I survived the Homegrown poetry event in Chadron, Nebraska!

It was fantastic!  It was amazing!  It was, dare I say, magical! 

Those are some of the statements I exclaimed to those who asked how the poetry event went.  It was a breath of fresh air to step into the creative atmosphere of Chadron Open Art.  The proprietors, poets and people I met there were warm and inviting.  Honestly, I felt a bit loud and artless among such thoughtful, artistic souls in such an artistic place. 

Thankfully, the 2 Daniels of Chadron Open Art and the other poets, Jewel Rodgers, Stephanie E. Glass and Robert McEwen accepted me for whichever me was present that evening.  I know I was feeling super excited and enthusiastic for the event, so I can only imagine how tactless and uncool I was being.  Dork be dorking, but that’s ok. 

Robert, John, Stephanie and Jewel!

I was a bundle of nerves as the event kicked off, but watching and listening to Jewel and Stephanie perform their moving, thought-provoking words helped me to relax.  When Jewel introduced me, I was ready, but more about that later.  After my moment, Bob transfixed the audience with his poetry and humor.  I felt a distinct impression the majority of the room knew Bob in one way or another.  I definitely won’t forget him now that I’ve met him.  The incredible evening wrapped up perfectly with a few volunteers from the crowd sharing their poetry.  One piece about loving yourself, by a poet named Bailey (spelling?), was beautiful and relatable. 

As for my moment in the spotlight, I feel I did well.  My sister claimed I did a great job.  A few friends from home and elsewhere expressed similar opinions after watching the YouTube video my sister shot and I uploaded that very night.  I’ll let you judge for yourself… 

I must give a shout-out to Jeanne and The Olde Main Street Inn!  This historic hotel, located in downtown Chadron, Nebraska is like stepping back in time.  Jeanne greeted my sister and I with a refresher drink and we all had a delightful chat for almost an hour.  Our room, The Cowboy Room, was wonderfully unique.  So much more atmosphere than a chain hotel.  The next morning, over our choice of caffeine, we chatted with Jeanne about this, that and everything.  She made us feel at home and we will definitely stay at The Olde Main Street Inn the next time we visit the city of Chadron! 

Another shout-out goes to Chadron Public Library at its temporary location!  My sister and I found its usual home, but it is being remodeled.  Thankfully, the rather groovy temporary location is not too far away from The Olde Main Street Inn and was easy to find.  I donated copies of Vision Bent, Dark Excursions and Sturgeons for possible inclusion into their collection.  It would be awesome to see my books at a second Nebraska library, but we shall see if they are accepted. 

Overall, the weekend of September 5 & 6 was fantastic, amazing and, yes, even magical.  I got up in front of a crowd and performed my poetry and the audience seemed to enjoy and maybe related to my words.  I feel a sense of pride for having done what I could’ve scarcely imagined a few years ago, but the sound of the applause still embarrasses me.  So, even if nothing else comes from this event, at least I can say, “I did it!” 

Freak Out, 
JLH 

P.S.  On the way home, we swung by Carhenge in Alliance, Nebraska.  Think Stonehenge made out of cars.  It was interesting and thankfully free. 

freakboy muses music: ABNORMALS ANONYMOUS by Congo Norvell

Every so often I look back at the crazy films and trashy novels I’ve experienced over the last few years and check to see how readily available they are for others to find.  When I recently did a search for the book ABNORMALS ANONYMOUS by Stella Gray, I noticed there were a couple of copies floating around out there.  I also noticed an audio CD with the same provocative title and cover. 

My first thought was, “Is it an audiobook?”  Then I noticed “by Congo Norvell” and knew I was wrong.  So, I investigated and discovered the CD is an album of music released in 1997 through the New York City-based Jetset Records.  Further investigation turned up only a few tracks posted on YouTube.  I listened to “Johnny in the Boudoir” and immediately ordered a copy from eBay.

The music thrusts you into a seedy dive-bar on the outskirts of town, populated by the night people, the kind of folk inhabiting the fringes of so-called acceptable society.  They will lead you through a den of lurid sex and sex-drenched violence, where obsession and lust reign hand-in-hand with loneliness and heartache.  In other words, this is the perfect soundtrack to trashy pulp novels.

The liner notes list a few people as vocals, but this is  Sally Norvell’s show.  Her voice shifts from torch song lounge singer to a sultry, smoky-voiced temptress to an alt-pop diva.  Wherever the music styles take her, Sally is ready to follow.  

My 3 favorite tracks, in no particular order… 

“Candy” 
An experienced woman is looking for young fresh meat to “go under, down in the gutter and taste the seawater.”  I enjoy the uncomfortable desires pulsating underneath, just like the tone of a trashy novel. 

