Save the Robots

 

Save the Robots was an underground after hours club in New York City's East Village neighborhood. "Robots," as the venue was popularly known, operated illegally from a nondescript storefront and basement at 25 Avenue B, between East 2nd and 3rd Streets, from 1983 until mid-1984, when the club was shut down for fire safety violations. After undergoing safety-related renovations and obtaining a social club license, the venue reopened in early January 1986.^{[citation needed]}

The club was frequented by drag performers, musicians, Club Kids, employees of other bars and clubs, skinheads and other denizens of downtown New York nightlife, including Dean Johnson and Lady Bunny.^[1] Save the Robots was known for its late hours of operation and sold only vodka, soda and fruit juice. Patrons typically arrived after 4 a.m. and partied until the 8 a.m. closing time, often with the aid of recreational drugs. At one point, talk show host Craig Ferguson worked there as a bouncer.^[2][3][4]

1993 was the last year of 'Robots'. The space was subsequently leased to other operators, who transformed it into a fully licensed dance club, to capitalize on the "Save the Robots" name, without consent from the original owners and with few vestiges of the original clientele or atmosphere.^[5]

At a later time, the venue was bought by another owner and renamed Guernica. It was closed again in 2013 after the club's bouncer, Dana Blake, was stabbed in an incident with some smokers outside the club.^[6][7]

Reopened in April 2019 as Downtime.\

 -Wiki

Literary Pick (**)

 1984

-George Orwell 

 

 

Somewhere in Time

 

 

 

In 1972, college theatre student Richard Collier celebrates the debut of his new play. During the celebration, an elderly woman places a pocket watch in his hand and pleads, "Come back to me." Richard does not recognize the woman, who returns to her own residence and dies in her sleep that same night.

Eight years later, Richard is a successful playwright living in Chicago. While struggling with writer's block, he decides to take a break from writing and travels to the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. While exploring the hotel's hall of history, he becomes enthralled with a vintage photograph of Elise McKenna, a beautiful and famous early-20th century stage actress. Upon further research, he discovers she is the same woman who gave him the pocket watch. Richard visits Laura Roberts, Elise’s former housekeeper and companion. While there, he discovers a music box that plays the 18th variation of Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, his favorite musical piece. Among Elise's personal effects is a book on time travel written by his old college professor, Dr. Gerard Finney. Richard becomes obsessed with traveling back to 1912 and meeting Elise, with whom he has fallen in love.

Richard seeks out Professor Finney, who believes he briefly time traveled through the power of self-suggestion. Finney warns Richard that such a process would leave one very weak physically, perhaps dangerously so. Richard is determined to try. Dressed in an early 20th-century suit, he removes all modern objects from his hotel room and attempts to will himself to 1912 using tape-recorded suggestions. The attempt fails because he lacks real conviction, but after finding a hotel guest book from 1912 containing his signature, Richard realizes he will eventually succeed.

Richard hypnotizes himself again, this time allowing his absolute faith in his eventual success to serve as the engine that transports him back to 1912. Richard finds Elise walking by the lake. Upon meeting him she asks, "Is it you?" Her manager, William Fawcett Robinson, abruptly intervenes and sends Richard away. Although Elise is initially uninterested, Richard pursues her until she agrees to accompany him on a stroll the next morning. During a boat ride, Richard hums the theme from the 18th variation of opus 43, a tune Elise has never heard before as it has yet to be written. Richard asks what Elise meant by, "Is it you?" She reveals that Robinson has predicted she will meet a man who will change her life, and that she should be afraid. Richard shows Elise the pocket watch she will give him in 1972.

Richard attends Elise's play where she gives an impromptu monologue dedicated to him. During the intermission, Elise poses formally for a photograph but seeing Richard, breaks into a radiant smile. It is the same image Richard saw 68 years later. Afterward, Richard receives an urgent message from Robinson requesting a meeting. Robinson wants Richard to leave Elise, saying it is for her own good. When Richard says he loves her, Robinson has him bound and locked inside the stables. Robinson then tells Elise that Richard has left, though she does not believe him and professes her love for Richard.

Richard wakes the next morning and frees himself. The acting troupe has already left for Denver, though Elise has returned to the hotel to find him. They go to her room and make love. They agree to marry and Elise promises to buy Richard a new suit, as his is about a decade out of style. Inside one of the suit pockets, Richard discovers a penny with a 1979 mint date. This modern item breaks the hypnotic suggestion, pulling Richard into the present as Elise screams in terror.

Richard awakens back in 1980. His attempts to return to 1912 are unsuccessful. After wandering the hotel grounds despondently, physically weakened by the time travel and brokenhearted, he dies in despair. His spirit is drawn into the afterlife, where he is reunited with Elise. 

 -Wiki

Sean Connery, Actor And The Original James Bond, Dies At 90

 

Sean Connery, the first actor to portray James Bond and later one of the biggest and wealthiest stars in the history of film, has died at age 90.

Eon Productions, the film studio behind the James Bond films, confirmed the death in a statement on its website.

