Tag Archives: 1954 Powder Blue Pickup by Marilyn Jaye Lewis

Me, Again!

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I fully intended to post here yesterday morning before I scurried off, but Peitor was in touch EARLY, needing me to fix some grammar on a new synopsis for the TV pilot.

I was thrilled to do this, because I thought the synopsis we had was perfect…

However. You know. Pick your battles.

So I got out of bed and worked on the new synopsis. Then ran out of time to do everything else.

Plus, I was very stressed about my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man.

On Tuesday, while we were having our much-longed-for veggie sandwiches out on the very sunny back deck, his dentures suddenly broke in two.

So I was worried that he was really hungry by yesterday morning, since he couldn’t chew anything. And I was also worried that he would find something in the fridge and try to eat it and then choke to death…

So I wanted to stop at the store before heading the 30 miles to his house. And I only had to stop at THREE stores before I could find what I wanted (various smoothies and Greek yogurt that weren’t loaded with chemicals.)

However. It all worked out great. When I arrived at his house, he was still alive and in a rather chipper mood, besides.

And his private nurse is taking him to the dentist today. So, on we go.

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So! I can’t go into details on the blog yet, but yesterday afternoon, yet another European production company asked to see our pilot script and this company is sort of a heavy hitter, gang. So exciting!

And I, personally (meaning without the agent), am trying to pitch a very specific Finnish actor that I really, really, want to play the role of the Finnish crime boss (my favorite character in the show, and I actually wrote the part with him in mind). Anyway. I’m trying to do that, so we shall see how that goes!!!

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Okay!

Today’s special feature!!

This little quiz was on Instagram this morning. I scored FOUR points!!!

See if you can pick which 4 things I have never done!! (answers are down below, but don’t cheat!!)

I have never done:

  • 8. Sung karaoke
  • 11. Gone zip lining
  • 13. Taken a cruise
  • 17. Been skydiving

(And a few of those things posted above, as you can guess, I’ve done more times than you can possibly imagine.)

No, I wasn’t BORN glamorous, I had to work really hard at it!!

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Okay!

I finally finished watching Tsai Ming-liang’s film, “Stray Dogs” (2013). It took me, like, 3 days, because I’ve just been so wiped out in the evenings, lately. (But last night, I slept SEVEN hours!!! So I am feeling really good again, finally.)

Overall, I didn’t relate to this film as much as the other three of his films that I’ve watched recently, but it was still definitely worth watching. (It’s probably because I had to keep starting and stopping and starting and stopping.) Anyway. it’s currently on Metrograph.

And if you live in NYC and can actually go to the Metrograph art-house theater, the actor Lee Kang-sheng (who stars in all of Tsai Ming-liang’s films) will be at the theater in person, presenting 4 films, including “The Hole”, which I loved!!

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All righty!

Here’s what I was planning to post yesterday. Another photo of Nick Cave in Detroit last Thursday:

And today, here is a photo from their sold out show last night in Toronto!

And tonight they play Montreal. You can still buy tickets!

And then the next couple of shows back in the States are sold out. And then, ONE WEEK from tomorrow, Kara and I will be seeing them here:

And then spending the night here:

And probably eating dinner here (at the hotel):

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Okay!

I gotta scoot.

Enjoy your Thursday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Driving to town music?? Maybe!!

“Joy,” from 1972, based on Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”.

I’ve posted it here before (it’s my brain’s theme song for my memoir-in-progress about my life in the 1970s – Joy: The Shortest Season), BUT HERE IT IS AGAIN! Enjoy, gang.

Wow! Who Could Have Predicted??

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For some mysterious reason, I am not scrambling around here this morning, trying to get out the door!

I still have an hour and a half (before I scramble around and try to get out the door…)!!

I have to say, gang, that I am so happy with how the revisions to our TV pilot script have worked out. I like it so much better than the first draft.

I really want to send a copy of this new draft to Wayne — “read my script! read my script!” — but I know he’s busy. (He found the first draft confusing.) And he gave up all obligations to drop everything and read everything of mine when he signed the divorce papers EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO!!

That’s a long time to not be obligated to read every single solitary thing I’ve written…

(Although, in all seriousness, gang, he is usually very happy to read whatever I send him.)

Wayne, reading everything I send him

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It’s a perfect day here, weather-wise. It will be a nice day for driving to town. The backroads are really starting to look so beautiful now.