“She’s Like Heroin to Me.” 
There’s a woman at the top of the stairs who gets under your skin and “cannot miss a vein,” no matter your gender.  A slow lusty burn of crippling obsession at its pulpy best!  

“Johnny in the Boudoir” 
The title says it all.  A man named Johnny meets up for an illicit tryst, but his lover has other plans.  “She was only playin' a part. Just a step away from the straightjacket today. Angora sweater, naughty-clean. Felt like killing, felt like sixteen.”  Johnny’s dead and the mention of an Angora sweater must be a knowing wink to Edward D. Wood, Jr.  Was Johnny’s lover a cross-dressing assassin right out of one of Wood’s novels?  It’s up for the listener to decide, but I think so. 

In conclusion… 
Moody, intriguing, and slyly amusing, this album isn’t for everyone, but it is for anyone with an open mind.  I think I would’ve enjoyed the songs if I had experienced them back in 1997, but I probably appreciate them more now.  So, if you like a little tawdry in your tunes, then ABNORMALS ANONYMOUS by Congo Norvell may be the seedy CD for you! 

Freak Out, 
JLH 

P.S.  click the pic for my thoughts on the novel of the same name… 

~~~~~~~~~~~~
My books have been called tawdry…
📚 

channel freakboy: INTIMATE AGONY (1983)

Paradise Isle is a luxurious destination to live or vacation.  There’s fine dining, a yacht-like ferry and tennis galore.  What more could anyone need?  Well, with the horndog tennis instructor, an unfaithful husband and promiscuous teenagers on the island, maybe everyone could use some antiviral medication.  This made for TV movie aired on the U.S. network ABC in 1983 and plays as if JAWS and an Afterschool Special met and had a herpes baby. 

NOTE: according to IMDb, the main character’s last name is Richards, but it is Richardson on screen.

Trust me, I’m a doctor!

Dr. Kyle Richardson (Anthony Geary) is initially having a good time as a new resident of Paradise Isle.  He is thrilled to bump into an old college buddy Tommy (Mark Harmon), who is now a lascivious tennis instructor.  Kyle is also happy to start spending time with Marsha (Judith Light), a cocktail waitress who nearly ran him over with her car in a meet-cute moment at the beginning of the movie.  However, things take a turn when the doctor realizes there is an outbreak on Paradise Isle.  Tommy has a fever and is worried about his sex life.  Nick Todd (Brian Kerwin), a philandering husband, has given the gift that keeps on giving to his unaware, pregnant wife Connie (Lori Lethin).  Then Katie Fairmont (Cindy Fisher), teenage daughter to real estate developer Dave Fairmont (Robert Vaughn), has contracted the virus after having sex with a boy in her class.  In other words, everything’s coming up herpes! 

Tragically, this is not a musical!

To make matters worse, Dr. Kyle Richardson is being silenced by head doctor Dr. Holliston (Arthur Hill) and Dave Fairmont.  They don’t want Kyle’s herpes concern to cause a panic or scare away real estate investors.  Plus, on top of all that, Marsha is hiding something from Kyle.  What will happen?  Will Dr. Kyle Richardson spread the word of warning before herpes spreads to more and more people?  Will Dave Fairmont learn of his daughter’s diagnosis?  Will Tommy stop being a tennis slut and learn to respect women?  Will Connie find out she has herpes before she goes into labor?   What exactly is Marsha hiding?  My lips are sealed since INTIMATE AGONY is streaming on Tubi. 

What happens on Paradise Isle, stays on Paradise Isle!

My sister spotted INTIMATE AGONY because she recognized Anthony Geary on the little Tubi poster.  Being fans of the daytime soap GENERAL HOSPITAL, we knew we had to see Geary play someone who isn’t the infamous Luke Spencer.  As Dr. Kyle Richardson, Geary is a sincere, gentle, caring medical professional.  Then there’s Judith Light as Marsha.  It’s weird seeing her in a dramatic role when you know she has serious comic timing, but from the dates on IMDb, Ms. Light was either fresh off or just finishing her stint on the daytime soap ONE LIFE TO LIVE.  I guess it’s not a far stretch going from housewife-turned-prostitute Karen Wolek to single mother Marsha, who may or may not have herpes.  

The fresh face of herpes?

Mark Harmon, with a porn star tache and nearly always in tennis shorts, is the epitome of a lothario and makes you believe Tommy was probably voted most likely to get herpes in school.  Brian Kerwin oozes pathetic loser vibes as cheater Nick Todd and Lori Lethin is all sorts of sweet naïveté as his wife.  Robert Vaughn gives rich fathers a bad name as Dave Fairmont, especially when he refuses to listen to anything more from his daughter after she admits to being sexually active.  Cindy Fisher is fine as Katie Fairmont, but she might be the weakest link, except for when she trashes her room out of frustration.  Katie’s best friend Lisa is totally more interesting and is played with ‘80’s new wave energy by Shawn Schepps, who would show up a year later as Sarah Conner’s (“You're dead, honey.”) co-worker in THE TERMINATOR. 

