Spring is Here - Easter, Passover, Tartan Week and Taxes

Busy little month April.

Taking the latter first so as to end the post on a more pleasant note, I am still cranky over my tax burden this year. Who the hell thought of having property taxes come due at the same time as income taxes, not to mention having to pay quarterly estimated taxes for next year too?  The dude must have been a real joker. Poor D is getting used to being hit with both NYC and California taxes, in addition to Federal and she's scrambling to pay it.  No wonder the Muse is looking so happy to have several projects on his calendar. He must go into shock at tax time too, with properties on both coasts in addition to taxes on his healthy income.  We all know taxes are part of the price we pay for living the lives we do and I'm not complaining, but I do wish they would stagger the due dates a little...like every other year for property taxes would be nice.

On to more pleasant things, tomorrow is Easter Sunday and Passover started Friday night.   To everyone   who observes these two holidays celebrating the renewal of life and hope, a blessed and lovely time sharing the traditions of your faith with family and friends.   For the pagans out there (and we are all a little pagan, I think)  mother nature is putting on her dazzling yearly display and showering us with some lovely spring fever to accompany the rising pollen count (every silver lining comes with cloud attached).

New York City Tartan Day Parade 

As for Tartan week, this is the first time in the last three years that I am not in NYC for its events and I sorely miss it.  All those lovely kilted men displaying their charms (and some a little more of them then others) at Dressed to Kilt had to do with one less admiring glance this year.  I won't be arriving in the city until the 19th for a ten day visit to get my big city fix and need to get on the ball to make a few show and dinner reservations.  I've already schedule a visit with my favorite wizard for a "spring renewal" of my own too!

I just finished watching Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close tonight and that, along with seeing a photo of Gerry riding his bike in shirtsleeves in the West Village,  made me even more eager to visit one of my favorite cities, not to mention spending time with one of my favorite people, my daughter D. I hope the good weather holds up so we can take a long walk in Central Park. I'm looking forward to sitting in D's patio and seeing the flowers and bulbs we planted last year in bloom.  I am also looking forward to getting better acquainted with her new boyfriend.

I went to an opening night art exhibit featuring some wonderful international photography last week in West Hollywood and there were so many photographs of NYC (in different eras and seasons,  as well as some 3 D ones) and of  San Francisco and some of my favorite European cities, that I have the itch to visit them again.  I wish I could move around as freely as the Muse does.  I do envy him the ease with which he just picks up and goes.  I suppose there are benefits to being sartorially challenged and "devil may care" about it too!  One of his recent outfits was positively Dickensian,  top hat and coat straight out of Oliver Twist.

A very Dickensian looking Gerry auditioning for a Broadway gig?

Here he is, looking normal (whatever that is for Gerry)  and sticking his tongue out at the paparazzi for intruding on his tranquility.

And Raspberries to you, fella!

Last time I was in NY (on the way back from Paris)  I picked up a new suitcase.   The handle on my trusty old Tumi got stuck and even though it was a little battered, those bloody things last forever.  It's sitting in D's spare closet and I have to figure out how to get it repaired and back here.  My new one is even larger and more rugged, but I seriously have to learn to pack lightly.   I have a friend who travels all the time and she packs a leather carry on and a small cosmetic bag and that is it.  I don't think I will ever travel that light, but then she doesn't wear dresses and does fine with one pair of shoes for the whole trip.  Not even in my dreams...

I am sure the Muse will be on the move again soon, but it's good to see him doing his thing, which, as usual, means having fun hanging out with his buds.  And why not?   Spring is here and NYC is home  for him too, isn't it?

Wishing you all some spring fever of your own...

Zoni

Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate

The April Fool (Reprint)

The real smile 3/12.

I wrote this in April 2008 as part of the Z Report series I used to post on IMDb.  While a few things have changed, more of it remains the same and thought perhaps it was worthy of a second look.