"We are devastated by the news of the passing of Sean Connery," read the statement from producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. "He was and shall always be remembered as the original James Bond whose indelible entrance into cinema history began when he announced those unforgettable words — 'The name's Bond... James Bond' — he revolutionised the world with his gritty and witty portrayal of the sexy and charismatic secret agent. He is undoubtedly largely responsible for the success of the film series and we shall be forever grateful to him."

On screen, Connery brimmed with innate sexuality, topped off by a cool, insolent sense of menace. A Scotsman who could rock a kilt, he possessed cliffhanger eyebrows over piercing eyes.

As a struggling actor in 1962, he managed to change pop culture forever in the first scene of his first lead role, when he introduced himself in Dr. No: "Bond. James Bond."

Connery's trajectory, as Bond and otherwise, took off like a bullet from a Walther PPK. For many, his performance in the Bond role has never been bettered.

It was far from his origins. Born in 1930 to a cleaning woman and truck driver in depressed Edinburgh, he dropped out of school at age 13. He joined the Royal Navy. After he got out, he competed in the Mr. Universe bodybuilding competition.

In the 1980s, he told ABC's Barbara Walters that his life changed with a trip to London.

"What happened was: When I went to London for the Mr. Universe, one of the guys, he was in South Pacific and he said, 'Do you want to do a show?'" Connery said. "I said, 'Well, I'll have a go at that,' so I went along and auditioned."

He got the part and toured England with the show. By day, he went to local libraries. He studied Shakespeare, Ibsen, Brecht.

In spite of these efforts at refinement, Connery was not the first choice of Bond's creator. Author Ian Fleming wanted the suave British actor James Mason. But after the premiere for Dr. No, Fleming was so impressed he wrote Bond as half-Scottish in future books.

Connery made six Bond films in 10 years. But he felt constrained by Bond as time went on, and he pushed back by taking other roles.

The characters got older as he did. He won an Oscar for playing an Irish cop, Malone, in 1987's The Untouchables. In 1989, he played Indiana Jones' father, professor Henry Jones.

Sean Connery waves to the audience in receiving a lifetime achievement award from AFI in 2006.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images for AFI

He made his final Bond film in 1983, Never Say Never Again (though he did reprise the part to record a voiceover for the From Russia With Love video game in 2005).

On several occasions, Connery mirrored some of the misogyny exhibited his character in the early Bond films — namely roughing up women. His first wife, Diane Cilento, said he hit her for being drunk. In a 1965 interview with Playboy magazine, he said, "I don't think there is anything particularly wrong about hitting a woman — although I don't recommend doing it in the same way that you'd hit a man. An openhanded slap is justified — if all other alternatives fail and there has been plenty of warning."

He repeated that thought to Barbara Walters in an interview on ABC in 1987. Then, in 2006, he canceled an interview in Scotland over worries he would be asked about his attitudes. Shortly after, the Scottish newspaper The Herald reported that Connery walked back his earlier remarks, saying he had told friends, "I don't believe that any level of abuse of women is ever justified under any circumstances."

Connery was Scottish to the core — he had the word Scotland tattooed on his arm. A member of the Scottish National Party, he ardently supported secession from Great Britain.

In 1999, he addressed hundreds of party activists before a vote. Despite that, the queen of England knighted him the next year.

Sir Sean Connery will be remembered many ways — as an old-fashioned male sex symbol, a financial patron of the arts and a beloved son of Edinburgh — and, of course, for his many roles.

A cult favorite comes in the film version of Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King in which Connery stars alongside his real-life friend Michael Caine. When it all goes wrong, they're marched to the edge of a cliff.

As Connery's character prepares to meet his death, he remains defiant to the last moment. Still wearing his crown, he sings.

-NPR

Literary Pick (***)

 Royal Love Stories: The tales behind the real-life romances of Europe's kings and queens

-by Gill Paul

 

The Four Seasons

The Four Seasons is a 1981 American romantic comedy film written and directed by and starring Alan Alda, which co-stars Carol Burnett, Len Cariou, Sandy Dennis, Rita Moreno, Jack Weston, and Bess Armstrong.^[3] It draws its title from the four concerti composed by Antonio Vivaldi. They, along with other Vivaldi compositions,^[which?] comprise the musical score.

The film spawned a short-lived CBS series in 1984 produced by Alda.

Literary Pick (*****)

 By Myself and Then Some

-Lauren Bacall

 

 

Not sure I was going to read this, but glad I did. One of the best autobiographies I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Mrs. Bacall lead a very interesting life, mentions  many famous people from the silver screen era, (Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Vivienne Leigh, Gregory Peck, Katherine Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe..) she talks about her marriage to Bogie, and also shares his battle with cancer. This book made me feel deeply melancholic and nostalgic.. I obviously wasn't born anywhere near that era, but I was born in a generation that still respected and admired all those incredibly talented actors. Reading books like this also depresses me because we now live in such a shit society where people don't care about these amazing stars, they only care about they're useless and meaningless lives, it's just a bunch of gross fucking mutants. Shame..

