Replies: 56 Unseemly Comments
I currently reside in Portland, Oregon, but was born in Salt Lake City, and grew up all over the place, including Seattle, NYC, and even a stint overseas (mostly Germany).
My pick-me-up music is usually Brasilian--even though their music is known for its "saudades," there's something about it that just makes me feel better. An all time picker-upper is Sergio Mendes' lovely hit from 1969, "Pretty World," with a great Alan & Marilyn Bergman "flower-power" lyric, and an absolutely over-the-top and amazingly beautiful orchestration by Dave Grusin. The kids' chorus at the fadeout is great!
Posted by JMK @ 09/26/2002 08:35 AM PST
As I posted just a few days ago, I'm originally from Indiana, now living in south Florida.
Favorite pick-me-up music is pretty much anything ever recorded by Fred Astaire (including "Pick Yourself Up"), and "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" as performed by the inimitable Perez Prado (no other version comes close).
Oh! And how could I nearly forget The Beau Hunks Play the Original Music of The Little Rascals, and The Beau Hunks Play MORE Little Rascals Music? This 2-CD set is sheer heaven. It is the music that Leroy Shield composed for the Hal Roach Our Gang / Little Rascals short subjects, performed live by a group of musicians out of Amsterdam. They recreated the tunes without benefit of old sheet music, or even complete recordings of the pieces, which were only used as background music to fill out the soundtracks of early talkies. Instead, they had to painstakingly piece together usable fragments of the music from here and there, transferring them onto DAT tape and cataloguing them, then editing working tapes of each tune, then finally transcribing it for the musicians to play (grouped in a circle around a pair of overhead mikes, which helps to recreate that somewhat muted "early '30s" sound).
Have I bored you yet, with all these details? Can't help it; I just think it's really neat that these artists cared so much about their work -- and the result is well worth all of the time and attention, one of my favorite CD's and a guaranteed blues-buster.
Posted by Lulu @ 09/26/2002 09:02 AM PST
Born, raised, currently living--and when I travel always happy to get home to--Chicago.
My favorite pick-me-up music: Blood, Sweat and Tears.
Posted by Pam @ 09/26/2002 09:06 AM PST
How very peculiar...BK gives a reference and identifies it with Frank Sinatra...and I know I've heard Sinatra sing it...but my first thought was Carly Simon...and her version is the one they used in "Sleepless in Seattle." That Simon CD is one that gives me a lot of joy.
I'm a native South Carolinian. As such things go, that makes me a Sandlapper! Our state bird is the Carolina Wren and our state flower is the yellow jasmine.
As an adult, I have lived in Jacksonville FL; Vicenza IT; Athens GR; Washington DC; Indianapolis IN; Naples IT; and Oakland CA!
I was also on two aircraft carriers one of which was homeported in Alameda CA and the other in San Diego CA. When you're on the carrier, you don't count your stay as living in that locale unless you live off the ship, which I never did. (Ever the tourist!)
There are any number of CDs that can cheer me up, most of them musicals. However, there is a DVD that invariably brightens my day, gets me on my feet and just makes me feel all peppy and invigorated: "Good News" -- and I love "Pass that Peace Pipe"!
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 09/26/2002 09:17 AM PST
I'm a third generation Californian. That's not such a big thing now, but when I was a kid there were very few of us. Born and raised in Burbank, I've principally bounced around from one part of Los Angeles County to another. The exception was a few years in Orange County...which really isn't like leaving LA, much as OC likes to argue otherwise.
Currently in Long Beach, the day when der Brucer and I make the big move to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, is edging closer and closer. It's like starting over, a mid-life crisis or something. Watching the trees change from bare to green to autumnal will be a big shift for me. So will watching my neighbors shift from pallid to tanned and back.
