All I want for Christmas … ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; The children were nestled all snug in their beds; … [Read more…]
Capote’s Betrayal ‘Imagination, of course, can open any door – turn the key and let terror walk right in.’ In Cold Blood by Truman Capote Truman Capote is best known for his novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958) and his narrative fiction book, In Cold Blood (1966). In Cold Blood was based … [Read more…]
The Uber Rich ‘I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain … Time to die.’ Actor Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner … [Read more…]
The Black Eyed Blonde It seemed like a nice neighbourhood to have bad habits in. Raymond Chandler from The Big Sleep 1939. I’ve been reading a Philip Marlowe detective novel that was not written by American author/screenwriter Raymond Chandler (1988-1959). I found the novel The Black Eyed Blonde engaging but somewhat disconcerting. … [Read more…]
Breakfast at Tiffany’s All his prayers in the past had been simple concrete requests: God, give me a bicycle, a knife with seven blades, a box of oil paints. Only how, how, could you say something so indefinite, so meaningless as this: God, let me be loved. Other Voices by Truman Capote. … [Read more…]
Colette ‘People who are perfectly sane and happy don’t make good literature, alas.’ Colette 1873-1954 Every so often I sneak back to classic literature for a brain clean. It’s wonderful to go back and savour books I really love. This time around I’m on a Colette reading jag. Colette was born … [Read more…]
Sailor’s Superstitions ‘I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship.’ Louisa May Alcott ‘The sea finds out everything you did wrong.’ Francis Stokes I’ve always been fascinated by the tradition of breaking a bottle of champagne over the bow of a ship being launched. It must be … [Read more…]
Hotel Ghosts For the last few days I’ve been doing a road trip around South Tasmania, while staying in a lovely hotel in Hobart’s wharf area. The area is rumoured to be fantastically ghost ridden. About 150 years ago the area around the wharf was known as Wapping. Folk who lived here worked in the … [Read more…]
‘I am 100 percent in favor of the intelligent use of drugs, and 1,000 percent against the thoughtless use of them, whether caffeine or LSD. And drugs are not central to my life.’ Timothy Leary, American Psychologist 1920-1996 Drugs have a tendency to become fashionable and then fall from favour. In … [Read more…]
Hollywood Dame – Zsa Zsa Gabor ‘A man in love is incomplete until he has married. Then he’s finished.’ Zsa Zsa Gabor In the fifties and sixties, Zsa Zsa Gabor became more famous for playing herself than the films, stage shows and television shows she appeared in. Born in Budapest and … [Read more…]
Ayesha the Wonder Dog ‘Draw your chair up close to the edge of the precipice and I’ll tell you a story’ Scott Fitzgerald The Crack-Up When I was a kid we had a dog named Ayesha. She was a Corgi with oversized ears, big personality and great intelligence. Ayesha had a male … [Read more…]
Marriage is the tomb of love ‘The company … was far more likely to give pleasure than one made up of persons of quality, where gaiety freezes in the chill of etiquette.’ Casanova describing an evening spent with a group of actors. Having just finished editing my fiction manuscript I’m taking some time … [Read more…]
Freud’s Cigar ‘Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.’ Dr Sigmund Freud 1856 -1939. Freud was a heavy cigar smoker and supposedly said, ‘Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar’. Many of his theories relate to uncontrolled libido and wild sexual impulses. Accordingly, his statement probably means a phallic-shaped object such as a cigar, doesn’t … [Read more…]
Italian Style Italian film directors produce diverse and wonderful films. Paolo Sorrentino is one of my favourite directors. Sometimes I watch the exuberant party scene from La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty) when I’m feeling a bit sad and need to recalibrate. Fellini’s, La Dolce Vita is a magnificent film. Released in 1960, set in … [Read more…]
The Addams Family House ‘They’re creepy and they’re kooky Mysterious and spooky They’re all together ooky The Addams family Their house is a museum When people come to see ’em They really are a scream The Addams family…’ The Addams Family theme song I was born in London but raised in Australia by English … [Read more…]
The Perils of Modern Life I believe in censorship! If a picture of mine didn’t get an X-rating, I’d be insulted. Don’t forget dear, I invented censorship. Mae West – actress, Hollywood legend and author of Sex (1926). We live in strange times. 2022 has been marred by extreme climate … [Read more…]
A Tale Of Lost Cities I call architecture frozen music. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Even a brick wants to be something. Louis Kahn Last night, I sat on the banks of the Yarra River which runs through the heart of Melbourne. The skyscrapers appeared as cubes of burning lights. And the Casino’s neon lights … [Read more…]
Messing About In Boats As the Water Rat in Wind in the Willows, advises the mole, ‘Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.’ I messed around in boats when I learned to sail on a lake. … [Read more…]
Love is the Drug … Love is the drug and I need to score Showing out, showing out, hit and run Boy meets girl where the beat goes on Stitched up tight, can’t shake free Love is the drug, got a hook on me … Love is the Drug by Roxy Music. … [Read more…]
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ‘I overheard Dorothy tell Major Falcon that she liked to become intoxicated once in a dirty while.’ Lorelei Lee from Anita Loos novella, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. One of my favourite books is a hardcover 1926, tenth edition of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. So popular was Anita Loos’ novella that … [Read more…]
Deck the Halls ‘The worst gift is a fruitcake. There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other.’ The late Johnny Carson, comedian & former host of The Tonight Show. My Christmas tree has landed and my apartment is now … [Read more…]
Bond. James Bond. The first 007 movie was released nearly sixty years ago. There have been six James Bond British secret agents: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan & Daniel Craig. Much has been made of Daniel Craig’s fifth and final Bond movie, No Time To Die. I won’t … [Read more…]
Enticed by Black Leather ‘You watch the white line and try to lean with it . . . howling through a turn to the right, then to the left and down the long hill to Pacifica . . . letting off now watching for cops, but only until the next dark stretch and … [Read more…]
A Dog’s Life During our city’s pandemic Shutdown restrictions, I’ve been getting to know my neighbours. By that I mean the local dogs and their owners. Subsequently, I’ve come to the conclusion that only the dogs are living their best lives. Cats are a different matter. My neighbour’s cat has taken to the … [Read more…]
On being Cary Grant ‘Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant.’ quote from Cary Grant who began life as Archie Leach. I’ve been watching To Catch a Thief again. It’s my favourite Cary Grant film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The European locations are to die … [Read more…]