KODACHROME.................

" They give us those nice bright colours........
                                ......makes you think all the world's a sunny day "

..........and if the early sixties were , to my mind at least , captured in black and white - ' The Seven Samurai ' , ' Alphaville ' ,  ' L'Avventura ' , Paris ,  Blue Note album photos , even the iconic images of the early Beatles - then by the mid sixties colour had arrived..............

............and Monica Vitti...................actress , icon ..............' L'Avventura ' , ' Il Deserto Rosso '........

....she's now 83...but some images never date.........below , as 'Modesty Blaise.'from 1966..........................

.......and maybe even resurface decades later having lurked in the subconcious .................................

but then , the original is still the best..........................even in black and white.................................

FOR YOU WERE MY FIRST LOVE.....

For you were my first love......
......and true love never ever dies...........

....... the early 1960's , reading ' On The Road ' and ' The Dharma Bums ' , listening to Miles Davies and Chet Baker , reading Satre and Camus and falling in love with the idea of 'cool ' , of Paris , existentialism and endless coffees , early Godard films - and the beatnik girls , all dark hair , black roll neck sweaters , plain grey skirts , black tights .........everything is in monochrome , black and white........

........and Juliette Greco.............chanteuse , icon    ..what's not to love ?.................

...........its late May , 2014 , and I am down in the south of France ( still in love with France ), on the edge of the Basque country , walking the foothills and painting.................and much to my surprise there she is , Juliette Greco , playing a festival in early June , just down the road at Laas..............

Nnoooooo...............oh my god..........................

She's 87....................

Should I stay or should I go ?

HEROES - just for one day..........

They say you should never - ever - meet your heroes ...................

This is me and Willie Nelson , in a bar somewhere in downtown San Antone , sometime earlier this year .

.......the memory is a little hazy as exactly to where and when ............

'Is anyone here goin' to San Antone ? '