Summer Days with David Cassidy

I just read a book that took me back to the time when I had teen idol posters taped to my walls.  The book is I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson.  It’s about a 13-year-old Welsh girl in 1974 who worships David Cassidy.  It’s also about the young London writer who works for The Essential David Cassidy Magazine.  He composes letters supposedly written by Cassidy while lying to his friends about his job.

Pearson perfectly captures the blissful highs and crashing lows of a young fan’s adoration.   She also sketches a cringeworthy but accurate picture of 70s fashion, hair, slang and decor.  Not that I’m as familiar with Britain in the 70s, but some things about that era were universal, like ponchos, platform shoes, and feathered hair.  I can’t help wondering why I’m so nostalgic for what was certainly the ugliest decade of my life, but maybe because it was so hideous, the things that were good stand out more?

David Cassidy with frenzied fans (photo by Henry Diltz)

I just missed being a David Cassidy fan when he was at the height of his popularity.  I never saw The Partridge Family until it went into daytime syndication.  I remember sitting on a friend’s bedroom floor one hot summer, listening to her Partridge Family Sound Magazine LP again and again.  It had more to do with female friendship rites than an actual interest in the music, but I felt the warm glow of fitting in.  A few years later, I watched half brother Shaun Cassidy on The Hardy Boys and tried to like him, simply because Joe Hardy was my favorite character in the books.  Honestly, my heart wasn’t in it.  Other teen idols came and went, including Leif Garrett and Peter Frampton.  (Blame that awful movie Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, co-starring the Bee Gees.  I know Frampton does.)

My problem in the 70s was really one of timing.  Even then, I loved old movies and television, so the teens idols I was most passionate about were from the 50s.  Not only did this leave me out of sync with my peers, it meant my favorites were no longer to be found in Tiger Beat.  I was mad for Tim Considine of The Mickey Mouse Club serial Spin & Marty, and I also loved Sal Mineo.  I’m sure he wasn’t the first or last gay teen idol!  I discovered him in Rebel Without A Cause the same year he was murdered.  Like I said, bad timing.

David Cassidy in San Diego (©1990 UglyBug)

But, back to David Cassidy.  Girls who were crazy about him during his heyday became embarrassed about it as they got older.  With me, my interest in The Partridge Family started late but stayed steady and moderate.  In the late 80s I got The Partridge Family’s Greatest Hits on CD, and I played it at work as part of my closing ritual.  I also babysat for this one kid just because his family got the TV show on their cable.  In 1990, David Cassidy released a new album and had a middling hit (“Lyin’ To Myself”).   My friend and I went to Tower Records to meet him and get autographs.  We stood in a long line on a hot summer day, marveling over the variety of Partridge Family memorabilia that other fans around us brought.  My friend had the Cherish LP, and I bought the new CD to have signed.  By the time we got to Cassidy, perhaps we had a little sunstroke.  Maybe we were starstruck or just panicked at how quickly people were moved along.  All I know is that we thoroughly embarrassed ourselves.  I was snapping photos, with my friend holding on tight to Cassidy’s hand until I was finished.  He started to write my name on my friend’s LP, poor guy, so she had to correct him.  I told him I played his music at work, and everybody hated me for it.  He was smiling, and then suddenly he wasn’t.  Oh well.  Some things you just can’t take back.

My autographed CD

When the first season of The Partridge Family came out on DVD, I had to own the set.  I also picked up several of the old LPs along the way.  Trust me, nothing makes housework more fun that a little Partridge Family bubblegum pop.  I tried to read Cassidy’s 1994 autobiography C’mon, Get Happy: Fear and Loathing on The Partridge Family Bus, but it was too raunchy.  I have not read his more recent Could It Be Forever: My Story, but I’ve heard that it’s essentially the same book with a few added chapters.  I have to admit, when I started to read Allison Pearson’s novel, I was afraid that the David Cassidy her characters would encounter would be that Cassidy.  Fortunately, her novel isn’t about the real David Cassidy, it’s about the different versions of ourselves that we encounter when we’re pulling out old scrapbooks, hearing a favorite song, or even standing in line for an autograph.

It always comes back to the songs for me.  In I Think I Love You, the girl’s favorite song is “I Am A Clown” (which is technically a David Cassidy song, not a Partridge Family song).  My friend loves “I Woke Up in Love This Morning,” and I can’t listen to that one without hearing her voice singing along in my head.  My favorite songs are “I’ll Meet You Halfway” and “Summer Days.”  (You might have guessed one of those already!)  I also really like “Together We’re Better,” “Love Must Be The Answer,”  “I Would Have Loved You Anyway,” and “I’ll Leave Myself a Little Time.”

What’s your favorite song that’s embarrassing to admit?  It doesn’t have to be the Partridge Family.  And, whose face did you have taped to your bedroom walls, or more currently, as you desktop wallpaper?   (Feel free to comment with a bug name, if you want to stay anonymous!)

General Hospital Fan Club Weekend 2011

I invited my friend “Katydid” to tell us about her weekend with the General Hospital cast and the band Enation, since I wasn’t able to go myself.  I felt like I was there, actually, because Katydid called me and sent photos every day.  She even held up her phone during Enation’s concert so I could hear a song.   Here’s her report:

Last week I attended my second General Hospital Fan Club Weekend Event, held this year at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City, California.  Each year, the actors and fans of this long-running ABC soap come together for four days to celebrate the show.  Several actors put on their own events throughout the weekend, allowing fans a more intimate way to get to know their favorites.  There is a kick-off cocktail party on Thursday night that begins the weekend and a main cast event on Saturday where fans can see all their favorite GH stars in one room.

