Eye in the Sky, Thomas Wolfe, and Ray Fucking Nelson.

I went to see Eye in the Sky with my son & daughter-in-law, and one of the trailers they showed was for Genius.

Which, of course, (1) made me want to see that movie, (2) made me want to read Thomas Wolfe again.

So, being the fiscally conservative person that I am these days, I looked to see what was available at the library.  Alas, nothing on ebook.  Notebooks, Reader, Portable, Short Stories, Correspondence, Letters, Play . . . ah:  O Lost--which is the original(-ish) version of Look Homeward, Angel.  (Also known as Look Homeward, Angel + 66,000 words.)  The Web and the Rock. Of Time and the River.  You Can't Go Home Again.  Poems.  Play. Stories.  I put in a request for O Lost.  I like to start at the beginning.  And none of that truncated bullshit for me.  

And then Jacqueline wanted to go to Half-Price Books this morning, so while she looked around I went to the old paperbacks spinner rack (my holiest of holies) and the section of nice hardbacks and "nostalgia" books, and there I found about forty issues of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.  So of course I had to have a look through those.  Saw a few that looked worth the $3.00 they were asking for, but they were sealed in plastic, so I could only go by the skimpy information on the cover.  Hmmm. And then I saw the cover to the August 1963 issue.

Ray Nelson. Radell Faraday "Ray" Nelson.  Ray Fuckin' Nelson, man. 

I first encountered Ray in the pages of Again, Dangerous Visions (edited by Harlan Ellison, who not only gave me quite a few writers who I have continued to love for the four and half decades since I read that anthology, but who also gave me one of my favorite running "gag allusions" in use for blog entry titles) in the story "Time Travel For Pedestrians."  I don't remember much about the story--except that the premise had something to do with masturbation used as a way of invoking time travel--but I do remember that in either the forward or afterward Ellison made reference to the fact that Ray Nelson had written a novel with Philip K. Dick whilst on acid.  It was called The Ganymede Takeover, and I soon acquired a copy.  Read it.  Forgot it.  Lost my copy.  Found a copy at Half-Price Books and bought it.  Haven't re-read it yet.

Meanwhile, back at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction     . . . my longing for Thomas Wolfe turned into a longing for Ray Nelson, and I bought the issue.  And it turns out that the story in it--"Turn Off the Sky"--was Ray Nelson's first sale.   And get this: the editor refers to having had the story in hand for four years! Four fucking years!  I suddenly felt much better about the fact that my story "Tamas" has been sitting at McSweeney's since 12/11/2014.  (Still, Jesus Christ, boys . . . if you love me, let me know, if you don't then let me go.)

Ahem.  So I was reading along and enjoying the story, despite its occasional flashes of datedness, when I came upon these lines:

"The basic idea of all underground trains is the same.  To sit and stare into the face of one's fellow man and never speak, never betray by the slightest movement of the eyes a recognition of his existence.  During rush hours to be crushed against him, chest to chest, back to back, so tightly you cannot move, so close you can inspect the pimples on his face, the dandruff on his shoulders, smell his sweat and hear his breathing, yet never say hello, never know if he is married or single, if he has children, and if they are healthy. To stand pressed as close to a woman as if in the tenderest embrace of love, and yet think about the ball game or the latest programs on the feelies--then to part and never see her again.  To stand, perhaps, crushed back to back against the one person who has the missing piece to the puzzle of your life and never know it."

Yowza.  I think I am going to have to dig out that copy of The Ganymede Takeover and have another go at it.  After I finish "Turn Off the Sky," of course.

And meanwhile . . . Ray Nelson is still out there somewhere.  84 years old.  Still married to Kirsten Enge (coming up on their 50th wedding anniversary).  Wow.  I wonder if he knows that his stuff is still being read.  I wonder what he thinks about his life and his work.  And love.  

Hmmm.

Oh . . . he also wrote a novel about William Blake.  I'm going to be needing that as well.

Man works from sun to sun, but a reader's work is never done.

