Easy Pieces

RIP maverick auteur Bob Rafaelson, 89. Born in NYC, he left home at 14 and worked as a rodeo rider, a hand on an ocean liner and a jazz musician. During his military service he was based in Japan and worked on films produced by the Shochiku company. He began in TV, writing for Play of the Week, and serving as a producer on The Greatest Show on Earth and Channing. He hit the jackpot when he came up with the idea of a show for The Monkees and their avantgarde movie Head (1968). From there he went in a completely different direction, serious films, dubbed The New Hollywood. Five Easy Pieces (1970) was lauded by critics and received four Oscar nomination, including Best Picture, Screenplay, and acting nods for his frequent collaborator Jack Nicholson and Karen Black. The film is one of those that makes me feel dumb, as I don’t get it, although I enjoy the famous scene in the diner where Nicholson’s character puts down the cranky waitress. Rafaelson followed it with the even less commercial The King of Marvin Gardens (1972). He remade The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), a solid flick that broke even at the box office. He enjoyed financial success with Black Widow (1987), a thriller starring Debra Winger and Theresa Russell. He directed the video Lionel Richie: All Night Long. None of his other works took off. There are 20 titles under his name at IMDb in the category of Director, 15 in Writer, 13 in Producer and nine in Actor. Here’s a quote attributed to him: “I regard film not as a sacred parchment, but as a pliable canvas.” Married twice, he is the father of three. Well done, sir. Photo from Google Images:

This nypost.com headline will be tough to beat in today’s news: “Holy rolled: Flashy Brooklyn bishop robbed in $400K jewelry heist during live-streamed service.” Makes one nostalgic for the Reverend Ike. Photo from GI:

Novel idea in this foxnews.com headline: “Tie congressional pay to inflation as a way to stop insane overspending.” Better idea — arrest them all.

Today’s cloud cover was friendly to the floating book shop, as it allowed me to set the display right beside the old Hyundai, minimizing the workload. Since the humidity was still high and the threat of rain was in the air, I again set out only 20% of the wares. My thanks to the gentleman who worked in a Manhattan bookstore for 14 years, who bought Curious Sicilian and Rising Star; and to Alice, who purchased Zoya by Danielle Steel; and to the elderly woman who took home cookbooks on Japan and China; and to Wolf, who selected a paperback thriller in Russian; and to the woman who did a swap of Russian titles.

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