Episode 11 of Playboy After Dark, When Jerry met Hef.

The other day while shopping at Sunset Foods, I heard St. Stephen by the Grateful Dead. Sunset Foods is one of a small chain of grocery stores that used to frighten Peggy and myself when we first moved to Highland Park. The chain itself didn't frighten us...not even the store. We were askeered of the shoppers. They seemed very aggressive in their parking, their cart navigation and frankly in their attitudes.
The shoppers were a source of frequent disparaging remarks we could make about our town.
To wit...when asked about winter vacation plans, another shopper replied, "Florida, Arizona, California, the Islands. Where can you go? Really. We don't know."

Lately, since Peggy's knee operation and even before her operation, I began to shop for and prepare food for meals. 

Floris van Dyck, dude from Harlaam.




These "meals" have led me to go to Sunset Foods between 4 and 7 times a week. It is not very scary anymore. As to whether the scary people moved away or we are on different schedules, I enjoy the experience. The workers and the management are very customer focused and helpful.

As I am walking down a non-food aisle of dish soap, detergent, enhanced liquid stuff for your dishwasher, and various other cleansers liquid or solid, I heard the recording of St Stephen. 

You have got to watch this video. Even the first 30 seconds. 



This is recorded in 1969 on a program called Playboy after Dark, which ran in 1969 and 1970. Although youtube says January '69, dons's basement has learned that the Grateful Dead appeared in episode 11, March 1969. Sid Caesar was also on the program that night, along with Sydney Omarr , nee Kimmelman, syndicated astrologer and astrology consultant to the rich and famous. Hef also appeared.

Here are the lyrics to St. Stephen: (Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter, who is also credited with singer on Playboy after Dark. (The link to St. Stephen is from "The Annotated St. Stephen and is much smarter than your deservedly humble author.)

Speaking of this "Annotated St. Stephen" site. Here is part of their fair use policy. 

In other words, it's ok to read, use, and link to this site in any way except for utilizing its contents to make money. Clear enough? And, of course, appropriate permissions for re-use will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

 

Saint Stephen with a rose, in and out of the garden he goes,
Country garden in the wind and the rain,
Wherever he goes the people all complain.

Stephen prospered in his time, well he may and he may decline.
Did it matter, does it now? Stephen would answer if he only knew how.
Wishing well with a golden bell, bucket hanging clear to hell,
Hell halfway twixt now and then,
Stephen fill it up and lower down and lower down again.

Lady finger, dipped in moonlight, writing "What for?" across the morning sky.
Sunlight splatters, dawn with answer, darkness shrugs and bids the day goodbye.

Speeding arrow, sharp and narrow,
What a lot of fleeting matters you have spurned.
Several seasons with their treasons,
Wrap the babe in scarlet colors, call it your own.
Did he doubt or did he try? Answers aplenty in the bye and bye,
Talk about your plenty, talk about your ills,
One man gathers what another man spills.

Saint Stephen will remain, all he's lost he shall regain,
Seashore washed by the suds and foam,
Been here so long, he's got to calling it home.

Fortune comes a crawlin', calliope woman, spinnin' that curious sense of your own.

Can you answer? Yes I can. But what would be the answer to the answer man?

The version I heard at Sunset must have been from Aoxomoxoa. But I remember it from Live/Dead.

The Dead playing Playboy after Dark is one of those Don Shearn paradoxes. Like the Buddy Love versus Grady personality divide.

Mood is wrong. Mood is wrong.                                          

Buddy Love wants to be the center of attention. The most charming and yet in many ways the most obnoxious guy in the room. Grady likes peaceful things. Like watching television. Hanging around with Fred Sanford.

The very late Mad Men style, part British tailoring/lounge lizard drinking and smoking, 'swingers' (sexually adventurous but not necessarily in organized groups) have to confront their future.  Panchos, beards, head nodding.  

Thus so, I walked through Sunset Foods, softly singing Saint Stephen.

Garry Winogrand the 4th, "To Live and Die in LA"

Of the 175 photos at the Garry Winnogrand exhibit, 56 are posthumously printed. Garry Winogrand died at the age of 56.

Coincidence, I think not.

Here are two of the posthumous photos.

