Wednesday, December 31, 2008

A God on the Hudson


It was a simple task, really. Move a five million pound hand-hammered solid copper table from Surprise Furniture into the duplex of Julian Schnabel's Palazzo Chupi on West 11th Street, overlooking the Hudson River.

The two movers spoke to a god they hadn't thought of in years.

Monday, December 29, 2008

"The Day The Earth Stood Still"


"Still, I'll say, it's DOA."

Klaatu

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
DGA Auditorium

You've Been Gone Damn Near Two Years


9 x 6 inches (220 x 150 mm)

signed, titled and dated by Ludzska

Friday, December 26, 2008

Qualified


"If you vote for me, all of your wildest dreams will come true."

Pedro Sanchez

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Season's Greetings


Happy Holidays to you and yours from Angel Lair Ranch.

xxxHarryxxx

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Authority


Know how to play the card of contempt. It is the most politic kind of revenge.

For there are many of whom we should have known nothing if their distinguished opponents had taken no notice of them.

There is no revenge like oblivion, for it is the entombment of the unworthy in the dust of their own nothingness.

Baltasar Gracian, 1601 - 1658

Monday, December 22, 2008

Bettina Gilois


"Smith and Wesson Airweight 624 revolver with Crimson Trace Lasergrip.

It's what's for dinner."

Friday, December 19, 2008

Claire Dishman


Claire Dishman was staying in the Sinatra Suite.

Her needs for room service and demands of housekeeping brought the entire workings of the hotel to a grinding kapook!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Klaus Kinski


"I was not excellent!

I was not extraordinary!

I was not monumental!

I was epochal!"



Jef Aerosol
spray paint on canvas; signed & dated; size: 50 x 50 x 4cm; 2006

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Cynthia Scott


"Dream For One Bright World"

Cynthia Scott: lyrics and music...

http://web.me.com/cscottsing/dream/cynthiascott.html

Hi Cynthia, the new song is as stupendous as you!!!

Can't wait to see you again.

Your rabid, yet harmless fan.......Harry

Monday, December 15, 2008

Ten Days


Madam, I'm still standing firm on both legs.

You're a big game hunter, aren't you?

What's that got to do with it?

Then you should know: When you shoot an elephant, he sometimes stays on his legs for ten days before he topples over.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Duncan Roy


"He arrived on set looking like he had floated down from one of the upper provinces of the Pachitea."

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Dis And Dat


More circular Chemtrails over Bettina's home in Pacific Palisades.

I'm having two pins inserted into my ankle at a pre-dawn surgery today.

Back in a few.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Real Good

'
I had solid moments of my mind feelin' and actin' real fresh, the freshest I can remember since prayin' at the grave of the three dead soldier brothers.

I don't think the angels are watchin' me like I was hopin' or else they would protect me from growin up so fast. I bathed real good so I can be real good. Real good.

Pampa always told me that good sex is good theater and I must be very precise and magnificent today.

Evil is evil, but it only really counts when it can go on a long time.

Evil is as hungry as me and my appetite to please has taken over every wakin' moment almost.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Zhang Huan


And now, moving on from poultry.

For a performance piece entitled, "My New York" (2002), Zhang Huan donned a suit of raw meat at the Whitney Museum.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

David On David. That's Mr. Lowery To You.


While at The Strand seeking to reacquaint myself with Virginia Woolf, a woman walked past me with an armful of books and muttered: "Stay right there, I need to take your picture."

I ran six miles in Central Park and then slept for as many hours and dreamed of phone calls.

I had the most surreal and memorable experience of my filmmaking career on Sunday, but I can't talk about it.

I peeled an orange and it made my fingers smell like Christmas.

I told a strange lie that I can't quite figure out.

There's something in the air.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

A Softie Goes To A DGA Screening


Had a terrible experience Sunday...I went to the DGA to see THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON and GRAN TORINO.

When I walked in I heard a loud thud to the right of me in the lobby. A man had a heart attack and fell to the floor.

The DGA staff was terrific..immediately working to save him WHILE THE MEMBERS CONTINUED TO LINE UP FOR THE FILM RIGHT NEXT TO THE GROUP TRYING TO SAVE THE MAN'S LIFE.

