Tuesday TV Touchbase : Stargirl

It's time for the Tuesday TV Touchbase. What, pray tell, am I watching on TV?  

Stargirl

The new CW/DC Universe show is one the whole fam is watching here at the Fortress of Ineptitude, including Rosie the Dog. 

Coutney's eagerness and Pat's caution have put the two at cross purposes. Both know the Injustice Society is hiding out in Blue Valley and are up to something that is not good. Both know the Injustice Society must be stopped. 

But after seeing Starman and the Justice Society of America  murdered by this group of villains, Pat is in no hurry to put anyone in harm's way in fighting thiem again. 

Courtney, believing herself to be Starman's daughter, is ready to use the Cosmic Staff as Stargirl to bring those who killed her father and the rest of the JSA to justice. 

Pat says no.  Courtney is therefore doing it anyway. 

Using artifacts from JSA HQ, Courtney is recruiting new members of the Justice Society. So far, she has a new Wildcat, a new Dr. Mid-Night and a Hourman. 

Their first foray against Sportmaster, Tigress and the Gambler goes badly and the 4 young heroes escape with their lives thanks to the timely intervention of Pat in is STRIPE armor. 

Like it or not, the 4 kids are involved and Pat is not going to be able to shut them down. 

I'm surprised to see how quickly the show moved from Courtney becoming Stargirl to recruiting other costumed heroes to join her cause.  I'm also astonished ny how comics accurate the costumes are.   

The expectation would've been more episodes of Courtney struggling with her new role as Stargirl on her own for awhile before bringing other heroes into the mix.  Inverting this expectation sets Stargirl apart from other super hero shows.  Courtney has the can do spirit of  a super hero but she's self aware enough to understand she needs help.  

The help she's getting is not exactly perfect.  Her new JSA team has their flaws. Beth is earnest and eager to a fault but perennially a social outcast; hell, even her own parents don't want to spend time with her. The idea that that the AI in Dr. Charles McNider's goggles is her best friend is sad. Although the interactions between Beth and the AI she has named Chuck provides a lot of humor.  

Yolanda sees being Wildcat as a shot redemption. Months before, she was a perfect student at Blue Valley High, on her way to becoming class president. A rash act of texting a topless photo of herself to her boyfriend blows up badly, costing her reputation at school and her parents still refuse to forgive her.  Her parents' absolute and unyielding condemnation of this single act is hard to watch. Yolanda is genuinely trying so hard to get forgiveness from parents who are simply unprepared to give it.

Rick Tyler is the inheritor of Hourman's power. Rick's parents died when he was very young and he's been forced to live with an uncle who resents being responsible for Rick. Rick is a boiling cauldron of anger and sees being Hourman as a chance at vengeance for those who killed his parents. 

Courtney is at the core of the show represents a piece of each of her new friends' hurts.  Growing up without a father, her mom marrying Pat who is trying too hard to be a loving, supportive step-dad, a move to frickin' Nebraska, it all weighs on Courtney a lot. The discovery of the Cosmic Staff and her legacy connection to it and the JSA gives her a sense of purpose and confidence she was lacking before.  She still has a lot to learn, like actually mastering the Cosmic Staff for starters.  

There's darkness and sinister goings on in Blue Valley. Half way through the season, a lot of people have died.

But overall, Stargirl is a fun show.  Courtney's character development and her team of friends and heroes are enjoyable to watch.  

Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E. from the comics
art by Lee Moder & Dan Davis 

I mentioned in the post the super hero team known as the Justice Society. If you have a passing familiarity with the DC Universe from TV and movies but not the comics, you might be confused. Is the super hero team at DC called the Justice League? 

Tomorrow's post is a some comic book history at the twin legacies of a Society and League of Justice.  

June Is Almost At an End

Today is June 29th. Tomorrow is the last day of June for 2020. 

Where did it go?

Ever since I lost my job in April, time has been an almost ethereal concept.  

Too many days have been lost to sleeping.  It's not out of the norm for me to be up until 4 AM, sleep until noon and then back to bed for a 2 or 3 hour nap.  

I'm OK for now regarding income with my severance from old job. I know I shouldn't wait to find a job when that runs out. And besides outside of needing money, I need something to do.  I need a purpose which I have to date been unable to find for myself.  

Sorry, I didn't mean for this post to become some angst ladened  self reflection of gloom and despair.

Seriously, when I started typing this, it was just a startled reaction that June is almost over. 

Really, where did it go?  

Cinema Sunday: Monkey Business

Today for Cinema Sunday, I'm going post about a Marx Brothers film from 1931, Monkey Business.

I should advise up front there are NO monkeys in this motion picture.

Zero. Nada. Zilcho. 

A complete absence of monkeys or any other simian life forms.

I should sue. 

Anyway...

I have long been a fan of the idea of the Marx Brothers.  Anarchist comedians with little or no regard for the proprieties of society.  They will say or do anything that pops into their heads as long as it amuses them. If anyone else is confused, frustrated or irked by this behavior, well, that's not the Marx Brothers' problem.  

My first exposure to the Marx Brothers' humor was in episodes of  M*A*S*H when Hawkeye would riff on Groucho Marx. 

Hawkeye: Nurse? 

Nurse: Did you call me, Doctor?

Hawkeye: Why would I call you Doctor? You're the nurse. 


Being a fan of the idea of the Marx Brothers is one thing. Being a fan of the reality of the Marx Brothers is something else. 

Marx Brothers films are an acquired taste. 

Last fall, Andrea and I watched A Night at the Opera and we enjoyed the experience just fine. 

A couple of nights ago when I had trouble sleeping (as I frequently do these days), I watched Monkey Business. 

The Marx Brothers are stowaways on an ocean liner bound for America.  They are hiding in empty barrels in the cargo hold. 




After being discovered, the Marx Brothers lead the ship's captain and his crew on a merry chase around the ship.

Then the ship hits an iceberg. 

Whoops. Sorry, wrong movie.

Then the movie hits something resembling a plot.  

It seems two rival gangsters are onboard and they're up to... stuff. Maybe also some junk as well. 

OK, it's 3 in the morning. I'm a bit foggy on the details. 

So too are the Marx Brothers. 

One gangster hires Chico and Harpo to be his body guard while the other gangster is using Groucho and Zeppo as thugs. I am not entirely sure if any of these four guys has any real clue to what these gangsters are up to.  They're just going along with the gag until something funnier comes along to get their attention. 

So the boat gets to the America and after a madcap scene of complete and utter chaos where each of the four Marx Brothers impersonate Maurice Chevalier, everybody gets off the boat and the movie ends.

Well, no it doesn't. The plot (such as it is) also gets off the boat. One gangster is throwing a party for his daughter and the other gangster is going to kidnap this young woman. 

Groucho and the gang are also at party. Why? Because its their movie, that's why. 

At the party, there are extended bits where Chico plays the piano very, very well and Harpo plays a harp very, very well. Apparently, it is a contractual obligation for Chico and Harpo to have a seen dedicated to their considerable music skills. These sequences occur in every Marx Brothers I have seen.  

Eventually, the kidnapping is foiled and the plot (such as it is) is resolved and the movie ends. 

I didn't enjoy it.  

I am alone in this regard.  

Monkey Business is considered one of the Marx Brothers' best and funniest films.

So what the hell is my problem then? 

Maybe watching the Marx Brothers at 3 AM is not a good idea. 

Maybe watching any movie made in 1931 at 3 AM is not a good idea. 

There is a certain rhythm to old movies that takes some getting used to. Working on the assumption that you'r not going to see this movie over and over again or can pause or replay in the comfort of your home, characters in old movies would hold for the laugh. In a Marx Brothers movie, this means Groucho says something clever then mugs for the camera for a minute waiting for the laughter in the movie theater to ebb.  

