Today's Sunday brunch is in celebration of some news that broke this week. So grab a spot of tea and some crumpets - and enjoy the show. Lauren Bacall, whose was among the top leading ladies in film noir movies and was married to screen legend Humphrey Bogart, is to get an Honorary Oscar from The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. They voted to honor Bacall with an honorary Oscar, along with other Hollywood figures. Bacall, 84, has never received an Oscar. She was nominated for her supporting role in the 1996 movie The Mirror Has Two Faces. She starred in over 30 films during her storied career, including many classics including To Have and Have Not , Key Largo and Woman of the Year.
The Board of Governors also voted to award honorary Oscars to producer and director Roger Corman and cinematographer Gordon Willis, and to give the Irving G Thalberg Memorial award to producer and movie executive John Calley.
The honorary Oscars that Bacall, Corman and Willis will receive are to honor "extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement" or service to the motion picture academy. The Thalberg Award was created to honor producers who create "high quality" work, the academy said. All four will receive their awards on November 14 at an event in Hollywood. Organizers of the Oscars created the event to hand out those statues ahead of the Academy Awards in March and scale down the time of the annual telecast.
Even though some detractors may opine that these 'honorary' Oscars are given to elder screen legends who have 'one foot in the grave,' - and that may have some credence, but no matter how you slice it... Bacall is very deserving for what she gave during her career and I am pleased as punch that she is getting her due.
When Pebbles Get in Your Way
Days come and go;
Problems, stress, lives in disarray.
You think you know all there is to know
Yet finding you know not much of anything at all
Debt collectors calling
Telling them little lies
Day by day time constantly goes on
Realizations creep up that it is passing you by
Murder suicides, a robbery, a drive-by on the express
Killed a mother and a baby, two teenagers too
Wondering why people commit such acts only to confess
Must be some kind of new finagled voodoo
Rushing all about, wishing Monday to be Friday again
Then when the weekend comes you get too tired to really do
Haven't taken a nice, long walk since I don't know when
Or sat down to write some really good haiku
At a gray bus stop,
Winter's blistering cold bite
Takes my breath away.
Gossiping mouths chatter about in hallways
Traffic sounds interrupt sweet, sweet music
People shove through after work errands
All so they can get a taste of liquor ...quicker
Those bills, their ills, lies and deceit
Newsmen seem to be laughing as they speak
Soon, before you know it, the day is ending
And then another, and another ...then a week
Weeks turn to months, and months to years
And if you're lucky, suddenly - you're old
Looking back, you wonder what happened all this time
Life seems in a haze, but be not bitter or bold
It is the times in which we live in
Through it all, do it all - before you're through
Learn yourself; teach it, express it, give it
Don't get caught up in the trivial things people do
Those problems or life issues are not mountains
They're not stones, or even bricks
Look at them as pebbles just at life's gateway
In a process leading to a brighter, fuller day
Breathe easy, as you walk along your journey
Learn from it; teach it, express it and give it
A pebble is easier to pick up or move
Than a mountain of stone
Lessons in life are nothing more than pebbles, you see
When pebbles get in your way
Pick them up; throw them, kick them or move them
And be on your merry little way
© 2009 Antonio Cassone - All Rights Reserved
from the upcoming poetry & essay book, Ramblings from the Ragged Edge - due out November 2009
Through the Darkness
Fade to black
Eyes wide open
Looking, searching, seeking
Feeling, ...touching
Push and pull ...me
Struggle, only to give in
Innocence means nothing
When you chose my destiny
Giving in, only to fight back
One last ditch effort,
To find the strength I lack
Feeling nothingness
Wondering when it will end
Hoping it will...
My anger grows
Due to your selfish need
Plead, I refuse to anymore
Because now you're gone
Just a distant memory
Never to be reunited
There was a day...
I received a letter...
It spoke of your death
I suddenly, eerily felt better
Years, fears and more years
Laughing through the tears
Faking it when thinking it was love
Sought out some sort of savior from above
Poked, prodded, fondled
Wondering if I actually am who I am
Never an apology
Not even a recognition
Nothing will replace the innocence you took from me
But now..., now with time and your passing on
I have never felt more relief
Finally able to let what you did go
Through the darkness I looked up and saw the light
And in the distance I thought I heard you calling
I didn't look back, I just kept walking
I never will you see, loosed from your chains...
I am finally free
© 2009 Antonio Cassone - All Rights Reservedfrom the upcoming book
Ramblings from the Ragged Edge, by Antonio Cassone
Today's Sunday brunch is in celebration of some news that broke this week. So grab a spot of tea and some crumpets - and enjoy the show. Lauren Bacall, whose was among the top leading ladies in film noir movies and was married to screen legend Humphrey Bogart, is to get an Honorary Oscar from The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. They voted to honor Bacall with an honorary Oscar, along with other Hollywood figures. Bacall, 84, has never received an Oscar. She was nominated for her supporting role in the 1996 movie The Mirror Has Two Faces. She starred in over 30 films during her storied career, including many classics including To Have and Have Not , Key Largo and Woman of the Year.