 I started my weekend with actor Jonathan Jackson (Lucky Spencer) at his event.  When Jackson entered the small conference room, he quickly took his seat on the raised platform, grabbed the microphone, and told fans to start firing away with their questions.   This event is a great way for fans to discuss not only what’s happening with Lucky on GH, but to also ask questions about Jackson’s other acting jobs, and even to gain some insight into his personal life.  It was a family event, because his wife Lisa (who played Hannah on GH from 1999-2001), and his three kids, Caleb, Adora, and baby Titus (who just joined the cast as Lucky’s son) were all in attendance.  Most of the questions and discussion centered around General Hospital.  Jackson explained how much he loves being back with the show after a ten year absence.  He enjoys working with co-stars Anthony Geary, Tyler Christopher, Becky Herbst, Erin Chambers, and Steve Burton.  He was also very hopeful that new head writer Garin Wolf can make some powerful changes, including honoring history and improving the writing for women.  I found it amusing when Jackson admitted he is still clueless about a lot of GH history, including how his character Lucky is related to cousin Carly, and that Maxie is the daughter of GH super-couple Frisco and Felicia Jones.  Other topics included how amazing it was to win his fourth Daytime Emmy this summer.  Jackson got word of the nomination on his birthday, and he won the Emmy on Father’s Day.  His son Caleb was asked how it felt to go onstage with his dad to accept the award, and his only response was, “It was really good.”  Jackson also said he really enjoyed working on past projects such as his first movie Camp Nowhere (1994) and the more recent Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which was cancelled right before he became a series regular.  The event closed out with Caleb and Adora leading the crowd in a game of High/Low to give away some prizes.  Then each fan was given the opportunity get an autograph and a photo with Jackson.  

Jonathan Jackson answering questions at his fan event

Saturday was the Main Cast Event, which was an all-day event that included lunch.  Fans started to arrive around 9 in the morning, where they were first assigned their table and then were free to roam the room.  Tables were set up to sell memorabilia and raffle tickets for all kinds of prizes ranging from cast photos to a studio tour of the General Hospital set.  There were 39 tables and approximately 400 fans in attendance.

 We were served lunch around 11am, and once lunch was over, the cast made their first appearance.  Each cast member was introduced by long-time GH veteran John Ingle (Edward) as they took their seat on stage.  Actors in attendance included: Adrienne Barbeau (Suzanne), Carolyn Hennessy (Diane), Blake Gibbons (Coleman), Erin Chambers (Siobhan), Haley Pullos (Molly), Aaron Sanders (Morgan), Sean Blakemore (Shawn), Andrea Bogart (Abby), Brianna Brown (Lisa), Bruce Weitz (Anthony), Ronnie Marmo (Ronnie), Derk Cheetwood (Max), Kirsten Storms (Maxie), Kelly Monaco (Sam), Becky Herbst (Elizabeth), Jonathan Jackson (Lucky), Lisa LoCicero (Olivia), Julie Berman (Lulu), Dominic Zamprogna (Dante), Jason Thompson (Patrick), Kimberly McCoullough (Robin), Maurice Benard (Sonny), Steve Burton (Jason), Scott Reeves (Steve), Brandon Barash (Johnny), Bradford Anderson (Spinelli), Laura Wright (Carly), Lexi Ainsworth (Kristina), and Chad Duell (Michael).  Then actor John J. York (Mac) asked each of the other cast members one question.  Most of the questions were predictable and ranged from “What other actor would you like to work with more?” to “Who would you say is the biggest prankster on set?”  The actors are all very funny and even joked with each other when giving their answers. 

General Hospital cast at Fan Club Weekend

Once the Q & A was over it was time for the actors to take their place at their respective autograph tables.  The tables were set up around the perimeter of the room, and fans were then able to line up for the opportunity get an autograph and a photo with as many actors as they could, although some fan favorites had longer lines than most.  I met twelve of the actors and can honestly say that most of them seemed thrilled to be there, and believe it or not, they are much more attractive in person than on television.   The entire cast was very appreciative of the fans that came out to show their support.

Dominic Zamprogna, Julie Berman and Jonathan Jackson

 A few of the actors left early, including Maurice Benard, Steve Burton, Jonathan Jackson, Laura Wright, and Bradford Anderson, although to be fair it was announced that Wright and Bradford couldn’t stay long, and the rest had other fan club events happening that evening.  Kelly Monaco and Kirsten Storms had one of the longest lines, partly because they were frequently distracted by some friends who kept summoning them away from their autograph table.  They also had a camera crew filming the event, since they are part of E!’s upcoming reality show Dirty Soap. The actors who stayed the longest and seemed to be the most excited to be there, at least in my opinion, were Brandon Barash, Erin Chambers, Becky Herbst, Julie Berman, Dominic Zamprogna, John J. York, and Brianna Brown.

Jonathan Jackson

 I closed out the weekend with Jonathan Jackson’s band Enation at a small acoustic concert.  They performed several songs from their popular 2008 album World In Flight, and they introduced some new songs off their upcoming album My Ancient Rebellion (due out in October).  Jackson even performed an unrecorded song called “To Say Goodbye,” which heartbreakingly expresses the feelings of his GH character Lucky’s struggle with his son’s death.  The guys also received some vocal assistance when Lisa Jackson came up on stage to sing with her husband for “Let the Beauty Out.” Enation sounded absolutely amazing, especially considering the concert took place in a small conference room.  Jackson’s voice live was even more powerful and more full of emotion than it is in their recordings.  You could tell the entire band was happy to be there, and their passion for music shines through in every song.  Fans were treated to a brief appearance by Julie Berman and Dominic Zamprogna when they stopped by to catch the end of the show and give their co-star a quick hug.  Then the band stayed for a while after the performance to pose for photos and sign autographs.  I had a chance to quickly talk with the guys before taking a photo with them.  Drummer Richard Lee Jackson was thrilled to have a chance to interact with fans, making sure to ask everyone their name and shake their hand.  He even asked if I had seen Enation perform before, and I was happy to tell him  that I attended their concert at last year’s fan club weekend.

