RIP Tybie Kirtman, Advertising Chief of the notorious Daily Nexus

Tybie Kirtman

She sold the ads, smoked the Camels, and stayed out of our way, which had to be hard.

How hard? Once I produced a 12-page special section in the paper, just on where to get fucked up on campus and in IV. It was mostly about shrooms and LSD. Fryday Magazine. She didn’t bat an eye. She sold the ads for it.

And that was just me! There were literally hundreds of us who passed through those doors during her decades there trying to push the limits to see if the sky would fall. It never fell.

Just the opposite.

Only once did Tybie, pictured, take me aside. I used the phrase “sorority tart” once in a column and she said, “you’re better than that Tony.”

I asked “’tart’ bothers you? I began a piece ‘Fuck fuck fuck’ the other day and ‘tart’ bothers you?”

She said, “that other piece was art. It was poetry. ‘Tart’ is something any Bozo would type. You’re special.”

I’m misting up thinking about her. She gave us all the freedom. The most valuable gift you could bestow a young person.

Without her finding creative ways to finance our paper – a freaking daily paper with no adult supervision – we would have had to study or some shit.

St Peter is hearing some great stories tonight.

-30-

today bill buckner died, he was 69

when i was a little kid i got bill buckner’s autograph on my baseball mitt

dumb move because i used that glove a lot and it quickly smeared off.

later good ole #22 would agree to sign autographs at this video store near my home

hardly anyone showed up and i got there just as he was leaving.

his handler said, sorry kid, shows over.

and that changed the way i felt about my once favorite Cub.

then, of course, he let a Mookie Wilson ball roll though his legs when he was playing for Boston in the 1986 world series.

that made me like him again because it was such a Cub thing to do.

but most people don’t remember another important ball that billy buck didn’t catch

in 1974 when Hank Aaron was about to break Babe Ruth’s unbreakable home run record

it was shaggy headed bill buckner in left field, he then of the Dodgers.

when the ball sailed over his bushy eyebrows he tried to scale the fence.

Cubs announcer Len Kasper asked him years later if he was trying to catch the most famous dong

“No, I wanted to jump into the bullpen and get the ball!” he said of the valuable piece of history.

RIP Agnès

I’m someone who likes to learn. You won’t last long in social media / tech / digital unless you are willing to continue to study trends and new platforms and fresh approaches and things you’ve never seen before.

While at the Academy I learned so much about filmmakers I had never heard of. One of them was Agnès Varda who died today at 90.

But I learned about her in such a weird way. She and the artist JR (no periods) were nominated for directing the documentary feature “Faces Places” and at the nominees luncheon he brought a cardboard likeness of her as she could not attend.

He posed with the likeness, he had other nominees hold it… it was a spectacle but in the sweetest sense because clearly all these filmmakers knew who Agnès was and they loved it and her.

One day something crazy happened at our building. Like there was a fire alarm that kept malfunctioning or something and they sent us home. But across the street they were showing Faces Places, so I took the opportunity to see the film – and it was so lovely.

I immediately could see why it was nominated. And I could also see that JR was more than just a freaky dude being weird at the fancy luncheon – he’s a true artist and precisely the type of person you would want to partner with if you are also an artist like Agnès.

The year before the Academy saluted her with an Honorary Oscar. Angelina Jolie presented it to her and danced with her on the stage. I hope that today she is dancing with all the other film legends who, I am sure, are welcoming her with open arms.

 

bon, who hadnt seen malcolm since 1980, gave him a hug

a nice long one.

malcolm had been suffering for years of dementia

which is torture for a creative soul.

bon was all, i wanna introduce you to someone

and there he was, jimi hendrix

who handed him a thick 1949 Gibson ES-175, the first Gibson electric guitar to feature a Florentine cutaway beneath the neck, giving easy access to all 20 frets.

it also had a carved rosewood bridge.

the men plugged into three story high marshall stacks.

john bonham sat down behind the drums

and lemmy strapped on his bass.

bon counted it out and they broke into Highway to Hell

sarcastically, since they were in Heaven. surrounded by all the greats, many of whom always loved AC/DC and malcolm’s contribution to music, not just rock or hard rock, but damn good music you sing along to in the car

or scream at the football game.

shy little malcolm young, long hair over his eyes, peeks up every now and then watching the angels and saints

tap their feet

and welcome one of their own,

home.

jonathan demme died today

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoUKMRtv0Fk

He had an incredible career as a director.

Was the last director to win a Best Picture Oscar for helming a horror movie (The Silence of the Lambs)

Directed Tom Hanks to his last Best Actor Oscar (Philadelphia)

Directed Melanie Griffith in her best role (Something Wild)

Directed the impossible – a lecture – to great results (Swimming to Cambodia)

And directed the greatest concert movie of all time, The Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense

We are lucky he walked this Earth and chose to make movies about fascinating people

RIP Mary Tyler Moore

Who can turn the world on with her smile?
Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?
Well it’s you girl, and you should know it
With each glance and every little movement you show it

Love is all around, no need to waste it
You can never tell, why don’t you take it
You’re gonna make it after all
You’re gonna make it after all

How will you make it on your own?
This world is awfully big, girl this time you’re all alone
But it’s time you started living
It’s time you let someone else do some giving

Love is all around, no need to waste it
You can never tell, why don’t you take it
You might just make it after all
You might just make it after all

2016 gave, 2016 took away big time

Prince
David Bowie
Glenn Frey
Natalie Cole
George Martin
Garry Shandling
Leonard Cohen
Arnold Palmer
Leon Russell
Kevin Meaney
Merle Haggard
Otis Clay
Scotty Moore
Alan Rickman
Muhammed Ali
Jimmy Bain
Paul Kantner
Abe Vigoda
Greg Lake
Maurice White
Dan Hicks
Vanity
Harper Lee
George Kennedy
Tony “Duke” Burton
Keith Emerson
Frank Sinatra Jr
Joe Garagiola
Patty Duke
Lonnie Mack
William Schallert
Guy Clark
Morley Safer
Gordie Howe
Garry Marshall
John McLaughlin
Gene Wilder
Bobby Vee
Pete Burns
Peng Chang-kuei
Florence Henderson
John Glenn

and when the planet hit the sun, i saw the face of allison

 mose allison
The Pixies‘ album “Bossanova” came out when I was at UCSB. At the time I was the entertainment editor of the world famous Daily Nexus so I assigned myself an interview with Pixies bassist Kim Deal. She was the sweetest, funniest, most open person I ever interviewed (next to Mojo Nixon – but he was kind of a cartoon). Kim was right there with me. AKA hyper and down for whatever.
 
Among many many things, I asked her about the barely one-minute long song “Allison” from the new record.
I told her I loved the music but I had zero idea what the lyrics meant. Who was this Allison? And what maniac writes a pop song about a girl named Allison after Elvis Costello pretty much wrote the greatest tune ever about a girl named Allison.
 
And Kim was all, “yes he did. But ah-ha! Ours is not about a girl. Ours is sorta about this jazz pianist Mose Allison.” I was like Kim Deal you’re blowing my damn mind. She said, you’re welcome.
 
Today Mose Allison died.

Here’s the Pixies song that’s sorta about him: