Posted by William F. Orr @ 07/16/2002 09:34 AM PST

In my haste I forgot to list our trivia contest winners - I have now done so, so simply scroll up and find the applicable paragraph above, which has been magically inserted into the notes.

Would you like to know what I had to deal with? It's quite mundane really - last night when I went to put my car away, my car would not start. My car was deader than a doornail last night. So, this morning I had to have it jump-started, and then I had to drive it to the dealership and have the battery replaced. It's now working just fine and dandy. Perhaps tomorrow I will attach some jumper cables to my very own self and give my very own self a little jump start.

Posted by bk @ 07/16/2002 09:48 AM PST

Okay, Mr. K, what's the purpose of the bonus question if not to narrow the list of finalists? How come Mr. Lingenfelter (who didn't answer the bonus question) beat out five people who DID answer the bonus question? Not that I'm a sore loser, but, huh, why the bonus question?

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/16/2002 10:14 AM PST

I agree with Robert Armin. As much as I am honoured to be the High Winner, I could not in good conscience accept the prize, knowing full well I did not answer the Bonus question correctly.

Perhaps you should award the prize to that nice David Burrows chap?

Posted by Mark Lingenfelter @ 07/16/2002 10:24 AM PST

I would not want to appear unseemly unsportsmanlike, and certainly I have no hard feelings. However, I must confess I am a bit confused by the bonus question. What is it—chopped liver all of a sudden? I am further confused by Mark Lingenfelter’s suggestion of David Burrows. I had thought the bonus question would be a tie-breaker, and I thought the electronic hat always does the picking in the case of a tie or multiple winners.

Posted by freedunit @ 07/16/2002 10:43 AM PST

I understand the confusion - but will leave the winner as chosen. I meant the bonus question as just that - a fun bonus question and not a tie-breaker. I should have been more specific. Next time I will be more specific. I think I wasn't specific is the problem. I think I should have been MORE specific and said the bonus question was just for fun and not a tie-breaker. Next time, if there's a bonus question I'll make it a tie-breaker. In fact, I'll be specific about it. I have several broken ties in my closet which I will award to anyone who answers the tie-breaker. However, in the interest of fairness, I have put all the people who guessed the bonus question into our handy-dandy electronic hat and it has chosen the one person whose name I forgot to list because his guess came in after I'd already written down the names early last night - Stuart will win a sparkling bonus question prize - it won't be quite as good as the main bonus prize but it will be sparkling in its own fashion (button down shirt and broken tie). So, now I shall need both Mark and Stuart's handy-dandy addresses.

There - I feel I have been quite specific. And I have added Stuart's name to the list of High Winners through sheer magic.

Posted by bk @ 07/16/2002 10:51 AM PST

There is this guy named Motel who might be able to help you with those broken ties. I am impressed by your facility with sheer magic. Do you ever practice opaque or translucent magic?

Posted by freedunit @ 07/16/2002 10:58 AM PST

I haven't seen many Eye-talian ("what are we gonna do about the Eye-talian?") films in my life. Not that I have anything against Italian films but my Francophile and Anglophile tendencies push me more toward the North Sea and the Atlantic rather than the Mediterranean. I have seen Cinema Paradiso and enjoyed it tremendously. I have seen Nine and Sweet Charity but I don't think those count, do they? Ah, well. On to other things.

Posted by Ben @ 07/16/2002 11:16 AM PST

I enjoy it when I'm able to provide a submission in your Unseemly Trivia Questions. You are correct that this week's question was easy. I don't have tomes of reference to refer to for the more esoteric stuff

Should I be so fortunate as to answer correctly, your acknowledgement will always be more than enough.

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/16/2002 11:39 AM PST

I don't need no ties! I got enough ties! Haven't worn one in years. Anyway, whether I win or lose is irrelevant -- it's how I play the game. Ya-ta-ta ya-ta-ta ya-ta-ta. (Does anyone remember that song?) Besides, it's getting harder and harder for me to win a BK CD that I don't already have. Congrats to Mark AND Stuart. Welcome to the winner's circle.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/16/2002 12:04 PM PST

Speaking of car trouble -- while I was out of town this weekend, my hubby took his truck in to have the radiator power-flushed before he and Sandra go to the family reunion. Unfortunately, the place plugged up the radiator, which ruined it, and the truck is now in a radiator shop getting a new radiator installed. Looks like I have some haggling to do with the first shop.

Posted by Laura @ 07/16/2002 12:17 PM PST

Well, now I feel honored. Not to add to the general confusion of magic hats, broken ties and all, but you indicated that answers only had to be received by midnight. You negelected to mention if that was Midnight Eastern Time, Midnight Western Time, or the Last Midnight.

Posted by Stuart @ 07/16/2002 12:40 PM PST

A thousand apologies to Ron Pulliam for the omission of his name as a High Winner. I don't know why my eye skipped over his name, but it did - I've added it to the list by sheer magic. Mea culpa for sure.

Posted by bk @ 07/16/2002 12:41 PM PST

For a Bernadette Peters question it would be the Last Midnight, of course.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/16/2002 12:42 PM PST

Oops (spoo spelled backwards) I totally misunderstood Ron's post - I jumped to conclusions, but in going to add his name I see his name is there. Whew, I say and say again, whew. I'm not a culpa after all. Whew.

Posted by bk @ 07/16/2002 12:43 PM PST

As I intend to stop buying VS & FA CDs as soon as I have completed by BK collection, would you let us know if any of the upcoming FA releases are actually yours and, if not, what possessed these performers to record their albums without you? I'm shocked. Do you hear me, shocked.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/16/2002 12:50 PM PST

I am totally confused. BK, are you or are you not a culpa. Yesterday you said you were once, but that you thought better of it. Eariler today you said you are a culpa, only to later retract your statement that you are a culpa. Culpa or non culpa? Non capisco here.

As for the Unseemly Trivia Contest deadline, I think it should all be based on Bernadette Peters’ whereabouts. As for ties, I am definitely antithetical to cravates and therefore antitie, especially unseemly broken ties.

I agree with Robert Armin’s boycott in principal and spirit, but I fear I may be weaker than he is in practice. I mean A&M Records’ The Ethel Merman Disco Album? How can I resist? How can I control myself? True, I have an excellent compact disc with full-color artwork from mint-condition vinyl long-playing album that I commissioned, but still… What is a Merman near-completist to do?

Posted by freedunit @ 07/16/2002 01:39 PM PST

It never dawned on me that my original vinyl Ethel Merman Disco album would be as valuable as it seems to have become. Would it surprise anyone, or enthrall them, to know that I also have the actual long play single that was released when the album came out? I believe that the A side was "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and the flip side was -- as memory serves -- "Something for the Boys." And yes, sometimes I do haul out the album and play it. Especially while cleaning.

Posted by Stuart @ 07/16/2002 02:01 PM PST

I would not have guessed the value of a mint-condition vinyl long-playing The Ethel Merman Disco Album album at the time of its release. I was mind-blown when I learned of its existence. Who would have thought Ethel Merman, big orchestrations, and a disco beat? Thank you, Herb Alpert and Paul Jabara.

Stuart, it makes perfect sense to me that you haul out the album when cleaning. Of course, hauling is always unseemly and therefore appropriate. I have often heard people say the sound of Ethel Merman could clean out many things. I have always said the Merman the merrier.

Posted by freedunit @ 07/16/2002 02:22 PM PST

I'll like to add to those that have already been mentioned

Giù la testa (Duck You Sucker aka Fistful of Dynamite)
Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly)
Ciociara, La (Two Womwn)
Johnny Stecchino
Il Postino

and I am sure there are others

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 07/16/2002 02:23 PM PST

I always start when jumped.

I had cake last night that I had once before and had remembered as being good, but this time it was disappointing. Have you ever noticed that some cakes are best cold and some are best warm, and that some cakes have been refrigerated too long in the gourmet bakery case and have picked up so many other flavors that they have no flavor? I think that is what happened, either that or it looks like chocolate cake, but does not taste like chocolate cake. Pity the cake.

Posted by freedunit @ 07/16/2002 03:29 PM PST

I would just like to say that I am the real Mark Lingenfelter and not the person who posted earlier using my name. I don't even know who David Burrows is. Why would I want to give him my prize? I am chuckling about this situation of someone using my name, but underneath there is something kind of annoyingly scary and unseemly about it to me. Though I'm sure it was meant all in fun.

Posted by Mark L. @ 07/16/2002 04:08 PM PST

I'm certain it was meant it fun - or perhaps you have your very own haineshisway.com doppelganger.

Posted by bk @ 07/16/2002 04:14 PM PST

Every says this week's trivia question was easier - I couldn't figure it out for the life of me (and I consider myself to be both handy AND dandy at these things - having won twice [cough, cough] - though still awaiting my second prize, but I digress). I'm a fan of the most esoteric stuff.

Posted by Paul Fairie @ 07/16/2002 05:07 PM PST

I have the Ethel Merman Disco album too. How valuable is it? I play other disco (ocsid backwards) stuff while cleaning. What I ususally play, though is a tape of strip music. In the late 50's/early 60's Spike Jones and his band recorded an album of strip music to be used in the strip joints once the small pit bands were phased out. So, it's songs like "Paradise," "Night Train," "Shangri-La," etc. played very raunchy. It's absolutely wonderful and makes vacuuming so much less bothersome.

So, freedunit, what did the chocolate cake taste like if not chocolate?

And I say, give them ALL prizes!

Posted by Kerry @ 07/16/2002 06:53 PM PST

Paul Fairie: “[F]or the life of me”? Who are you—thoroughly modern Millie all of a sudden? I, too, am a two-time winner, but I fear noting so might cause in-digression. I love all those minutiae out there in the dark, too.

Kerry: Ethel Merman’s The Ethel Merman Disco Album album is pretty valuable if it is in good condition. We can check with Footlight for the current going rate, but I have never seen it for sale for less than thirty-five dollars and, if I recall correctly, I have seen it priced in the neighborhood of two hundred dollars. It may be that the value will diminish with its issue on compact disc, although probably not much. The Spike Jones strip music sounds fabulous! What fun!