Enation: (L to R) Michael Galeotti, Richard Jackson, Jonathan Jackson, Luke Galeotti, and Daniel Sweatt

Overall the GH Fan Club Weekend is a very fun event, and it’s a great opportunity for fans.  The actors seem to appreciate the support, and with the future of soaps like General Hospital on such shaky ground, they need all the support we can give them!

Thanks, Katydid!  This was your second FCW.  How did it compare to last year?

This year was different because it was the first year I attended the main cast event.  It was quite a unique experience being surrounded by so many of the actors at once, and to get to spend the entire day at the event as opposed to just a few hours like the individual events.  It was also a great opportunity to meet a variety of fans, all of whom watch the show for so many different reasons.

Did anyone surprise you meeting them in person?

No one in particular surprised me, but it was interesting to see how different the actors are from their characters.  Like with Brianna Brown—her character Lisa was a psychopath, but she couldn’t have been more sweet in real life.  Also, John J. York’s character Mac is usually a pretty serious guy, but York himself is much more upbeat and very, very funny.
 
Does the camera really add ten pounds?

Oh yes, the camera definitely adds ten pounds.  Not that any of the actors look bad on television, but I was amazed at how much tinier all the actresses were in person, and it was shocking to find out I am taller than most of them!

That’s a long list of actors who came.  Was anyone missing? Anyone you particularly wanted to meet? 

There were a few GH faces that I didn’t get to see during my weekend.  Vanessa Marcil-Giovinazzo (Brenda) and Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) each held their own event during the weekend but were absent from the main cast event on Saturday.  Constance Towers (Helena) had a name tag up at the autograph tables before the event, but she must have been a no-show.  It would have been nice to meet actors Jason Cook (Matt) and Nathan Parsons (Ethan), but both were missing from the entire weekend.

Thank you for sharing your weekend with me!

[All photographs ©2011 Katydid.  Please don’t post elsewhere without permission.]

A Dune Discussion

Some friends and I had an interesting chat on facebook about Frank Herbert’s Dune.  With their kind permission, I am posting it here.  This is a great way to blog—just let others do it for you!

Firefly: “We have reached that time when all will seek our lives…” — Paul (Maud ‘Dib) Atriedes, Dune

Doodlebug:  You sure that quote isn’t from Barry Zito?

Firefly:  You’re sharp!  I did intend that as a literary reference to the state of the Giants right now.  (Other times it reflects the state of my own psyche…)

Ant:  Yeah, so what exactly is Dune anyways? It’s a TV show, right?

Firefly:  Oh Ant…Epic sci-fi tome by Frank Herbert.  Made into a somewhat controversial movie by David Lynch in the ’80s.  It took Lord of the Rings to move this from the number one spot on my all time favorite list.  I highly recommend the read.  I’m actually surprised you haven’t devoured this one yet.

 Ant:  I am admittedly out of touch with pop-culture, for I do not own a TV and you assume correctly that I say that with snobbish hipster pride.  I also do not read much, sadly, and this I am not proud of.  Most books just don’t hold my attention, and I am suspicious of the shelves upon shelves of look-alike fantasy fiction which are a challenge to discern through and choose the worthy vs the unworthy.  But if you recommend it, I may give it a sniff.

Firefly:  I applaud your aversion to pop-disposable-culture.  Your wisdom however belies your aversion to the written word.  I frequently have to be dragged by wild horses to a book, reading used to equate too much with school, but find something that intrigues me and I have the capacity to be voracious.  The Dune saga actually stretches for 6 books, and Herbert’s son added various prequels – probably totaling a dozen by now.  But I wouldn’t suggest all that to anybody.  Dune itself is the classic.  Herbert is quite the philosopher and that’s the primary thing that distinguishes this work from pulp sci-fi.  The interior, thoughtful, non-dialog writing is particularly impressive to me.  Anyway, check it out some day.

 Ant:  That part about reading=school+therefore+u​ndesirable is my point exactly.  So I’m on the hunt for soul-nourishing stories.  I shall investigate this one, thanks!   How thick are the Dune books?  Not that it should matter if they’re wonderful. (In fact, thicker would be better if they’re great.)

 Firefly:  Dune itself is about 400-500 pages.

 Doodlebug:  Sorry Firefly, I couldn’t handle either Frank Herbert or Dune!!  I was an Arthur C. Clarke, H.P. Lovecraft kind of guy : )

 UglyBug:  I’m going to throw out a comparison here that will make you gag, but the Dune series is, in one way, like the Twilight series.  The first book is good enough (in the case of Dune, completely brilliant, of course) to make you read the rest of the series, but none of them satisfies in the same way.  I will also point out that Dune was remade as a TV miniseries, and even though it’s not great, it is where I discovered James McAvoy (as Leto II, twin son of Paul). Finally, you have to persevere at the beginning of the book Dune, because Herbert needs time to describe his incredible universe before the action kicks in.  Wow, now I think I need to read this again.

