"SUMMER OF '42"

"SUMMER of '42" It was a very popular movie in America released in the early 1970's. The 1971 film is a "coming of age" story set on Nantucket Island. At the time, it felt uncomfortably erotic. I was 18 when I first saw it. I ran into a streaming version online and decided to re-watch it. Because there is such great background information about any movie online, I decided to read about it first before watching it. What I discovered changed the way I saw it this 2nd time around and will forever make me look at it differently. Hollywood has used novels as the source of films for decades. When originally watching the film, based on a book by Herman Raucher, it was clear that this was another novel-turned-movie from Hollywood. At least that's what I've thought for 45 years--and what you've thought as well. It's not. "Summer of '42" is a detailed word-for-word retelling of what happened to Herman Raucher when he was 15 in the summer of 1942. Characters all have the same names. The dialogue and scenes are exact re-enactments. The author has since stated that after the movie came out in 1971--he received a letter from "Dorothy" that had no return address, phone number or way of contacting her. Her letter contained details that only they would know. It was postmarked Canton, Ohio. She said that she had re-married and was now a grandmother. She was very concerned that she may have "traumatized" him with what had happened that night 30 years earlier. He never heard from her again after that communication. In 1971, Herman, who is now almost 89, was about 45. Dorothy, who he never asked her age, was as young as 20 in 1942, and in 1971 anywhere from 50-55. She would be in her 90's now if still alive. Go back and watch the movie now knowing that it is a 100% true story down to every word said. It makes it as penetrating as "The Notebook."

POP MUSIC 1955-1990

RESIDENT RUMP

I GET TO FINALLY TELL MY ZSA ZSA STORY.

I GET TO FINALLY TELL MY ZSA ZSA STORY. IN THE 90'S, I CREATED THE FIRST EVER LIVE ONLINE CELEBRITY INTERVIEWS WHERE AVERAGE PEOPLE COULD PARTICIPATE AS PART OF THE EVENT. THIS WAS FOR COMPUSERVE. I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUN TO BRING ZSA ZSA GABOR ON AS A GUEST. AFTER ALL--SHE'S ALWAYS SO MUCH FUN. I CALLED A CONTACT OF MINE AND ASKED IF HE HAD THE PHONE NUMBER FOR ZSA ZSA'S PUBLICIST. HE SAID HE DID AND GAVE IT TO ME. I CALLED THE NUMBER AND WAS SHOCKED WHEN I HEARD A FAMILIAR VOICE ANSWER "HELLO?" AND LET'S FACE IT--HER VOICE IS DISTINCTIVE. HALTINGLY, I SAID, "ZSA ZSA--THIS IS ELIOT WITH COMPUSERVE. YOU KNOW THIS NEW ONLINE COMPUTER THING? I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUN HAVING YOU ON AS MY GUEST!" AN IRATE ZSA ZSA (WHICH YOU'VE ALL HEARD BEFORE) STARTED YELLING--"WHERE DID YOU GET MY HOME NUMBER FROM?" I RESPONDED "I..I..I THOUGHT I WAS CALLING YOUR PUBLICIST"...IN ZSA ZSA STYLE SHE INTERRUPTED--"YOU CALL MY MANAGER FOR THAT." I WISHED HER WELL AND SAT THERE LAUGHING AT WHAT JUST TRANSPIRED. IT WAS LIKE TALKING TO A COMIC BOOK CHARACTER.

"MY FAVORITE THINGS" DAY.

"MY FAVORITE THINGS" DAY. I have 5 Favorite things. 1. The Beatles--especially the album "Rubber Soul." 2. Charlie Chaplin. 3. Troll Dolls. 4. Pinball Machines 5. Edward Hopper paintings.

