WALLFLOWER

I bought this Orchid yesterday and am hoping I can keep it around for a while.

PICTURE THIS

Just a few shots I took yesterday. The top was taken from Land's End at Fort Miley and the bottom two at Ocean Beach.

Pretty amazing, huh? Not bad for a BlackBerry.

NOW THAT'S A STAR!

Ava Gardner

LONG LIVE THE PEE-CHEE

I cannot believe some of the pricks I work with don't know what a Pee-Chee folder is. It appears that it's both a geographical and generational thing. Those born after 1980 and from the mid-west had no idea what I was talking about (even though they were originally created by the Western Envelope and Stationary Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan).

However, those born on the west coast before 1980 knew what they were.

Whatever.

OSCAR COINCIDENZA

Dorothy Dandridge was the first Black actress to be nominated for Best Actress in a Lead Role (Carmen Jones, 1954).

Halle Berry was the first Black actress to win for Best Actress in Lead Role (Monster's Ball, 2002).

Both were born in the same hospital in Cleveland, Ohio.

Halle Berry won an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Dorothy Dandridge in a TV biopic.

THIS IS BULLSHIT!

Inspired by a Southern California teen, those midget-rat bastards in the California Assembly have decided they have nothing else to do with their fucking time than to pass a bullshit resolution like the "Cuss-Free Week."

This piece of shit legislation is set to come up for a vote on March 1, and is to be an annual thing, taking place the first god-damned week of every god-damned March.

KISS MY ASS, MUNI

It's time for the San Francisco Municipal Railway to stop calling itself a transit service. It is nothing more than a place for people who couldn't get a job anywhere else, to go hangout and collect ridiculous salaries and benefits.

SIDESHOW LUKE PERRY...

... stood next to me at a crosswalk on Madison Avenue, Manhattan, 1995.

THE CRUSH

I saw Avatar a few weeks ago and fell head over heels in love with Michele Rodriquez. 

She's a hot chick with a guy-vibe thing going on. She also looks like she could totally kick my ass and make me love EVERY AWFUL MINUTE OF IT!

I'm okay with that.

STOP THE PRESSES -- OSCAR GETS IT RIGHT!

So I FINALLY saw La Vie En Rose last night and thought it was pretty damned amazing. Marion Cotillard's performance as Edith Piaf won her the Oscar in 2008. It's pretty rare when the Oscar goes to the right actor for the right performance. 

Marion was the dark horse that year and not expected to win and after seeing the film, I believe it would have been a TRAVESTY if she hadn't won.

PROFILE PICTURE

This should be my new Facebook profile pic. It totally captures how I've been feeling the last week or so.

Love it!

WTF?

Seriously.

WTF?

Supermarket tabloid "The National Enquirer" is currently being considered for a Pulitzer Prize for it's reporting on John Edwards sex scandal.

I guess we'll all be ice skating home from work next week because Hell just froze over.

ALL ABOARD

I recently came across some old photo's of New York City's Pennsylvania Station, and couldn't help but think of what New York Times architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable said in 1966 when the grand railroad station was razed:

"We will probably be judged not by the

monuments we build but by those we have destroyed."

Her book, titled "On Architecture," is what's currently on my nightstand.

TIGER'S ROAR

So golfer Tiger Woods today read a public apology at a new conference. I'm not sure why the average person, if new reports are to be believed, feels they're entitled to an apology. It was is wife and kids he lied to.

America can be such a strange country sometimes.

BUT DO THEY PASS OUT LUBE WITH THE COMMUNION WAFERS?

This one was just too good to pass up.

In an attempt to gain support for a proposed law that would impose the death penalty for gays in Uganda, pastor Martin Ssempa has begun showing gay porn in his church. 100 of his followers viewed the footage that Mr. Ssempa says he downloaded from the internet.

He plans to make this a regular thing.

Uh-huh.

DON'T BLINK OR YOU'LL MISS IT

She appears on screen for a scant five and a half minutes, but Beatrice Straight's performance as the scorned wife of television executive William Holden in "NETWORK" garnered her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

This movie was so far ahead of it's time and should be put on your Netflix list.

A NOT-SO FOG-SHROUDED MYSTERY

Scientist aren't quite sure why it's happening, but climate change is being looked at as probably one of the culprits. Summer Fog, which is essential to the survival of Redwood Trees, seems to be disappearing at an alarming rate.