Los Angeles, 1980-1983: Garry Winogand

It is the beginning of the Reagan era and there is no turning back. This woman of uncertain age....(is she 30 or 60) sets sail against the win her hair and dress flow beyond the traffic. A car pulls away. A sign is part of the tangle. There is open sky but it has a haze... from the photo's exposure, pollution, or  our sense of a personal LA.

The woman turns to look; at a friend, a stranger, a lover or a threat. She does not give her self away. She is in control and is deciding which way to turn.

Los Angeles, 1980-1983: Garry Winogand

This photo is so bleak that it looks staged. A woman lies dead or fallen on Sunset Boulevard as a Porsche convertible drives by. In the subsequent 35 years of art, movies, photoshop, and internet, I have been frequently misled by images some of which are true, other are lies. Is this a shot of despair, neglect or hopelessness? Or journalistic distance capturing a single moment in time. 

Did Winogrand ever see this shot? Did he see it and reject as being too grim for display?

It is part of the mystery of posthumous printing. Part of the mystery of art and image.

Garry Winogrand: III: The Drunken Women of Fort Worth (note the click bait title)

After hanging around New York, taking photos in various boroughs from 1949 to 1971, Gary Winogrand needed a job. In 1971 Winogrand began teaching, first at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute of Design (through 1972) and then at the University of Texas at Austin (1973–78), before moving to Los Angeles. " Preceding comes from the Encyclopedia Britannica which is some sort of Wikipedia imitator.  (check out the article on Winogrand , it's much more thorough than this blog) 

Texas gave Winogrand a new set of faces and places to unfold before him. 

I find in the relationship of the hands and faces a tangle of emotion, abandon, and surprise. Through the hands, the women express their concerns about the photograph, the setting and each other.

#1 seems to be reaching for an earring. She wants to go back to normality or maybe she wants to go home.

#2's hand is comfortable on #3's shoulder just above her left breast.

#3 has got some serious length in her arms. Her right hand holds the fascinating cigarette and her left, bracelet clad arm is soddenly grabbed by #4 who holds on for dear life.

Contrast Fort Worth with the photograph used to publicize the Winogrand exhibit at the Met.

1955: El Morocco, New York

It is a powerful contrast. Is it East and West? The post-war American triumphalism or the Viet-Nam era fatalistic party time. Intensity or casual slackness?

If you are interested in street photography, you can check out Downtown at Dawn for more a contemporary look at city, citizens and visitors of New York.

You can also read Eric Kim Street Photography. This guy is way into Winogrand and the art form.

Good stuff.

Garry Winogrand #2: Untitled: Blogger in the dark

Garry Winogrand, Untitled [Sailor on Street], 1950; At SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art)

The internet does not do this photo justice. The interplay of dark and light, the loneliness and freedom are not captured by the computer monitor. When I saw the print of the photo at the Met, the image struck me as so metaphorical that I couldn't hardly believe it. (Also it is a blast to be at the Met. I am not dissing the Art Institute but the Met is way bigger. And it has the temple of Dendor)

Selfie at Temple of Dendor.

Lonely sailors at home. Great theme right. Is this guy relieved to be on dry land or terrified at being in the strange land called home?

What strikes me are the street lights playing against the gray of the sky. The sailor is walking away from the light. Somewhere the kid (GW)from Bronx is snapping his photo. The composition is painterly. And so real that I can hear the next footfall that he takes on the street.

Is it optimism or abject resignation? It is a picture of a guy on a deserted street but what is the sailor thinking.

Garcia and Grisman's drunken sailor. (start of 40 second to avoid tuning)



Or the Village People's very happy mariner. (as interpreted by the Muppets)
 

Garry Winogrand, At the aquarium...

One of the places Garry Winogrand enjoyed taking pictures was the aquarium. Which we all agree is a picturesque place, albeit a place with lighting issues.

What are you looking at?

The Garry Winogrand Archive, Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona

It is a photo of a man cleaning a glass tank whilst a whale of some kind swims past him. I see the whale's face but not the man's. The whale's eye is optically the center of the photo. The  triptych of the three windows are the whale's past, present and future. He sees into the present neither looking back or ahead.

The window washers blade forms a cross with the whale's mouth. We think of Jesus, of Jonah and the Whale, and the wretched voyage of the Pequod occasioned by a shot of a whale swimming alone in his tank.

