...I voted for Barney Rubble!

You have developed a very distinct signature style of wearing ascots. How did that start?

They are not ascots. An ascot is usually silk and an English thing. I'm just wearing a bandanna; it's not so fancy. Most of the time they are cotton and different sizes. It started when I was shooting The Last Picture Show in Texas, and I liked wearing it because it made me feel secure. I don't know why. But it feels cozy, and I kept wearing it.

Do you wear one when you are not working or making a professional appearance?

Yeah, I wear them all the time. When I make a professional appearance, I sometimes wear a tie so as not to be too unusual.

Do you think the bandanna is quite unusual?

People seem to have caught on and it seems to be a big deal.

How do you tie it?

Over and under, and over and under, twice until it's a knot.

Do you think personal style is a professional asset?

Yes, until it gets mannered. I may have to stop doing this because it may get too mannered. But I prefer it to a tie.

So why don't you stop?

It feels comfortable - I'd feel bereft if I got rid of it. The New Yorker ran a piece about me and they had a shot of me tying the bandanna and I though, "Christ, it's getting to be a bit much." But, you know....

But you do recognize that it has become part of your brand identity.

Yes, it has.

There is something else I do all the time that nobody seems to have noticed, something I picked up from Audrey Hepburn. When I did a picture with Audrey in 1980 called They All Laughed, I noticed that she never buttoned the buttons on her sleeves, and I asked her about it and she said, "It's more comfortable this way!" And I tried that and it is more comfortable. I was never thinking about a product or brand; I just started dressing this way because I like it.

Has anyone ever said anything negative about your bandanna?

I think some people are annoyed because they think it's an affectation. My friend Jerry Lewis hates it; he says it reminds him of a director from the 30s. But I ignore him, and he forgives me.

What do you owe stylistically - if anything - to Orson Welles, with whom you were friends?

There was a time when I smoked cigars. I was complaining about cigarettes and he said, "Smoke cigars! You don't have to inhale," but I stopped for health reasons because you do inhale no matter what. I do like the taste of Cuban cigars though.

Who else has influenced your style?

Howard Hawks and John Ford, in terms of making films with a certain simplicity of style, which hopefully is not noticeable. I like direction that is invisible.

Did you model yourself after those directors?

I didn't really, because they are very different from me. John Ford was very gruff and often mean-spirited and tough on people. And Hawks was very cool. I'd like to be like Hawks, but I never managed to be that cool. I've always admired the cool in people but I don't think I've ever achieved it. It's something born in you, not something you do. I'm much too Slavic to be cool.

Do other directors allow you to wear your bandanna when they cast you as an actor in films or on TV?

I purposely try not to do that when I play a part: on The Sopranos, I wore a tie. When I did a recurring character on Law & Order, a girly magazine publisher, I wore a bandanna, but it was silk. And I definitely wasn't trying to be like me. If anything I was doing a little bit of Dean Martin.

Who are your style icons?

Cary Grant; and I knew him too. The first time I went into his office he said, "Is that a Brooks Brothers jacket?" I said, "Yes." And he said, "Right off the rack, right? They're great."

What are your other unique signature style traits?

I write with a black fountain pen on legal yellow pads and then someone types it for me. I stopped using a typewriter in the early '70s. I was writing a column for Esquire, and I had little time to write it except on the plane, and you can't carry a typewriter on a plane, so I just started writing long-hand. And I never stopped; I don't type or use a computer. My assistant has email and she does it for me.

You had a recurring role on The Sopranos. So what do you think happens at the end?

It ends the way it began: with anxiety and fear and fearfulness and dread.

Ok, but do you think Tony dies?

I don't think he died right then. He will eventually. We all do.

Do you have any advice for other professionals creating a logo?

Wear what feels comfortable and feels good on you. I wore a bandanna on every picture since The Last Picture Show, but I didn't wear it in everyday life. Then I thought, "Why shouldn't I? I should do it all the time." It could still be a distant echo of wanting to be a cowboy.

