August 7, 2014

August 7, 2014

There’s no doubt in my mind that cinema is Nicholas Ray. There is not a day in my life where I haven’t thought of the two words together: Nicholas.  Ray.   Like million others, I was totally devastated by “A Rebel Without A Cause, ” mostly due to the relationship between Jim Stark and John “Plato” Crawford.  As a side-line narrative, I was also deeply affected by Stark’s relationship with his dad as well.  To this day, I refuse to wear an apron while doing the dishes.  I also hunted down Robert M. Lindner's “1944 book “Rebel Without A Cause: The Hypnoanalysis Of A Criminal Psychopath, ” which was the basis for the Ray film.  I just recently purchased the film rights to this book, so I can produce a re-make of the film.  I’m proud to announce that we just signed Justin Bieber to play Jim Stark, Christopher Walken as Jim’s Dad, and Billy Unger will play Plato.  Judy will be played by Selena Gomez, who used to date Bieber, so that will be an interesting sub-text for the film.  We also hired Leos Carax to direct the film.  We felt that a European approach or point-of-view, will be relevant for this film.

It took me six or seven months, but I located Dean’s original outfit for Jim, and we’re going to have Justin wear it for the film.  He’s the exact same size and weight as James Dean, at the time he filmed “Rebel,” so this works out perfectly.   We’re also using Irving Shulman and Stewart Stern’s original shooting script for our version as well.  There was a scene cut out of the original film, and we’re going to re-shoot it - Jim is dead drunk and he screams at a car in the parking lot, “It’s a little jeep jeep!  Little jeep, jeep!” We did a test of this scene with Justin, and it is terrifying with the intensity that he puts in his role.  We are also borrowing the 1949 Mercury Coupe that James Dean drove in the film.  Luckily the car is in great shape, and is part of the collection at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada.

We chose to use Leonard Rosenman’s original score as well.  We were thinking of doing something modern, but decided not to do that.  At one point, we were considering to utilize Jack Nitzsche’s great album “Chopin ’66” but couldn’t obtain the rights.   But this is a blessing, because Rosenman’s score is perfect, and there is no reason why we can’t re-use it again.  We will also use the Santa Monica High School and the Griffith Observatory as a location for our version of the film.  The only thing is we are going to have to remove the bust of James Dean that is located at the Observatory's west side of the grounds.  Shooting will start this October and we’re planning a release on Christmas day 2015.

March 1, 2014 (Tokyo)

March 1, 2014

Tokyo is very much of a city that I can feel by my fingertips.  If it has a logic, it is sort of beyond my understanding, because in a sense it reminds me of Paris, in that you use a location as a set piece, and then from there the roads becomes a spider’s web covering the rest of the city.  Tokyo is like this as well, because nothing really connects to each other.  In a way it makes me think of Los Angeles in that it is a city full of villages.  Each area has its distinct identity and purpose.  I tried to explain this to Justin Bieber, because I took him out for his birthday and I always want to show him a good time.  But it's hard, because his standards are quite high.  

He is interested in Noh and Kabuki theater, which may surprise certain people, but he bases (at least in his mind) Kabuki practices in his latest stage show.  His manager talked him out of wearing a formal Kabuki wig and make-up, because he felt it may be too radical for his teenage fans.  Justin has a great admiration for the theater and its practices and therefore wanted to see some Noh while he was in Tokyo. 

Noh was first performed in the thirteenth century, and Justin loves the thought of being involved in that tradition.  He also loves the idea that a typical or traditional Noh play can last all day.  His one dream is to do a performance that will start at 10: AM and end sometime in the early evening.  There will be lunch breaks, but more likely he will invite the audience to bring food into the arena.  The play he wishes to base his new show on is “Aoi no Ue (Lady Aoi) which is a Heian period Japanese Noh play that is inspired by the ancient Japanese novel “Tale of the Genji.” In this Noh piece, there are three characters.  Prince Genji, his wife Lady Aoi, and the Prince’s mistress Lady Rokujo.  The conflict of the narration is that Lady Aoi becomes pregnant with her husband’s child, which causes Lady Rokujo to be jealous and seeks revenge.  Her living spirit leaves the body and possesses Lady Aoi. 

Justin wants to portray Lady Aoi, and feels he can write some new songs for this theater piece slash concept album.   Justin and I became tight after I was hired to write some lyrics for his music, but it didn’t turn out that great.  Nevertheless he asked me to adopt “Aoi no Ue” to the modern era but using the techniques of classic Noh theater.  Justin is one of those artists that has a natural instinct for what will work and I never doubt him or his talent.  I’m very excited to work together on this project with him.  Now that I’m in Tokyo I can fully focus on this project, and also at the same time I can celebrate Justin’s birthday and talent in one place and in one time. 