Firefly:  You really hit the nail on the head.  I was completely blown away by the initial work—it is a classic.  But you’re right. The scope is so large that you have to give Herbert time to set the stage.  And yes, I raced to read Dune Messiah, but quickly after Muad ‘Dib leaves the scene, the work loses some important power.  I liked the miniseries, if only for the fact that they attempted it.  What was it, a Hungarian production?  Intriguing.  I enjoyed the Paul/Muad ‘Dib characterization but they lost me with the Baron’s portrayal.  Was he trying to play the part as a bad conscience?  Anyway, I liked it for what it was, but you can’t get past the absence of Kyle MacLachlan, Francesca Annis, Patrick Stewart, Jürgen Prochnow, and, for that matter, José Ferrer.  I’m in the midst of “Middle Earth” right now, but perhaps when I’m finished I’ll have to dust off the old paperback for another go.  In the meantime, I might just watch the David Lynch cut on dvd.

Dune Sandworms

 UglyBug:  One of the funniest books I’ve ever read is The Making of Dune, about the Lynch movie.  They spent a fortune on special effects to create the sandworms.  The first time everyone sat in the screening room to view the footage on a large screen, all the men crossed their legs in horror.  The worms looked like giant penises.  Everything had to be re-shot, which is why you only see the worms from certain angles, with their mouths open, to avoid the problem.  My favorite cheesy film line: “The worms, the spice; is there a relationship?”  By the way, don’t forget Linda Hunt (fresh from her Oscar win for playing a man in A Year of Living Dangerously), Brad Dourif, Dean Stockwell, Sting, and Virginia Madsen.  Let’s have Dune party one of these days!

Firefly:  Well, you also have to love the Twin Peaks crossover: Lynch, MacLachlan, Everett McGill (Big Ed!), Jack “There’s a fish in the coffee pot” Nance, José Ferrer (Miguel’s father)…Yes, I think a Dune party is certainly in order!  The spice must flow!!!

(Thanks, everybody, for the lively discussion.  I think I need to go watch James McAvoy shirtless now.)

James McAvoy in Children of Dune

My Huckleberry Friend

I love Huckleberry Finn. Having just watched the 1979-80 Canadian/German television series on YouTube, I’ve been thinking back on all the different versions of Huckleberry Finn I’ve seen.

Video and DVD covers of Huckleberry Finn

My first exposure to Twain’s characters was the 1969 television series The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which aired on Sunday evenings alongside The Wonderful World of Disney. Huck, Tom and Becky got chased through animated scenery by Injun Joe. This series didn’t last very long, but it made a real impression on me.  Because I heard the name Injun Joe before I ever encountered it as a reader, I spent many years thinking he was “Engine Joe.” I always thought he was a railroad engineer. More confusion ensued when I tried to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn at the age of seven. I just didn’t have a big enough vocabulary yet. When Huck finds a canoe and floats downriver to get away from Pap, I read the word as “cannon” and just couldn’t imagine a floating cannon. I gave up, but fortunately I tried again later, and I’ve re-read it many times over the years, always preferring it to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Huckleberry Finn

The use of the ‘N’ word in Huckleberry Finn causes all sorts of problems for educators and book censors. A bigger problem is the weak ending, when Tom Sawyer re-enters the story. Most adaptations of the story try to “fix” the ending by swapping it for something more satisfying. I love these alternate endings, since there aren’t many classic stories you can watch without knowing exactly how it will conclude. (Great Expectations is another one, since Dickens wrote more than one ending to his book.) If you don’t like plot spoilers, be warned. In this next part, I’m discussing the endings of several movie versions.

Jeff East as Huckleberry Finn

One of my favorite versions of Huckleberry Finn is also one of the oddest. It’s the Reader’s Digest musical version from 1974, starring Jeff East (Huck) and Paul Winfield (Jim). It followed the more successful Tom Sawyer, with Johnny Whitaker as Tom and Jodie Foster as Becky. In both movies, the production values are high, with beautiful locations and believable period sets. Winfield as Jim probably sounds too educated, but he’s a wonderful actor, and the King and the Duke are well portrayed by Harvey Korman and David Wayne. Having all these characters break out into song is what makes this movie strange, and even though I had a big crush on Jeff East, his singing isn’t that great. He’s a good size and age (about 16) for Huck, who’s been played by actors ranging from age 10 to 30. Well, maybe 30 is an exaggeration, but there have been some actors who were too old for the role. I also like how this Huck is suitably dirty, since I’ve seen so many who’ve had too many baths and haircuts. This movie ditches the Tom Sawyer ending altogether. Huck rescues Jim from slavers, sends him ahead on the raft to Cairo with a promise to buy his wife and children, then stands on the bank of the Mississippi while a song called “Freedom” plays.

Elijah Wood as Huck Finn

Another favorite version is The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993) with Elijah Wood as Huck. He’s the smallest Huck I’ve seen, and he’s spirited and feisty, if somewhat too clean. Robbie Coltrane and Jason Robards are great as the Duke and the King. It’s really fun to see Renee O’Connor as Susan Wilks, a few years before she played Gabrielle on Xena: Warrior Princess. Ron Perlman is genuinely scary as Pap, and his scenes, along with the death of the youngest Grangerford, make this Huck Finn pretty frightening for younger children. This one also ends without Tom Sawyer. After saving the Wilks family from the Duke and the King, Huck frees Jim from a jail cell, and they run for a riverboat. Huck gets shot in the back, and Jim stops to help him. Jim is almost lynched, but Mary Jane Wilks arrives in time, and Huck passes out. He wakes up to find Jim a happy man, since Miss Watson set him free in her will. Widow Douglas tries to take Huck back to be further civilized. He slips off, and the movie ends with him tossing his fancy clothes away as he runs back to the river.