I went outside and watched through the windows...911 arrived and took over. He would start breathing and stop...they pounded on his chest and he'd start to breath again, only to stop again. At one point he let out a terrible groan. I remember a doctor telling me, when I was shooting a documentary, that could mean brain damage. I don't know if the man will make it.

He was still alive as they sped off to the hospital...alive due to Ron of the DGA staff.

I was very upset and left. I didn't see anyone else leave.

They went in to see the movie.

Monday, November 17, 2008

The Hold Steady


The Hold Steady might just be the best bar band in America. With its riff-heavy mixture of classic rock and Craig Finn's lyrically dense storytelling, the group crafts intricately detailed musical universes that have already made it a critical darling and fan favorite.

Formed in 2000 from the ashes of the outstanding Minneapolis band Lifter Puller, The Hold Steady released "Almost Killed Me" in 2004. Bolstered by an ambitious tour schedule, 2005's "Separation Sunday" further boosted the group's profile. A loose concept album, "Separation Sunday" concerns itself mostly with a set of recurring characters whose exploits are chronicled in Finn's complex lyrics.

Making the move to a bigger label for the recent "Boys and Girls in America", Finn and company have crafted an immensely compelling and accessible set of songs.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Arrange To Be Noticed


There is a paradox.

You cannot simply display yourself too brazenly, yet you must also get yourself noticed.

In the court of Louis XIV, whoever the king decided to look at rose instantly in the court hierarchy. You stand no chance of rising if the ruler does not notice you in the swamp of courtiers.

This task requires much art. It is oftern intially a matter of being seen, in the literal sense.

Pay attention to your physical appearance, then, and find a way to create a distinctive - a subtly distinctive - style and image.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Richard Meier's Dream On Perry Street




Triplex overlooking the Hudson River
New York, NY, United States
$33,000,000

12 rooms
5 bedrooms
5 full baths
2 half baths
Interior: 11,000 sq. ft. (approx.)

All inquiries confidential.

Gwendolyn Watel

Commercial, Residential, and Investment Real Estate

Manhattan, New York

Dumann Realty
212.205.6300 Ext. 207
gwatel@dumann.com

Monday, November 10, 2008

Bill Reid Hollywood Producer


"All the ideas tossed around in development had the kerplunk of Joey Heatherton's wardrobe malfunction on The Dean Martin Show."

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Elizabethtown


After causing the Oregon shoe company for which he works to lose hundreds of millions of dollars, Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) is fired for his mistake, and promptly also dumped by his girlfriend, Ellen.

On the verge of suicide, Drew is oddly given a new purpose in life when he is brought back to his family's small Kentucky hometown of Elizabethtown following the death of his father, Mitch, as it falls to him to make sure that his dying wishes are fulfilled.

On the way home, Drew meets a flight attendant, Claire Colburn (Kirsten Dunst), with whom he falls in love, in a romance that helps his life get back on track...

Thursday, November 6, 2008

MGMT


Kevin Murphy: A staple in my 18,000-plus song iTune library.

President-Elect Barack Obama: The girls love them.

Kool Marder: They have a good beat and you can dance to them.

GOD: The best band in the world.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Gus Van Zandt's, "Elephant"


35MM, COLOUR, DOLBY DIGITAL, 81 MINUTES, USA, ENGLISH / DIRECTOR/SCRIPT/EDITOR: GUS VAN SANT / CINEMATOGRAPHER: HARRIS SAVIDES / PRODUCTION CO: BLUE RELIEF PRODUCTIONS, FEARMAKERS STUDIOS, HBO FILMS, MENO FILMS, PIE FILMS INC. / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: RIALTO FILMS, 2003

Gus Van Sant’s Palm d’Or winning Elephant is an examination of violence made explicit by the 1999 Columbine massacre. The title references Alan Clarke’s 1989 film about violence in Northern Ireland, and that film’s proverbial ‘elephant’ in the room that no one wants to acknowledge. Extended tracking shots survey the school’s topography, repeating the interaction between students from different perspectives, all interconnected as the film spirals towards tragedy. The film points simultaneously to the senseless consequences of the scenario, the cultural context of modern entertainment, the co-opting of historical signifiers and the confused sexuality of the two killers.