What did the chocolate cake taste like if not chocolate? I do not know. What was the flavor—fish?

As for the Unseemly Trivia Contest, sometimes just the sport of it is the prize itself. It is great fun, isn’t it? What could be better? Let us do the Unseemly Trivia Contest line dance. I’ll start… Take my wife—please.

Smile Footnote to BK:
It was my privilege to arrange complimentary tickets to Smile for Mister Henny Youngman himself.

Posted by freedunit @ 07/16/2002 09:16 PM PST

OK everybody-- I have doughnuts now, so all is right with the world.

Posted by Kerry @ 07/16/2002 10:44 PM PST

I just transferred my mint Merman Disco album to CD a few weeks ago -- before learning about the reissue. I doubt that it will have much value now that it is available again. Oh well.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/16/2002 10:56 PM PST

Rare vinyl long-playing albums in mint condition can retain value despite their contents being issued on compact disc. Recordable compact discs only rarely have inherent value.

Kerry: O.K. Spill. What kind of donuts?

Posted by freedunit @ 07/16/2002 11:01 PM PST

Krispy Kremes, of course. That's the closest thing I can get to the Donut (Doughnut?) Plant here in this fersluganah desert.

To be specific: the chocolate frosted glazed with sprinkles. They were out of my beloved glazed raspberry jelly filled, so I tried the powdered sugar covered strawberry jelly filled--just not the same. You either got it, or you ain't.

Posted by Kerry @ 07/16/2002 11:26 PM PST

Those are definitely donuts, not doughnuts, but chocolate-frosted with sprinkles sounds like a good choice if you have only Krispy Kreme. Glazed raspberry jelly-filled also sounds good for a jelly donut. However, I am dubious of such a strawberry variety. Banana and lemon would evoke a similar response. Yeah, some people got it and make it pay. Some people can’t even give it away.

Posted by freedunit @ 07/17/2002 06:50 AM PST

Well this people's got it, and this people's spreadin' it around!

Ohmygosh! The Judi Dench "A Little Night Music" -- b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l recording -- crisp, spacious, detailed, and loving! MUCH better, to my ears, than the original London cast "recording". Actually, it has the best sound of all the recordings I have (OBC, OLC and Dench). Quite a joy to listen to. I do wish Henrik had a better voice, though! It makes ALL the difference in "Now, Soon, Later."

When is the next Guy Haines CD coming out? Will he take requests? I think he should sing "Bette Davis Eyes" -- I think that would be a fabulous song for Guy Haines to set his vocal cords to.

Is there anyone out there who remembers B.J. Thomas as a singer of songs "other than" "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head"?

Anyone remember a Thomas tune called "Everybody's Out of Town"? It can't be the easiest song to sing, but I get great pleasure out of listening to his rendition of it.

Believe it or not....I listened to "Promises, Promises" last night -- the for the very first time! While I started buying cast albums around the time of "Hello, Dolly" and "Mame," I bought them for specific songs. The songs in "Promises, Promises" I know from Warwick's renditions. What a treat it is to hear the original interpretations. And I'm always amazed when I hear Ohrbach sing, since he doesn't do it on his TV shows. I know he was El Gallo and I've had that album for 35 years, but I never connected that Jerry Ohrbach to one I saw on the screen until I saw him as the father in "Dirty Dancing."

Anyone reading this will ask why Ron Pulliam is typing stream of consciousness stuff at the end of a daily Unseemly Message Board -- well, it's better than cluttering the beginning of a messageboard. Only the diehards will see this!

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/17/2002 09:10 AM PST

Ron,

If you enjoy Jerry Orbach on PROMISES, PROMISES (and that might put you in the minority), then you should definitely listen to some of his other recordings, especially CARNIVAL and 42nd STREET, in which his singing is notably better.

And if you enjoy PROMISES, PROMISES, you should try to track down the London cast recording, with a young Betty Buckley.

Better still - and I have suggested this since the FA days - why doesn't Bruce gather up a dream cast, and record the definitive PROMISES, PROMISES cast recording? This is a score that deserves to really be done well, and neither version that I have heard does it justice. Come on, Bruce - how 'bout it?

BTW, the same goes for NINE.

Hey, I smell a new discussion topic coming on...scores in need of a definitive cast recording (and you can even pick the "dream cast"). Any suggestions?

Posted by Dave @ 07/17/2002 09:29 AM PST

Interestingly enough, on the UA promotional album recorded opening night of Promises Promises, Jerry Orbach talks about the fact that the style of the show and the nature of the character of Chuck Baxter compelled him to sing the way he did, even though he was capable of a much better sound. In other words, it was an artistic choice, rather than a technical deficiency. As a long time admirer of Orbach's, I tend to go along with his choices on the album. Someone else on the promotional album (Neil Simon or Burt Bacharach, perhaps) commented that much of Orbach's performance is lost on record, as he was particularly good as an actor.

I love the London Cast, too. Tony Roberts (whom I saw do the show) and Betty Buckley (whom I didn't) are very good. And Jack Kruschen gets to recreate the role he played in the movie.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/17/2002 09:43 AM PST