The Love Boat Theme Song

 

RIP

 Eddie Van Halen, Guitar Hero, Dies At 65

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eddie Van Halen, the guitarist and songwriter who helped give the radio-rock band Van Halen its name and sound, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer. He was 65.

His death was announced by his son, Wolf Van Halen, on Twitter.

"I can't believe I'm having to write this," the statement said, "but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning. He was the best father I could ever ask for. Every moment I've shared with him on and off stage was a gift."

In a band known for its instability — due in part to a rotating cast of lead singers that most notably includes David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar — Eddie Van Halen and his brother, Alex, remained constants, appearing on 12 studio albums that reached across five decades and sold tens of millions of copies.

No matter the singer, Eddie Van Halen's high-flying guitar sound — heavy on tapping, with both hands on the neck of the instrument — was deeply influential, but also hard to imitate. He grew up obsessed with Eric Clapton, only to himself become a lodestar for generations of guitarists.

In 1972, with Alex on drums, Eddie Van Halen formed the band that would become Van Halen. By 1974, it had the lineup that would make it one of the biggest groups in rock history: the two Dutch-born brothers, plus bassist Michael Anthony and singer David Lee Roth. From there, Eddie Van Halen stood at the center of an era-spanning — but unmistakably volatile — rock-and-roll juggernaut.

 

Throughout the late 1970s and early '80s, Van Halen became increasingly successful. Early hits such as 1979's "Dance the Night Away" eventually gave way to the bestselling 1984 — the band's sixth album — which spawned the chart-topping "Jump," as well as flamboyant hits like "Panama" and "Hot for Teacher." Peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard albums chart, 1984 was held back only by Michael Jackson's Thriller, whose iconic "Beat It" just happened to feature a guitar solo from Eddie Van Halen.

But 1984's success only intensified tensions between the Van Halen brothers and David Lee Roth, who left the band in 1985 for a solo career that capitalized on his cheerful, outsize persona. The remaining members of Van Halen regrouped around former Montrose frontman Sammy Hagar, who helped the group top the charts with its next four albums: 5150 (1986), OU812 (1988), For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991) and Balance (1995).

From there, the band's output slowed. Hagar left Van Halen in 1996, citing creative differences, which led Roth to rejoin briefly — only to give way to former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone, whose one album with Van Halen (1998's Van Halen III) was a critical and commercial disappointment. Hagar and Roth both rejoined the group at various points since 2003, with the latter presiding over Van Halen's final album, 2012's A Different Kind of Truth.

Long known for his reclusiveness, Eddie Van Halen battled an assortment of health issues in recent decades, including hip-replacement surgery in 1999, a bout with tongue cancer in the early 2000s, a history of drug and alcohol abuse that led him to enter a rehabilitation facility in 2007 and surgery for diverticulitis in 2012.

Though the guitarist often had contentious relationships with bandmates — particularly Roth and Hagar, each of whom criticized him heavily in books and interviews — Eddie Van Halen remained extremely close with family. In addition to a lifelong working relationship with his brother, Alex, he tirelessly championed his son, Wolf, who joined Van Halen as bassist after the departure of Michael Anthony in 2006.

Van Halen was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

-NPR

Literary Pick (**)

