if charlie parker was a gunslinger,there'd be a whole lot of dead copycats: November 2010

The Explanation
(for those who require one)

And, of course, that is what all of this is -- all of this: the one song, ever changing, ever reincarnated, that speaks somehow from and to and for that which is ineffable within us and without us, that is both prayer and deliverance, folly and wisdom, that inspires us to dance or smile or simply to go on, senselessly, incomprehensibly, beatifically, in the face of mortality and the truth that our lives are more ill-writ, ill-rhymed and fleeting than any song, except perhaps those songs -- that song, endlesly reincarnated -- born of that truth, be it the moon and June of that truth, or the wordless blue moan, or the rotgut or the elegant poetry of it. That nameless black-hulled ship of Ulysses, that long black train, that Terraplane, that mystery train, that Rocket '88', that Buick 6 -- same journey, same miracle, same end and endlessness."
-- Nick Tosches, Where Dead Voices Gather

The Last Temptation of Gilbert Stuart #2

The Percy Children (1787)

Soul Stirrers #23

Joe Tex

The Heretofore Unmentioned #128

Burl Ives

The Cool Hall of Fame #202

Joan Baez

Before and After #241: Terence Stamp

Before

After

The Gunslinger Guide to Natalie Wood #13

The Art of Jazz #125

Here's Lee Morgan
(Vee-Jay Records; 1960)

They Were Collaborators #677

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

The Frame Within the Frame #24

No Name on the Bullet
(Jack Arnold; 1959)

The Art of American Fantasy #47

Tricky: Scenes from a Life #108

Tricky takes a carefree stroll on the beach (1971)

Twilight of the Dreamboats #43

St. Louis, MO (1912)

The Gunslinger Guide to Lucien Ballard #5

from Al Capone
(Richard Wilson; 1959)

Artists in Action #613

Eugene O'Neill shows off his new ride

This Week's Munch #17

Girls on a Bridge (1902)

A Happy Thanksgiving to All Our Readers

Welcome to Show Business! #40

Original Caption:

New York -- Telegraph messenger boys wearing Eddie Cantor masks were at Grand Central Station to meet the movie and radio comedian when he arrived, Jan. 2. Each messenger carried a telegram which read, "If you want a boy, daddy, call Western Union." They were signed by Cantor's five daughters. Cantor came to New York to attend the premiere of his new picture, 'Strike Me Pink,' at Radio City Music Hall on Jan. 16. (1936)

Orpheus in Action #21

Orpheus serenades the extras

H is for Hogarth #4

The Lady's Last Stake (1759)

They Were Collaborators #676

Liberace and Gordon Douglas

American Dry Spell #16

Original Caption:

New Orleans -- The crew of sunken Schooner "I'm Alone" is shown behind the bars in New Orleans, Louisiana after their arrest at sea. U.S. Revenue Cutter Dexter sank the Schooner when the alleged rum runner refused to surrender (1929)

Ingrid Pitt dead at 73

Her obituary from the BBC.

The Foreground Obscures #4

The Happy Years
(William A. Wellman; 1950)

In the Studio #66

Barbra Streisand

They Were an Item #110

Ida Lupino and Howard Duff

Before and After #240: Harry Cohn

Before

After

This Week's Lichtenstein #15

Reverie (1965)

Annals of Public Performance #29

Jimi Hendrix at The Hollywood Bowl, 1968.

Adventures in the Vast Wasteland #28

Original Caption:

Actor Alan Arkin (R) visits his son, Adam (C), after the conclusion of taping the first episode of Adam's new TV series, The Angie Dickinson Show. Looking on are series regulars Angie Dickinson and Norman Fell.

The Art of the Big Top #32

Men of the West #43

Ronald Reagan

The Heretofore Unmentioned #127

Tom Wesselmann

Poets are both clean and warm
And most are far above the norm
Whether here or on the roam
Have a poet in every home! #54

Robert Lowell

Norman Rockwell Saved from Drowning #32

The Bobby (1957)

Luis García Berlanga dead at 89

Thanks to my friend Olga for bringing this to my attention. It probably won't get widely reported in the British press. Here is the obituary from Salon.com.

They Were Collaborators #675

The Dave Clarke Five (Rick Huxley; Lenny Davidson; Dave Clark; Denis Payton; Mike Smith).

Dino De Laurentiis dead at 91

Obituary from The Guardian, here.

Twilight of the Dreamboats #42

New York, NY (1963)

Annals of Crime #105

Original Caption:

Jailed.

Santa Ana -- Ex-convict Harvey Glatman, a TV repairman, is shown in jail here after police said he confessed to raping and strangling three women and burying their bodies in the desert. The victims were Judy Ann Dull, 19, and Ruth Mercado, 24, the mother of two and a divorcee. Police said two of the bodies have been found in the desert. According to police, Glatman admitted playing a cat and mouse game of ravaging his victims at the point of a gun, forcing them to submit to being photographed in the nude and then cold-bloodedly strangling them while they believed they were soon to be released. (1958)

The Explanation(for those who require one)

The Explanation
(for those who require one)