The photographer's art is the exchange of images. The camera shows what is and the viewer decides what it means. 

Winnogrand is quoted as saying, "Sometimes I feel like . . . the world is a place I bought a ticket to. It’s a big show for me, as if it wouldn’t happen if I wasn’t there with a camera."

What great artist isn't a narcissist? 

And what great artist doesn't have some dude in a suit giving him the fish eyes.

There is a tavern in the town etc.

The 773 Lounge is an Irish Pub on 773 Coney Island Blvd, in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. Ditmas Park is right next to Kensington and Flatbush. I can't judge all of Ditmas Park by the 773 Lounge. But Brooklyn is not all artisanal mayonnaise. (although I had a wonderful curry mustard at another place) Not if the 773 still stands.

We opened the door  and everyone at the bar... 6 men, 2 or 3 women. (One slipped in after I thought of writing this down. Sorry) turned to us. Stopped. And resumed their conversations. A few looked at his. A couple even older than I  gave us the once over. Especially the lady. She drank Rolling Rock from the bottle.

The bartender introduced himself. "I'm John. Let me know if you need anything. Wave, whistle, whatever. What can I get you?"

He poured my drink, healthily and drew a Guinness for my companion. The Yankees were on 2 of the 6 screens. Naturally on either end of the bar. The young pitcher they acquired from Japan faced the Minnesota Twins and they seemed to be hitting him pretty good. It's hard to concentrate on the Yankees.

 Against a far wall were camera phone looking images on the biggest screen of Karaoke singing, waving of arms, and people having what seemed to be a good time at this very lounge.

We ordered food at a window cut out of wall at the back of the place which I think was called the Food Shack. Cheese Pizzette (which is Ditmas Park for small pizza) and veggie quesadillas. While we waited for our food, we spoke to a gent and told him we were from Chicago. (Well, I was born in Chicago nearly 60 years ago)

"I love Chicago. It's my favorite city. Wrigley Field. I love it. It's the best place ever."

"Why did you visit Chicago?" We asked.

"Chicago. I love Wrigley field...."

This went on for some time but not too much time. He seemed like a good hearted person who probably drank too much. But what the f.... do I know? No shortage of cursing at the 773 Lounge.

The 773 Lounge has the reputation of being a "dive" bar. In fact, it is said to be one of the 18 best dive bars in Brooklyn. (click to see this list).

To me, it's a bar and perhaps I'll visit on my next trip to Brooklyn.

Oh right, and probably see my grandchildren, daughter and son-in-law.

Don's Basement Awards or DBA for 2013

Sorry about the late recap of the DBAs this year. But here goes. There were so many fine candidates that I don't know where to start.

Documentary Films: SILK, directed by Benjamin Shearn

This film by Benjamin Shearn holds up the mirror to a music/dance culture of diversity, inclusion, and joy that is remarkable for its sincerity and intensity.

SILK had its world premiere at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen in November.

Gatling Pictures - a young company based out of L.A. has picked up the film for worldwide distribution. They are planning a Summer 2014 release. There will be a limited edition physical DVD release of the film, distribution through digital platforms, and possibly a limited theatrical release.

The film has been accepted into the Melbourne International Film Festival, F.A.M.E. Paris and Planete+Doc -

Book of the Year: Mermaid of Brooklyn by Amy Shearn

This tale of a young woman's struggle to keep her family together in the small village of Park Slope has been seriously underrated despite the author's claim  (later retracted) of winning a National Book Award. It is actually the act of claiming the National Book Award that gave Shearn, the nod for the BDA book of the year over Jim Schutze's, The Dunking Booth.

Painting of the Year: So What by Peggy Shearn

So What: 12" x 72" Mixed Media on Canvas

There is a sly reference to the  jazz composition, "So What," in Shearn's word and picture play in paint.  Viewers of the painting see a blue sky...some see the sail boats bobbing in the sea...and others comment on the energy and motion emanating from the canvas.

The actor Dennis Hopper, in an interview in 2008 with Men's Journal, claims that Davis named the song after intellectual conversations with Hopper, in which Hopper would reply, "So what?" 

Congratulations from all of me at Don's Basement.

