Stop It (I Like It!)

“You’re so young yet…so absurdly young for your age, even. You haven’t begun to live. You’ll find your mate, if only you’ll wait until the time is right that you shall. You aren’t ready for that yet. There’s plenty of time. Enjoy this period while you can, for it won’t last long. You must have a little patience."
-Nial Kent
“The Divided Path”




I heard a song in London, England back in 2002 (by Rick Guard).
The ‘catchy refrain’ made me like it.

Take a listen:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=rick+guard&qs=n&docid=987079115386&mid=18067A885E4B8120634918067A885E4B81206349&FORM=VIVR#

I found the single CD the other day and I’ve been listening to it.
I like it!

Twenty-five years ago today:

September 8, 1984
Saturday

The first time the telephone rang it was Chris. I confirmed with him that we would leave for Los Angeles tomorrow (Sunday). He had plans to go to some ‘nude beach’ today with Clay and Elliot.

The second time the telephone rang it was mom. She called to tell me that Sandy Gallegos (one of my first cousins) was getting married with some tall, big Caucasian boy from Concord named Michael Fritz. Sandy works with him and the wedding date is set for February (or possibly June 1985).

And the third time the telephone rang it was a wrong number. Someone was asking for “Dick”.
“Is Dick there?”
Paul heard this and said, “There’s no Dick here.”
And then I couldn’t help myself, “What? There are three dicks here!”
Both Paul and Wayne laughed at my witty remark.

I drove Wayne and Paul to the Lake Merritt BART station after they packed their junk. After we enjoyed one last breakfast at Ole’s Waffle shop they wanted me to drive them to Stinson Beach. There was no way that was going to happen. It is just too long of a drive. And besides, I promised to meet Karyn Kossoff at Lake Temescal.


Karyn and I did a bit of lying out in the sun at this Lake Temescal area. We had such a good time together. We talked about mutual things we liked. For example, the movie ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ was a film we both loved. She spoke of some of her friends from New York and about the little boys’ names playing in the sand (Winston, Simon, Jeremiah) which then reminded us of the song ‘Joy To The World’ and ‘The Big Chill’ movie. We both decided to go out tonight to the “Oasis”, a dance club in San Francisco. I confirmed that I would call her later with details.

'Joy To The World' by Three Dog Night:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=three+dog+night%2C+joy+to+the+world&qs=n&docid=1216352485528&mid=0326D96E4C7DBBFC164C0326D96E4C7DBBFC164C&FORM=VIVR8#

After lying out with Karyn I went to Mom’s and saw Ashley. I played with her in her stroller for a while. I love how she smiles at me. She’s too cute.

My brother, John, came over to pick her up because Sherri would be coming home soon.
“I have to start the meat sauce for the spaghetti,” John said.
“Wow, what a family man he is becoming now,” I thought to myself.

I went over to Nations for food ‘to go’. Then I returned to my mom’s and we ‘porked out’ on the goodness of it all.

When I telephoned Karyn she confirmed that her friends would be coming along.
“Okay, I’ll be at your place by nine-thirty,” I said.
I decided to wear my leather jacket. Karyn made a point of saying how she loved the jacket. We drank wine and 7-up coolers. What a way to begin my vacation! After all, there was last night at Barnaby’s. I actually shared a joint with Ron, Nancy and some fat dude (last night).

Karyns’ friends (Mike, Eileen and Christen) joined me in snorting about five or six lines of coke tonight. What the hell! The feeling is okay, but it’s not as good as ‘a great bike ride’.

The Oasis club is fun. I love the fact that you can dance atop of a swimming pool. I liked a girl there dressed in army green. She had a canteen purse, too. She was “hot” but I was with Karyn. Karyn and I danced non-stop to the very end of the night.

I went inside her apartment in North Oakland and I kissed her goodnight. It was brief, but sweet. I went in to get my checkered short-sleeve shirt and my thermos that I used to pour the wine coolers.

“Have a fun time in L.A.,” Karyn said.

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The Cocktail Party: London

“I suppose I was naïve to think in that first rush of feeling I had for you that it could all come right
simply because I wanted it so much.”
-Ian McEwan
‘Enduring Love’

I was fortunate on my post-50th Birthday as dear friends (Lord John Eatwell and Lady Susan Digby-Eatwell) sponsored and arranged for a cocktail party on my behalf in their Chelsea, London flat on June 3, 2009. I took portraits photos of the guests and ‘dear friends’ that were in attendance.