What I like to turn to when I'm feeling glum is really depressing, wrenchingly bleak music, usually Classical. Brittan's "Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes" is a good example. It's an exercise in reverse psychology: I get so sick and tired of everything being glum and awful that I eventually scream out "Turn off that sh*t" and play something joyful. Works for me, can't say if it would work for anyone else. The only catch is that Barber's "Adagio for Strings," which should work, doesn't in this case, it's just so achingly beautiful. That's the way it goes.
Posted by S. Woody White @ 09/26/2002 09:26 AM PST
I live in London, England (and I find it amusing that Bruce was 'sounding English' - yet still hasn't visited London!) My life started out in South Florida, which I left to go to University in Philadelphia. My 'adult life' started in New York before I moved to London where I've been settled for about 7 years.
I usually find any Jerry Herman show will lift my spirits. I also like listening to 'Stomp your Blues Away' (thanks for the recordingn BK). Or maybe 'Smile'. And if I'm feeling in more of a pop-ish mood, They Might Be Giants always put a smile on my face.
I remember when I saw Heavenly Creatures in the cinema. I think what made it a great movie for me was the complete unexpected nature of the fastasy scenes. I had no idea what I was going to see - and it turned out to be a very pleasant surprise!
Posted by Stephen G @ 09/26/2002 09:28 AM PST
Say, BK, are you still feeling British? Yes? Then you can bump it with a crumpet. (Yes, another Stephen Sondheim reference.)
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and lived there until I moved to the Los Angeles area in 1984. I've lived in different parts of L.A. since then, and am now domiciled in the great city of Pasadena, California.
My pick-me-upper? Leontyne Price's recording of "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta" from Puccini's LA RONDINE. No matter how funky my mood may be, and no matter how many times I have heard this recording, Miss Price's exquisite vocal artistry and Puccini's delicious melody deliver me to a wonderful state of rapture.
Posted by Jay @ 09/26/2002 09:48 AM PST
Born in a trunk... I mean born in Chicago, currently residing in NYC (well Queens is a part of NYC even though some people don't think so).
The 2 CDs that cheer me up most (sorry BK, neither are yours although I have and love almost everything you've done): the soundtrack of "Strictly Ballroom" and the (mostly) original cast recording of Al Carmines' PROMENADE.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 09/26/2002 09:58 AM PST
I was born in Oldham, Lancashire, England, and I lived there until I was 18. I lived mostly in or near London for the 7 years after that, then moved to Canada to go to graduate school just before I turned 26. I've been in Toronto a little over four years now, and I've been telling people I'll finish my programme in about two years for about two years now.
Posted by Stephen Farrow @ 09/26/2002 10:05 AM PST
Born in Orange, NJ.
Grew up in Tulsa OK.
High School (ooh, ooh!--a Stan Freberg reference), Englewood CO.
College, Pasadena CA.
Grad school, Madison WI.
And now 28 years on Long Island.
Jay: careful of your English slang. To bump it with a crumpet is very close to bump it with a strumpet. And that would be unseemly. (Unless your name is John Smithee--Bruce Kimmel reference: 10 points.)
Posted by William F. Orr @ 09/26/2002 10:11 AM PST
I was born in a trunk (a Judy reference). No, really, I was born in Detroit, MI, moved to and grew up in Minnesota (a suburb of Minneapolis, called Coon Rapids) and I now live in Manhattan, NY. I have been here for 22 years. I lived in Minneapolis while attending the University of Minnesota. After graduation I lived in Roseville, a suburb of Saint Paul. When I moved to New York I came to Manhattan and lived on 14th Street, then 92nd and West End Avenue (a Stephen Schwartz reference), then I went on the road for a year doing Sesame Street Live (Oscar the Grouch), came back and lived on E. 65th Street for the summer. I then moved to Rego Park for a month until I moved to my new apartment on W. 46th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues (I then knew why they called it Hell's Kitchen). I lived there for 10 months and then moved to my present location in Chelsea (as I said in a previous posting, before it was cool and hip to live in Chelsea). I have a great deal on my apartment, which means I cannot afford to move even though I might want to find someplace with a bit more space, so I will be here, most likely, for the next 22 years.
Hope the above wasn't too long and boring.
My pick me up music is Manhattan Transfer! I love them. I first heard them in college and I have every one of their albums, either on vinyl, tape or CD.
Posted by Ben @ 09/26/2002 10:13 AM PST
I am living in Weehawken, NJ and I just got back from a week visiting my hometown in Indiana.
Pick-me-up albums include Dreamgirls, Mary Chapin Carpenter-Party Doll, and a group called Big Daddy.
Posted by jb @ 09/26/2002 10:23 AM PST
I was born WITH a trunk! So there!
Posted by Babar @ 09/26/2002 10:40 AM PST
I reside in San Mateo, CA (that's about 1/2 hour south of SF) I was born here, but I moved away and came back 8 years later.
Whenever I'm down, I listen to ANYTHING by Jerry Herman who seems to have the knack of picking me back up again. All the title songs from his shows are excellent for pick-me-ups. I recently made a CD for that purpose.
Have a great day folks
Posted by Matthew @ 09/26/2002 10:45 AM PST
Ben - you neglected to say whether or not the place you live in in Chelsea is made of of four sorted rooms.
Posted by Matthew @ 09/26/2002 10:49 AM PST
Oh, Jay! "Bump it with a crumpet"??!!! ROTFLMAO
Thanks for the great guffaw!
"Big Brother" watchers: I'm glad it's over. I'm glad Lisa won. But, dang it all, I feel sorry for Danielle! Losing by such a vast margin, 9-1, must have stung badly.
Still...you reap what you sow.
Danielle will do okay, though. She's bound to get some appearance fees and a few commercials to help her toward her goal of buying a house for her family.
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 09/26/2002 10:56 AM PST
Currently residing in Richmond, VA, from Saturday evening thru Monday afternoons, and then Fairfax, VA/Washington, DC the remainder of the week. -Although once my show opens, then the schedule will adjust slightly. -And it looks like I'll be on this schedule through at least March. Hey, it's a living.
Pick me up CDs:
Classical: For sheer beauty, Dawn Upshaw's recording of Barber's "Knoxville: Summer of 1915". -And Ms. Upshaw's theatre CDs are also great listening
Show: Dreamgirls, Eating Raoul (a wonderful guilty pleasure), Sunday in the Park with George, big (quite the cross-section, huh?)
Pop: Linda Rondstandt's "Frenesi", James Taylor's Greatest Hits
Miscellaneous: Florence Foster Jenkins' "The Glory - ??? - of the Human Voice", and the Simpson's CD collections, "Songs in the Key of Springfield", etc.
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 09/26/2002 11:03 AM PST
Dear Reader Ron:
Happy to have brightened your day.
Posted by Jay @ 09/26/2002 11:05 AM PST
Now, that's what I'M talkin' about. I am jiggy with all these posts, and am having rather a spot of fun reading them. And I couldn't agree with Dear Reader Jose more - that recording of Dawn Upshaw doing the Barber Knoxville piece is one of the most ravishingly beautiful recordings in history. If you've never heard it, you owe it to yourself to purchase it immediately. It's one of the finest pieces of American classical music ever written. Based on the opening of Mr. James Agee's brilliant A Death in the Family.
Posted by bk @ 09/26/2002 11:21 AM PST
I'm loving finding out where everyone is from and where they now reside, and everyone's favorite chase-the-blues music. More! (she said greedily.)
Posted by Lulu @ 09/26/2002 11:50 AM PST
Matthew: Ah, a Kander and Ebb reference, but is it "sorted rooms" or "sordid rooms"? I never saw the printed libretto and I always thought it was "sordid rooms"
The more I write "sordid" the more it looks misspelled.
Posted by Ben @ 09/26/2002 12:08 PM PST
P.S., It is actually 4 sorted/sordid rooms, a living room, a kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom (though I know they don't usually count the bathroom as a room).