And after my midday clients, I have to go over and drop in on my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client! His private nurse can’t be there today, so I have to go over and make sure he eats something and then just visit with him for a while.

I think I’m going to stop at Subway and get us both veggie sandwiches!! That way, I can have lunch with him out on his back deck, rather than just stare at him while he eats…

He doesn’t usually get this dressed up when he eats out on the deck…but you never know

Regardless. It will be a beautiful afternoon!

(This is the very Subway I will go to — I used to stop in here for veggie subs all the time, when my adorable patient, Molly, was still alive.):

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Last night, there were TONS of (mostly) videos uploaded from the Bad Seeds show in Washington, DC. But here’ s one photo that jumped out at me!

They play Toronto tomorrow night, but it is sold out. Thursday, they will play Montreal and you can buy tickets here. After that, the next couple of shows back in the States are also sold out.

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Okay!

Peitor just texted me from the beautiful South of France, needing me to re-send the latest synopsis, so I gotta scoot and do that, and then I will have to formally scoot, and get to town.

Have a terrific Tuesday, wherever you are in the world!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Driving to town music? Not sure, but probably!!

Loyal readers of this lofty blog no doubt recall that this is the song playing in the final scene of our TV pilot, when the Finnish crime boss from Helsinki arrives at the Abstract Absurdity Film Productions office in Greenwich, Connecticut!!! (Great big smiley smiles, gang!)

Okay. Enjoy!

“She says this all the time. But it gets so hard to believe her.”

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Okay, I know you won’t believe me, gang, but….

The TV pilot script is DONE!!!

Not the title of the TV show…

We finished it late yesterday afternoon, and then, early this morning — South of France-time — Peitor did the final trimming, to keep it under 60 pages.

AND —

We finished just in time. A couple of the contacts Peitor made at Series Mania in France, back in late March, emailed him yesterday, checking on the progress of the script!

And that, in and of itself, is exciting. Knowing that people in the industry really want to read it. It means that they are hoping it’s going to be a viable vehicle for their own careers.

And personally, I am really, really happy with this version of the script. It’s still quirky but also more emotional.

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Okay, on the kitten front — this may sound icky but, overall, I think it’s a good thing.

The little grey kitten whose back two legs are deformed — well, that one little tiny shriveled dead paw is in the process of falling off. So it will have two stumps for back legs, but at least it’s already very good at moving itself around.

It’s smaller than the other 3 kittens, so who knows how big it will eventually get. But we are onboard for the whole adventure. I just need to give it a name.

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Today this is not happening:

Aside from laundry, I wasn’t able to get any housecleaning done yesterday because I was at my desk all day, revising the script.

So today, I will clean house. If, by some unexpected miracle, I still have energy when I’m finished, then I might go to the shooting range. But I doubt it.

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Okay, as I was sort of expecting, Tsai Ming-liang has managed to make a really depressing plot into a mesmerizing film to watch!

I’m not done watching it yet. I’ll finish watching it this evening, but so far, it is very intriguing. “Stray Dogs.” (2013)

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Here’s a great photo from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ show from Thursday night. Nick and Colin Greenwood, smiling!

They play Washington DC tonight. Buy tickets here! The next show, in Toronto on Wednesday night, is sold out.

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And aside from the actor who has been playing (the late) Pope Francis retiring today (after about 4 and 1/2 years in the starring role…), that is all there is for now!!

Have a great Monday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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A very happy 78th birthday to Iggy Pop!!

A great love song. From his fantastic 1986 album, Blah-Blah-Blah, the song “Shades”. Enjoy!

“Shades”

You gave me a present
The paper was blue and green
I unwrapped it with pleasure
These are the best shades I’ve ever seen
You can be my girlfriend
Forever and a day
I never thought I was worth much
Or that anyone would treat me this way

[Chorus]
I’m not
The kind of guy
Who dresses like a king
And a really fine pair of shades
Means everything
And the light that blinds my eyes
Shines from you
It makes me come in the night
It makes me swim with delight
I like this pain
I like this mirror
I like these shades

I could have had a problem
I might have never followed through
The other guys are in trouble
They wouldn’t listen to a girl like you
These shades say something
I’ll bet they cost a lot
I hope I don’t break ’em
I hope we don’t break up

[Chorus]

c – 1986 – Iggy Pop, David Bowie

Happy Easter!!

