Meanwhile, I'll quote you some words on the demise of Dennis Hopper, by someone who knew him:
"Word came out earlier today that Dennis Hopper had died at the age of 74, so I'm sitting here having a few snorts of Wild Turkey and thinking back over 40+ years of Hopper's impression on where I live: Taos, New Mexico. I came here in the spring of 1969, somewhere between the filming of Easy Rider and its eventual release a few months after I arrived. I saw ER for the first time at the El Cortez theater in Ranchos de Taos along with half the Hippies in Taos. For those of us who had been through Haight-Ashbury, the insanity of the assassinations, the overcoming of segregation (I grew up in the South), and the ongoing nightmare of Vietnam, Easy Rider seemed to capture the apocalyptic sense many of us felt, especially the no-nonsense ending where we saw that dreams are only a shotgun blast away from being crushed out.
"Despite the scenery, the characters (especially Jack Nicholson's--who was also killed), the music and being on the open road, at bottom it was not an uplifting movie. Woodstock a year later would be the shining moment my generation had been hoping for. Yet in its own crazy way, ER was much more about reality than all the drugs and Woodstock, etc. could ever be. It seems that we live in a world which delights in continuously snuffing out dreams. Yeah, reality's a bitch: that's what we keep coming back to. So I guess we have Dennis to thank for pointing that out to us over 40 years ago.
"Dennis the man was a mess, too, as those of us who lived here were constantly reminded as he ran amuck around town. Every Anglo newcomer to Taos had to atone for the sins of Dennis Hopper. He was our burden, our cross, and we all shared in his angst as he imploded both personally and professionally. His followup to ER was prophetically titled "The Last Movie" and, indeed, it would be his last movie as a director. He became persona non grata everywhere in town, and shortly thereafter slunk off to fight his personal demons for the next several years. Eventually, he righted himself and found his way back into acting, redeeming himself with a series of critically acclaimed roles for foreign directors. In recent times he apparently completed the circle by becoming a neo-conservative and doing commercials on TV for a financial investment company.
"Then last year he returned to Taos to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Easy Rider. The town of Taos (which had railed against the dubious morality of all those unwashed vagabonds 40 years earlier) declared it to be "The Summer of Love", and Hopper celebrated with a show of art (his and the others below) at the storied Harwood Museum. The Prodigal Son had returned. All was forgiven (accept by the remnants of the original summer who chided him under their breath for his turncoat ways), and Dennis basked in his redemption.
"There would be one final chapter to his saga. After years of refusing a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (and amidst growing reports that he was dying from prostate cancer) he accepted his star, fittingly with Jack Nicholson -- who had become a monumental star in the years since Easy Rider -- by his side. A feeble Dennis Hopper read a brief statement at the ceremony and today we know that it was his swan song, both as an actor and as a person. Dennis Hopper is dead. For those of us in Taos it is truly the end of an era, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not.
I think it is safe to say the Sixties are really over."
Bill Davis
(Taos photographer)
While the Defarges and I were whizzing around the canals of Bruges on my birthday, Dennis Hopper was revving up the heavenly Chopper. (Ooh that rhymes). In tribute, I want you all to click on the widget thingy and sing along with Steppenwolf.
However, I disagree with Bill that Hopper's death marks the end of the Sixties.
Click here to see something wonderful
Lastly, a big up to Savannah who donated her hair to help soak up the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico! There's patriotism.
(With apologies for the inconsistency in the font, Blogger is leading me a merry dance this week.)
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