Posted by Ben @ 09/26/2002 12:22 PM PST
BK referenced being stuck in a Noel Coward play, but didn't actually say what the trouble was with it...and I'm curious (count THAT as a question for Ask BK, too, please).
It's a good thing it wasn't an Oscar Wilde play, or he might have been engaged in sticky bun-burying this morning! (Do I get points for cross-pollinating writers???)
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 09/26/2002 12:41 PM PST
Ron, I saw the play of which Mr. BK speaks (Design for Living, a production by the Roundabout Theatre Company at the SELWYN Theatre, not that awful mouthful of words they changed it to, don't get me started ;-) and, not to put words in his mouth, but I found it to be badly directed, not very well acted and a dreadful experience all the way round (to continue the English reference)
Posted by Ben @ 09/26/2002 12:50 PM PST
Dear Reader Jose and I both reside in Richmond, VA -- though we have met in person just once.
Born in Pittsburgh, reared in two small Connecticut towns, then my family moved to Richmond where I completed highschool, then went to Northwestern U in Evanston IL for my theatre degree (those attending simultaneously included Gregg Edelman, Megan Mullally, Michael Greif, Jayne Atkinson, Brad Hall, and bk's own Michelle Nicastro). After graduation back to Richmond for seven years(working at TheatreVirginia), Boston briefly (Boston Shakespeare Company), Cleveland (Great Lakes Theatre Festival) and back again to Richmond -- powerful draw there, where I have been now for almost eight years.
Pick-me-up songs/CDs: Manhattan Transfer's Tonin' CD; and (blush) the Weather Girls singing It's Raining Men. I mean you gotta love it.
Posted by Philip Crosby @ 09/26/2002 01:13 PM PST
Yea! Another Manhattan Transfer fan! I also have every recording they've done (even Tubby the Tuba) and have seen them in concert six times. They are my pick-me-up musical choice. I also love Bruce's Unsung Sondheim and just about any Liz Callaway CD.
I was born in Fort Rucker, Alabama (my dad was in the army). We moved very shortly after that to Georgia and then Texas. When I was 3 or 4 years old, we moved to Kaiserslautern, Germany. Then after first grade we moved to Fort Carson, Colorado. When I was 10, we moved here to Olympia and I've been here ever since. Except when I went to Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA for three years.
Posted by George @ 09/26/2002 01:42 PM PST
I was born in Astoria, in Queens, NY. I grew up in Woodside and Sunnyside, in Queens, NY. My hubby of nearly 12 years and I live in the Jackson Heights Historical District...in Queens, NY! I have to say that as much as I love soundtracks and show music, putting on the B-52's, especially the amazing "Cosmic Thing" album, really does it for me. Wait a minute - I also adore my extremely rare double LP of the Stanley Silverman absurdist pop-opera ELEPHANT STEPS. Just listening to Marilyn Sokol sing "Watch Me Put My Right Foot Through The Door" improves any day.
Posted by Bob Gutowski @ 09/26/2002 02:00 PM PST
I was born in Melbourne Australia and have lived all my life (all the live long day - for a "Working" connection) in the outer eastern suburbs near the Dandenong ranges (actually they're only hills). When I was a kid I lived in semi-rural Ringwood. It was then an orcharding area and my dad was the local baker. It is now suburbia. I am now living in the hills and once again in a semi-rural environment. We have two and a half acres here - one acre which is bushland and yes, we do have wallabies, echidnas, cockatoos and possums in the garden. Kangaroos are also in the neighbourhood (That may be a reference to Smoky Joe's Cafe).
(pick-me-up music: Something bright like "You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile" usually does the trick (That is I think a "The Life" reference). Often I just get out some pop music from the late 50's/early 60s to brighten my morning.
