Wednesday, June 08, 2005

“Note the loss of hearing.”

The Movie: Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, 1979 (Richard Whitley, Russ Dvonch, and Joseph McBride, screenwriters, from a story by Allan Arkush and Joe Dante; Allan Arkush, dir.)
Who says it: Mary Woronov as evil high school principal Miss Togar
The context: Miss Togar has just made a mouse explode by exposing it to Ramones music at top volume.
How to use it: To comment on a minor problem that’s part of a major catastrophe.

I'm not the first to ask this, but what did happen to P.J. Soles? Fame is fleeting... they didn't even interview her for the Ramones documentary, End of the Century, which I watched the other night. I recommend that, by the way -- it's a strange mixture of exhilaration and sadness. The Ramones' road led not to ruin, but to nowhere in particular. They were never as huge as they should have been, and now three of them are dead.

That's sad enough, but what hurt most of all was to see Joe Strummer on the screen, the picture of rude health. I spent the rest of the evening imagining scenarios in which Joe Strummer merely staged his death, Elvis-style, and is now tending bar somewhere in Camden Town. Please report any sightings to me.

On the way home from Augusta last night, I saw a carnival set up on the north side of town. I'm a sucker for those things; I don't care that the rides are wired together with paper clips, or that the food workers all carry typhoid. I'd have stopped for a ride on the Zipper, but the prospect of riding by myself felt too pathetic. Maybe Anna and Tarren will want to go tonight.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Okay, I'll ask since I'm a sucker for a leading question -- you might even say that like a poor gameshow contestant who confuses Joker's Wild with Jeopardy!, I lead with my questions -- "Who is/was P.J. Soles?"

-- Ed

P.S. Most of the seminal punks may be gone, but at least we still have Gary Glitter and Debbie Harry.

Ellen Clair Lamb said...

P.J. Soles is best remembered as the "Totally" girl from the first HALLOWEEN movie. She also played key supporting roles in CARRIE and STRIPES, and the leading role in ROCK 'N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL. She was also married to Dennis Quaid before Meg Ryan was.

Uh... isn't Gary Glitter in jail for child pornography? Or am I thinking of someone else? Debbie Harry, on the other hand, still rules. As does Chrissie Hynde.

Anonymous said...

I was being ironic. Debbie Harry may do a lot of things, but she definitely does not and never has ruled. Maybe I should have name-checked Tom Waite as the still-going-strong punk standardbearer?

I certainly did not mean to praise Mr. Glitter, unlike this guy: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/vanderlinden/glitter.htm

Yikes!

--Ed

Anna said...

Um, go to the carnival with you tonight? Uh, I think I have to wash my hair. Or was it my dog. Or perhaps your dog.

But I WILL go to the Windsor Fair with you. I'm much more of a fair girl then a carnie. If we're really adventurous, we could go to the Fryeburg Fair this summer. It's supposed to be the biggest and best in Maine.

Ellen Clair Lamb said...

Oh, FINE... it's storming anyway. And I actually do have to color my hair.

Unknown said...

PJ is apparently the busiest unheard of actress in hollywood. I checked her IMDB listing and she's got three movies coming out this year.

It's one of those weird Hollywood things I can never understand. She was and is as beautiful as Sean Young and had better acting chops but fell off the face of the Earth after a spate of good movie roles.