Valentine's Day Kisses

This Valentine's Day, I hope that everybody who is looking for a kiss finds one:




Gotta love the New York Dolls... when I was a nerdy grammar school kid who read the newspaper every day (yeah, I did), I read about the Sex Pistols and somehow got the notion that they wore women's clothing on stage. Silly me, I had them conflated with the Dolls. Yeah, I was a punk rock n00b in the second grade.

If you find your kiss, make sure that it's not one of those deadly kisses that one seems to hear about every now and then. Last week, in one of the comments, the wily Wiley wrote:


That girl's band reminded me of Cher on "the Sonny and Cher" show introducing an all girl band with the caveat that they weren't very "feminine" as if Cher weren't a professional vamp. I thought at the time that the network forced her into it, because she didn't seem very sincere when she said it. I was 14 at the time, so it was '75 and I'm thinking it might have been very early Joan Jett. Or not. I dunno. But I really liked them and loved it that they were rough and tumble--- like me--- a ridiculously heterosexual tomboy.


I believe that the band in question was The Runaways, who featured Lita Ford on guitar. Of course, Lita Ford had something to say about those deadly kisses later on in her career:





I have to confess that I find the song dated and more than a bit cheesy. I remember my freshman college roommate and I laughing our asses off at the opening line, "Went to a party last Saturday night, didn't get laid, got in a fight." Damn, Lita, you'd been a rockstar since you were in your teens, could you not have tried a little harder?

As far as songs titled "Kiss Me Deadly" go, I have to rate for Generation X's song by that name (warning, video contains footage of Billy Idol... I kid! I kid!):





Of course, both songs share the title of perhaps the greatest film noir ever produced. Kiss Me Deadly took a run-of-the-mill Mickey Spillane potboiler about stolen narcotics and turned it into a post-Hiroshima horror story about a deadly "whatsit" being chased down by various law enforcement officials and an international criminal organization.

Inspired by Smut's posting of a picture of a statute of Perseus slaying Medusa, I went searching for a clip from Kiss Me Deadly, in which the villain describes the "whatsit" at the center of the film as "the head of the Medusa", and found the entire movie posted. Yeah, I know the SOPA and PIPA people will freak, but I'm posting the movie, because it must be seen. As a little background reading, you may wish to check out Wiley's take on nuclear fears- as an Air Force veteran, she's extraordinarily wise about these issues.




Damn, what dialogue! I still get goosebumps hearing the villain's speech at 1:16:

What is it we are seeking? Diamonds, rubies, gold? Perhaps narcotics? How civilized this earth used to be. But as the world becomes more primitive, its treasures become more fabulous.

Why is it that the villains always seem to end up with the best lines?

The actor who played the villain, Albert Dekker seems to have died of sexual misadventure, which brings us back to the topic of Valentine's Day. If you are going to get kinky this V. Day, take all possible precautions to be safe- leave the deadliness to posted videos.

Yet Another Bastard Favorite Has Exited Stage Left

 I learned of Cloris Leachman's passing, at the age of 94, via Tengrain.  Tengrain noted that Ms Leachman's knack for comedy was flawless.  I mean, who could beat this timing?

My favorite Cloris Leachman role is her amazing performance as Christina in the 1955 noir classic Kiss Me Deadly, which, if pressed, I would claim as my favorite movie.  The movie opens with Cloris, barefoot and clad only in an overcoat, using a desperate gambit to stop a motorist, the movie's protagonist:

 

While her screentime is relatively brief, Cloris Leachman's performance exudes charm and wit, contrasting well with Ralph Meeker's laconic, somewhat brutish Mike Hammer.  The dialogue is fantastic, and her delivery is perfect:

Christina: You're angry with me, aren't you? Sorry I nearly wrecked your pretty little car. I was just thinking how much you can tell about a person from such simple things. Your car, for instance.
Hammer: Now, what kind of a message does it send ya?
Christina: You have only one real lasting love.
Hammer: Now who could that be?
Christina: You. You're one of those self-indulgent males who thinks about nothing but his clothes, his car, himself. Bet you do push-ups every morning just to keep your belly hard.
Hammer: You against good health or somethin'?
Christina: I could tolerate flabby muscles in a man who may be more friendly. You're the kind of a person who never gives in a relationship - who only takes. (Sardonically) Ah, woman, the incomplete sex. And what does she need to complete her? (Mocking) Why, man, of course. A wonderful man.