But I think my problem with Monkey Business runs a bit a deeper than me just not settling into the pattern of movie making in 1931.  While Groucho and his fellow stowaway brothers are eluding capture by the ship's officers, the plot involving the two gangsters is shoehorned in. The Marx Brothers have almost no investment or involvement in whatever is going on with those gangsters.  Except maybe Zeppo is in love with the daughter of one of the gangsters. 

Which leads to another question: Why is Zeppo? 

In a 4 man band, Zeppo is a 5th wheel.  There is a reason why the classic configuration of the Marx Brothers will eventually distill to Groucho, Chico and Harpo.  

Monkey Business has its moments. Groucho in the gangster's stateroom popping in and out of the closet, bantering with the gangster and his moll is classic Groucho material and very funny. 

But Monkey Business as one of the Marx Brothers' best and funniest films? Sorry, I'm not seeing it.

And I didn't see any monkeys.

I should sue. 

Songs For Saturday: Pride Month Edition with K D Lang, Wham and the Eurythmics

It's time for another edition of Songs For Saturday. 

Before June and Pride Month ends, I wanted to post some of my favorite songs from performers associated with the LGBTQ community. 

K. D. Lang hit the charts in the early 1990's with a powerful and evocative voice that stirred the hearts and souls of millions of listeners.  

Lang was ostensibly country music singer but her persona was unique from any other female country music singer. Lang sported short cropped hair and no dresses or rhinestone studded jeans for her.    

K. D. Lang, in defiance of the expected conventions of country music of the day, came out as a lesbian in a 1992 article in The Advocate and has remained a stalwart defender of gay rights.  

Our song for today is Lang's biggest hit, a song of painful longing underscored with haunting melodies. Here is "Constant Craving".   

After all these years, I am still impressed by how beautiful "Constant Craving" is.  

While K. D. Lang took control of her narrative and was able to express her truth on her terms, our next artist demonstrates the tragic results when that truth is denied and one has no control over their own story. 

With Wham and later as a solo artist, George Michael was the pop star darling of millions of young women around the world. This was a facade and the pressure of maintaining it led to legal troubles including arrests for multiple drug-related offences.  

Micheal came out as gay in 1998, becoming an active LGBTQ rights campaigner and HIV/AIDS charity fundraiser for the rest of his life. 

Our next song is one of my favorites from Wham. With a Motown influenced sound, here is "I'm Your Man".  

Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics is herself not publicly gay but there has been no bigger ally for LGBTQ community.  The Advocate said of Lennox, "her distinctive voice and provocative stage persona have made Lennox a longtime gay icon."

Lennox sported an androgynous look in the 1980s, such as seen in the 1983 music video for "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" with her close-cropped, orange-coloured hair, and wearing a man's suit brandishing a cane.  This music video was seen by millions the world over and catapulted the Eurythmics to super stardom and made Annie Lennox an international phenomenon.  

Here is one my favorite songs from  the Eurythmics, "Here Comes The Rain Again".   

That's that for today's Songs For Saturday.

Remember to be good to one another, stay strong, be proud of who you are and always keep the music alive.  

Your Digital Pal Who's Fun To Be With: Mark Evanier and News From Me

OK, you have arrived at this little corner of the internet called I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You and you are, quite frankly, disappointed. 

Really, truly and sorely disappointed.

Whatever you were looking for when you Googled "I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You", this ain't it. 

That's OK. 

Sometimes when I sit down to write a post for I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You, I am  quite frankly, disappointed. 

Really, truly and sorely disappointed.

To that end, I am prepared to recommend somewhere else you may want to go in your travels around the internet. I am now launching a new recurring feature on this blog called "Your Digital Pal Who's Fun To Be With".  

In this feature, I will guide you to other blogs, You Tube channels, Twitter feeds and what not that may prove more entertaining.

Today's spotlight falls on one of my absolute favorite blogs, News From ME by Mark Evanier.   

