So it is clear that my attention to this blog has fallen by the wayside the last few years. There are many reasons for that including, but not limited to: a real, non-imaginary-man boyfriend, a house and a dog.
There is another reason that will be far more interesting to you which is that I have been writing a book! If you’ve liked what goes on here (when things were, you know, actually going on) then I guarantee you will like
Today is the 59th anniversary of James Dean’s death. The man would be 83 years old now and who knows what he would have done with his life and career had he survived a car crash. He may have gotten fat or bald, made terrible movies or been hawking products in TV commercials. Instead he is frozen in time just like this:
Eternally young, handsome and cool. Recently my boyfriend and I watched East of Eden because we were going to the central California coast where the movie is set. I watched Dean’s movies a lot when I was a teenager and spent most of that time alternately swooning and grieving that he was so stunningly beautiful and so tragically dead. Watching it now with an adult perspective I really appreciated how incredibly talented he was and how he certainly was one of the first true archetypes of the Wounded Misunderstood Man Child Who Just Wants to be Loved that so many of us are drawn to (paging Dr. Doug Ross, looking at you Tim Riggins.)
On our trip we drove out to Cholame where Dean died and is memorialized around a shady tree next to a diner right out of a movie set. The first time I saw it in the early 90’s there had been small sort of cameos of his face as part of the memorial that had been filled over with plastic to keep them preserved. But over the years fans had chipped away at the plastic attempting to get to the image underneath. Those were no longer there and I figured that this long gone, not many people stop there to see the memorial anymore.
Inside the Jack Ranch Cafe next door with its walls covered in Dean memorabilia, country music playing in the kitchen and warm cherry cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream we learned from our waitress that every single day people still come in there because of James Dean. EVERY. DAY. That’s some pretty amazing longevity for someone who is probably more well-known by Kids Today for merchandise with his face on it rather than his film work or cult of celebrity.
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So rest in peace James Dean – nearly six decades gone and we’re still watching you, talking about you and looking for you.
… in Art Deco Postcards. I love that even though it is from the 30’s it is kind of sassy and potentially saucy!
Personally I like:
Dear Sweetheart, I am swell. The place here is magnificent. I do lots of night clubs. I need loving. Business is in the bag. I wish you would come here. I miss my liquor. Yours forever.
I’m watching Long Way Round – My Scottish BoyfriendEwan McGregor and his best mate Charley Boorman traveling by motorcycles from London to New York City “the long way round.” It’s very entertaining and sort of mind boggling the amount of planning and effort that is needed to cross through so many countries, not to mention the TIME. 3 months of sleeping in tents in Russia. How many fancy pants movie stars would do THAT?? (although I can think of plenty of celebrities I’d like to send to a tent in Russia. Permanently.)
From what I’ve watched so far, Ewan could not be a cooler guy: he’s funny, self-deprecating, loyal, passionate, polite, calm under pressure and a total boy who thinks dick jokes are funny and gets giddy at the idea of not having to wear clean clothes regularly. He also likes to strum a guitar and sing a song:
HE SINGS U2!!! HOW MUCH MORE DO YOU WANT ME TO LOVE YOU EWAN MCGREGOR?!?? 😉
Ladyfingers soaked in sherry, Bird's custard, jam, whipped cream and raspberries
A relaxing day watching the entire first season of Downton Abbey with my mom (that would be the DVD she got me and a “Biscuit Jar” to keep by the side of my bed, like the ladies of Downton Abbey):
A year ago today was the start of what got dubbed Freezing for Flowers – the winter leg of Brandon Flowers Flamingo tour which involved lots of standing around (LOTS!!) in freezing cold temperatures along the Eastern Seaboard. It was a week of pure insanity but so tremendously fun and exciting and worth every minute of losing sensation in my extremities!
I was lucky enough – starting with a year ago tonight in Boston – to get to meet Brandon and since I’ve never written a post about it here I thought the first anniversary of that surreal moment was probably a good time. It will explain how my worship of him is not just about the music and the lusting!
The logistics of the meeting are basically that we were freezing – and then we got invited to meet Brandon! (yes, invited! Crazy right??) I was with Sarah and Jackie and we did not know what to expect. In retrospect we all thought that someone would meet us and ask what we wanted signed, would go get it from him, and then come back and give it to us. Not that he’d actually be standing there all nicely showered and Sharpie in hand just WAITING TO MEET US!
So we meet Brandon Flowers – and here’s the thing – that guy on stage who is so brash and in command and strutting all over the place like the Rock Star he was born to be – is nothing like that in person: he’s very quiet and shy and when you get over the shock that you’re meeting him (did I mention he was just STANDING THERE WAITING FOR US?!??) you have to adjust to the shock that he’s not That Guy on Stage.
I will say I was totally well-behaved and didn’t freak out or scream in his face or molest him or anything. He could not have been more gracious to us and I was in no way going to mess that up by going full-on Fangirl in his (pretty) face. I was lucky a few more times that week to be “granted an audience” and whether or not he ever remembered me – he was always unfailingly polite and generous with his time.
So I love him for lots of reasons that can be found alloverthisblog. But these experiences made me truly appreciate him beyond the talent and the looks: he is such a genuinely nice man. He gives a firm handshake and looks you right in the eye as you’re talking to him. He leans in to listen and he answers questions honestly and never makes you feel like you’re a total dope for rattling on to him about some sort of Crafty Thing you’ve gifted him with, or how much you love the album, or how great the show was.
So I love his voice and his music, I think he’s probably the most Beautiful Man I’ve Ever Seen, but beyond all that he’s a really good person – and I think that above all is what makes him so worthy of all the time and attention and adoration that I – and so many others – give him.
(dedicated with love to the whole Freezing for Flowers 2010 crew: Sarah, Jill, Jackie, Lauren, Kimberly, Martha, Nancy and JoAnne – xoxo – Amy)
Yesterday Brandon’s GQ Motherf*cker interview came out online. You can read it here. I thought it was great and unlike other people – I am not scarred by his admission that the Sam’s Town ‘stache didn’t work!
The interview only comes with this one picture, but OH what a picture it is!:
Last weekend I saw The Killers twice – once at a warm-up gig at a tiny venue and once at the Orlando Calling festival in a stadium (although both times I was right up front with my BranGirls because That’s How We Do Him It). And while he was spectacularly sexy and vision-defyingly gorgeous each time – Saturday he came out wearing this jacket.
Heretofore known as only The Jacket.
The lights were still down and I nearly pulled poor Jill’s arm off while screaming, “is that a leather jacket?? It’s a leather jacket!! It’s the GQ leather jacket!!! IS IT????”
Oh. It was The Jacket. And here’s what power it wields: He looks like this underneath it:
she liked Imaginary Men best of all 