She steals the scene that she's in, using the same chops which made her such an effective comedic actor.  Her charismatic performance makes her (no spoiler warning needed, this is a noir, after all) Very Bad End at the hands of Very Bad Men all the more upsetting. 

Cloris Leachman's body of work is vast, spanning decades, with diverse roles, so I know how I'm going to pass some of my downtime this weekend.  Her turn in Kiss Me Deadly was her first major role, and while not as iconic as her turn playing Frau Blucher in Young Frankenstein or Phyllis Lindstrom in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, it was a harbinger of things to come.  It's a performance that I can watch repeatedly, and I shall.

But as the World Becomes More Primitive, Its Conspiracies Become More Idiotic

The most shocking local news story of the weekend was the assassination in New Jersey of a federal judge's son and the attempted assassination of her husband. Fueling the conspiracy theory pipeline was the fact that Judge Esther Salas was slated to preside over a class action lawsuit against Deutsche Bank AG on behalf of investors concerned about the bank's failure to combat money laundering, including the laundering of serial child molester Jeffrey Epstein's money. Epstein's death in prison fueled a wave of conspiracy theory content, because he could have been the linchpin in a worldwide campaign to bring down wealthy child abusers. The gangland style assassination of a judge's family member fits well into the broader conspiracy framework, the ideal that a shadowy, powerful cabal would send a message to Judge Salas makes sense to people raised on 'Godfather' movies.

The reality, though, seems to be stupider, as the primary suspect in the murder and attempted murder turned out to be an 'antifeminist lawyer' who argued a case for male-exclusive 'selective service' before the judge. No grand conspiracy here, no shadowy cabal sending a message to let judge Salas know that any efforts to combat a global pedophile ring would be countered in deadly fashion... just a sad, stupid man with a years-long grudge against an accomplished woman fighting gender-based inequality. In this most stupid of timelines, we got a most stupid assassination.

The post title is inspired by my favorite scene in perhaps my favorite movie, the 1955 adaptation of Kiss Me Deadly.





I know that the phrase 'We Live in the Most Stupid Timeline' has taken on the status of an axiom, but it seems that every week is proving it to be true.

ADDENDUM: In an entirely predictable development, the prime suspect blended his misogyny with racism. They all do.

Pride and Primitivism

The outpouring of national pride (oddly enough, not shared by many right-wingers, who are incensed that President Obama's administration killed Bin Laden) inspired by the death of Bin Laden has been somewhat disconcerting to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the evil S.O.B. is dead, but I can't help but think that the whole episode is a glaring indicator that things have gone horribly wrong with American society. Four decades after planting a foot on the moon, our proudest achievement is planting a foot on the neck of a horrible old man? Never mind that Bin Laden was largely a creation of U.S. foreign policy... is this really the best that we can do?

The 1960's saw the dismantling of entrenched, institutionalized racism in this country- the Civil Rights Act ended segregationist policies, and the implementation of affirmative action policies to redress discriminatory practices. By executive order, the federal government did its best to end official tribalism and balkanization in this country. At the same time, the Space Race kicked into overdrive- in 1961, Kennedy made his moon speech, and in 1969 we acccomplished a manned moon mission. The official policy of the U.S. federal government was a rejection of primitivism, and the embrace of futurity- science, rationalism, and a sense of purpose ruled the national psyche. Of course, there was an ugly undercurrent- a backlash against the Civil Rights movement, political assassinations, a pointless war against an agrarian population on the other side of the world, but it looked as if things were going to get better, that a bright future lay ahead.

What the hell happened? In the 1970s, a crisis in the oil supply should have inspired the nation to apply the same can-do spirit to adopting alternative energy as it did to the Apollo program. The space program produced some remarkable successes, but our fascination with space exploration was eclipsed by our fascination with galactic fantasy. Of course, there were some people who were right about a need for long-range planning, but they were held to ridicule:





Yeah, Carter was right- he told the American people that belt-tightening was needed, and that a coherent policy involving research into renewable energy was needed... that sort of fag talk cost him the election, and Reagan began our major leap back into the past (tribalism and all).

Under Clinton's presidency, when oil prices plummeted, there was no effort made to improve fuel efficiency standards, and the automakers used the efficiency loopholes for trucks to usher in the era of the gas-guzzling SUV. Fuel taxes weren't even raised in this era of cheap oil. Yeah, we went along, without thought for the future, and burnt through our fossil fuel "startup capital" without thought for the coming transition. The trade agreements put into place under Clinton allowed U.S. corporations to bypass production, work, and environmental standards through outsourcing. Innovation was rejected, a victim to the profit motive. I have heard stories of IT professionals who were told that they were training staff in India to handle the boring and repetitious aspects of the job, so they could work on more esoteric tasks, but those tasks never materialized, layoffs occurred, and the remaining workers here are working longer hours for stagnant wages.

