Fallen Flame Idol

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Fallen Flame Idol

One of my dirty little secrets is that I used to have a serious thing for Ellen Barkin--serious in the sense of knowing nothing would come of it as it was a crush on a Hollywood star, but still the emotion was there.

It's funny, when I learned the the person who caused me such delicious longing in, say, Sea of Love (with Al Pacino), was a vicious little brainless soul, even the memory of those feelings went away.

Inside myself, I know I had a thing for her, but damned if I can feel anything about it anymore.

Here is Ellen Barkin now:

Ellen Barkin: ‘Trump Is Responsible for More Deaths than Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon’

It takes a lot of effort to become that stupid.

And, of course, it took a marriage to a multi-billionaire to get her into such an elitist mode, she would be this crackbrained kind of nasty. (She was in gold-digging mode back then, but not very talented at it, so she only got off with a few million dollars after the digging phase was over.)

I swear, if I ever saw her up close, I don't think I would feel anything but aversion.

This idol went down in flames for me, but ended up with a pfffft...

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

I might as well put something decent in this thread.

Here is the making of documentary. It's kinda slapped together, but it gives the flavor of Barkin when she was cast in the right kind of story. And it gives an overview of this noir film (which, to me, is one of the great noir films).

Barkin was always her best as a tough lady on the outside, but vulnerable and hurting on the inside.

Oddly enough, when she tried to be a sexy bombshell only, she could get vulgar in a cheap way.

I think Sea of Love was her best.

Michael

 

 

[anthony]

She had that crooked mouth, in between pain and contempt, who could not be crazy about her?

[Peter]

Here is a somewhat serious question. Who is the better performer and / or singer? Celine Dion or Barbara Streisand? I think Celine owns the "Titanic" theme song but Barbara can almost magically turn a happy song into a sad song. I am thinking about "Happy Days Are Here Again."

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

42 minutes ago, Peter said:

Here is a somewhat serious question. Who is the better performer and / or singer? Celine Dion on Barbara Streisand? I think Celine owns the "Titanic" theme song but Barbara can almost magically turn a happy song into a sad song. I am thinking about "Happy Days Are Here Again."

Peter,

As a former artist producer, it is Streisand hands down. Dion has pipes and is great at interpreting a song. Her stage presence is... OK I suppose. But Streisand is the full package. She connects with her audience in music, story, acting, directing, many things, all with strong emotions and transport.

One caution. Let us not forget that we are talking about two great artists.

Both are the same on two points, though. Both are quite beautiful women. And both are politically chock full of shit.

I feel sad when I see people dislike them artistically because they are so goddam foolish in their political opinions.

Michael

[Peter]

Bored? Two nights ago we watched “Australia” with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. Last night we watched “Bombshell” about Fox News on pay for view. It stars Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly, Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson, Margot Robbie as Kayla Pospisil (a composite character), John Lithgow as Roger Ailes, and Allison Janney (from the TV show “Mom”) as Susan Estrich, Both movies were worth the money. 

[Peter]

Nostalgic? Go to the opening credits of "Sex and the City" and give it a "watch and listen." I wish it and "Seinfeld"  were still on the air. 

[Peter]

What are your favorite TV shows of all time? Critic and writer, Rob Sheffield wrote:  So we undertook a major poll – actors, writers, producers, critics, showrunners. Legends like Carl Reiner and Garry Marshall, who sent us his ballot shortly before his death this summer. All shows from all eras were eligible; anybody could vote for whatever they felt passionate about, from the black-and-white rabbit-ears years to the binge-watching peak-TV era. The ratings didn’t matter – only quality. The voters have spoken – and, damn, did they have some fierce opinions. end quote 

His top one hundred included, Seinfeld. All in the Family. Saturday Night Live. The Twilight Zone. The Simpsons. The Wire. Breaking Bad. Deadwood. Curb your enthusiasm. The X Files. The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.  I love Lucy. Lost.

AND The Sopranos was number one. Peter

[Peter]

Listen! “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms,” by Iris Dement. “Home” by Engineers. Duffy ,“Mercy.” 

Another favorite when I need an “uplift?” Well shucks, I return to Sweet Haven!

From the movie “Popeye” Sweethaven.”

Sweet Sweethaven
God must love us
We the people
Love Sweethaven

Hurray hurray Sweethaven
Flags are wavin'
Swept people from the sea
Safe from democracy
Sweeter than a melon tree
Put here for you and me
Sweethaven

Sweet Sweethaven
God must love us
We the people
Of Sweethaven

God must have landed here
Why else would he strand us here
Where the air is nice and clear
Sweethaven even sounds so near
To Heaven

God will always bless Sweethaven
God will always bless Sweethaven
God will always bless Sweethaven

[Peter]

I was curious and looked up Duffy. What happened to Duffy? On February 25, 2020 Duffy bravely opened up about being drugged and raped. Then on April 5, 2020 the singer then revealed exactly what had happened.

Duffy published in detail about the devastating experience on her ebsite duffywords.com, where she said she was suicidal after her horrific rape ordeal that lasted for four weeks.

She feared for her life when she was abducted as she celebrated her birthday at a restaurant and taken to a foreign country.

The singer said: "It was my birthday, I was drugged at a restaurant, I was drugged then for four weeks and travelled to a foreign country.

"I can’t remember getting on the plane and came round in the back of a travelling vehicle.

"I was put into a hotel room and the perpetrator returned and raped me.

"I remember the pain and trying to stay conscious in the room after it happened.

"I was stuck with him for another day, he didn’t look at me, I was to walk behind him, I was somewhat conscious and withdrawn. I could have been disposed of by him.

"I contemplated running away to the neighbouring city or town, as he slept, but had no cash and I was afraid he would call the police on me, for running away, and maybe they would track me down as a missing person.

"I do not know how I had the strength to endure those days, I did feel the presence of something that helped me stay alive.

"I flew back with him, I stayed calm and as normal as someone could in a situation like that, and when I got home, I sat, dazed, like a zombie. I knew my life was in immediate danger, he made veiled confessions of wanting to kill me.

"With what little strength I had, my instinct was to then run, to run and find somewhere to live that he could not find.

"The perpetrator drugged me in my own home in the four weeks, I do not know if he raped me there during that time, I only remember coming round in the car in the foreign country and the escape that would happen by me fleeing in the days following that. I do not know why I was not drugged overseas; it leads me to think I was given a class A drug and he could not travel with it."

Duffy disappeared from the showbiz spotlight after the ordeal.

In February Duffy released an emotional Instagram post saying she wanted to tell her story of being raped, drugged and held captive.

The 35-year-old insists she wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for her therapist.

She said: "The first person I ever told was a psychologist, months later, a leading expert in the UK in complex trauma and sexual violence.

"I have no idea how I was so lucky to find her all those years ago, her beautiful blue eyes, pink sofa, huge library, amazing brain and skill. Without her I may not have made it through. I was high risk of suicide in the aftermath.

"She got to know me, saw me as a person, learned about me and navigated me. She did it very gently. I could not look her in the eyes for the first eight or so sessions, eye contact was something I struggled with. The thought of recovering was almost impossible.

Duffy's hit singles include Mercy and Warwick . . . .

Duffy says she is "no longer ashamed that something deeply hurt me".

She added: "As dark as my story is, I do speak from my heart, for my life, and for the life of others, whom have suffered the same.

"I posted the words I wrote, a few weeks ago, because I was tired of hiding. Never feeling free or burden free. I had become enmeshed with my story like a dark secret. It made me alone and feel alone.

"What is also hard to explain is that, in hiding, in not talking, I was allowing the rape to become a companion. Me and it living in my being, I no longer wanted to feel that intimacy with it, a decade of that intimacy has been destructive. I had to set myself free. I have been hurt and it would have been dangerous to talk from that hurt place in the past, prior to feeling ready."

She ended the post by telling fans she was now "free".

She said: "And I really don’t know what’s next for me. I would like to experience me being who I really am, for the first time, privately. To feel a peace that I have been, until now, only half feeling.

"I ask myself now, as I write this … what makes me feel more beautiful, more hopeful and more at peace? So, if I do indeed press SEND and put this online, I hope it brings me the smile in my eyes, the light in my life, that has been absent for just so long.

"I can now leave this decade behind. Where the past belongs. Hopefully no more “what happened to Duffy questions”, now you know … and I am free."

What is Duffy's background?

Born Aimee Anne Duffy in June 1984, the 35-year-old Welsh singer made her breakthrough in 2007 with her debut album, Rockferry.

The record was a huge success and saw her bag three Brits and a Grammy Award - selling seven million copies worldwide.

However, her follow up album Endlessly, released in 2010, bombed and saw her take a hiatus from music.

Since then Duffy has switched to acting appearing movies like Patagonia (2010) and Legend (2015).

[Peter]

Remember the George Steinbrenner portrayal on Seinfeld? You never see his face. I always thought it was Garry Marshal, but it was a relatively unknown actor, voiced by Larry David.  

[Peter]

From “People:” Larry David Jokes He Was 'So Relieved' to Be Disinvited from Barack Obama's 60th Birthday Party . . . "I was pretty glum when I finally called back his assistant," he told the outlet in an email. "When he told me I was eighty-sixed from the party, I was so relieved, I screamed, 'Thank you! Thank you!' He must have thought I was insane." "Then I hung up the phone, poured myself a drink and finished my crossword puzzle," the Curb Your Enthusiasm star added. 

[Jules Troy]

On 4/22/2020 at 6:28 PM, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Fallen Flame Idol

One of my dirty little secrets is that I used to have a serious thing for Ellen Barkin--serious in the sense of knowing nothing would come of it as it was a crush on a Hollywood star, but still the emotion was there.

It's funny, when I learned the the person who caused me such delicious longing in, say, Sea of Love (with Al Pacino), was a vicious little brainless soul, even the memory of those feelings went away.

Inside myself, I know I had a thing for her, but damned if I can feel anything about it anymore.

Here is Ellen Barkin now:

Ellen Barkin: ‘Trump Is Responsible for More Deaths than Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon’

It takes a lot of effort to become that stupid.

And, of course, it took a marriage to a multi-billionaire to get her into such an elitist mode, she would be this crackbrained kind of nasty. (She was in gold-digging mode back then, but not very talented at it, so she only got off with a few million dollars after the digging phase was over.)

I swear, if I ever saw her up close, I don't think I would feel anything but aversion.

This idol went down in flames for me, but ended up with a pfffft...

Michael

Well Michael if it is any consolation she hasn’t aged well..at all.  So..now her outside appearance more closely resembles her insides…