Do the Eye Gouge, You Turkey Necks: Don's top 10 wrestlers of all time

(Can anyone name the song from the post's title? Also, a reference to a "character" in the movie Her.)

In the Squared Circle, author David Shoemaker concludes that professional wrestling is "not fake but it is choreographed." Fair enough but the book has unleashed a battle royale of nostalgia and memory.

While Mr Shoemaker's exploration of wrestling begins at the turn of the century with large men grappling each other for hours at a time and continues to the present day (which is 2013 in his book), my wrestling relationship has two periods. As a boy in the late 50s and a father to a boy in the late 1980s, early 1990s.

I remember taking my son and a young friend along with his father to the Rosemont Horizon to see a WWF card featuring The Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan, and other stars of the era some time in the 90s.

Of course, no discussion of wrestling would be complete without a a tip of the mask to Barton Fink and his travails in Hollywood.

Now people are going to say to you, Wallace Beery, wrestling, it's a B picture. You tell them: BULLSHIT! 

Only one of my top ten come from the WWF era. I remember my wrestling heroes on black and white TV. And for some reason, I can't get them out of my head.


10 Edouard Carpentier: Click on the link for the human interest story behind the "flying French Man."

Byline: Mike Aka the Professor.
Young Edouard grew up in France during the Nazi occupation of that country. He was just a teenaged boy yet a full fighting member of the Underground, the famous French Resistance during World War II. His bravery and fighting skill was of enough heroic caliber to be recognized.

He was captured by the invaders at age 16 and escaped being taken a prisoner of the Nazis in one of their concentration camps. Joining the Resistance, he acquitted himself well enough to be decorated for bravery.

For his efforts, he was the recipient of both the Croix des combattants and Croix de Guerre medals. Edouard received them from the French government at the end of the war! His heroics weren't only just in the pro wrestling ring; he was a real life, medal-bedecked, card-carrying, bona fide hero!

9. The Fabulous Kangaroos

The Australian tag team that defined "heels."

Check out some classic Kangaroo action as they interrupt a lovely presentation to Sweet Daddy Siki and Seaman Art Thomas. (the action begins at .30 and ends at 1:30).


More Sweet Daddy and Art Thomas later. But the melancholy of Sweet Daddy Siki upon having his jacket destroyed is heart breaking.

8. From Moosehead Maine, Moose Cholak aka Golden Moose, Yukon Moose, Edward.

Okay, he was not from Moosehead Maine. In fact, he was a Croatian born in Chicago.

From BRENDA WARNER ROTZOLL
Mr. Cholak was a wrestler with a college education and an inquiring mind. In the early 1960s he attended lectures on Zen Buddhism that Alan Watts delivered at the University of Chicago. Then he went to Lake Forest to hear novelist Aldous Huxley talk about visionary experience. He said Huxley had taken LSD and was hallucinating. Mr. Cholak went backstage and when Huxley learned he had heard Watts, made him sit down and they talked for an hour about Zen and Watts.


7. The Crusher, nee Reginald Lisowski of South Milwaukee.

Crusher became politically involved in his later years and publicly endorsed Wisconsin senator Russ Feingold.(published on Wikipedia without citation but I like it.)

For your listening pleasure....



6." Seaman" Art Thomas, aka "Sailor Art Thomas"

Art Thomas clobbers Cowboy Parker

He wrestled under both names from the 1960s and until 1987 where he was defeated in a Battle Royale by Lou Thesz.

Lou Thesz defeated Al Costello and Arnold Skaaland and Art Thomas and Baron Mikel Scicluna and Bobo Brazil and Chief Jay Strongbow and The Crusher and Dominic DeNucci and Édouard Carpentier and Gene Kiniski and Gino Brito and Killer Kowalski and Nick Bockwinkel and Pat O'Connor and Pedro Morales and Ray Stevens and Rene Goulet and Tony Garea

On Wrestlingdata.com,  I learned that Seaman Art Thomas fought 1.070 matches with a record 552 wins and 236 losses.

5. Sweet Daddy Siki,

"A lot of people try to copy me, but there's only one Niagara Falls and only one Mona Lisa. And there's only one Mr. Irresistible -- Sweet Daddy Siki."

Sweet Daddy hosts Karaoke in Toronto on Saturday afternoons at the Duke.

