December 31, 2018

I looked outside my window and saw blue flashes. A transformer fire in Queens sent an eerie blue light flooding the nighttime sky.



One last tree shot.



Saks Fifth Avenue.



Local crèche.



Botticelli.



The Hershey Kisses are missing their tops.



The Maltese Falcon on TCM last night:
"Success to crime!"
"Miles getting knocked off bothered me and then you birds cracking foxy."

October 10, 2018

Did a Maltese Falcon San Francisco self-tour. This falcon is in the lobby of the Flood Building. I e-mailed Don Herron who does tours but he was unavailable. He did recommend visiting 891 Post Street to see a plaque, which I did, photo below. I ordered his book.



Sam Spade's, and Hammett's place.



Burritt street where Miles Archer was killed by Brigid O'Shaughnessy. It is across from Dashiell Hammett street.



Last stop was John's Grill for Lamb Chops. Quite good.



Second floor has a shrine to the Falcon. Love the Pinkerton sign.

October 3, 2018

From Mike Humbert's Web site.



Reading it for all the geography of SF that is mentioned.

September 6, 2016

I am a big The Maltese Falcon fan.So, I am grateful to Rex Parker for mentioning Rhea Gutman, the Fat Man's daughter. Either forgot her or missed her in the reading. Rhea: wife of Cronus and mother of Zeus or a flightless bird related to the ostrich and emu.



John Hamilton as District Attorney Bryan, often left out when shown on TV. Great scene with the DA stenographer:
"You getting this or am I goin' too fast?
- No, sir. I'm getting it all right.
- Good work."

August 27, 2016

Lunch the other day, pretty good stuff.



The Maltese Falcon available on-demand. I've seen it countless times but keep going back. The book has an interesting side-trip of no value to the plot except the insights it gives to Sam Spade: referred to as The Flitcraft Parable.

"The life he knew was a clean, orderly, sane, responsible affair. Now a falling beam had shown him that life was fundamentally none of these things. He, the good citizen-husband-father, could be wiped out between office and restaurant by the accident of a falling beam. He knew then that men died at haphazard like that, and lived only while blind chance spared them."



Bush and Stockton. Where Miles Archer was shot.



More specific: Burrit Alley, just off Bush Street above the Stockton Tunnel.



Star Trek Beyond is on tap for tonight. First two were watchable.

January 19, 2010

As predicted, Davros is history. Wild show last night.
Fire-ax to chest, wrist cut with saw and we are just getting
started. Also, an incredible beat-down of Jack Bauer by a P.O.
played by Domenick Lombardozzi,who was previously in
The Wire as Det. Thomas 'Herc' Hauk.



The NYT in late December had an article about
Academic Studies of The Dude. Since I never saw it, and I
like Bridges ,Goodman and Coen Brothers fims, I decided
to give it a try.



Received this as a Birthday present, the 3 disc collection
includes the two other Falcon films: Satan Met A Lady with
Bette Davis and the 1931 Maltese Falcon starring Ricardo
Cortez as Sam Spade and Bebe Daniels as Ruth Wonderly.



Currently on TWC Free Movies on Demand from
Turner Classic Movies. A John Sturges classic.
Only today learned that the screenplay was co-written
by James Clavell who was himself a prisoner of war in
Changi prison in Singapore.