Pray tell us why, oh convalescent one … ? (Great to have you back, BTW!)
What follows may feel a bit like a rant but is just a reaction, not a position. It may be a generational thing, but as attractive as the smiling energy might be, I tend to find the bright enthusiasm foreign, even disengenuous; as if we were to believe money and race banished, that if we could check the cupboards of any of these people, they’d have nothing racier than meat tenderizer in their pantries, or could they be seen undressing, they’d be as sexless as Ken & Barbie. What IS a “Boogie Ride”, anyway … ? A good band rhythm for dancing, or a double-entendre? And in the contextual background, here’s a heroin addict flashing leg to get out of a traffic stop, but it comes off with the cheery innocence of tots in a gradeschool play … Dark underbelly, lighthearted lark? Heck if I know …
I like Anita’s spirit , the flash of her slender legs, the pianist as well as the Gene Krupa gittin’ down in the restrained way folks in the forties were allowed to. I like thinking about that period in American history, just after the war, when everyone shut off the immediate past, or reveled in the end of it, and appeared to have such a good time. I’m also intrigued by her heroin addiction, and her ability to perform with it or in spite of it.
Like La Rad, I never knew she existed until she died, and I find these youtube views of the past fascinating.
Pray tell us why, oh convalescent one … ? (Great to have you back, BTW!)
What follows may feel a bit like a rant but is just a reaction, not a position. It may be a generational thing, but as attractive as the smiling energy might be, I tend to find the bright enthusiasm foreign, even disengenuous; as if we were to believe money and race banished, that if we could check the cupboards of any of these people, they’d have nothing racier than meat tenderizer in their pantries, or could they be seen undressing, they’d be as sexless as Ken & Barbie. What IS a “Boogie Ride”, anyway … ? A good band rhythm for dancing, or a double-entendre? And in the contextual background, here’s a heroin addict flashing leg to get out of a traffic stop, but it comes off with the cheery innocence of tots in a gradeschool play … Dark underbelly, lighthearted lark? Heck if I know …
Comment by el Kib — December 3, 2006 @ 9:16 am
I had never heard of Anita O’Day until I read her obit last week. But it was amusing watching her video. Talk about another era.
Comment by La Rad — December 3, 2006 @ 9:44 am
I like Anita’s spirit , the flash of her slender legs, the pianist as well as the Gene Krupa gittin’ down in the restrained way folks in the forties were allowed to. I like thinking about that period in American history, just after the war, when everyone shut off the immediate past, or reveled in the end of it, and appeared to have such a good time. I’m also intrigued by her heroin addiction, and her ability to perform with it or in spite of it.
Like La Rad, I never knew she existed until she died, and I find these youtube views of the past fascinating.
Comment by michael — December 3, 2006 @ 3:34 pm
The video has a certain Eric Grohe appeal to it.
Comment by Jennifer — December 3, 2006 @ 5:26 pm