The guest list:
Alan Freiman, Marina Del Rey, CA
Lord John Eatwell & Lady Suzi Digby-Eatwell, Cambridge, England
Chris Davis, New Castle, England
Nigel & Pompi Parry, Salisbury, England
Tim and Janet Lance-Hughes, Hay-On-Wye, England
Bret Lopez and Mimi deBlasio, Napa Valley, CA
John & Marion Leghorn, Birmingham, England
Ed Digby & Jess, London, England
Ali Digby, Manchester, England
Marie-Paule Michel, Geneva, Switzerland
Herb Braha, Playa Del Rey, CA
Dov & Zoe Hoenig, London, England
Marcia Firesten, Los Angeles, CA

Suzi Digby arranged for her pastry chef to make me a Birthday cake in the form of a suitcase with places like ‘New York’, ‘Paris’, ‘London’, 'L.A.' and ‘Napa Valley’ used as frosting decor. And I thought this was the only cake I was going to have:
http://007gentleman.blogspot.com/2009/06/50th-birthday-dinner-in-barcelona-spain.html

I was overwhelmed. It was too lovely. I kept sipping Champagne, thinking my Birthday was over days ago. Fun things just kept happening non-stop. It was the sweetest party. We were all able to mingle easily amongst each other. Chris Davis, a fellow photographer friend, took these great photos during the venue:








You may view more of Chris Davis' dynamic photography at this site:http://www.redbubble.com/people/specular

Twenty-five years ago today:
July 13, 1984
Friday

Well, it was six months ago today that I met Chris Cordellos and we are ‘sort of’ still good buddies. That’s great.

I woke up this morning and have been very good about doing 50 pushups and 100 half-sit ups each morning. Now I’m off to eat pancakes at mom’s house. Then I plan to go bike the rest of the day (until 3PM when I go to The Alameda Courthouse to see good ole Charlie Brown again.

I ended up spending more time with mom than I expected. I tagged along with her to see Grandma (in my car with the convertible top down). The weather has been so fine during this summer breeze month.

I started to go biking but I ended up with a flat tire, so I took it into the Alameda Bike Shop on Park Street. Mom and Dad dropped me off at the Alameda Courthouse at 3PM. I met with Charlie Brown at about 3:30PM and he set it up so that I could go to Traffic School. I still had to pay a $10.00 Court fee and then $15.00 for the class. I chose to take the Traffic School class tomorrow (July 14th) just so I can get it all over with!

Mom and Dad rented two movies (CUJO and TOOTSIE), so I watched it with them until it was suddenly midnight. I headed home and fell fast asleep in hopes that no rabid ‘Cujo’ dogs would enter my dreams.

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Eric & Tilda

I'm sorry to say you won't find things here quite the way they are in the movies.
There's much less glamor and a lot more drudgery.
-"The Divided Path"
by Nial Kent

What do the actors Eric Bana and Tilda Swinton have in common? Well, both of them participated in the Tribeca Film Festival 2009 in New York City. They both agreed to be part of a filmmaker event series at the local Soho Apple Computer store in April 2009. I was able to attend both events and learned a bit more about each of them (before and after the events). I am a big fan of both Eric and Tilda. They are excellent actors.

Eric Bana is the actor known for his roles in Black Hawk Down, The Hulk, Troy, The Other Boleyn Girl, Munich and Star Trek. He made his directorial debut at the Tribeca Film Festival with ‘Love the Beast’, a documentary that tells the story of Eric Bana’s love affair with ‘The Beast’, his FORD GT Falcon Coupe automobile. I saw Eric on Monday, April 27, 2009 and took these portraits of him.

Eric was born on August 9, 1968 as ‘Eric Banadinovic’ in Melbourne, Australia. As a teen, he watched the Mel Gibson film ‘Mad Max’ (1979), and decided he wanted to become an actor. However, he did not seriously consider acting until 1991 when he was persuaded to try stand-up comedy while working as a barman at Melbourne's Castle Hotel. His Croatian father, Ivan, was a manager for Caterpillar, Inc., and his German-born mother, Eleanor, was a hairdresser. In 1995, Bana began dating Rebecca Gleeson, a publicist. They married in 1997, after Bana proposed to her on a trip to the United States that he won from Cleo Magazine after being named "Bachelor of the Year" in 1996. Bana and Gleeson have two children, a son Klaus (born July 1998), and a daughter Sophia (born April 2001). I detected the soon-to-be 41 year old as one still in touch with his 'child within'. I liked that because he would get so animated when talking about his fascination for this car he has had since he was a teen.

