Smart career moves

There's Cher, there's Oprah, there's Valentino--what there isn't is a lot of people who are easily identifiably one name. Today, May 6, is the 113th anniversary of Rudolph Valentino's birth. He was one of  the most popular stars of the silent era and his name is recognized 81 years after his death. It's difficult to know if Valentino would have survived in talkies, many better actors didn't, but when he died he was still perched precariously at pinnacle of success. A messy divorce, questions about his sexuality, and mixed box office returns were nipping at Valentino's heels. Had he lived even a few years. he may have died forgotten. But something like 100,000 people turned out at the Valentino funeral, re-releases of his films still found an audience in the 1930s, long after movies talked, and some of us still tune in when a Valentino movie pops up on TCM. Of course, Valentino was the first. Darkly handsome, there was an undeniable sexuality about him that moved beyond the camera. But best of all, like Princess Diana and James Dean, he died young, at the top of his game and full of promise. So he never aged, his career never withered, and the public never turned on him. Dying young was a good career move as others have discovered!

Mission Accomplished

On May 1, 2003, George Bush landed aboard an aircraft carrier and declared the end of conflict in Iraq, behind a massive banner declared, "Mission Accomplish." Five years later, the occupation of Iraq continues and George Bush has provided a series of explanations to clarify what he meant when he said that the major conflict in Iraq was over, in the latest, he again blames the banner and said it should have been "more specific." They keep going back to the banner, as if that's the problem and not the fact that US men and women die daily as  the ill-conceived occupation enters its fifth year--and we've been in Afghanistan since 2001.  Meanwhile, the United States commits billions of dollars sustaining the occupation and the country slides into something that looks like an Economic Depression as oil companies continue to post record breaking profits. And I don't see any way out or any politician with the will to end the debacle anytime soon. We were tricked into the occupation because the people of the United States are clearly  the stupidest most gullible people on the planet, and because our news media failed it its primary duty to inform the public forgetting that a free press is the watchdog of democracy.  And in this corner we have a President and Supreme Court who seem intent upon dismantling our Constitution (in John Scalia's opinion, the Constitution is dead, and he ought to know because he stabbed it--and us--in  the back). So, if Bush's plan was to disassemble the United States and reform it so that it better serves oil companies and pharmaceutical giants and his buddies at Bechtel, that the mission is truly accomplished. These are the things I will be thinking about on this May Day, as the media spins its wheels about Rev. Wright and an in-depth analysis of Vanity Fair's photos of Miley Cyrus, while reporting that this economic downturn is anything but a recession and people continue to die in Iraq as the US occupation enters its fifth year.

In Dreams

I live more in dreams these days, dreams where I am employed, valued and at peace. More and more I spend my waking hours pouring over my past, examining the moments in a vain attempt to find the exact moment when my fate was sealed. And now that I know how it ends, I wish again for the moment when speaking would have made no difference but would have made me feel better. This happens because have again been rejected,  this time for a job that I believe I could have filled perfectly. And I wish I knew what it was that lead to someone else getting that job. The past is always bearable of there is a future, or, at least, a future I would have wanted for myself. Enforced retirement isn't it. I think the time between is ending, the time when I believed I was employable. I'll try some freelance, I'll try finding some contentment in what my life has become. Maybe, I will forgive myself.

Colin Firth's Penis

Now that I have your attention...I read somewhere, that Colin Firth has quite a following among the older than 60 set--you know, those geriatric hippies who just don't know when to throw in the towel. Colin, who is not even 50, could be the son of some of those panting chicks, provided they were doing something naughty in the back seat of dad's Chevy in 1960--not me, of course, I was too young then. But I do find Colin Firth yummy and I have to say  this was pre-Darcy and the 1995 production of Pride and Prejudice. Anyway, a mention of Colin Firth, or Harrison Ford (another ancient heart throb), is liable to elicit a "EYEW" from my 15-year-old source on what is currently hot. I have it on good authority that Zac Efron turns teens on these days, leaving Brad Pitt, Justin Timberlake, and The Jones Brothers in his well-coifed dust--and the Jones Boys also have something for the 'tweens market. But for me, it's Colin's rugged good looks, aura of approachability and killer smile--with a side of Harrison Ford. Colin Firth is about to open in a new movie, Then She Found Me, which looks like a frothy comedy, but which is probably a dud (it's been finished for some time and only now opening in select theaters). Doesn't matter, I will go see it and love him. Besides it has a pretty good cast that includes Bette Midler and Matthew Broderick, and Helen Hunt, who stars and directs. The story is about a teacher whose husband leaves her and then her adoptive mother dies and then her biological mother shows up and she begins seeing the father of one of her students (Colin Firth). It was a really good book and I hope a good movie. Anyway, I recommend it to thems who can find it.