Easy Rider

crazy adventures, powerful trips: booze, drugs, women and motorcycles.

born to be wild.

photo credit: impawards

Booked: The Complete Works of Shakespeare

I bought this book for a sonnet--err song ($3) during one of my forays at a local flea market. Not bad for an 1878 illustrated edition of The Complete Works of the Bard, eh? 

William Shakespeare would have been 449 today.

SNIPER

Whenever I am bored, one of my pastimes is visiting eBay to look for something that interests me. The online auction site is a treasure trove for collectors of various sizes and colors. It is the fantasy land for every hobbyist worth his salt. And once you learn how to navigate the website and become adept at 'treasure hunting' I can guarantee you that there is no turning back.

But I am not the greedy big-time bidder type who will engage anyone just to get his hands on a particular item. I am more of a bargain hunter, favoring more bang for my buck than a foolish dreamer who will empty his pockets just to finally grab his holy grail.

In fact, most of my acquisitions were more on the $10-20 range but nevertheless, they are all treasures safely hidden in my man cave. I have pegged my limit to $100 at the most no matter how I am smitten with a particular object, and if it is beyond the ceiling that I set up for myself, I just have to let the object of my desire pass and move on to the next one.

I am more of the sniper type of, the one who will watch a particular auction but will bid only during its last few seconds. This adrenaline-pumping vis-a-vis testosterone-deflating strategy is what the game is all about. There is no greater thrill than being in a kind of 'hope for the best but expect the worst' situation wherein you could snatch a gem from the hands of the other bidders or be left empty-handed.

 As they usually say, "it's not the kill, it's the thrill of the chase." Amen.

Most of the time, I always end up grabbing my prey, probably to the chagrin of my fellow eBayers, but the god of fortune frowned on me today. Somebody outbid me to the 53 pages of lithographs by World War II artist E.J. Dollriehs, who served under the U.S. Army's 37th Infantry Battalion in the Philippines wherein many of his wartime sketches were made.

But that's life: you win some, you lose some.

The pictures below are some of the beautiful sketches that got away today. I will look at them for one last time and move on.

Another day, another prey.

The Rembrandt Affair

I am a thriller junkie, schooled by the old Robert Ludlum school which by any standard is the best in the genre. So, any writer aspiring to be in his league has some huge shoes to fill in my book.

But Daniel Silva had me the moment I first laid my eyes on his novel The Unlikely Spy while browsing the book exchange section of a local library a couple of years ago.

Then I read the first book of the Gabriel Allon series, The Kill Artist, and I was hooked. Since then I have read all of his books and never looked back.

Daniel Silva is one great thriller writer in the league of an Alan Furst or a John Le Carre with a twist. Unlike some of his contemporaries, Silva is a fan of the Mossad, Israel's secret intelligence service, and Gabriel Allon its legendary assassin, is his man.

Gabriel Allon is the sensitive artist and the ruthless assassin whose exploits in and out of the spy game makes him the ideal renaissance man of the espionage world; when he is not tracking and killing the enemies of Israel, he is somewhere restoring old paintings back to their old glory.

In The Rembrandt Affair, Gabriel Allon is once again drawn back into the fire, not by his mentor Ari Shamron, as is usually the case in the past, but by his dear old friend, London art dealer Julian Isherwood.

Isherwood is in a big predicament when an art- restorer he commissioned, who was once Gabriel's classmate and rival when they were both studying under a renowned art teacher, was murdered, and the Rembrandt painting he was working on went missing.

Gabriel Allon simply cannot refuse an old friend in dire straits and went on a quest to find the missing painting that in so doing opened a can of worms while tracing its provenance and made him face the inherent dangers that come with it.

Daniel Silva once again proved his mastery of the genre as he deftly maneuvered Gabriel Allon into the realms of the evil that men do: from the Nazi's systematic art thefts in WWII to a "hidden child" in Amsterdam to the Gnomes that inhabit the Swiss banks and to the man who would stop at nothing and commit murders to prevent his dirty past from ever coming out.

The Girl with the multi- colored hair

Mary Elizabeth Winstead aka Ramona V. Flowers

What would a guy do to win her love?

Fight and defeat her seven evil exes even if one of them is a girl.

Scott Pilgrim did.

How about you?

Well, the movie is good for cheap laugh but her beauty is not.

Yes, there is really a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

Black Blizzard

Yoshihiro Tatsumi's 1956 thriller Black Blizzard provides us a look into his past, when he was still a raw and inexperienced writer and mangaka.

Tatsumi, in several interviews, never hides the fact that he has 'conflicting' feelings about Black Blizzard to which he described it as "nostalgic for the past, for the days of my youth" but it's also "like exposing something shameful and private" that he would rather bury and have "hidden from sight."

But the work in itself is not bad for a twenty- one year old aspiring and struggling writer- cum- cartoonist. On the contrary it probably revolutionized the alternative comic scene in Japan in those days that eventually made him a gekiga pioneer.

Tatsumi's unorthodox visual narrative is like a study in contradiction; it was simple but is actually ahead of his time. The focus and angles are like those that can be seen from the eyes of a master filmmaker; the drawings speak for themselves.

The plot and storytelling are light and direct to the point. Even the dramatic moments were handled and told in a straightforward manner and avoided the melodramatic traps.



In Black Blizzard, the protagonists, Susumu Yamada, a depressed pianist, and Shinpei Konta, a hardened criminal, are both accused of murder although under different circumstances but were forced to work together when fate suddenly gave them a chance to be free.

What turns out next was both ordinary and extraordinary. The choices that they have to make are grim and the struggle that goes with them can make one cringe. But the twist in the end will make us heave a sigh of relief.

The story was simple, short and sweet.

Morihei Ueshiba & Aikido

"Always keep your mind as bright and clear as the vast sky, the great ocean, and the highest peak, empty of all thoughts. Always keep your body filled with light and heat. Fill yourself with the power of wisdom and enlightenment."