Infamy: The Shocking Story of the Japanese American Internment in World War II

-Richard Reeves

The Truth about Clapton and the death of our son

Nine years after losing their son Conor in a freak accident, Lory Del Santo and Eric Clapton are dealing with their grief in different ways. Here, the former model tells Lisa Sewards how she has finally found solace in becoming a mother again for the third time. For Clapton, the tragedy is run through with feelings of guilt about how reluctant a father he had been when his son was alive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lory Del Santo allows herself a smile when she picks up her newborn baby boy. Her eyes, glazed and touched with tragedy, briefly flicker to life. Then, when he has gone to sleep, a darkness envelops her again. It has been nine years since Lory and rock legend Eric Clapton's four year-old son, Conor, fell 53 floors to his death through the open window of a New York skyscraper. For Lory, the memory is so raw, it still seems like it happened only yesterday. The birth of Loren has been the first light in Lory's life since that desperate day and it is only his arrival which has now given her the strength to talk about the tragedy which was so utterly pointless. 'I cried for years and years, but the tears finally dried up. I have to be stronger now for Loren,' she says. 'After Conor died I was paralysed, emotionally and mentally. But Loren's birth has helped bring me back.' Lory has a difficult start in life. She was born the second daughter of a strict Italian Catholic family. Her father died young and her mother worked long hours to make ends meet, sending her girls to convent schools in the hope that they would obtain a position in a bank or school near their humble home in a village outside Verona. But Lory had greater dreams and left for Rome to pursue a twin career, modelling and TV presenting. Still only 20, she became instantly famous in Italy as the glamourous girlfriend of a high-profile businessman. She moved on to Milan to continue her TV career where she also became known for photography. She started going to pop concerts and after one was asked to dinner with a crowd of friends. 'I didn't recognise Eric at first,' remembers Lory, 39. 'But we got talking and I found him very natural, relaxed and uncomplicated. He asked me to dinner the next night. That day I found out who he was when I was reading the papers and realised that I know one of his songs. Cocaine. We had dinner, but I didn't want anything to happen. I didn't want to get involved with a famous person who was interested in a one-night stand, never to be seen again. I wanted a serious relationship with a man with whom I could have a baby. 'At first I kept my distance but Eric so peristent that he gave me some confidence, so we started to have a relationship. It went very slowly at first. I didn't ask his any questions, or make any demands on him. I didn't want to get heavy or boring. Then one day he rang and said, "Hey, I'm in town." I said, "Which town?" He said, "In Milan." I asked why and he said, "Because I love you,"' At this point Clapton was coming to the end of his marriage to Patti Boyd, the wife he stole from Beatle George Harrison and had been with for nine years, despite his numerous affairs. It was a tormented time for him and as Lory got to know him better, she was able to see the darked side of the recovering heroin addict's personality. She never saw him use drugs, but began to realise that he was an alcoholic. 'It was hard to tell at first because he would be drinking all day and he would show no signs of being drunk. I realised at a club when he became abusive that he had a drink problem and was drinking purely to get drunk. His problems were mental and emotional. I didn't really know much about alcoholism at the time but I knew he always had a willingness to stop.' 'His solution to the problem was to go away for a month at a time to try to stop and he'd come back to me drinking water. Then things would be all right before that bad times returned and he'd start drinking again. All I could do was to help be a good example, tried to help himself. He asked me to go to AA meetings with him and I would help him by being silent and talking to him when he wanted to, doing things when he wanted to do them and never stopping him from doing the things he wanted to do.' 'But it was the silences which were the hardest of all. He needed total silence, to live in a place with no noise. I never heard him play the guitar or sing in the house, except once when he rang me and sang Happy Birthday over the phone. He would go into silent periods for days, even weeks, and eventually come out of the silence by saying something like, "Do you want to eat?" That would be followed by something the next day, eventually building up to a couple of sentences a day. I would always wait for him to talk first because he expected me to be silent those times, too. Then he would say something really beautiful to me that would make up for all the silences.' It was during a particularly communicative period several months after they met that Lory and Clapton discussed having a baby. His failure to have a child with Patti was one of the reasons for the break-up of their marriage. So when Clapton asked one day what Lory was thinking, he couldn't have been more delighted. 'I said I wanted a baby. He said, "Oh, me too." I said, "Really?" because I couldn't believe it. Then he said, "Are you really, really serious? Because if you are let's do it."' 'Our decision happened in September and by December I was pregnant. I remembered we were having dinner on Christmas Day at his manager's house and I felt dredfully sick. They all thought I was being typically Italian and not liking the English food. But I discovered later that I was pregnant. I was so happy it was unbelievable, but Eric was not all pleased and he went into a dark mood when I told him.' 'I was shocked at his reaction, but so happy that nothing could touch me for two days. I was living in London with Eric and commuting back to Milan for part of the week for my work. It was a hard time for Eric as he had moved out of his country home where he had been living with his wife to a town house in London. He hates traffic and noise so this was affecting him badly. He had lots of doubts about his life, his past and his future. At the same time he was trying to cope with our baby. Eric hates change and likes to have a very simple, organised life. He likes to know what's next, so this threw him completely off track. But I knew that he had wanted the baby more than anything else, otherwise it wouldn't have happened.' It took six months for Clapton to adjust to the idea of becoming a father. 'It was very difficult to speak to him so I decided to disappear. I didn't want anything from him so I decided to go back to my life. I didn't even plan to call him when I got back to Italy.' Lory was convinced that when Clapton's hangers-on discovered the pregnancy they'd warn him that she would use it as a means of getting things from him. 'He never understood me deeply because otherwise he'd have know that I didn't want anything materially from him. His manager and these people don't know me. I was honest and proud and always paid my own way, even down to the plane tickets to see him. But he started doubting too. I left him to his thoughts. You can't fight for things that are not going to happen. 'After three months I got a call from his manager. He told me bad things which are too painful to repeat. He wanted me to end the pregnancy, but I told when I make a decision, I go through with it. We took a decision together and that's the way it is. I'm not a piece of meat with no brain or principles. You can't make a decision, change your mind, then rob someone of a baby. I can disappear but there is no way in the world you can make me give up the baby.' Worse was to come. 'I got a call from Eric. He had tried to commit suicide by hanging himself from a tree. He had fainted then realise he was still alive. I was in shock. Then afterwards I felt really angry and sad because I thought how could he try and do this when we had a family to look forward to. I was angry that myself and the baby weren't important enough to him. To think of suicide in this situation was unreal to me. When you risk dying at any time, life is too precious to waste like that.' Another time Clapton phoned out of the blue and asked how she was. 'I didn't mention the baby. But he asked how I was. I told and he said, "Ah, good. Since I know you're okay, I'll call soon." But then he disappeared again for two months. During the size months total that he disappeared, he wrote me this beautiful letter, saying how much he loved me and how much he wanted our baby. I used to read this letter over and over and take it bed with me, thinking things were going to be all right. One day when he called and asked if I'd read his letter. I told him I did, often, and he insisted on coming over for dinner. I was tired but we met up and had the most wonderful dinner. He left three days later and I was happy because I thought he'd finally realised how important our baby was.' 