Well, dear readers, what came first – the chicken or the egg? Or, conversely, what came first, the egg or the chicken? These are metaphysical things I speak of, dear readers, and there is no easy answer. For example, yesterday the egg came long before the chicken. I had a breakfast meeting, and I had eggs. Later in the evening when I dined, I had chicken. Hence, when one asks the question “What came first – the chicken or the egg” the answer, at least yesterday, was the egg. Sometimes, for example, the chicken comes first and the egg isn’t even an issue. Well, to look at it another way, the egg is the issue of the chicken. Even though these are metaphysical and philosophical things I speak of, I clearly have no clew as to what the HELL I’m going on about. I mean, why am I asking the age-old question about the chicken and the egg? How did that escape from the windmills of my mind? Frankly, I’ve had it with both the chicken and the egg and shall now only deal with the fish and the roe. And I tell you, if the roe acts up then the roe will rue the day. Have you ever seen a roe rue? On the other hand, have you ever seen a rue roe? Or on the other hand, have you ever seen a roe row? Is this what they mean when they say these here notes have an arch writing style? Speaking of arch, yesterday I had quite a pleasant little day, which began when I arose from a slumbering slumber. I jogged right away, and then attended a breakfast meeting with our very own Miss Alet Taylor, for whom I’ll be directing a one-person show. At that meeting, the egg clearly came first. We started talking about material for the show, just batting ideas back and forth, and out of even our brief conversation we came up with a couple of grand ideas. After that, I picked up the printout of the new book cover, which I’m crazy about. If you missed it, it’s in yesterday’s postings. I then came home and finished entering corrections and fixes for the short stories. After that, I supped and then came home and sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a perfectly dreadful motion picture on DVD entitled The Curse Of The Fly. The Curse Of The Fly was the second sequel to the original The Fly, made some years after the first sequel to The Fly, Return Of The Fly. They were really scraping the bottom of the barrel with The Curse Of The Fly. Made on the cheap in England, it stars Mr. Brian Donlevy. I don’t need to bore you with how bad the film is – we can boil The Curse Of The Fly’s major problem down to one little thing – there is no fly in The Curse Of The Fly. Oh, it’s a tiny detail, I know, but did it not occur to someone to have a fly in a film entitled The Curse Of The Fly? Awful and a complete waste of time.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below whilst we ponder the chicken and the egg and which of those actually came first.
As revealed in yesterday’s posts, I’m happy to announce that the newest Kritzerland CD release, Simply Sondheim – The 75th Birthday Tribute, is up for preorder at www.kritzerland.com. It’s a specially-priced two CD set and it is jam-packed with excellent Sondheim songs, including the world premiere recording of Farewell, from A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. You can hear audio clips and watch some video clips, too (and no, Virginia, there will not be a DVD release). The street date is October 3rd, but those who preorder will receive it at least two weeks in advance of that date (the plant has assured me there will be no more screwups). As you know, preorders are very helpful to Kritzerland, so if you’re planning on getting the CD, do go ahead and preorder and we’ll be ever so gratefully grateful.
If it’s Saturday it must be time for an Unseemly Trivia Contest question. So, here it is:
It was a somewhat odd theatrical season that produced several hit plays, a couple of hit musicals and some flop plays and musicals, including one flop show that became a wildly popular film. One of the shows that season had a respectable run of just over 200 performances, despite it not getting great reviews and despite it being not very good. In fact, I don’t know that the show has been produced since. The show was directed by someone who was much better known in another facet of show business. It was written by a person who had had a huge hit on Broadway exactly ten years earlier. In the cast was an actress who would go on to co-star in a hit dramatic TV series. Also in the cast was an actress who would go on to co-star in a hit comedy TV series. Also in the cast was an actor who’d played a leading role in a classic film comedy. Finally, also in the cast was an actor who played a supporting role in a classic Academy Award-winning film in which he appeared with someone else involved in this production. So:
Name the play and its author.
Name the director of the play.
Name the actress who went on to co-star in a hit dramatic TV series.
Name the actress who went on to co-star in a hit comedy TV series.
Name the actor who’d played a leading role in a classic film comedy, and name the film comedy and the role he played.
Name the actor who played a supporting role in a classic Academy Award-winning film and name the person he appeared with who was involved in this production.
Bonus question: Name that season’s flop show (under fifty performances) that became a wildly successful film.
Remember: DO NOT POST YOUR ANSWERS TO THE SITE! Just send them to me at bruce@haineshisway.com. You have until midnight Monday to submit your answers. Good luck to one and all and also all and one.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, deliver the latest version of the short story manuscript to its final proofreader, I must hopefully pick up a package, I must attend an opening night at the Alex Theatre, I must attempt to get together with visiting dear reader Laura, and I must eat very reasonably, although I shall have neither chicken nor egg. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s malaprop day – we like to do this occasionally – what are your all-time favorite malaprops? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and let us delve deeply into the conundrum of the chicken or the egg.