Is Connecting The Dots Like Nap Time?

If You Just Let Me Survive This Black-Out, Oh Lord, I Promise To Never Again Shout Profanities At My Dishwasher
Having just experienced a harrowing two-hour black-out, it has come to me that the unexpected can occur at any time, even unexpectedly. It is true the black-out occurred before it got dark outside, but an intelligent mind instantly sees numerous possible scenarios, in fact, this is precisely the sort of thing for which we intelligent people have been known to receive criticism. Yet can we really close our eyes to the possibility that the lights would never come back on again, ever? That for the rest of our lives the people living in my apartment building might be cursed to live without electricity? What a nightmare - but the lights have returned, and I see now, it's time to get my affairs in order before it's too late. I've even started up a brand new pot of Marley Coffee (unbelievable coffee) - should the black-out be planning a return visit with us, at least I can get in a pot of coffee between crises.

One Person's Secret Word Is Another Person's Magic Word
So here's the thing I should pass along ASAP so as to avoid any risk of a particular possible secret dying with me: I may have had a hand in Paul Reubens adopting the name of one of his characters, Pee Wee Herman, as his official showbiz identity (I refer to his official showbiz identity prior to that incident when he, well, apparently, had his hand in something):

1. Paul Reubens, Tim Burton and myself all attended CalArts at the same time during the '70s, and knew many of the same people there. For a while I was friendly with a girl at CalArts who later worked for Tim Burton on "Beetlejuice", and who was hanging around at CalArts with Paul Reubens at one point. It is a matter of record that Paul Reubens' big movie, "Pee Wee's Big Adventure," was directed by Tim Burton, though I was surprised when Burton stated in an interview that they first met when that movie was being put together, which would put it at a point in time after they attended CalArts. And no mention was made by Burton that they had even both attended the same school.

2. A few years after graduation, in 1980, I sent to a (different) former friend, who was also a friend of Paul Reubens', my short story, "Sigmund Freud's Favorite Patient" (a key part to be excerpted momentarily). This former friend was later an influence on Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas" (as was I). His influence was the part when they're all hunting for the mayor, Jack, by shouting his name over and over. Back at CalArts in the '70s, this person had enjoyed poking fun at the friends of someone we knew named Jack, mimicking them by calling Jack over and over. The similarity to fellow CalArts alum Burton's film's characters and their manner of shouting "Jack! Jaaa-aaack!" would be unmistakable to you if you had been there.

3. In 1982, Paul Reubens, who had not yet made Pee Wee Herman his official showbiz identity, was in a scene in a movie, "Pandemonium," with Tom Smothers, which I will be excerpting momentarily in a videoclip. This scene has something very much in common with the one I will momentarily be excerpting from my Freud short story.

4. In 1987 I copyrighted my Freud story with the U.S. Library of Congress, as part of a self-printed collection of my stories, "Inventing Air". I had previously self-printed it in 1982 as a story in my semi-novel, "The Coin That Came In Second" ("Coin" later to become a section within "Inventing Air"), and prior to that, in January 1981, I self-printed the story (slightly different draft) in "Mysteries of the Cosmic Boot." I posted "The Coin That Came In Second" at Archive.Org in June 2007.

5. In 1999 Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder were in a movie entitled, "Girl Interrupted." This movie title was quite similar to the title of another story from my "Coin That Came In Second" (only 10 pages away from the Freud short story): "Man Without Interruption". One of Winona Ryder's earliest starring roles in a movie was in Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice".

6. The name most frequently associated with Johnny Depp, throughout the world, is: Tim Burton. This is because Depp has worked with Burton in so many of Burton's movies.

7. In 2010, Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp were in a scene in the movie, "The Tourist," that has something very much in common with the previously referred-to scenes in my Freud short story and in the Paul Reubens movie. To be excerpted in a videoclip momentarily.

8. In general, I have often been an influence (occasionally a significant influence) on the work of Tim Burton, and have also found myself to be an influence on the work of Johnny Depp, with my Depp influence not being limited to Burton films.

9. Videoclip, including the aforementioned scene from "The Tourist" and the aforementioned scene from "Pandemonium":



10. The aforementioned scene from my short story, "Sigmund Freud's Favorite Patient":

“I see, said Sigmund. “I see, I see… your name’s wrong.”

“It is not! My parents gave me that!”

“Of course, but what I mean is, well, let me put it plainly. You must change your name. Change it at once, I tell you!” said Sigmund.

