January 6, 2021

 

The presence of Movie Cowboy great Tom Mix in my neighborhood of Edendale, now known as Silver Lake, is of great importance to me. From my living room, I can oversee the strip mall that is 365 Whole Foods, and that property used to be Tom Mix’s film studio. I’m a firm believer that there are spirits from that era and beyond that lives on that property. Tom Mix died in a car accident, and he was 60-years old. These days that is still considered young, but a man who spent a great majority of his life on a horse named “Tony the Wonder Horse” and did his own stunts. An excellent shot with a pistol, Mix was the real deal. 

Like America itself, Mix had the talent to make a new identity for himself. He enlisted in the Army during the Spanish-American War. Tom went AWOL when he married his first wife, Grace Allin. That marriage was annulled after a year, and a few years later, he married Olive Stokes in 1909. Mix rode in President Theodore Roosevelt’s parade with horsemen, who some were former Rough Riders. Years later, with the help of Hollywood publicists, Mix suggests that Mix himself was a Rough Rider. 

Tom Mix joined up with the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch, which was a large ranching business. The ranch had its touring Wild West show, and Mix was part of the spectacle. His horse riding skills, using the rope, and pistol-shooting came handy as he turned into an entertainer.  It was around this time that my German Grandmother as a teenager, joined the Mix Wild West Show and toured America and Cuba. Mix started to make films in Edendale (Silver Lake) and made over 100 films for the production house Selig Polyscope Company. And here is where the presence of his being comes into my life. 

I have an 8mm print of “The Cowboy Millionaire” (1909). I play it on his birthday at least three times while looking out the window simultaneously, imagining the scenes from the film are happening down below. The gunfight specifically between Mix and the bad guys made an impression on my imagination. With the images of the movie burning in my brain, I go out and put on a large white cowboy hat and a toy pistol and a gun belt around my waist. I reenact the scene in my head (and heart) from the film as I look over the property that was once owned by Tom Mix. 

January 6, 2014

January 6, 2013

Yesterday I purchased an old vinyl called "Liberace At Home" and it reminded me when I met Liberace some years back.  I was a young man around 20, and it was my first trip to Las Vegas.  I was wondering around the Fremont Hotel, checking out the one-arm bandits, when I was approached by a gentleman who told me I shouldn't really spend a lot of money on these things.  I told him that I was just passing time, with no purpose or plan.  He then told me that he is a friend of Liberace the entertainer, and would I like to go to his home with him.   I said sure.  He told me to meet him in the front of the hotel in a hour, and I did so. 

He came by with a small van, with three other guys.  All the guys were like me, alone, and it seems all of us never been to Vegas before.   it was a fascinating trip to Liberace's house, because we left the bright neon lights of Vegas for the desert highway.  One of us had to take a pee, and our host pulled over to the road, and we all went out of the van.   What struck me was the total silence of the desert, except you can hear something out there in the dry bushes.  Maybe a snake or some sort of larger animal.  I don't know, because I can't see anything in the pitch black landscape.  The only lighting was the headlights of the van and once in awhile a passing car.  

We eventually made it out to the house, and it was incredible looking.  It was an one-story mansion that's for sure.  A butler opened the door for us when we knocked.  He seemed kind of young to be a butler.  When I think of butler, I picture Jeeves from the great series of PG Wodehouse novels.   Someone older and British.  But he seemed to have a strong Southern California accent, and his hair looked like it was bleached blonde, not natural blonde.  In fact nothing in this household looked natural.  I immediately flashed on the novel "À rebours" (Against Nature) by the French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans.  Some would be creeped out by this, but I actually prefer artificial environment than something natural if you know what I mean.

Liberace showed up in the living room. He greeted each person, by taking his time, in getting the person's name, and small talk. When he came to me, he wondered where my name Tosh came from. I told him that I didn't know, but I imagine that it has something to do with the British slang word for "Tosh" meaning nonsense. He laughed when I told him this, and he sort of patted my hand. I immediately liked him. 

He offered us drinks, and as we sat around the living room, he wondered over to his piano. We're all talking and eventually he became totally lost on the keyboard. It was amazing to see his concentration on the music he was playing. If memory serves me correctly he was playing Beetoven's "Moonlight Sonata, 3rd Movement." Such a beautiful melody, and his playing was so passionate. Everyone became quiet, and when he finished the piece we all had tears in our eyes. Including Lee, as he was called among friends.