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If you celebrate it, I hope you’re having a happy Easter, wherever you are in the world!

It’s a lovely day here today and all I have to do today is sit in front of my laptop for unending HOURS and make the final revisions to the TV pilot script!!

Oh, and do laundry, and take care of 2-week-old semi-disabled kittens, and stare into space and wonder how this became my life...

OOPS! Not sure how that got in there…

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Okay!

Last night, I finished watching “Days” by Tsai Ming-liang (2020).

The film is 2 hrs 7 mins and has no dialogue at all. And the genre (the genre of all of his films) is slow cinema. Meaning, minimalist with very long takes. (HUGE emphasis on “very long”.)

I’m not sure why I love his films so much, but I find them mesmerizing. And I love that the “plots” are entirely unpredictable.

Metrograph currently has one more film by Tsai Ming-liang, “Stray Dogs,” (2013) on their site. I’m planning to watch that one tonight. It sounds like it is going to be depressing, though, so I’m not sure how that’s going to go but we’ll see. His filmmaking style is so mesmerizing, that it will likely win out over the depressing plot.

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I just want to mention one thing more about my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client — when I was with him yesterday, he remembered EVERYTHING from our trip to have lunch in the restaurant at the golf course on Good Friday!!

This is astounding, gang, since he has very little short-term memory left. Just incredible. He remembered it all. If you’re a long-time reader of this lofty blog, you’ll recall that I’ve been planning this trip for months now — I was just waiting for the perfect weather and for everything to turn green. I knew he would enjoy it, but I was not prepared for just how much it would affect him. (And, subsequently, how that affected me.)

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Okay. I only have one photo from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ show in Detroit last night. Not because there weren’t a ton of great photos and videos to choose from, but because I love how his hair looks here!!!!!

They will be in Washington DC on Monday. You can buy tickets here.

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All right. Well. I have a ton of work to get to on the script, so I’m gonna go downstairs and check on the progress with the laundry, then get started.

Enjoy your Easter, if you celebrate it, otherwise, just have a great Sunday, gang.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this!

Originally from 1967, a short film made by Peter Whitehead for the Rolling Stones’ song, “We Love You,” centered around the infamous drug bust at Keith’s home, Redlands, and then Brian’s bust later that year. (remastered in 2021). Enjoy, gang.

A Blessed Good Friday!

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Have a beautiful one, if you honor the holiday.

The weather is going to be perfect today (except for more of that awful wind), so I made a lunch reservation to take my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client to the clubhouse restaurant at the golf course today!

He’s going to be so excited.

He “knows” we’re going there today, but I’m pretty sure he’s forgotten by now.

View from the clubhouse

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Well.

Yesterday wound up being REALLY rough on me, gang. It was just a really hard day.

I did everything I needed to do, but it was a struggle. All day.

And, naturally the weather report was wrong — it was just a gorgeous day, weather-wise. So the drive down to see my dad’s grave would have been really beautiful. But the stress would have been too much. I could barely walk across the kitchen yesterday, let alone drive for 6 hours in heavy traffic.

I guess I’ll plan on a trip down there when it isn’t such an emotionally loaded day.

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Last evening was nice, though.

During dinner, I watched “Ludwig” — they’re up to episode 6 now. What a great show, gang!! Valerie in Brooklyn and I are both watching it, and we text each other the moment we see that a new episode has been uploaded to britbox.

If you missed the trailer that I posted before, here it is again:

And after I went up to my room, I got in bed and watched another great film on Metrograph.

Another one from director Tsai Ming-Liang. Just unreal, how strange, quirky, humorous, and creepy it was — with pop songs!! “The Hole“. From 1998. (Taiwan) Again in Chinese with English subtitles, but there’s not a whole lot of dialogue.

One of the female character’s “dream” scenes:

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Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds played Brooklyn last night and it looks like it was off-the-charts. People were uploading photos and videos all night long.

Tomorrow they play Detroit. You can buy tickets here!

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And here’s this, just because:

Keith in the 1980s (oh, and it turned out that yesterday was his daughter Angie’s 53rd birthday. I can’t process that she is 53. ) Anyway:

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And on the kitten front–

It’s definite now that both back legs of the little grey kitten did not develop. So I will keep it. Somehow we’ll figure out how best to take care of it in a house full of rather rambunctious cats.