The other night, a good friend of mine was looking for Halloween costume ideas. I gave her a whopper of a disguise, but I don't think she is going to give this very sexy costume the commitment it requires. The basic idea behind these costumes is that you wear the rubber mask with a bikini underneath, although I'm not that strict about this, as long as you're showing your "goodies". Anyway, here are some sexy costumes for all of you sexy ladies, please let me know if you can think of any other good ones.

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- Sexy Hobo
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- Sexy Wazzup Ghost
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- Sexy The Mask (Jim Carrey)
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- Sexy The Riddler (Jim Carrey)
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- Sexy Jim Carrey
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- Sexy Bill Clinton
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- Sexy Admiral Ackbar
- Sexy Ross Perot (I couldn't find an image to go with this, but I swear I remember Ross Perot masks from my childhood. Can somebody help me with this?)
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- Sexy Jack Nicholson
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- Sexy Rodney Dangerfield

While I realize that this is Brody Railton's shtick, I felt that these were too good to keep to myself. The resemblance between these great actors and great directors is astonishing!

Here are two of my best dudes:

Here are two of my other best dudes:

DUDES THAT CRY ON THE ROLLERCOASTER:

1.) Serge Pinsky

This has been haunting me all day:

(From the letters page of Dennis the Menace No. 103, July 1969.)

I just thought I would drop you a line to tell you of my deep apreciation and love for "Dennis".

I am fifteen, and I have "known" Dennis ever since I was 5 or 6, and I have a collection of over 125 comics, all of them Dennis. I cherish each one of them.

Please don't ever stop printing Dennis comic books because Dennis seems almost a part of me and with the termination of your comics a little part of me would die.

The saddest part is, on some level, I sincerely relate to whoever wrote this letter.

 

Bobby Brown busted at AHS

BY STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 12:13 PM EST

ATTLEBORO - Acting on a tip, a private constable arrested singer Bobby Brown Sunday night as he showed up at Attleboro High School for his daughter's cheerleading competition.

Appearing Monday in Norfolk County Probate and Family Court in Canton, Brown was ordered to remain in a Norfolk County jail in Dedham until he paid $19,000 in late child support and court fees. .. Begin Instory Ad --->.. End Instoy Ad --->

"We're diligently working on getting those funds available from outside sources," Phaedra Parks, an attorney in Atlanta where Brown lives, said Monday. Parks doubted Brown would get out of jail before this morning.

Brown currently owes child support payments from January, plus late penalties, attorney fees and constable fees, Parks said.

Parks said the rhythm and blues singer has been struggling to meet monthly payments to Kim Ward, of Stoughton, the mother of his two teenage children.

"Although this agreement was put in place when he was Bobby Brown the star, this agreement is being enforced when he is not always able to find work," Parks said. "He hasn't made an album in quite some years."

The flamboyant Brown, whose wife, singer Whitney Houston, recently filed for divorce, was arrested Sunday night on a warrant for failing to appear at a child support hearing in October.

Brown was arrested by a constable working for All State Constables of Weymouth. Attleboro police were not involved in the arrest and it did not disrupt the cheerleading meet.

Adam Loomis of All State Constables said Brown was cooperative outside the high school, and borrowed Loomis' cell phone to arrange to get out of jail.

In October, Brown paid $11,000 in delinquent child support after being threatened with arrest if he stepped back into Massachusetts. He owed more than two months' worth of payments to Ward. It wasn't immediately known if Brown still owes child support.

Brown, a Boston native best known for a solo hit "Don't Be Cruel," has a history of legal troubles. In June 2004, he was sentenced to 90 days in prison for missing three months of payments. That sentence was immediately suspended after Brown paid about $15,000.

The Attleboro arrest was the second time in a year that Brown was arrested while going to his daughter's cheerleading meets.

Last March, Brown was nabbed for minor motor vehicle violations dating back 14 years when he arrived to watch his daughter at a cheering competition at Bartlett High School. Brown was cooperative and was allowed to drive to the police station after the competition, police said.

He and pop diva Houston are divorcing after a 14-year marriage.