PHOTO: Rebecca Gleeson, Eric's wife
Eric will appear in ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’ based on the book later this year. I read that book so I cannot miss it. I did not bother to see his Tribeca film, ‘Love the Beast’. The preview just did not appeal to me. It is clear that he certainly loves his car (it must stem way back to that Mad Max movie, a favorite film of mine as well).

Tilda Swinton is the Academy-Award winning actress (Michael Clayton) known for other roles like Caravaggio, Orlando, Possible Words, The Deep End, Adaptation, Young Adam, The Chronicles of Narnia and the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Tilda made an appearance on April 29, 2009 at the Soho Apple Store to discuss her new film ‘Julia’, an independent thriller where she plays a middle-aged alcoholic lurching from one crisis to another until she really ‘blows it’ by kidnapping a millionaire’s grandson.

Tilda was born on November 5, 1960 as “Katherine Mathilda Swinton” in London, England. Her mother, Judith Balfour, was Australian, and her father, Major-General Sir John Swinton, is Scottish. The Swinton family is an ancient Anglo-Scots family that can trace its lineage to the 9th Century. Tilda attended West Heath Girls’ School (the same class as Diana, Princess of Wales). In 1983 she graduated from New Hall (Murray Edwards College) at Cambridge University with a degree in Social and Political Sciences.

Tilda lives in Nairn, in the Highland area of Scotland, with Scottish painter John Byrne. With Byrne she has her twin son and daughter, Xavier and Honor. She travels with her partner/lover Sandro Kopp, a German/New Zealand painter who was born on February 14, 1978 in Heidelberg, Germany. You can ‘do the math’. He is a lot younger than her; whereby, she can also be known as a “cougar”. She has been with Kopp since 2004 and the relationship has Byrne's blessing. John Byrne, a playwright and painter was born on January 6, 1940. In a 2008 interview, Swinton commented on her domestic situation: "It’s the way we have been for nearly four years. I’m very fortunate. It takes some extraordinary men to make a situation like that work.”
PHOTO: Sandro (Alessandro) Kopp, painting
Tilda's current love interest

I had recently screened the 1986 film Caravaggio that Derek Jarman spent seven years making. Tilda has a small part in the film and it's a bit of a snore (unless you read M, The Man Who Became Caravaggio (like I did). When someone asked a question about her living with Derek for many years she made it clear that she was very emotionally involved with him. Derek Jarman (January 31, 1942 – February 19, 1994) was an English film director, artist and writer who died at the age of 52 of an AIDS –related illness. CLICK on this link to learn more about Derek.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Jarman
Last summer Tilda Swinton and film critic Mark Cousins held a film festival in the town of Nairn, on Moray Firth, Scotland. The venue was a former ballroom with beanbags for seats; entry was free if you brought cakes. From August 1-9, 2009, the pair is planning a festival just as unique as the prior years. We will not be seeing the last of Tilda Swinton as she is one of the most fantastic British actresses to reckon with.

Twenty-five years ago today:

July 3, 1984
Tuesday

Well, Cedric Green, a polite black gentleman I know from the RTOC (Residence Telephone Order Center) invited me to the County Fair in Pleasanton for tomorrow. I am hesitant to accept because he said ‘a group of people’ would probably be attending. I did not feel comfortable being with a new crowd that I didn’t really know (other than Cedric). And do I really know Cedric very well? It seems “iffy”.

PHOTO: Cedric Green has an almost
identical resemblance to British Actor,
Chiwetel Ejiofor


After work I went for a bicycle ride and followed that with a bite to eat at mom and dad’s house. I then returned to my pad, feeling restless and unable to get into any further exercise.

I wanted to really talk to Chris Cordellos again. I knew he did not have a phone yet. That girl (Katie) never called me either. Danny was away on his roller-skating escape or vacation or whatever one would call it.

I broke down and decided to go to the skating rink in San Leandro. I thought that maybe Frank Vasconcellos will be there. He could give me my twenty bucks that I loaned him for this traffic school fee. I entered the skating rink on this designated ‘gay night’ and I ran into Leah Cossy (the lesbian from Danville).
“Hello,” Leah said with a smile.
“Hello,” said Brian.
Do I really know that many people here? I don’t even really know Leah or Brian very well. I saw Jim skating around but I didn’t talk to him. I stayed there until about 9:30 to 10:15PM. I don’t even skate! Here I was watching the folks going round and round. I couldn’t hack hangin’ out at the somewhat sleazy joint any longer.