Bush junior merely doubled down on concessions to the fossil fuel industry while pursuing Operation Iraqi Liberation, and allowing his political allies to engage in tribalism once again. The real end-result of the Bush Maladministration was the wholesale mortgage of the future of American society. He transformed a once great, innovative nation into a banana republic with nukes.

I supported Barack Hussein Obama over Hilary Clinton mainly because I didn't want the presidential election to be a referendum on the Vietnam War era (like the abysmal 2004 election campaign). I also saw Barack Obama as the "nerd" candidate- the cerebral, cool headed policy wonk who was needed to clean up the messes of the last decade. Of course, the "post-racial" America of January 2009 descended into a morass of birtherism and 'baggerism, the tribalism that had been officially ended in the 1960s came back in proxy form, and open racism and the worst sort of "John Birch Society" paranoid style set the tone for the political discourse. My nerdy president has been preoccupied with bullshit, such as addressing the birth certificate false controversy, and allegations of being a communist, a caliphist, or a granny-killer.

Now, two and a third years after President Obama's inauguration, the country is still mired in bullshit- the distribution of wealth is similar to that of a third world nation, and our elected officials are trying to gut the social safety net and keeping the world safe for outdated technology- as Gene Wolfe would put it the technology of the Nineteenth Century brought into the Twenty-First and hard at work. Any attempts to reward companies for reducing the amount of pollution they produce are mischaracterized as punitive measures and fought tooth-and nail. Well-funded special interest groups are seeking to have pseudoscientific nonsense taught in our schools.

Yeah, we killed an evil man, but what the hell have we really accomplished otherwise? There was a time when we shot for the moon and succeeded, but have we grown so debased that shooting an evil old gargoyle living in a squalid compound is now considered a major triumph? To paraphrase Doctor Soberin in the amazing film noir Kiss Me Deadly: How civilized this earth used to be. But as the world becomes more primitive, its treasures victories become more fabulous petty.

NOTE: By nature, I'm not a pessimist, but I play a pretty convincing one on the internet. It's hard to be an optimist, however, when the species just can't get its shit together, and that a couple of hundred petty, bigoted, ignorant loons, representing a tiny minority of the world's population have such disproportionate power. The past forty years have been a series of missed opportunities, squandered resources, and manufactured crises. It's long past time the country grew the fuck up, and knuckled the fuck down.

I've Seen This Movie

In the midst of all the crazy stories deriving from the Helsinki Treason Summit, there's one story which really needs more attention: a small amount of plutonium and cesium were stolen from a Department of Energy SUV parked in a San Antonio hotel lot. This is the sort of thing that happens when a corrupt boob runs the department. While the amount of missing plutonium may be small, that stuff is dangerous, so the fact that it is missing is disconcerting, to say the least.

This whole kerfuffle reminds me of the plot of one of my favorite movies, Robert Aldrich's 1955 noir classic Kiss Me Deadly, with its famous atomic McGuffin:





If you haven't watched the film, it's just about perfect, with incredible dialogue and a morally ambiguous hero who is up against absolute monsters. Do yourself a favor and watch it.

Passing of a Bastard Favorite

Tonight, I turned on the radi-adi-o, and I found out that one of my favorite DJs, Jim Riecken of Fairleigh Dickinson's WFDU, succumbed to pancreatic cancer a week ago. Taking a moment to think about my musical tastes, I have to say that Mr Riecken's influence on my musical tastes is second only to the influence of the legendary WLIR. Jim was a champion not only of punk and post-punk music, but surf rock, 60's sci-fi instrumentals, space age bachelor pad music, ska, moldy oldies (the record's gotta be old, and it's got to have mold, but not Bob Mould)... his music tastes were eclectic. He was also a prolific IMDB reviewer and incorporated a lot of clips from 50's sci-fi B-movies and film noir... I bought the DVD of Kiss Me Deadly, now one of my favorite movies, simply because I was intrigued by the clips he played during his show. He was also a big fan of Forteana, which went hand-in-hand with his interest in sci-fi.

I guess the best way to pay tribute to a DJ is to embed some videos of artists I first heard on his show, in no particular order:




















Saturday nights aren't going to be the same without him. Rest in peace, old pal.