In 1952, there were only 13 fog-free summer evenings. Compare that to 1997, when there were 62 evenings with no fog. While mature Redwoods can be expected to survive, it's the seedlings below that will suffer. It's the moisture from the fog that drips down and feeds not only those seedlings (which can grow up to 1 foot a year), but those droppings also provide water for other low-lying plant life and animals.

KEEPIN' IT IN THE FAMILY - OSCAR STYLE

Oscar is a (seemingly) strong believer in nepotism. The following is a list of multi-generational Academy Award winners (special pooper scooper shout-out to Kyle):

Vincent Minnelli - Judy Garland - Liza Minnelli

Carmine Coppola - Francis Ford Coppola - Sofia Coppola

Walter Huston - John Huston - Anjelica Huston

Henry Fonda - Jane Fonda

Jon Voight - Angelina Jolie

Kirk Douglas - Michael Douglas

SIX DEGREES OF KEVIN BACON, MY ASS

I can do it in four, so here goes:

I co-starred with MICHAEL DOUGLAS (in an episode of 'The Streets of San Francisco' in 1975), who co-starred with GLENN CLOSE in "Fatal Attraction", who co-starred with JOHN LITHGOW in "The World According To Garp," who co-starred with (drum roll, please) KEVIN BACON in "Footloose."

Oh hell, I can do it in one, so here goes:

Kevin Bacon walked by me as I enjoyed a Dunhill outside my apartment on W. 43rd Street in New York City, 1996.

SASHAY, SHANTAY

I got dissed by Claudia Schiffer (who was with then-boyfriend David Copperfield) at ABC Carpet and Home in 1998.

So cool.

CONCRETE JUNGLE WHERE MY DREAMS CAME TRUE

This is what New York City looked like when I arrived on February 16, 1995.

I'm not there anymore, but the ten years I was, without a doubt, are the best ten years of my life!

Thanks, New York City. You are missed.

STUPID STUFF STUPID WHITE PEOPLE DO

Yesterday's annual Valentine's Day pillow fight at Justin Herman Plaza in downtown San Francisco.

sigh

THE GREEN MILE

I saw this on Ryan's blog and thought the idea of harnessing the wind created by speeding highway traffic to power street lights to be an inspired one.

Some seem to be questioning whether or not enough wind could be captured to power the lights but, hey, it's a step in the right direction, don't you think?

Take a look at the link and decide for yourself.

"YOU KNOW, IT'S A LITTLE KNOWN FACT" . . . OSCAR STYLE

Two actresses have won the Best Actress award two years in a row
- Luise Rainer (1937, 1938) and Katherine Hepburn (1967, 1968)

Two actors have won the Best Actor award two years in a row
- Spencer Tracy (1937, 1938) and Tom Hanks (1993, 1994)

Youngest person to win an acting competition award
- Tatum O'Neal (1974 - Best Supporting Actress for Paper Moon) age 9

Oldest actress to win an acting competition award
- Jessica Tandy (1989 - Best Actress for Driving Miss Daisy) age 80

Youngest actor to win an acting competition award
- Timothy Hutton (1980 - Best Supporting Actor for Ordinary People) age 20

Oldest actor win an acting competition award
- George Burns (1974 - Best Supporting Actor for The Sunshine Boys) age 80

There has only been one true tie
- Barbra Streisand, Funny Girl; Katherine Hepburn, The Lion In Winter, 1968

The Academy Awards have only been postponed twice
- Because of flooding in Los Angeles, 1936
- Assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, 1982

Two actors have declined their awards
- George C. Scott - Best Actor in a Lead Role for Patton, 1970
- Marlon Brando - Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather, 1972

During World War II, "Oscars" were made of plaster and replaced with the traditional gold awards at the end of that war

The name "Oscar" was trademarked in 1939.

Bette Davis claims to have named it "Oscar" after she said it looked like her husband at the time, band leader Oscar Harmon. Then there's Walt Disney, who is on record as referring to the award he won in 1932 as "Oscar." However, it's Margaret Herrick, who worked as an executive secretary for the academy in 1931, who gets credit for the nickname as she said it looked like her Uncle Oscar. Upon hearing this, a local entertainment columnist ran the name "Oscar" in his byline and a nickname was born.

FOLLOWS DIRECTIONS WELL

Joe and I came across this amusing little piece of graffiti in Cupertino this afternoon.

(NOT SO) FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS

I came across this disgusting display at the Safeway on Market Street last night around 10 pm. There is a half-eaten slice of chocolate cake, several dozen broken eggs, an open bag of carrots and a packaged steak.