And, sadly, it looks like the calico kitten only has one developed eye. The other one is not completely open and definitely has something wrong with it. But it’s a beautiful kitten.

I’m trying to let things happen however life is supposed to happen, gang. I can’t figure out what else to do but simply allow. At least all of them can hear now! They are reacting to the sounds around them. They are 14 days old today.

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And I think that’s it for today, gang. I gotta scoot.

Have a blessed Good Friday, or just a “good” Friday, as the case may be –wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya.

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The coincidences continued yesterday.

Midday, I discovered that Eddie Cochran (see yesterday’s post) who was killed in a car crash in England, died on April 17th, 1960.

After I saw that, I was sort of creeped out so I took the CD out of the player.

This morning, I went back to the Best of Neil Diamond. So here’s this, because it is basically impossible to feel sad, creeped-out, fearful, or otherwise unhappy when this song is on, anywhere in the world.

“Sweet Caroline,” 1969. Enjoy, gang.

The morning so far!

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It hasn’t been terrible.

I’m moving slowly and feeling a little angst-y, but it’s not as bad as it could be.

Here’s some stuff:

The candles I lit for my dad first thing this morning, along with a really cool electric Yarhtzeit candle (Jewish mourner’s candle), that a really sweet 92-year-old Jewish woman gave to me before she died, about 10 years ago (along with what was left of her porcelain wedding dishes, which I use every day). The electric Yarhtzeit candle is from the 1940s and has such a cool modern design. (I have since made my bed…)

The traditional mourner’s kaddish prayer I recited, even though my dad was no longer a practicing Jew for many, many years before he died:

I looked at this again — the text I got from the really wonderful woman who ran the hospice service that my dad used (I was writing a letter on my phone to someone I love, when that text suddenly popped up on my phone that morning, one year ago):

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Other than that — I have to go to town and get groceries. And I have some yard work I need to get to today. And then I will work on revisions of Act 4 of the TV pilot script. Maybe take a walk, somewhere in all that.

Last night, I started watching a really cool film on Metrograph, “Goodbye, Dragon Inn“, from 2003; written and directed by Tsai Ming-liang. (Chinese, in English subtitles, although there is almost no dialogue except what comes from the film that is playing in the movie theater throughout the film.)

Tsai Ming-liang’s work is new to me but I am an instant fan. The film is so unusual, I found myself having to process it at every turn.

It has been a long time since I felt that spellbound by a movie. I am so glad I joined the Metrograph online site. (I posted about this the other day.) I have always loved independent films, but now that I live so far from the nearest movie theater, and now that almost everything art-house has moved online if you don’t live in NYC. Well, I find the whole process of trying to find movies that I actually like a really difficult and frustrating thing.

So this is great for me. I’m really looking forward to watching a ton of films that are brand new to me.

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In yet another odd coincidence…

Today is also the anniversary of the death of my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client’s 2nd wife — the Latvian woman and the love of his life. She died 6 years ago today. (I tell you, gang, the coincidences between his life and mine absolutely never cease.)

And also, before “Christianity” became a thing, back when there was no over-arching structure to it and groups of people followed the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth in many different ways — Jesus’ birthday was considered to be (what we would call) April 17th in the year 6 BC.

So, rather than be depressed today, I just want to allow the flow of my life on Earth to have it’s own rhythm, and just go with it. Because so much of it is still fascinating.

And even though I don’t resent any of this nonstop work on the TV pilot script, I can’t wait until I have time to focus on some of my own fiction that is currently in-progress. It will feel so good to do that.

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Okay. Tonight in Brooklyn!! Buy tickets here. You will not regret it!!

And here’s this:

James Tabor – Last Days of Jesus–Pt 4: Dead and Twice Buried (15 mins):

And here’s this– I love it!!

Filmed in 1968, by another interesting director, Michael Lindsay-Hogg. The Rolling Stones, “Child of the Moon”. (It’s got 1968 written all over it.)

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Other than that–

Enjoy your Thursday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys, See ya!

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My morning-listening music. (Yes, I could be on an Eddie Cochran kick around here. We shall soon see! Such great songs.)

Eddie Cochran’s now classic hit from 1958, “Summertime Blues.” Enjoy, gang.

