Well, dear readers, as of sundown tonight it will be Passover for our Jewish dear readers. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, as of sundown tonight it will be Passover. We must all celebrate by wearing our yarmulkes and setting a place at the table for Elijah, although I’m telling you right now the guy never shows up. After the service and the meal then we shall dance the Hora and tell amusing stories of eating borscht. Sadly, our Jewish friends will not be able to partake of ham chunks on this holiday, because ham chunks are made from the workings of a pig and pigs do not loom large as a culinary option in the Jewish religion. Around eight tonight, all Jewish people will let out a collective, “Oyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy” and then they will, as the wise men say, plotz. Interestingly, plotzing is something that cannot be learned, it is inborn and comes naturally to those who plotz. In fact, UCLA once tried a course called Beginning Plotzing, taught by the preeminent plotzer, Menashem Shmutz, and it was a disaster. He simply could not teach anyone to plotz who couldn’t already plotz. Oh, the class tried, they did everything they were taught, but to no avail, plotz-wise. In any case, tonight those who plotz, will.
I haven’t been invited anywhere for Passover this year. I shall have to celebrate all by myself. I shall have to eat my matzoh ball soup, chopped liver, bitter herbs, cheroses, and the rest by myself. I shall have to plotz by myself. I shall have to cast out plagues by myself. Oh, well, maybe Elijah will show up.
Last night I had a handy-dandy massage from my handy-dandy masseusse, Marina from Russia. I was so overtired from having been awakened by the phone call from The Beeper the night before, that I really needed to relax and the best way I know is to have a handy-dandy massage from Marina from Russia. After it was over, I sat and watched the end of a movie I was in the middle of (of which more later) and then I hit the sack at eleven, fell asleep and was awakened by a phone call this morning at 8:45. In other words, I went out like a light and stayed out. Why it was necessary to hit a sack before going to bed is a question for the sages amongst us. However, that said, I always find it helps me to sleep if I hit a sack before going to bed.
Does anyone reading these here notes thus far feel I had too much sleep last night? I feel these here notes feel they are being written by someone who had too much sleep last night, but I could be wrong in that assessment, so I invite other assessers to assess. Right now, why don’t we all just click on that Unseemly Button below.
Yesterday I watched a new DVD of Mr. Ray Harryhausen’s charming film, First Men on the Moon. Very sweet, very innocent, and even Martha Hyer, who is not my favorite, is charming and adorable. Edward Judd is, well, Edward Judd and Lionel Jeffries is, well, Lionel Jeffries. Mr. Harryhausen’s work here is subdued for him, but still lots of fun. The enhanced widescreen transfer (2:35:1 for those who care) looks fantastic, and the 4.0 sound is great, really showing off Laurie Johnson’s terrific score. Now, give us Mysterious Island please. I love Mr. Harryhausen’s work, and my favorite is still The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, which never ceases to entertain and enthrall me.
Other DVDs that I picked up but haven’t watched yet are, All In The Family, the entire first season, The Watcher in the Woods, a film Disney had very little faith in, that had a very turmoil-filled birth, and Watership Down, which I’ve never seen and am looking forward to. I’ll have a full report of course, after I’ve seen them.
As March comes to an end, I’m happy to report that traffic on this here website has been at an all-time high, and on a daily basis, too. Even the weekend traffic is up. Isn’t that exciting? So, keep spreading the word, the more the merrier say I. I talked to my pal, Miss Cindy Williams, last night and do you know she’s in the midst of doing a primetime special for Laverne and Shirley? Yes, Virginia, they are doing a brand-spanking new primetime special for Laverne and Shirley. And do you know what? She told me there is an excellent possibility that the special will include a clip in which I appear. Isn’t that exciting?
Yesterday I got in the mail a classic transistor radio, the Sony TR 63, which was, in fact, Sony’s first transistor radio to be sold in the U.S. and the first mainstream seller in transistor radios. I wanted one (they are very hard to find) because a Sony TR 63 plays an important part in my very own novel. The most amazing thing about this particular Sony TR 63 is that it still works. Yes, Virginia, this Sony TR 63 still works some forty-five years later (it came out in 1957). More interesting is that the electronics company in Tokyo that made the Sony line of transistor radios was not named Sony at all – it was named Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, Ltd. But because the Sony model of transistor radio was so wildly successful in the U.S. they renamed their company Sony and the rest is history. The ephemera here is rather thick sometimes, don’t you think?
Well, I must go take an aspirin or two because when I sleep over eight hours I always wake up with a headache. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Schmidt and Jones songs? Now, let me just say here and now and also now and here, that I love Schmidt and Jones and have recorded many of both their well-known songs and their obscure songs. Compiling favorites of theirs, for me at least, is an impossible affair – I adore their work, plain and simple, and there is just something in Harvey Schmidt’s musical language that just speaks to me. But here are some of my favorites: Literally every note of The Fantasticks, Evening Star, Just Fine and Sweet River (all cut from 110 in the Shade), My Cup Runneth Over, Orphan in the Storm, What Is A Woman?, I’m Glad To See You’ve Got What You Want, Roadside, Something has Happened and Is It Really Me?. Your turn.