have them, want them, or trying to grow them out? What about side bangs? 

No bangs at the moment.

3. Let's talk about work: Without getting specific with a company name, what do you do? What did you want to be when you grew up when you were young? 

I'm fortunate enough to get steady freelance editing work, so I edit and write full-time. I do what I've always wanted to do for a living - read, write and research.

But if anyone wants to pay me to read the kind of fiction I like to read for pleasure, just let me know.

4. Let's talk about friends: Do you find it easier or more difficult to meet new friends as an adult? Do you have what you'd consider 'blog friends'? What about IRL (in real life) friends?

Making friends is hard when you work from home; most of the time, it's just me, hubby and the cat. I'm grateful for the "blog friends" I like to stalk interact with. 

5. Let's talk about Social media: Android or iPhone? Twitter or Facebook?

I don't have a smartphone, but my laptop and I are complete social media addicts. You pretty much have to be when you have books to promote. I'm on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest...all over the place. 

https://amzn.to/467d0Kj - this is an affiliate link

A Ritual For Celebrating Monty Clift's Birthday

Montgomery Clift was born on October 17, 1920, along with his sister Ethel; this should be a bisexual national holiday. There should be a ritual for celebrating said holiday. It should go something like this. (It totally does not matter if you are a guy or a woman.)

Breakfast: Smoke half a pack of unfiltered Camels from a Tiffany cigarette holder, then work on your abs. 

Watch From Here to Eternity. Get angry at Burt Lancaster for getting top billing. 

Recite "A man don't go his own way, he's nothing" along with Prewitt. 

Cry when Maggio dies, then drink a tumbler of Scotch, neat. 

After the movie, go four rounds in the boxing ring with your trainer. Take a long shower. Admire yourself in the mirror; you are the damned prettiest thing that ever lived. 

Lunch: 12 ounces of raw steak. 

Throw a party in your apartment. Make out with the nearest girl who looks vaguely like Elizabeth Taylor. Call her Bessie Mae, assure her that if you were going to marry anything it would be her, then wrestle her to the ground and bite her shoulder. 

Single-handedly finish off that fifth of Scotch and get out your Sinatra records. 

Dinner: Snort lines of finely-crushed Seconal off the shaved chest of a blond hustler who vaguely resembles a young Marlon Brando, all the while thinking that Brando is a hammy over-actor and he's starting to get love handles. 

Make out with said blond hustler. Abandon him to discuss the work of Anton Chekhov with your friends; help them finish off a bottle of champagne, the actual French stuff. If you lapse into speaking French, no one will mind.  

Pass out face-down on the carpet; your assistant will carry you to bed.

Listen, I'm being facetious. This is what I think Old Hollywood people did in the 1950s. I'm not advocating that you abuse alcohol or other drugs. 

10 Things You Might Not Know About Montgomery Clift

Ten things you might not know about Montgomery Clift, the devastatingly handsome and intense actor who starred in classics like From Here to Eternity and A Place in the Sun:

1. His two favorite words were "fuck" and "shit."

2. It drove his mother crazy when he wore t-shirts or khakis. She wanted him dressed like a gentleman at all times.



3. Born in Omaha but raised largely in Europe, he spoke French and German fluently, and spoke with an English accent as a young man.

4. He wanted to play Hamlet and could recite most of Shakespeare's play from memory - but he never actually starred in a production of it.

5. To prepare for Lonelyhearts, he read every novel Nathanael West had written.

6. He excelled at skiing and tennis.

7. His favorite singer was Ella Fitzgerald.



8. The playwright he most admired was Anton Chekhov.

9. He slept naked and had a tendency to sleepwalk, leading to some awkward nights in hotels.

10. Even though he thought James Dean was "weird" and consciously imitating Monty himself, he was terribly upset when told that Dean had died.

     -->  

Patricia Bosworth's book is an intense and, at times, disturbing biography. It's quite appropriate that Clift played Freud, since his life was a psychoanalyst's dream come true. He was unusually close with his twin sister Ethel and brother Brooks. He had wild mood swings, exacerbated by alcohol and drug abuse and by health problems, including a thyroid disorder. He could be sweet, tender and childlike one minute and then vicious (especially with words) the next. He was as insecure as he was gorgeous.



In real life, I probably wouldn't have liked him very much. But I'll never have to worry about that, because he died when my parents were 13 and 14. In my imagination, I'd like to do things with him that were almost certainly illegal in the 1950s.

That's the wonderful thing about movies - they capture beautiful people when they are young, beautiful and intensely talented. There will never be a time when people will say "Montgomery Clift was not a good actor." In fact, he was one of the best ever.

Successful Completion of James Jones' Wartime Trilogy

It is finished. I have finished reading Whistle, and thus concluded the entire wartime trilogy by James Jones.

860 pages of From Here to Eternity + 416 pages of The Thin Red Line + 576 pages of Whistle = 1852 pages. That's quite an investment in the main characters, so hopefully it makes some sense why I get so wrapped up in them.

The ending is rather unpleasant. Charlotte's Web unpleasant. Pretty Birds unpleasant. As in, a character I care deeply about meets a particularly cruel death. All four of the characters meet particularly cruel fates; one could say that they've all succumbed to incapacitating post-traumatic stress disorder.

In the end, we don't know what happens to Bobby Prell's pregnant wife, Della Mae. Prell isn't interested; he and Della Mae have considered having an abortion. It isn't the bittersweet resolution that Suzanne Collins gives us to (SPOILER) Finnick and Annie's story in Mockingjay. The marriage isn't a happy one - he's cheating almost immediately, but remember, James Jones characters do tend to be shameless sexual opportunists. It's very possible that Della Mae will simply forget Bobby Prell and move on to the next guy. She seems very innocent, but there's actually something predatory about her.

