Favorite Songs: "The Long Tunnel of Wanting You" by Vanessa Daou

When I started as the store artist for a record company in the 90’s the former artist had left written instructions all over the room to guide me to where everything was, as well as a Barbie Doll tied up in bondage hung from the ceiling!

I also inherited her CD/Cassette player, and a few scattered cassettes that were piled in the corner where the electronic equipment was stored… To this day I’m not sure if these cassettes were hers or not because she’d written to me telling me all the stuff she needed had already been taken out and moved to her new job. So I was free to do whatever I wanted with what was left.

So one day, I was working on a big project and after a few hours, had exhausted my supply of the CDs I’d brought along with me to get me through the long day. I needed music, but I sure didn’t feel like listening to the same CDs over again. Then I remembered the stack on Cassettes in the corner, and right at the top of the pile was an album that caught my eye featuring an artist named Vanessa Daou. The tape read : Vanessa Daou reading from the works of Erica Jong. Hmmm, sounded interesting, to say the least!

So I put the cassette in, and was instantly taken in by the lush, nu-romantic sound of the opening track… this wasn’t ANYTHING like what I was expecting! I don’t know, maybe I was thinking it was going to be something like spoken word. OK, some of the tracks on the Cassette DID ring of “dialog with the music as a backing track”, but I was surprised at the very ROXY MUSIC-ish, ethereal keyboards that backed up the words.The song was titled "The Long Tunnel of Wanting You", Dark, Moody and HIGHLY Suggestive (and with Erika Jong, what else would you expect) , VERY Very catchy stuff!

Like most of the stuff I tended to get into long after it had originally come out, the CD was out of print, and I had to take a weekend to visit the various used CD stores peppered around town before I got ahold of a copy of my own!

And though many people have since told me "This CD is whack!", it's still one that I find myself yearning to listen to, particularly when I'm in my retro-80's mode! Ahahahaha!

Vanessa Daou / The Long Tunnel of Wanting You

The Luck of Pokey Bloom

Whenever I was bored and didn’t have anything to read (and was too lazy to even walk down to the public library), I’d borrow books from my sister, the only other sibling in our family that read books  as voraciously as I did, and had a pretty nice collection, in her own right!

  These were, as can be expected, the usual Young Adult fiction that I guess most girls had- the Judy Blume Books, the S.E. Hinton books, et al, and while I DID enjoy reading those books too (yes, I think I went through them all at some point), one that I ALWAYS enjoyed reading, and eventually had to get a copy of my own, was a book called The Luck of Pokey Bloom, written by Ellen Conford and illustrated by Bernice Loewenstien.

Luck’s something that seems to have avoided Charlotte “Pokey” Bloom- no matter what, she simply can’t seem to win in any contest she’s entered, and she is determined to find the great SECRET to break her losing streak! This story was so much fun- more like a Beverly Cleary does Brady Bunch story than Judy Blume’s Tiger Eyes if you get my meaning! In fact, I always imagined Eve Plumb as Pokey!

Now, while the overall plot of the story is Pokey’s obsession with winning a contest, the rest of the story is filled with the rambling exploits of a zany, ambitious teenager, and it’s these chapters that really seem the most interesing to me: shopping for her mother’s birthday gift, trading insults with her brother, and even doing community cleanup with her girl friends!

And Contests! Cake Slogan contests, Radio Call-ins, Greeting Card sales- Every contest that she COULD enter WAS entered, every contest she didn’t win was another crushing loss- but each loss strengthened her resolve!

One day she meets a lady named Virginia Hopewell who tells her the BIG secret: To win, you must  convince yourself in you mind that you’ve already WON, every minute of the day for every day, you have to tell yourself “I’m the Winner!” So Pokey sets off to try this new theory, only to find the distractions that enter a young girl’s life on a daily basis makes concentration harder than she thought!

One thing I always remembered about the story was this side story with Pokey’s brother Gordon. At one point, he suddenly becomes obsessed with Yoga and health food in general, and no one can figure out why…But after a bit of spying, Pokey and her friend George find out he’s fallen for some girl who works at the local Health Food store! No wonder! Later when she declines his advances, his interest in Health dies off as well!