The Broadway musical Big River (1985)

The Broadway musical Big River, based on Huckleberry Finn, won a number of major Tony Awards in 1985. I got to see a touring production many years later, but I wasn’t that impressed. A stage musical about a river journey is going to have its limitations, even with imaginative staging and special effects.

This brings me to the 1979 series Huckleberry Finn and His Friends, starring Ian Tracey as Huck and Sammy Snyders as Tom. I didn’t see this television version when it was originally shown, but it may not have aired in Southern California. Maybe it wasn’t shown in the US at all, being a joint Canadian/German production. The complete DVD set came out in UK a few years ago, and all 26 episodes are on YouTube in 78 parts. The resolution varies but the quality isn’t too bad. This is a very faithful version of both Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, using much of the original dialogue and sticking close to the two books. Parts 1 through 11 cover Tom Sawyer, and parts 12-26 cover Huckleberry Finn. The ending is done as Mark Twain wrote it, although the entire storyline with the Wilks family swindle has been eliminated. Aunt Polly is played by Brigitte Horney, a German actress, and her voice is dubbed because of her accent. This is strange, but it’s even stranger that the German actress who plays Aunt Sally gets to keep her accent.  Aunt Sally wears an awful wig, and so does Injun Joe. In one scene, Injun Joe’s braids are sticking out from under another tangled wig, so maybe he is wearing the second wig as a disguise? Sammy Snyders shouts his lines playing Tom, and he’s a lot shorter than his Becky (Holly Findlay). I watched this show because I’m fascinated by Ian Tracey. He demonstrates a lot of the talent he later developed more fully, although he is one of those well-scrubbed Hucks. When you watch all these episodes back-to-back, it’s pretty funny to see both Tom and Huck go from blonde to light brown to blonde again. There’s some funny business happening with the hair color here. Ian Tracey is pretty pale for a character who spends most of his time outdoors. Maybe there wasn’t that much sun where this series was filmed, which must have been unpleasant for the actors, considering all the time they spend in the water. One more minor issue: I really wish that Tom Sawyer had a scene where we see him reading one of the books he’s always talking about. I may sound too critical of this version, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, and the theme song is now stuck in my head after hearing it 26 times.

Ian Tracey as Huck Finn

There are still more film versions of Huckleberry Finn in pre-production, according to IMDb. Maybe it keeps getting re-made because nobody has done a definitive version yet. Some folks swear by the 1981 version made in the Soviet Union. Researching it, I found that the only available DVD is drastically butchered, and the voices of Tom and Huck are dubbed by women. I can’t bring myself to watch it. The first time Huck appeared on film was in 1917, and even Mickey Rooney played Huck, back in 1939. Other actors who played the role include Patrick Day, Brad Renfro, Anthony Michael Hall, Ron Howard, Donald O’Connor, Mitchell Anderson, and Michael Dudikoff. These last three played grown versions of Huck, in sequels like Tom Sawyer, Detective and Return to Hannibal.

Speaking of sequels, these have been written as well as filmed, by Twain himself and other writers. The Further Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Greg Matthews takes Huck and Jim out west, but the plot device used to set things in motion is the slaughter of several beloved characters in Hannibal. The rest of the story is suspiciously similar to Robert Lewis Taylor’s The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters. It would be better just to read this book and leave Hannibal in peace.

So, what is your favorite version? What do you think of Mark Twain’s original ending?

[Note: My title here is from the song Moon River.]

Footnote: When watching Huckleberry Finn and His Friends, I kept thinking that the actor playing Sid Sawyer (Bernie Coulson) looked more like Ian Tracey than his “brother” Sammy Snyders. Now I’m watching the Canadian television series Intelligence, made 27 years later, and guess who plays Ian Tracey’s brother??  Yep, Bernie Coulson. And, I’ve spotted three different Huckleberry Finn actors appearing with Ian Tracey in Da Vinci’s Inquest.

Edited 8/2020 to include Patrick Day as a Huck Finn actor, thanks to a reader’s comment.

Related post:  Tracking Tracey

Enation’s “Video for a Cause” Contest

I’m a fan of Enation, the indie band fronted by actor Jonathan Jackson.  This week, the band is having a “Video for a Cause” contest.  Their new song The Salvation of One will be on their upcoming album My Ancient Rebellion, due to be released in late October.   Fans have been invited to create a video using the song for a cause of their choice.  The winner of the contest will receive concert tickets and an iChat with either Jonathan Jackson or Bethany Joy Galeotti of Everly and One Tree Hill.   (She’s married to Enation’s Michael Galeotti.)

I love making short videos using Animoto, and I’ve been looking for an excuse to make longer videos with an upgrade to Animoto Plus.  It’s only $5 a month, less if you pre-pay for a year.  If you want to upgrade your video for better resolution, ideal for YouTube, it’s an extra $3 per video.  I decided to make one for the contest.  With less than a week to make the video, I wasn’t able to go anywhere to take photos.  Instead, I used photos from news sources of recent natural disasters, including the Christchurch earthquake, Japan tsunami, and Joplin tornado.  My cause is the Red Cross and other organizations around the world that provide relief.  Here is my video.

I learned so much making this.  As a photographer, I strongly believe that all photographs should be properly credited.   I realize I’ve posted many photographs here on my blog where I haven’t done that.  It’s not easy, though.  So many times, photographs have been copied from other sites, and the credits have been left off.  Sometimes when you use google image search, the pages where the photos appeared have expired, so you can’t even find the source.  I’m going to make a better effort in the future with the photos used here, in spite of the difficulties.

