Jamie Malanowski's Blog, page 4

THE LONGER RIDERS, JULY 22: THE BADLANDS

Cara fulfilled her great vacation wish and and hiked some of the trails in the Badlands, the strange topographical formation left when the great ocean drained away. Below: Top of the world, Ma!; Cara channels James Franco in 127 Seconds; At long last, buffalo; where NASA faked the moon landing.

THE LONGER RIDERS, JULY 21: THE LONGEST DAY

We spent forever driving in South Dakota today, and if you’ve ever spent the day driving in South Dakota, you know how long forever is. On the up side, Cara got to pose with four other great Americans at Mount Rushmore. We also saw some wild horses, which we on the mild side of wild. In the supposedly animal-rich Custer National Park, some wild burros did their best to uphold the local animals’ reputation.

THE LONGER RIDERS, JULY 20: LARAMIE

After a certain amount of drama, the Jackson Family Reunion took place in Roxii’s bistro in picturesque Laramie: me, Rick, Cara, Brian Jackson, Cathy Jackson (standing); Ginny, Marie and Bill (seated)

THE LONGER RIDERS, JULY 19: CHEYENNE

My brother-in-law Rick Jackson joined us for lunch; it was great to see him. In the evening, Ginny and Cara and I returned to Frontier Days and saw Lady Antebellum in concert. They put on a great show; to an old timer like me, the highlight was their cover of `Honky Tonk Women.’

THE LONGER RIDERS, JULY 18: CHEYENNE

Thursday was devoted to a long, punishing drive across Kansas, where we saw the first of many wind turbines that we would all across the great American prairie, up to Fort Collins, Colorado, where we stayed in a room that had a hit tub and shower right next to the bed. Weird. On Friday, we drove up to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where we connected with Ginny’s parents, Bill and Marie Jackson. We then went to see the rodeo at Cheyenne Frontier Days, which I would have enjoyed more had I not suffered an allergy attack that left my eyes burning and itching and watering profusely. The events featured bull riding, barrel racing, steer roping, and two kinds of bronco busting. Very tough and highly killed athletes.

THE LONGER RIDERS, JULY 16: MEMPHIS AND BEYOND

On Wednesday we motored across Tennessee to see Graceland, the surprisingly modest home of Elvis Presley. Meh. Banal testosterone-infused sixties styles. The miracle is that he happened; his personal effects are just leftovers. Here is his grave, left, and on the right, the only bit of wit I saw in the place :



Afterwards, we left Tennessee, drove through Arkansas, Missouri, and into Kansas, where we spent the night in Topeka.

THE LONGER RIDERS, JULY 15: NASHVILLE

Walter Hill‘s wonderful 1980 film The Long Riders told the story of the James Gang–the outlaws Frank and Jesse James and the Younger brothers–and their depradations in Missouri, Arkansas, Minnesota, Texas and other locales. Although we’re not going to Texas, we’re hitting all their other stomping grounds, and then some: a 13 day, 17 state car trip; hence, The Longer Riders.

Ginny and I set off on Monday the 14th, and met Cara in Lexington KY. On Tuesday, we headed south to Nashville. We kicked around downtown for a while, did some shopping, bought a Johnny Cash T-shirt, noted that in the Civil War tour, Nashville was called `an occupied city,’ then headed over to the Grand Old Opry.

The show was headlined by Craig Morgan (left), a rugged-looking fellow with a big baritone. He did a kickass version of the Justin Timberlake song called `Drink You Away’(I can’t drink you away, I’ve tried Jack, I’ve tried Jim, I’ve tried all of their friends, I can’t drink you away, All these rocks, I can’t swim out of this skin, I’m living in). Also on the bill was a big square-jawed, square-hatted, toothy-grinned heartthrob named Dustin Lynch (below left). Cara reports that she’s heard that “he’s a bit of a dick,” and he certainly fits the type. We also liked rising star Gwen Sebastian (left) and veteran Jeannie Seely (right), who blew me away with her version of “Ode to Billy Joe.”

THE ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY

Congratulations to my friend A.J.Baime, whose new book, The Arsenal of Democracy, has just been published. I finished it last night, in a whoosh of excited reading. A.J. has done a tremendous job of telling story whose great sweep includes the rise of Nazism and the war in Europe; the development of the automobile, the internal conflicts in the Ford company and the Ford family; and the huge amount of creativity, destruction and sheer upheaval brought on by the challenge of creating the massive number of planes, tanks, trucks and guns that it took to win WW II. A.J.’s fluid style really keeps the story moving, and his sympathetic treatment of Edsel Ford illuminates an undeservedly forgotten figure. A.J. recently learned that his earlier book, the wonderful Go Like Hell, is being turned into a movie starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. Congratulations, Big City Al!

JEFFREY RESSNER DIES AT 56

I am terribly sad to hear about the death of my friend Jeff Ressner. He was a very good reporter–enterprising, dependable, resourceful, hard-working, smart. A Time editor once compared Jeff to Jerry Rice–“Just throw him the ball, and he runs with it.” He was equally comfortable covering business and entertainment. When I was editing Time‘s Notebook section in 1998, he brought me a story about a little known company called eBay that was going public, and we ran a small story. Just one case of Jeff beating the tech and business reporters on staff. Among the stories and personalities he covered were O.J. Simpson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven Spielberg, Rupert Murdoch, David Geffen, Terry Semel, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr., Winona Ryder, Jerry Seinfeld and Tommy Lee Jones. He was a witness to his times. One of his favorite interview moments occurred on the afternoon he escorted Bjork to the Beverly Hills Hotel’s Polo Lounge, where she parked at a piano and began singing Gershwin tunes. Above all, he was just a very decent guy. He was a befriender–a guy who made efforts to be your friend and stay your friend. In 2009 and 2010, he was trying to set me up with Politico. A very lovely guy.

HER BODY OF WORK

Cici James, founder of Science fiction bookstore Singularity and Co. in Brooklyn, poses for a body-painted portrait amongst her wares.