.....a meditation on Dean Martin’s soul...

Hey pallies, likes today we gets the total total pleasure of once 'gain returnin' to "The Sheila Variations," the self-tagged blog of Miss Sheila O'Malley, one deep, pure, and true lover of our most beloved Dino. In the past Miss O'Malley has scribed a number of wonderful reflections on the life, times, and teachin's of our Dino, and so it is always truly a thrill to be able to share her Dino-insights with all you dudes.

Recently Miss O'Malley posted, "A Glimpse. A Glimpse Of What It Was Like To Be Him." The prose is O'Malley's ever evocative glance at what she calls the "mystery of withholding, that keeps us going back to them (the greatest stars), again and again and again, trying to plumb the depths of them, trying to understand what they are doing, and how they are doing it......" Miss Shelia's primary focus is on the King of Rock and Roll...Elvis...but befittin'ly speaks also to our King Of Cool, and his amazin' "mystery of withholding."

As you will note below, O'Malley's reflections on our most beloved Dino are so so brief in words, but so so long in insight. The heart of Shelia's thoughts are centered on that fabulous Nick Tosches' Dino-bio, "DINO: Living High In The Dirty Business Of Dreams."   With amazin' clarity, O'Malley nails the deep and dark purpose of Tosches' tome sayin' that it is one of the "most contemplative biographies ever written, a biography that is really a meditation on Dean Martin’s soul, a soul that even his dearest friends couldn’t get close to."

When I read O'Malley's words, "a meditation on Dean Martin’s soul," they resonated so deeply in my Dino-heart, likes I just knew that she had spoken the purest of pure Dino-truths. Finally, I had words to speak of why I loves Tosches' Dino-reflections so very much. Truly, truly none of us ever coulda possibly know our perfectly enigmatic Dino and his deepest and darkest "withholding of his soul." But, Tosches' words come closer then anyone else in plungin' the depths of our Dino's soul...truly his words are the "meditation on Dean Martin's soul."

ilovedinomartin is deeply grateful to Miss Shelia O'Malley and her wisest of wise Dino-insights...Miss O'Malley had given words to why pallies such as myself are so so devoted to Tosches' treatise on our most beloved Dino. To read this completely in it's original format, as usual, click on the tag of this post to go over to Miss Sheilia O'Malley's blog. As we keeps growin' in our Dino, let's keeps lovin' our Dino and spreadin' the Dino-message farther and wider then ever. Dino-devotedly, DMP

A Glimpse. A Glimpse Of What It Was Like To Be Him.

Ultimately I think that those rare souls who not only capture the hearts/imaginations of audiences in their day but go on to basically take their place in the firmament as a permanent blazing star in our culture are those who, yes, give their all to their chosen profession, hold nothing back, save nothing for a rainy day. They are here on this earth for a brief time, and they seem to know it, and act accordingly. This is the rarest of qualities. The human condition is such that we try not to think about death, we try not to think about mortality, we always want to have the illusion that we have more time. Death bed regrets, I am sure, are more often than not about the time wasted here on earth, the worrying about stupid stuff, the putting-off of dreams, big and small, for a better time, when there is no better time than now.

But I think there is another element that these rare souls all have, and it is more difficult to talk about and define. At the same time that they give their all as though there is no tomorrow, as though they will never get another chance to express themselves, they also withhold something. And that something is usually the key to their character, the driving force, the soul-light, the Rosebud. It’s different for each one. But there is a mystery at the heart of the greatest stars, and it is that mystery, that mystery of withholding, that keeps us going back to them, again and again and again, trying to plumb the depths of them, trying to understand what they are doing, and how they are doing it......

Dean Martin is another one.



It is not surprising that Dean Martin would inspire one of the oddest and most contemplative biographies ever written, a biography that is really a meditation on Dean Martin’s soul, a soul that even his dearest friends couldn’t get close to. But there are glimpses. He left himself behind, there he is, in his songs, in some of his movie roles, in moments during his television show. But you always get the sense that Dean Martin was withholding the essential thing, the mystery at the heart of his personality. Whatever it was, it was not to be shared. These people who become those shining eternal stars do not feel the need to explain themselves, because everything we need to know about them is there in the work.