So  every time in life I found myself getting interested in something because of a girl, I’d always laugh and say “I’m being like Pokey Bloom’s brother!” then I’d laugh again, thinking of how  book I read as a 7th grader still surfaced in my mind even to this day!

Ellen Conford is a beloved Children's Book writer, perhaps most famous for her Jenny Archer and Annabel the Actress series and the book "Dear Lovey Hart, I Am Desperate" the latter of which was a pretty popular ABC Afterschool Special, as I recall!

The Delectable Julie Newmar

What would an article about Catwoman be without mentioning the actress who’s been more identified with her Batman villianess depiction than anyone? I’m referring to none other than Wong Foo’s cherished customer, the lovely Julie Newmar!

As kids, me and my friends REALLY loved that Batman TV show with Adam West and Burt Ward, and I remember the children in the neighborhood playing "Superfriends” instead of “Cowboys ‘n’ Indians” after watching the airing every week, but as we got older, we started to realize how silly the TV show was (re: camp) as we started reading the actual comics.

 But then, a funny thing happened. When we were in High School, they started airing the BATMAN TV show again … and Oh my God, this time, I GOT IT! Once I was able to separate the TV show from the comic, I realized that the show was this incredibly witty and quick paced series, and I began enjoying it all over again!

 Of course, one of the MAJOR differences between watching the show as a 7 year old kid and a high schooler was… You guessed it, JULIE NEWMAR! HOLY TOLEDO, I couldn’t believe how incredible HOT she was! In that skin- tight suit that totally showed off those wonderful curves of hers, it already was a sight for the eyes, but throw in that throaty voice and that sassy attitude, and you had a combination that can NEVER be bested!

I’m sorry, but that’s my stance. NO other actress can EVER COME CLOSE to capturing what Catwoman was all about better than the former Miss Newmeyer! And that goes for all the Meriwethers,  Kitts, Berrys and Pffiefers!

I remember one classic ending to one of those Batman episodes: Batman is trying to talk Catwoman into giving up a life a crime. She sassilly suggests that they get married and leave together:

“I can reform- honestly, I can!” she begs.

“What about Robin?” wonders Batman.

After pondering the problem for a second, Catwoman brightens up and cheerfully suggests:

“Oh, I’ve GOT it- We’ll KILL HIM!”

...to which a shocked Batman  wearily gives up: “I see you’re not really ready to assume a life within society!”

Catwoman realizes it cannot be, and very dramatically throws herself off the roof, supposedly falling to her death. Batman sadly pulls out a bat-shaped Handkerchief and wipes his tears away! Ahahahaha!

The Batman TV show is one of the few 60's-era series that to this day haven't gotten the DVD treatment, so until that happy day, I'm content to watch and re-watch my precious VHS tapes of the show, enjoying the five or six story arcs that featured the delectable Miss Stupefying Jones in all her glory!

Super-Vixens: Catwoman

Back in my day, (gads, I sound like a grandfather!) the top five major BATMAN villains were 1. Joker, 2. Penguin, 3. Two-Face, 4. The Riddler, and 5. Catwoman.

While the origins and personalities of the first four villains  have remained consistent for DECADES, the CATWOMAN of today had almost no similarity to the Catwoman I grew up with and loved.

 I’m talking, of course, about the ORIGINAL Catwoman, that is, Ms. Selina Kyle, she of feline tendencies, and on-and-off again lover of Bruce Wayne himself!

It was this lovers/arch enemies twist that made those stories so interesting, and it was really cool to be aware that the HUNTRESS was the daughter of Earth Two’s Batman and Catwoman!

  Back then, the art was usually handled by Dick Giordano or Irv Novick, and I have to say, their depictions of Selina are the ones that all others must be judged!-There was this one particular story I really had a fondness for, where somehow it ended up that Catwoman’s costume was so shredded in their battle with the Cat-Man, she ended up naked in the Batcave! What a treasured moment!

 I’m not sure why Selina Kyle’s character was constantly reimagined and reworked, maybe her history of amnesia, her shifting back and forth between a heroine and a villainess was too confusing? Too Boring? I don’ know, but with each update, she seems less and less like the Catwoman from my comics.

 But then again, that’s probably true for most of my beloved comic heroes, huh?

Catwoman

Selina Kyle

First appearance : Batman #1 (Spring 1940)

Created by  Bill Finger and Bob Kane