A few months ago, I was using google image search.  I found one of my best photographs on somebody else’s website, and the woman was claiming it as her own work.  Once something like that happens, you know how important it is to protect your work and to have it respected.

You can tell I’m passionate about this!  Perhaps I should have made this my “cause.”  Anyway, there are some great videos being submitted by Enation fans.  It’s made for a very interesting week.  I don’t actually want to win the contest, since the real prize is making a video and having others watch it, especially people whose creative efforts you admire.

If you watch my video, be sure to leave a comment on YouTube, and support disaster relief!

A Netflix Petition to Sign

There’s an important petition that I’m encouraging everybody to sign.   Here’s the information from the email I received from a friend:

There’s been a lot of blowback since Netflix announced its rate hike this week. But far fewer people are talking about the fact that Netflix regularly discriminates against its deaf and hard of hearing customers by denying them access to 70% of Netflix’s streaming videos.

That’s because only 30% of Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” content has captions or subtitles. Additionally, there’s no way to search among the limited options for a specific title or even a genre, just one long list of titles. Which means that if you’re a deaf or hard of hearing Netflix subscriber who wants to watch, say, a comedy, you could spend most of your night clicking Next… Next… Next…

Ask Netflix CEO Reed Hastings to make all streaming videos accessible for deaf and hard of hearing customers.

Sebastian St. Troy lost most of his hearing last December due to an infection. Sebastian is a movie buff, and losing his hearing opened his eyes to the vital importance of closed captions to the deaf and hard of hearing community. Sebastian told us, “I’m an avid Netflix subscriber. I learned that Netflix didn’t provide enough streaming content with captions, so I was challenged as to what I could watch.”

That’s why Sebastian started a petition on Change.org asking Netflix to make all of its content accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing.

Sebastian has been pursuing this campaign for months, but Netflix has dragged its feet on responding, despite legal action: The National Association of the Deaf is suing Netflix for not fully complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Deaf and hard of hearing Netflix subscribers shouldn’t have to wait for a prolonged legal battle to play out before enjoying equal access to streaming videos — particularly since Netflix has already put many video stores out of business. Netflix can and should start taking good faith steps (like making captioned content searchable) today.

Please sign the petition today to ask Netflix to give deaf and hard of hearing customers equal access to content:

http://www.change.org/petitions/netflix-make-films-accessible-for-the-deaf-hoh

Thanks for taking action,

– Weldon and the Change.org team

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I’m not deaf or hard of hearing, but I use captions and subtitles all the time.  This is something that will be beneficial to everybody.   Please take a moment to add your signature!

Retro TV

Last month, I stumbled across KCNS channel 38, a local San Francisco TV station that broadcasts Retro TV.  The timing couldn’t be better.  Just as summer re-runs begin, I get to enjoy TV shows from the 60s, 70s and 80s.  Some of these series I watched growing up, like Daniel Boone and Starsky & Hutch.  Others are old enough to be completely new to me, like Naked City and Route 66.  I love watching these programs, then going online to look up the actors.

I guess Retro TV rotates their programming every now and again.  I wish I knew exactly when.  Just as I was settling into a groove with one set of shows, getting the schedule memorized, everything changed.  I don’t know if this will happen every month or every six months.  The Retro TV website doesn’t say.  Since the latest set includes Daniel Boone, I can’t complain too much.  I can’t even begin describe how much I love this show.  I’ve seen every episode on DVD, because a few years ago Fess Parker started releasing them season by season.  As much as I adore Fess as Daniel, I think Ed Ames (Mingo) is my favorite.  Growing up, naturally I liked Darby Hinton (Israel Boone) the best.   Fess Parker passed away recently, as did Jimmy Dean, who went from a frequent guest star to a series regular when Ed Ames left to pursue his singing career.  Ed Ames just turned 84 last Saturday (July 9th), so happy belated birthday, Mr Ames.  I have his greatest hits on mp3 player, and I listen to them all the time.  He’s just the best.

A couple of years ago I had a marathon viewing of Starsky & Hutch on DVD.  I know Starsky was the funny guy, but I always liked the blonde.  This series was about guns and hot cars, but what made it special was the caring relationship between the two leads.  There are certain episodes that stand out.  There’s the one where Starsky is shot in an Italian restaurant by hit men waiting for a mob boss, and Hutch takes care of him.  There’s also the one where Hutch is abducted and turned into a heroin addict.  Starsky helps him through his withdrawal.  The physical contact shared by these two straight characters is remarkable when you consider the show was made in the late 1970s.  Actually, straight male characters don’t really touch now.   Not that much has changed.  Anyway, both Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul went through very difficult times after Starsky & Hutch ended.  I’m still fascinated by these two actors.  Yeah, I have The Best of David Soul on CD, and I just put the songs on my mp3 player.  (Don’t Give Up on Us, Baby!)

One of the few shows on Retro TV that’s not that old is Da Vinci’s Inquest.  This Canadian show really sneaks up on you, sucking you in.  I have to confess, I turn on my TV’s captions when watching, because the actors talk fast and mumble a bit. I really like Ian Tracey, so I guess he’s the reason I keep tuning in.  I remember the first time I noticed him, he was a guest star on The X-Files (season 3: The Walk).  Of course, he was hard to miss, playing a soldier with no arms or legs, a brilliant display of special effects wizardry coupled with a standout performance.  According to IMDb, Tracey appeared on 21 Jump Street years before.  I loved that show because of Johnny Depp.   Now there’s a series that should be on Retro TV!  You can watch all of it on hulu, at least.  Of course, 21 Jump Street was not an original concept, with young-looking cops going undercover in high schools.  There was David Cassidy: Man Undercover, which was a spin-off of an episode of Police Story (also shown on Retro TV).  Before Man Undercover, there was The Mod Squad, another series that I adore.