-Morihei Ueshiba

Damn Yankees: Katie Holmes & Tom Cruise

See TomKat purr and meow their way at the A Fine Romance Benefit gala for The Motion Picture and Television fund into the hearts of the fortunate audience who witnessed them perform "Whatever Lola Wants" from the musical Damn Yankees in Los Angeles.

Amid the surprise and laughs, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes proved that they are both game and natural performers whether it is on the stage or in film.

Did this number also show that whatever Katie Holmes wants from her hubby, she gets it?

Happy Birthday Elvis!

Among the names enshrined in the pantheon of music, there is only one name that stands out among the legends. Among the names etched in our memory, there is only one name that is never forgotten. And in the history of Rock and Roll, there is only one true King-

ELVIS

John Lennon summed it all up best, “Before Elvis, there was nothing.”

The Ballad of J.G. Ballard

"I would sum up my fear about the future in one word: boring. And that's my one fear: that everything has happened; nothing exciting or new or interesting is ever going to happen again... the future is just going to be a vast, conforming suburb of the soul. "

J.G. Ballard (1930- 2009)

Note: “Ballardian” adj) 1. of James Graham Ballard, the British novelist, or his works (2) resembling or suggestive of the conditions described in Ballard’s novels and stories, esp dystopian modernity, bleak man-made landscapes and the psychological effects of technological, social or environmental developments.”

Aleksandr Petrov's The Old Man and the Sea

Here’s a gem from Aleksandr Petrov -- a film that is both short and sweet, and also a very good way of blending artistry with technology. And no disrespect to Disney and company, but I consider this masterpiece to be one of the most beautiful animations I've ever seen.

Yes, the Russian animator/director famous for being a proponent of Romantic Realism in his works made this short 20-minute animated film based on Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea.

Mr. Petrov’s technique may look old-school to some, but it's not. It is in reality solid, unique and beautiful. By just looking at the pictures, it surely evokes varied thoughts and emotions, surely painting a thousand words. Of course, it would help if one reads the book, since it would be far easier to understand this winner of the 1999 Academy Awards for Animated Short Film.



I will let Wikipedia provide the detailed explanation regarding the painstaking work and process that the artist/director, with the help of technology, did to breathe life into Papa’s classic man versus fish tale--

...the first large-format animated film ever made. Technically impressive, the film is made entirely in pastel oil paintings on glass, a technique mastered by only a handful of animators in the world. By using his fingertips instead of a paintbrush on different glass sheets positioned on multiple levels, each covered with slow-drying oil paints, he was able to add depth to his paintings. After photographing each frame painted on the glass sheets, which was four times larger than the usual A4-sized canvas, he had to slightly modify the painting for the next frame and so on. It took Aleksandr Petrov over two years, from March 1997 through April 1999, to paint each of the 29,000+ frames. For the shooting of the frames a special adapted motion-control camera system was built, probably the most precise computerized animation stand ever made. On this an IMAX camera was mounted, and a video-assist camera was then attached to the IMAX camera.

Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head

"May you get to Heaven an hour before the Devil knows you're dead."
--John Rooney
Road to Perdition






Paul Newman (1925- 2008)

The Corduroy Killer

I was probably 9 years old and was rummaging into some old magazines back home in the Philippines when I happened to chance upon an article entitled The Corduroy Killer.

It was an article about a prodigious American Grandmaster who wears and favors Corduroy pants while making his mark as a teenage sensation in the Chess World and dishing out his wood pushing brilliance against much older opponents. The said article influenced me during that time to play chess.

Both my father and grandfather were avid chess players and they taught me the rudiments of the game at an early age. My dad even built a chess set cum table out of Mahogany, which was a very good choice because the hardwood has two shades of color (black and brown)that is perfect to make those unique, beautiful and distinct chess pieces.

I was a pretty good chess player when I was young but my Dad is much, much better. In fact, I never won a single game against him. Sad to say, my interest waned but the love for the game is still there although I must admit that I have not played a single game in years. But still, I follow the game whenever I can and I am quite familiar with the current crop of wood pushers where Super GMs are getting younger and younger each year.

That chess prodigy was the genius- turned recluse Bobby Fischer who visited the Philippines in the 70s and lived for sometime in Baguio City in his later years unbeknownst to many Filipinos and the world. He later sired a daughter to a Filipina wherein his long- time friend and confidante GM Eugene Torre confirmed in several interviews with some local papers.

Yes, Bobby Fischer is dead.

The best chess player the world had ever seen died yesterday in Reykjavik, Iceland, the place where he registered his greatest triumph at the height of the Cold War when he outwitted and defeated Russian GM and World Champion Boris Spassky in a proxy battle between the United States and the Soviet Union.

From being a World Champion, he spiraled deep into oblivion when he refused to defend the title against Anatoly Karpov. He became erratic and reclusive and eventually disappeared from the public over the years but his contribution to the world of chess can never be quantified and forgotten.

A lot of champions have come and gone but Bobby Fischer’s brilliance and charisma will never be equaled. His shadow and influence among the world’s chess players and lovers will remain forever.



In Memoriam: Robert James "Bobby" Fischer
March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008)


Here's the link to
Bobby Fisher's 60 Memorable Games

Lea Salonga puts Tarrytown under her spell

Despite having to run almost two miles from the other end of the Terminal to catch the Northwest Airlines Flight from Detroit-Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to La Guardia, having missed our original morning flight earlier, we were still in a very good mood.

And flying all the way from Michigan two days before the event and then “hitching” a ride from the Bronx to Tarrytown, New York on the day of the concert with old friends in tow in exchange for the promised prime concert seats, we were in cruise control.

The uneventful 30-minute trip on the slow, lazy road to this little picturesque village on the eastern shore of the Hudson River did not dampen our enthusiasm a bit. We arrived at historic Tarrytown at quarter past seven on the cool and chilly evening of November 2. We were in high spirits in anticipation of a wonderful evening of music at the Tarrytown Music Hall.

Yes, we traveled far for the much-awaited concert of Broadway Star and Tony Award Winner Lea Salonga in this side of Westchester County, New York.

As we walked from the parking lot, braving the wind chill gnawing at our bodies and numbing our skin, I couldn’t help but notice that Tarrytown is really quite old, small and dark compared to the other places that I have been to.

