Palm Springs Comic Con

I don't read comic books. I've never playd a video game. I have little interest in sci fi/fantasy. so I've never been to a comic con. however there's one in my backyard.  so I decided to see what all the fuss is.

welllllllllll... one waits in line for too long to pay too much to be pushd around by too many people. I didn't know any of the artists there. but there were a number of actors. of course it was disconcerting to see them asking from $20-$40 for an autograph. I heard Fred Williamson tell an attendee "there ain't nothin' free here homie." watching them pocketing folding money isn't a happy memory but I guess this sort of thing is a way of supplementing an income in a business where work isn't always available.

I was able to have a quick conversation with Keith Coogan abt his grandfather. & it was exciting to see a venerable actor whose career spans more than 60 years -- James Hong.

behind me is Sam J. Jones who I first encounterd decades ago posing naked for Playgirl under a different name.

Lou Ferrigno meets fans.

I don't regret going but see no need to do this again. & of course I'm happy for the community. I saw tons of dollars being dishd out. & with many out-of-towners coming as well this has to be a cash cow for the city.

May plays Esther

the release of yet another version of "Ben-Hur" is reviving interest in the silent version. the blog "Old Hollywood in Color" posts some dazzling stills as well as this banner with a sensational profile of May McAvoy.

& here she is again with leading man Ramon Navarro.

most of you have seen this snapshot of me taken with May & our mutual friend Lois Wilson years ago. it's the only picture I have with her & reminds me of her sense of humor. a lovely lady.  "Ben-Hur" was hardly her best performance but if it brings her back into the conversation so much the better.

Mark Thompson (1952-2016)

I took this 5 years ago in San Francisco

the sky that wasn't

since opting for sobriety 32 years ago my life has fallen into patterns. unless there is reason I tend to go to bed by 9:30 & rise at 5ish.

last nite Nature's p.r. team was promising an explosive sky. so I stayed up late to observe the meteor shower. by 12:30 I'd seen but one shooting star.  so my exhaustd body hit the sheets. I did wake at 3 to go outside again.  this time I saw nothing extraordinary.

I have seen this display before & was hoping for the best. as often happens when these events get hyped this was a disappointment.

Rio

my memory of it from a visit in 1988 was that crime made it a menacing place. I seem to recall there was a murder outside our hotel our first nite.

but I still have one glorious memory: placing a banana on Carmen Miranda's grave.

& yes I still have that Carmen t-shirt & an album of hers purchased at her museum.  also a souvenir plate from Sugar Loaf & watermelon sheets.