A great day for a drive!

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Good thing I have to work today, right? It gives me someplace to go!

And since it’s so pretty out today, I will probably take my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client back to Geller Park, since he loves it so much over there.

And I’m thinking that this Friday — Good Friday — the weather should be nice enough, and things outside are green enough now, to take him to the restaurant over at the golf course. The one that has such gorgeous views!!

I’ll probably decide at the last minute, though, because if the weather isn’t perfect, we’ll just go back to Peony Bistro for sashimi. The golf club is expensive, and 20 miles from his house, and I don’t want him spending all that money if it isn’t a perfect day.

However, after spending no less than an unanticipated 8 straight hours in PTSD yesterday, because of super high winds around here, and after a chat with Valerie, I have decided to forego the stress of driving 6 hours by myself tomorrow, to visit my dad’s grave for 15 minutes.

Plus the weather report for tomorrow has changed.

If I had someone going with me, it would be so easy. But I am super tired of all the stress here lately. So I will just say some prayers for my dad in the morning, then do some yard work, and spend the rest of tomorrow finishing up the revisions on Act 4 of our TV pilot script.

It wasn’t an easy decision for me to come to, but I woke up this morning and it’s as if the decision had been made while I slept. I knew I wasn’t going.

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Okay.

From yesterday’s show in Boston! The opening act, St Vincent, had to cancel due to illness, but the rest of the show went on!

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds‘ Wild God Tour of North America 2025 is officially on the road!! (And check out the comment below. It happens to everybody, gang. So buy a ticket if they’re coming to a venue near you!!!)

Next stop, Brooklyn, NY tomorrow, and Detroit on Saturday night. Buy tickets here.

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And here’s this. A photo by Peter Anderson from 1986 that I just love. (This is around the time when I saw him with the Bad Seeds in NYC for the first time! And actually, I couldn’t believe how fucking tall he was. For some reason, I wasn’t expecting that.)

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Okay, well. Even though Act 3 is finished, Peitor sent over a few edits to what I revised yesterday, so I want to tackle those before heading out this morning. And then officially begin the revisions of Act 4 (!!) when I get home later, and THEN — we will basically be DONE and sending it off!!!!!! Yay.

Have a wonder-filled Wednesday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Here’s something beautiful from 1966! (And YES, in case you were wondering, eventually I am going to get back to my erotic novel-in-progress, Novitiate ’66….and I can’t wait!)

The Rolling Stones, “Lady Jane.” Enjoy!!

Wow, what day is it??

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Correct!! Monday! Which means I’m off to the shooting range!

And I am really, really, REALLY trying to use creative visualization here this morning so that I can simply show up at the range and not have to ask for help with — yet again — loading the fucking bullets!

Once they’re in the gun, I seem to be okay!! (I’m also hoping for 50 out of 50 bullseyes today!! We shall see, gang.)

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Okay, if you follow Simon Parkes, be sure to listen to his update from yesterday.

(If you aren’t a member of Connecting Consciousness, you can join HERE — it’s free. You can’t listen to Simon’s updates without being a member.)

His updates agreed with what Phil has been reporting recently (regarding tariffs, gold, silver, etc.), but I have to say that Simon gave more detailed information and I found it very, very interesting (and really good news for many countries around the world, not just the US).

Also, Phil is supposed to be live again tonight, at 7PM Eastern time. Check here later to confirm.

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Some sort of sad news — Blackie’s little grey kitten has some issues with her back paws. One of them is sort of like an underdeveloped club foot, but the other didn’t develop at all. It’s sort of like a tiny dead little paw.

So either it will be missing both back legs as it gets a little bigger, or it will have 3 legs, with one of them deformed.

So I’m guessing we’re keeping the little grey one, and choosing a name for it soon, and giving it a lifetime of LOVE.

On we go, gang.

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I follow Metrograph (a NYC indie movie theater) on Instagram but I only found out yesterday that for $5 a month, you can watch their movies online in the US (and/or get a discount on tickets for watching movies in the actual theater in NYC).

On their website, they also have interviews, columns, essays — exclusively about independent films, both domestic and international, past and present. Check it out below to see what’s currently playing online and in the theater, or read the great online Journal. They’ve got some great films:

Metrograph

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As luck would have it, Nick Cave just now sent out a new Red Hand File — all about what he was doing & thinking about yesterday morning in a little town in Pennsylvania!

