Bees And Trees

The Sausage is in the Details: Taylor Negron in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"

2015-01-12T16:20:00.000-08:00

I was sad to read over the weekend that Taylor Negron died. Not a household name, but a talented actor and writer nevertheless.

One of his first roles was as a pizza delivery guy in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), a film of fine details and rich characterizations. He delivers the double cheese and sausage to Spicoli in Mr. Hand’s History class. It’s not much of a role but Negron did a good job with it. The audience is aware that this pizza guy has something going on internally, beyond service to the plot, something we don’t know about in a world beyond the frame.

He seems kind of put out at having to be there standing before the class. Food service jobs are perilous business in the movie. Stacy and Brad can both attest to the types of characters you go up against in that line of work.

Mr. Hand takes the pizza from Spicoli and invites Stacy, Desmond (that weasel!), and others to eat it. Incidentally, I don’t see any sausage on the pizza. You can interpret its absence as representative of a raw deal, or as an oversight by the script supervisor. Or, maybe the sausage is under the cheese. That’s probably it.

And what is Desmond’s problem? He clearly has some unspecified grudge against Spicoli. On the first day of school, he poisons the well by telling Stacy that Spicoli’s been stoned since the third grade when he shows up late to class. Later, he pikes out Spicoli when he is tardy again. And then, he gets to eat some of Spicoli’s pizza. Spicoli, for his part, seems unbothered by Desmond.

How much of Negron’s performance as the attitudinal pizza guy can be attributed to Amy Heckerling’s direction and how much of it is Negron’s own acting choices? Maybe there's no way to tell. It’s probably some combination. It can’t just have been magic. There’s no such thing. But, there are some things that can’t be known by studying and looking, not even closely, not even with love.

For more Fast Times insight check out:
"Christmas Time at Ridgemont High" via BXTXKV

New K V blog:

2014-11-10T15:39:00.000-08:00

If you have ever seen Three’s Company and paid any attention at all to the set that is Jack, Janet, and Chrissy’s (and then Cindy’s, and then Terri’s) apartment, that gives you some idea of the type of apartment complex in which I live. In fact, it was built in 1978, right when Three's Company, which is set in Santa Monica, was hitting its ratings peak. Lamentably my apartment is not in Santa Monica and just as lamentably, there is a sad lack of shag carpeting and macrame. However, there are enough perverts, sociopaths, and elderly hysterics to keep things interesting. A sense of humor is essential for keeping the tragedies of complex-living in perspective. You absolutely would not believe what these people think is recyclable.

One afternoon, a visiting friend remarked that if he fell asleep somewhere and woke up right where he was standing he would swear he was in Santa Monica. I told him about how the complex made me think of Three’s Company and that was why I wanted to move in. My friend was looking up at a palm tree and didn't say anything. Later, he mentioned Santa Monica again, but I didn’t say anything else about Three’s Company. That kind of talk isn’t for everybody. I get that.

I started a new blog over here>> BXTXKV.COM

image from the internet

3 new Keith Vaughn paintings

2014-10-06T10:33:00.000-07:00

KEITH VAUGHN, CTRL+ Z, oil and acrylic on canvas, 12 x 10" 2014

see more on the new BXT blog >> BXTXKV.COM

Guy Overfelt at Ever Gold Gallery

2014-10-06T10:23:00.002-07:00

Guy Overfelt at the Ever Gold Gallery

The show is over, but read the thing I wrote about it on the new BXT blog>> BXTXKV.COM

Do the heavy lifting

2014-09-22T10:22:00.000-07:00

See 2 new Keith Vaughn paintings

2014-07-28T11:42:00.002-07:00

KEITH VAUGHN A Chance to Win, oil and acrylic on canvas, 42 x 48" 2014

KEITH VAUGHN Copy Image Location, oil and acrylic on canvas, 36 x 42" 2014

see more Keith Vaughn paintings HERE

Dress you up

2014-06-03T09:06:00.001-07:00

Walk the walk

2014-05-26T17:42:00.002-07:00

See 4 new Keith Vaughn paintings

2014-04-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

KEITH VAUGHN Open New Window, oil and acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24" 2014

KEITH VAUGHN Close Window, oil and acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24" 2014