Mark Evanier is a writer. He's written books and comic books and animated TV shows and more. He's worked as an editor and a voice director.  He's a frequent moderator for panels at comic conventions including the big daddy of them all, the San Diego Comic-Con which Evanier has attended since year one. 

Mark Evanier has become a defacto comic book historian who frequently has the sad task of informing his readers that the industry has lost one it's greats (as he did yesterday with the passing of comics legend Joe Sinnott).  

Mark has developed a lot of connections with a lot of talented people over the years. Not a lot of big stars but people who have made careers doing the heavy lifting that make TV shows and movies and plays and books better. Supporting actors, character actors, voice actors, editors, inkers, colorists, stand up comics and more. Mark Evanier knows a lot of people and he has a lot of stories to tell. 

In addition to his extensive connections throughout the entertainment industry, Mark has stories about just getting through life.  Shopping at Costco, the travails of navigating the health care system, telemarketers and more. Regardless of the topic, Mark knows how to tell a good story. 

Mark Evanier also doesn't have the time or inclination to deal with bullshit. Which should give you an idea of what he thinks of Donald Trump. But even this is a topic that Evanier addresses with a remarkable lack of rancor.  

I like reading News From ME not just for Mark's well written posts but to share vicariously in a life that I am just a little bit envious of. Mark Evanier has a career doing what he wants to do and doing it well enough that he seems to do what he wants with his life. He may not be super rich; he likes to write about finding money saving bargains.  But when he wants to do something, it seems like he usually can. And that's a good life to have. 

Mark Evanier's News From Me is a Digital Pal Who's Fun To Be With.  


When you click on this link and see that header sketched by  Sergio Aragonés, you will be in for a very good read. 

Stuck In My Head After All This Time

Yesterday I posted about the latest comics I purchased from my local comics shop, Acme Comics of Greensboro.

Today I want to share a page from a comic book that I bought from there about 35 years ago and how, after all this time, it is still stuck in my head.

The book in question is Ambush Bug#1 by Keith Giffen with dialogue by Robert Loren Fleming and inks by Bob Oskner. 

Ambush Bug was this guy.

He could teleport. He was also a persistent pain in the ass who knew he was in a comic book.  

Because he knew he was in a comic book, he has a phony alien invasion on page 1 of his new solo book to goose sales.

And this is the thing that has stuck with me after all these years.   

I can't go to Acme Comics without referencing this damn page. 

"Well, I'm off to Acme for my loved ones. No, not my family. My co-mick books! Es-pesh-a-lee the good DC wonz!" 

Three and a half damn decades later, I'm still quoting this damn page! 

"Where did I put my loved ones? No, not my family. My co-mick books! Es-pesh-a-lee the good DC wonz!" 

"I'm going to spend some time with my loved ones. No, not my family. My co-mick books! Es-pesh-a-lee the good DC wonz!" 

Yes, I am a sad, pathetic man. 

Just look away.  And leave me alone.  Alone with my loved ones.

No, not my family. 

My co-mick books! Es-pesh-a-lee the good DC wonz!

Dammit!  

All Good Things: Bully Says 'Bye

Out there on the internets is a lovely little blog about comics books. 

It's called Bully Says: Comics Oughta Be Fun!  

Bully is a stuffed little bull who likes comics. 

He's 7 years old which is, as Bully will tell you, a good age to be. And a neat trick to pull off when the blog is 15 years old. 

And Bully is right: comics oughta be fun! 

Bully's blog made comics fun with witty and cogent insights into current and classic comics.  

My favorite bit in his blog was how he would add secret captions to the graphics. Just move the cursor over an image and a bonus box of text would pop up, sometimes side splitting funny comments. 

Sadly, Bully has decided to call it a day. 

And how did I take this news? I'll let the Simpsons convey my feelings on this subject.

To be honest, this move should not be a surprise as Bully has not really been posting regularly to this blog for awhile now. 

But the idea that it was still out there and Bully would find the joy or energy or time to resume posting was still there, the hope of new content for Bully Says: Comics Oughta Be Fun! still smoldering like a persistent burning ember. 

