The Movies

 When did film-exhibition begin? I know! I saw the plaque in New York City yesterday:

Imminent Stardom

I like seeing actors popular now performing at the beginning of their careers. In 2005 British TV (BBC) did a series of modern interpretations of Shakespeare's plays ("ShakespeaRe-Told") and the cast in one is greatly amusing ("Much Ado About Nothing").

I recently binge-d all five seasons of "Lucifer" which stars Tom Ellis. He plays a terrific, distinctive character. Seeing Ellis fifteen years ago -- young as a tyro, impossibly clean-shaven, with different hair-style and accent -- is shocking. Ellis was just starting out then and is paired in the show with Billie Piper, immediately before she became a star in "Doctor Who." Billie later led "Secret Diary of a Call Girl." You also spot Olivia Colman who's the current Queen Elizabeth II in "The Crown" after appearing in the successful "Fleabag."

Stardom was right around the corner for these three but, at the time, they didn't know it. Fascinating to watch them at this juncture.

Soupy Sales

If you're old, you might remember Soupy Sales. Soupy had a children's TV show back in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies. It was popular and broadcast live from New York.

Soupy was usually described as "kooky." A comedian, he was innately silly, often bordering on surreal (like when he brought Alice Cooper onto his show in 1979). Soupy told stories, jokes and sang songs. At least once each show he or someone else would get hit in the face with a cream-pie. Humor like that appeals to kids.

But Soupy also had an edge. If you were an adult, you picked up on it. Like later Pee-Wee Herman, Soupy was winkingly irreverent. That audacity led him to pull the greatest prank in television history.

In 1965, Soupy was forced to work on New Year's Day. He wasn't happy about it so he did something unscripted on his live show. He told his television audience (children) that their parents were probably still in bed sleeping off New Year's Eve. He encouraged them to go into mommy's pocketbook, pull out some of "the green paper there with pictures of men with beards," stuff it in an envelope and send it to "Soupy Sales, Channel 5, New York, New York."

You can guess what happened. 

A week later Soupy was summoned into the TV network's executive offices. When he arrived, he was shown into a room full of agitated vice presidents and lawyers. They asked if he did what they heard he had done. (Some parents complained.) He said yes. They asked how much money he received in the mail. He said $80,000. That's the equivalent of $1 Million today.

The network suspended him for five days and instructed him to donate the money to charity, which he did. For the rest of his career, Soupy loved re-telling this story.

Soupy, born Milton Supman, lived to age 83. He died a decade ago and is buried about an hour from me. I plan to visit his grave soon and, out of respect, will leave some "green paper" on his tombstone.

Have you heard of Soupy? If not, you can catch videos of his show on YouTube.

Miss America

The best writing published these days appears in The New Yorker. In the current issue, there's a book review on the subject of beauty pageants that contains exceptionally smart, entertaining prose. Link here.

The subject is ripe for examination because pageants reflect a society's culture. You see this in how the Miss America competition emerged in 1921, later changed and then changed again. Contrasting the event with Miss U.S.A., its tawdry cousin, enlightens even further.

Tidbits from the review:

- "Pageants, commingling ideology and entertainment, offered something extra—the French-braided forces of patriarchy, capitalism, and racism."

- "At its peak, in the nineteen-sixties and seventies, Miss America attracted more than two-thirds of the country’s television viewers. The annual telecast, culminating with Bert Parks, the m.c., crooning “There She Is,” amounted to a minor late-summer holiday, a reunion of the intact but dysfunctional American family. Boys learned how to watch girls, and girls learned how to watch boys watching girls."

- "Miss America still commands attention, rivalling perhaps only major-league baseball in outsized nostalgia-based influence."

What are your thoughts on beauty pageants? Did you ever participate in one?

Lotus Evora GT

I've been debating which new car to buy for too long; it's time to make a decision and I have. I'll pull the trigger as soon as a garage I'm building is finished this year. I hope to be in new wheels by Spring.

My passion for McLaren's super-cars is deep but my confidence in the company got shook this year: McLaren almost went bankrupt and was rescued at the last minute by financing from the government bank of Bahrain. Yes, Bahrain, the Kingdom in the Persian Gulf. That dampened my enthusiasm for purchasing an expensive, long-term product from the company. I need a manufacturer to be around in a decade when I need new parts.

The other obvious option is Porsche 911. I acknowledge, as I must, that Porsche is one of the finest cars ever made. Superbly engineered, super-reliable. But... it just doesn't excite me. I'm not attracted to its design. And the car is so common: I see a dozen every day. Boring.

So, what's left? 

Lotus. A company in England that hand-crafts a small number of exotic sports cars. Lotus has racing pedigree and history in Formula One competition.

Lotus automobiles are truly exotic: fewer than 300 are sold in North America. In my lifetime, I've only seen one of the road -- and I live in a neighborhood where Porsches, Lamborghinis and Ferraris pass by daily. 

The model I'm going to buy is the 2021 Evora GT. Its high price may seem an indulgence but, compared to Lotus' new Evija, the car is a bargain: the Evija costs $2.3 Million.

Why am I choosing Lotus? Read these reviews and you'll see how well it suits me:

Car & Driver: "It's a special machine for the hard core. Alive in your hands. Analog in a digital world. And we mean that in the best possible sense."

Automobile: "The Evora GT is no somber experience, rather being a carnival of speed and noise....The Porsche is talented and the Corvette C8 should be as well, but nothing drives like a Lotus....The new Evora GT may be a little irrational and a little expensive, but driving it is one of the few unique experiences left in our rapidly digital motoring world."

Jalopnik: "The Evora GT is a track weapon that fits into most overhead storage bins and happens to be street legal....The car’s a little rough around the edges, unforgiving, and effectively the gold standard of truly extreme driver-focused performance."

Jalopnik: "It’s not meant for the masses, really. It’s for a very specific kind of buyer, someone who appreciates the craftsmanship at work here and doesn’t want to be in something as ubiquitous as a Porsche."

The Lotus can do 188 mph and, yes, it has a stick. As soon as it arrives, I'll give you a ride. You can come with me on a sedate cruise through the neighborhood or a wild adventure at the track (NJ Motorsports). Oh, and I'm naming the car "Bitcoin." :)

Family

Have you ever noticed how family members look alike?

In Requiem

 I'm blue. I'm not good with loss.

Thirty five years ago I moved into my current home. At that time and up until yesterday, there was a huge maple tree in the front yard, protecting the residence from the outside world. The tree was majestic and had interesting bark. It lived not only there but in my imagination.

Yesterday it fell. The storm last week cracked a major branch and, in removing it, the tree company said the entire tree has to come down, so it did. Now, there's just empty space where the tree once stood. It feels surreal. And there's no barrier to stop outside marauders from invading my home.

*sigh* At least I still have this picture I took with Holga a few months ago.

Are there any trees in your life?