My Day in Court With Lee Marvin

This drawing was done in the courtroom while working on the Marvin vs Marvin "Palimony" case for NBC News.  Michelle Triola Marvin, his girlfriend for 6 years, described earning her keep; at one point she told us of her heroic efforts holding the 6'2" Lee Marvin by his ankles as he drunkenly flailed upside down from a 20th story window in Beverly Hills.  At the proceedings, when Lee Marvin finally noticed us drawing him, he gave the old-finger-scratching-the-forehead salute.  Then a cross-eyed stare.

Drawing courtesy NBC News, Los Angeles, California

Lee Marvin looked like a guy you did not want to be on the wrong side of. A marine war hero turned actor.  Probably the only guy who could kick Chuck Norris's butt with one hand while lighting up a Marlborough with the other.  Let's all hoist one for Lee Marvin. Coolest of the cool.

Some quick courtroom facts.

In 1979,Lee Marvin was sued by Michelle Triola Marvin, his live-in girlfriend, who legally changed her surname to "Marvin".  They never married but she went after the money like all real spouses do under California law. She said she suffered a lot. This was dubbed the first  "palimony" case, Marvin v. Marvin, 18 Cal. 3d 660 (1976). In 1979, Lee Marvin was ordered to pay $104,000 to Triola for "rehabilitation purposes" but the court denied her community property claim for one-half of the $3.6 million which Lee Marvin had earned during their six years of cohabitation.  So, in the end, he kind of won. Lee Marvin said that the trial was a "circus" and that "everyone was lying, even I lied."

Flames

 1. New Directions in painting . Artist Tom Christopher and hot rod pinstriper Chip Welsh work on a painting incorporating the Empire state building, pin up girls, femme fatals,  the classic wolf call all swirling about the flames and Mexican day of the dead skulls in an underworld painted with home depot blackboard paint. Melding Hot Rod Kar Kulture with classic tattoo symbolic imagery and New York City. Another sap walks off circled by a flame on girl and a Dear John Letter held dear in a swallows beak.  These are interesting says critic Armardo Guiterez. I don't think these guys have any idea what the painting will look like when finished. Seems like an exciting way to work.'

Erica Hauser at The Drive By Gallery

Jazz & Wine, Behind the Scenes at the Drive-By Gallery

Another smashing event at Lift Trucks: Louise Baranger and her rockin' Jazz trio  accompanied Fred Tregaskis with his talk (also heard on NPR) about  how wine and jazz came together in the 20th century. The fund raiser for our district  Asemblyman Robert J. Castelli brought the crowds in. A well heeled reception  here for the newest and most excellent Lift Trucks Discovery: Artist Erica Hauser's stunningly  simple paintings of America.  Drive By, view the paintings from the comfort  of your own car!