Rio Bravo #4

The Untamed Youth: "Hey Elly May"

Rio Bravo #3

Howard Hawks tells John Wayne and Angie Dickinson what he wants.

Rio Bravo #2

A snapshot of Dean as Dude. Old Tucson, Arizona, May of '58.

Thanks to the site I took this from.

Rio Bravo

Here's John Wayne fixing Ricky Nelson's hat on the set of one of my all-time favorite movies, Rio Bravo (1959).

When I first saw this photo, I thought "Wayne's really cool in those Ray Bans." But the more I look at it, I think he's got some of those Esquivel/Buddy Holly frames. Even cooler.

Also, I noticed that even in his street clothes, he's wearing his belt buckle from Red River. Can you tell I've been looking at this way too much?

Thought I'd put my Friday/Zappa thing on hold and wallow in Rio Bravo for a while.

What a night.

Cary, North Carolina. The couch. A Sony console TV.

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #15

Does that say "Turgid Flux States?"

I thought so.

Roth, anyone?

From an old Roth t-shirt ad.

Good news.

September 15, 2009, will see the DVD release of John Ford's Wagon Master (1950). Be sure to pre-order this one.

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #14

I'd love to browse in this place.

Karl Malden, RIP

Here he is whipping Brando in the great One-Eyed Jacks (1961).

Dino DeLaurentis And His Crummy Kong

Crummy gorilla. Crummy movie — King King (1976) — but I love it anyway.

A Quick Lesson In Compostion

Attention photographers. Here's a couple frames lifted from a couple great Westerns. Dig the beauty of these shots.

First, Ride Lonesome (1960) directed by Budd Boetticher and shot by Charles Lawton, Jr.

Next, Sam Peckinpah's modern-day Western Junior Bonner (1972), with Lucien Ballard as DP.

I'd love to hang either of these images over my couch.

53 Gasser

Wish I could say I drove this 1953 Chevrolet to work this morning. Instead, I found it with Google Images.

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #13

Four dollars and fifty cents! And no "convenience charge."

Fridays With Frank (Zappa) #12

The Zappa/Mothers ad campaign for Hagstrom Guitars — created in 1967 by Zappa's ad agency, Nifty Tough & Bitchin'.

From the Hagstrom Guitars website:
Back in 1967, Frank Zappa created an advertising agency in New York City called "Nifty Tough & Bitchin'" as another creative outlet associated with, but not directly tied to his musical endeavors. This ad agency, in a very short amount of time, mounted various professional advertising campaigns for clients such as Hagstrom Guitars, Panther Combo Organs, and even Remington Razor Blades in addition to art direction for the Mother's of Invention album covers.

The Hagstrom campaign was one of the first campaigns launched by Nifty Tough & Bitchin'. It features 3 print ads: "Nifty", "Long and Slippery", and "Folk Rock is a Drag", and a radio spot: "Long and Slippery". Using himself as the subject matter of the ads, Frank does a masterful job crafting these ads showing that he is not only a musical genious, but also an astute business man, and savvy marketeer. Frank was responsible for art direction of the various ad campaigns, and he was also skilled in the technical aspects of ad creation handling layouts and creating the blue lines for print media.

Nifty indeed.

""Well, if we're looking for a shark we're not gonna find him on the land."

The Ben Gardner head prop (found here) that pops out of the boat in one of the greatest scares in Film History.

Shot in Verna Fields' swimming pool. (She edited Jaws in her pool house.)

Venture In Space: Bob Bogle, 1934-2009

One of my heroes has passed away. Bob Bogle, co-founder of The Ventures, passed away on Sunday. In this photo, he's on the left.

(The) Ventures In Space (1964) remains one of my all-time favorite records.

Why I choose to live in Garner, NC.

Have a script due today, so I stopped at the local Dunkin Donuts for coffee and a bowtie — and to look this thing over before heading into the office.

Was there about 30 minutes, and as I was getting ready to leave, this rather large woman came in, got in line, waited through 4-5 customers, and got a large coffee with "a whole lotta cream." She walked out right in front of me, obviously in a hurry and irritated by the wait.

Out in the parking lot was a big Buick or something, with a paintjob that had been beaten to hell by the sun. The driver's window was down and another big woman was behind the wheel. In her left hand was a cigarette. In her right hand was a puffy Cheeto. The Cheetos bag was in her lap.

Seeing her friend/mama/whoever come out with the coffee, the Cheeto lady yelled "We gotta git to the courthouse!"

It was all I could do to get to the car before I busted out laughing. And I'm really curious about what they're doing at the courthouse.

"We're having much more fun"

My daughter Presley and I saw X at Cat's Cradle on the 9th. Presley's descent into X fandom had really accelerated since last year's show (written about here), and she was in full autograph-seeking mode this time. Both Exene and Billy Zoom were extremely kind and patient, and my eight-year-old's still floating on a cloud over the whole thing.

Exene handed Presley the setlist, which is now hanging in her room (top photo). As you can see, this was a show full of great stuff. The encore also included an acoustic run-through of "See How We Are" by Exene and John Doe. There was an additional encore of "It's Who You Know," "Blue Spark" and "The World's A Mess, It's In My Kiss" — as fine a chunk of music as I've ever heard.

I've also come to the realization that X is my favorite band. And after years of evangelizing about them, to whoever would listen, my greatest success story has to be my own kid. Seeing Presley singing "Nausea" along with Exene was quite a sight. Her later call to my best friend James to give him a full report of the show was a hoot, too. (When you're handing out the Father Of The Year awards, don't hesitate to email for my address.)

In the background of the photo above (thanks, Erika), you can see Presley chatting with Billy Zoom. Her blog about the whole thing, much better than mine, is here.