'After he'd gone, I noticed that letter was also gone. It was the only proof of him wanting our baby and he'd taken it. He disappeared again until I was eight months' pregnant. When he finally called I told him I was coming to London to have the baby, He was shocked and asked why London, not Milan. So I told him as this baby's father was English he should be born there. And from that moment he took care of everything.' 'He found me a mews house in Chelsea and came to visit every day. When I went into labour, he arrived immediately and the hospital doctor asked if he wanted to come in for the birth. He said, "Oh, no," but changed his mind. At one point he told me, "How long am I going to be here because I'm due to go on holiday and I've been working so hard." I knew underneath that he was capable of strong emotions, Eric picket him up and said, "Oh my God, I'm a father,"' Then Clapton went on holiday, but when he returned they started to live as a family for the first time, spending all their time together. At first Clapton wanted Lory, Patti and himself to live under one roof in his sprawling country mansion. Naturally, Patti refused, citing Lory in the ensuing divorce proceedings. 'Eric, Conor and I were living in the countryside and I was very happy. For a time the problems went away. There was a period whe Eric didn't drink.' 'But then it became obvious that he couldn't cope with our baby, and the idea that a baby's needs come first. For a start, there was no longer the silence he craved, and , as Conor grew bigger, Eric just couldn't handle the mess a child makes. he resented the presence of a baby in a life which had previously been so ordered and simple.' 'He would never play with Conor. He would just look at him as if he was a world apart from him. Eventually, I said I knew it was a matter of time and patience before he adjusted. Three years after Conor was born, I decided I couldn't wait any longer. I really wanted another baby and he was so insecure. We had to go our separate ways, just meeting up so he could see Conor from time to time. The tragedy is that the day he finally realised what Conor meant to him was just the day before our son died.' Conor died in March 1991. The day before had been one of the happiest days in Eric and Lory's life. 'It was a special day. Conor and I had come to New York for Easter to spend time with Eric and he had taken Conor to the circus on Long Island. They had such a great time. When Eric got back he looked at me and said, "I now understand what it means to have a child and be a father." He was so happy. That day I saw a new future for us. It was the first time that Eric had ever had Conor on his own. Eric was so happy and said from then on when he had Conor he wanted to look after him without any help. I was delighted and said, "Are you sure?" He insisted that he would look after him, cook for him and wash him all by himself. He said, "I want him to come to London where I can take care of him." He had finally discovered what is meant to be a father, then fate broke this.' Lory's face darkens when she talks about what happened on the day of the tragedy in her friend's apartment on New York's 57th Street, where she was due to stay for a month. The pain is visible on her face and her voice drops to barely a whisper. 'The night before I put Conor to bed. He was pretending to be asleep but when I went to bed, he jumped in with me - he was so excited about the day he'd had with his Daddy. We began the next day with the same excitement. Conor was full of talk about the elephants he had seen with his Daddy at the circus the day before. Eric was coming to collect us and take us to Central Zoo. Conor was in his room still wearing his pyjamas - he wouldn't go to sleep in any others. He was playing with his nanny and I heard him talking and shouting happily. I was having a bath and getting changed ready to go to the zoo. It was 11am and I shouted to him from the bathroom to hurry up and he shouted back happily back, "In a minute,"' 'That day the apartment block janitor was in the apartment cleaning. I told the nanny and the maid not to leave Conor alone for one second. I came out of the bathroom and heard the fax ring. I stopped to check it and after discovering that it was an estimate for some repair work, I started to compare it with others. I was there for 15 minutes, during which time I heard Conor suddenly start running as he decided to play hide and seek.' 'I heard the nanny and she was running right behind him. But as Conor run into the room where the janitor was cleaning, the janitor stopped her to tell here that he had slid open the window - a huge wall of glass. In the second she stopped to listen to what he was saying, Conor ran straight through the window. I heard a dreadful scream but it wasn't Conor. It was the nanny, I ran into the room, shouting more and more hysterically, "Where's Conor, where's Conor?" Then I saw the open window and I understood at once. I felt all my strength leave me and I collapsed on the floor.' 'Eric arrived five minutes later, not realising Conor had fallen to the street below. He came into the bedroom and I screamed, "He's dead." His eyes went dark and he said, "Dead, he's dead. It's impossible." He found it hard to believe at first. Then his face turned to stone; it was like a film. We said absolutely nothing to each other. I just stopped functioning.' 'The glass was about 4ft by 6ft tall and as we were staying there temporarily, I never knew it was even possible to open it. It wasn't a window, but like a glass wall which was never, even meant to be opened. It was kept permanently locked, but the lock was broken and for some incomprehensible reason, janitor swung it open to let in some fresh air. It had a wooden ledge a foot off the ground. Our son much have thought the glass was still there when he jumped on to the low ledge a foot of the gound. At first first I wanted to kill the janitor. He had no common sense. He never even asked for forgiveness later.' 'I kept thinking of ifs... if I hadn't stopped to read the fax, I would have seen the window open and closed it. From that moment on I ceased to live. The concierge called the ambulance but obviously there was no hope. Eric went to see him at the mortuary, but I just couldn't.' Lory discovered shortly after Conor's death that she was three months pregnant by her partner, Milanese businessman Silvio Sardi (now her husband). 'At my darkest moments there was this light of the new baby to get my through. When Devin, now eight was born on August 23, just two days after what would have been Conor's fifth birthday, I was laughing and crying at the same time. I was conscious not to overburden Devin with love to fill the vacuum left by Conor, and I had to learn to stop searching for the ghost of Conor in him. I will have to do this too with Loren, who looks uncannily like Conor, but, unlike with Devin, his birth hasn't been overshadowed by great sadness.' Conor's funeral was held at St Mary Magdelene's Church in Clapton's home village in Ripley, Surrey, attended by celebrity friends including Phil Collins, George Harrison and even Patti Boyd. 'It seemed unreal seeing that little wooden box. People were supportive, but nothing can help. I never saw Eric cry, but people grieve in different ways. I cried every day for four years and there's not a day goes by when I don't think, talk to or pray for Conor. On the night of the funeral I stayed with Eric in his house - the same place where we first all lived happily together - and we prayed and prayed all night.' 'I had nightmares for years, when I heard my son's voice calling for help and I'd run to save him. Eric prays, but he's a very introspective person. To this day we have never ever spoken a word about what happened. We haven't even mentioned Conor's name. We don't need to because there are no words - we just both know. He wrote a song, Tears in Heaven, about it which was his way of dealing with the grief, but I have never heard this song, nor do I ever want to. Once in Amsterdam, I heard it announced on the radio and heard the first few bars, but I just ran away.' 'I can't even have a picture of Conor in my house to remind me because it's too painful. Years ago I locked all the pictures of him away. I don't even know where they are anymore. I stayed in the apartment where he fell for a week, unable to do anything. After that I never went back. I never kept any of my son's clothes or toys. I can't bear to see any picture of Conor but his faces is clearly visible in my head.' Two years after Conor's death, Lory lost another baby boy who was born three months' premature and died of an infection at two weeks. To her credit, she has relaunched her career. She rents out apartments to models who come on assignments to Milan, runs a gym, has continued with her photography and occasionally presents programmes for Itailian TV. She is still in contact with Clapton. 'At first we kept meeting at people's funerals - his mother's and his grandmother's. It got to a stage when I thought, "Who next?" Now when we talk we keep things really light even though sometimes he can be weak. In many respects, our relationship never really ended. But the hardest part is that after Conor died we had to face the end of a dream that was just beginning.'