Barbara Nichols

Barbara Nichols
in 1956
Born	Barbara Marie Nickerauer December 10, 1928 Mineola, New York, U.S.
Died	October 5, 1976 (aged 47)

Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged the tv channels across my head. And there was an old Twilight Zone episode--one I'd never seen before . . . or at least one I didn't remember seeing before.  I wasn't really interested in watching it . . . just background noise that makes you feel like you're not alone when you're alone . . . but then I heard a voice that sounded familiar.  It sounded like Joanne Woodward as Rhoda Shillitoe in A Fine Madness (a movie which would be excellent if not for the horrific misogyny, but if you can put up with that then you do get to see Sean Connery as a tough guy poet, which is mos def worth the time).  Or maybe the "No One's Ever Called Me Pouty Mouth Before secretary from the same movie.  Anyway, I knew it couldn't be Joanne Woodward, because she's way too big to have been in a Twilight Zone episode, but I looked to see who it was.

It was Barbara Nichols, as you probably guessed.  And when I saw that she died at age 47 I wondered why, so I took a look for that. And Wikipedia told me that it was "from complications of a damaged spleen and liver which had initially occurred about twenty years earlier in an automobile accident."  Wow.  And then I looked to see what other shows she'd been in, and it was an impressive list:

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
1954	River of No Return	Blonde dancer, Uncredited
1956	Manfish	Mimi
1956	Miracle in the Rain	Arlene Parker née Witchy
1956	Beyond a Reasonable Doubt	Dolly Moore
1956	The King and Four Queens	Birdie McDade
1956	The Wild Party	Sandy
1957	Sweet Smell of Success	Rita
1957	The Pajama Game	Poopsie
1957	Pal Joey	Gladys
1958	Ten North Frederick	Stella
1958	The Naked and the Dead	Mildred Croft
1959	Woman Obsessed	Mayme Radzevitch
1959	That Kind of Woman	Jane
1960	Who Was That Lady?	Gloria Coogle
1960	Where the Boys Are	Lola Fandango
1961	The George Raft Story	Texas Guinan
1962	House of Women	Candy Kane
1964	Looking for Love	Gaye Swinger
1964	Dear Heart	June Loveland
1964	The Disorderly Orderly	Miss Marlowe
1964	The Human Duplicators (Alternative title: Jaws of the Alien)	Gale Wilson
1965	The Loved One	Sadie Blodgett
1966	The Swinger	Blossom LaTour
1968	The Power	Flora
1968	Criminal Affair (Alternative titles: Seven Men and One Brain and Sette uomini e un cervello)
1973	Charley and the Angel	Sadie
1974	The Photographer	Mrs. Wilde
1976	Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood	Nick's Girl