Egbert slowly unclenched his fists. “How about if I change it to, oh, what do you say to Jimmy Mocassin?”

11. Though one may often enough come upon scenes where people decide to change their name, one would have far more difficulty locating scenes that share the more specific similarity to which I refer. For in these three instances, the humor derives from the idea that the subject should be so over-willing to suddenly make a change to his name, simply because it should be the just-stated wish of the person they are with. And I would further be making the point that it should be looked upon as significant that these three remarkably similar instances should directly regard Reubens, Depp and myself.

YOU KNOW MY NAME

UP UP AND
There are a number of things I've blogged in the past regarding the TV show, "Smallville", of which I've been a big fan, and a big secret influence as well, in addition to being someone who is quite glad they didn't need to kill Superman off in the final episode. Not being a film critic, I will not go into further detail on the many other things in the series finale which I also found to be great.

So that my first blog article following their series finale is totally up, or upbeat, or coasting along, or bouncing around, or not a downer, or to be specific, to avoid touching on everything under the sun, I have considerably narrowed things down here (with the possible exception of my including these "Up Up And" paragraphs).

AND AWAY
Let me begin, with regard to the series finale of "Smallville" the day before yesterday (Friday, 5.13.11), that I have been saying right along that Clark Kent is really Superman, yet could not get one person to believe me. I will not blame this failure to get across so basic a point on the company I keep, but will instead in the future work harder to become more articulate in expressing how I come to my conclusions.

The following videoclip contains parts of two scenes from the "Smallville" series finale, and are presented with my prerequisite (or postrequisite, or no requisite, what do I care) that it be seen in relation to the previous time I discussed "Smallville", which was my 4.23.11 blog article ("If You Look Closely You Can See The Sun", in the section entitled, "When Last Blurry", the 4-15-11 Smallville related videoclip there being the more relevant here). The particular thing to bear in mind today is that my "Uncle's Dream" video (at archive.org), which I am contending is connected with this series finale, was shot at The Beresford in New York City (to be elaborated on following this videoclip):



Both the "Smallville" episode clip and the "Uncle's Dream" clip regard parent/child situations, most particularly extreme situations, where one feels the parent to be well beyond their boundaries in the affect they have on the life of their offspring. In "Smallville", Lionel Luthor wishes to take the heart of his daughter Tess, to implant it into a composite clone of Lex Luthor, Lex being in need of a heart. In "Uncle's Dream", slightly less serious but serious just the same, the mother is pushing with all her might to manipulate into being a marriage between her young daughter and a wealthy elderly man.

Regarding my above statement that my "Uncle's Dream" video was shot at The Beresford:

• In my October 18, 2009 blog article I state that famous director Sidney Lumet bought the apartment in which I shot this video.

• This link to a October 4, 2008 New York Times article reprint shows that Sidney Lumet resided in The Beresford: www.carolelevy.com/pdfs/NYT-glennclose.pdf

Sometimes I Wish I Could Just Fly To The Hamptons
Not everyone will recall a news story from January 2004 about Ray Davies of The Kinks being stabbed while standing up to a mugger. It being that I have been a significant influence on The Kinks (late '80s and early '90s), and it being that just two weeks prior in December 2003 I had been describing running away from a mugger one New Year's Eve despite the threat of death (an incident I had scarcely ever described in the decade or so since it happened), and it being that insidious creeps often find a way to make front-page type news in a way strangely apropos to what I might say (but in a convoluted/demented/twisted way, it being that I am secretly super-important in relation to Spielberg and McCartney and many others and therefore attract some of the worst people to focus in on me as a person of interest), and for other reasons, I concluded at the time that, somehow, one thing had led to the other here.

I bring it up now because, years after this conclusion, a new reason has become part of this. As I once described in a blog article, the words "Drift Away" had been used as an important part of the refrain on different songs on two Kinks albums in a row, and that, for a very specific set of reasons, I had concluded that this occurred because of me. In fact, I had discovered the first usage even before it was distinguished by becoming a carry-over to their next album. So recently I was reviewing in my mind where I was at the time I was describing standing up to a mugger - I was working temporarily in the office of the business managers of Andy Griffith, Bob Newhart, Brian Seltzer, Dan Hicks, and many others. Among the things of which I was particularly aware in being there (I was there two weeks while one of the secretaries in this two-secretary office was on vacation), one was that, two years previous to being there, I had given my brother-in-law the latest Dan Hicks CD (at the time) as a holiday gift ("Beatin' The Heat").