KEITH VAUGHN Left Option, oil and acrylic on canvas, 14 x 11" 2014

KEITH VAUGHN Right Option, oil and acrylic on canvas, 14 x 11" 2014

see more Keith Vaughn paintings here

If the judges allow

2014-02-27T09:18:00.000-08:00

U can always know

2014-02-25T08:45:00.000-08:00

2 new KEITH VAUGHN paintings

2014-02-21T12:57:00.000-08:00

KEITH VAUGHN Re-Enter Your Password, oil and acrylic on canvas, 28 x 22" 2014

KEITH VAUGHN Re-Enter Your Password 2, oil and acrylic on canvas, 28 x 22" 2014

See more Keith Vaughn paintings here

Open up the coffin

2014-02-18T09:36:00.000-08:00

In and out living

2014-01-01T10:11:00.001-08:00

Hot wax

2013-12-31T11:18:00.000-08:00

The Best of 2013

2013-12-29T14:38:00.000-08:00

2013 was a big year for BXT. Here are some highlights.

PAINTINGS by KEITH VAUGHN

Bay Area painter Keith Vaughn has taken a productive left turn and ended the year with his strongest work to date.

Create an Account (Red), oil and acrylic on canvas, 28" x 22" 2013

Create an Account (Blue), oil and acrylic on canvas, 28" x 22" 2013

Plan Your Trip, oil and acrylic on canvas, 30" x 40" 2013

To Advance, oil and acrylic on canvas, 30" x 24" 2013

see more Keith Vaughn paintings here

TRACKS by EQ/DYNAMICS
"Hell Below Heaven Knows," a mashup of Curtis Mayfield and The Smiths, was the debut of the Bay Area's EQ/Dynamics. A creepy Halloween collaboration with The Snowman Electrical Band and three other sample-based tracks followed. Hopefully we'll hear more from them in the coming year.

hear more EQ/Dynamics tracks here

TRACKS by THE SNOWMAN ELECTRICAL BAND

As mentioned above, The Snowman Electrical Band worked with EQ/Dynamics on covers of Captain Beefheart's "When I See Mommy I Feel Like a Mummy" and a nearly unrecognizable "My Son the Vampire" by Allan Sherman. For Christmas this year SXB broke off only one tune, as opposed to the EPs of years past, but their cover of Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" sounds so sophisticated we feel lucky to have gotten it.

hear more tracks by The Snowman Electrical Band here

VIDEO by BEN PEDERSON

Brooklyn-based artist Ben Pederson described this to me as a Faustian sci-fi musical. It is everything we love around here.

The Snowman Electrical Band: "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"

2013-12-23T10:43:00.000-08:00

The Snowman Electrical Band is back, and right on time. Check out their cover of Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." SXB's version combines a Carpenter's-like melancholy with mid-nineties Flaming Lips style grit. Wearing their influences on their sleeves is obviously the Snowman Electrical M.O., but their own character crystallizes more each year.

2 new Keith Vaughn paintings, "Create and Account (Red and Blue)"

2013-12-13T09:36:00.000-08:00

KEITH VAUGHN Create an Account (Red), oil and acrylic on canvas, 28" x 22" 2013

KEITH VAUGHN Create an Account (Blue), oil and acrylic on canvas, 28" x 22" 2013

See more K V paintings
Follow on twitter @beesandtrees

Your own recognizance

2013-12-10T08:58:00.000-08:00

Some won't find out

2013-11-18T09:03:00.002-08:00

He made it to the middle

2013-11-15T10:33:00.002-08:00

Sneak everywhere I go

2013-11-12T10:13:00.000-08:00

New Keith Vaughn painting, "Plan Your Trip"

2013-11-11T10:03:00.000-08:00

KEITH VAUGHN Plan Your Trip, oil and acrylic on canvas, 30" x 40" 2013

Imaginary committee

2013-11-04T09:56:00.000-08:00

New Halloween tracks from The Snowman Electrical Band feat. EQ/Dynamics

2013-10-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

Check out these new Halloween tracks by The Snowman Electrical Band featuring EQ/Dynamics. Listen closely for all kinds of clever samples and musical inside jokes. Happy Halloween, BXT mob!