Tarrytown has that distinctive air of the old world with clusters of Victorian and Gothic revival houses built in the late 1800s and early 1900s lining its narrow streets. And what with Sleepy Hollow just a stone’s throw away only added to its allure and mystique, at least for a history buff like me.

In fact, pictures of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman suddenly materializing out of nowhere circled in my mind as I turned the uphill corner towards the venue. But tonight, Washington Irving’s character from his classic, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, will take a back seat to the Lady of the Night.

As we neared the Music Hall, we suddenly realized that Tarrytown has turned into a Pinoy Town. In every street and corner, bar and cafe, store and restaurant, one could see and hear the unmistakable sound and presence of the Filipinos who came with full force.

This I can say, Filipinos really know how to party and can be counted upon to support a very talented kababayan as she tries to wield her magic again in Uncle Sam’s America. There were a lot of American fans too who flew in from as far as Texas and California. Some even drove for hours from Canada and various places on the East Coast. The majority of them, of course, came from New York and neighboring New Jersey.
They all came with one purpose and one purpose only -- to hear once again this song bird who has captivated the ears of the world since she was 17, when after a global search she was chosen to essay the role of Kim in the hit musical Miss Saigon, to which she never looked back.

The Music Hall on Main Street was built in 1885 and is one of the oldest theaters in Westchester County, where various luminaries from US Presidents (Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft & Woodrow Wilson) to legendary musicians (Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, etc.) among others have once graced its hallowed grounds.

THE CONCERT

The concert did not start on time, although the musicians were on stage before the 8pm call time, but since heaps of people were still pouring in and also queueing for the restrooms, the musicians bade their time until Bjorn Olsson, the Executive Director of the Music Hall, appeared on stage to welcome everybody with a crisp and effortless “Mabuhay!” which he confessed he had learned a few minutes before he went up the stage.

He proceeded to his short and concise speech and finally called on Lea Salonga, who casually sauntered onto the stage in a simple but elegant black pantsuit, went for the microphone, and then those old familiar lines from Stephen Sondheim’s SOMETHING'S COMING came out flowing like a cool breeze into the warm night air.

Could be, who knows?
…If I can wait, something’s coming, I don’t know what it is, but it is gonna be great…

It was a very appropriate opening number for Lea and surely an omen of things to come for the mesmerized audience who erupted into thunderous applause at the end of the song from West Side Story.

After greeting her Kababayans in the audience, she shared to us that it was the first time for her to hear a non-native speaker pronounce “Mabuhay” correctly, and opined that as a Filipino she doesn’t want to hear Mabuhay being butchered, to the delight of the large Filipino crowd.

She then told us that for our listening pleasure, she had put together songs “that I personally enjoy, songs that have in one way or another been associated with me.”
And this being her first concert in many, many months, she wanted it to be special, and added to the audience‘s amusement, “You have no idea how it feels to sing without having to cry! All of you who have seen Les Miz in the past seven months know what I mean,” in obvious reference to her role as the tragic Fantine in the Broadway revival of Les Miserables, where she brought back to life the character that Daphne Rubin-Vega killed.

People just couldn’t get enough of her as the cameras kept on flashing without let-up, prompting her to ask the concertgoers to "go easy on the cameras” and revealed that her “eyesight must have graded more, from the ‘strobing’” and that she might “have an epileptic attack” in the process, although she quickly added that although she doesn’t have epilepsy, she didn't want to “start that right now, seriously” and politely asked us to just “relax, sit back and enjoy the show.”

Lea Salonga’s voice was so pure that when she sang I’VE NEVER BEEN IN LOVE BEFORE from the Musical Guys and Dolls, it was like hearing the confession of a young and innocent girl, where one could really feel the simple yet heartfelt message of the song.

Then she reminisced about her early years as a performer wherein she shared that she used to sing on top of the table, to the delight of her mother, and can still vividly remember her first standing ovation at age 8 in a “blue dress and white cardigan and suffering from an allergy attack” on the day of her audition, landing the lead role for Repertory Philippines’ production of Annie The Musical that eventually paved the way to her pursuing a career in show business.

She sang TOMORROW in an up-tempo manner and got away with it. She sang it in a way that one couldn’t help but think that the song was and still magical in Lea’s capable hands after all these years. It was well-applauded and I’m sure many in the audience were having flashbacks of that cute little girl singing this very familiar tune on black and white TV many, many years ago and half a world away.

The star of the night admitted that even after years of being in the business, “there’s still quite a few roles I’d like to play. Hopefully, one day I’ll get the opportunity” as she rendered a haunting and beautiful rendition of I DON'T KNOW HOW TO LOVE HIM from the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar and made a very good case for herself for the role of Mary Magdalene.

If only Andrew Lloyd Webber was in the audience…

Ms. Salonga paid homage to Mr. Lloyd Webber by declaring that she found the very talented songwriter to be “incredibly prolific” and confessed a role she has coveted for most of her life, showing her wit in the process to the delight of everyone--

“A role that I always had my eye on from when I was quite young but even at my age now… Fine, I’m 36! But I still look darn hot!”

And added feeling intimidated by the role despite coveting it badly.

“Even though I’m older than the person upon whom the show was based when she passed away. It’s still a part of musical theater canon for female singers, it intimidates me incredibly and I am not yet brave enough to tackle her on” but swiftly added that when the right time comes, she’ll be able to handle them like the rest.

YOU MUST LOVE ME from Evita the Movie came next and it’s not even fair to Madonna to merit a discussion here of the vocal discrepancies between her and Lea.

Lea Salonga’s voice can melt the heart of any strong man and surely is capable of capturing the hearts of a thousand Perons, too. Evita is one role that she can do without question, if you ask me. I am sure the people who heard her sing live that night and the ones who have heard her before will surely agree with me.

And she shared to us a funny little secret about a role that,

“I’ve wanted sooooo bad that while I was in Miss Saigon I kept dropping hints & not very subtle ones either“... to Cameron Mackintosh, perhaps?

“Yeah, I’d like to play Eponine in Les Miserables.”

And her ploy was amply rewarded when--

“I was very fortunate to be asked not too long after I left Miss Saigon to be a part of the big production“ and sang the most applauded song of the night that merited a standing ovation from the crowd.

It was her audition song for Miss Saigon, ON MY OWN.

Then she sang the Tagalog song, HAHANAPIN KO that was composed by Jose Mari Chan and popularized by Anthony Castelo in the 1980s and dedicated the song to “all the Filipinos that have left the country and still love our Motherland.”

Buckets of tears flowed from the Pinoy concertgoers as her smooth and soulful rendition of the ballad touched the hearts of so many of us Filipinos who have not returned to the old country in years. The song and the tears became a form of catharsis for many of us because not only does it link us to our past, it also reminded us of Home…

Her solemn version of SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME, from the musical Oh, Kay! by the prolific duo George and Ira Gershwin, added another dimension to the concert and with only a guitar accompanying her, the song became even more personal and meaningful…

“Although he may not be the man some
Girls think of as handsome
To my heart he carries the key…”

Suddenly somebody from the audience sneezed loudly and like the trooper that she is, she blurted out “Bless You!“ in between the song lyrics and went on to sing the song in its entirety without missing a beat even as the audience was now laughing their hearts out. The sneezing bandit was never identified but surely, nobody would have liked to be in her/his shoes that night. Ha-ha.

Lea Salonga is an artist who knows how to interact with her audience and can really play with the crowd.

We all know that she became a Disney Princess not only once, but twice but she explained to us good-naturedly her apprehensions about it--

“My daughter would probably not believe that Mommy got to do that and is probably looking at me rolling her eyes!”

You can tell by the way she talked that she’s one proud mother to Nicole as she further confessed that her fears have some basis when she said,

“She’s ignoring me already and she’s only 17 months old!”

She did sing the two Disney songs from Aladdin and Mulan but with just the short Princess Jasmine part of A WHOLE NEW WORLD for the former, and a different and more complete version of REFLECTION for the latter.

She intimated that she got to record the "long original” version from Mulan but executives at Disney only released the short version for the movie, and as a form of “revenge” she always sings the complete version in her concerts.

A parade of beautiful songs highlighted the second part of the show and it was a blast seeing Lea’s expressions change from song to song--

--Her phrasing’s perfect, her diction impeccable and her voice crystal. Her effortless singing can literally and figuratively take you to a whole new world of musical magic.

She proclaimed that she loved ABBA and one can discern her respect for the immense talent of Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus in the song she chose to sing from the musical Chess.

Her poignant SOMEONE ELSE'S STORY can make you cry unabashedly without regard for anybody.

She can make you high and giggle with her sweet and girlish interpretation of the Kristin Chenoweth’s original “TAYLOR, THE LATTE BOY", one of the most applauded numbers of the night.

WHEN OCTOBER GOES was written by Johnny Mercer just before he died of cancer in 1976, and accompanied by a beautiful albeit melancholic melody that Barry Manilow composed in honor of his friend. Lea gushed how Manilow, known more for his cheesy compositions, was able to pen such a beautiful song. She fell in love with the song so much that she included it in her latest album “Inspired.”

You could see the smoke in Lea’s eyes when she admitted that she had her own share of heartaches, too. But she did not give up on love and in the end found the man of her dreams.

She opened her heart to us and dedicated the next song, I STILL BELIEVE IN LOVE, from the musical They‘re Playing Our Song, “to all the singles out there” and asked them to “never give up on love.”

The very emotional I'D GIVE MY LIFE FOR YOU put the music hall in silence and induced goosebumps on our skin, even 18 years after we first heard her sing that now classic song from Miss Saigon of what every mother would/can do for her offspring.

The night would not have been complete without the song that brought her back to Broadway. Her crystalline voice soared anew as she gave life to the Les Miserables' tragic character, Fantine, in I DREAMED A DREAM...

"But the tigers come at night, with their voices soft as thunder. As they tear your hope apart. As they turn your dream to shame!"

Lea showed us here her versatility as she shifted from one difficult note to another in an effortless show of vocal prowess, not to mention her heartbreaking interpretation of the song. She did it with much aplomb to the delight of the audience.

I have never heard Billy Joel’s homage to the Big Apple sang as beautifully as Lea did. In NEW YORK STATE OF MIND, she bared that she would never get away from New York, that no matter what she will always come back to New York. She considers the Big Apple as her home away from home.

The medley of SOMETHING WONDERFUL/BEING ALIVE from the musicals The King and I and Company, respectively, have in a way summed up the wonderful evening with Lea Salonga. I guess you could safely call it a night of enchantment in the enchanted village called Tarrytown.

Her encore of the Beverly Craven original and carrier single of her album "Inspired", PROMISE ME was hauntingly touching and well-received. I can say that she gave justice to the song and owned it in the process.

The concert lived up to its promise and it was a night to remember forever. Lea Salonga came aptly prepared to give her fans their money’s worth and she did not disappoint. Her song selections complimented her voice really well. The venue was suited for a more intimate and personal approach and she exploited them to her advantage.

The years have been kind to her, too and she really has matured as a singer and a performer -- confident, poised, witty, charming and beautiful.

And of course, She’s HOT!

Muted Silence

Marcel Marceau
(March 22, 1923- September 22, 2007)

The Master of Mime died two days ago at the age of 84.

Like his idol Charlie Chaplin, he perfected his art whom he fondly named as "L'art du silence" which brought him worldwide fame and accolades wherein eventually his name became synonymous with his art.

His striped suit, battered silk opera hat and single red rose became his signature as he single-handedly showed the world his enormous talent and the uniqueness of his craft.

He conveyed to us through his performances the soul of every human being. He showed
us that just by a sudden flick of one's finger or in the blink of one's eye, one can fathom the deepest recesses of human emotion.

He tackled the different aspects of human emotions in the The Mask Maker and his Youth, Maturity, Old Age and Death proved to be so powerful that prompted one critic to say that "Bip" accomplished in "less than two minutes what most novelists cannot do in volumes."