So the thing about all this that just recently crossed my mind is that one of the songs on that same Dan Hicks CD is entitled, "Driftin'".

And finally, so that I might continue to avoid touching on everything under the sun, I will not go into at this time how:

• Andy Griffith's "Matlock" would make occasional inside references to me/my material

• The legendary series finale of "Newhart" made inside reference to my "Uncle's Dream" video (including direct mention in that "Newhart" episode to the Marlon Brando movie, "The Ugly American", wherein the star of my "Uncle's Dream" video, Sandra Church, played Brando's wife)

I'll Always Hold That Image Close To My Heart And In Storage Locker #87

On Wednesday, May 4th, I posted at Archive.Org, "If Paintings Of Dead Evil People Could Talk". I also blogged about it. So far, I have only been able to discern that people connected with Bill Maher and also SNL have read it, so I have to feel neglected. It's only half a page, shouldn't take more than an hour or two. Here, I'll give you another link to it (I really want you to read it!):

http://www.archive.org/details/IfPaintingsOfDeadEvilPeopleCouldTalk

On the brief (half-page) occupied by this comedy idea of mine, aimed for the May 7th Saturday Night Live (which over the years has usually incorporated pieces contained in my contributions for that week's show, as I have referred to in many previous posts accompanied by what I regard as evidence), I use as a major point of crystallization the idea of Osama bin Laden's catch phrase, "Death to America," reduced, so that the last thing coming from him would be "Death To". In this May 6th videoclip, Bill Maher (whom I have previously blogged as occasionally making references to my material, accompanied by what I regard as evidence of same), in his very first monologue following Osama bin Laden's death, chooses this as the note upon which to end this opening monologue:



One of the things I wished to evoke with my May 4th Osama bin Laden comedy sketch was an image for "America's rear-view mirror," or, well, hmm, an image for "the collective psyche of all humanity," or something along those lines. Which, I don't know, I guess I just always like to keep a connection with that greater totality in mind somehow - and on Saturday Night Live May 7th I believe I may have gotten another one through onto the big board (I am totally outside of my vernacular, I hope I just said what I think I said, and presume forgiveness if not, afterall, what's the worst thing I might have accidentally said?).

Specifically, in my above-referenced May 4th comedy sketch (on one of its levels), I summoned (or "used", depending on how seriously you feel like taking this kind of thing) the graphic image of Osama bin Laden's corpse being in the center of a room, though any potential seriousness to such an idea is pretty much diluted by the very much less intense political chitter-chatter among a social crowd collected together in the same room, who inevitably react to the idea of the Osama bin Laden corpse in their own idiosyncratic, occasionally silly way.

If that description can be fairly regarded as among the several ways to properly characterize my May 4th comedy sketch posting, then it would seem that on May 7th Saturday Night Live once again found a way to include in a comedy sketch my material designated for that night's show:

If Paintings Of Dead Evil People Could Talk

In my first blog of the post-bin Laden world, I thought I would keep things simple and appropriate (to some anyway, no doubt):

Starting Up A Brand New Car
First, I thought I would again bring up, mainly for the benefit of those who have already bothered to check my evidence that I'm amazingly consistently right about amazing creative things by others having begun with something from me or have been seriously influenced by me/my creative work (and so they would do well to believe in this one as well perhaps perhaps perhaps, though the real evidence in this instance, such as a song I created and recorded that was copyrighted by me with the Library of Congress, has to be regarded by the average idiot as less verifiable evidence than desired, it being that the material copyrighted at the Library of Congress is comparatively inaccessible), the fact that I created something that resulted in Sting's "Starting Up A Brand New Day".

My version of things regarding the origin of that song, a song which was used as a sort of anthem of the new millennium (including being played in the background during a major network's coverage of the moment the new millennium began in Times Square) can be found by going to Archive.Org and looking at my "The Illustrated Story Of Sting's Brand New Day". Some of the direct links contained therein may have changed since it was first posted, but they should still work enough to achieve the main purpose if you do an extra obvious search or two.

If Paintings Of Dead Evil People Could Talk
I also have, in answer to my usual "responsibility" to come up with something for Saturday Night Live so that they can debone it of all the potent stuff that would tax the brains of grandmas but keep a few inside references from it on the next show and occasionally include something significant that I wanted used but still nothing that would really tax the brains of the little kids (or grandmas, whatever), I have a new comedy sketch idea - again, specially designed for the post-bin Laden world, a world which we all have already come to know and love.

I have just posted "If Paintings Of Dead Evil People Could Talk" at archive.org.