tomversation

Harold Lloyd, Master Comedian

I bought this book on Harold Lloyd called “Master Comedian.” Harold was one of the top three comedians in the silent film era along with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. The book has such great stories of his life, his time in the movies and there are so many great pictures. The cover has a still of the famous clock scene, which I’m sure you have seen some time in your life.

I always read that Harold did his own stunts, there is another famous scene where the front facade of a house falls on him and he’s standing there and the windows go through his body, protecting him from the fall. (Correction – that was Buster Keaton). When I saw that the clock scene from the 1923 film, “Safety Last,” was “not real” in that he wasn’t hanging from a building as shown, that was only partially true, check it out here. He was hanging from a building, in Los Angeles, just not the way I had always thought. So this iconic scene that’s stuck in my head was sort of real and all done by Harold himself.

lloyd1 lloyd2

lloyd3 — This 1923 story from the Boston Post explains the stunt.

lloyd4 Harold Lloyd was an excellent comedian and filmmaker. The book explains how he came up with gags for the films and explains what a great businessman he was.

Also, his famous 44-room estate, “Green Acres,” is a part of the book. The house is part of Hollywood legend. And his eye glasses, the book explains why he started wearing them, which ended up becoming his famous trademark.

Warhol estates sues over Prince image

warhol2 Speaking of Andy Warhol (see the post below), I saw in the New York Daily News that the estate of Andy Warhol is suing a photographer before the photographer sues the Warhold estate.

Seems that in 1981, Warhol allegedly swipped an image of Prince and made it into a Warhol painting. Didn’t he do that often? I know he mostly took polaroids of people and then had them blown up and silk screened the image into usually four images, all the same but with different color schemes.

I read in the Andy Warhol Diaries that celebs would want their “portraits” done and Andy would try to sell them in foursomes, rather than twosomes, which many celebs wanted. If I remember right, they were $25,000 for each image, so of course, he would want to sell them as a foursome. All silk screened work – nice work if you can get it!

warhol3

Getting art (and comics) done

warhol

I posted this on Instagram, I had seen it somewhere online. It’s true. It reminds me of comics and comic strips, they need to be pumped out every day, almost like an assembly line in order to meet deadlines. But even though they are “pumped out,” they are still art.

I am still waiting for a certain platform to be completed so that I can start posting daily comics. They delay is killing me, but I am getting a backlog of comics done, so at least I’ll be able to meet those daily deadlines when the time comes. So like Andy Warhol says, “get the art done.” I am doing that. I’m just not getting them published!

I had hoped for a start date of January 1, it’s already past April 1, hopefully I’ll get things going by May 1! Thanks for sticking with me. 🙂

Sounds from the past

When I was writing the previous post about things that will soon disappear, it reminded me of sounds that are gone. Ever think of that – things you don’t hear anymore? When was the last time you heard an old fashioned telephone ring or even the sound that a rotary dial makes? You can hear it on cell phones as a mock ring, but what about the real thing? What about a busy signal? You don’t hear them often if at all.

What about the ding of a typewriter, when did you last hear that? And think about a printed newspaper being read; the quiet crinkle of the pages. Almost a thing of that past. The sound of chalk on a blackboard is probably a thing of the past. And the ding of a cash register as it opens. What about the flapping sound that was made at the end of a reel of film on a projector – and the projector sound itself.

There is a museum of endangered sounds. It’s a website, where you click on the image of items and you hear them! The sound of AOL dial-up starting up brings chills to my spine, I don’t know why. Sounds trigger memories like smell does.

One day I was lying out at the beach and every other minute it seemed that a plane flew overhead and I thought of what it might have been like years ago without that. Imagine the world 100 or more years ago. There was no sound of planes flying overhead or leaf blowers or lawn mowers or air conditioners or things like that. Life was peaceful, albeit it probably stank of horse manure every time you went out on the streets. But you would hear the sound of a babbling brook or horse shoes clopping on the ground or the wind blowing. There wasn’t much noise pollution 100 years ago.

Things that will soon disappear

paper_check Kipplinger has an article, actually, an annoying slide show, which lists 10 things that will soon disappear forever and 7 things that refuse to die. I still use some of those things that refuse to die, sort of like the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

The penny, I like it; the fax, I pay bills with it and checks, which I use to pay bills, maybe one bill a month, but I still need the checkbook for that. All the rest are paid online. Or by fax. I do use the fax online, I got rid of my home phone, which I only kept all these years for my one or two faxes a montht that I send, but now I use an online fax service and was able to drop the landline at home.

And one thing I’m not happy about losing, my internet privacy.

Here is the list.

Betsey Johnson just wants to have fun

10 With Tom
10 questions in 10 minutes

I had the honor of interviewing fashion icon Betsey Johnson. Betsey made a stop at Macys at Boca Town Center in Boca Raton, Florida, to promote the premiere of TLC’s Say Yes to the Prom hosted by Betsey and Monte Durham premiering on April 1. It’s a 90 minutes special, which is a TLC tradition where the network partners with Macy’s to help make prom dreams come true.

