Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on August 12, 2013

A momentous day today, a couple of millennia ago - an event that if nothing else has provided fuel for myth, legend, and a string of movies that have provided some truly over the top moments. Yes, August 12 marks the death of Cleopatra VII Philopater, the last ruler of...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on August 8, 2013

Karen Black, alas, has gone back to the Five and Dime. Hers was an eccentric stardom, one possible, perhaps, only in the early '70s, when her off-kilter brand of sexy hysteria helped her score big in a series of zeitgeisty pictures - Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Nashville - even...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on August 8, 2013

Karen Black, alas, has gone back to the Five and Dime. Hers was an eccentric stardom, one possible, perhaps, only in the early '70s, when her off-kilter brand of sexy hysteria helped her score big in a series of zeitgeisty pictures - Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Nashville - even...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on August 7, 2013

Life is mad these days, darlings, but just getting under the wire this evening to wish a very happy birthday to this fetching creature - dear Miss Billie Burke is 129 today. A natural on stage, Burke rose quickly to theatrical stardom, and by the time she was in her...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on August 7, 2013

Life is mad these days, darlings, but just getting under the wire this evening to wish a very happy birthday to this fetching creature - dear Miss Billie Burke is 129 today. A natural on stage, Burke rose quickly to stage stardom, and by the time she was in her...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on August 6, 2013

Have a spare couple million? If so, as has been widely reported this morning, this charming sketch could be yours. The seller claims it's Rudy Vallee, and I suppose there's a resemblence to the crooner and sometime leading man, but much more to the point, he claims that it's by...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on August 6, 2013

Have a spare couple million? If so, as has been widely reported this morning, this charming sketch could be yours. The seller claims it's Rudy Vallee, and I suppose there's a resemblence to the crooner and sometime leading man, but much more to the point, he claims that it's by...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on August 3, 2013

To emphasize style is to slight content, or to introduce an attitude which is neutral with respect to content. It goes without saying that the Camp sensibility is disengaged, depoliticized -- or at least apolitical. - Susan Sontag, "Notes on Camp" It struck me this morning that it's been far...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on August 3, 2013

To emphasize style is to slight content, or to introduce an attitude which is neutral with respect to content. It goes without saying that the Camp sensibility is disengaged, depoliticized -- or at least apolitical. - Susan Sontag, "Notes on Camp" It struck me this morning that it's been far...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on August 2, 2013

Today's birthday girl apparently flew herself to Fabulon, but had she remained among us, she would be a doubtless glamourous 108. There's not much that Myrna Loy couldn't do, but even so it's hard to imagine her as a pilot. Still, Hollywood had odder; aviatrix pictures were something of a...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on August 2, 2013

Today's birthday girl apparently flew herself to Fabulon, but had she remained among us, she would be a doubtless glamourous 108. There's not much that Myrna Loy couldn't do, but even so it's hard to imagine her as a pilot. Still, Hollywood had odder; aviatrix pictures were something of a...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on July 30, 2013

The world's national anthems are a mixed bunch. Sadly, that of my own homeland ranks far from the top by almost any measure - singability, the power to inspire, general elegance. Those of many of the post-colonial nations all too often sound like bits and pieces from forgotten operettas. "God...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on July 30, 2013

The world's national anthems are a mixed bunch. Sadly, that of my own homeland ranks far from the top by almost any measure - singability, the power to inspire, general elegance. Those of many of the post-colonial nations all too often sound like bits and pieces from forgotten operettas. "God...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on July 29, 2013

Because it's Ramadan, one of the biggest priorities in getting ourselves settled in our new little flat was making sure that we had access to Egyptian TV. Keeping up, you see, with the annual flood of new programs that debut during the holiday month is a major, major priority of...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on July 29, 2013

Because it's Ramadan, one of the biggest priorities in getting ourselves settled in our new little flat was making sure that we had access to Egyptian TV. Keeping up, you see, with the annual flood of new programs that debut during the holiday month is a major, major priority of...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on July 6, 2013

"...the way of Camp, is not in terms of beauty, but in terms of the degree of artifice, of stylization." - Susan Sontag, "Notes on Camp" In terms of pure Camp, Marion Davies may be the greatest star in Hollywood history, on a very short list with the likes of...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on July 6, 2013

"...the way of Camp, is not in terms of beauty, but in terms of the degree of artifice, of stylization." - Susan Sontag, "Notes on Camp" In terms of pure Camp, Marion Davies may be the greatest star in Hollywood history, on a very short list with the likes of...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on June 9, 2013

On this day, June 9, 1955, Miss Pier Angeli was in all likelihood one of the two or three loveliest things in all of Los Angeles (as well looking far more interesting and engaging than, sadly, she was ever really able to do on film). And Life was there. Aren't...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on June 9, 2013

On this day, June 9, 1955, Miss Pier Angeli was in all likelihood one of the two or three loveliest things in all of Los Angeles (as well looking far more interesting and engaging than, sadly, she was ever really able to do on film). And Life was there. Aren't...   read more

Café Muscato Posted by Muscato on June 6, 2013

Sad news from Hollywood: the Million Dollar Mermaid has returned to Fabulon. At 91, Esther Williams had a long and what seems to have been a very interesting life. While there is more than a little truth in the old crack that "wet she's a star, dry she ain't," there's...   read more