Desi Arnaz: the Man Who Invented Television

 

Like most of my generation I grew up watching reruns of "I Love Lucy". Lucille Ball is the first celebrity death I actually remember. 

My dad told me when I was a kid that Desi Arnaz was a genius. He was the one who decided to film "I Love Lucy" and invented the concept of a rerun. Before Desi, my dad said, they would record over shows once they'd been broadcast. No one ever thought anyone would want to watch them again. Desi was a visionary, though. He saw the potential in keeping those shows around. 

I don't think he's gotten enough credit for how much he did for that show (and others). Lucy was the screwball comedienne. Everyone remembers her hiking her skirt up to stomp on grapes, getting drunk on Vitameatavegamin, and stuffing chocolates down her dress. Without straight man Desi, she wouldn't have been nearly as funny. 

It's a shame his philandering and drinking destroyed their marriage. They truly seemed to love each other to the very end, they just couldn't live together. The years of drinking and smoking caught up to both of them: Desi died in 1986 at the age of 69, Lucy followed in 1989. Thanks to the vision of Desi Arnaz, generations that follow will always know who loved Lucy and we get to continue to love her antics.  

Supersonic; Gravedigger's Almanac; Gandolfini

 

I've been reading over the past few weeks, just not *finishing*. I finally finished a few this weekend. Yay, me!

I love Oasis and always found the relationship between brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher funny. I thought Liam was a pompous jackass but it turns out Noel kind of is, too. Their poor mother. Noel was definitely more on task and got frustrated quickly with Liam's antics. Liam made fun of Noel for always going to his hotel room and working on songs instead of partying in the pub like he did, but Noel pointed out that Liam wouldn't have had anything to sing if he didn't. I went back and rewatched the MTV Unplugged (from 1996, I think?), where Noel had to sing because Liam claimed he had a sore throat (Noel said he was just hungover). Liam sat in the balcony, smoking and drinking and heckling Noel, who did a commendable job of singing, considering he had, like, five minutes notice and was not comfortable in that front man role. Then Liam bitched that Noel wanted to sing more and more, which left him nothing to do but shake his tambourine on stage. Well, sweetie, that's on you, isn't it? At any rate, it was funny, even if I didn't know half the slang they used and had to keep looking things up. 

I really enjoyed Potzsch's "Hangman's Daughter" series and I was excited to see this new one by him. It didn't disappoint! I hope he ends up writing more of them. 

Augustin Rothmayer is a gravedigger in Vienna in the 1890s. Herzfeldt is a new inspector to town. Vienna seems to have a serial killer (although the term wasn't coined yet) on the loose: young woman are dying with their throats slashed and stakes shoved into their privates. Herzfeldt is all about modern criminology and collects evidence, takes photos, etc., which doesn't go over well with some of the old fashioned police on the force. Rothmayer calls his attention to a corpse that appears to have been buried alive and Herzfeldt starts thinking the two cases might somehow be connected. 

It was super interesting and I actually guessed the killer before it was revealed, so I was very proud of myself. 

And finally, the late, great James Gandolfini. While I wasn't a huge fan of Bailey's writing style, I powered through because I was interested in Jim's life. 

He seemed to be a genuinely good person. Literally everyone who was interviewed had nothing but amazing things to say about him. He would call up directors after he'd been cast in a project to make sure they didn't want him to bow out. "Are you sure I'm the right person?" he would ask. "There's probably someone else who could do it better". Yes, he had his issues with drugs and alcohol, but who wouldn't, under the pressure of being Tony Soprano for ten years? He bought the crew on that show dinner every Friday night. He dropped everything on Christmas to go to the hospital to be with a friend whose wife was hospitalized unexpectedly. There were a million little stories like that in this book. The world lost a good one the day he died, much, much too soon. RIP, Jim. 

Sister, Sinner

 

Why Aimee Semple McPherson, you ask? Well, it's because I watched the HBO version of "Perry Mason" that aired a few years ago for two seasons. While I loved the art deco architecture and the costumes and the actors, I was disappointed the show didn't stick to Gardner's books. The original show was great in that regard, but it was missing a lot of the fun, flirtatious banter between Perry and Della and Della and Paul. The new show didn't have any of that, either. But what it did have was a storyline about Sister Alice, which was based on Aimee Semple McPherson. 

McPherson was a Pentecostal who founded the Angelus Temple (which just celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023). McPherson was a charismatic preacher who gained a huge following, not just in Los Angeles, but around the country. She was swimming off Venice Beach one day when she vanished without a trace. Her secretary, who was on the beach with her, sounded the alarm. Divers and police tried to find her to no avail. No body washed ashore. Her mother, who worked with Aimee at the Temple, claimed she'd been "raptured" up to Heaven. 

