The Wolf At The White House Correspondents' Dinner ... MATF

________________________________________________________________________________________________

MATF = More Accurate Than Funny

Michelle Wolf

The next
GoFather/Trump
page is
here 

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Photoverio #300: An Early Mother's Day Gift

________________________________________________________________________________________________

© Oliverio

I needed something special

for the three-hundredth page

of the Photoverio sequence.

This is an image of my father

when he was one-fourth

my present age.

His leggy necklace

was added on much later.

That he was 17 years old

when the photograph 

was taken is doubly

appropriate.

His age matches the number

of years the original image

(minus the bottom half)

was taped to my school desk

at Jefferson High School.

The reverse of his age

matches the year

of his passing and

I am certain that daily

—in the Deity's Eternal Garden—

my Mother becomes his necklace.

Nightly, they reverse positions.

Which is why she is referred to in the title.   

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Footnotes

The original photograph was no bigger

than a postage stamp.

I was honored when students asked if

this 1933 photo was a picture of me.

 

I was honored when other students

pointed out a resemblance between

father and son. 

I am beyond certainty that when

my Mother and Father see this page,

they both will laugh their asses off. 

________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Photoverio #299: On The Street With Mr. Sepia

________________________________________________________________________________________________

© Oliverio
Mr. Sepia, His Shadows,
and His Powerlines
(2006)  

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Poetry For The Gavel-Minded Memorabilians

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Art Daily

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Did He Defer To George Clooney HMD? [His Most Deified]

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Robert Edsel authored the book
and George Clooney both wrote
and starred in Monuments Men.

The film was about a group of men
who would risk their lives
to protect and defend
mankind's greatest achievements.
  
Their secret mission,
while death and doom
dominated the European
continent, was to find
—and return to rightful owners—
 Art stolen by the Nazis
during World War II


This platoon was recruited
by edict from President Roosevelt
but they were
more familiar with Michaelangelo
than M-2s

They were in a race
against time
and a thing called
Reality

The production budget
of MONUMENTS MEN
was $70,000,000 

Most of the film
was shot at nine locations
in Germany between
March and June, 2013

However,
two years before
the filming began,
1500 pieces of art
were confiscated from the home
of Cornelius Gurlitt,
the son of the man
handpicked by Goring 
to sell art confiscated
by the Nazis.

BUT
the confiscation
of the Gurlitt hoard
did not become public
until November, 2013

That was after
MONUMENTS MEN
had finished filming
in Germany

Which is why
I superimposed a question
on the image
of Robert Edsel:

CAN WE TRUST THIS MAN?

This man,
with a bleached
Donald Trump 'do,
wrote the book about
the same art as was confiscated
from Cornelius Gurlitt
but kept secret
the entire time the film,
based on Edsel's book,
was filming

YET
the text accompanying
his image describes Edsel as
"among those who refuse
     to forget the Nazi's crimes"  

AND NOW,
Edsel is producing
an eight-part TV program
titled
"Hunting Nazi Treasures"

The film,
MONUMENTS MEN,
deservedly bombed

The truth
behind Cornelius Gurlitt's
billion dollar art collection
shatters the premise
of the book,
MONUMENTS MEN 
!!!

But the book's author,
with his bleached Trump 'do,
is going to tell the story
of plundered Nazi art
one more time

Maybe Mr. Edsel
should learn a lesson
from the car
with the same name:
It was taken off the road
after three years 
 ***

My next Gurlitt page
is  here

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Andy Warhol, Jimi Hendrix, Jackson Pollock, And Jim Georgiou

________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Chelsea Hotel

has provided lodging 

for the likes of Mark Twain,

Madonna, Dylan Thomas, Joni Mitchell

W.E.B. Dubios, and Humphrey Bogart...

plus the four names mentioned 

in the title.

But it would be
reasonable to ask:
Who the hell is
Jim Georgiou?

 Therefore,
it is my obligation
to answer:
Jim Georgiou
 is responsible 
for this page

Mr. Georgiou
was a long-term resident
of the Chelsea
but ended up homeless
for two years

When this fabled
New York City hotel
underwent renovation,
Mr. Georgiou asked
the construction workers
what was to become
of the hotel room doors.

They were to be trashed.