I was in bed by 10:40PM (or thereabouts). I telephoned mom to say ‘good night’. I slept soundly.

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THE ROYAL BALLET, London

"For three years I've been lying flat on my back for you!"
-Murilo Benicio, the Brazilian husband
to Penelope Cruz
in the 2000 film
"WOMAN ON TOP"

Imagine this story:
Ondine was a water nymph in German mythology. She was very beautiful and, like all nymphs, immortal. However, should she fall in love with a mortal man and bear his child - she will lose her "gift" of everlasting life. Ondine fell in love with a dashing knight - Sir Lawrence - and they were married.

When they exchanged vows, Lawrence said, "My every waking breath shall be my pledge of love and faithfulness to you."
A year after their marriage Ondine gave birth to his child. From that moment on she began to age.

As Ondine’s physical attractiveness diminished, Lawrence lost interest in his wife. One afternoon Ondine was walking near the stables when she heard the familiar snoring of her husband. When she entered the stable, however, she saw Lawrence lying in the arms of another woman. Ondine pointed her finger at him, which he felt as a kick, waking up with a start.

Ondine uttered a curse: "You swore faithfulness to me with every waking breath, and I accepted your oath. So be it. As long as you are awake, you shall have your breath, but should you ever fall asleep, then that breath will be taken from you and you will die!"

That was the storyline of the very first 'Royal London' ballet I witnessed on Saturday evening, June, 6, 2009 at The Royal Opera House in London. I am quite honored by this outing as it was a gift to me from Lord John Eatwell and his dear wife, Lady Susan Digby-Eatwell. It is difficult to describe the regal aura of attending The Royal Ballet. Fantastico!

PHOTO: Alan Freiman, Michael J Armijo,
Susan Digby-Eatwell, Lord John Eatwell

Twenty-five years ago today:

Monday
June 18, 1984

I sold a few more tickets for Ashley’s Baby Pageant. I enjoyed lunch at ‘The Roof Garden’ with my brother, Tony, and Helen Wong.

I telephoned Chris Cordellos on my last break.
“I’m still not sure of my assignments at the end of the week because Ed and Jim are AWOL! I am on high demand because I am seen as the ideal conscientious worker now,” Chris explained.
I laughed, “I know you are.”
“Listen. Could you call Barb and pretend that you haven’t heard from me in a while?”
“Why?”
“I gave her a wild fib that I hadn’t seen or talked to you when she asked,” Chris confessed.
I thought it odd that he would do that but ‘whatever’.

I end up staying at work until 5:30PM today. Ugh! I arrived home and crashed on mom’s brass bed in the guest room. When I woke up I ate ravioli. I did not even feel like riding my bike. I was tired, lazy and kind of ‘bummed out’.

At 8PM I telephoned Sherri and ended up helping her transport a load of boxes from Solomon Lane to Cook Lane. I did a little interior decorating at my pad on Solomon Lane at the same time. Suddenly it was 11PM. Yawn. Good night.

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The Clive Connection

"All I knew is that I was full of emotion
and I had to find a way to express it."
-Javier Bardem
as heard in his role in
'Vicky, Cristina Barcelona'

What is my connection with Clive Owen? It is all too coincidental. I have seen him three times in the last several years. The first meeting was the best. If I see him a fourth time I must speak to him again. Better yet, if you are reading this Clive, do save me the trouble by making a comment and we can do lunch.

November 24, 1997, LOS ANGELES
The Premiere of BENT

Alan and I were somehow invited to the Premiere of this movie called BENT in Beverly Hills, CA in November 1997. I forget the circumstances behind the invitation and my 1997 journals are not handy.
There were no major known actors in this film unless you count Ian McKellan, Jude Law and Mick Jagger (of course, Mick was the most well known for his music and Ian for his stage work ‘at the time’). The star of the film was Clive Owen who plays the lead role of Max. This movie, by the way, is one of my classic favorites.

The story is about Max who is gay and as such is sent to Dachau concentration camp under the Nazi regime. He tries to deny he is gay and gets a yellow label (the one for the Jews) instead of pink (the one for the gays). In camp he falls in love with his fellow prisoner, Horst, who wears his pink label with pride. It is based on a play by Martin Sherman (who also wrote the screenplay).

