Saturday, August 21, 2004

Cassidy, the hardy boy. My sister's main man. She loved him, well, kind of. I remember seeing pictures of him on the walls of her room. But the books, it was all about the books.

In a way the book series reminds me of the Harry Potter Phenomenon, but the Hardy Boys went much further. There were 250 books pubished since 1927.

If there was anything close to a sweatshop in book writing, it might be the Hardy Boys. Check the word: "Of course, there was no Franklin W. Dixon. He was merely a house name for a long, long string of rotating authors working for the syndicate, a kind of literary sweatshop, working from supplied plot outlines, and following some strict guidelines: -- low death rates, as many action verbs as possible and a ban on kissing. Supposedly, Edward Stratemeyer discreetly scheduled his appointments so writers would not bump into or recognize one other."

Amazing to learn of all the censorship behind the original stories. There is something sinister about it. Just like there is something sinister about Sean Cassiy wearing spandex and "showing his cock" as Andy stated while talking to his band how to turn 13 year olds on. Eery.

Check the Teen Idol. Not sure if he has aged well. Check the youth, then again, and again. Here is a structural take on the young boy. He be Dynamite!

Andy is not too far off on inflation. According to the Economic History Services website Inflation was 7.59 in 1978, but this is nothing because the next year inflation was 11.28 and in 1980 it was 13.48. Prior to this, the highest increment was 11.11 in 1974.

Mondale was the first Vice-President to have an office in the White House. That is what is often heard when his name comes up.

Looking for articles on Braille and Money I found some odd articles, some directly referencing art school: "What were they thinking? That I was some kind of prankster? Perhaps I was a rogue art student who had designed a new currency for a school assignment and was trying to pass it off as the real thing. If so, at least they'd have to give me points for audacity."

And then I found one that actually answered the question on how blind-people tell money apart. Oddly enough, there is an implicit assumption of trust when the blind person receives money: "When we get money back from someone else,we ask which bill is which and then fold it."

The Dolly Parton wig Andy wore to Halston's party must be the inspiration for his late look, the one most often remembered, and which is most often imititated. Quite convenient that Andy was officially wearing a wig when he met Basquiat as it made it easier for David Bowie to play him in Schnabel's movie.

By the way some people in the artworld just hate Schnabel, although apparently they do not say it to his face. These are just rumours I hear when I hang out in Los Angeles, but who am I to gossip, after all? I claim no authority on these trivial matters. It all gets blamed on his broken plate paintings when all else fails. A recurring comment is "One day those broken plates will all fall to the floor where they belong."

Honestly, I did not think the Basquiat film was so bad, although it was not great either. It romanticized the struggle of the artist as usual, and gave African Americans plenty of meat to push the post-colonial dialogue much further. The film implicitly presents Basquiat as an idiot savant, who just did things, well, kind of. One senses that Basquiat was aware of what was going around him, in the film, but there is not enough meat to really dig into it critically.

I really liked Schnabel's film Before Night Falls. The movie is well made and holds up as art. Much better than those plates...

I can see Steve Rubell insecure outside of his club. After all, that is the only place where he can be some sort of "god." Apparently He died of AIDS, although this version says he died of hepatitis and septic shock in July 1989.

Rubell along with Ian Shrager founded the Palladium in the 1980s, and according to this version, the building is now an NYU dormitory.

Ian Schrager, Rubbel's business partner, made a fortune in the Hotel business. Interesting to see how there are always two individuals involved in entrepeneurial endeavors; with Microsoft, there was Bill Gates and Paul Allen, with Apple there was Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. One partner is outgoing and daring while the other is more reserved and reclusive. Maybe Neitzsche was not too far away when he wrote about Dionysius and Apollo--the drunk and the sober...

Andy must have been infatuated with Truman. The July 7, 1978 entry proves it. And Truman's story of Bogart is so unexpected. Andy said that Truman made stuff up, maybe he did, which may be why he was a successful writer. I remember when I first heard of Rock Hudson being gay, it was during the beginning of AIDS. I was in my early teens and quite naive, and never thought of celebrities as "real people." And I said "Hudson gay? But he is so manly..."

There are so many other stars that are rumored, but I will not mention because it is their private life. Who cares? The fans, I guess. The fans.

Andy's way of saying that there is "no possibility of a gallery" to Truman and Bob is classic. "You just missed it..." politeness goes a long way. Andy called MacBride's art "toys." Wow. That might be more insulting than calling it "therapy." Just missed it, yep! Just missed making art. And Bob may have never made it, as fas as I know. I looked for stuff on him and all I got was a Hot Rod Newsletter, an allegory on Thoreau, a skateboarder's epic of pavement adventures, and a streched out set of links on Amazon back to Capote and Andy. So, I guess he did not get a visit after all, or maybe he did... or maybe he didn't. Whatever. What is certain is that he has no presence on Google, no googling for MacBride, and here is were "exhibition value" kicks in in our times of information saturation. Ahh...

But Truman is an odd cat. He is a geek, but a cool one. He actually looks good dancing with Marilyn. She does not really outshine him, although she appears a bit flustered by the way he is leading her, or maybe she was leading him, he looks a little pushy though, and the way she is looking the other way while he appears to swing on his left, the left. The left. He even looked good in a mythical "mug shot," but that's Avedon for you.

Truman is of course well-known for his novel turned movie, Breakfast at Tifanny's. Bourgeois ideology at its best. Who could forget Mickey Rooney playing a Chinaman? I am sure someone in cultural studies got a Ph.D. off of his character, and then some.

And Andy is so all over Truman, he is infatuated.

Andy must have been talking to a ghost... Either a persian born 3600 years ago, or maybe Sir James Paget in 1873. A ghost he must be, as there is nothing to be found on a cloud bed... And having a bus parked outside as opposed to a limo is kind of original one must admit--especially if one is not on a music tour. I wouldn't be surprised if Bianca did ride it at one point with Bob Dylan. The bus for him works more like a country man's limo. The neo-cowboy style of riding. Aha...

And so, the Elvises and soupcans did not sell immediately, but much later, after they were exhibited. And then another "Rock star" trades "Elvis" for a piece of furniture. I think that is more of an ego trip.