Saturday, October 18, 2014

Mystic Crystal Revelation


For reasons that will shortly become clear, I've been thinking about Hair, the 1979 film of which has to me always seemed too-little-shouted-about.

Here is its opening, which I probably haven't seen in years, but which when I first watched it this morning took my breath away all over again.  The sequence is dazzlingly beautiful.  Director Miloš Forman sets up shot after shot that propulsively moves the action forward, introducing John Savage as the principal character and laying out the action for the film that follows as efficiently as has ever been done in an opening number.  It's equally driven by Twyla Tharp's deceptively casual choreography, which combines wit - the elegant paired equine-human pas de deux! - and athleticism in equal measure.  Tying it all together is the arrangement of "Aquarius," which takes the original and turns it into a jazz-rock rhapsody, opulently orchestrated and gloriously sung (the IMDb tells us) by Renn Woods.  Enjoy.

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But why, you may ask, should a late-seventies musical be bouncing around in my fevered brain, now of all times?  Well, you see, after great consideration, yesterday I took the plunge.  For the first time in three years, I had a serious haircut.  Longtime Café pals, of course, will remember that this has been a subject of some thought all this time.

I really did like it long - and by the time I motored downtown yesterday to Our Nation's Capital's leading specialist in men's curly hair, it was heading toward the middle of my back when set loose and brushed straight - but it was time for a change.  Now, it's still no stock corporate coiffure, but it promises to be low-maintenance and appropriately adaptable to business and less-so settings.  Last night, falling asleep, I remembered poor Jo March, selling her "one beauty" during the Civil war and briefly regretted not at least taking a picture of the great heaps of long hair all around the chair.

The biggest change, really, is that what's left is so defiantly... silver.  The next time I'm asked, on some official form, to list hair color, I'm not going to get away with "brown," that much I know.

10 comments:

  1. For guys, I will weave dark low-lights in with foil. It doesn't cover all of the grey, but it takes you back a bit. You might find you fancy trying that!

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    1. I've decided, now that it's primarily rather than streakily gray, to just embrace it. I held it at bay for a couple of years, but it's time...

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  2. I had ugly mousy brown hair most of my life which did really well RED. Now I do not touch the color of my hair for it is gloriously gray and gorgeous.

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  3. I adore this movie. Treat in his prime was such a treat.

    As for hair, well, be happy to have it whatever color it is. I've lost so much on top that the only way to wear it is very short. I used to get away with a cut every month. I now need a buzz every 2-3 weeks to avoid looking like Larry Fine or Bozo.

    In my prime, my hair was dark brown with some red in it. My beard came in black/brown/blond/red. Now we've got grey and white in the mix, too. And now that the chest hair has gone white, I could never consider dying my head. It's this whole United Colors of Benetton thing. So far, I'm getting away with it.

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  4. The only problem with the film is that it doesn't have enough Annie Golden.

    Here she is an Actor's Fund concert performance of HIAR, singing "Frank Mills," her song in the film, but deleted before it was released. She is a favorite.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhuTdHoGx84

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  5. I was there! She was fabulous.

    I've been a huge Annie fan since "Hang Up the Phone" from the Sixteen Candles soundtrack.

    http://youtu.be/rHqpdVNd88g

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    1. My God, Bill, that might be the '80s-est thing in the whole entire world. "Baby's" sweater, though, leads me to think that Annie might not have had the best judgment in hoping that "he's talking to a he not a she..."

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  6. Love that movie! Everyone so young and lovely!

    I'm sure you look fabulous, darling. I'm a big believer in hair karma. When one has long hair (as I did, once upon a time), one is carrying hair that grew out of one's head not just during good times but also the bad. It's quite freeing to delete that from one's life!

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  7. I'm intrigued which style you went for, sweetie - was it the "Toni Tennille"? Or the "Dionne Warwick"? Jx

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    1. Well, if I had to choose, I'd say it''s a somewhat looser version of the Kay Francis. I've been told it's very flattering, and even by people whose performance reviews I don't write...

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