After the screening of this film in 1997 there was an after-party at the Neiman-Marcus department store. Alan and I were two of the first ones there. We were given glasses of champagne and I took notice of Clive Owen. He looked me straight in the eye.
I couldn’t help myself by saying, “You’re going to win an Oscar for that! You were fantastic.”
“Ah, you’re too kind. I don’t know about that,” Clive said, shaking his head in disbelief.
I almost detected him blush. I guess actors are really shy ‘at heart’. I would be.
“Well, we loved the movie and you were GREAT,” I continued. I believe we toasted with our champagne glasses as more guests started to arrive.
I didn’t know what to say after that. This Clive Owen was relatively unknown in the USA, having done mostly television in the United Kingdom.

The next year (1998) he did CROUPIER which gave him more US notoriety. And then he followed with films like GOSFORD PARK, THE BOURNE IDENTITY and KING ARTHUR. I loved it when he won the Oscar for CLOSER (2004). I could have told him, “I told you so!”

November 2008, NEW YORK CITY
A Visit to SULLIVAN STREET BAKERY

In November 2008 I stopped into the Sullivan Street Bakery in New York City. There is a favorite zucchini pizza slice that I love there. Who walks into the tiny shop? Yes, it is Clive Owen, the tall striking fellow looking a tad disheveled. I suddenly had ‘stage fright’. I wanted to remind him of our meeting in 1997. Would he remember? I decided to let it pass. Darn it.
“The next time I see him I’ll remind him,” I thought.
I imagine he was in NYC after just wrapping up his film ‘THE INTERNATIONAL’ (a good film, too). I found a printed interview with Clive after this film. I like the way he answered this question:

How did you feel when you knew you were cast in the role of ‘The International’ and that you were able to go in front of the camera and do what you did?

“Every time you do a film you are starting from scratch. It’s a very weird thing acting no matter how much experience you have got, no matter how much you do, every time you start filming there is the potential to be bad in it and to fall flat on your face. I tend to get very nervous at the beginning of every film, just until I am a few weeks in. It was very difficult in this movie because the very first scene that we shot was that very last scene on the roofs in Istanbul. And we literally started the movie out there, so we did the very very end of the movie before we had shot anything. You always shoot movies out of sequence but it was particularly difficult in this movie, because it’s such a big journey that guy travels all over the world in pursuit of this guy and eventually they come together at the end. In terms of feeling comfortable I spend a lot of time on the script before shooting. I will read it over and over again…I don’t know if you ever feel comfortable. Every day there are new challenges and new things that you have got to do. I just do as best I can.

June 6, 2009, LONDON, England
THE ROYAL BALLET, Ondine Ballet in three ACTS

I was fortunate to be accompanied by some lovely friends for The Royal Ballet in London, England. There was an AUDI sponsored event going on and Clive was a participating guest. After the third act I was walking down the stairs and spotted Clive Owen once again with his wife, Sarah-Jane Fenton walking up the stairs. It was not conducive for a conversation. Where will I run into Clive Owen a fourth time? It’s just too coincidental. Time will tell as to whether there will be another chance meeting.


Twenty-five years ago today:

June 17, 1984
Sunday

Here I am at the start of a relaxing Sunday, lying out on the South Shore Alameda beach, listening to my KQAK-FM tunes, wearing my new Moroccan madras shorts. Please allow me to relax.

I did relax until 1:30PM or so. I seemed to get a number of “double-takes”, too. It was time to move on and get my bike. I ended up riding along the beach until almost 3PM. I had a nice nap after a scrumptious homemade sandwich.

I woke from my nap at 4:30PM and went over to 3330 Cook Lane to help Sherri’s Dad (Bob) carry Sherri’s dresser upstairs to the master bedroom. I hung out at the Cook Lane townhouse with my mom and dad, Sherri and Ashley until about 8pm.

I learned that Sherri’s friend, Gina, is only sixteen years old. So I will have to later that ‘idea’ for a couple of years anyway. I finally decided it was time to come home.

Just as I walked in the door the telephone was ringing. It was Christopher Cordellos.
“Hey, what’s up? I’ve been trying to reach you all weekend,” Chris said.
“Well, you finally got lucky because you got me this time,” I replied.
“Guess what?”
“What?” I asked without being able to guess.
“I told Barb that I was moving out on August First,” Chris announced proudly.
I was happy for him. It’s a good move on his part. We all need our own space and privacy.
“I’m not sure I can come down on Thursday,” Chris said.
“I’ll keep tabs on you until you know for sure,” I said with a tinge of hope that he would come.

All I know is that I get to move back into my ‘3348 Solomon Lane’ pad on Wednesday. Hoorah!

I watched a taped episode of ‘The Young and The Restless’ with my mom. It’s funny because I do feel ‘young and restless’ myself these days. I went to bed by 11PM.

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