Garbage Much Too Good To Ever Throw Away

The Kind of Thing People Write Footnotes About
The new interest on somebody's part regarding my sketch idea, "Teddy Tinyfingers", as manifest from the most recent Monk/Steinhoff videoclip (see my previous blog) may have perhaps made sufficiently relevant the time Brooke Shields' fingerless image appeared on a TV Guide cover (Sept. 19, 1987), all because of me and a section from my wastebasket collage. And so I've created (and posted yesterday) a little presentation, "A Guide To Brooke Shields", viewable at archive.org and at YouTube. If they say right, it was personal between Brooke Shields and me, then why, in the mid-'90s, when I returned to NYC to help my father pack up the co-op for his move to Houston, and my neighbor came in telling me to go a few buildings down the street, Madonna was having a party, so I went, but couldn't get in, and so there is Brooke Shields also not getting in, on this quiet edge of the West Village street with just a few people around, did I say nothing to Brooke Shields? True, when Madonna came out, and Brooke Shields, standing next to me, had a conversation with her, it may have appeared to Madonna that I was with her, from the way Madonna acted, but that's her story (by which I mean, what is her story?). By the way, David Rabe, the son-in-law of the neighbor who told me to go there (Sandra Church, widow of the late Bill Clayburgh), wrote a movie Sean Penn starred in, "Casualties of War", which was in the works when Madonna and then-husband Sean Penn came into the same restaurant I was in, very much noticing me. I have been something of an influence on Madonna and Sean Penn as well, quite significantly at times.

Footnote
Returning for a moment to the July 18, 2009 statement I made in response to the July 14, 2009 "review" of "Teddy Tinyfingers", a response and "review" referred to in my Monk/Steinhoff videoclip of several days ago: I mentioned in that July 18th posted response at archive.org that I knew from the digit counter that the "reviewer" had not even read the sketch idea. I will explain. It so happens that I had posted on HuffingtonPost a comment (July 14, 2009, 2:48pm) wherein I included the archive.org web address of the very same "Teddy Tinyfingers". And so, curious as to whether posting this web address would generate traffic to the sketch idea posting, I checked the digit counter for it at archive.org before and after. I found that it did not. However, it did suddenly occur, and this was the only time this has occurred since I have ever posted anything at archive.org, that it was later on that very same day that the "review" showed up at the "Teddy Tinyfingers" archive.org web address.

As to the idea that digit counters on the web are not to be trusted, I've pointed out before that this would be not unlike tampering with Diebold election machine results. Indications of web address traffic have a most serious impact on things. Why would anyone undertake to alter information about the number of people who visit my postings of work on the web? What could they accomplish by doing that? And so why should this cross my mind.

Imagine That

Not a whole lot for me to be pointing at at this very moment, as far as I know.

Let’s see, we had the title of my previous, February 24th blog being “Like In That Beatles Song”, and the very next day, February 25th, Supreme Court Justice Alito renders a decision by putting things in the context of what it might mean to reference a John Lennon song. I consider myself very much on the left of the political spectrum, generally (though I don’t always accept conventional definitions of what issues fall where on the political spectrum, preferring to use my own mind), however, there is a substantial history of major Republicans referencing my material: George W. Bush, Trent Lott, Rudolph Giuliani, John McCain. Perhaps it’s word of mouth, related to the fact that everybody everywhere references my material, from rock superstars to film directors to TV shows to leaders of foreign nations to Democrats. All of this weighs very much in favor of the conclusion that Alito’s action the day following my action, both actions not merely regarding references to Beatle songs, but rather the concept of referencing Beatle songs, was apropos of my previous blog title.

If that was a difficult one to follow, this next one will certainly throw you.

• I begin by drawing your attention to my videoclip regarding the final episode of the TV show “Friends”, which starred Jennifer Aniston and others. Ever since my 1998 “Gosk 2” sci-fi comedy video, which included in a starring role someone who was friendly with Arquettes and other “Friends” people, there were quite a number of references to my material on that show (only a few prior to “Gosk 2”, including an entire storyline contained within the initial “we were on a break” episode). On the referenced videoclip, they made a game of using one of the made-up words in “Gosk” a few episodes prior to the final one, and then on the final episode gave center stage importance to the power of a made-up word to catalyze events. The question was thereby raised of whether a new made-up word (or possibly not new for viewers of “Gosk”) would get Rachel off the plane the second time (as a made-up word had at one point in that episode), to reunite with Ross for the climax of the series (I said series, not episode). Had such a word been called into play, we can be certain that it would be a word instantly made part of the English language, for its “Friends” significance. Had such a word demonstrably originated with me, I imagine it would have become trivia difficult to suppress.

• Jason Lee’s show, “My Name Is Earl” is the result of a story idea I submitted to the person (Sean Daniel, first person from whom I learned of CalArts, the school I attended) who produced the first big movie Lee was in, “Mallrats”, which was itself named after my video, “Mall Man”. As mentioned in a videoclip posting of mine on YouTube, that several-page story idea of mine contained six references to chipmunk talk. The announcement that Lee would be in the movie, “Alvin And The Chipmunks”, came years after my story idea that led to his “Earl”.

• Jack Black often makes references to my material, in his work and his talk show appearances. Some see Black as part of the Stiller/Cornfeld group (Cornfeld is referred to in a few of my other blogs).

• When Aniston and Black together presented an award during the Oscars a week ago, I was struck less by what they said as much as by the omission of a word. Black began by saying that this year in animation we’ve seen talking squirrels. Squirrels are so close to chipmunks, that in the movie, “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” the association of the two species is referred to several times. I was left wondering why Jack Black of all people should be off by one word this way, off, that is, in terms of missing a chance to make an inside reference to things related to my material. It took several days, but it finally occurred to me, he must have learned this from Jennifer Aniston.

The Angelina Jolie movie, “A Mighty Heart”, premiered on Showtime yesterday. Of special interest to me is the fact that Daniel Pearl, the focus of this biopic, lived in Princeton, New Jersey where I grew up, my best friend in Princeton was someone named Winterbottom, an unusual name, and this movie was directed by someone named Winterbottom. In further relation to the Winterbottom I knew, Sean Penn modeled his portrayal of a lawyer in “Carlito’s Way” on Winterbottom’s brother. From what I’ve been able to surmise, Winterbottom (my childhood friend) had some kind of connection to Madonna and Sean Penn during the period when they were married. Additionally, Madonna named a character in one of her children’s books Tinkelbottom, or something like that. Madonna has crossed my path in various such (and other) ways any number of times, including referencing my material in her material. Angelina Jolie was mentioned in one of my previous blogs, and her movie, “Girl Interrupted” got its title from my (1987 copyrighted) short story, “Man Without Interruption”.