is still a good read, all things said. I just did the three Smiley books, and they’re everthing they always were. I’m tickled to have reread them.
There’s a good deal of subtlety in what those clever Circus folks did. I know there’s a lot more electronic shit going on now, and it has probably replaced the subtlety of that earlier time. But those skills, if you can develop them yourself, still work.
One of my favorite old Family Classics movies, I’d forgotten what a gazetteer of Hollywood it is. Everyone is in this, and I’mna tell you, some big ass names in bit parts. Frank sinatra is a piano player in a saloon for about thirty seconds. Red Skelton, a drunk in the same saloon. Finlay Currie. Noel Coward. Charles Boyer. Buster Keaton as a conductor! Joe E Brown. Peter Lorre. Marlene Dietrich. It’s a good movie just to watch and recognize the big players in bit parts.
Etta James has joined the Choir Invisible. Only a scant three days after Johnny Otis, who discovered her originally.
Who will be the third? Is this the warning klaxon? Are we about to hear the clip clopping of the Four?
Maybe I’m over reacting a tiny bit.
Still: She had an amazing talent, whatever else you can say about her. She hasn’t been able to hit those notes in a very long time, but man, when she could…..
Seeya Round, lady.