But I think I understand where Bully's head is at. 

And there is a lot of content out there on Bully Says: Comics Oughta Be Fun!  Years and years of reminding us that comics are special and weird and wonderful and dagnabbitt, they oughta be fun! 

Bully's blog is a wonderful gift of knowledge and humor about this crazy habit we have about comic books. Bully Says: Comics Oughta Be Fun!  is a brilliant legacy for comic book fans! 

Bully, you done good and you should be proud. 

Good luck and God bless. Glad we'll still you around the Twitters. 

'Bye! 

Hey Kids! Comic Books! Dark Nights: Death Metal#1 and More!

Popped by Acme Comics last week. It was my first visit to the shop since April before the shop was shut down for the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.  Jermaine, Acme's esteemed manager, kept the home fires burning with getting books to customers via mail order. Recently the shop itself was able to re-open under certain restrictions such as everyone needs to wear a mask and stay 6 feet apart.  

My daughter Randie and I went to Acme on a Thursday afternoon which was a good time to go when it came to avoiding a crowd. 

In addition to my regular pull list of Batman, Superman, Justice League and Legion of Super Heroes, I also asked Jermaine to hold 2 more trade collections in the Criminal series by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips (which I cannot recommend highly enough) as well as the Joker 80th anniversary special and Dark Nights: Death Metal#1. 

I'm enjoying James Tynion's work on Batman right now more than I was Tom King's writing near the end of his run. Tynion's running a storyline about a master villain strategist known as the Designer whose perfect designs for perfect crimes has unleashed even more chaos upon Gotham than usual with super villains running all over the place plus we have Deathstroke and Harley Quinn on hand as well. 

Issue #93 is on sale today which reveals the identity of the Designer. I'm trying to keep my head down around the comic book websites to avoid spoilers.  

The Joker special is an interesting hodge-podge of stories about everyone's favorite murder clown. It's a mixed bag in terms of quality but getting a NEW 100 page comic for 10 bucks is a bargain these days.  

Over in Superman, Brian Bendis has Clark in a knock down drag out final battle with Mongul.  While I missed Ivan Reis on the art, Kevin Maguire delivered some unexpectedly powerful panels as Supes and Mongul beat the crap out of each other. 

Back on Earth, we get some of Maguire's classic facial expression skills on display as Lois Lane engages in a verbal cat & mouse battle of wits with the DEO's Cameron Chase.  The tense dynamic of this title since Clark Kent revealed to the world he is Superman is still at work here as Chase makes it clear to Lois that the DEO is watching and just waiting for Superman to screw up and the DEO will be there to make him pay. 

I'm glad Cameron Chase is still out and about in the DC Universe. I know she can kick about 52 different kinds of ass but what can she do to make Superman's life a living hell? 

I'm following Bendis' take on the Legion of Super Heroes even though it seems like he's trying too hard.  Bendis is trying to create at once a dense mythology it took writers like Hamilton, Siegel, Shooter, Bridwell, Bates & Levitz decades to build.  Legion has never been the easiest book to follow and Bendis is not making it easier. 

Still, the diverse cast is a lot of fun to see and artist Ryan Sook is delivering a very distinctive look for DC's future.  For now, I remain on board for this version of LSH. Bendis is trying to do something unique with the Legion which is worth supporting.  

Robert Vendetti is following a fairly straightfoward approach to Justice League, creating powerful threats resolved by teamwork and clever uses of individual powers and skills. Which is fine by me. The big universe ending threats rooted in DC's dense mythology have followed Scott Snyder out the door...

...to Dark Nights: Death Metal#1. 

As best as I can figure out, Perpetua as aligned herself with the Batman Who Laughs (instead of Lex Luthor), the world as we know it is fucked and what's left of the world's heroes and villains are trapped in servitude to this strange world order. Wonder Woman and Batman are still trying to fight the good fight in their own unique ways and to be sure, that's all I really understand.  