Posted by Tom from OZ @ 09/26/2002 03:02 PM PST
Born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona and live only two blocks from my mother. I didn't get very far!! My kids went to the same schools I went to.
When I need a pick-me-up, I usually reach for some M&Ms and a Diet Coke.
Posted by Laura @ 09/26/2002 03:13 PM PST
Oh! Oh! Bob, I worked at Sound Warehouse (a music / video chain, now defunct, I believe) when Cosmic Thing was released. My friend Mary and I regularly worked until midnight on weekends, and we would put on Cosmic Thing when our hineys started dragging. Instant Pep!! Yes, it's a fabulous album.
(Then, after work, we'd go to Rocky Horror...but that's a story for another time.)
Posted by Lulu @ 09/26/2002 03:20 PM PST
Still more: My "village" is Upper Beaconsfield. there are I think 6 retailers in the village. I go to the Post Office everyday to collect mail. It is still rural enough for people to be friendly and have a "chat" as they collect their mail. There is a primary (grade?) school in the village ut it is about a 10 minute drive to the nearest High School. I used to travel 20 minutes to work and did not see a traffic light. A very relaxing way to live. I would need to drive 30 minutes or more to get to the nearest cinema. I can however get to our state capital city, Melbourne, in just over one hour.
Posted by Tom from OZ @ 09/26/2002 03:27 PM PST
A California native, I was born in Alhambra and grew up in Whittier. Spent a year in San Francisco in the '60s (don't ask!) where I hope to go back some day and live in style (once I'm swimming in $$$). I also lived for 5 years in the "Valley" (on the border of Van Nuys and Sherman Oaks) before my parents rescued me. To explain further...
After five years on a job I loved, I was summarily let go because of a company-wide downsizing. This happened to be in the middle of a recession that wouldn't let up and I wasn't able to get another job. Then I got bursitis in my shoulder so badly I couldn't move my arm from my side nor sleep more than two hours a night. I remember one time, after going to the chiropractor, walking down the street at sunset crying like a baby over my pain and bad luck. Still I soldiered on. When someone kept poking the back tires of my car with a knife and my purse was stolen in broad daylight after smashing the driver's side window, I gave it up and, at my parents insistence, moved back home to Whittier where, soon after that--my car was stolen!
In spite of all that bad karma, I kinda miss the Valley. It's a quirky place that has some interesting haunts like Eddie Brandt's Saturday Matinee, unique and numerous used bookstores (with lots of stage and film tomes), an actual LP record store whose name I can't remember, odd shops and restaurants, daily celebrity sightings, plenty of little theater, and heat like you can't imagine!
When I contemplate my bad luck, I often remind myself that as soon as I left the Valley, the Northridge earthquake happened (conversely when I moved to the Valley, the Whittier quake took place!). I also like to think that God (if there is one) was trying to tell me something and, because I'm a stubborn so and so, the only way to do it was to "shake me by my roots" until I would leave.
To get me out of the doldrums, I put on Frank Sinatra. I love his "Moonlight Sinatra" and "Remembering Tommy." In no time at all, his concentration draws me completely into his song and story world and I calm down.
Posted by Donna - Cabaret West @ 09/26/2002 03:29 PM PST
Well, I must join Ben, Philip
Crosby, and George in naming
Manhattan Transfer as
excellent pick-you-up music.
You've got me beat, George,
I've only seen them twice.
Born, raised, and still living in
Ellensburg, WA, but escaping
in January.
Posted by Jed @ 09/26/2002 03:31 PM PST
I was born under a wandrin' star in Wheeling, West Virginia. I've lived in the outskirts and the inskirts of Pittsburgh since I was four days old.
Doldrum music. Let me preface this by saying that when I'm down or depressed, I reach for THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK and read it from cover to cover. So, it goes without saying, that when I listen to something to pull me out of the doldrums, I'm going to listen to something capable of proving to me that there are worse situations in the world than the one I'm in now. That said, my most often played doldrum defeating discs are Janis Ian's "Between the Lines," Original Soundtrack for "Jacques Brel..." (with that seventy piece orchestra comprised of various violins viola and cello).