Shortly thereafter,
Jim Georgiou collected
all of them
and they became
his personal property
until an auction house
made his life into a
Rags to Riches
story 

Jack Keruoac slept
behind this door

The bidding for each door
began at $5,000

The results of the auction
are available
here 

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Like Paul, Most Philosophers Would Agree With This Judgment

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Which is the better song:

Live and Let Live

or

Live and Let Die

???

Arthur Lee and LOVE

Paul McCartney and Wings

Indisputably,

Live and Let Live

is musically superior

to

Live and Let Die

Anyone

with a trace of hipness

in  their soul

would agree

Paul McCartney,

who has significantly

more than a trace

of hipness in his soul,

would inarguably agree

with this judgment

Furthermore,

Sir Paul would probably say

that Arthur Lee's

studio recording of

Forever Changes

was as good as anything

the Beatles ever recorded

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Footnote
The next GoFather/Beatles
page is
here
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Let's Call This Generation By The Name They Rightly Deserve

________________________________________________________________________________________________

They are half-human

and half-Iphone

They never look up
unless to condescend to
anything that breaks
their attention
or anything resembling
the real world

If you talk to them
you better limit yourself
to 140 syllables

Half-human
 Half-Iphone 

Do we call them
the Half-Generation
NO

Drop the Halfs
Drop the I

They are
THE PHONEY GENERATION    

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Footnote
Half of them could be called
"The Android Generation"
but that name scares me
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

The Home Plate Of Fettucini Springs Eternal In April

________________________________________________________________________________________________

homey loves the home team

that's easy to say

that's easy to see

 and

homey lived at home

with his home G

the home team hollered

hailed and homered

and homey's

feet walked on cloud nine

life was divine

life was  Sho time

it was go time

it was

 what do you know

time

here comes the team

from cloud ten:

from Bo Stone

to Ana Hime

where Homey's team

did rhyme

in the poetry

of the park

but where there's light

there's dark

and

cudgels conquer pea shooters

and the home team

collapsed

so did homey

until

his home G

fed him fettucini

 

the most opposite

of obsceni

 

what a girl

 

she girds his sorrows

and gives him

 tomorrows

when the home team

hit the road

and

found the code

home girl gave homey

a kiss

and now this:

***

PAUL OLIVERIO

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Footnotes

THE HOME PLATE OF FETTUCINI

SPRINGS ETERNAL IN APRIL

is the copyrighted property of LCSoL

But the link to my name is

the copyrighted property

of Loudon Wainwright 

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Photoverio #298: Roundabout Signage

________________________________________________________________________________________________

© Oliverio
Truncata in Blue
with
Scalloped Trapezoids 

________________________________________________________________________________________________

At Precisely 5:05pm, Friday, April 20, 2018 ...

________________________________________________________________________________________________

The bicycle seen here

—on the Catalina Ferry—

WAS STOLEN

from

VONS

600 E. Broadway

(90802)

At approximately 5:00,

I doubly secured my bicycle

to this rack

OF COURSE,

THERE ARE VIDEO CAMERAS

AROUND THE ENTRYWAY

The sign

on the wall

reads:

There were more than

a dozen people

loitering

when I arrived

at Von's

but neither

was anyone prosecuted

nor was there

a security guard

visible

on the entryway

To describe

the dozen people

as homeless

would be

approximately

100% accurate

 

But when I returned

to the scene of the crime,

there were zero people loitering

and a security guard

was quite visible

Three of these photographs
were taken
early the next evening,

after I had reported

the theft to

the Long Beach Police

The photos was taken

moments before

I reported the theft

to VONS

Not only

was I given zero information

about the Security Agency

that patrols their premises

but the VONS supervisor

told me

the company policy:

   

________________________________________________________________________________________________

A Starbucks Moment From ... The Neither/Nor Journal

________________________________________________________________________________________________

You tell a clever joke while getting a  refill. 

The girl behind the counter laughs 

and then doesn't charge you anything. 

That is a nice moment 

and you are grateful.
 

The next day, you try the same joke

on another Starbucks employee

but she charges you 50¢

for the refill because 

"that is company policy." 

She even points out a sign

on the wall to that effect. 

You pay the 50¢

wordlessly

but seethe within your skin

Then you realize that

this girl is just doing her job. 

Though you may not like her for that,

there is suddenly respect 

where had been

pleasantry.

Respect being a concept

so much nicer than Nice.

***

PAUL OLIVERIO

1999

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Footnotes

A STARBUCKS MOMENT FROM...