-EricClaptonUK

Literary Pick (*****)

 The Most Beautiful Woman in Town & Other Stories

-Charles Bukowski

 

 

Truly disturbing..

Religious Divide

Segregated Headstone Reach Over the Cemetery Wall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These grave markers — pressed up against either side of an imposing wall, with a pair of clasped hands reaching over the wall's top — date to a time in Dutch history when Catholic and Protestant graves were strictly segregated. A Catholic and a Protestant married couple, separated in death, arranged for this unique workaround in order to rejoin one another:

In 1842, a colonel in the Dutch cavalry, JWC van Gorkum, married a woman known as JCPH van Aefferden. The union was controversial — van Gorkum was Protestant and van Aefferden was Catholic. Despite the prevailing culture at the time, the two remained married for decades, only separating when van Gorkum died in 1880. He was buried in a cemetery near the Dutch town of Roermond called Begraafplaats Nabij de Kapel in 't Zand ("the cemetery near the chapel in 't Zand"). Pillarisation was taken very seriously — each community had its own schools, media, and graveyards — and Begraafplaats was no different. It took this segregation literally, with each religion having its own section. Van Gorkum was buried in the Protestant section, as would any other Protestant during that era.

But when van Aefferden passed away eight years later, she couldn't be buried with her late husband; even in death, Catholics needed to stay with their own. While alive, she made her wishes clear — she did not want to be buried in her family tomb, and, instead, wished to be as close to her husband as possible. The solution, seen above, is her grave site. (Here's a bigger version of her tombstone, and here's his.) The two tombstones, separated by a wall and by religions, feature a pair of hands connecting over the brick divider.

-BoingBoing

 

RIP

Diana Rigg, 'Game of Thrones' and 'The Avengers' Actor, Has Died At 82

 

 

 

 

 

English actor Diana Rigg became widely known in the U.S. for her role as Emma Peel in the 1960s TV series The Avengers. She died Thursday in her home in London.

