if charlie parker was a gunslinger,there'd be a whole lot of dead copycats: February 2010

The Explanation
(for those who require one)

And, of course, that is what all of this is -- all of this: the one song, ever changing, ever reincarnated, that speaks somehow from and to and for that which is ineffable within us and without us, that is both prayer and deliverance, folly and wisdom, that inspires us to dance or smile or simply to go on, senselessly, incomprehensibly, beatifically, in the face of mortality and the truth that our lives are more ill-writ, ill-rhymed and fleeting than any song, except perhaps those songs -- that song, endlesly reincarnated -- born of that truth, be it the moon and June of that truth, or the wordless blue moan, or the rotgut or the elegant poetry of it. That nameless black-hulled ship of Ulysses, that long black train, that Terraplane, that mystery train, that Rocket '88', that Buick 6 -- same journey, same miracle, same end and endlessness."
-- Nick Tosches, Where Dead Voices Gather

Ancient Voices #27

Buell Kazee

The Gunslinger Guide to Catherine Deneuve #2

Twilight of the Dreamboats #29

Paso Robles, CA (1955)

The Frame Within the Frame #9

Basic Instinct
(Paul Verhoven; 1992)

(big, vulgar, Verhoeven-esque thanks to Ryland Walker Knight of the never vulgar Vinyl is Heavy for this image)

This Sporting Life #15

Muscle magazine journalist and one-time owner of the original Venice, CA Gold's Gym, Ken Sprague, covers Arnold Schwarznegger's training as Schwarznegger attempts to take a sixth consecutive Mr. Olympia title in 1975. He did.

The Future is Now #19

Frigidaire's "Kitchen of the Future," on display in 1957.

The Golden Age of Publicity #31

Original Caption:

Frank Millard (left) and Mike Ashley, sales representative for Aston Martin, discuss the $65,000 car used for a "Goldfinger" (James Bond movie). The car is on display at Millard Motors, and will next be used for the movie "Thunderball", another James Bond 007 movie.

Picture dated: May 22, 1965.

Vaudevillians #14

Bee Palmer

Mop Tops in Action #31

John listens to underground rumblings

Tricky: Scenes from a Life #99

Tricky eavesdrops (1953)

When Legends Gather #583

Lana Turner, Ross Hunter and Constance Bennett, 1965.

Jesters of the Republic #42

Judy Canova

Treading the Boards #21

Donald Davis, Colleen Dewhurst and Pamela Payton-Wright in Mourning Becomes Electra, 1972.

Artists in Action #569

Jerome Robbins makes a fist

Seminal Image #993

The Family Jewels
(Jerry Lewis; 1965)

American Dance Orchestras of the 1920s #19

Blue Steele and His Orchestra

Adventures in the Vast Wasteland #12

Today's Adventure: Laugh-In assembles its cast and guests for a photo shoot. Lots of easy ones to pick out of the group but is anyone here up to the task of naming them all?