"Now remember to have fun."

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Never Joke About Appearances Or Taste


A lively wit and a humorous disposition are essential for a good courtier, and there are times when vulgarity is appropriate and engaging.

But avoid any kind of joke about appearance or taste, two highly sensitive areas, especially with those above you.

Do not even try it when you are away from them.

You will dig your own grave.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Gabrielle Luizzi


Gabrielle Luizzi and "She" being tied to the Vespa for a midnight ride through the Cahuenga Pass.
Los Angeles, California
Polaroid Spectra

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Howard Hughes On Santa Monica Blvd.


According to Ted Carpentier, police on Santa Monica Boulevard arrested Hughes for picking up a boy prostitute and compelling the boy to give him fellatio in his Chevrolet. He was taken to the precinct, fingerprinted, and asked for his identity. Instead of responding, he wrote out a check for one million dollars and signed it Howard Hughes.

After his ID was checked, he was released with no further questions asked. Carpentier said that Hughes, now forty-five, was finding it harder to find men who were attracted to him physically (though he retained the thinness that was mandatory in most gay circles, he looked older than his age, and was gaunt). So he would pay, and extravagantly, for the services of call boys, supplied by a well-known male madam.

Bruno Kayan


Serlin Associates

paris

126, boulevard bineau
92200 neuilly sur seine - france
tel: +33 (0)1 41 43 24 24
fax: +33 (0)1 4143 24 23
info@serlinassociates.com

london

unit 445 highgate studios
53 -79 highgate road london nw5 1 tl
tel: +44 (0)20 7424 8888
fax: +44 (0)20 7424 8889
info@serlinassociates.com

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Billy Gibbons


Billy tucked his beard in so that no one would recognize him while we went a lookin' for movie stars, television personalities, and recording artists.

Sunset Plaza
Los Angeles, California
Last century

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The Goodbye


There's gonna be a long goodbye on this rainy hill.

I can stand in rain in all kinds of temperature and control my shakes to be really quick tremors or giant quakers and baby when I do my quakes I could be the scenery in a blockbuster movie on the first night at the drive-in. The kind where the state troopers have to tell all the people stoppin' on the side of the highway to move on and move on quickly and safely.

Buckle up now. Buckle up for the greatest show on earth.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Friday, October 17, 2008

Don't Call Me Dude


Pages 83, 84, 85, 171,172, 181, and 187 ripped, tossed or hidden from the Encyclopedia Of Mayhem.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Marie-Therese


Marie-Therese recalled that the King and Queen continued to be threatended in front of their children. Her brother would cry and tremble when he heard the jailers describe the ways in which they were going to torture and kill the King. Marie-Therese wrote that her father would respond with 'calm and contemptuous silence'. Her mother always maintained her dignity and poise in front of the guards, but on September 2, a three-day massacre began in the city that broke the Queen's resolve.

On day two of the slaughter the Princesse de Lamballe was taken from La Force on to the streets of Paris, decapitated, disemboweled and her breasts cut off. The Baronne de Courtot was convinced that the murder had been carried out on the orders of the Duc d' Orleans in order to taunt the Queen and benefit his wife. The Princess's head was placed on one pole, her mutilated body on another. A mob bearing the two pikes then marched to the Temple Prison where the prison guards let them into the courtyard and paraded Lamballe's head under the Queen's window. According to Marie-Therese, the jailer, Rocher, shouted with joy upon seeing the head. Although the mob screamed for the Queen to appear at her window, she did not. When questioned by the King as to what was going on outside, a young officer replied: 'Well, if you want to know, it is the head of Mme de Lamballe they wish to show you.' The Queen was overcome with terror and Marie-Therese recalled that her mother cried all night.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Deerhoof


Satami Matsuzaki of Deerhoof.

Bristol Palin: Isn't there some Jap girl in that band?!

Kool Marder: They have a good beat and you can dance to them.

GOD: The best band in the world.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Nancy Cassaro


"If I hear of one more shark giving birth by immaculate conception, I will no longer go past the mailbox at my house."