Is Scott Snyder trying too hard to be clever or am I just not smart enough to keep up? 

It seems cool. Wonder Woman with a Chainsaw Of Truth? I want to be on board with that.  

One thing that makes this book harder to read is the freaking lettering.  Word balloons and caption boxes for the Batman Who Laughs are done in red letters on black.  There's a two page info dump with red letters in orange caption boxes. It's enough to burn your retinas out.  

The artwork looks good from the team of Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion and FCO Plascencia.  

My absolute favorite books I bought were the Criminal trade collections. Brubaker & Phillips are the best team working in comics and the Criminal series is a hightlight of their collaboration.  For more on my thoughts on Criminal, click here. 

That's all for today, kids! Later today, I have a second comic book theme post as we say a fond farewell to a favorite comics blog. 

Remember to be good to one another and keep readin' them comic books, you hear?  

Tuesday TV Touchbase: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Snowpiercer

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
I got started on season 2 last week. I've commented on the witty and sharp writing and acting on this show but I am also impressed at how beautiful this show looks.

This show has looked good with clever editing, fluid camera motion and lighting but the premiere of season 2 shows The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel setting the bar even higher.

This episode has Midge and her father Abe going to Paris to retrieve Rose, Midge's mother, who apparently isn't just visiting Paris but is now living there, much to Abe's chagrin. 

(Rose very explicitly tells Abe she's leaving him and moving to Paris. Abe doesn't quite pick up on that. By the way, I don't think it's fair that Tony Shalhoub should be so good at every thing he does; Tony's Abe Weisman is a complex, irritating and yet still somehow endearing character.) 

There's a scene where Midge is walking down a Parisian street at night with a variety of clubs and cafes. The composition of this scene is astounding in the use of sound, light and color. You can almost feel the pleasantly cool French air and smell the warm bread with conversations and music fading in and out as Midge's heels click on the cobblestones lit with a warm golden glow from the street lights. This sequence is a visceral experience. 

There's a sequence at the end of the episode where Midge in the Palais-Royalhas just finished a phone call to Joel in New York. She turns from the phone as the camera follows her a long panning shot, then the camera holds while Midge walks away into a long row of columns, framed symmetrically on either side of her. It is a scene that powerfully conveys Midge's sadness, her aloneness and her journey taking her farther from Joel and the life she once knew.  

Beyond the writing and the acting, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel excels as a work of visual art.  The show has a distinctive look that bolsters the narrative.  

Snowpiercer
Melanie Cavill has a lot on her plate. 

With the murder mystery solved, LJ Folger, the young sociapath daughter of the Folger family, was put on trial for murder.  The severed male genitals she kept in a box were particularly damning and a jury finds her guilty.  

Then Mr. Wilford intervenes to commute LJ's sentence.  

First class isn't happy because they think this whole thing was a farce and an insult.

Third class isn't happy as the murder victims were from Third Class and they're pissed off that a guilty verdict means nothing if Mr. Wilford is just going to overrule that. 

Which is a lot of pressure for Melanie Cavill since she is "Mr. Wilford".  

And speaking of that secret identity...

Andre Layton who got sent to the Drawers because he glommed unto Melanie's secret is no longer in the Drawers. Layton is not recovering well from his time in suspension in the Drawers, is thinking erratically and goes after Melanie Cavill with a scapel to her throat. Layton's angry not just for being betrayed and pushed into the Drawers but he now has info that Cavill has been putting other people in the Drawers for an unknown and possibly nefarious purpose.  

Melanie Cavill's bad day is getting worse. 

She is surprised that Layton is out of the Drawers and is running loose around the train enough to get to her with a knife to her throat.  

And the train is about to crash. 

There's a doo-hickey of some kind that has come loose under the train and at the next sharp turn, the whole damn train, all 1,001 cars of Snowpiercer, will derail and the last vestiges of humanity on a frozen, dead world will face extinction.  

Melanie Cavill convinces Layton not to slit her throat. The deal with the Drawers is not what he thinks it is. It's a Plan B to preserve humanity because Snowpiercer is dying.