4. Dick the Bruiser, nee William Fritz Afflis

Often paired with the Crusher, these two gravelly voiced large white men were a part of my 5 channel TV upbringing.

Let's enjoy a few moments with the gents.



3. Bo Bo Brazil, nee Houston Harris (July 10, 1924 — January 20, 1998)

Bobo Brazil delivers his devastating Coco Butt to the Sheik

From WWE.COM

Even in the dark days of segregation, Bobo Brazil was able to transcend issues of race. African-Americans looked at him as a role model, and even spectators with racist attitudes couldn't contain themselves from leaping to their feet and cheering for the popular Superstar. Many have even referred to Brazil as the "Jackie Robinson of sports-entertainment" in response to the way Brazil and Robinson similarly broke down racial barriers in their respective sports

2. Antonino Rocca (born Antonino Biasetton, April 13, 1927 – March 15, 1977, too young)

The great flying bare foot wrestler....and he beat Superman!

Rocca was a popular face and in some cities with both Italian American and especially Hispanic audiences, his following was exceptionally large and loyal. He also possessed Argentine citizenship.
He had a love for opera and was apparently described as having an excellent – if untrained – singing voice. Maestro Arturo Toscanini, a wrestling fan, was good friends with Rocca.[

See his top ten moves according to Patricia13386





1. Andre the Giant (André René Roussimoff May 19, 1946 – January 27, 1993)

Andre the Giant transcends the WWF world and is an entity under himself. And for symmetry...

Due to his immense stature it seemed inevitable that Andre would excel in the wrestling world. He had just started to make a name for himself in the ring as "Monster Eiffel Tower" or "Monster Roussimoff" when French-Canadian wrestler Edouard Carpentier first laid eyes on him. Carpentier was impressed with Andre's raw talent and decided to bring him to North America. Andre began wrestling under the name Jean Ferre in Canada for Grand Prix Promotions. 

Andre the Giant will be long remembered for his role as Fezzik in the Princess Bride.

In this scene is the essence of professional wrestling. "Not fake but choreographed."

The Golden Globes and Bad Weather

Being in below zero weather freezes your brain. It slows you down and quite frankly makes you a little thick headed. All you care about is getting and staying warm. Even though the frozen vortex or whatever the hell they called has passed, I am only know beginning to thaw out.


Part of that process included watching the Golden Globes. We (and you know who you are) turned it on at 7:00 PM. I have not descended into the depths of the "red carpet" shows just yet.


Here are a few observations.




Jennifer Lawrence, then and now.


In 2013, she starred in the movie with all the dancing and football jerseys. In 2014 She again played Katniss Everdeen as well as the bleached blonde wife of Christian Bale in American Hustle.


At this point, many of you reading, especially the males will be disappointed that there are no pictures of Jennifer Lawrence in this post. I blame the NSA. And Michael Moore.


In the 2013 pic, Jen, as I like to call her and she hates, is dressed in red and this year she wore a Dior Gown.


Click here to see gown and see something disturbing.


Did you see it? People are dressing their dogs, their cats, themselves in a mock version of JLAW's Golden Globes Gown.




Donald Sutherland, the nemesis of Jennifer Lawrence and all decent people is quoted as saying,""I hope that they will take action because it's getting drastic in this country." Drone strikes. Corporate tax dodging. Racism. The Keystone oil pipeline. Denying food stamps to "starving Americans". It's all going to pot. "It's not right. It's not right."


And. "We did it in '68."




Yeah, well. The system has worked well for you, Don and your family. So let the rest of us live in peace. The 60s disrupted as many careers as it launched, dude.




Where were George Clooney and Woody Allen? Woody Allen, I understand. Part of the Woody Allen brand is to not attend awards shows. It is a brand advantage over anyone who attends awards shows. I think he feels very guilty about his success and also superstitious. Woody has been shunning the awards (except for 2002 when he flew to LA to support New York) at least since the 70s. He has managed to find a job for all these years. Why change horses in midstream?





Clooney, though. Really should have been there. C'mon. Sandy Bullock was there. You produced all this stuff. Are you angry about Monuments Men not being released in 2013?



Ocean's Eleven meets the Dirty Dozen.


Do we need this? Really?


There are too many Emmas in show business. This is for all my British Fans. Too many Emmas. I can't keep track of them.