Monday, October 13, 2008

The Monster Of Florence


The summer of 1985 was one of the hottest in recent memory. A serious drought gripped Tuscany, and the hills of Florence lay stunned and prostrate under the sun, the ground cracking, the leaves turning brown and falling from the trees.

The city's aqueducts began to dry up, and priests led their congregations in fervent prayer to the Lord for rain.

Along with the heat, fear of the Monster hung over the city like a stifling blanket.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Down In The Valley


Edward Norton in "Down In The Valley"
David Jacobson, writer and director
Element Films
2005

Thursday, October 9, 2008

And Then There Were Four Then There Were


Harry Goaz

Harley Peyton

Ray Wise

Russ Tamblyn

Last century in Madrid Spain.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Bill Reid Hollywood Producer


My next to oldest brother told me that she used to be a go-go dancer on the Vanilla Fudge Tour 1972 after she graduated from William & Mary.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Cathe Smothers


Cathe riding "Apache" bareback in Ojai, California. Apache is a trained wild Mustang that was rescued.

Kevin Murphy told me that if Cathe has only one arm in the air, she is either scrolling through iTunes or texting.

Monday, October 6, 2008

David On David. That's Mr. Lowery To You.


I forgot to mention that when I got on the plane en route to Birmingham this past Thursday, the lady at security took a gander at my drivers' license and said "Oh, it's you!" This either means that I've hit a new apex in traveling (which may be true, but I've also got a long way to go) or, more likely, that I have an instantly recognizable license.

Now I'm in Chicago, where I took a second photo, this one depicting my famous pink backpack, the Pelican case containing one of the "St. Nick" hard drives, and Frank Ross' feet.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Yoko Ono: Let's Make A Deal


Ono got down to business. "What do you know about us?" she quizzed Geffen.

Geffen responded truthfully that he only knew only some of Lennon's records.

"What about my music?" she asked.

"Well, I've never heard any of your records."

"Really," Ono said. "That doesn't sould like a very good reason for me to make a deal with you."

"I'm a big fan of John's, and I have a great deal of respect for the two of you, and we do a very good job. We're a good record company."

"What do you mean you're a good record company?" Ono fired back. "You haven't put out a record yet!"

"Well, we're gonna be great," Geffen said.

"'Gonna be,' 'gonna be,' who knows about 'gonna be'?"

When Ono next asked Geffen what he planned to pay them, he reverted to one of his tried-and-true dealmaking tricks, refusing to be the first to state a figure. He had learned his lesson since 1972. When Ono insisted that Geffen throw out a number, Geffen calmly declined. "You have to tell me what you want,' he said, "and if I can give it to you, I will, and if I can't, I won't."

Ono relented and told Geffen she and Lennon were hunting for at least a million dollars per album. Geffen had already promised similar terms to Donna Summer and Elton John, so he did not hesitate before agreeing. "OK, we've got a deal," replied Geffen.

"Oh no, we haven't," she said. "That's just what I want. I don't know that I want it from you. I'll think about it. I'll call you later."

The next morning, Ono called Geffen and asked him to come to the office at the Dakota again. When he arrived, Ono spelled out a few more of the details that she wanted in the contract. Geffen quickly accepted.

"Don't you want to hear the music first?" she asked.

"No, I'll wait until whenever you want to play it for me."

Unknowingly, Geffen had passed that test, too. "If you wanted to hear the music before you made the deal, we wouldn't have gone with you," Ono said. She shook Geffen's hand.

It was only then that Ono called for John to come join them in her white office. It was the first time Geffen had seen Lennon since 1975.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Jan Sharp


Wrist Mounted Adjustable Rapid Flame Cannon
Jan Sharp, patent pending 2006

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter


They rode very slow for about half a mile out of town, and then suddenly she saw Bubber.

The lights of the car showed him up in front of them very plain. It was funny.

He was walking along the edge of the road and he had his thumb out trying to get a ride.

Portia's butcher knife was stuck in his belt, and on the wide, dark road he looked so small that it was like he was five years old instead of seven.

 
Pinecone Stew