And speaking of which, she needs to move quickly to save the train. 

"I designed this train; I can fix it!"  

So Melanie spends several harrowing minutes dangling outside underneath the train trying to stick a thing into another thing. 

Be careful what you wish for. Just last week, Melanie lamented that she wished she could just open a damn window for some fresh air.  

What we have in Snowpiercer is a microcosm of the world we're living in. Like the train, our world is a fragile ecosystem in danger of collapse while people are divided up in a class warfare that eats up time, resources and attention when life itself is on shaky ground.  

Fun fact: Sunday's episode was directed by Helen Shaver, the same woman who starred in Desert Hearts which I wrote about in the Cinema Sunday post from two days ago.  

I have been watching Stargirl. Since we're nearly at the half way point of the first season, I think next week's Tuesday TV Touchbase will focus on what's going on there.  

Father's Day Twice

It was a normal Sunday like any other except I received a card telling me I'm a wonderful father with a gift card enclosed. And my wife paid for dinner which was delivered from one of my favorite restaurants to our home here at Fortress of Ineptitude. 

It was a nice Father's Day on that particular Sunday.  

This particular Sunday was over a week ago, June 14th. 

You may check your calendar and confirm that yes, Father's Day was yesterday, Sunday, June 21st.  

So what was going on that I was getting a card, a gift and a meal for Father's Day the week before? 

My wife Andrea arrived at the conclusion that June 14th was Father's Day as the occasion usually lines up with the birthday of one of her late, beloved uncles.  

My daughter Randie wasn't really paying attention to the calendar (as she is prone to do) so she went along with it.

I quite frankly don't care that much about Father's Day beyond the potential of getting fed without having to cook it or pay for it.  So I wasn't paying attention. 

So we celebrated Father's Day on June 14th. 

Then I noticed something odd.

In the days after June 14th, we were getting emails from various restaurants offering specials and deals for Father's Day. Why were we getting offers from restaurants for Father's Day after Father's Day? 

Some cursory research revealed the truth.  June 14th was NOT Father's Day.  Rather, Father's Day was on June 21st. 

I did NOT receive another card telling me I'm a wonderful father with another gift card enclosed. Andrea did spring for dinner again on Sunday which is OK by me.  

Hey, if I'm getting fed and I didn't have to cook it or pay for it, I'm good.  

Cinema Sunday: Desert Hearts

In last week's Cinema Sunday, I looked back at two movies I've seen over the last couple of years; both were romantic dramas with two women in the lead, one who knows of the ways of lesbian love and one who is new to the whole thing and set in the 1950's. 

Today we look at another movie that is a romantic drama with two women in the lead, one who knows of the ways of lesbian love and one who is new to the whole thing and set in the 1950's. 

Is this like some kind of separate genre?

Maybe this is part of a specific pitch for lesbian themed dramas. 

Screenwriter: I have a script for a romantic drama.

Producer: So?

Screenwriter:  With two women in the lead...

Producer: TWO women, you say?

Screenwriter: Yes and one of the women knows of the ways of lesbian love...

Producer: And is the other woman new to this whole thing?

Screenwriter: Why, yes, that's it exactly!

Producer: Can it be set in the 1950's?

The screenwriter looks down at the title page of her screenplay: "Lesbians In a Time of Coronavirus". 

Screenwriter: Yeah, why not? 

Anyway, on to Desert Hearts.

It's 1959 and Vivian Bell, a 35-year-old English professor at Columbia University in New York City, has arrived in Reno, Nevada to get divorced. You can get a divorce in Nevada quick with no fuss and no muss but you have to be a resident of Nevada to do that. The establish residency in Nevada, you have to stick around for six weeks. 





Vivian arranges to stay at a guest house ranch for women who are waiting for their divorces to be finalized. It is here that Vivian meets Cay Rivvers, a 25 year old free spirited female sculptor. Cay immediately is drawn to the proper, elegant Vivian.  Cay has had relationships with women in the past. Vivian has (you guessed it) no experience with this sort of thing.

