Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Nicole

A little background:

A few years ago, Tom and I were very active in a small community theatre in Odessa: The Center Stage. It was run by a friend of ours. Center Stage put on all kinds of really fun productions. The best part, of course, was all of the cast parties. We had this little gang that spent so much time together. Sue, Jim, Amy, Brad, Jack, Mack, Ray, we were always involved in one production or another. It was one of the highlights of my life.
At one party, we met a young woman named Nicole. She was funny, and so quick! I would match her wit against anyone.
As is always the way of the world, Center Stage closed down and people started drifting away. Nicole only lived 20 miles away, but it seemed our schedules would almost never mesh. When we did get together, it was like no time at all had passed. She was an avid reader and we would swap books to read anly to discuss them in incredible detail later. Nic was one of the first people I introduced to 'Wicked.' She encouraged me to set up a book review club, and even brought a friend along to the two meetings we had.
I would often think of Nicole, but we did not see enough of each other.
Nicole lost her battle with cancer on July 4th. Independence Day.
I could think of no better tribute to her life than to make sure others knew her name, and how special she was, to have touched my life in so short a time...

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Forget Steve McQueen

My new matinee idol crush is Tab Hunter, circa 1950.

I was sent an ARC of his autobiography and it is great. Tab discusses his life with great candor. No stone is left unturned as he recounts his beginnings as the son of a single mother who becomes one of America's favorite leading men.
He delves into his sexuality without giving it a smarmy feeling. We know who and sometimes where, but not the how's.
The most interesting part of the book is the background on Hollywood. He spends a lot of time on the set, reminiscing about the movies he made and the people involved. From Sophia Loren to his stunt double Jack Conner, it's all there.
Plus, there are dozens of pictures throughout, mostly of Tab with a swimsuit on.



In other news,

Before I left on the long holiday weekend, I was asked by our ad department to do a voice over for a TV commercial. It was a 30 second spot, and they had 25 seconds of copy with 4 alternate tag lines at the end. I was wisked to a recording studio and spent the next hour giving every reading imaginable to 20 seconds of video rental information. It was actually quite fun, especially when I pulled out my star attitude with: I am rewriting this line so it will flow better...