Discovering Mickey Hart

I am first and foremost NOT a "Dead-head."  My wife has dragged me to latterday Be-Ins with Furthur, RatDog, the Other Ones, and sundry spin-off projects but it isn't working.  I guess it's over my head.

WORLDBEAT IT!

Groovin' & Grateful

But in 1990 I really enjoyed meeting Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart a few times while he was forging his career as ethno-musicologist on the Smithsonian Institution's dime.  My close colleague Denise brought Mickey in to Explore Our World and develop a Discovery Channel TV miniseries co-production for our "People & Places" strand.  On one occasion, Mickey had worked a hat-trick on his DC tour - an honest day's work at the Smithsonian, a pop-in to see us at Discovery, and then a performance at the Cap Center.  After our afternoon meeting, my colleagues went to the show; I passed.

Mickey had great energy and charisma.  He was comfortable pitching and fielding ideas - not desperate nor conniving as was the case with some of the shysters who came to Landover to shill projects.

A real delight to get to know.

Mickey gave me a 4-CD set of project work that he had produced, which I later gave away in a lead-up to courtship with Mrs. Porter.  In the end, Mick and our gang did not work out a TV deal.  But no matter: Mickey was busy establishing what now amounts to a tremendous cornerstone in the World Music movement, in partnership with Smithsonian.  Some of this stuff is interesting, although it doesn't have the "razor edge" that I usually listen for...

... and I still lack the Vision to appreciate the Dead or their ilk!

But check out the Mickey Hart Band if that's your cup of T . . . .

My Friend Russ Meyer

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, to a HAPPY MAN

One of the true great joys in my life was to know and share laughter with the amazing, brilliant filmmaker Russell Albion Meyer.

I was already a fan dating back to 1975 and SuperVixens, and in awe of the Meyer 'intensely personal and unique vision of the world,' when we met in Las Vegas in 1989 and became friendly.  Over the next several years we saw each other many, many times.  Russ was a guest in my home in Washington DC, and I his guest numerous times in the Hollywood Hills and out in Palm Desert.

We enjoyed a great many meals, film screenings, nights on the town, and sundry adventures - including a rendezvous in Paris, and a day shooting cutaways in the Mojave Desert.  One of the great nights of all time was our dinner, twenty years ago tomorrow night, celebrating Russ's 70th birthday.

Magnum Opus

I was staying at the Bel Air Hotel, and we'd arranged to celebrate in style on the premises. He drove across town, arriving late, and laden with armloads of artwork - Annie Fannie-style illustrations he called "Bust-oons" that he was having prepared for his long-awaited, by then much-unfinished masterpiece "A Clean Breast."  He laid these out on the table at dinner.

We talked about the book, the production hassles, his can't-miss film project ideas (a shot-for-shot remake of Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill! with LaToya Jackson, for instance), the usual recounting of amorous escapades, and life as an iconoclast in the company town.

Then we turned to his third marriage, to Edy Williams. It turned out the 1970 wedding had taken place on the premises, in the Garden of the Bel Air Hotel.  Russ's tardiness arriving for dinner was due to his having rooted around in the garden on the way in, but he'd gotten lost; we agreed that after dinner we'd scout around to see if we couldn't find the 'scene of the crime.'  Many glasses of wine later, that we did.

To stand under the stars at midnight, stumbling about on the rolling lawns of the Bel Air, while Russ rhapsodized about Edy Williams' charms even as he brandished the rolled-up Bust-oons in the air, batting wildly at the stars, railing against her "shrewishness!" - "But I have no regrets, Sir - I have None At All !"  Pure heaven.

Over many years' time, Russ introduced me to a cavalcade of characters, among them Dave Friedman, Stuart Lancaster, James Anthony Ryan & Bert Santos, Charles Napier, John Lazar and others, as well as trusty Janice and his leading ladies Melissa Mounds, Haji and Tura Satana.  Here is a beautiful clip that provides a glimpse of the work, the spirit and joie de vivre of old RM.

I learned so much from this unique man.  And our friendship meant and still means very much to me.

Thanks for the memories.

Happy 90th Birthday, Russ.

Julie Montgomery: The Girl Next Door

All American Beauty Julie Montgomery

Growing up, my favorite adventures were always to visit cousin Frank in Livingston, New Jersey.  We used to run around at night and ring doorbells, or climb on the roof of the school and throw firecrackers, sometimes with other nerds on the block.