While overlooking Lake Tahoe one night, Cay kisses Vivian. Vivian, much to her surprise, kisses her right back. Passionately.

Vivian moves out of the ranch house to a hotel where Cay follows her and after strongly insisting that Cay should leave, Vivian puts the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door and slips into bed with Cay.  For a really long late night Cinemax quality sex scene complete with mood lighting and saxophone music. 

(My memory's a bit fuzzy about the saxophone music. If there was no sax with the sex, then that was an oversight by the director. There should always be sax with sex in the movies.)

When the six weeks are up, Vivian is officially divorced and can head on back to New York City. The movie doesn't end with Vivian and Cay in love for happily ever after but it doesn end with Cay agreeing to ride with Vivian on the train out of Reno to at least the next stop.

Unlike the two films from last week's post which were produced within the last 2 to 5 years, Desert Hearts goes all the way back to 1985. Which makes the forthright and frank perspective on a positive lesbian relationship all the more remarkable.

I don't remember the how and why I came to see this movie back in the late 1980's a few years after it was released but I remember that what struck me about this movie was how normal it all was. Swap out Cay with a 25 year old free spirited MALE sculptor and a lot of the dynamic with Vivian remains unchanged: a woman in her 30's from a background of education and eastern big city sophistication in a passionate romance with a younger, less refined lover.  The idea that Vivian's lover is another woman rattles her at first but it is not the only thing.

Reviews of Desert Hearts were not always kind when it was first released, owing perhaps to outdated and/or uninformed views of homosexuality.  For example, Vincent Canby of the New York Times complained that "we are not given enough information about the quality of Vivian's broken marriage, asking if perhaps her lesbianism was a hysterical reaction to her divorce."  Film historian Vito Russo's comment on Canby's complaint was that "this is the point at which many heterosexual critics disqualify themselves from perceptively reviewing gay films."

Swap out Cay with a 25 year old free spirited MALE sculptor and I bet Canby wouldn't be attributing her affair as a hysterical reaction to her divorce."

"Hysterical"? Desert Hearts came out in 1985. Vincent Canby was writing his review with a quill pen in 1785. 

I happened upon Desert Hearts again recently while channel surfing late one night/morning. The seams of director Donna Deitch's shoe string budget seem obvious to me. But she does a great job of evoking the era of the 1950's and the performances of Helen Shaver as Vivian and Patricia Charbonneau as Cay really carry this movie. It is not a great movie but it is not a bad one either.  It is simply a good movie about two unlikely people falling in love in Reno, NV in 1959. 

Songs For Saturday: The Four Tops, Diana Ross & the Supremes and Marvin Gaye

Pull out the  Bat Head Phones! 

Put 'em on yer head! 

Time for Songs For Saturday! 

Time to get yer grove on...er...Ted?

OK, that rhyme got away from there.

Today's Songs For Saturday takes us back to my childhood.

OK, a lot of these songs came out when I was still a toddler but when I was a bit older, these songs were frequently on classic oldies stations, filling the hot summertime air.

My favorite songs on these oldies stations were from the performers for Motown Records which is where our Songs For Saturday spotlight falls today. 

Let's kick off our play list for today with my second favorite song by The Four Tops,  "Reach Out (I'll Be There)".   

If you don't mind, let's listen to MORE of The Four Tops with my absolutely favorite song by these guys, "There's Something About You."  

"Lover's Concerto" was originally released by a girl group known as the Toys.  What we have next is a cover by the queen bees of the Motown label, Diana Ross and the Supremes.  

Click here for the original version of "Lover's Concerto" by The Toys.  

I couldn't do a post on my favorite Motown music without including Marvin Gaye.  Up next is a song that was often imitated but never duplicated, Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine."  

And this is just scratching the surface of the great Motown songs I grew up listening to and still love today. 

Thanks for popping by. Remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive.