Tawdry Talk

June 30th-BATMAN (1966)
July 7th-GODZILLA-FINAL WARS (2004)
July 14th-FOXY BROWN (1974)
July 21st- DEATHRACE 2000 (1975)
July 28th-PIRANHA
August 4th-Rock-n-Roll All Night Trash Til Dawn!!!

http://trashfilmorgy.com/

It’s funny how those four words can provoke such a happy response in me. I suppose it’s because of who said them. Darwin is going to be picking me up at the Sacramento Valley Station, and I can’t wait to give him his gift, as well as see my mom at the skilled nursing facility where she’s recuperating from her hip replacement surgery, and go to do some work on the satellite receivers at KTBV-CA. About the only thing I’m not going to be doing is going to TFO this time, as Trash Til Dawn is my least favorite show - I’m just not a big all-nighter anymore, and really, this will be the first chance I’ve had to spend the night with Darwin… hmm, stay the night with 300 moviegoers or with the ultra-hot and sexy Darwin? Decisions, decisions.

I have been playing with contrast lately, and here are some pics I took with my phone’s camera:

(more…)

Wow.

I’m still amazed at the magic of the weekend.

Saturday morning started like any other, with a client at 1100. I then hastily packed up my laptop and some clothing, and headed down to Civic Center BART, riding out to Richmond, where I bought my tickets on the Capitol Corridor to Sacramento. While on the train, I decided to splurge a little, so I had a turkey sandwich and a gin and tonic from the club car. Ah, the bliss of London-style gin.

I wrote my monthly newsletter, had a fun conversation about my phone with another passenger, took a tiny nap, all the while enjoying the view of the Sacramento River delta wetlands, the farmlands, and towns. During the ride, I made a phone call to this hot daddybear I’ve been chatting up online, left a voicemail to let him know that I was going to be available for lunch the next day. He lives in Sacramento, and we’ve been trying to find the time to meet.

Once in Sacramento, I made note of the construction going on at the station. An extension of the Sacramento Regional Transit’s light rail system is being built to connect to Amtrak. They two rail systems will share a boarding platform, making it even more convenient for people like me to get from here to there. As it is now, I have to walk 6 blocks from Amtrak to Light Rail, and in the swelter of Sacramento’s summer, that’s not very fun. The extension should be completed by fall.

So, I’m checking in to the Motel 6 on 30th and N streets, about 30 blocks from the train station, asking the clerk where the nearest wi-fi access is. She tells me the Starbucks across the street, which I already knew, so I clarify and ask her for the nearest _free_ access. She doesn’t know, so I’ll have to explore that at another time. I know that there are nearby access points, though.

In the room, I immediately strip off my clothes and hop in the shower to cool off. 30 minutes later, I’ve stripped off the bedspread, pulled back the blanket and top sheet, and am laying on the bed, resting my eyes for tonight’s show when the phone rings. It’s that sexy daddybear, calling me back. Since I have two hours before I have to be at the theater for the Trash Film Orgy load-in, he asks me if I’d like to have dinner with him. He’ll be there in 40 minutes to pick me up.

He calls me when he’s down at the curb, and I make a last check in the mirror, a quick brush of the beard and mustache, and head down to meet him. My heart has sped up anticipating the moment. And I approach him as he stands next to his pick-up truck, his silver-white hair shining in the sun. As we shake hands, he reaches behind his back with his left hand and offers me a perfect gardenia, my favorite flower. I utterly melt.

There’s no way he could have known that gardenias are my favorite flower, but I thank him for it and take a deep whiff of its perfume, and all my nervousness is gone. I take that as a sign from my intuition to stay focused and present with him. But it’s his eyes: clear blue as the mountain sky. They startle me with their intensity, and he commands my attention with them. So I get into the passenger side of the truck from the door he’s offered me, and I unlock and open his door for him as I reach across the cab while he walks around the bed of the truck.

Still sniffing the gardenia, I talk with him about this and that. He’s definitely in charge, though, and I find myself defering to him without even having to think about it. He’s a man in his early fifties, and just has that way about him of commanding respect without saying a word.

We went to Original Pete’s for dinner, and had more conversation and a pizza. The time just flowed by, and I kept finding myself getting lost in his eyes. The whites of his eyes are like snow, and they glow with an intense fire.

After dinner, he drove me over to the theater, and we agreed to meet Sunday morning for breakfast.

The show was fun, I did a few chases that I hadn’t ever done before on the lights, and everyone seemed to have a good time. I walked to Darin and Christy’s house after the show, then walked to the motel, and got to bed by 0500.

