THE FUTURIST!'s Sunday Service

THE FUTURIST! salutes (in a non-Facist manner)

lovable Brooklyn, NY radical Michael Lieberman for pointing

out the wonderful videos of Strolling Down Memory Lane

Twitter: @michaelagrammar

Saturday Music for The Gentleman of Leisure

THE FUTURIST! dedicates this Saturday's music offering to his European friend The Gentleman of Leisure, who can claim today as the anniversary of his birth 24 years ago. The song posted below is by Billy Joel and is entitled VIENNA. THE FUTURIST! loves this song and it's Kurt Weill inspired piano tinkling. THE FUTURIST! owns that very Billy Joel album. He feels this song best fits The Gentleman's current life of ease. The lyrics imply not to rush, to enjoy and do what you need to do for just yourself ... Life progresses at the same rate for us all. As THE FUTURIST! understands it, Vienna is a metaphor for a future place of happiness and well-being. Perhaps, THE FUTURIST! will find his Vienna away from Utter Despair, too.

So, this song, with its melancholy instrumental sound imbues a sense of optimism. It fits The Gentleman. THE FUTURIST! sees The Gentleman kicking back in his usual European haunts and sighing with laconic pleasure today. Besides this vision, TF! wants to acknowledge that today is, also, the birthday of his faraway friend Dara Moroney (who you can read about here). Dara is one of the most amiable people, with a driving ambition, THE FUTURIST! knows ... a bit different than The Gentleman oddly. Oh, wait ... today is, also, the birthday of THE FUTURIST!'s friend in faraway Ireland, Detective Cannon of the Galway police department. What a day of birthday cake over eating! Great Pagan Gods ... good thing THE FUTURIST! isn't overseas in their company today. He would have severe sugar overload ... or too much Guinness or whiskey.

Happy Birthday, to all the gentleman mentioned above.
THE FUTURIST! thinks of you all as one this Saturday
and sends you his very best of wishes for happiness.

Listen:


VIENNA
written and performed by Billy Joel

Jill Clayburgh - Apr 30, 1944 - Nov 5, 2010

This evening THE FUTURIST! learned of the death of actress Jill Clayburgh due to a battle with chronic leukemia. The sudden news came as quite a surprise. Clayburgh was an actress that left a great impression on THE FUTURIST! in his younger days. She has done some work, mostly television, in her later years, but she seemed almost forgotten in his mind ... and the reality of her passing brought back grand memories of two specific performances that he'll never forget.

THE YOUNG FUTURIST! saw her wonderful emotional performance in Paul Mazursky's AN UNMARRIED WOMAN. This was a film that THE FUTURIST! can't even imagine being made today for adult audiences. It was a specific beautifully written "woman's picture" from 1978. This was a film that was fully afloat due to this single performance by Clayburgh. A woman is unceremoniously dumped by her cheating husband and left alone with her teenage daughter. The scene where she learns of his plans to leave her is so painful to watch. Clayburgh leaves this brief brutal moment of cold disengagement and walks the streets of Manhattan slowly staggering, trying to make sense of what had just happened ... sick to her stomach by the tipsy turn of events in her even keeled world. The character's emotions are played out on her face and her pain and puzzlement is evident by the master strokes of her acting. The film continues on, as does Clayburgh's character, trying to find a new life for herself and becoming stronger as an independent woman. The film was even beater due to the co-starring role by Alan Bates (a THE FUTURIST! favorite who he briefly met one New York day outside a Broadway theater) as an abstract painter who becomes the new man in her life. But, AN UNMARRIED WOMAN doesn't go where you expect it to go ... the movie is as strong as it's protagonist and never flinches in its truth.

The other film wherein Clayburgh left an impression was the romantic comedy directed by Alan J. Pakula entitled STARTING OVER. Clayburgh plays a lonely mousy school teacher who meets Burt Reynolds' recently divorced character. The fears, sadness, determination, insecurity and other mixtures of emotion a mature woman trying to decide to act on in her yearning for a connection are beautifully expressed. This is a comedy, but there are real emotions here regarding men and women reaching that point in life where they feel the human need for love could be gone forever after a certain age. It's a very satisfying film ... another kind of film that is not made today. A film about mature adult people in love.

THE YOUNG FUTURIST! loved both these films and the fondness for them and the great talent of a truly great actress still stays with THE ADULT THE FUTURIST! They also bring back memories to THE FUTURIST! of people he was accompanied by when he saw each film. The sad death of Ms. Clayburgh stirs many memories ... of a great actress gone, a style of intelligent American film no longer made and people of our past who are lost except in our mind's eye.

A brief scene from AN UNMARRIED WOMAN:

THE FUTURIST!'s Song Cover (Your Ears)

THE FUTURIST! introduces a new feature (an experiment, if you allow) wherein he will hunt out a perfectly affecting cover of a popular tune by YouTube enthusiasts and post it for your perusal and ear drums. Most likely, you will listen to a bit and parachute out of this blog like it is a burning British Spitfire hurtling toward the fields of Devonshire after being hit by a Messerschmidt ace pilot. THE FUTURIST! just finds it so funny, horrifying and oddly heartwarming to know and see that there are people out there who want to sing and feel they can sing or play an instrument and so forth. This strange mixture of emotions made him feel that you, too, should experience these moments of 15 minutes of internet fame ... or will it be 15 seconds after you click away?

First up:

A rendition of The Beatles' MARTHA MY DEAR:

See You Next Wednesday!

SEVEN DAYS IN MAY (1964)
dir: John Frankenheimer

Appliance Dancing

Let's jump into November with this beautiful dance dedicated to materialism.
Yes ... the Holiday Season is already evident in the stores around Utter Despair.
The economy is in the dumper ... no one has money ... jobs are scarce ...
hours at work are being cut ... and guess what? The retailers want us to BUY!
Let's rejoice with a pagan-like ballroom dance dedicated to the love of buying.
Things haven't really changed, dear readers ... this is 2010, but America still
loved their stoves and refrigerators in 1957, too. Dance, Fools, DANCE!!
For tomorrow, you go into debt! American materialism ... what bliss.

A Good Cast is Worth Repeating!

Thank you to the following for their aid, participation,
contributions and inspiration in this year's blog posts
extolling the excitement of SHOCKtober!

Universal Pictures
U.S. Postal Service
Dracula
Tchaikovsky
The Gentleman of Leisure

The Self Styled Siren
Kharis the Mummy
Christopher Lee
Peter Cushing

Jocelin Donahue
Carter Burwell
Thomas Meek
Dara Moroney
Utter Despair Public School System
Mel Brooks
Gene Wilder
Modesty Blaise
The Creature from the Black Lagoon
Kenner Toys
GHOSTBUSTERS
The Monsters Crash the Pajama Party DVD
Vincent Price
Peter Lorre
H.P. Lovecraft
Henry Mancini
The Amazing Frollo
Guy in Gorilla Suit
and Scantily Clad Girl
David J. Skal
WHAT'S MY LINE?
Basil Rathbone
LEISY'S LIGHT BEER
Dr. Steven Seussonoras
Charles Addams
Patricia Highsmith
Gabriel Yared

Cloaked Satanists with torches
Harvey Sid Fisher
and
The Faithful Fans in SCOTLAND