Television

Year	Title	Role	Episodes
1953	Studio One in Hollywood	First Pretty Girl	Episode: "Complications of a Nervous Man"
1954	The Mask		Episode: "Murder in the Burlesque House"
1954	The United States Steel Hour	Bridie	Episode: "Good for You"
1954	The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse	Ruth	Episode: "The Man in the Middle of the Ocean"
1954	Center Stage		Episode: "Heart of a Clown"
1954	Armstrong Circle Theatre	Bar Patron/Party Flirt/Bobsey Baxter	Episode: "Fred Allen's Sketchbook"
1955	Danger		Episode: "Sandy River Blues"
1956	Chevron Hall of Stars	Rosie	Episode: "Double Cross"
1956	It's a Great Life	Caroline Cabot	2 episodes
1956-1958	The Bob Cummings Show	Marian Billington	3 episodes
1957	Matinee Theater		Episode: "The Gentleman Caller"
1957-1959	The Thin Man	Various roles	2 episodes
1958	Maverick	Blanche	Episode: "The Third Rider"
1958	Love That Jill	Ginger	13 episodes
1958	Shower of Stars	Miss Kim O'Day	Episode #4.7
1958	Climax!	Dale Benson	Episode: "The Push-Button Giant"
1958	Dragnet		Episode: "The Big Star"
1958	The Milton Berle Show	Guest	Episode dated November 19, 1958
1958-1960	The Red Skelton Hour	Gertie - Bolivar's Girlfriend	4 episodes
1958-1960	The Jack Benny Program	Mildred Meyerhouser	4 episodes
1959	The Scarface Mob	Brandy LaFrance	Television movie
1959	Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse	Brandy LaFrance	2 episodes
1959	The Real McCoys	Gladys Slade	Episode: "The Politician"
1959	The Untouchables	Brandy LaFrance/Barbara Ritchie	2 episodes
1959	The Dennis O'Keefe Show		Episode #1.10
1960	Stagecoach West	Sadie Wren	Episode: "A Time to Run"
1961	The Twilight Zone	Liz Powell	Episode: "Twenty Two"
1961	G.E. True Theater	Leslie Blaine	Episode: "The Small Elephants"
1961	Michael Shayne	Topaz McQuuen	Episode: "Marriage Can Be Fatal"
1961	The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor	Abby Landis	Episode: "Duty Date"
1961	Miami Undercover	Kitty	Episode: "Kitty"
1961	Westinghouse Playhouse	Lorraine Hadley	Episode: "House Guest"
1962	The Dick Powell Show	Bunny Easter	Episode: "No Strings Attached"
1963	Alcoa Premiere	Willy Simms	Episode: "Five, Six, Pick Up Sticks"
1963	Going My Way	Marie	Episode: "Has Anyone Seen Eddie?"
1963	Vacation Playhouse	Barbara Adams	Episode: "All About Barbara"
1963	Arrest and Trial	Ginny	Episode: "Isn't It a Lovely View"
1963	Grindl	Wilma Bryan	Episode: "Grindl, Witness for the Defense"
1963	The Beverly Hillbillies	Chickadee Laverne	2 episodes
1964	Kraft Suspense Theatre	Ann Hilts	Episode: "My Enemy, This Town"
1964	The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters	Mamie	Episode: "The Day of the Dark Deeds"
1965	Laredo	Princess	Episode: "A Question of Discipline"
1966	The Wild Wild West	Bessie	Episode: "The Night of the Whirring Death"
1966	Batman	Maid Marilyn	2 episodes (35 and 36)
1967	Green Acres	Wanda	Episode: "Never Take Your Wife to a Convention"
1967	The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.	Ida Martz	Episode: "The Phi Beta Killer Affair"
1967	The Jackie Gleason Show	Kitty - Big Sam's Moll	Episode: "The Honeymooners: Two Faces of Ralph Kramden"
1969	Hawaii Five-O	Betsey	Episode: "A Thousand Pardons - You're Dead!"
1971	The Smith Family	Effie	Episode: "Greener Pastures"
1971	The Doris Day Show	Mrs. Hollister	Episode: "Have I Got a Fellow for You!"
1971	Love, American Style	Gladys	Segment: "Love and the Doctor's Honeymoon"
1971-1973	Adam-12	Various roles	3 episodes
1974	Emergency!	Ginger	Episode: "Details"
1974	The Rookies	Marie Antionette	Episode: "Blue Christmas"

And looking at those lists made me realize that I must have seen her before, since I'd seen a few of the movies (River of No Return, The Pajama Game, and The Disorderly Orderly) and a bunch of the television shows.  (I'm pretty sure I never missed at episode of Batman, The Wild Wild West, or The Rookies, amongst others.  In fact, the name "Maid Marilyn" from Batman actually rings a bell.) 

And that made me really sad.  Here was this beautiful girl--

--who went to Hollywood and at the age of 25 started working in television and the movies . . . and in addition to appearing in at least one tv show or movie every year from 1953 until she died in 1976 (with the exception of 1970 and 1976), she also appeared on Broadway and was a popular cheesecake model . . . and she died at age 47. And I am pretty sure that virtually no one remembers her now.  I sure as hell didn't, I'm sorry to say.  

It just makes me wonder what any of it is worth, you know?  You can work your ass off and you can rise to the top of the game and be successful and rich and whatever, but after you've died, the very most you can hope for is probably to be a two word answer to a Jeopardy! question.    So what's any of it worth?

I don't know if it's worth anything.   But maybe I'm just depressed.