At 1020, my sister, Erica, called me, waking me from deep sleep. Which turned out to be a good thing, because I was supposed to call him after 10. At 1130, he came and picked me up, and we were wearing the same brand and style of shirt, his black and mine white. He presented me with another gardenia, this one in one of those glass vials that you put a single cut flower in to keep it fresh. I am looking at it right now as I write these words. Anyway, we went to Crepeville for breakfast, whose menu looks dead-on like the Crepevine menu here in Frank-baby.

He didn’t like my Audrey Hepburn sunglasses, though. Remember, I found this pair of Steve Madden sunglasses at the Marin Headlands back in May? Well, they didn’t really flatter my face, but I figured that I found them so I might as well wear them. A good thing I did, too… He took me to the Downtown Plaza mall, and after stopping in Sunglass Hut, we then went to Macy’s men’s store and found a pair of Kenneth Cole Reaction glasses that he and I both liked, and he bought them for me. But he stipulated that since I had found the other pair, I had to leave them somewhere for someone else to find. So near one of the fountains in the mall’s plaza, I left them semi-conspicuously in a planter. I hope whoever finds them enjoys them and that they don’t end up in the Lost and Found.

After that, it was time for me to catch my train back to Frank-baby, so he dropped me off at the station, and that breathless kiss seemed to go on forever. It’s a good thing that next weekend is “Meet the Feebles” at TFO, else I’d have to find some other excuse to go back to Sacramento.

Tender Flesh, the 1997 Jesus “Jess” Franco sexploitation flick has been release by Shock-O-Rama Cinema as a double feature with Lust for Frankenstein. I’ve got a brand-new copy of it here, still in its wrapper. Does anyone want it? What would you do for them? The most creative, lurid, tawdry description will win the prize! Post your entry in reply to this topic over at trashfilmorgy.com, and when a week has gone by with no entries, I’ll announce the winner, and mail you your DVD!!!

Here’s a shot of my halloween makeup from last week’s Trash Film Orgy…

The whir of Amy’s computer is my only company after tonight’s Trash Film Orgy Halloween Zombie Prom. The screening of Prom Night, “the most foolish thing we’ve ever attempted” musical version of MacBeth with live singing, the dating Do’s and Don’ts film remix, and the Prom Itself in the lobby and on the DJ Junior dance floor in the main house. The Crest Theater is a beautiful venue, and I was floored at how many people really got into the prom spirit, with tuxedoes and suits and gowns a predominant theme.

But it was MacBeth that beautifully rocked tonight. I love it when the stars align, people get into the collective zone, and things just flow together. For me, having the green gels on their cans made me dial in so much more. The witches in the jungle was much more moody and controlled, and I could use all the various scenes without having to think about which scenes I couldn’t use because they contained green. The first night’s performance was much more a shakedown.

The combat scenes move much more smoothly, the singing was more tight and powerful, and the dialogue more clear and commanded more attention from the audience. Roy’s combat choreography is really getting groovy, and when Miles is in the zone as El Tigre Diablo, the way he was tonight, he makes Darin’s words come alive.

One thing I definitely want to do more of at the tech rehearsals, though, is have some more singing rehearsal. One of the things that Amy mentioned today was how if someone could go and give the chorus a bit of breathing instruction that their perfomances would be stronger. The short singing coaching I did with them really made a good difference. There was a noticeable improvement in all of their performances. It was so noticeable, that Gary actually asked me up in the booth if we had replaced any of the singers, because of how much stronger they were singing. Good breath support works.

I’m not a huge fan of tonight’s movie itself, but Carrie rocked. When Sony found out that we had reel to reel projectors, they sent us a pristine print, nearly virgin. Seeing DePalma’s amazing prom scenes on the big screen was breathtaking, especially watching Amy Irving’s performance. The movie was simply magical in its symmetry and graceful line.

Well, the shows are over for the time being, but we gathered a new batch of young volunteers that want to get involved, and I predict that the Spring’s shows are going to be even more elaborate and creative.

The bed awaits, and then the train ride home. I feel so much more emotionally energized, and can’t wait to channel that wonderful feeling into my work this week!

Instead of going to my Square Dance class Tuesday night, I boarded the Capitol Corridor to Sacramento to attend the Trash Film Orgy’s Halloween Show Rehearsal. I’m the lighting director for the show, and this year’s live show promises to be one of the most complex and amazing shows yet. In addition to screening Carrie on Sunday, and Prom Night on Monday nights, we are staging a live musical version of The Scottish Play!

After the rehearsal, Amy and I went to go do some guerrila marketing by passing out flyers to the crowd exiting some punk rock show. The crowd was decidedly small, though, and the management of the club was harrassing us, so we took off and got some Del Taco, then headed to her house, where I crashed out, at first on her couch, but that was too small, so I ended up sleeping on the floor instead. That was pretty good, really.

covered in pig’s blood
her scarlet dirty pillows
jut from silky gown