Now that he has quietly faded into the night,

the world is in silence...

Au Revoir Monsieur Marceau...




See him dance the Tango...

Here

...

AL PACINO: Man of the Hour

“Say Hello To My little Friend!”

If you don’t know that line you probably don't know who Tony Montana was nor you have not seen Al Pacino at his wicked- best. And I would probably say that you missed one of the best "bleep" movie of all “bleep’ time!

Those were the words that cocaine- powered Tony Montana in the movie Scarface hurled to his enemies behind the door before unleashing the M- 203 grenade launcher at them in one of the highlights of the brutal and savage film by Brian de Palma and script written by Oliver Stone in the early 80’s.

Last night, his colleagues at the American Film Institute (AFI) and his legions of fans have once again said hello to this diminutive man by Hollywood standards but a giant one in stature both in life and on the screen by presenting him the 35th AFI Life Achievement Award reserved only for the silver screen’s elite. The televised show was actually held at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, CA days earlier.

I’ve watched the show on USA Network amused, enlightened and in awe of the actor as his friends and colleagues recalled their various encounters and moments with one of Hollywood’s foremost icon who sat and watch from his seat applauding and sometimes teary- eyed and exclaimed in the end that he “needs a character” in reference to his having been at a loss for words for the first time in his life.

Al Pacino is one lucky guy indeed in the dog-eat-dog world of show business having figured and acted prominently in many of the most thought- provoking and influential films of all time.

He is one actor who put his life into every character that he plays down to the minute details that gained him the respect of his peers and fans alike. His talent, versatility, hard work and dedication that he put in every role make him a very good role model for new actors learning their chops.

The list of his great movies is quite long but here’s a few that will surely find their way into any movie fanatic’s list of must- haves--The Godfather Trilogy, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Carlito’s Way and of course, Scent of A Woman where he finally won an Oscar for Best Actor in 1992 after years of being snubbed by the Academy by playing the role of the blind Lt. Colonel Frank Slade and in the process danced with the lithe and beautiful Gabrielle Anwar.

The power and influence of a man as they say can be measured by the respect that his peers have for and had given him. If so, what I witnessed last night as they gave an endless parade of tributes and accolades to the Man of the Hour was a fitting witness to his immense talent and pull among Hollywood’s best and brightest stars.

The show opened with Robin Williams acknowledging the night’s Honoree’s looming presence in the crowd and said that “ you put Robert de Niro in a dryer and you got Al Pacino” and proceeded to raise a glass of wine for him.

Sir Sean Connery lamented that they have “known each other for 30 years and never worked together which was my loss.” He added that “ I was in that chair last year and I know how it feels--there’s nowhere to hide!” that elicited laughter from the audience.


Then they showed clips from Serpico showing him with a beard, his character's unorthodox ways and such that in those days was a big no- no for a normal clean- shaven policeman and Dog Day Afternoon where he played the role of Sonny Wortzik wherein he was shown ranting outside a bank he’s trying to rob so that his “gay” lover can have a sex- change operation, a controversial role which was a major risk at that time for any actor who value his money and star power.

On a side note, a thought occurred to me that, that kind of standoff which lasted 13 hours while holding 11 people hostage will never happen in the Philippines for the moment he steps out of the bank, he will be dead meat from some trigger- happy policemen who were only too willing to get the job done and end the situation asap and go home. Ha-ha.

“Are you sober, could you read the script again?” showed how persistence can pay off and in this case for Frank Pierson (the scriptwriter won an Oscar for the movie) by getting a reluctant but talented actor to star in the sensitive film.

It was also said that Al Pacino turned down the script seven times before finally agreeing to do the film and once again defied the norm and helped change our outlook of what a film should be.

Jamie Foxx who starred with Al in Any Given Sunday thanked him, “ for allowing a young African- American for getting this thing on” and proceeded to tell about his experiences with the man--“no ego, played chess together in his trailer” wherein addressing Al and confessing, “ I let you win because I need to hear more stories…”

He went on with his story wherein in one of his scenes with the esteemed actor, “ I tasted you, I noticed wetness flying on my face! What do you call that mouth moisture? I said to myself, this is the greatest actor in the world but I need a squeegee!” that brought the house down.

Jamie then addressed the crowd as he mimicked Al Pacino, “Your Juiciness, I got Al Pacino almost in my mouth…I took the juice, I took the DNA inside of me and the next thing you know I won an Oscar!”

Oliver Stone for his part shared three things about the lessons and influence of Scarface: “That every dog has his day” and that “if you can swallow the poison and live, everyday above ground is a good day” and finally, “no matter how many scripts I write, I think 'fuck you' and 'say hello to my little friend' as my contribution to the culture.”

And added that with Pacino's Tony Montana, you can finally say “goodnight to the bad guy, you’ll never see a guy this bad again.”

Scent of a Woman co- star Chris O’ Donnell shared some insights of Mr. Pacino’s funny side. He was surprised one day that he got a letter from him stating, “I couldn’t tell what you’re doing because I sort of never saw you but I heard you’re outstanding! ” Of course we all know that he played a blind military man in the movie.

Two lovely ladies who I haven’t seen on film in a long time also paid their respect to the Man--

Gabrielle Anwar who as a teenager danced the sensual tango with Mr. Pacino on the way to the latter's only Academy Award joked that “dancing with Al Pacino is something I haven’t recovered yet” which she quickly added the reference to her big toe to the laughter of the crowd. She still looks lovely if you ask me.

Troubled actress Winona Ryder, another lovely lady and starred with him in his directorial debut in Looking for Richard made a rare appearance and admitted that he “ wooed me and he won me and he utterly seduced me…Not only as Lady Anne to his Richard…Still completely and utterly seduced. “

And looking straight into Mr. Pacino’s large dark eyes uttered seductively, “And I would give my kingdom, my kingdom to be wooed by you again.”



The American Film Institute (AFI) is a non- profit organization that was created in 1967 to preserve America’s Film Heritage and train future filmmakers which was made possible when then President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the legislation creating the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in 1965 whose Board of Trustees in turn established the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1973.

The AFI Life Achievement Award is recognized and considered to be the highest honor given to a career in film. Stars like Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks, and Meryl Streep as well as Directors Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese just to name a few were all recipients of the prestigious award.

This year’s honoree Al Pacino will be very much at home in their company, all giants of the silver screen and talented actors/actresses in their own right.

One touching moment in the show was when Hollywood’s Nanogenarian Icon and Mr. Spartacus himself, Kirk Douglas, who survived a stroke in 1996 which left him partially impaired valiantly walked to the center of the stage to honor Mr. Pacino.


In his husky, halting and slurry speech he proceeded to say that it is magic when an “actor can convince us that he is blind with his eyes open” and “he is blind but can dance the Tango like Al Pacino” did in Scent of a Woman.

“I know where he gets his magic” he said and stopped abruptly with his speech and spitted a powerful, “hoo-ah!” to the delight of the crowd. ("Hoo-ah" is the often used expression by Mr. Pacino's character Frank Slade)

He then cajoled them to say the magic word together as he counted from 1-2-3 and the Kodak Theater reverberated with a loud chorus of “Hoo-ah!” followed by thunderous laughter and applause.

It was magic indeed seeing Kirk Douglas doing "Hoo-ah!" on stage and still a trooper in his advanced age and state.

Kevin Spaceyfor his part stated that Al Pacino who has two Tonys under his belt “never used theater as a stepping stone for movies and left” for despite his success in film he remained true to his roots by doing stage from in between and also films that are based on plays like the acclaimed Glengarry Glenn Ross for which he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor the same year that he got his Best Actor trophy from the Academy making him as the first and only (?) male actor to be nominated for two different films in the same year.

Samuel L. Jackson narrated his experience with Pacino as well as his bit role in the movie Sea of Love during his early years in the business which he goes on to say that in the credits he was named only as “Black Guy” after being promoted to a “talking” part from a “clip board guy #2” role.

Then came Mexican- American Comedian George Lopez' turn who made a raucous but funny impersonation of Cuban Tony Montana complete with the accent as well as poking fun at various Hollywood personalities and parodies of some famous films' immortal lines.

Mr. Lopez proclaimed that “Tony Montana was the Lindsay Lohan of the 80s” and that in his films there are a lot of “eating, non-stop drug use, sucking and drinking. It shows you how life is unfair when Al Pacino got an AFI while Paris Hilton is in jail!”

He also revealed that contrary to popular belief it was not Tony Montana who said the famous line “when you got the money, you got the power; when you got the power, you got the woman” and asked the crowd, “you know who said it first? Rosie O’ Donnell!”

George Lopez further explained that Scarface transcends film genre and generation and backed up his claim by quoting famous lines from--Jerry Maguire ("You had me at fuck you!”), Wizard of Oz (“Toto we’re not in fucking Kansas anymore!”) and Gone with the Wind (“Frankly, my dear I don’t give a fuck!”) in obvious reference to the movies record use of the F- word which many people say that if you remove all the cuss words in Scarface you won’t understand the movie at all.

He ended his one- man show by quoting Tony Montana, “You need people like me so that you can point a finger on me and say, that is the bad guy…. or the waiter!” a potshot to the stereotyping of Hispanics in the movies then.

And just before he exited the stage, he got something in his pocket and wipe it on his face and when he looked up again, he was transformed into a Tony Montana’s Coke- smeared face!




"He was magic.”

Kirk Douglas recalled that he was mesmerized by “this guy, this young actor” while watching The Indian Wants the Bronx eons ago and remembered going backstage and telling : “'Mr. Pacino, you're going to be a star.' That was 45 years ago. What took you so long, Al?"


Al Pacino in his speech acknowledged that The Godfather made him a household name and a star and showed gratitude to his Director, Francis Ford Coppola whom he admitted he haven’t seen in a long time and thanked him profusely for standing pat on his choice of the actor that will portray the coveted role of Michael Corleone"

"I hardly ever see him anymore," he said. "Francis didn't just put me in the Godfather. He fought for me. Even when I no longer wanted to be in it. I wouldn't be here without him."

Francis Ford Coppola in his videotaped tribute in turn revealed that while reading the book, The Godfather by Mario Puzo , the only face that he could picture to portray Michael Corleone was Al Pacino and thereby pursued him rabidly against the odds (Paramount Pictures Executives and all).

Come to think of it, it would have been a great loss for all cinema fanatics had Coppola wavered and Pacino had passed on the role. But as they always say, he was destined to be Don Vito Corleone's fair-haired boy.

Michael Mann, who directed Pacino with another equally very talented actor Robert De Niro in Heat as well as in the thriller The Insider with Russel Crowe, confirmed that the actor "doesn't fear. He's willing to go out on a live wire without a net."

The method actor in Al Pacino made him chose some roles that were really quite risky and unconventional. He was never afraid to experiment with his choices that sometimes made his stars plummet and lose some of its luster.

Like in several instances after the success of the first installment of The Godfather Trilogy, he starred in some mediocre flicks and made some daring career moves that alienated his fan base and shunned away from his movies.

It was an open book that he was down on his luck for a time starring in one box office flop after another when the script that will bring back the life in his career dropped into his lap just like that--impressed by his talent and charisma Brian de Palma and Oliver Stone want him to be their Tony Montana in Scarface and so he went to Miami to film the said movie determined to get out of his rut.

And he did get out of his funk and just like that as the old cliché goes that “you cannot put a good actor down,” his career was revitalized and he went on to be the toast of tinseltown, acknowledged by peers and critics alike as one of the best actor of his generation if not of all time.

The record speaks for itself--

He was a two-time Tony Award winner and although he was snubbed by the Academy Awards too many times (7x), he finally bagged the coveted acting plum for his role as Lt. Col. Frank Slade in the 1992 film "Scent of a Woman."

