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Sneak Peek Pic of the Week
More news to come...
Intolerable Inferno
Dear 24 Hours,
Today it was a sizzling 18 degrees and thankfully your paper has provided some tips on coping with this insane heatwave, a.k.a. "intolerable inferno," but I was hoping to clarify some of the points in your survival guide.
- when you say to drink lots of water, how much is "lots?" One glass? Five glasses? Fifty gallons? I don't want to trust my natural instincts if in fact I am flirting with death here.
- when you recommend wearing loose-fitting clothing, you didn't specify whether long or short sleeves would be preferable. Also, I have a baggy wool sweater, but when I put it on I found myself warmer than ever! If you could get more specific here that would be super.
- as per your suggestion, I opened the windows at night to let in a breeze, but unfortunately, this being Vancouver, it also let in a couple of thieving junkies who stole a roll of masking tape and some coasters and also defecated on my end table. I'm just wondering if an electric fan might be an option here. If so, are they available in stores?
- finally, your suggestions included "trying minty products to cool the skin" - would smearing myself in toothpaste be minty enough?
Thank you for your time,
A Concerned Reader
Summer Noir
Shades of Lee and Nancy and cigarette-scented Euro-disenchantment. I've tried to adopt this as my personal theme song, but I'm told it's not really taking.
Lawrence Tierney
A former Sears & Roebuck catalog model, the imposing and coldly handsome Tierney found himself at RKO churning out cheap potboilers that eventually lead to the starring role in a grade-B Dillinger. Typecast thereafter as a menacing powderkeg, Tierney kissed the leading man idea goodbye, plowing his way through a few late 40's noirs that included Born to Kill and The Devil Thumbs a Ride, his face a deceptively placid and icey mask that betrayed little emotion until the "rage" switch was flipped.
It was even worse when he smiled, his face contorting into a twisted parody of a suave matinee idol. But for the most part, his expression was that of a seething hard-ass, his eyes unreadable dark holes, his mouth set in a grim slash across his broad jaw, creases knotting at the crux of his brow like current-charged high tension wires.
And it was no act. By the mid 50's Tierney's career was all but done in by his rampant brawling and boozing, his many trips to the hoosegow soon legendary, his erratic behaviour driving everyone and everything away, including employment. Robert Mitchum, upon entering the grey bar hotel following his infamous reefer bust, quipped to the press, "I'm just keeping Lawrence Tierney's cell warm for him."
He careened headlong into a thirty-year freefall that found him largely out of control and largely out of the showbiz picture. He got a few TV bits here and there and some small roles in films, and even ended up in France for a while, but the lost weekends turned into lost years and Tierney found himself working construction jobs, bartending, and still getting arrested. By this time all trace of the movie star looks were gone, Tierney now a colossal mound of meat - bullet-headed, puffy-faced, and his voice sounding like a gravel truck in low gear.
Against all odds, Tierney walked away from the bottle in the 1980's - mostly - and while never exactly becoming a kindly old gent, he did manage to stay out of jail. His temper and propensity to start throwing his hams around still cost him work with the more sensitive Hollywood types, but Tierney would find his career rejuiced with his role as ringleader tough guy Joe Cabot in Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino and the cast had their problems with the surly old rock-head, as would his co-stars on an episode of Seinfeld in which he played Elaine's dad. It was meant to be a recurring role, but Tierney's hijinks, which included waving a butcher knife at Jerry Seinfeld, permanently put the kibosh on that plan.
He clocked out a ripe 82 but went down swinging, his antics at a 1999 Born to Kill screening in Los Angeles proving that even after a stroke he could still live up to the lurid legend. After some playful pre-movie headbutting and threats to "kill all you motherfuckers" - directed towards fans - Tierney settled in to watch the flick only to find that he had to take a leak. Using an empty soda container in which to relieve himself, his loud whizzing caught the attention of the woman sitting in front of him who turned around in response. "What the fuck are you lookin' at?" Tierney snarled, "You never seen a cock before?