THE NEITHER/NOR JOURNAL

is the copyrighted property of LCSOL

It was also copyrighted nineteen years ago 

THE NEITHER/NOR JOURNAL,

published in 1999, was subtitled

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Olysseus ... The First Chopter ... Sic, Sic, Sic

________________________________________________________________________________________________

the groboliks were grobulating

and the freezone

knew their names

JJ jumped twice

and then skipped a line

the fellatarts fell flat

so we added extra syrup

and then skipped a line

while the windows

were windoful

with whatever

W's we wielded

and then skipped...

where were we

when wisconsin

whipped washington

in the wose bowl

hungover from

new year's eve 

Kilroy was here

there and everywhere

including that rooftop

off Franny Loo 

en roo to 

Bishop Rye

first pitch

swing and miss

but the swing is pure polymer

perfectly safe for all ages

zero through six

and the frame will

never rust

no splinters

from wooden seats

no rope burns

with plastic hand chucks

safety is our middle name

our last name is

whatfitz

and who's on first

the second he saw her

he knew she had the time

but he forgot the rhyme

the crime

the slime

the mime made for disaster

the next second

he was lewd

rude

a dumb dude

thoughts nude

for an interlude

all she said was

to be continued

 

©©© PAUL OLIVERIO ©©©

________________________________________________________________________________________________

** I Honestly Do Not Know The Writer He Was Referring To **

________________________________________________________________________________________________

So much genius, so little talent

≈ T.S. ELIOT ≈

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Footnote

The cleverly asterisked title refers to my never

having read the author Eliot praised and panned

within  the same sentence

________________________________________________________________________________________________

A More Important Influence Than Elvis On A Pliverloop Boy

________________________________________________________________________________________________

PLIVERLOOP, MISSISSIPPI
APRIL 11, 1955

A telephone Conversation

************************* 
************************* 


"Hello, is this Johnnie Lee's Aunt MooMoo?"

"Yes, it is. But please call me Miss Staleny."

"I apologize for addressing by the name
your nephew gave me Miss Staleny,
but I am Mrs. Yerblu, Johnnie Lee's
teacher at Menlow Junior High School."

"I know who you are, Mrs. Yerblu.
Johnnie Lee's mother told me about you.
What did Jonnnie Lee do this time?"

"In the middle of a math lesson,
he jumped up on a desk and shouted
I'M ON THIS LONESOME DESERT
I'VE GOT CACTUS ON BOTH SIDES
I'M LONELY
I WANNA DIE."

"No, I don't. I just think
he likes to shock people
but in the middle of a math class—
that is not a good time
to do so."

"As his semi-official guardian,
I have become shock-proof
to his behavior but I humbly apologize
to his math teacher."

"No apology is necessary, Mrs. Staleny
because I too have developed 
a shock-proof response to Johnnie Lee
but it was his response to me 
that has me curious."

"And your curiosity
now has me curious."

"Well, when I said
Johnnie Lee, get off that desk
and shut your mouth.
He said, I am NOT Johnnie Lee!
My name is O.B. Jessie? 
Do you know who 'O.B. Jessie' is?"

"Yes, I do, thanks to Johnnie Lee's father."

"Your sister, Julia, told me 
Johnnie Lee's father moved
to California after her son
was born."

"Yes, he did, Ms. Yerblu,
but he occasionally sends gifts
to the child he abandoned."

"That sounds very thoughtful
for an absent Dad to do."

"Yes, it is.
Most of his recent gifts
are music: 45 RPMS–singles–
of very obscure origin."

"Sounds mysterious."
  
"In February of last year..."

"That would be 1954."

"You must be an excellent
Math teacher, Mrs. Yerblu.
Well, this particular 45RPM
was by Obie Jessie and it
contained a note written
by Arthur Lee–Johnnie's Dad—
This is fresh off the press."

"What did he mean by that?" 

"That the song
had just been released
and Johnnie Lee
has always been
fascinated by rats."

"Really."

"Yes, really.
But the other side
of the single
was Young Jessie
singing about 
being lonely
in the desert."

"Well, thank you, Miss Staleny
for the enlightenment about O. B. Jessie.
I have to go and I certainly have taken up
enough of your time. Goodbye."

"Your welcome, Miss Yerblu.
Thank you for the phone call."

*************************
*************************

PLIVERLOOP, MISSISSIPPI
MAY 18, 1955

Another telephone Conversation

"Hello, Miss Staleny, this is Mrs. Yerblu.
We talked last month."