No herpes or plastic hangers ever!

The movie takes some time to become a cohesive story.  At first, all the characters seem very separate and it’s easy to forget who is who.  This may have something to do with the slew of writers listed.  Richard De Roy, James S. Henerson, and James G. Hirsch are the credited writers, for those who want to know.  From what I noticed on IMDb, director Paul Wendkos mainly directed television productions.  With INTIMATE AGONY, he delivered a solid disease-of-the-week TV movie without spiraling too deeply into melodrama and histrionics, with maybe the exception of Katie.

In her defense, Katie is having a really bad day!

In conclusion…
INTIMATE AGONY must have been shocking in 1983 with its frank discussion of genital herpes and its ultimately non-shaming attitude towards sex.  Never mind that HIV/AIDS was ravaging the gay community at the time and mainstream media, if they even talked about it, was largely all about blaming and shaming those suffering and dying, but that’s a soapbox post for another day.  If you’re looking for a blast from the past with some freakishly young looking familiar faces, I seriously barely recognized Judith Light, and some low-key unintentional humor, then INTIMATE AGONY may be the TV movie for you!  If anything else, there’s Mark Harmon wearing nothing but a towel. 

Tommy can give me herpes anytime!

Freak Out. 
JLH 

P.S.  Maybe one of the characters from the orgy in my last post visited Paradise Isle and started the herpes outbreak… 🤔 
(click here for more) 

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Embrace the agony and read my books in 2026!
📚
(click here for more) 

Happy Life Day…or something

🎵 You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Malla
Comet and Cupid and Donner and Itchy
But do you recall
The most famous Wookiee of all?🎵 

Wait, what? 

Lumpy is neither a reindeer nor the most famous Wookiee!  That honor goes to Lumpy’s father Chewbacca.  Oh, you didn’t know Chewie has a son?  He also has a frazzled wife named Malla and a  cantankerous father named Itchy.  They are anxiously waiting for Chewbacca to stop smuggling and generally galavanting around that far, far away galaxy with Han Solo and come home to celebrate Life Day. 

What is Life Day?  It’s a day to celebrate family and friends, and to hope for galactic peace or something.  All you have to do is throw on a robe, grab a glowing sphere and go into the light like Carol Anne in POLTERGEIST.  Then you’ll find yourself in some rocky, desolate area where Princess Leia Organa warbles a classic Life Day ditty, while Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 look on with varying degrees of interest. 

Before you get to hang with STAR WARS Legacy Characters in Life Day Limbo, you have to pay your dues by spending way too much time with Malla, Itchy and Lumpy.  You will have to sit through a cooking lesson with Malla and a multiple-armed alien Julia Child, played by Harvey Korman.  You’ll have to wonder what the hell is going on when Itchy gets overly excited by a trippy virtual reality song performed by Diahann Carroll.  Then there is Lumpy.  You will be forced to watch Lumpy refuse to do the dishes, take out the trash, try to steal a cookie and generally behave like a bratty prototype of an Ewok.  

Malla wishes she had used Wookiee birth control 

I honestly don’t remember if I watched THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL back in the day, but surely I did.  I mean, I may have been a very little kid, but I was a huge fan.  Maybe I blocked out the experience for the sake of my sanity.  So, my first memorable viewing was in the early 2000’s when I picked up a bootleg VHS copy at a comic book store.  This sketchy copy had all the authentic 1970’s commercials and the “Fighting the Frizzies” news promo.  For worse, or maybe better, the bootleg DVD I ordered from eBay appears to be a somewhat spiffed up print, at least compared to the VHS, that is commercial and frizzy free.  It’s almost what it would be like if George Lucas or Disney+ finally released an official version. 

THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL needs to be seen to be believed.  It’s a strange mixture of a made-for-TV movie and a variety show.  Who was the target audience in 1978?  I’m sure my 5-year-old  self would’ve been glued to the television set in a frenzied desire to see more of the characters I saw on the big screen.  I doubt I would’ve cared about Chewbacca’s family, Art Carney as a shopkeeper and Bea Arthur as a bartender at the Cantina.  Though, decades later, Bea Arthur singing a farewell song to drunken aliens is a highlight for me.  

Another highlight is the animated STAR WARS adventure Lumpy covertly watches while Imperial Stormtroopers search their tree house home.  The animation has a funky 70’s look and introduces badass bounty hunter Boba Fett a couple of years before THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.  This alone makes THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL worth watching. 