He was also honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996 by the Independent Feature Project and The Hollywood Foreign Press Association presented him with its prestigious Cecil B. De Mille Award at the Golden Globes in 2001.
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Andy Garcia could have not said it better when he referred to him not only as an artist but a poet and a clown as he praised him deeply and he shared his experiences with the actor and the man:

“The depth of your artistry is only more overwhelmed by the generosity of your spirit and your warmth."

"You're Van Gogh. You're Modigliani. That's who you are."


For all the success and accolades that he received in his career, Mr. Pacino never forgot his roots and showed us the “ordinary” human side of him when after receiving the award from Sean Penn, he was almost speechless for a moment and made light of his nervousness, "I don't have a character tonight."

"I see my life in movies. I have one question. Why aren't I in rehab?" in answer to Andy Garcia roasting him earlier.

He went on with his speech and honored his acting mentors Charlie Laughton and Lee Strasberg for helping him of what he has become today. He said that he studied with them and they gave him the world in return.


He recalled one particular instance where Mr. Strasberg after watching him doing a scene told the class afterwards “you see we take all kinds here” to the delight of the crowd.

He also confessed on “looking at my reflections at subway doors” and telling himself, “hey you’re an actor!”

He added that "Charlie and his beautiful wife" took him in their home at "44th Street and 19th Avenue" when he was a teenager in Manhattan and their home became his home away from the South Bronx.

He mentioned producer Marty Bregman who coaxed him to go to Los Angeles and audition for the The Godfather and Signore Coppola for their roles in shaping his acting and movie career.

And he also thanked Lady- luck for smiling on him.

Surely Al Pacino being well- respected and admired in the world of show business not to mention the clout and the perks that goes with it, is one lucky guy indeed.

So, say hello to my little friend no more, he’s been a GIANT from the very first moment he painted his face into the silver screen.

Let’s watch Andy Garcia do an Al Pacino impersonation and ritual before takes…


Originally Posted in bill blahs as a three- part series 06.19.2007

2006 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor

While waiting for the 10:00 pm CSI Miami on CBS, I went channel surfing last night and chanced upon the 2006 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on PBS and decided to watch the show instead and did not regret it.

It’s a star- studded affair honoring this year’s recipient, Neil Simon whose works is said to have been the most widely performed next only to Shakespeare. He was feted with accolades, tributes and testimonials at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by friends and colleagues who in one way or another owed their careers to the foremost American playwright.

Neil Simon, the prolific writer who at one time have a record of four Broadway productions running simultaneously has authored more than 40 Broadway plays since 1961 most of them light-hearted and humorous plays but is best known for his autobiographical Eugene Trilogy (Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound) and Chapter Two which critics considered as his finest work and was written shortly after his first wife died of cancer.

His talent is enormous and has contributed immensely to both theater and film as he was also a recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, three Tony Awards, a Golden Globe, an American Comedy Award, a Drama Desk Award and now, a Kennedy Center Award that was named after Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), the 19th century American satirist, humorist and writer who William Faulkner called the “Father of American Literature” and was widely known for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.

Mr. Neil Simon is in good company with the list of the past recipients a veritable Who’s Who in the business--

Recipients of the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize have been Richard Pryor (1998), Jonathan Winters (1999), Carl Reiner (2000), Whoopi Goldberg (2001), Bob Newhart (2002), Lily Tomlin (2003), Lorne Michaels (2004) and Steve Martin (2005).

Now on it’s 9th year, the Mark Twain Prize was taped at the John F. Kennedy for the Performing Arts on October 15, 2006 and was finally shown last night on public TV and it was a good hour and a half of showcasing the talent of the man and stories behind the scenes; of his writings and the performers acting in it.

Christina Applegate performed a smooth rendition of Big Spender from the musical revival Sweet Charity accompanied on the piano by the multi- talented singer, pianist, songwriter, arranger and producer, Allen Toussaint whose seminal works earned for the New Orleans native an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

Ms. Applegate essayed the role of Charity Hope Valentine for her Broadway debut that earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. I watched Sweet Charity twice when I was in the big Apple, one with her in it and the other with Charlotte d’Amboise who also played Roxie Hart in Chicago when I watched the said musical at the Ambassador Theater. I’ll write about my take on the said shows next time if my time and schedule permits.Ha-ha.

Matthew Broderick, the two-time Tony award- winning actor (He got his first for Brighton Beach Memoirs) thanked Neil Simon “ for making it possible to purchase a small golden palace in the Himalayas" paraphrasing his Tony award-winning lines of the teen character he essayed upon seeing a naked woman for the first time in his life.

"He allowed me my whole professional life, he got me right." "Oscar-winning actor for the movie The Goodbye Girl, Richard Dreyfuss said of the role Mr. Simon had in his career.

Jonathan Silverman, the versatile actor who was recently seen in the independent feature film Laura Smiles which won the Emerging Filmmaker Award at the Denver Film Festival this year jump-started his acting career when he “made” the character of Eugene Morris Jerome (Simon’s other self as a young man in the trilogy) “His” on Broadway but graciously credited the playwright of changing his life when he “plucked him from obscurity!”

Tony award- winner Heather Headley who originated the role of Nala in the Tony Award Winning musical The Lion King and cemented her status in the Elton John/ Tim Rice collaboration Aida as one of the Great White Way’s best made a very beautiful rendition of the song “What do you get when you fall in love?” from the 1968 show Promises, Promises, the Burt Bacharach classic which was in turn based on the 1960 Billy Wilder film The Apartment written by who else but Neil Simon!

Other Stars who came to sing praises to Mr. Neil Simon were Robert Redford (who talked about his friendship with him and about the “mountains in Utah.”), Emmy Award winner Patricia Heaton (who revived the role of Paula in the new version of the classic "The Goodbye Girl" for TNT), Malcolm in the Middle’s Jane Kaczmarek who once appeared on Broadway in Lost in Yonkers, Mad About You star and co- creator Paul Reiser.

Lucy Arnaz (who played Sonia Wolsk in They’re Playing Our Song), fellow New Yorker Robert Klein (1979 -They’re Playing Our Song), Nathan Lane (who was recently seen in the movie The Producers and also starred with Matthew Broderick in last year's The Odd Couple on Broadway), Seinfeld’s George Costanza (Jason Alexander) and Carl Reiner (also a Mark Twain Prize recipient in 2000) .