So what does it all mean?


It is January 13. The middle of the month. Almost. While winter has beaten us down (and will certainly do so again) we still have the Super Bowl and the Oscars to look forward to.




Again, sorry for the lack of Jennifer Lawrence photos. There are some on the internet at some of the entertainment sites.

Sucessful or Unsuccesful: A donsbasement probe.

This chart appeared on my facebook timeline on January 3.

This chart only highlights the traits of successful versus unsuccessful people. You could very well be a success even if you don't have these traits.

It turns out that even though I am a success (after all I have a blog), I have more traits of unsuccessful people than successful ones.

Being a new year and all, I think it is a good time to determine whether I am successful or not. Since I am a relativist in most respects, I believe that there are no yes or no answers to these questions.


Successful People:

Compliment: Yes. I took  a Dale Carnegie course in 1983 or 1984. It stressed that compliment were good for business. But that they should be sincere. That is to say have a basis in fact. Even if the motivation was ingratiate one's self with another for commercial business.

Have a sense of gratitude: No. I have piece of note paper from a psychologist that I went to that reads, "I'm willing to be at peace, content, calm, (grateful?). She put grateful in parentheses. Obviously she thought I had a problem with that.

Give other people credit for their victories: Yes. 'There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit" I gave that quote to Ronald Reagan.

Read everyday: Yes. Currently reading, "Unfamiliar Fishes," by Sarah Vowell, On The Trail of Grant and Lee: A Narrative History of the Boyhood and Manhood of Two Great Americans by Frederick Trevor Hill, a free Kindle Download written in 1900. I also read the New York Times, especially Gail Collins and Maureen Dowd.

Talk about ideas: No As I don't understand the question.

Share information and data: Yes. Often repeating myself in the process.

Exude joy: No. I experience joy from time to time but I generally keep it to myself.

Embrace change: Not hardly.

Keep a "to-do project" list:  Yes. I keep several lists. But they are often of the daily variety. Since there is a later question of a "to be" list. I can comfortably say yes to this one.

Forgive others: No. Never a strong part of my growing up. Call it Russian. Call it being Jewish. Or call it unsuccessful. I don't forgive. (Although I want other people to forgive me)

Accept responsibility for their failures.: Yes.  I do this often before I have even failed. I save time that way.

Keep a journal: Yes. On and off since high school. Mostly it says how terrible everything was today. But it does get things off my chest.

Want others to succeed: Yes. Unless they are a direct competitor to me, my wife or children, I am all about success.

Keep a "to be" list: No. I was too young for the "Be In."

Set Goals and develop life plans: No. I have set sales goals for the past 30 years but have never developed a life plan. I was too superstitious to develop a life plan. I feared it would make the evil eye angry with me.

Continuously learn: I guess. I am interested in history so I guess I know more about the Civil War, Mongolia, World War I and World War II, and retail than I did when I was younger.

Operate from a transformational perspective: No.  I'm kind of a "go along, get along" kind of guy. Just like the late Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House in 50s and 60s.

  "If you want to get along--go along."

Final Talley: 9 yes, 8 no. Not completely successful.

Let's look at unsuccessful people.

Criticize. Yes.
Have a sense of entitlement: No
Take all the credit for their victories: No
Watch TV everyday: Yes
Fear Change: Yes.
Fly by the seat their pants: No
Talk about people: Yes, frequently
Hoard information and data: No. I overshare and then forget and overshare again.
Exude Anger: No. Only in the morning and on very ridiculously cold days.
Hold a Grudge: Yes. It's an article of faith and family.
Blame others for their failures: Yes.  In a macro sense.
Say they keep a journal but really don't. No. And this question, is just weird.
Think they know it all: Regrettably,Yes.
Operate from a transactional perspective: Yes. It may come from being in retail but it is a pretty shallow form of interaction but it comes down to pennies.
Secretly hope others fail: I will say NO. (because if I said yes, it wouldn't be a secret)
Don't know what they want to be: Ouch, Yes. But I have tried to be different people but I end up in the same place. And it's not a bad place, to be honest.
Never set goals: Well, I said no to the opposite question trait, so guess I am locked into Yes.

10 yes to 7 no. Not completely unsuccessful.

Wow.