Actor Diana Rigg, best known for starring in the 1960s British TV espionage thriller The Avengers, died on Thursday at the age of 82 in London. According to a statement from her daughter Rachael Stirling, she was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.

"My Beloved Ma died peacefully in her sleep early this morning, at home, surrounded by family," Stirling wrote. "She died of cancer diagnosed in March, and spent her last months joyfully reflecting on her extraordinary life, full of love, laughter and a deep pride in her profession."

In The Avengers, Rigg played Emma Peel with a certain dangerous flair that contrasted with her buttoned-up partner, John Steed, played by Patrick Macnee. More recently, she earned four Emmy nominations for her portrayal of Olenna Tyrell in the HBO show Game of Thrones.

 

Rigg was originally a stage actor who worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She told NPR in a 1991 interview that she loved seeing the faces of the audience when acting.

"They're my inspiration. I absolutely adore it," she said. "Obviously, sometimes they aren't when they're scratching themselves or falling asleep, but largely, I think you can't beat a live audience."

Her on-screen credits were many and varied. She played the only woman to get James Bond to the altar in 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service. She took on the role of Lady Holiday in The Great Muppet Caper specifically for her daughter Rachael. ("If you're an artist, you draw pictures for your children. If you're a writer, you write the odd little story for them. If you're an actress, you can read bedtime stories brilliantly. As far as she was concerned, it was the best thing that ever happened, to see her mother ... with Miss Piggy," she said in the NPR interview.) And she won an Emmy for her role as Mrs. Danvers on the PBS Masterpiece miniseries Rebecca.

But as her film and television roles grew, she always returned to theater.

"Diana Rigg's combination of force of personality, beauty, courage and sheer emotional power, made her a great classical actress," theater director Jonathan Kent said. "Her dazzling wit and that inimitable voice made her an unforgettable leading figure in British theater."

And in a statement Rigg's agent provided to NPR, playwright David Hare wrote this:

"Diana Rigg had a dazzling change of direction in middle age as a great classical actor. When Emma Peel played Euripides' Medea, Albee's Martha and Brecht's Mother Courage she swept all before her." 

 -NPR

Mel's Diner Theme Song

 

Literary Pick (****)

 Still Foolin' Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going and Where The Hell Are My Keys

-Billy Crystal

 

 

One of the best bios I've read, very nostalgic, Billy Crystals voice and personality really comes through. I loved how the book seemed to pick up speed, and I was able to learn about his experiences with the movies City Slickers, When Harry Met Sally, and Analyze This. I even loved reading about his passion for baseball and all the legends that he not only met but became very close friends with. Loved this book!

Honorary Mention

 Pastor John G. Huneke

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 HUNEKE--The Rev. Dr. John G., Pastor of The Lutheran Church of the Reformation, Barbey Street, Brooklyn, since November 1972, passed away on September 20th at the age of 82. Reverend Huneke graduated from Columbia College, Class of '53. He also studied at Union Theological Seminary and Harvard Divinity School and was ordained in 1958. In May, 2010, he received the Degree of Doctor of Divinity from The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. Pastor Huneke served St. John's Lutheran Church in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, for thirteen years and has served The Lutheran Church of the Reformation for 40 years. He will be greatly missed by his fellow clergy and his devoted and loyal parishioners and friends. He is survived by his wife, Clare Feger Huneke. The Rev. Dr. Huneke will repose at: N.F. Walker Funeral Home, 87-34 80th Street, Woodhaven, NY 11421. Telephone: 718-296-4343. Visiting Hours: Thursday, September 26, 25pm and 79pm. September 27, 10:30am Service at the Funeral Home. The Rt. Rev. Robert A. Rimbo, Bishop, Metropolitan New York Synod of the ELCA presiding. Memorials may be sent to The Rev. Dr. John G. Huneke Endowed Scholarship Fund at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

Literary Pick (***)

 Women Talking

-Miriam Toews

WKRP in Cincinnati Theme Song

 

Joni Eareckson

This is a book that was always lying around the house as I was growing up in one of our apt.'s in Brooklyn when I was very young and it has always left an impression on me. I find it remarkable that as a quadriplegic she was able to draw with her mouth.

-1976, Zondervan Publishing House

Literary Pick (****)

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
-Haruki Murakami

Olivia de Havilland

Olivia de Havilland, Classic Hollywood Star, Dies at Age 104

 The Gone With The Wind co-star was one of the last surviving links to a bygone era.

No one was better at falling apart elegantly than Olivia de Havilland. We tend to think of de Havilland (who died on Saturday at age 104) in her Oscar-nominated role as the good-hearted but frail Melanie in Gone with the Wind, taking to her chambers while Vivien Leigh’s brash Scarlett took on the dirty work of survival. But there was also her Oscar-winning turn in The Heiress, in which her high-society spinster character pined away for a stealthy cad. Or her descent into institutionalized madness in The Snake Pit. Even late in life, in glossy dross like Airport ’77, there was a nobility in her deterioration, as if St. Peter might compensate her with a third Academy Award statuette if she just succumbed one time to a ridiculous, horrible air disaster.