Gerry is off doing reshoots for Playing The Field and I will be very curious to see the finished product and glad they are revisiting it if they felt it needed something extra to give it more of a chance to glow during the Holidays.

It's a beautiful, clear windy day in La La land and watching the ice caps roiling the ocean from my bedroom window, I am ready for short nap after a very late night discussing the world and its many inhabitants,  cities, social and other  media and every topic under the sun with some of the most interesting people...  A "salon" is the perfect type of gathering to bring people of all ages, nationalities and viewpoints (mostly connected with the arts in some way, though) together and I am exhausted today from all the mental stimulation.  Life is good...

http://stonateasmuse.blogspot.com/2010/08/z-report-4-01-08-april-fool.html

...and tonight is Mad Men!

To all the April Fools out there, have a lovely one!  And to the Muse... I wish him safe, happy travels and lovely sunsets when the work is done!   It feels like a good year...

Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate

The Muse at Sexy Sur

It seems the Muse was out and about and enjoying the charms of Sur in West Hollywood.  Sur and her sister restaurant Villa Blanca in Beverly Hills are both quite nice and enjoy a "Moroccan" flavor to the decor with their Spanish-Middle Eastern-No. African influences.  I've been to both places and they are very charming and exotic in a "Midnight at the Oasis" kind of way (I love that song).

I hope he enjoyed the food too.  Villa Blanca has a dish similar to my mom's chicken fricasse' which was rich in spices, olives, raisins, and cut up potatoes.   Will have to check out the menu next time to see if Sur serves it.  I'm getting hungry just thinking about it and it's almost 2:30 a.m.  Darn!  Wonder if mom included it in all the recipes she wrote down for me when I got married so many years ago.   I remember that she (as grandma taught her) always served it over rice but it is wonderful over couscous too!

We've been having great weather in La La Land and it looks like G has been making the most of it while he's here.   I wonder how long he shall grace us with his presence?  Not long, I think, as the man is always on the move and I don't think he can stand to be in one place for too long before he starts getting antsy.

Laker Game

He's been keeping company with the likes of producer Avi Lerner (Playing the Field), who has floor seats right next to uber Laker fan Jeffrey Katzenberg (DreamWorks) and in those photos it looked like he just rolled out of bed from an afternoon nap and just in time to make the game.   At least I am assuming he was napping, although with Gerry's reputation one never knows if he actually was sleeping or ....

Well...never mind!   It's always nice for actors to be in the good graces of the people with the clout to get movies made and, as we've observed before,  Gerry does pretty well in that regard.

Life seems to be going well for Mr. B. at the moment.  Let's hope his troubles are behind him and he is smart enough to keep his nose clean.  I like to see him when he's up.

Oooops!  Did I just really write that? (grins)

Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate

Another New Project...

...and a parental visit in sunny L.A. look to be a few of the things keeping the Muse busy these days.  It was a great day to be out of doors and except for the ever present pap, which they are doing their best to ignore, it looks like they are enjoying their visit to Farmers Market and The Grove.   It is a destination for a lot of people who come to L.A. and you can always see some celebs there if you look carefully.

I am also happy to see that G. has a new project on the horizon called Olympus Has Fallen.  This one sounds more promising than the other (unless the script IS really brilliant) and I am keeping my fingers crossed they can attract a decent director to helm it.   As an action film,  I am also hoping  he will have learned to be more accepting of using a stunt double for the more harrowing of the action sequences to protect himself from further injury.  All the fame and money in the world can't make it up to you when your body starts falling apart.

I think G is looking good these days.  I particularly like the way he looks in the photo below.  Don't know if it is just my imagination or maybe wishful thinking, but his look is direct and clear here.  Let's hope his substance problems are behind him.   He will always have to be doing reality checks because of who he is and because of the career he has chosen.   I wish him luck.  It can't be easy.

If he can stay off the booze and the cigarettes, perhaps he's up to the task of this one too.  I am fond of this person and I'd hate to see him be chewed up by excesses of fame.