TOM: I just saw a tv show recently about you and your daughter, I can’t remember what it was, I think it was CBS Sunday morning. I’m a man who knows nothing about fashion, and I know you, what’s it like being an American icon?

BETSEY: Great, I guess! I don’t really consider myself that, but I can tell you that to become appreciated for what you do you need to work hard and create a following. The word icon just comes over time, the happiness comes from your fans. I love my fans, they keep me going!

TOM: They said your fashion shows are like a three ring circus but there has to be some part you don’t like. What’s your least favorite part of your own fashion shows?

BETSEY: I have no least favorite part. I used to be afraid of critics in the audience but now I feel they love and support me. The whole process of a fashion show is pure fun to me!

TOM: I know you do a lot of the hand-drawn art yourself at the shows and there are DJ’s. Do you choose the music yourself?

BETSEY: Not backstage, I’m too busy running around getting everything ready to make the playlist. Up front, I work with a very skilled musical talent to create the music for the runway. Backstage it is just fun and free to start the party!

TOM: Your signature move is a cartwheel. When was the last time you did a cartwheel?

BETSEY: Not that long ago, but these days I lean more towards the splits which are easy peasy. Cartwheels make me a little afraid because I never know what I’m cartwheeling on and what will happen on that surface.I do love doing them so I will every now and then.

TOM: What was Andy Warhol like?

BETSEY: Quiet. A man of few words. Sweet, gentle and private.

TOM: What’s the secret to your success?

BETSEY: Lots of hard work, but most of all luck! And being nice to everyone you meet.

TOM: Favorite decade? Why?

BETSEY: By far the 60s! And for so many reasons, The Beatles, The Stones, Dylan, the moon, pantyhose and all the geniuses that were around during that time.

TOM: At what point did you realize you were famous?

BETSEY: Today, actually! At the airport I’ve never had so many fans come up to meet me. I’ve never taken so many selfies! I’m always surprised when I remember I’m a little bit famous.

TOM: What song would be the theme of your life. I think I can guess.

BETSEY: “I did it my way.”

TOM: In my mind, it was “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!”

TOM: Please tell me about Say Yes to the Prom, is that similar to the tv show Say Yes to the Dress?

BETSEY: Similar, but so much better since it is so wonderfully charitable! It has been such an honor to work with all the kiddos picking out outfits (especially the ones that are super pink, puffy and sparkly) for their big day. It makes me happy making so many kids happy.

TOM: Thank you Betsey, good luck with the show!

Better call . . . your friends

Wish I was in NY this week. They’re having a two-day pop up of Los Pollos Hermanos, that’s the chicken restaurant from Breaking Bad and now Better Call Saul. The whole thing is a promo for the upcoming season of Saul, which starts April 10, the pop-up is at 243 Pearl Street on April 9 and 10 only.

This season, the restaurant owner and drug lord Gus Fring will be popping up on Better Call Saul, a prequil to Breaking Bad.

Not sure what type of food they will have in a the popup. In Austin, TX where the first of three debuted during SXSW, they had breakfast tacos, burritos, burgers and curly fries, no chicken though. The third stop other than Austin and NY is Los Angeles.

A few years ago, the Seinfeld apartment set was set up in New York in a storefront, on 14th Street, right near the Underline. I never got inside because the lines for the couple of days event was an hour or two, or more. I did see the apartment from the glass plate window though. It was the actual set, not a duplicate. Very cool. It was Jerry’s living room and kitchen and you could see the bathroom and hallway in the background as you would have seen it on tv. It was some sort of promo for Hulu I think, that was promoting it’s airing of the show.

Visiting Lincoln Road Antique Market

I visited the Lincoln Road Antique Market the other day. It’s held about twice a month on South Beach (Miami) Florida from October until May. The season is almost over.

Happy Birthday Wonder Woman

H. G. Peter’s original illustration of Wonder Woman (c. 1941).

Lynda Carter 1975

Wendy Williams as her favorite comic character.

Wonder Woman is 75 this year! Lynda Carter will always be Wonder Woman to me, but she was created in 1941 by Dr. William Moulton Marston.

H. G. Peter’s original illustration of Wonder Woman wrote a note to Marston, which said, “I slapped these two out in a hurry. The eagle is tough to handle – when in perspective or in profile, he doesn’t show up clearly – the shoes look like a stenographer’s. I think the idea might be incorporated as a sort of Roman contraption.”

Marston responded: “I think the gal with hand up is very cute. I like her skirt, legs, hair. Bracelets okay + boots. …” and the rest is history.

My Stories on Instagram

instagram-tomversation I told you about VideoCam, my favorite new app. That still is my favorite, but I’ve also been playing around with Facebook live and doing live videos and now I’ve gotten into the Story thingie on Instagram. It’s supposed to be like Snapchat, but I could never get into Snapchat, but I’m really enjoying Instagram’s Story feature where you add short videos which disappear in 24 hours.

I’ve been showing some of my upcoming comics and the work I’ve been doing getting my Tomversation comic ready for publication. You can join me at Instagram.com/Tomversation and if you follow me, you’ll get to see the Story videos when I post them. You have to follow on a cell phone, it doesn’t work on a computer or ipad, that’s the nature of Instagram.