De Havilland was not always the regal sufferer. She was actually a fun, vibrant foil to Errol Flynn in Captain Blood, Four’s a Crowd, and seven other movies. Still, just a year after 1938’s The Adventures of Robin Hood, her indelible turn in the most popular movie of all time sealed her image forever.
Offscreen, de Havilland was gracious as well. She was too discreet to say much about her lifelong feud with her sister, fellow golden-age star Joan Fontaine—at least, until the eve of her 100th birthday, when she opened up about their difficult relationship in the pages of Vanity Fair.
A year younger, Fontaine nonetheless managed to do nearly everything first, from getting married to winning her Oscar (for 1941’s Suspicion, beating de Havilland, who was nominated that year for Hold Back the Dawn), to becoming a mother, to dying (at 96, in 2013). The two often vied for the same roles as well. Fontaine had once auditioned to play Melanie; in fact, Fontaine claimed, it was she who suggested to the filmmakers that her sister was dowdy enough for the part. Meanwhile, de Havilland had sought to play the nameless female lead in Rebecca, a role that proved to be Fontaine’s big break. When de Havilland finally won her first Oscar, for 1946’s To Each His Own, Fontaine waited in the wings to congratulate her sister, but de Havilland reportedly snubbed her and walked away.

“Our biggest problem was that we had to share a room,” de Havilland told Vanity Fair in 2016 with a sigh, elaborating that the trouble between them stemmed from Fontaine’s apparent desire to have what de Havilland had: “I suppose the way I saw it then was that I wanted Hollywood as my domain, and I wanted San Francisco society to be hers. I thought San Francisco was superior, I really did—the art, the opera, the clubs, the balls. I thought the sophistication Joan gained from her time in Japan made her perfectly suited for high society. But she wasn’t the slightest bit interested. ‘I want to do what you are doing’ was her mantra.”
The steel beneath de Havilland’s delicate façade was apparent, not just in movies or in her relationship with Fontaine. After Gone with the Wind, she chafed at the ingénue parts Warner Bros. kept foisting on her. Each time she objected, the studio would issue a suspension, and then demanded that she make up that time—in total, six months—after her seven-year contract was up. Instead, she sued the studio and won, setting a precedent that benefitted all entertainers signed to similar long-term show business contracts. The battle kept her off the screen for three years, but her first role upon her return was unwed mother Jody Norris in To Each His Own. The performance earned de Havilland her first of three Oscar nominations in the next three years and the first of her two best-actress victories. (She’d be nominated again for 1948’s The Snake Pit and 1949’s The Heiress, winning for the latter.)
The sisters came by their talent naturally; their mother, Lillian, was a stage actress before she married and moved to Tokyo, where the girls were born, and where her husband, Walter, practiced patent law. De Havilland was not yet three, in 1919, when Lillian, due to a rocky marriage and for the sake of her sickly daughters’ health, moved with her girls to Saratoga, California. Walter and Lillian divorced in 1925; once the divorce was final, Lillian married department-store owner George Fontaine. De Havilland took to acting as a teen and was just out of high school when she got to understudy Gloria Stuart as Hermia in Max Reinhardt’s 1934 Hollywood Bowl production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Taking over for Stuart after she left for a film role, de Havilland earned glowing reviews and signed with Warner Bros. when Reinhardt adapted the production to the screen.
Over the years, de Havilland was linked romantically to Howard Hughes, James Stewart, and John Huston. (Never to Flynn, though; despite their obvious chemistry, they never acted upon their mutual attraction.) She was married twice, to author/screenwriter Marcus Goodrich, and to Paris Match editor Pierre Galante; each marriage produced one child before ending in divorce.
De Havilland settled in Paris when she married Galante in 1955, and despite occasional visits to Hollywood over the next three decades for film and TV appearances, she lived there for the rest of her life. She made headlines only rarely in her twilight years—most recently, when she tried to sue Ryan Murphy and the FX network for defamation over its series Feud: Betty and Joan, which featured de Havilland as a character (played by Catherine Zeta Jones).
The “FX series puts words in the mouth of Miss de Havilland which are inaccurate and contrary to the reputation she has built over an 80-year professional life, specifically refusing to engage in gossip mongering about other actors in order to generate media attention for herself,” her lawyers claimed—honing specifically on the fictionalized de Havilland describing Fontaine by using the word “bitch.” Ultimately, a California appeals court ruled to toss the suit on the grounds of the First Amendment.
For all her accomplishments, de Havilland will be best remembered for that epic she made when she was 22. Seven decades later, she was still justifiably proud of Gone with the Wind, a movie she had watched often and still found suspenseful every time. “But you know,” she said in a 2010 Evening Standard interview, “you never really need to watch the films you made again. They stay inside you, always with you.”
-Vanity Fair