I'm not totally suprised at this scene, as I've often complained about the lack of civility in San Francisco. I am a bit surprised, however, that no one at the grocery store felt the need to clean this up.

EVERY VOTE COUNTS

She was presented with a special "Juvenile Oscar" in 1940 for her iconic performance in The Wizard Of Oz and with so many terrific films afterward (especially Meet Me In St. Louis), it's hard to believe that it would be another 15 years before Judy Garland would be called up to the big game again. 

Judy had not appeared on the silver screen since she had been fired from MGM in 1950, but she made a splashy comeback with the Warner Brothers remake of A Star Is Born. When the film was released, it was pretty obvious that she was going to be nominated for an Academy Award, so when she was, Judy was the odds-on favorite to win for Best Actress. She had just given birth to her third child a few days before the ceremony and could not attend but was so favored to win that a remote camera was set up in her hospital room, allowing her to give her acceptance speech. 

Judy didn't get the chance to give that speech as presenter William Holden opened the envelope and announced to a shocked audience that the winner was Grace Kelly for The Country Girl. The Academy does not release voting results, but late last year, it was revealed that there was only a six-vote separation between Judy Garland and Grace Kelly. 

 It's yet another Oscar irony that A Star Is Born is a film that people still talk about (and with reason, it's a pretty damn good movie), yet The Country Girl is largely forgotten.

PUSH IT, PUSH IT REAL GOOD

Oh, if it were only this easy.

Happy Valentine's Day.

ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID, NEVER A BRIDE

Deborah Kerr (pictured above, looking very sultry, I might add) and Thelma Ritter (pictured with Bette Davis) are the two actresses who share the title "Most Nominated Actresses With No Wins."

Both were nominated 6 times and and both lost 6 times, however Ms. Kerr was presented with the "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the academy in 1994.

OSCAR, JUNIOR

Between 1934 and 1960, the Academy gave out a special "Juvenile Oscar" to child actors. They weren't given out every year and presented under the banner of "special acheivement" in whatever movie they starred in that year. The following list is of those who won this now retired award:

Shirley Temple - 1934 - "For her outstanding contribution to screen entertainment"

Deanna Durbin & Mickey Rooney - 1938 - "For their personification of spirit and youth and setting a high standard of ability and acheivement" (HUH?)

Judy Garland - 1939 - "The Wizard Of Oz"

Margaret O'Brien - 1944 - "Meet Me In St. Louis"

Peggy Ann Garner - 1945 - "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"

Claude Jarman, Jr - 1946 - "The Yearling"

Ivan Jandl - 1948 - "The Search"

Bobby Driscoll - 1949 - "The Window"

John Whiteley and Vincent Winter - 1954 "The Little Kidnappers"

Hayley Mills - 1960 - "Pollyanna"

LET IT GO, PEOPLE

This billboard recently showed up outside Minneapolis, Mn along Interstate 35. Paid for by an anonymous group of business owners, the "ad" is due to stay up for the next two weeks.

Do people really believe that things would have been much better had McCain/Palin been elected?

Talk about sore losers.

GO, JOHNNY, GO GO

Word on the street is that Yankee free-agent Johnny Damon is being actively pursued by the Atlanta Braves. They have offered a one-year contract, while Damon is looking for a two-year commitment.

I'd hate to see him go. He's a great player but then, he comes from the white trash Boston Red Sox, so I don't have a huge problem waving bye-bye. The next few seasons are going to be pretty interesting for my beloved Yankees. Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera (who cost me $100 bucks in the '01 series and I'm still kinda pissed at him for it) have been playing for New York for the last 12 to 15 seasons and are approaching retirement age.

I'm curious and hopeful to see what kind of talent they're going to bring into the bullpen.

IT'S A WONDERFUL NIGHT FOR OSCAR, OSCAR, OSCAR, WHO WILL WIN - 1950

Every so often, the Oscars can resemble a horse race and the 1950 Best Actress in a Lead Role was just that.

The nominees were:

Bette Davis in "All About Eve"
Judy Holliday in "Born Yesterday"
Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Boulevard"
Ann Baxter in "All About Eve"
Eleanor Parker in "Caged"

Who won: Judy Holliday
Who should have won: (probably should have been a tie) Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson

Ann Baxter refused to campaign for Best Supporting Actress, her reason being that she had played the title character "Eve" and felt (rightly so) that she belonged in the Best Actress category (she had already won a Best Supporting Actress award for "The Razor's Edge" four years before). With two stars from the same film in the same category, it's believed that split the vote for them.