It’s another short one. You can read it HERE.

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And don’t forget!

TOMORROW! In Boston, the Wild God tour gets underway in North America!! Followed by a show in Brooklyn on Thursday, April 17th. BUY TICKETS HERE!

And you know what this all means — that in 18 days, Kara and I will be driving to downtown Columbus to see them at the Palace Theater, and staying overnight, HERE!!!

Yes, I have an alert on my phone to remind me to pack the tickets!! They’ve been stuck on the front of my fridge for something like 6 months already…. the envelope is covered in big black exclamation marks (!!!) and arrows pointing to the name “NICK CAVE” so that I won’t forget to bring the fucking tickets!!!

And I still don’t know what I want to wear. Kara always looks incredibly amazing, so it’s better to dress down than to try to outdo her. She still smokes cigarettes and drinks more espressos per day than you can shake a stick at, so she weighs about 1 pound and everything looks great on her!!

Kara, one Saturday afternoon, when we went to the movies last Spring!

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Okay, I guess that’s it for now. I need to proofread the work I did on Act 2 of the pilot script yesterday and send it off to Peitor. Then, after I come home from the shooting range, work on the revisions of Act 3.

We’re getting there, gang! Only half of Act 4 needs revisions, and none of Act 5, so we are seriously, almost there!!

Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys! See ya!

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I thought this was appropriate today!

Since it’s apparently going to take Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds two days to get from Boston to Brooklyn, I figure that they must be walking there…

So, once again, the Beastie Boys classic, “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”. 1986. I love this fucking song!!!! Enjoy, gang.

Holy Week Begins!

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Happy Palm Sunday if you celebrate it, gang.

And Happy Pesach, if you celebrate Passover, which began yesterday evening.

My adoptive maternal grandmother’s table literally looked like the photo below on Pesach. It was a huge holiday for us. We did it mostly in Hebrew, with some English. It took HOURS for the dinner to be over. I won’t say I didn’t enjoy it, but, as a little girl, it felt like the ceremony/meal would never end.

But the ending of the evening was fun — by then, my grandfather would have hidden the afikoman, and the children at the table had to go find it. (We always did.) And then my grandfather gave us each a silver dollar. Then we said the final prayer and the night was officially over.

As I got a little older, and celebrated the seder with friends whose families were Reformed Jews (we were Conservative), and they did the whole ceremony in English — I could not believe how fast it went! Suddenly the meal is served and then, just as suddenly, it was all over. Frankly, it made me wonder why they even bothered.

For many years, I was the youngest in my family, and so this was my part in the ceremony — reciting the Ma Nishtana, or the 4 Questions:

I can still recite it by heart. It was a big deal to me.

Nowadays, I think of Passover as being Jesus of Nazareth’s final meal before his arrest — not so much the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years. But I did inherit all of my grandmother’s fine porcelain china (complete service for 12) and some of her seder pieces and her white linen tablecloth with 12 linen napkins, so it’s all still with me.

Okay! Anyway,

It is a really lovely Sunday morning here in the Hinterlands. And the guy who takes care of my lawn is already here, mowing the grass!

Laundry is underway. And something like 1700 cats have been fed.

Here’s a photo from yesterday — when the kittens officially opened their eyes:

And here’s this from yesterday!

I did indeed take my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client out for sashimi (and sake — for him) and, as usual, our fortune cookies were uncanny!! (Well, at least I hope that mine will prove to be uncanny really, really soon!)

What’s interesting, though, is that this time, he actually agreed to read his fortune and he was startled by it, since, of course, his primary language is Japanese. His is the top, mine the bottom:

And here’s this–

When my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man was working his way through night school at NYU in NYC in the early 1950s, he worked as a TV repairman during the day. TVs were basically brand new back then, and they looked exactly like this!

RCA 630-TS

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I will probably take a walk today, since it is so pretty out, but other than that, I will be here at my desk working on the TV pilot script!

On another note, I’m finding that I’m really struggling to not be sad — with the one-year anniversary of my dad’s death approaching on Thursday.

I had such an intense dream last night — a man was coming into the living room to rape me, and I went running into my dad’s bedroom, shouting, “Help me, Dad, help me!” But my dad was near-dead with cancer and was struggling to even move.

