I've been a fan of Lem Dobbs since around 1987 or '88, back when he was known throughout Hollywood for writing Edward Ford, which many consider to be the greatest unproduced screenplay of all time. That script is one of the first things I sought when I got on the internet in the early 90s.

Today, Dobbs is likely best known as the writer of The Limey. Steven Soderbergh directed the film and Terance Stamp starred in it. I believe it's not only a great "gangster picture," it's also Soderbergh's best and one of the most accurate film portrayals of memory.

If you have the chance to listen to Dobbs' commentary on The Limey DVD, I highly recommend it.

There's a notorious 90 second scene in The Limey, which you can watch here:

In the commentary, Dobbs uses this scene to highlight a problem with film critics — and perhaps the public's understanding of filmmaking in general.

Dobbs notes that the film's negative press often referred to it as "underwritten," while the positive press praised Soderbergh's "brilliant direction." Many of them cited this scene and how the camera waits outside, forcing the viewer to imagine what's happening inside while increasing the menace as Stamp's character approaches after exiting.

The irony is that the script was not underwritten. Soderbergh cut out much of what the critics wanted. Furthermore, in the screenplay, which Dobbs wrote years before Soderbergh was involved, Dobbs instructed the camera to remain outside:

Dobbs took the blame for what Soderbergh changed and Soderbergh received credit for what Dobbs envisioned.

Such is the life of a Hollywood Screenwriter.

All this to alert you to this lengthy interview with Dobbs. Admittedly, not the prettiest website, but an interesting read nonetheless.

Anecdote Alert

For years, I used the name Dobbs as one of my heteronyms. Both Lem and I took the name from the same source: Humphrey Bogart's character in Treasure of the Sierra Madre. (Lem's birth name is Anton Kitaj. He is the son of painter, R. B. Kitaj.)

I have another very odd connection here. The scene in the clip above was filmed at the far end of this street in downtown Los Angeles:

To get to it (just prior to the clip), Wilson walks past the building on the left, which happens to be owned by a friend of mine. I've spent a great number of American Thanksgivings there over the years — the best dinner parties I've been to in my life have all been in that building.

On one of the first trips I took after my stroke, I ended up crashed here while my friend was out of town filming the devastation of the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. Another friend of his, filmmaker Noaz Deshe, was also staying there at the same time. I have fond memories of deep discussions of film history with Noaz. What was particularly delightful is that they were the first signs that my memory wasn't completely shorted-out from the stroke — something that had been deeply troubling me. In particular, we had a mutual fondness for Miklós Jancsó's films, The Red and the Black, and Round Up (posters below). Good times.

Footnotes

If you want to read the screenplay for The Limey, you can find a PDF here.

You can also get a PDF of Lem Dobbs' celebrated, unproduced script, Edward Ford.

If you're a fan of Terance Stamp, I recommend the audiobook for one of his memoirs: The Ocean Fell Into the Drop, which is unfortunately an Audible Exclusive.

Today I learned that in 1983, there was a Casablanca television show starring David Soul as Rick and Scatman Crothers as Sam. The cast also included Ray Liotta as Sasha, the bartender, and Hector Elizondo as Renault.

I couldn't find original episodes of it, but here's a Video Essay about it, from The Seventh Art.

Bloom is a literary site devoted to highlighting, profiling, reviewing, and interviewing authors whose first major work was published when they were age 40 or older. Great idea for a website.

Bloom

“Late” According to Whom?

Bloomannerudig

If someone is labeled a “late bloomer,” the question Bloom poses is, “Late” according to whom?

André Aciman, Nicholson Baker, Kit De Waal, Isak Dinesen, George Eliot, Zora Neale Hurston, PD James, Tove Jansson, James Michener, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Walker Percy, Donald Ray Pollock, Annie Proulx, Mary Roach, James Salter, Mark Twain, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Lidia Yuknavitch are just some of the authors they've discussed or interviewed.

The Japanese have a word for severe social withdrawal: hikikomori.

It refers to people, usually men aged 18 to 35, who refuse to leave their homes, and often won't even leave their bedrooms. They do not socialize and they do not work or attend school. For an "official" diagnosis, the Hikikomori must do this consecutively for at least six months. However, many spend decades alone in their bedrooms, some even dying there, having isolated themselves until they're without friend or family.

One researcher compared its growing prevalence in Japan to homelessness in the US — Americans have millions of homeless, whereas Japan only has about ten thousand homeless. Yet, an estimated 500,000 to 1 million Japanese Hikikomori exist — and those are 2010 numbers.