Some of the shows from the last schedule provided me with lots of happy googling.  I was surprised to learn that Harry Morgan (M*A*S*H and Dragnet) is 96 and still with us, while Pete Duel (Alias Smith and Jones) committed suicide at the age of 31.  Watching Dragnet last month, I spotted a very young John Rubinstein (Family and Crazy Like a Fox).  The episode was called The Grenade, and it was his first TV role.   I worked with Mr. Rubinstein at the La Jolla Playhouse in 1985, and I have such good memories from that experience.  John Rubinstein is still really busy working in theatre and television.  He’s looking great, too.

The strangest thing about Retro TV’s programming?  The predominance of all male casts.  Women are almost as rare as hen’s teeth.  Sure, there are female guest stars, but very few women in regular recurring roles on these shows.  I don’t know why.  It’s a mystery!

Update:  I wrote an email to the Retro TV website, but they haven’t answered, and now the website has been down for a couple of weeks.  Very strange.

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Speaking of old TV shows and female performers, a couple of nights ago I went to I Dream of Barbara Eden as the Castro Theatre.  It was a rather odd show consisting of belly dancers, film clips, a Jeannie look-alike contest, and an onstage chat with Barbara Eden.  She looks great, and she seems  like a very nice lady.  Most of the memories and anecdotes she shared were positive; Elvis Presley was a gentleman, Lucille Ball was lovely and down to earth, Marilyn Monroe just glowed.  She did say that Ann Southern was mean.  She also told us that Larry Hagman could act childishly when he felt threatened by the male guest stars on I Dream of Jeannie.  I think I will have to read more in Barbara Eden’s new book.

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Last week I read the book Brady, Brady, Brady by creator Sherwood Schwartz and his son Lloyd Schwartz, who went from dialogue coach to producer and director of the show.  It was an entertaining behind-the-scenes book about The Brady Bunch.  I was shocked to find out that Sherwood Schwartz died today.   He was 94.  He had a good long life, and he certainly made us laugh.  Thank you, Mr. Schwartz.

A Special Day

I can’t let July 7th pass without remembering my father, who was born on this day in 1936.  Here is a photo taken on his 30th birthday.  

July 7, 1966

Today is also special because it’s the 40th anniversary of the day I first set foot in England.  It was the beginning of a lifelong love affair.   I don’t have a photo of Liverpool, the place where we arrived on a ship from Montreal, so I am using a photo of Shropshire instead. 

Shropshire

Hugh Jackman as Valjean

In the latest casting news, Hugh Jackman is saying to the press that he will be playing Jean Valjean in the movie version of the musical Les Misérables.   I have not yet found an official confirmation of this from the movie’s producers, so I sure hope those contracts are signed and the deal is sealed.   I’m not saying this because I’m desperate to see Jackman do the role.  It’s just that he’s a really nice guy, and if he says he’s playing the role, I want to believe him.

People who only know Jackman as a movie actor might not realize that he got his start doing musicals in Melbourne and London.  He played Gaston in Beauty & The Beast and Curly in Oklahoma.   His Oklahoma was filmed onstage, and I have the DVD.  He’s really good, although the curly perm is pretty unconvincing!   I have witnessed Jackman’s musical talents firsthand, having seen him in Carousel at Carnegie Hall and in his Tony Award winning role in The Boy from Oz.  My feelings about him playing Valjean are cautiously optimistic.  He has the acting ability and the physical stature to play a man who’s unusually strong.  He’s the right age for the beginning of the story, and movie makeup techniques (not to mention digital effects) will age him gradually to an old man.  Heck, the way they aged Brad Pitt backwards in Benjamin Button, Valjean will be a breeze.  Jackman can sing, although I don’t know if his range will take him all the way through Valjean’s big solo, Bring Him Home.  I think it would be smart for Jackman to record this song in advance and release it on iTunes, because this will create buzz for the movie and reassure the skeptics.  These include the many fans of Colm Wilkinson, Alfie Boe, and all the other brilliant actors who have played the role onstage.  I’d really like to hear Jackman sing any Les Mis song, because I think I hear his Australian accent in the vowel sounds when he sings.  Now, I’m no expert in either singing or Aussie accents, so this may not be what I’m hearing.   I’m hoping folks will offer their opinions in the comment section.

After my friend said she only knew Hugh Jackman as Wolverine (X-Men), I got to thinking about the two characters.  Wolverine and Valjean are actually similar in a lot of ways.  They are both bitter men, angry at society’s injustices.  They both have shameful secrets; Valjean is a convict who broke parole, and Wolverine is a mutant.  They are both very strong physically.  Granted, Valjean has no adamantium claws that retract between his knuckles, but he does lift a cart off a man trapped beneath.   Both characters are softened and changed by helping a young girl; Valjean rescues Cosette, Wolverine rescues Rogue.  I suppose it’s kind of silly to compare a comic book superhero to one of the great characters of literature.  I’m just trying to point out that playing Valjean might not be that much of a stretch for an actor who’s used to playing Wolverine.