Here’s a short list of his works and let’s hope that he will continue writing and share his talent with us.

Pulitzer Prize for Drama – Lost in Yonkers (1991)

Tony Award – for his plays:
The Odd Couple (1965, Best Author, Play)
Biloxi Blues (1985, Best Play)
Lost in Yonkers (1991, Best Play)

Golden Globe – The Goodbye Girl (1978, Best Screenplay - Motion Picture, Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy)

American Comedy Award – for his life work (1989, Creative Achievement Award)

Drama Desk Award – Lost in Yonkers (1991, Outstanding New Play)


In his speech, Neil Simon was modest enough and admitted to being nervous speaking in public (a case of “better read than heard?”-which is considered an enigma for some very good writers) as he shared to us the journey that he took for his “Come Blow Your Horn.“ ---

”It took me six years to write my first play” and openly admitted that he took the title from one of his daughter’s nursery rhymes books that turned out into a “so-so play” that was then made into a “so-so movie” with a “so-so Frank Sinatra" in it.

But it was successful enough that, “For the first time, I had money in the bank,” and softly added, “Yes sir, yes sir three bags full!!” as the audience broke into a hearty laughter.

LENNON: A New Musical

HIS WORDS. HIS MUSIC. HIS STORY.

To put the life and music of John Lennon into theater in an apparent attempt to cash in on the recent trend of what we now commonly referred to as the Jukebox musical trend that Broadway seems to espouse nowadays owing to the mega- success of ABBA’s “Mama Mia!” is an ambitious project to do. In spite of the failed Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” as well as the current new homage to Elvis’ Music in “All Shook Up” you can only question how far this new genre can go without jeopardizing the Great White Way’s reputation of being home to original well- penned and well- crafted shows.

Lennon the Musical, which recently opened at the famed and historic Broadhurst Theater at 235 W. 44th St. between New York City’s 8th Avenue and Broadway, was nothing but a hollow stab to convey to us the different stages of complexities, eccentricities and finally, enlightenment in the life of an ex- Beatle named John. It was supposed to be a tell- all musical of his short life, but it turned out to be an edited version of his life-- a life that we much already know of . It is a musical masquerading as a tribute to the Man and His Music but turns out to be in this case, an updated version of the Ballad of Yoko and John sans Lennon’s formative years and success with the Beatles. Also, it made no mention of his substance abuse and volatile behavior and his interlude with May Pang. Imagine John Lennon’s life without the years with the Fab Four nor Cynthia and Julian?

Don Scardino (Broadway Credits- Director: Sacrilege/Performer: Godspell), the show’s creator and director delved much on John Lennon’s life after the Beatles and all for a reason. He focused mainly on his post- Beatles life with Yoko Ono in obvious deference to John’s widow whom he sought permission and collaborated in writing the musical and whose influence can be felt throughout the show. In a typical Ms. Ono fashion which is as famous as her chilling primal scream, you could tell her hand in the multi-cultural casting where John Lennon was played by nine different actors to denote the “universality” of his appeal and music as well as the conspicuous presence of a giant cut-out of her head appearing in the background in the end as if to tell us of her enormous presence in Lennon‘s life. Yes, it is indeed unique and creative in a way but still it fails to convey to the audience the real essence and objective of the musical.

The cast took turns in playing John by donning his trademark round wire- rim glasses. Will Chase turns out to be the audience’s favorite what with his resemblance to the late Beatle but also with his convincing Liverpool accent and affective performance. They also did some songs by the Beatles in their Ed Sullivan Show re-enactment performed by four female cast members but none of his collaboration with his erstwhile writing partner, Paul McCartney who was again snubbed which to many die- hard fans of John and the Beatles constitute to something close to blasphemy. It also tried but failed to impress on us that John is just a lost and wandering soul until he found the visionary Yoko Ono and had his epiphany and the rest is history- All you need is love, bed- in and peace.

The cast some of them Broadway veterans in their own right did their best but were limited by the show’s shallow roles given to them. The Filipina Broadway veteran Julie Danao- Salkin (Rent, The Karaoke Show, Saturday Night Fever) who hails from Quezon City though is far too- sweet to do a convincing Yoko Ono. Then there is the attempt to elicit some laughs albeit with little success from the audience by portraying his nemesis and persecutor, the late FBI Boss J. Edgar Hoover in red high heels as well as casting a woman as Elton John and Ed Sullivan being played by a black man just to name a few. There was another instance where one cast member pretending to be Ringo Starr having a bout with diarrhea!

The musical whose songs were mostly lifted from his final album, “Double fantasy” took us in a not-so-magical mystery tour of John’s life complete with backdrops of his art works, significant persons and events in the course of his short life- from his birth in 1940 up to his death in the hands of Mark David Chapman outside the Dakota Building near Central Park on December 8, 1980 which was not shown but told by a police officer that was supposed to be the first one on the scene of the crime. John’s ode to his son, Sean- “Beautiful Boy” was sang impressively by Julia Murney and Marcy Harrell’s intense rendition of “Woman Is The Nigger Of The World.“ is worth noting. The Flower- power song “Give Peace A Chance” is as timeless as ever. Although Ms. Ono released two previously unpublished songs by John just for the production- “India, India” and “I Don‘t Want To Lose You“, still the two- hours and ten minutes musical lacks depth, flair and color.

Despite all its flaws and imperfections, Lennon the musical is still worth watching, $100+ (although I got mine for $50 bucks) notwithstanding. For the die- hard Lennon Fanatic in us, just to take us back in time and reminisce about the life of Popular Music’s foremost iconic figure is consolation enough but whether it will survive and stand the test of time in its current Broadway run is another story. There are some ups and downs but that is John’s life was all about- a rollercoaster ride.

The final cut says it all when the “Imagine” video was shown and there was the MAN and his VOICE and his MUSIC in black and white who touched most of every one of us throughout his life but sadly, the show come to think of it, tried more to entice us to listen to the version of HER STORY.
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August 2005