The Writer's Life: The Writer's Life 10/4

Last night I watched I Married a Witch (1942), courtesy of Netflix. These days the pleasant, light comedy is distinguished only by its director, Frenchman Rene Clair, working in Hollywood after having fled the Nazis, and the presence of two great beauties, Brooklyn girls Veronica Lake and Susan Hayward. Each reached the pinnacle of Tinsel-Town success and died young. Lake's career faded rather quickly. Born Constance Ockelman, less than five feet tall, she knew her success was due chiefly to her beauty, specifically her Peekaboo look. She is quoted as saying: "You could put all the talent I had into your left eye and still not suffer from impaired vision." She drank hard, married four times, and had four kids. When Marlon Brando, a former lover, heard she was tending bar, he sent her a check for a thousand bucks. She never cashed it, keeping it framed and hanging in the bar. She died of hepatitis at 50. Here's a pic:

Hayward, born Edythe Marriner, is one of my favorites, the epitome of the full-figured mature woman men, especially young ones, dream about. Although she won an Oscar and was nominated for Best Actress four other times, I believe she is under-rated, her name rarely mentioned among the greats. She wed twice, her first marriage producing twin sons. Her second was happy, and she mourned for five years when her husband died. She herself died at 57 from brain cancer. It has been speculated that she was exposed to radioactive toxins while filming The Conqueror (1957) in Utah. Fellow cast members John Wayne, Agnes Moorehead, John Hoyt, Pedro Armendarez and director Dick Powell all eventually succumbed to the disease. Here is a quote attributed to her: "My life is fair game for anybody. I spent an unhappy, penniless childhood in Brooklyn. I had to slug my way up in a town called Hollywood where people love to trample you to death. I don't relax because I don't know how. I don't want to know how. Life is too short to relax." One of the floating book shop's regular customers, Herbie, is frustrated at being unable to find her biography. I hope to someday surprise him with it. Here's a pic of Heyward:

It's throwback Friday. Last night Utah State's Nick Vigil, a sophomore, played both offense and defense. He rushed 16 times for 59 yards, and made nine tackles from his spot at linebacker in his team's upset of #18 BYU. Kudos, young man. Back in the day, we used to call it "going both ways," before that term took on another connotation. (Facts culled from IMDb)

Ever have one of those days when music sounds especially good? That was the case today. I visited my buddy Bags and we watched excerpts from a 1984 Deep Purple concert and one of Pink Floyd from 1994. I just wrote down the notes of Ritchie Blackmore's riff on Knockin' at Your Back Door, which I found at guitartab.com. It's not the way he plays it, but the melody is right. The Floyd tracks were unbelievable, musically and visually, especially Comfortably Numb, on which David Gilmour soared, performing as well as any musician is capable. And when I got into the car for the ten-minute ride home, the quality continued: Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová's beautiful ballad, Falling Slowly, Eva Cassidy's chilling rendition of Fever, and the super funky B 52's Good Stuff, a song that proves one can dance while seated.
So I didn't make any money today -- so what!

Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/rP7o9

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/