It's still nice to find that there are many other Manhattan Transfer listeners out there. I once danced the night away with them following a concert here in Pittsburgh. Each and every one of them are soooo talented. And, just why wasn't Alan Paul included in the cast for the film of GREASE? And does anyone remember the then-shocking portrait of Manhattan Transfer done for After Dark magazine? Does any remember After Dark magazine? Does anyone still wear a hat?
Posted by td @ 09/26/2002 03:42 PM PST
I certainly remember After Dark, because they were very kind to both me and Nudie Musical. Such a shame we don't have mags like that anymore.
Posted by bk @ 09/26/2002 03:45 PM PST
Don't let Tom from Merry Old OZ fool any of you!
Folks who live where he lives never NEED to have their spirits lifted....'cause they live in paradise.
They probably have permanent grins they simply cannot wipe from their faces no matter what!
They'd have to, living in such a wonderful place! (I've seen photos, and I'd be grinning from ear to ear the rest of my life if I lived in such a place).
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 09/26/2002 03:53 PM PST
I loved After Dark magazine! I still have most of mine. It's not a complete collection, but it covers the best years. Ah such carefree days!
I was born in Phoenix, and I still live here. I tried to get away, but my family and friends are here. And beside, I met my partner who just moved here from Los Angeles just about the time I was going to move to Los Angeles. And he likes Phoenx, so go figure! So, I'm still here. (Another Sondheim reference)
Some of my cheer up songs:
theme from "A Summer Place" -Percy Faith (this always transports me to someplace good)
"Moonglow/Picnic"' Morris Stoloff (ditto)
"An Occasional Man"- Jeri Southern (ALWAYS makes me smile)
"Hold my Hand"- Don Cornell
"Life With Harold" - Emily Skinner from "The Full Monty"
A few songs from "The Sondheim Album"
The soundtrack to "Love Me or Leave Me" Doris Day
"Maria's Song"-- Diana Canova
Parts of Howard Crabtree's "Whoop-de-Doo!" and "When Pigs Fly"
The Greatest Hits of Carmen Miranda
Posted by Kerry @ 09/26/2002 04:00 PM PST
Maybe tomorrow's topic should be "Songs We Play When We're Blue and Want to Stay That Way (for awhile, at least)."
Posted by Kerry @ 09/26/2002 04:27 PM PST
Let me tell y'all what really makes me grin:
In the MGM musical "Words and Music," Ann Sothern has a musical number in which she sings and dances -- "Where's that Rainbow?"
Every time I watch it, I find I've got a goofy grin and my face and I'm totally "into" it! Especially the dance sequence!
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 09/26/2002 04:57 PM PST
...that's a goofy grin "on" my face...!
D'Oh!
Posted by Ron "Fumble Fingers" Pulliam @ 09/26/2002 04:58 PM PST
Kerry,
You're my kind of guy !!
I even feel like doing "your"
dance !!
I love most of your choices ;
years ago, i had subscribed to
After Dark.... from France....
and I STILL remember my
mother, who, by accident, had
opened my mail and flipped
through the mag, saying " I
don't like you reading that kind
of litterature !!! ". She must
have seen some nude male
picture or something.... I was
twenty something at the time !!!
I also remember a great article
they had done on wonderful
Angela Lansbury.... I still have
all my copies in the attic ....
Aaaaahhhhh: "A Summer
Place".... Gorgeous dreamy
music !!!
"Moonglow/Picnic": if you
haven't heard Anthony
Warlow's version, you don't
know what you're missing !!!!
Carmen Miranda : the South
American Bombshell !!! Just
LAST NIGHT I was listening to
Maurice Chevalier's version of
her "Chupetta" !!
Bruce, Ron, Tom..... I'm BACK
!!!!!!! Scary, isn't it ????
