Well, dear readers, a day without the Internet is a day without the Internet, and most of yesterday I, BK, was without the Internet. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, Time Warner struck again, with the usual “it’s a fiber-optic problem and our crews are working on it.” It happened three nights ago, which caused me to have to post the notes at two-thirty in the morning. And yesterday, when I got up at eight once again there was no signal and hence no Internet. I called them and got the “there is a service interruption in your area” recording. I got a person on the phone and asked him what was what. What was what was that there was a fiber-optic problem and crews were on their way. It apparently happened around seven-thirty. It might take up to two hours to fix it. I told him that this was happening way too much and he commiserated with me and gave me a thirty-dollar credit. I would have preferred that Time Warner just work the way it’s supposed to. I had so much to do and I needed to be on the Internet to do it, and yet I could not be on the Internet to do anything. I began the long jog but was so annoyed and not into it that for the first and only time in my history of jogging, I turned around and came home after about six blocks. And then that annoyed me even more than Time Warner. At eleven it still wasn’t working so I called again. I was told they were still working on it and it was going to be another two hours. I could not believe it. So, off I went to my lunch meeting, which was long and endless and the food wasn’t so hot either – well, it was hot, because I had Kung Pao chicken, but it just wasn’t all that good. I gave all my notes and the author graciously listened, understood, and, with the exception of only two little things he made every change I asked for. I then came home and what did I find? No Internet – yes, Virginia, you heard that right – at two-thirty there was still no Internet. I had to go do a couple of errands but I was seething and I called Time Warner when I got back at three. I heard the same old same old so I got off the phone, found the number of the corporate office and called the President of Time Warner. I got his assistant and I was quite strong about the endless outages and Time Warner’s inability to just fix whatever is wrong in Studio City because something is clearly wrong. She listened patiently, apologized, put me on hold, came back and told me we’d be up and running in five minutes and to call her back if we weren’t. Five minutes later, I finally got on the Internet, where I was immediately presented with over seventy e-mails. And that was the Time Warner debacle of the day. I spent the next two hours trying to play catch up or, at the very least, ketchup. I answered e-mails, I printed orders, I packaged orders, I took packages to the post office and got them shipped out, I printed a couple of copies of the Nudie Musical script, I wrote the liner notes for the new Kritzerland release, I had a long telephonic conversation with my designer about the new Kritzerland site and a time frame for getting it done and up and running, I got a Subway turkey sandwich for dinner and I sat on my couch like so much fish and ate it all up.
Whilst eating it all up I watched a little of a motion picture that was TIVOing at that very moment, entitled Louisiana Hayride, starring Miss Judy Canova. I always loved Judy Canova and had seen quite a few of her movies when I was a young sprig of a twig of a tad of a lad of a youth. I thought she was funny, cute, and had an incredible voice and ability to yodel. When I met and became very close with Dee Dee Rivera at LACC, I didn’t know that Dee Dee Rivera was, in fact, Judy Canova’s daughter, and at some point before I cast her in my musical Feast, she changed her name to Diana Canova. I can’t remember the first time I met Judy – it may have been when she was doing No No Nannette at the Ahmanson. Or it may have been at LACC. Whenever it was, I was truly entranced by her, and she really liked me. I visited at her house just off Laurel Canyon Blvd. north of Sunset – a grand old house. I know we all supped a few times and she was always warm and funny and I always wanted to do something where I could work with her – had I only been doing albums back then, what a treat that would have been. Judy passed away when she was only sixty-nine – so when I knew her she would have been younger than I now am. It was fun to see her in this movie, when she was in her prime, belting out a few songs, and doing her country bumpkin with a heart of gold thing. She was a delightful person, and I’m glad I got to know her a little.
And speaking of delightful people, I was saddened to hear of the passing of Marilyn “Coopie” Cooper. I only worked with Coopie twice, but I just was crazy about her. She was on the Unsung Sondheim CD and did a wonderful job. I met her through Walter Willison, and Coopie was hilarious and a total pro. Unfortunately, on our second go-round, she was going to do a cut song from On The Town on one of the Lost In Boston albums. But it wasn’t a good song for her, and the key wasn’t working, and she just wasn’t comfortable with it – we talked about it at the session (she did record it) and we both decided it would be best for her and the song to get someone else to do it (Kaye Ballard did the version that’s on the CD). But that didn’t stop my appreciation of her talent – no, I was a fan before I met her and a fan after. I first saw her in Woman Of The Year, where, with only one number, she walked away with the show. That number, The Grass Is Always Greener, was one of the funniest things I’d ever seen on the stage, and most of that was due to Coopie’s deadpan delivery of her lyrics and dialogue. She and Bacall were magical together. And here’s a little-known fact, at least it wasn’t known to me – Coopie was married to Sabu. They met in 1949 and were married until he died in the mid-1960s. I think I’ll go listen to The Grass Is Always Greener and her Unsung Sondheim song, At The Movies – she was a treasure and I know she’ll be making a lot of heavenly laughter in the hereafter.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I am Time Warnered out and must get some sleep.
Today, I’ll be doing the long jog and doing it briskly, then I have a lunch meeting, then I’ll come home and really try to relax for a few hours, whilst dealing with Nudie Musical casting stuff. I think I have no plans for the evening, which is good. And I also have to pick up the Kevin and Sean Show DVD.
Tomorrow, I have a lot of errands and whatnot to do, and then I’ll be getting some Thai food and taking it down to the Music Center at six, where I shall eat it all up and then attend the opening night of Ain’t Misbehavin’. After the show, I get to go to the opening night partay, too, so that will probably be lots of fun and I will, of course, have a full report for you.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, I must have a lunch meeting, I must go hither and thither and perhaps yon and I must try and get a little ME time in. Today’s topic of discussion: Who are your favorite “unsung” comediennes and comics – the ones who may not have reached the top tier, but who really made you laugh. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we hope that we have no further fiber-optic problems from Time Warner.