Well, dear readers, this week has flown by, like a gazelle in an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini. This week has been like a Tilt-A-Whirl ride – up, down, sideways, around, and I’d like to be on terra firma, frankly, or, at the very least, on firma terra. There has been a lot of drama this week, and now we need some fershluganah comedy. We need merriment and mirth and laughter and legs and good news in every shape and size. We need to get off the Tilt-A-Whirl and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and we need everything to work just the way we want it to, and that’s that. We need to stop and smell the roses or the coffee or the scrod. Speaking of the scrod, yesterday began with a thud, but rebounded a few hours later. We continue to have casting woes because of young baby issues, and scheduling conflict issues. The good news is that everyone with said issues has really wanted to do the show. But we shall persist and find our two leads – I’m sure when all is said and done that we’ll get the two people we were meant to get, it’s always that way. Meanwhile, the rest of our company of players is splendidly splendid and I’m looking forward to working with them. I then went through the Tilt-A-Whirl of sublet-looking, but we have finally, mercifully settled on things, and that’s a major load off my mind. I’ll be staying in one place for the first three or four days, then moving to a new place for the duration. They both sound very nice. No, it’s not cheap, but it’s the only game in town, to quote a cut song from The Act. All of that took up most of the day – the telephonic device never stopped ringing, there were e-mails flying in every five seconds, and they did contain some good news, like we finally got a sound designer, who I’m looking forward to speaking to today. My set designer continues to be a source of great pleasure to me, and our general manager is a very hard worker and keeps everything together. We’ve scheduled out our first week of rehearsal, too, so we’re moving right along. I was only out of the house for about fifteen minutes the whole day. By the end of the day, all I wanted to do was sit on my couch like so much fish, which is exactly what I did.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled Three On A Couch, one of the few Jerry Lewis movies I’ve never seen. It’s a dreadful film, one of his worst (even though the imdb comments proclaim it a masterpiece). The first twenty minutes or so have no laughs at all, and when the laughs do start coming they’re few and far between. Mr. Lewis smokes up a storm, tries to be “real,” and comes off smarmy. Once the plot device kicks in, then some laughs occur, but mostly it’s a big waste of time and celluloid save for one compelling thing that kept me watching from start to finish – Miss Leslie Parrish. I was in Leslie Parrish heaven – she looks so beautiful in this film and she’s such a wonderful comedienne, it’s astonishing her career just never took off the way it should. You’d have thought that after her wonderful turn in Li’l Abner, which is a HELL of a first leading role to have, that there would have been offers galore. But instead, she just did guest shots on TV, up until The Manchurian Candidate, in which she gives a terrific and endearing performance. That did nothing for her, too, and she went back to guest shots and occasional films like this one and Sex And The Single Girl and a few others. By 1967, her career was basically finished. I’m sure there’s a story there, and I’d love to know what it is. The transfer on this DVDR has great color, but is fairly soft throughout.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because we need to get off the Tilt-A-Whirl and get us some of the terra firma in the next section.
After the movie, we had an impromptu live chat in our chat room, which we haven’t done in quite some time. I think we’ll begin making this a regular thing once again. I wasn’t quite through with doing things, however, and I had to write a batch of checks for payments due to our production team and deal with a volley of e-mails from certain members of the production team.
Today, I have a work session in the morning hours, then a bunch of errands, and then a work session in the evening hours. I have to ship a few things, too, and I have no doubt there will be a plethora of telephonic calls and e-mails to deal with, as well.
Tomorrow, I really have to get organized for the trip. I must do some dry cleaning, buy some things that need buying and prepare a big box o’ clothing, which I’ll ship ahead so I can pack very light.
Now, wait just a darned minute. Let’s all put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, let’s all break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, let’s all dance the Hora and the Challenge Dance, because today is the actual birthday of actual dear reader vixmom. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to actual dear reader vixmom. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO ACTUAL DEAR READER VIXMOM!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have no drama, only merriment and mirth and laughter and legs, I must have two count them two work sessions, I must drive about in my motor car, do errands and whatnot, and maybe even try to book a haircut with Teddy before being on my way to New York, New York. Today’s topic of discussion: He’s loved, he’s hated, he’s Jerry. What are your favorite Jerry Lewis films and performances – the ones with Dean and the ones without, the ones he wrote and directed, and the ones he just acted in. I’m a fan, I have to admit – and when he’s good, he’s great, and when he’s bad, he’s really terrible. Some of my favorites: Artists and Models, The Nutty Professor, most, but not all of The Errand Boy, The King Of Comedy, and a few others. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we give Ye Olde Tilt-A-Whirl a rest.