France 24 English did a segment on it:

Rent-A-Sister

The phenomena has given birth to an industry of women for hire, known as Rent-a-Sisters. They are not social workers, nor are they professionally trained. They're paid (usually by the victim's parents) to visit the Hikikomori and talk with them. At the start, it's usually through the bedroom door, and over months or years becomes a face-to-face relationship. Eventually, it can lead to outdoor accompaniment, and, hopefully, cause the afflicted to move out on their own and start a normal life.

I found the topic rather interesting and it checked my Unorthodox Work box.

Amelia Hemphill has a BBC short on the Hikikomori and the Rent-A-Sisters program:

More Info

There is more info on the Hikikomori Wikipedia page: and an entry on Psychology Today. Some former Hikikomori even have a magazine, HikiPos.

For an even deeper dive, there's Saito Tamaki's book, Hikikomori: Adolescence Without End, which was the publication to first bring the phenomena to a wider audience within Japan.

"Taking the Highest Average score from each year (with over 1k reviews) let's see how different the Academy Awards canon would look if Letterboxd chose the Oscars' winners for best film. This list excludes Documentaries, Shorts , Concert films and Limited Series."

I agree with much of this.

I disagree most with 2007. There's no question in my mind that No Country For Old Men is a better film than There Will Be Blood.

Got taken to Donna's for a birthday dinner and these photos and more were what was up on the wall. Visit that fantastic restaurant to check them out, or if you're too late, they're on photographer Finn O'Hara's website:

Finn O’Hara - Photographer / Director | PERSONAL | 0

Selected work of Photographer / Director Finn O’Hara. Based in North America. Represented by RSA Films.

Finn O'Hara - Photographer / Director

Mossy.Earth is a member-driven organization that works to restore wild ecosystems, support wildlife and biodiversity, and help fight climate change.

Their YouTube channel has some very interesting and informative videos outlaying their projects.

Here's one on a forest they flooded in 2022:

And another on rewilding a Butterfly meadow:

Check out their site at mossy.earth and consider becoming a member.

I've been a fan of JSG Boggs since first hearing about him in the 90s. He passed in 2017, but I've been thinking about him lately as I'm about to launch A Tiny Bell.

Boggs did one thing and he did it very well: he drew money.

Here's a scenario: Boggs goes out for lunch, and while sitting there having his sandwich and drinking his coffee, he finishes drawing a $20 bill he'd started days earlier — just one side of it — and signs his name as "Secretary Treasurer." He then offers it to the waiter as payment for his lunch. If the person declines, he pays with "real money" and goes on his way. But, if the person accepts his art as money, Boggs expects his proper change from the twenty along with a receipt.

Boggs then sells the receipt and the change to an art dealer and the art dealer goes to the address on the receipt and attempts to purchase the Boggs bill from the waiter. If successful, the change, receipt, and bill are then framed as a complete piece of art which is then again sold by the dealer to a collector.

If Boggs used the bill to purchase a non-consumable, that item is also part of the finished piece. For instance, he once drew five one thousand dollar bills and used them to purchase a $4999.00 Virago motorcycle:

Fascinating, yes?

Lawrence Weschler wrote a great book about Boggs, Boggs: A Comedy of Values, and there's a good, low-quality 15 minute short about him on Youtube with the same name:

Anecdote Alert!

I once tried to convince Boggs to let me design him a website and he could pay me with Boggs Bills. He didn't have a site at the time, but he didn't hesitate — the proposition broke his rules and he declined. Very disappointing, but completely understandable.

All this talk about money reminds me of my first trip to Los Angeles. May, 2010.

I was in a West Hollywood Target. In the checkout line, I got stuck behind behind a man who was taking an inordinate amount of time to pay for a 2L bottle of orange soda. The holdup was because he insisted on drawing on his bills before surrendering them to the cashier.

Wanting to leave the shop, I offered to pay for his drink to speed things along. The cashier checked his progress and turned to me and said, "He's almost done." Indeed, he was, and when he handed over the second bill and left with his purchase, I asked her what was up. She shrugged and said, "Dunno. He always does that. They're the same every time."

I asked if I could have his bills in my own change and she obliged. To to this day I carry them with me for luck when I travel. Here they are:

For more info on this Boggs, visit the official site: The Estate of JSG Boggs — which I did not design.

Childish Gambino's new video may be his best yet, which is saying something. Give it a watch or two and then check out the lyrics.

The less this video and song make sense to you, the more I would encourage you to check the analysis of the lyrics on Genius. And yeah, I could have done without the Nudy part, too.

If you're one of those folks who has a mom worth celebrating, remember to give her a call. It's Mothers' Day, Fool!:

What. The. Hell?! Of course, it's from Mr. T's Be Somebody or Be Somebody's Fool: