Charles Laughton Records

I got a copy of this record at a garage sale today, 50 big cents for a nice double LP, Capitol Records, 1962, Charles Laughton, "The Story-Teller...A Session With Charles Laughton."

It was in very nice condition, as spoken word records tend to be.

It's catalog number is TBO 1650.

What a nice album. I actually listened to the whole thing. You might not think a guy reading from books on stage would be that interesting, but it held my attention.

It seems significant that he reads from "The Dharma Bums" by Jack Kerouac. Even though I was alive in 1962, my tastes in literature at the time ran more toward Popeye and Olive Oyl. I hadn't heard of anything else. So I don't know precisely what they were saying about Kerouac in '62. But Laughton seems like he's breaking the folks in, mentioning that Kerouac has been called a beatnik, but he attributes to him the same Spirit that moved in the builders and patrons of the Chartres Cathedral and the writer of Psalm 104.

He tells a nice story about Chartres Cathedral, how he met a guy there who knew all about it, the ins and outs. And how they shared so many special moments looking at the stained glass at various times of the day. Then how they got together 25 years later, and the guy was like, "Where you been for 25 years?"

Side 2 is a reading from "Julius Caesar" by Shakespeare. It's the scene where Brutus gives an address to the people, to be followed by Mark Antony. So we get to hear, with Laughton's superb reading, how Antony turns the people's opinion of Brutus and the other "honorable men."

Side 3 features a reading from "Major Barbara" by Shaw and a reading from Plato's "The Phaedrus." The latter piece touches on "sex," and it's cute to hear the audience tittering. Good thing Beavis and Butt-head weren't there.

Side 4 gives the story from the Bible's book of Daniel of "The Fiery Furnace." Laughton pronounces Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over and over, as the text speaks of them frequently by name. It's an excellent reading. I was looking along in the Bible, and also with "Julius Caesar," and Laughton leaves out some bits, probably to move it along.

The side continues with a letter from an artist about God and prayer to school children, the artist being Carl Milles. Then the last cut is a cute story called "Waculla Springs Story," of an old guy in Florida who tricks the tourists into thinking he can tell fish what to do. At first it seems like he has them trained to jump, to swim in formation, and an alligator to launch out from the shore on command. But Laughton, fascinated, keeps coming on the guy's boat excursion and finds out the tricks. He explains to the man that he, too, is "a story-teller."

Laughton seems like a very charming person. Very smart.

Marion Barry Accused Of Stalking Woman In Park

Former mayor of Washington, D.C., Marion Barry, was charged with stalking his ex-girlfriend in a park.

U.S. Park Service Police arrested Barry (D-Ward 8) about 8:45 p.m. in Anacostia Park after a woman flagged down an officer to report that a man in a nearby vehicle was "bothering her," police said.

This sounds like something from Finnegans Wake. And original sin.

Agreed On Texts

I've been asked now twice in the last month and a half, "What are you reading?" The first time I said nothing. The second time, having been prepared for this from the first time, I said something about the poems of Sir Walter Scott, even though I've pretty much abdicated from reading them. I need to get back to them.

I was sitting in a chair today -- worried as usual -- and thinking I should read something. There was a book I was thinking of but I didn't know where it was. So I'm sitting there another 10 minutes and glancing around, the very book was four feet in front of me, almost hidden in a stack. So I read from it. It didn't help very much but a little. The thing is I know something about this, and the whole point of that particular text, if you went to the very heart of it, is that you don't really need texts. The real text is in here (tapping my empty head).

So I'm sitting here now tapping out another empty text. These paragraphs and the others I've written today, like at Grandma Slump. I like the entry over there because it picks up on this feeling of worrying and being down. But once you've written it and read it you think, OK, that's done. That helped for that minute but now it's just a thought that came from my own head. It's hard to be entertained by thoughts that come from your own head. One thing about it is that what the text is is a very selective part of the thoughts that come from your head, like .0001% of the thoughts you have all the time.

Who really can be entertained by themselves? It's like Frank Sinatra who said he never listened to his own records. And why should he? The voice was in his throat somewhere, lurking with him all the time. He didn't need a needle to remind him.

But there are these texts that get to us collectively. The Bible is the biggest, most obvious one. I think the Bible is fantastic, but it's a dangerous book because of what people have done with it. It's like it's intentionally dangerous and wouldn't pass OSHA standards if someone wrote it now. It has enough stories with jagged edges that it keeps us perpetually fascinated. That's probably one of the keys to writing an agreed on text. Don't round the edges. Leave it rough. So it appeals to everyone, from the Sunday School child with a white hankie to the biggest flaming, psycho, apocalyptic kook in the world.