I had a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine over dinner tonight concerning certain recreational substances and why people use them and what they personally did for him at one time, but I'll save a bit of that conversation (me probing down to the nitty gritty and he enlightening me) for the other blog.

Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate

Brilliant? Hopefully!

The Muse has another project on the horizon.   I am sure he will be happy to work with his Ugly Truth director again, since he had so much fun doing the last movie with him. Hopefully (seems I'm always hoping on this blog) this is not another silly comedy with a lackluster script and that he gets a quality co-star he has some "real" on screen" chemistry with and a tight story that will keep it in theaters longer than a week.

I would love to see someone with a little gravitas as his female co-star...someone with a certain "onscreen charisma" of her own that would add to the plot.  Off the bat the only two that come to mind with the "charisma card" at the moment  are Marion Cotillard or Berenice Bejo (she was great in The Artist). These actresses aren't cutesy types and they can act, plus they have a "vulnerability" side to them.  I'm thinking their accents would add a separate dimension...perhaps some confusion of the comic kind between the leads due to language misunderstanding?  Or perhaps you could keep your accent for this one if the script permits.

Sorry.   I really know nothing of this script but my vivid imagination can't help making some suggestions that "I" would include to up the ante on a romantic relationship, especially in a comedy.   There has to be a serious side to a protagonist, even in a comedy, to make him really "whole" as a character.  The comedy has to come from his natural wit and the writing, but he has to have some gravitas himself to be able to pull off the "romance" side of it...so he will be unforgettable past the theater door.  Hopefully he is not just a "boob" a la Hangover type.  Clueless male is okay off screen, but onscreen, we women want to be "wowed" by those we think should be classic leads.

Perhaps I am hoping too much here.  Time will tell where he is going.

I have to assume that since his last few outings (Coriolanus and Machine Gun Preacher) have not provided a big payday, this one serves that purpose, since he is not producing.  The plot for Brilliant,  as it is presented in the few articles on this project, has been replayed too many times already (Sean Connery and Katherine Zeta Jones, one of the Ocean's 11 movies, etc....).  Hopefully this one will have a unique twist somewhere in it that will make it different.  Look at Katherine Heigl...the best work she has done has been on television in Gray's Anatomy, otherwise she has been typecast and just keeps playing the same character in most of her movies....  To think she was my favorite character in Gray's at one time.  I wonder if Luketic is looking at reuniting the same team for this flick?

I do understand Gerry wanting something light and not too physical in the action sense that will provide a comfortable set and some offscreen fun as well, after his "near death" and "rehab" experiences and can't begrudge him this. However, dear Muse, I do hope the two you have in the can already are entertaining (and the comedy, witty).  I did so enjoy watching you have some serious on screen chemistry with someone...even if that someone was male (R. Fiennes in Coriolanus).

Now why does that sound familiar?

As always, I wish you the best and hope (there it is again...that word) that I am pleasantly surprised by this one if, or when,  it comes to fruition.

Zoni

Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate

Hooray for Hollywood! Return of the Swan.

Ready or not, this is show biz and the show must go on and so the muse is back in business and showing the world he is fit for whatever comes his way!

He certainly looks well.  Let's hope the "happy dust" was not an issue in addition to the pain pills.

There is this fellow who has been doing happy dust since college.  Whenever he was in L.A. and before she moved to NY,  he always used to call D.  She knows all his secrets and doesn't let him get away with shit, so just before going into rehab (in Malibu) a few years ago, she spent the night holding his hand (funnily enough at The Sunset Towers).  He didn't stay in rehab for long...but he seemingly functions just fine.  He also has nine lives.  His father died when he was very young and he thinks he's destined for the same fate, so he lives it up and lives all over the globe.  He's even concocted parts of a past that never happened for public consumption and D laughs at how he gets away with it.  He's a real showman!

Life is funny...and sometimes sad.  D is cynical about her friend, but I always wish him well.