"Yes, I remember the wonderful
conversation we had."

"I have to share a funny story with you."

"I'm all ears."

"My sister-in-law manages the cafeteria
at the Apley Elementary school and
a boy named Paul Max duplicated 
what Johnnie Lee did."

"You mean jump on a desk
and sing?"

"Close. It was a table in the cafeteria
but he sang the exact same lyrics
as Johnnie Lee. When she called his name
and told him to stop, his response was
almost exactly what Johnnie said."

"Almost?"

"The only difference is Paul said
his 'name' didn't have initials."


"I don't follow."

"He said, My name is NOT Paul Max.
It is Obie Jessie, my first name
is spellt O-b-i-e. But there is more."

"My ears are getting very anxious."

"My sister-in-law is married to
my husband's brother: she is also
Mrs. Yerblu. Paul promised her something."

"What was that?"

"He said When we get rich and famous,
we are going to write a song about you
and your sister-in-law. We are going to
call it YerBlues."

"I'll believe that when it happens."

"That's exactly what she said to Paul."

"Just for the record, Mrs. Yerblu,
Paul is the only visiting friend
of Johnnie's who doesn't inspire me
to count the silverware
after he leaves this house."

"That's always good to know."

"He's been here at least five times
in the past month and it was him—
not Johnnie—who told me that
the first two lines of their
table-top song were written
by Mr. Jessie."

"Thank you for sharing
that information, Miss Staleny."

"You are very welcome, Ms. YerBlu."

"Now it's time to say goodnight." 

*************************
*************************

LONDON, ENGLAND
AUGUST, 1968

The real life counterparts of the two boys
in this story did exactly what Paul Max
promised: they recorded YER BLUES
at Abbey Road Studio.

Ringo Starr referred to the song
as Grunge Blues but it may 
have sounded completely different
if it had not been for Obie Jessie's
LONESOME DESERT.

*************************
*************************


*************************
*************************

Please note: In 1954, Mr. Jessie
recorded under the name
YOUNG JESSIE

Acoustically, the two songs
have little in common
except for the refrain. 

Thematically, both songs
are about extreme loneliness
and death.

 
The page title does not mean to diminish
the influence of Elvis Presley
on the Beatles but in addition
to the four lads from Liverpool,
more than five million
rock and rollers were 
influenced by Elvis.

However, John and Paul 
and George and Ringo
were rarities:
they were privileged enough
to also be directly influenced by
Obie "Young" Jessie.

Happy Googling to anyone
who has read this page.    


________________________________________________________________________________________________
FOOTNOTES
To hear Lonesome Desert and Yer Blues,
go to  this page.

I would like to say that this page was inspired
by the question What if the Beatles grew up in Mississippi
but that is not the case: listening to an album
by Young Jessie was the inspiration.

The hyperlinked page names two other songs
featuring Young Jessie that were covered by
the Beatles: both of those were Lieber-Stoller
compositions but Obediah Donnell Jessie
wrote Lonesome Desert.

My next Beatles page
—exclusively about Paul Max—
is  here.

But the Beatles page
most similar
to this page (i.e., pure dialog)
is   there. 
________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

A Timeless Quotation From ... The Books of Bokonon

________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hand that stocks the drug stores

rules the world

***

KURT VONNEGUT

Cat's Cradle

(1963)

Once upon a time,
there was a generation
called the Sixties.
They were required
 to read  the biting satire
of
Kurt Vonnegut

Once upon another time,
there was a generation 
called the Millennials.
They were required
to know all the winners
of
American Idol.

So be it 

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Footnote
The caption is the copyrighted property
of the Lewis Carroll School of Logic

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Melania Trump Will Fire The Ultimate Missile ... With Her Pen

________________________________________________________________________________________________

The article continues
here

ANDY BOROWITZ

***


The next
GoFather/Trump
page is
here  

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

The Decade, The Generation, The Movement ... 1976, 2013, 2018

________________________________________________________________________________________________

The ME Decade

TOM WOLFE

©  1976

The ME ME ME Generation

JOEL STEIN
©  2013

The ME-Too Movement

PAUL OLIVERIO

©  2018

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Two Poets ... Two Poems [One Titled] ... Total Words = 29

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Right Hand Pointing
Very Short Poems
Volume 2 

________________________________________________________________________________________________