As we 'came of age,' lo and behold but the girl literally next door to Frankie-boy, Julie Montgomery, got work as a regular on One Life To Live in the popular and long-running role of Samantha  Vernon (see video 0:10 - 0:30).

Long-running enough, that is, that she ultimately played Samantha Vernon Buchanon, later still becoming Vernon Buchanon Garretson

Julie moved west to try her hand at films and made a bunch of interesting entry-level projects - Senior Trip ('xploiter), Girls Night Out (slasher), eventually progressing to Stewardess School ('xploiter), and so forth . . . Until the big break in 1984: Revenge of the Nerds (0:49:00) as Betty Childs.

Some recall that Julie bared it all for the screen in this classic.  I certainly do.

It's Tom. My Aunt Next Door Needs A Cup of Sugar

Julie later starred in Revenge III and IV.  But II ? Well, legend - on the always reliable Internet - has it that :

"Julia Montgomery refused to reprise her role as Betty because in the original script Betty is caught cheating on Lewis. Montgomery felt it betrayed the change in her character from the first film. Joe Roth offered to have the scene re-written but Montgomery still refused. She eventually returned for the following sequels. Lewis is shown packing a picture of Betty in the beginning of the film implying they are still together. Ironically, this means that Lewis cheated on Betty with Sunnie."

Fascinating, don't you think?!

What Nerds We Were

The ground was fertile on Rock Hill Drive, and Julie's older sister Suzanne was an even more beautiful brunette, although she didn't go into acting as far as I know.

Still, reaction-inciting Hill-Topper classmates up the block at the local public school included the eventually notorious funnyman Jay Greenspan (a.k.a. Jason Alexander), attitude snot Chelsea Handler, and Governor/future President Chris Christie.  Must have been something in that Livingston water.

The great news is, after nearly 20 years off the screen, Julie is coming back in 2012 in a flick called "Altered Reality."  More to come on this.  Until then,

Have I but One Life To Live - after this one, that is - surely let it be with Julie Montgomery...

One More Degree from Breitbart: On-Site with Soledad O'Brien

Up the Down Staircase/In Thru Out Door

She looks more than a bit shrill, shilling for the President on CNN last night, over the BreitbartTV release of Vetting, part I (of ___n.?)

. . . but in 1997-1998 she was a cute and perky hostess of a wacky show on new cable network ZDTV (later TechTV; later than that: G4).

Youthful Indiscretion

The show was called The Site, and was conceived to be a little bit like the TV equivalent of then-popular Yahoo! Internet Life magazine.  Our Soledad led the microscopic but hyped-up audience through a travelogue of sorts: a tour and review of neat websites.

Lordy, How We've Grown

It was my good fortune to work with the ZDTV-ers to launch and distribute the channel.  In the early days we spent a lot of time working and hanging out in the cool studio in San Francisco.  The internet was hot, The Site was new, and Up and Down the Spiral Staircase we ran, like giddy schoolkids.

Soledad and I were introduced and she won me over with her friendly smile, and funny name.

We didn't know each other well, nor for long, but I still perk up when I see her and I imagine she would make a worthy sparring partner.

The CNN implosion over the Breitbart "Vetting" video is striking - because she's usually a very good feature reporter.

Oh well!

One Degree from Breitbart - An Arthur Sando Moment

Arthur

This day, after Andrew Breitbart's untimely collapse and death in Brentwood, I am remembering Arthur Sando - a hot-shot PR executive at Superstation TBS when I met and worked with him between 1986-1989 to promote National Geographic EXPLORER in the prime 8-10pm Sunday TBS timeslot.

Sando connected with Breitbart less than 24 hours ago, last night at The Brentwood in L.A.  Here's a nice account of their very brief acquaintance and conversation.

I thought of Sando as a bit of a Koren character in a suit and, back in the 80's during our collaboration, when Ohio band Royal Crescent Mob put out its album Omerta (Get On The Bus, Blow One Off, etc.), I fixated on the coda to the cut "Mob's Revenge," in which a voice behind the groove pronounces, like Wolfman Jack naming a song dedication, "This is for Upper Sandusky"  I always, always sang along "This is for Arthur Sando!"

Andrew

R.I.P. , Andy.  Thank You.