A month later, Aimee turned up in a border town in Arizona, claiming she'd been kidnapped out of the ocean and held captive. Police were skeptical of her story for many reasons (her garments were clean, no dust or sweat stains, she had her watch and her silk hairnet, she wasn't dehydrated, no one was ever able to find the shack where she was held captive, etc.). Rumor had it that Aimee ran off to Carmel with her married lover for an illicit tryst but was discovered and came back to concoct the kidnapping story. The truth never made its way out. 

Aimee ended up having a falling out with her mother and her daughter and died relatively young. If not for the weird kidnapping interlude her story would have been inspirational. She was groundbreaking in many ways, forging her way in a life that wasn't open to women at the time. Of course she swindled a lot of poor people out of their money while she lived high on the hog, but hey. Details 😂

Karen; Louis B. Mayer & Irving Thalberg

 

I love Kelsey Grammer's Frasier character. I loved him on "Cheers", and "Frasier" remains one of my all time favorite TV shows (funny note: I mentioned to my Mom a few years ago that I was rewatching it and she made a comment about what a stupid show it was that "nobody liked". I had to tell her how it's won more Emmys than any other sitcom, so there 😊). 

When Kelsey was 20 and his younger sister, Karen, was 18, she was kidnapped, raped and brutally murdered in Colorado Springs, where she was living at the time. Kelsey's book was a lovely tribute to a bright, vibrant young woman, cut down just as her life was beginning, and an older brother who misses her to this day. He admitted that he's only been, at most, 95% happy in life because that last 5% will always be missing without Karen around. I thought that was very well put. I've felt the same way since my Dad died. Yes, I have my happy moments, but I'll never be as happy as I was before he died. There's always going to be that tinge of sadness. I feel like I know who Karen Grammer was and I think that was his hope with writing this book. 

This was a fun look at the beginning of the motion picture industry, which, like computers, has always fascinated me. Their jobs were brand new: no one had been head of Production for a studio before. There were no footsteps to follow in, everything was created as they went along. 

Thalberg was born with a heart defect and was not expected to live past the age of 30 (he made it to 37). He was referred to as the "boy genius" in Hollywood for his amazing attention to detail and his skill with seeing the potential in pictures. He and Mayer made a great team and piloted MGM to the top of the pyramid of elite movie studios in the 1920s and '30s. Mayer was unable to find anyone to replace him after his death, and MGM began a long, slow decline. Two very different men who played such a major role in defining the early days of Hollywood and shaping the industry. 

Audrey Hepburn: a Life of Beautiful Uncertainty

 

What a lovely tribute to a gracious and wonderful lady who left the world much too soon. Audrey grew up in the Netherlands and almost starved to death during WWII. She dreamed of being a ballerina and ended up in movies instead. She was her own harshest critic: thinking herself not attractive or talented (she was, of course, both in spades). 

What really got me was how genuinely kind she was to everyone. She never had a bad word to say, even about people who said terrible things about her. She ensured that her sons had good relationships with their fathers and said nothing but nice things about them in front of them. She wanted to be a mother more than anything so when her first son, Sean, was born, she scaled back her acting career and was happy to do so. She didn't make very many movies, but for the most part they were all well done. Later on in life she devoted herself to UNICEF and helping children around the globe. In a culture where vulgarity is rewarded, we need more people like Audrey Hepburn. 

Another Fine Mess

Ryan's sequel to "Bless Your Heart" was super fun and she ended it on a cliffhanger, so I'm happy there will be more. I love the Evans ladies!

After "Bless Your Heart", there are only two Evans women left: Lenore and her granddaughter, Luna (Ducey and Grace both died at the end of the first book). Lenore hires Kim, a young lady who went to cosmetology school, to help out in the funeral parlor. Kim is the first non-Evans woman to be taken into their confidence regarding their special obligation of putting down the restless dead. The new sheriff, Roger Taylor, who was in love with Grace, also understands what's going on. He is dismayed when just a month after the end of the last mess, more strange killings start happening. The official line is a rabid ghost wolf, but then a wolf expert visits town and casts doubt on that line. Lenore is at a loss as to what could be so viciously attacking people. 

It was really good and really, really gory (shouldn't have read it while trying to eat dinner, seriously). I love her unique way of describing things.  
 

Lemons Never Lie

 

Alan Grofield is an actor who owns and runs a small summer stock theater in Indiana. During the off season, he commits robberies to help fund his theater. He goes to Vegas to meet with a guy named Myers who has an idea about ripping off a brewery in upstate New York. Since the plan involves killing some people, Grofield says "no thanks" and leaves. A friend of his, Barnes, also walks out. Barnes ends up winning a nice amount of money while gambling and Grofield is attacked in his hotel room later on that night because Myers thought he won the money (he was with Barnes). Grofield goes home to Indiana and Barnes shows up, nearly dead, after being beaten and robbed by Myers. 

Things go off the rails for Grofield, who tries to go after Myers. It was a good, quick read, I like Westlake's books.