I'm not sure how Eleanor Parker ended up here because "Caged" is a pretty bad yet oh-so enjoyable film about a women's prison. However, it received nominations for Best Screenplay and Best Actress in a Supporting Role as well, so go figure.

Judy Holliday's performance was widely heralded, as was Gloria Swanson's "comeback" ('I hate that word, it's a return'), so I believe the race was really between the two of them. It's not known what the final vote was (the academy does not reveal the tally and this will be addressed in the 1954 Oscar race posting I will do in a few days) but I'm sure it was close.

Upon losing the award, Bette Davis was reported to have said "Good, a newcomer" although she made no secret of her desire to become the first actress to win three Oscars. Later, Ann Baxter said "I guess I should have stuck with the supporting actress category" to which Bette replied "Yes, you should have."

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

I stood behind a woman at lunch yesterday trying to use a broken iPhone. This curse I set last year seems to be almost as successful as the "Mangacavallo Curse."

HEH!

PUT THAT BACK, IT'S NOT YOURS

This picture represents what part of my 9-11 experience was. I broke my right ankle in several places and tore the ligaments running from a collapsing Tower 2, which required surgery and a six-week recovery period in bed (there is also the emotional crap that I still have to deal with). Because of that, I was qualified to participate, but declined to do so, in the 9-11 compensation fund that had been set up with donations following a telethon. My reasoning being that I was alive, my insurance covered the surgery and I thought there where other victims with much more severe injuries than I (not to mention the fact that there were families that had lost someone). I threw the paperwork out.

So I was became VERY angry when I read a recent article about the increase of people who are getting caught trying to work the system to get what they do NOT deserve (with regards to workers compensation, access to that 9-11 fund, etc). I know I'm being naive here but I just don't understand how someone can try to get away with something like this and be able to sleep at night.

It creates such a credibility issue for everyone who was there and HAS a legitimate claim.

PRISCILLIA, QUEEN OF THE WORLD

So I watched "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" this past weekend on DVD and one of the extras available was the standard "making of" documentary. Director Stephan Elliot goes on to tell a story so incredible that I am almost at a loss for words.

On the same week of the terrorist attacks of 9-11, the film "Die Hard" had been scheduled to play on television in 56 countries. In a strange coincidence, every television station that had scheduled this particular film about a group of terrorists who take over a Los Angeles office tower (and a pretty good movie in it's own right), cancelled the broadcast and replaced it with a movie about three drag queens in the Australian outback.

It's pretty amazing when you stop for a moment and think about what a statement that was (and a completely unintentional one, to boot).

SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY

What do Gloria Swanson, Donna Reed, Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley Maclaine, Jane Fonda, Shirley Jones, Sylvia Miles, Marsha Mason, Mira Sorvino, Sharon Stone, Julia Roberts, Elizabeth Shue, Kim Basinger, Nicole Kidman, and Charlize Theron all have in common? (these are just off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are more). They've all been Oscar-nominated for playing a prostitute. 

Names in bold are those who won for playing a prostitute.

THE STEAMING POOP - LITERALLY

If dog owners are supposed to follow "pooper scooper" laws and pick up the mess left behind, then why aren't the mounted police held to the same standard?

The above pic was taken along The Embarcadero today at lunch.

Ugh.

WITH APOLOGIES

As much as I love the 80's, there are a few things from that era that I am truly sorry for and Bruce Willis' 1987 album, "The Return of Bruno," is one of them.

He needs to apologize as well.

GRACIOUS HOME

This house is exquisite, I'd like to make an offer.

Built in 1961, the Joseph Eichler-designed home, located at 15 Cabrillo Court in San Rafael, is currently on the market for $1.399 Million.

SOCK IT TO ME

Goldie Hawn tried to give me a kiss at ABC Carpet and Home in 1998.

THOSE WERE THE DAYS

I came across some old pictures of San Francisco and thought I'd post 'em up here.

The first is somewhere on Nob Hill and the second is, of course, Fisherman's Wharf.

The last is probably my favorite. It's the intersection of Stockton and Geary, right in the heart of Union Square. Notice everyone is in hats. The Hotel Plaza (in the background) has since been torn down and replaced with the Grand Hyatt.

The more things change the more they stay the same, huh?