Like the LOUSY Spanish tour
guide we had in Spain, should
I say ? : " Did I miss you ????"
-- of course, she meant to say ;
"Did YOU miss ME ????"
Posted by François @ 09/26/2002 05:12 PM PST
I continue to be ever so jiggy with these splendid posts. More, please. Have a spot of tea, and a biscuit, too.
Posted by bk @ 09/26/2002 05:14 PM PST
Thank you, Francois, for liking my Dance and for the tip on Anthony Warlow; I'llhave to check it out. Yes, we missed you.
So that those of you not familiar with AFTER DARK, it was not a gay magazine, per se, but "A Magazine of Entertainment." They featured cabaret performers, fashion, movies, theatre. Now if there just happened to be 3 seconds in a movie or play wheresome good looking actor had his shirt off, that's the picture they would publish.
Posted by Kerry @ 09/26/2002 05:32 PM PST
OH, I almost forgot. One of my favorite good feeling records was Marlene Ver Planck's "A New York Singer." I must get a copy on CD.
Posted by Kerry @ 09/26/2002 05:34 PM PST
After Dark was soft core gay male porn masquerading as an Arts Magazine. Still the articles were usually well written, though I'm sure they were not what sold the magazines. I think they ran some Gay Bars in the L.A. area in the 80s.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 09/26/2002 05:58 PM PST
Jiggy posts! Hurray!
Me, I'm listening (and fairly much enjoying) to ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Original Cast Album.
Listening to Anthony Head (Giles) is just like listening to his brother; and on that note, I'll have a spot of tea and a biscuit.
Posted by td @ 09/26/2002 06:07 PM PST
I had years and years of "After Dark" -- and one day I was moving and decided I'd carted 'em around long enough.
Little did I know they'd probably be worth their weight in gold by now.
Still...there was man who hit all the hot spots with the mags' photographers and did reports and was in all the photos with the celebs...he must be in his 70s or 80s now! There was NO DOUBT about his persuasion -- nobody ever posed like that except for Kay Thompson!
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 09/26/2002 06:24 PM PST
Francois: Did I miss you?
Are you mad?
Dreadfully!
The list has been desolate since your last posting.
Your weekend appearances are a cause celebre...and when you disappear, it's like half the stars in the sky have shut down in their grief!
Thank goodness you've returned to us!
: )
(I want to thank the Academy...in advance...)
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 09/26/2002 06:30 PM PST
Gosh, Ron, you have me
blush.....
Hope I'm second to Bruce....
and Guy is... right behind !!!
It's true, it's true -- a reference
to Camelot, have you noticed
?--
French people can be vain !!!!
Posted by François @ 09/26/2002 07:16 PM PST
It's so nice to be back home !!!
-- ANOTHER reference,
n'est-ce pas ? --
Well, well, well... when I feel
down and out, to feel GOOD I
listen to :
Anthony Warlow,
Judy Kaye,
Julie Andrews,
Fred Astaire,
Dawn Upshaw -- lovely
"smiling" voice, oh what a joy !
--
Maurice Chevalier,
Jacqueline François
(Mademoiselle de Paris, for
folks over 50 !)
Josephine Baker,
Doris Day,
stop me, stop me please.....
and music by Leroy Anderson,
you know, music that "tells a
story"....
Ain't French people weird ? At
least... I'M weird !!
Posted by François @ 09/26/2002 07:25 PM PST
I was born in a small suburb of Pittsburgh. At nine months old my family moved me (and them) to a smaller town in central PA where the garbage man and the mayor were the same person. And now I have my permanent address in Sunbury, PA. I have and do live elsewhere depending on wherever my job happens to be at the time. I have spent extended times in North Carolina and Michigan.
The cast recording of No, No Nanette always cheers me up. I think it is because all that dance music makes me want to tap across my bedroom floor.