In conclusion…
Ridiculous, weird and sometimes just plain painful, THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL is a time capsule of 1970’s television and a testament to the impact A NEW HOPE had on pop culture.  The fact they got the original cast, sans Alec Guinness, is truly remarkable and is another reason to watch.  So, if you’re in the mood for a certain kind of Yuletide sci-fi cheese, or you’re a STAR WARS completist, THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL is the festive tradition you didn’t know you needed…and you can find it on YouTube.  It’s honestly better than some of the more recent theatrical films.  

Chewie agrees with my assessment

Freak Out, 
JLH 

P.S.  Disney+ released THE LEGO STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL in 2020 and it’s a fun, satirical love letter to the original special and the entire STAR WARS universe.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Click an episode for more STAR WARS…
Episode I
Episode II 
Episode III 
Episode IV 
Episode V
Episode VI 
Episode VII
Episode VIII 
Episode IX 

freakboy on film: SCARECROW IN A GARDEN OF CUCUMBERS (1972)

I knew I was going to order a copy the second I saw the colorful AGFA blue-ray cover while scrolling through Vinegar Syndrome. 

Checking out the synopsis and watching the exuberantly eccentric trailer fully sealed the deal.

With expectations skyrocketing, I popped in SCARECROW IN A GARDEN OF CUCUMBERS the day it arrived.  What did I think?  Did it live up to my cucumber dreams or was I left tending a garden of disappointments? 

The film wasn’t quite the zippy-zany romp the trailer’s infectiously quirky music implied.  In fact, that piece of music tragically does not appear in the film.  However, putting aside that disappointment, SCARECROW IN A GARDEN OF CUCUMBERS defied my expectations by taking me on an unexpected journey. 

Eve Harrington (yes, everyone is named after famous Hollywood characters) leaves home and seemingly conservative parents in Topeka, Kansas for the chance of being a star in New York City.  Upon arriving in the Big Apple, Eve is taken to the Chelsea Hotel by an aggressive taxi driver nun and then reconnects with longtime friend Margo Channing.  This connection opens doors to Eve’s dreams of finding a man, a roommate and stardom.  One door leads to Mary Poppins, a force of fabulous nature who doesn’t offer a spoonful of sugar with her roommate recommendations.  Another door is a passageway to Eve’s first New York party and a film producer who is more than he appears.  Will Eve find a man or a roommate?  Will Eve succeed in the quest to become a twinkling star? 

Due in large part to the trailer, I was expecting a fast-paced, crazy blast of lost 1970’s queer cinema.  SCARECROW IN A GARDEN OF CUCUMBERS was rediscovered a few years ago and it ultimately is a joyfully fun experience, just with a more mellow, low-key zany vibe.  Screenwriter Sandra Scoppettone and director Robert J. Kaplan crafted a loosey-goosey film celebrating the outsider, but it may take a couple of viewings to fully appreciate what they accomplished.

I must shine the twinkling spotlight on the two main reasons to seek out SCARECROW IN A GARDEN OF CUCUMBERS.  Tally Brown as Mary Poppins steals every scene with style.  Ms. Brown could be the cabaret love child of Divine and Edith Massey, especially when Miss Poppins belts out a tune about being born and raised in a brothel.  Then there is Holly Woodlawn (known for being one of Andy Warhol’s Superstars) as the loveably quirky Eve Harrington!  Holly also portrays one of Eve’s suitors, Rhett Butler, but it’s Eve who fits Holly like a glove.  It’s refreshingly delightful to see a trans actress in the lead role as far back as the 1970’s.  During Eve’s black & white musical fantasy number, Holly Woodlawn gets to sum up the overall theme of the film in song…

🎵 You are what you are, if you think that you are!  I think, if I’m twinkling, I must be a star!🎵

Twinkle on Holly Woodlawn, you will always be a timeless star in SCARECROW IN A GARDEN OF CUCUMBERS! 

In conclusion…
SCARECROW IN A GARDEN OF CUCUMBERS may not have been the film I expected, but it ended up being the film I needed.  It’s almost as if an early John Waters film took some happy pills and celebrated outsiders with a sweet, nearly innocent lens.  Throw in a song by Bette Midler and a voice cameo by Lily Tomlin and you have the perfect low budget LGBTQ+ film for 🏳️‍🌈Pride Month🏳️‍⚧️!  So, grab some vanilla ice cream and enjoy SCARECROW IN A GARDEN OF CUCUMBERS! 
🥒 🥒🥒🥒🥒
I can’t stop saying that awesome title, even though it was inspired by a passage from the Bible. 😱

SIDE NOTE…
You Tube, at the moment, appears to be streaming SCARECROW IN A GARDEN OF CUCUMBERS. 

Freak Out, 
JLH 

P.S. Pride 

Month ain’t over yet, and Pride will never be over, so read or listen to a queer book today! 

🏳️‍🌈 📚 

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