It's getting a bit cold in Burbank. I got out my "Beatles Jacket" which I made. Ringo the dog and I went to Atomic Records. Other than Amoeba, this is the most popular record store in Los Angeles. They have every style of music going back to the 1920's. They always play a random LP selected from thousands. When we walked in, they were playing "Rubber Soul," my favorite Beatles album. Ringo started to bark. The owner asked why he was barking. I said he was saying, "You play this at home all the time!" Ringo and I then went to Brand Park, this beautiful elaborate park in nearby Glendale. We saw a group of students filming in a corner with modern sophisticated equipment. They were from USC. To my stunned surprise, they were filming a Charlie Chaplin short. Complete with detailed dressed performers, a crew of 15, they were intricately making a retro silent film which I could see being processed on their attached monitor. I had to get a picture with Charlie. I told them that I used to teach about Chaplin in my Media & Society film school class--and would show them scenes from "Modern Times" and "City Lights," because other than knowing the famous "Little Tramp" caricature, students had never seen the films. What a wonderful "MY FAVORITE THINGS" DAY IT WAS.

This is Charlotte. She was having 300 seizures a week.

This is Charlotte. She was having 300 seizures a week. She flatlined and almost died many times. The medications she was taking did nothing to help her. Her parents moved to Colorado. It was only there they could get a substance called CBD that suddenly decreased her seizures to a few a week. There are two main substances in marijuana. One is THC--that creates the "high." The other is CBD--a God given natural element which is stopping or curing--not covering up-- hundreds of ailments including cancer cell growth (National Institute of Health), epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, glaucoma, HIV, chronic pain, Alzheimers, nausea, ADD/ADHD, depression, wasting, PTSD and others. The pharmaceutical industry doesn't like CBD. Anybody can grow marijuana and therefore, it competes against their high priced poisons which kill tens of thousands of Americans every year. This week, the DEA added CBD to Schedule 1--therefore claiming it is addictive and has no medical value--on the same level as heroin. The pharmaceutical industry has been protected by the government for decades--after all, who do you think makes the greatest contributions to politicians so they can start running for re-election the minute they get in office?

Eliot Stars in The Metamorposis

The MetamorphosisWhen I was a professor at the Los Angeles film school, one of my most brilliant students, Eric Aaron Lizer, asked me to star in a short film. Here it is for all of you to see. The Metamorphosis.

https://vimeo.com/33262321

Just Saying Hello!

It was bedtime. The only thing on my bed was a pillow and a blanket--that had clearly taken the form of something hiding under it. In cute talk I said, "Somebody's hiding under my blanket. Who can be under there?" All of a sudden, either a hand or foot just popped up in a crevice-fold area of the blanket and remained there in that position for 30 minutes. It was so funny when it happened.

PLEASE LEARN THIS WORD: ZEITGEIST.

PLEASE LEARN THIS WORD: ZEITGEIST.

IT MEANS "THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES." IT REFERS TO THE THINKING AND FEELINGS THAT EXISTED AT A PARTICULAR PERIOD OF TIME. TODAY, ON THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR, IT HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO TEACH U.S. HISTORY. TRYING TO CONVEY THE ZEITGEIST THAT EXISTED IN AMERICA ON DEC. 7, 1941, IS OFTEN DISMISSED BY YOUNGER AUDIENCES THAT FEEL THE BEHAVIOR OF AMERICANS WAS SO RACIST AND NO EXPLANATION WILL SUFFICE. A CARTOON THAT HAS BEEN BANNED SINCE BEING SHOWN IN THEATERS TO WW2 AUDIENCES IS CALLED "BUGS BUNNY NIPS THE NIPS." ANYTIME IT GOES UP ON YOUTUBE, WARNER BROS. HAS IT REMOVED. WARNER BROS. HAD RECENTLY CONSIDERED FINALLY RELEASING IT WITH AN ATTACHED HISTORICAL EXPLANATION, BUT DECIDED NOT TO. BY TODAY'S STANDARDS IT IS SHOCKING. HEARING BUGS BUNNY CALL HIS JAPANESE NEMESIS BY EXTREMELY DEROGATORY TERMS AND WATCHING HIM BLOW UP JAPANESE PEOPLE IS HORRIFIC. TRYING TO EXPLAIN THE THINKING THAT EXISTED AT THE TIME HAS BECOME NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE. THERE IS ONE COMPLETE VERSION OF THE CARTOON HIDDEN ON THE INTERNET. WHAT DO YOU THINK--BEFORE THEY REMOVE IT?

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3s36n4_bugs-bunny-nips-the-nips_fun