I must say there are times I don't want a pick-up and any recommendations as to what to play when one is upset would be appreciated because there seems to be a lack of that in my music collection.
Posted by Mark @ 09/26/2002 07:37 PM PST
My my my, once again the night hours are a virtual graveyard around here. Where'd everyone go? What about dear readers like Tom from Oz, for whom it is still just after 4pm? Or for those like me stuck at work for nearly another hour? Oh so lonely around here.
Posted by Jed @ 09/26/2002 11:16 PM PST
Whooooooo? Whoooooo?
Posted by The Nite Owl @ 09/27/2002 12:13 AM PST
Welcome back Francois. Hope the other "missing" posters will be back soon.
Hello Jed. It is now 6 pm here. I usually check in at about 7.30 am and again in the afternoon. I have been visiting hospitalised friends the last two days. one friend is now in a coma.(inoperable brain tumour). Angie has been one of those wonderful people who is the first to help those in need. A great friend. At 52 she will be leaving so much love that she has given. Such times do make you appreciate the life that you have been given.
Tomorrow is the biggest day in Australain Sport. The Australian football final. It is so hard to escape. I will probably watch the game on TV and just annoy my family and friends with innane comments about the rules (most of which are not really understood by me at least. At least some of the players are worth watching (and who cares about their football skills?).
Posted by Tom Guest (from OZ) @ 09/27/2002 01:13 AM PST
Hi guys!! I'm still here!! I promise!! I've missed y'all sooooo much. Things have been a bit weird and hectic for the past few weeks. My temp job at ABC ended two weeks ago and since then I have literally only had a day and a half of work...so I've been scrambling to make some money. (Please forgive all the elipses...my comma button doesn't work anymore). Things are starting to look up now. :-)
Mo and Alex are doing alright...though we did have a scare with Mo the other night. He coughed so much that he couldn't catch his breath and passed out. All Alex could say was "Mo's cold and white and isn't breathing" so they rushed him to the hospital and left me in the U.S. panicking. All is well now but we were pretty freaked out. Good news though...he's put on 7 pounds in the last 2 weeks!! He sounds fabulous and is so happy and energetic that you really wouldn't even know he was sick...but he still coughs from time to time.
Today is our second and final performance of MOBY DICK: THE MUSICAL! No...we are not another CARRIE...it's just a reading. Today is the day that Sir Cameron Mackintosh will attend. EEK!! The show went very well on Tuesday so here's hoping it will just be even better today. If anyone in New York is interested in attending...we're at the Roundabout rehearsal studio at 115 W. 45th St. between B'way and 6th on the 11th floor. Show starts at 2:30. The show is total cheese but it's SOOOO much fun and the music is actually pretty good...COMPLICATED even!
Now...on to today's topic. Well...I find that Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" always perks me right up if I'm down. I also can listen to DREAMGIRLS and get in a better mood. And the new Dixie Chicks album makes me happy too.
I'm originally from Louisville Kentucky but now I live and sort of work in New York City. Start spreadin' the news...
OK...gotta run. It's early and I have to warm up. Bruce...Alice Ripley may be in attendance today. I will send her your love. :-D
Posted by The VERY Errant and Truant Jason @ 09/27/2002 07:03 AM PST
I am feeling the Manhattan Transfer love for sure!! Their "Offbeat of Avenues" album has been a favorite of mine since I was 14 years old.
Jose...you listen to Florence Foster Jenkins too??? Oh my GOD! I thought I was the only one! Whenever I'm feeling really bad about my voice I simply pop that CD in the stereo and suddenly I feel like Mario Lanza. And can we talk about the Faust Travesty? Who the hell ARE those people?!?! It's like Elmer Fudd and Clarabelle Cow! If anyone feels they must have this CD (as well they SHOULD) I have a new CD burner (by the way...TOM FROM OZ...what can I burn for you sir?)...so feel free to drop me a line.
Posted by Jason again... @ 09/27/2002 07:12 AM PST