February 17, 2014

February 17, 2014

Through my connection with Justin Bieber, I got an assistant job with Paris Hilton, which is ideal for me, because it also gives me time to finish and work on my childhood memoir.  I’m also hoping that I can either write a song with Paris, or someone else, with the hopes that it will end up being a recording by her.   I wrote a song with Justin, but the last thing I heard was that he rejected it, with respect to his new album.  But right now Paris has other interests besides fashion and music.   She is all deeply into early 20th century art.

Secretly she has been obsessed with the 1913 Armory Show that took place in New York City.  It is regarded as the first exhibition in America to expose avant-garde 20th century art to the masses.   Before that, Americans only knew ‘realistic’ art, but here, for the first time they could see Fauvism, Cubism, and Futurism art pieces.  For the first time, people could see masterpieces like Marcel Duchamp’s “Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2, ” Matisse’s “Blue Nude (Souvenir de Biskra), ” and Robert Henri’s “Figure in Motion” among other considered now classics.  For the past ten years, Paris has been secretly buying every painting and sculpture that were exhibited at the Armory Show.   One of my many jobs for her, besides making phone calls and bringing her tea, is to be able to keep an eye on this collection.  One of the key reasons why I got this job was because through my father’s reputation as an artist.  She also loved the fact that I wasn’t an academic and I liked to party now and then.

One would think, due to her publicity, that she was a monster, but I found her to be easy to work with, and she always calls me “dear” which I found endearing.  I also admired her attention to her collection.  For instance, she owns a building in Pasadena to house the art.    With this collection, she was obsessed with keeping the original floor plans as much as possible.  Only once, she opened up this collection for others, and it was a private party.  Only those who are called upon by her could come, but they must also dress in the style of 1913.  In fact, whenever Paris visits her collection she wears authentic antique clothing from that year or era.   Not only that, but she made me wear the clothing as well, whenever I either visit or more likely work with the collection.

The closest person I can think of with respect to Paris’ personality would be Jean des Esseintes, the leading character in Joris-Karl Huysmans’ “Against Nature.” The big difference between them is Esseintes is French, and Paris is a combination of San Fernando Valley and Beverly Hills, with more refined taste of course.  Nevertheless she lives in a world that is closed off, and she is only surrounded by things that make her happy.  The Armory Show is one of the subject matters that give her great pleasure.  Through her research of the Armory show, she discovered not only the artwork of James Whistler, but also his writings.  His credo “art for art’s sake” has a strong appeal for her.  In her home, she has a room set aside for herself called “The Peacock Room” which is based on Whistler’s interior design he did in 1876.  The interior is considered to be example of the Anglo-Japanese style, and Paris as much as possible tried to make a perfect or exact reproduction of that room for her home.  She got it mostly right, but eventually had to buy replicas of the original room, due that she couldn’t own them.  Nevertheless, this is where she often sits in the afternoon, reading art criticism by Whistler and meditate on her various business ventures.

I became quite attached to her, just because she treats me so well as an employee, that I often go out and buy her little gifts.   There is no way I can give her something that is money orientated or expensive, but I usually get her stuff like a Gene Pitney greatest hits collection on CD, or a vinyl re-issue of John Leyton’s “Johnny Remember Me.” I hope after I am gone and dead, she will still have this music, and therefore, one can imagine that I will still be a good memory for her.

February 9, 2014

February 9, 2014

For my past crimes, I was just sentenced to the poker for 40 days.  The judge said that I should have known better than to participate in Justin’s egg-throwing party.  Ironically there is a 40 year difference between me and Justin.  Who knows how these things work out.  One day you were hired to write some words to a song, and then a short time later I am facing the judge, in a crime that I truly have no memory of.  Due to the arrest I am thrown out of Justin’s social world, which probably is a blessing than anything else.    The judge was kind enough to give me 40 more days to get my affairs in order before reporting to jail time.  Oddly enough I don’t feel guilty about what happened.  Sometimes you just have to experience the lows in life to appreciate the highs.  Alas, there is a great deal of sadness on my part, because deep down I still want to be part of Justin’s world.

A quick turn of events makes one reflect on one's life, and I often wonder what would happen if I didn’t see The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show when I was 9 years old.  I was for sure attracted to the intense love the whole world was giving the Fab Four.  Yet, I can’t remember what songs they played on the show.  I just remember looking forward to the moment they arrive in front of me, or on my TV screen.  It wasn’t even a music thing, just to become part of that moment when things fell in place so perfectly.

