Born Into This 2003
Documentary on Charles Bukowski, author of ‘Notes of a Dirty Old Man’, ‘Love Is a Dog from Hell’, and the autobiographical novels, ‘Women’, ‘Hollywood’, and ‘Post Office’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8Z1_pw0HeY
Edgar Allen Poe, Hart Crane, Willam Yeats 1916
Frank O’Hara, Bukowski, Ginsberg,
Omar Khayyam
Ezra Pound, Emily Dickenson, Sylvia Plath, Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva
Every one of them considered mad to write poetry.
My madness find me on the George Washington Bridge
Resisting the urge to fly
Hart Crane
On USS Orizaba
His supposed last words
To his sailor assassins
‘Good-bye everyone.”
Some other people prefer this ending.
“Fuck you. I’ll show you courage.”
He hung his jacket on the railing and jumped overboard.
Into the Gulf of Mexico.
Fcuk you indeed.
Classic Poetic Dysleixa in honor of a poet lost at sea.
These glorious insults are from an era when cleverness with words was still valued, before a great portion of the English language got boiled down to four-letter words.
The exchange between Churchill and Lady Astor: She said, “If you were my husband I’d give you poison.” and he said, “If you were my wife, I’d drink it.”
A member of Parliament to Disraeli: “Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.”
“That depends, Sir,” said Disraeli, “Whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.”
“He had delusions of adequacy.” “ Walter Kerr.
“He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.“ Winston Churchill
A modest little person, with much to be modest about.“ Winston Churchill
“I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. “Clarence Darrow
“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”“ William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).
“Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?“ Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
“Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I’ll waste no time reading it.“ Moses Hadas
“He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know.“ Abraham Lincoln
“I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.“ Mark Twain
“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.“ Oscar Wilde
“I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend…. if you have one.“ George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
“Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second¦ if there is one.“ Winston Churchill, in response.
“I feel so miserable without you; it’s almost like having you here.“ Stephen Bishop
“He is a self-made man and worships his creator.“ John Bright
“I’ve just learned about his illness. Let’s hope it’s nothing trivial.“ Irvin S. Cobb
“He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others.”“ Samuel Johnson
“He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.“ Paul Keating
“There’s nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won’t cure.” Jack E. Leonard
“He has the attention span of a lightning bolt.“ Robert Redford
“They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge.”“ Thomas Brackett Reed
“In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily.“ Charles, Count Talleyrand
“He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.“ Forrest Tucker
“Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?“ Mark Twain
“His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.“ Mae West
“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.“ Oscar Wilde
“He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts¦ for support rather than illumination.“ Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
“He has Van Gogh’s ear for music.“ Billy Wilder
“I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it.“ Groucho Marx
Last night I watched Wim Wenders AMERICAN FRIEND 1976. I hadn’t seen it in almost a half- century. Six years later as a semi -fugitive from New York I ended up there working at. nightclub BSIRs. Back then the DJ Henri Flesh and I roamed the city looking for the film’s locations. I’m presently rewriting my 1997 unpublished novel ALMOST A DEAD MAN set in Hamburg. Very noir about a black Reeperbahn pimp, a dominatrix and an Irish thug. I haven’t ever been back to Hamburg, as my life there was more like then Art. Still it was good to see the Elbe and 1976. Great film with. Bruno Ganz and Dennis Hopper.
On Criterion
The afternoon sun hovered over the distant mountains and Sean checked the Inferno Bar’s clock.
The hands were stuck on 10:24 and the bartender said, “It’s been broke for years. The regulars like that time. Mid-morning or three hours till closing.”
Sean held out his hand to the gap between the sun and the shining peaks.
“I reckon it’s for about 5 O’clock.”
“Sun sets around 8 this time of year.”
“Three more hours of sunlight then.”
AK tapped his shoulder.
“What’s up?”
“Take a look.”
The early evening rush of hard-faced farmers in dirty overalls crowded the Inferno Lounge. They sat with a weariness born from decades of hard labor. Johnny Cash’s version of SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN was on the jukebox.
From BACK AND FORTH – a novel – hitchhiking across the USA 1974. A different world than now.
ps I can’t find any mention of the Inferno Lounge on Google.