Oddly, though, there were several other younger men in the bedroom and in the house, who did help me. And when I woke up and was thinking about the dream, I figured the other men were probably spirits of some kind. In real life, the times I was raped and otherwise sexually assaulted, my dad didn’t even live in the same town as I did. And at that point in my life, I was literally on my own in everything. I couldn’t go to my mother for any kind of help at all. I couldn’t go to anyone. For many complex reasons, the 1970s were both the most amazing and horrifying years of my life.

But somehow, even though the dream was a little disturbing, it felt like closure for me. It really did. The spiritual part of it.

I’ve posted this photo here before, and it’s a little creepy-looking. My dad is still alive here — my stepsister texted me this photo one morning, about 4 months before he died, to assure me that my dad was sleeping soundly and was, basically “fine.” But the photo really upset me at the time , because to me, my dad looked dead.

December 17th 2024

Anyway, my dad looked exactly like this the day before he died, when I went to visit him for the last time. And now I’m glad I have the photo, because it is my last photo of my dad and it reminds me of my last time with him.

I held his hand and sang to him that final day — “Release Me”. I won’t go into the story behind that song again, I’ve posted it here before, but it was in honor of my dad and his very difficult life with my mother and his final release from all that.

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And I think that’s it for now!

Gonna finish the laundry and get started on the script.

Have a wonderful Palm Sunday if you celebrate it, gang.

Thanks for visting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this!

As a very young girl in Hebrew school, this was my absolute favorite song!! I used to sing it all the time, actually. Even when I wasn’t in school.

Today, it brings back such wonderful memories for me.

“Hinei Ma Tov” — which comes from the first verse of Psalm 133. Even if you don’t speak Hebrew, listen to this! It’s so wonderful!! (And it includes English translation.)

Okay, enjoy, gang. And rejoice.

What a difference a day makes!

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It’s still chilly today but the sun is out. Yay!!

And it should stay mostly sunny, at least until my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client and I go to the Peony Bistro for sashimi, and then to the nature preserve by his house!

Then it’s supposed to get cloudy after that, but it won’t matter so much by then.

Yesterday, he said the funniest thing. I couldn’t believe it. I will share the short version here:

Loyal readers of this lofty blog will no doubt recall that he’s not allowed to have vodka in his house because he will drink vodka until he’s absolutely smashed.

His private nurse allows him to have ONE vodka cocktail of his choice if they go out to lunch, but other than that, only red wine is allowed in his house. Mostly because he’s not that crazy about red wine, so a little goes a long way.

Yesterday, we didn’t go out anywhere because it was really cold and gloomy out. So he started in on his desire for vodka, but I reminded him that his nurse says “no” to vodka.

He said he didn’t understand why.

I said, “Because neither one of us wants to come in one morning and find you dead on the floor because you had fallen while you were smashed out of your mind on vodka and all alone. How do you think that would make us feel??”

He grumpily said, “It doesn’t matter.”

Me: “It doesn’t matter?? Well, how would you feel if you walked into the room and found ME dead on the floor because I was smashed out of my mind on vodka and had fallen while I was all alone??”

He: “It wouldn’t matter.”

Me: “It wouldn’t matter if you found me dead???“

He: “No. I would know you had gone to a better place.”

I couldn’t fucking believe him! We both laughed so hard over that.

Okay. Anyway.

A quick kitten update!

They are officially one week old today and their eyes have opened! You can’t tell from this photo, because they’re sleeping — only Mommy’s eyes are open!

Little Blackie’s kittens, one week old today.

Other than that, today would have been my birth father’s 80th birthday. So, happy heavenly birthday to Donald Jennings May. I miss you so much.

In this photo, it’s 1965 and he’s home on leave from the war in Vietnam. He’s visiting his older sister, my Aunt Jo, down in North Carolina.

And that’s it for today.

Enjoy your Saturday, wherever you are in the world!

Oh! Don’t forget– this gets underway on TUESDAY in Boston!! Buy tickets here!

Okay. Thanks for visiting!

I love you guys. See ya!

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What I’m listening to at night right now:

The audio book version of On Union with God by Blessed Albert the Great (1193-1280 AD), translated by Benedictine of Prince Thorpe Priory in 1911. It is read quite masterfully by David Barnes. (1 hr 32 mins.)