Paul Bettany

The press is also reporting that Paul Bettany has auditioned for Javert, the police inspector who doggedly hunts Valjean through the years.  I love Paul Bettany, and he’s an actor with a fantastic range.  He played the naked Chaucer in A Knight’s Tale, Dakota Fanning’s brutal father in The Secret Life of Bees, and Opus Dei monk Silas in The Da Vinci Code.  I have never heard him sing.  I don’t know if he can, or what his vocal range might be.  If Les Mis were being filmed in India, it wouldn’t matter.  In the Bollywood musical tradition, the actors aren’t expected to sing their own songs, and the “playback” singers are as famous as the actors.   The actors have to do their own dancing, of course, but Les Mis is not a musical that requires that particular talent. Anyway, if Paul Bettany ends up playing Javert, I guess we will all find out if he can sing.

It’s also being reported that Tom Hooper may direct the Les Mis movie.  He just won the Oscar for directing The King’s Speech.  Looking over his various credits, he definitely has experience with period costume dramas, having done the movie Elizabeth I and miniseries like John Adams and Daniel Deronda.  Has he directed a movie musical?  Well, how many people actually have?

It’s pretty amazing that Les Mis is finally being made into a movie, after 25 years of waiting.  I hope it doesn’t turn out to be like The Hobbit, with years of even more delays, and with actors and directors finally moving on to other projects.   How much longer can we wait?  (Don’t say One Day More.  Please.)

Bookends (4)

My friend just passed me three young adult novels to check out, and since I haven’t been too successful lately choosing my own books, I gave them a try.   I liked all three of them for different reasons.

Divergent  is by first-time author Veronica Roth, and it’s the first of a planned trilogy.  Like so many teen novels that are now being published by the truckload, it is set in a dystopian future where teens struggle to survive under harsh conditions imposed by a dysfunctional society.  Unlike my friend, I have not embraced this particular genre.  I have not read The Hunger Games, or The Maze Runner, or The Knife of Never Letting Go.  I did read M.T. Anderson’s Feed a few years ago, and I was very impressed.  I especially liked the author’s clever creation of plausible slang words.   According to an interesting New Yorker piece,  Feed is closer to adult dystopian fiction that the current crop of teen releases.   Writer Laura Miller explains, “Dystopian fiction may be the only genre written for children that’s routinely less didactic than its adult counterpart. It’s not about persuading the reader to stop something terrible from happening—it’s about what’s happening, right this minute, in the stormy psyche of the adolescent reader.”  She points out that the recent teen novels make the most sense if you see the dystopian society as a metaphor for the hell that is high school.

That certainly works for Divergent.  In this story, all 16 year olds must choose to devote their lives and loyalties to one of five factions: Amity (peacefulness), Candor (truthfulness), Erudite (knowledge), Dauntless (courage), or Abnegation (selflessness).   If a teen chooses to pledge to a faction different from the one he or she was raised in, all ties must be severed with family and friends in that faction.  The factionless, those who fail the initiation into their chosen group, get the worst jobs and live without security or comfort.  I don’t need to explain how this relates to high school cliques, but I can’t help pointing out that this is essentially the plot of Disney’s High School Musical.  Beatrice in Divergent finds out through mandatory testing that she has qualities of more than one faction, and that’s really all the plot that I’ll reveal.  I’ll just say that there’s plenty of action, some romance, and a few interesting plots twists.  My main complaint?  I wish author Roth could have come up with names for the five factions that were either all adjectives or all nouns.  Nitpicky?  You bet, but it just bugs me.  Mind you, I haven’t been able to come up with five better versions.  The second book in the series comes out next year in late spring/early summer.  That’s another complaint about these series—the waiting time between books is way too long!  At least Divergent does not have a cliffhanger ending, a “spoiler” that I don’t think spoils anything.

Split by Swati Avasthi is about a teenage boy whose father physically abuses both him and his mother.  He leaves home to go live with his older brother, who disappeared years before after a bad beating.  This unflinching novel about battered women and kids is not an easy read, but it is compelling.  I believed the characters, although the mother is not a fully developed individual so much as composite of battered woman syndrome characteristics.  We really only see her through her sons, who are the focus of the story.  The author obviously did her research.  While there is hope for these characters, there are no quick, easy fixes.   At one point, the two brothers have a conversation where they use terms like “shadowboxing” as if they’ve both been in therapy for a while or have been reading the same books on the subject.  The author doesn’t define what shadowboxing is, but I suppose that’s why we have google.  Except when I googled the term, I only got sports-related stuff, so that was no help!

Shine by Lauren Myracle reminds me of Winter’s Bone.  It’s about a teenage girl, in a small depressed hill community, who’s investigating the brutal beating of her gay friend because she doesn’t believe the local sheriff will solve the case.  She gets warnings from all around her to stop poking her nose where it doesn’t belong.  The folks in her town are beaten down by unemployment, illiteracy, alcoholism, and meth addiction.  She has spent the last three years of her life withdrawing after a trauma, but her investigation forces her to re-engage with old friends and enemies.  My favorite chapters are when she visits her former friends in their homes, getting insight into their lives, their hopes, and their tragedies.   Like Split, this was not  fun or cheerful, but it was a good book.  It took me to places I’ve never been, and that’s why I read.  Did I figure out the mystery before the character?  Sort of.  I got one major chunk of it, but I guess I just didn’t want to believe the rest.

I found proofreading mistakes in two of these books, which makes me wonder if these YA novels really are rushed to the shelves or if the standards are just lower.  (I realize I’m contradicting myself here, because I just complained that the books aren’t released fast enough.)  Are there websites to report mistakes that you find?  I’d better go google that…

Previous book reviews in this series:  Bookends (1)    Bookends (2)    Bookends (3)