Well, dear readers, I have had it with pastrami. I ask you, where else on all the Internet can you find such a sentence as “I have had it with pastrami?” Nowhere, that’s where, not even on pastrami.com. I had a pastrami sub last night and as I was eating it I said to myself, “Myself, I have had it with pastrami.” Of course, that didn’t stop me from finishing every bite of it, but that is it with pastrami for some time to come. I have to move on to a different meat. “I have to move on to a different meat.” There’s another sentence that you cannot find on all the Internet. In fact, let’s take a poll or, at the very least, a pole. How many of you dear readers have ever said the sentence, “I have to move on to a different meat?” There will be no anonymity on this here site, so if you’ve said it, just own up to it. Have I really just spent the entire first quarter of this here paragraph talking about pastrami? Speaking of pastrami, I had a perfectly pleasant day yesterday, doing perfectly pleasant things. For example, I had a perfectly pleasant brunch with Mr. Kevin Spirtas. I shipped some perfectly pleasant packages. I picked up a perfectly pleasant package. I set some perfectly pleasant upcoming meetings, and I had a perfectly pleasant meeting with my set designer. He’s going to start doing some preliminary drawings for me to look at – I cannot wait. I then had a perfectly pleasant supper, where I ate perfectly pleasant pastrami, and then I came home and had the realization that I have had it with pastrami and that I have to move on to a different meat. A Different Meat – that’s the title of my next novel.
Last night, I watched another of my spaghetti westerns on DVD, this one entitled Ace High, starring Mr. Eli Wallach, Mr. Kevin McCarthy, and a cast of many, including the second pairing of Mr. Terence Hill and Mr. Bud Spencer. The latter two gentlemen would go on to make the wildly successful Trinity series, and their chemistry is obvious in this outing. Ace High is quite stylish in the Leone mold, but the script is all over the place and it just sort of meanders along for two hours. But, it’s very amusing at times, and it’s just very entertainingly done. There are a few funny in jokes for those who are well-versed in their spaghetti westerns. My favorite of the in jokes was the brief appearance of the entire McBain family of children, who were all slaughtered the year before in Once Upon a Time In The West. I have a few more spaghetti westerns on their way, all of which are supposed to be top-notch. I rarely agree with the critical consensus on which of these are the best – I simply prefer the Leone-esque films. Some of the knock-offs I’ve been running are almost as good, I must say.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below, because frankly I must start my journey toward moving on to a different meat.
Well, I can barely believe it, and yet I must for it is true. I finally stumped all you people who could never be stumped by an Unseemly Trivia Contest question. Given the difficulty of some of the questions, this surprised me – in fact, we only had one submitted answer, which, of course, was incorrect. Here was the question that stumped our usual gang of players:
The author of this flop play had several other unsuccessful plays. The author started out as a performer, but turned to playwriting after an accident. This particular flop play was the author’s final Broadway outing and, even though it was announced that it would be filmed by MGM, it never was. The play’s director was prolific on Broadway, and he also helmed the film versions of a few of his shows. The cast featured a young man and a young woman who, just a year later, would star in a film together directed by a young director who would later go on to win an Academy Award. Another young performer in the show would go on to star in one of the most beloved TV series of all time. A character actor in the play appeared in a famous director’s “masterpiece”. And another young lady in the play went on to have a nice motion picture career. So –
Name the author and the play.
Name the play’s director.
Name the young man and young woman who would star in a film together, name the film, and name the young director of the film who would go on to win an Academy Award.
Name the young performer who would go on to star in a beloved TV series, and name the series.
Name the character actor, and name the famous director’s masterpiece that he appeared in.
Name the young actress who went on to have a nice motion picture career.
And the answers are:
Mary Drayton, The Playroom
Joseph Anthony
Peter Kastner and Karen Black, You’re A Big Boy Now, Francis Ford Coppola
Richard Thomas, The Waltons
Tom Helmore, Alfred Hitchcock’s “masterpiece” (as it was heralded on the ads and poster), Vertigo
Bonnie Bedilia
There, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Needless to say there were no winners, and no High Winner. We’ll have a brand spanking new question next Saturday.
Today I have a day. For example, I must, of course, move on to a new meat. I have several meetings today, which I hope will all be perfectly pleasant. The one perfectly pleasant thing that didn’t happen yesterday is that my test books did not arrive, despite the promise of them having been overnighted on Friday, for Monday delivery. If they don’t arrive today, let me tell you I will not be perfectly pleasant about it.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must drive about in my motor car, I must meet, I must meat, I must mete, and I must eat. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your most prized movie souvenir programs and play souvenir programs – you know, the ones you’ve kept over the years and would never think of tossing out or selling. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we all move on to a different meat.