It's not that Jones couldn't write a female character he respected - Lorene/Alma is drawn quite sympathetically in FHTE, and Whistle's Arlette seems to have her shit together quite nicely. Carol, once she's been with Winch for a while, matures into a person Winch respects. Other women, including Della Mae and Winch's wife, get less sympathy. It's intentions and personality that make the difference; women aren't judged for their sexuality. In fact, Jones laments that Christian cultures repress sexuality.

In one particularly interesting passage, Winch muses that female multiple orgasms must be largely a thing of the male imagination. As long passages in From Here to Eternity are devoted to the question of whether homosexuality is natural or not, long passages of Whistle are devoted to cunnilingus. Landers is grateful when a woman gives him instructions. Strange at first refuses, then discusses it with Landers, then gets a little obsessed and kind of offended when a woman isn't interested.

My theory is that Jones was familiar with the Shere Hite report, which was generating a lot of buzz around the time of the writing of this novel. According to The American Women's Almanac:

"The Hite Report, in 1976, upset a lot of applecarts. Hite's report on female sexuality was disturbing because, perhaps for the first time, she allowed women - 3,000 had answered questions for her book - to talk about how they defined sex. Although many feminists were attacking Sigmund Freud's idea that only vaginal orgasms represented mature female sexuality, Hite's report popularized the idea that many women preferred clitoral stimulation. She was roundly attacked, her methods called unscientific, her sample not representative. A Washington Post reviewer said the book was 'about as intellectually provocative as the plumbing in my basement.'"

Jones found it intellectually provocative, apparently, enough to have his female characters assert that they liked receiving oral sex. Clearly, Jones admired the more assertive women in his novel, and was rather dismissive of the ones who were too shy or prudish to get what they wanted. In retrospect, all this feminist assertiveness may seem a bit anachronistic for the 1940s, but then again, strong women have existed in every age, and I'm sure there were plenty of ballsy Rosie the Riveter types.

Whether Shere Hite is right or wrong that female multiple orgasms from intercourse without direct clitoral stimulation are rare, I don't know. They're certainly possible; I know that from experience. I usually stop counting around five. For me, the only trick is to be on top. Maybe that's what Winch is doing wrong - I don't think there are any sex scenes in Whistle with the female partner on top. In fact, Prell blames Della Mae's pregnancy on the fact that, while he get enough strength back in his legs to get on top of her, it wasn't as easy to get off her when he wanted to pull out. (That's not a very effective birth control method anyway, but we don't expect Prell to be too educated about these kinds of things anyway, since he's a coal miner's son from West Virginia. Yes, Jones moved his birthplace from Kentucky to West Virginia in the third novel. Winch and Carol use a diaphragm - then again, maybe birth control would've been covered in their army hygiene lectures?)

By the way, Prell did learn to walk again by the end of the novel. He used the wheelchair largely for show, to get the attendees at his war bonds talks to feel additional sympathy for him. It worked remarkably well for picking up women whose husbands were off fighting in Europe.

I don't feel particularly good about the ending that James Jones planned for his characters while he himself was dying. I understand why it has to end this way, but it is a very bitter pill to swallow. Which, I suppose, is a comment on war itself. Jones firmly believes that combat has no happy ending, anywhere, for anybody.

This is how I "Keep Calm and Carry On" with my book

"My book" is still Whistle - if you don't want spoilers, look away now.

My guess is that the guy on the left, because he has the cane, must be Landers. The guy in the middle is probably Mart Winch, and then the dark-haired guy looking off to the right is probably Johnny Strange (the third incarnation of the Texan Maylon Stark, the mess sergeant. In The Thin Red Line, his second incarnation was played by John C. Reilly). So the smaller figure standing on the right side of the second row is probably Prell. He's standing, so this might mean that by the end of the book, he can walk again. The woman is probably Carol in her Red Cross volunteer uniform.

Most girls who like books can identify with Belle in Beauty in the Beast. The cartoon is even used as a sample in "Bitches in Bookshops." (Interestingly enough, this Disney Princess quiz suggests I'm actually a Pocahontas - but that's not important right now.) People like me who maintain vast book-related pinboards on Pinterest are fond of this one:

Like everything in life, it has an associated "Keep Calm and Carry On"-style poster.

But I'm not exactly like most readers. I'm completely obsessed with finishing James Jones' wartime trilogy. With about 100 pages left to go, and having read of Bobby Prell's marriage to his pregnant 17-year-old conquest Della Mae, I needed to make a Keep Calm poster of my own.

Just to be clear: it's not that I want to be Della Mae. Della Mae is young and dumb and naive and kind of a prude. It's just that I want Bob Witt/Bobby Prell to be my fictional husband. I actually imagined that I'd be the older, more experienced one (see the Memorial Day post). Prell's about 24. I'd be about 27 and already divorced once when we got together. We'd have at least one kid, a boy, and then if anything happened to Witt/Prell I'd possibly get together with Fife/Landers.

...Although it's a little troubling that Landers is, about 100 pages away from the end, planning to go AWOL similar to the way Prewitt did in From Here to Eternity - except without the deadly knife fight. I think we know how that trajectory ends.

James Jones, why did you not leave me in charge of this book series when you were dying and I was just a few months old in 1977?!

And Terrence Malick, why did you not write a screenplay for Whistle back when you could've used the same actors from The Thin Red Line? 

While I'm reading 'Whistle,' I'm going to be a little bit obsessed with Adrien Brody, ok?

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