At any rate, today I am raising a glass to Barbara Nichols, and I am going to go watch some of her stuff. 1

1   If you'd like to join me, here's what you can see for free:  NETFLIX streaming has River of No Return and Amazon has the The Twilight Zone episode "Twenty-two."  There are also a couple of things on YouTube . . . like an appearance on The Jack Benny Show . . . but it looks pretty thin out there, I'm sorry to say.

Re: Rebirth

I wasn't even sure I wanted to read DC Universe: Rebirth #1, much less buy it.  I mean, once you've been through Crisis on Infinite Earths and Secret Wars and The New 52 and all of that other shit, you get a little jaded about the Big Event Comic Books affairs.  But I noticed a couple of things that caught my attention:

(1)  The book was only $2.99.
(2)  It was 81 pages long . . . and 67 of those were story pages.
(3)  There were no ads . . . other than ads for upcoming issues of other comics which were part of the Rebirth storyline.
(4)  It was written by Geoff Johns--the man who made me like reading Aquaman.
(5)  The art was all done by four dudes: Gary Frank, Phil Jimenez, Ivan Reis, and Ethan Van Sciver--all of whom are massively talented fellows. 

So I was thinking I would give it a look.  But when I got to The Great Escape this morning--Friday morning, as in two days after the comics hit the stands--there were no copies to be found.  The lovely comic book lady at the counter said that she could hold one for me when another shipment--or maybe a new printing--came in, but I declined.  As I drove home from the store I went back and forth on it. I could stop at one of the other comic book stores and see if they had a copy . . . .  But I didn't.  Got home, had some lunch.  Thought, "Comixology."  And spent my $2.99 for a copy that will always be pristine.

Just finished reading it . . . it actually took a while . . . and all I can say is . . . holy fucking shit.  There are not many times when I have actually made noises of surprise whilst reading a comic book.  (The last time was when you-know-who got half of his face blown off in The Walking Dead.)  But when I got to page 63 . . . I made a noise.  If you're a comic book fan, I am pretty sure that you will, too.  And if you can't find a copy, don't wait for the reorder, which is almost sure to be a second printing--cuz they're going to do something to the cover that will spoil the surprise.  I guess they figure everybody will know by then, so why the hell not.  But trust me on this.  Put your $2.99 down for the Comixology version Right Now.  You will not regret it.

村上 春樹

I started reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and thought it was pretty amazing, but when the vivid description of a human being having his flesh peeled off of him came along I exited stage left.  I thought I'd probably come back to it one day.  But I didn't.

And then I listened to Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage and enjoyed it quite a bit, but for some reason it didn't fulcrum me into another  村上 春樹 novel (which is what usually happens).  

But just a week or two or three ago my Number One Son said that he was going to read Kafka on the Shore, and I like to read books with other people, and #1 is one of my favoritest peoples, so I decided to start reading it.  One free LFPL download later, I commenced to reading.

And it was good.  I almost immediately lost my Thomas Pynchon compulsion (which had recently been reignited because I'd watched Inherent Vice) and focused on  村上 春樹.  And of course, being me, I started Googling about and looking up things that the narrator of the story referred to, and that often led to other things completely outside of the text.  Which is why I'm standing on this oil rig in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.   

That would be scanned.

Which is why I'm now watching The Thick-Walled Room (Kabe atsuki heya) 1953 / 1956, and why I have three other Masaki Kobayashi films from the library in the on deck circle, and why I got very excited when I found that all three of the films of The Human Condition are available on The You Tub.  (And if your idea of fun is watching a 3-part, 10 hour long Japanese movie, then you should probably get a bag of chips and a two litter of water, pop in a catheter, and go Googling.

Pictures at eleven.




P.S.  I read a review of The Human Condition which ends with these two lines:  "If aliens came to Earth and witnessed these events firsthand, they wouldn't hesitate to destroy the planet, figuring they were doing us a favor. But if they saw The Human Condition, they might pause for a minute, assuming that any species capable of such grim beauty might be worth a second chance."  Well played, Grady Hendrix, well played.

That's What Brother Russell Says

"You can't think your way into acting differently, but you can act your way into thinking differently."

Russell Brand

Brand: A Second Coming