May 31, 2006

• WEDNESDAY MOVIES
  
  
  Bukowski:  Born Into This
  and
  Be Here To Love Me

  You’d have to be a true romantic I guess to get these two wild
  men.  One, a poet, the other a songwriter – both idolized by other
  poets and musicians and barely known by anyone else.  They lived
  to write and wrote to live, and both were flat out alcoholics by the
  time they died.  Charles
  “Hank” Bukowski (1920-1994) lived most of
  his life in L.A. and survived being repeatedly beaten by his father as
  a child.  Townes Van Zandt (1944-97) came out of Texas, and survived three
  months of shock treatment permitted by his parents for manic
  depression, losing his memories of his childhood.   
  These
  documentaries on DVD tell their stories, how in spite of their
  incredible
  talents, they never really became household names – like the more
  famous Beat Poets in Bukowski’s case or the singer-songwriters who made
  his music famous in Van Zandt’s, people like Kris Kristofferson,
  Willie Nelson, and Emmy Lou Harris (all of whom appear in the
  film).  Both went through good women like they went through drugs
  - hell bent for leather, and each had one close by when they
  died.   Their stories are fascinating and in their corners of
  the artistic world they are adored.  Bukowski lived to 74 and died
  of pneumonia while being treated for leukemia.  Townes Van Zandt’s
  heart gave out after hip surgery at age 53.   Give them a
  visit – it’s a world most of us will never know and one they had no
  choice but to live in.  Here’s a verse by  Townes Van Zandt
  you might recognize:

  If I needed you
  would you come to me,
  would you come to me,
  and ease my pain?
  If you needed me
  I would come to you
  I’d swim the seas
  for to ease your pain

  and here’s a short poem by Bukowski:

  What Can We Do?

  at their best, there is gentleness in Humanity.
  some understanding and, at times, acts of
  courage
  but all in all it is a mass, a glob that doesn’t
  have too much.
  it is like a large animal deep in sleep and
  almost nothing can awaken it.
  when activated it’s best at brutality,
  selfishness, unjust judgments, murder.
  

  ---

  Deep Thought: 
  “You might think that the favorite plant of the porcupine is the
  cactus, but it’s thinking like that that has almost ruined this
  country.”
  Today I am grateful for:  Laughter
  Guess the Movie:  “How
  dare you open a Space Ranger’s helmet on an uncharted planet? My
  eyeballs could have been sucked out of their sockets!” 
  Answer:  Toy Story, 1995.  Winner:  sfamylou.
  Report exonorates Armstrong of doping
  
  ARTHUR MAX
  
  Associated Press
  
  AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – Lance Armstrong called it a “witch hunt” from
  the very beginning, saying a French newspaper used dubious evidence to
  accuse him of doping – even charging that lab officials mishandled his
  samples and broke the rules.  (Rest of article here.)

  • 11:19 pm
  • 26 Comments