I am not saying this is G's problem.  I like to think he is more real and honest with himself.  But alas, he has to play the game and he does love the schmoozing... so "the little engine that could" keeps on chugging along and attended the Vanity Fair party last night.

If nothing else, he looks lovely and rested.

Stay sane, dear Muse!  Life goes by in the blink of an eye and one misses so much if one is in a stupor and always moving!   Going for the brass ring is all right, as long as the Merry Go Round isn't moving too fast!  You don't want to find yourself holding the ring but there is no longer any lovely music coming from the calliope...

One cannot dance through the storms if one can't hear the music!

Fondly,

Z

Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate


Photograph courtesy of GB Gals.

Flying Under the Radar for a while...

...is good for the muse.   I think he has a lot on his mind these days and there is nothing like almost losing your life to make you sit up and take stock of it and ask yourself questions like "Am I happy?"  "What the hell am I doing with the rest of my life?"   "Is That All There Is?"

That last one is a particular favorite (I love the song) which speaks volumes about too much making one jaded.

Eyes speak volumes

I wrote the first two paragraphs early this afternoon without any knowledge of the story TMZ just broke a few minutes ago. * I think I already knew what was going on.  We know G's dealt with pain since 300 and I couldn't help thinking that the pounding one takes surfing was not the best thing for him to be doing. But in typical Gerry fashion, he pushes himself past what he should to prove to himself (and thereby to others) that he can do it.

I recognize the routine.

I have a few words for the Muse...

Be kind to yourself G.  You don't have to keep proving you are a tough guy all the time.  Being just who you are is enough.  Not everyone is going to love you...but that's okay too!   I know a lot of people function well using  "happy dust"..... but in the end it will get you and that would hurt a lot of people out there.  Really "big" men are kind and decent and like who they are.  Loving yourself means loving all of you...and you don't love your body by doing things that you know will harm it.  You speak of your soul often and you would think you would want to provide it with the best possible home so that it will continue to shine through those nice eyes of yours.

I'm glad you went somewhere serious like Betty Ford for help and didn't do the celebrity "Malibu" thing.

I am sending good thoughts and a sincere affection your way.

Be happy.  You are enough!

XXOO

Zoni

Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate


*The following is what I wrote the night before his last Leno appearance, but didn't post.  I wrote the feeling "I" got from the photos. You all know which ones they are and I won't post them.  I didn't finish this and wrote about his Leno appearance instead.  It was "deja vu" seeing the TMZ post tonight.

I CAN'T STAND...

...several new photos of the muse that have been posted on the internet.  I don't know if G was just terribly exhausted, at a low point, or just totally wacked out on something.  Perhaps it was a combination of all.

Catching some follow up pictures posted on the internet, I also think I know where he is at the moment, if not physically, at least psychically.  It's there for anyone with eyes to see and it's not a new demon, but an old one that haunts him.  

In the middle of all the adoration and the trips and the friends and the conquests and the clubs, I often see a very lonely man who only seems to feel the glow of being alive when he's performing.

People always wonder why he is always out at the clubs, even when he is on the edge of exhaustion.  He is looking for company because he is afraid of being alone with himself.  He has said he is sometimes very focused on himself and his own life.  What happens when he "is" alone with just himself?  Is that what he is thinking in this photo?

I know what it is like to feel alone in a crowd or in a gathering when you feel the conversation around you is banal and you almost feel like you are from another planet.   I also know what it's like to be with people you are in sync with and the conversation flows from topic to topic and you are engaged and feeling on top of the world.  I think he fluctuates from these extremes and, a little like the protagonist in Sofia Copola's "Somewhere, " he is feeling the weight and the bone deep loneliness of disassociation from his fellow humans and perhaps turned to another kind of oblivion.

I want to reach out and tell him he'll be all right and he'll get over and past it.  He already knows it, but feeling empty in the middle of so much worship seems so fucking sad and for the paparazzi to catch it... such nakedness and vulnerability...is even sadder.