The second thing that hit me right between the eyes that year was “Peyton Place.” I just turned 10 years old and I fell in love with Allison MacKenzie, played by Mia Farrow.   If I had a ‘type’ it would be a girl with long blonde hair.  There was something fairy-tale like about her presence on the little screen that really captured my heart.  I didn’t understand the show, but I got the intensity and passion right away.  Totally emotional, but Farrow struck me as someone I can just talk to, if I knew her.  Or I should say Allison, because that is the part she played in the series.  I believe that she was 19, but her being a teenager, in my mind, was that she was approachable for a ten year old.   Of course this was all fantasy, but when you are a kid you always fall in love with someone older.  I’m sure there were tons of pre-teen girls in love with The Beatles, and on one level you think, these guys are in their early 20’s.  But when you are part of the rush of pre-teenage or teenager, you don’t really pay attention to logic, but more of an inner-fantasy world, that was more important and more lively.

In real life when she went off with Frank Sinatra, it seemed weird to me, and I didn’t totally understand why she didn’t run off with Ryan O'Neal her co-star in “Payton Place.” But then mysteries are mysteries due to the unknown world of emotional attachment.   I think what disturbed me as a kid is that Sinatra wasn’t part of the family or not part of the show.  Around the same time, I also developed another crush on another blonde, Hayley Mills.  She was a great teenage star in the Walt Disney world.  I actually cut out pictures of her from 16 Magazine and put them up on my bedroom wall.   It was shocking to me, that eventually she ended up marrying a British movie director Roy Boulting when she was 20, and he was 53 years old.  Another odd thing about Mia and Hayley is that they were both in productions of “Peter Pan” but not on the same show.  I think Hayley played Wendy, but Mia actually performed as Peter Pan.

So now 50 years later, I am in front of the judge for hanging out with Justin and his crew, and I can sort of see I was trying to capture a moment that I never had.  Only in my head, and I had the chance to live that fantasy or moment, but now find my self soon heading towards jail with only a copy of a novel by Natsume Sōseki.

January 30, 2014

January 30, 2014

There is at the very least a 40 years difference between us in our age. Yet Justin Bieber and I are tight pals.  We met because I heard through various circles that he was looking for a lyricist, and I’ve been working on songs for the last 30 years or so.  People think it’s an odd partnership, but history proves this wrong, specifically when you think of the French pop songwriter Jacques Dutronc and his much older lyricist Jacques Lanzmann.  It’s a good combination to have youth, but with the words coming from an older guy.  

Time-to-time, Justin and I hang out, just for inspiration, and also to share our common love for the good life.  What the both of us share, besides making art, is having a good time.  Whenever I go to his pad in “The Oaks” which is a gated community in Calabasas, we like to chill by the swimming pool, and then invite some of his friends over the house to party a bit.  The evening starts by watching films.  Justin is a bit of a film buff and he has a great admiration for films made by Robert Bresson. 

 “Pickpocket” seems to be his favorite Bresson film, and we often had gone to shopping centers such as the Beverly Center, ,  approximately around dusk, and we love to attract a crowd around him, where we, to our best ability, try to pickpocket the fans that surround him.  Justin actually has excellent hand coordination and while he talks to a fan, and here, the important part of the technique, starring directly in her eyes, while at the same time his fingers go over her purse and lifts stuff out of the bag.  I would usually be directly behind him, and just pick up the goods by making my coat pocket accessible to him for dropping off her goods. 

Doing this was a complete turn-on for us, and I think got our juices going for songwriting sessions.   For a while now, I have worked on a song with Justin called “Stealing Your Love Away.” Due to our various backgrounds, it is a tough song to write.  I’ve been in and out of love so many times in my life, and Justin only had one real love that didn’t turn out terrific.  I believe her name was Selena, and man was she a looker and a half!  

Justin used to show me some footage off his I-Phone, but just a quick glance.  Man what a tease!   Usually she was posing either naked or half-naked, and I have to admit it was a turn-on of sorts.  That in the nutshell is the beauty of our relationship.  We can share intimate items that are only between us.  Justin is really a gorgeous guy.  

We often are out driving, without a purpose or plan.  For instance, all of a sudden he wants to get in a car and go.  Go where?  Who gives a shit, just go man!  We usually drive to a remote area, mostly in the countryside, which is the beauty of living in Southern California.  One never is a long way from the ocean or the forest.   I get in the passenger side (I don’t drive) and with Justin behind the wheel it is a dance in motion.  There is something so beautiful with Justin’s face when it is matched with his yellow Lamborghini.  I often was of the view that I was watching myself and him in a movie.  I’m screaming for dear life, and he is laughing like an insane person.  He held his foot on the gas petal, going faster.  Eventually he turns off the headlights and all in front of us is pure darkness.  We speed towards the scenic space of nothing.