Some Words from the Bird

 I had to work a midnight shift the other night, and was having a nap in the evening before work. I woke up earlier than expected, grabbed a coffee and lay in bed, resting. I flipped on the TV, and looked for something tolerable to watch. Immediately I came upon "True Romance".  "I love this movie," I said aloud to no one.  I figured I would watch five minutes or so. I missed the part where Clarence and Alabama meet, but tuned in just as he decides to get her stuff back from her pimp.  I planned to just watch that part and then go downstairs to join my family for an hour before work. It didn't turn out that way. Onscreen, Clarence heads into the whorehouse, and I was sucked into Mr. Tarantino's vortex, happily trapped in front of the television. Gary Oldman is fantastic as Drexl. He grabs a light fixture and starts to swing it at Clarence, and with each swing of the light you feel the situation becoming a little more dire. Maybe Clarence has bitten off m...

 The cover of the album says it all. The artist definitely nailed this one. The distant look on Frank's face as his cigarette burns between his fingers speaks volumes, the street lights are obscured by mist or indifference. The man is somewhere else. He is pining for his girl.   Frank had been slipping a little on the charts, but his career got a boost from an Oscar win in "From Here to Eternity". Allegedly, Ava Gardner had used her Hollywood influence to help him land this role. They were married, after Frank abruptly left his wife for Ava. I assume this was the subject of much controversy... today we wouldn't be able to buy groceries without seeing "FrAva" splashed across all  the covers on the magazine stand. Sadly, their lifestyles led to the deterioration of the marriage. That's show biz, I guess. The rumour is that this relationship ending is the basis for the concept of the album. While Frank didn't write the lyrics for the songs, but they o...