haines his way

10/23/2002:
"FOR A CHANGE OF PACE"

Well, dear readers, the spurting water heater is fixed and working just fine and all is well with the world, and the world is also well with all. I picked up a few new DVDs today, but those bad, bad, bad (that is three bads, and that ain’t good) people at Anchor Bay screwed up and many stores did not get the Carry On box today. Well, the Carry On box was supposed to be at the store today and I wanted it and didn’t get it and now I am hopping mad at Anchor Bay. I am hopping mad, do you hear me, damn them, damn them all to hell. I did pick up ET, the three-disc Special Edition, and I checked out the original version of the film, which looks splendid, and then checked out the 2002 redo, which also looks splendid but which is of no interest to me. I do not like revisionism. Sure, you can enhance effects, you can do this and you can do that, but why? Why, I say, and say I why. Part of what made ET so beloved back in 1982 was that it was basically a low-budget film, made with love and care. The effects were wonderful and worked perfectly. It captured the heart and was funny and then emotionally powerful. In the documentary, they compare the old with the new, and I just don’t like the new. I know why Spielberg did it, and I know he had the best of intentions, and I know he had those “gee, if I’d only had a bit more time” feelings about certain shots, but you know what? If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. I’m slogging my way through the extras, which are fun. I do love this movie a lot, but only in its original form. I don’t need any additional icing on my ET cake.
I also picked up the new DVD of The Grifters, a movie that I enjoyed. There was a previous DVD, but it was quite a bad and dark transfer. This looks much better. Also got the new Criterion DVD of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, a film of Powell and Pressburger. If you don’t know their work you should. They have made some of my all-time favorite films, including The Red Shoes, Stairway to Heaven, Peeping Tom (well, that’s Powell without Pressburger), Colonel Blimp, and my favorite favorite, Black Narcissus. Blimp is a wonderful movie, so in love with being a movie you just feel good watching it. I cannot recommend it enough. Finally (until the fershluganah Carry On box comes in) I picked up a nifty little horror film from Italy/France, called Castle of Blood (originally Danse Macabre). Very atmospheric, and it has the divoon Barbara Steele. The weird score is by Riz Ortolani, credited here as Ritz Ortolani. Ritz Ortolani, of course, invented the Ritz cracker and has nothing to do with Riz Ortolani who didn’t. Nice enhanced transfer, a bit worn and soft, but much better than anything that’s ever been available on video of this film.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Well, for a change of pace, let’s all click on the Unseemly Button below so I can regale you with my Eileen and Chet Atkins weight loss report.

Thus far, I have been on the Eileen and Chet Atkins diet for twelve days and I have lost six count them six pounds. Somewhere in there, I actually gained a pound and a half back, which is most annoying, but I guess that’s the way this thing works. I shall stick to it, however, and hope the weight keeps disappearing so I can once again be svelte and lithe, with abs and buns of steel. After all, I will be appearing in my new film and the camera does put on ten pounds. I am craving sweets something awful, but I’ll endure and abide.
The work day today actually passed rather quickly, which was nice for a change of pace, and there was very little traffic on the way home, which was also nice for a change of pace. Oh, well, there’s probably just six more weeks of it, then it’s on to the other projects, which will be nice for a change of pace.
I thought I’d start a new paragraph, too, which is nice for a change of pace. Has anyone noticed that I’m in a kind of change of pace mode? I’m enjoying my change of pace mode because frankly it’s a nice change of pace. What the hell am I talking about?
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must get in my automobile and make tracks to Woodland Hills, a city in which there is wood, land and hills. Tomorrow I will have a very interesting story for a change of pace. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask all of your excellent questions. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too? So, I shall check in in a bit and peruse all of your excellent questions, and of course feel free to post anything else you like, too.

Replies: 32 Unseemly Comments

Just wanted to be the first poster today for the hell of it.
Posted by Nick R @ 10/23/2002 07:21 AM PST

For Ask BK Day:
I just read that the off-Broadway version of DEBBIE DOES DALLAS has cleaned up the original film so much that there is no nudity and no sex. Do you think this will help it or hurt it, and more importantly do you think the nudity in the stage version of FIRST NUDITY MUSICAL will help to sell the show (like NAKED BOYS SINGING) or do you think that despite the hysterical script and wonderful score people will think it is a porno show? In other words do you think many people will attend for the wrong reasons and that other people who would appreciate the humor and satire would stay away because they will preceive it as a porn show?
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 10/23/2002 07:33 AM PST

Divoon? I think we have seen the coining of an unseemly new word.
My question is: have you been reading "Doonesbury" this week? One of the characters has a "blog," and some of the comments about writing a daily e-journal have been most amusing. You should go back and check them out if you've missed them.
Posted by JMK @ 10/23/2002 08:12 AM PST

Hmm... Just reading the first sentence... "...I water heater is fixed..." Does this mean the water heater wrote today's notes for bk? Or is this some obscure use of the "royal we"?
My questions for this week:
Hmmm... I'll have to think some more.... be back later... *I had some more from last week that I wanted to ask, but can't remember them right now.
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 10/23/2002 09:04 AM PST

For Ask Bruce Day:
With all the DVDs that you buy each week, do you ever have the time to watch them a second or third time after your initial viewing?
Posted by steveg @ 10/23/2002 09:26 AM PST

For Ask BK day. How many of the regular 'dear readers' do you know personally, who are they and how do you know them (apart from the ones you met for the first time at Joe Allen's recently)?
Posted by Allan @ 10/23/2002 10:20 AM PST

'divoon' unseemly?
Tut...it's been around a while, I assure you! I could swoon (because) it's so divoon." That's a line from something, I don't know what!
Rest assured the Digital "E.T." is just as enchanting as original "E.T." Only problem is, people don't carry walkie-talkies the same way they carry guns -- so they changed the guns to radios, but not the way they were handled. Looks silly! If you're looking for it.
The DTS audio is MAGNIFIQUE! One of the best-sounding DVDs I've heard -- they REALLY knew what they were doing and they did it very, very well.
The "live" performance of an orchestra with Williams conducting to the film at the Shrine Auditorium is simply ODD...it would be different if the "live music" were on a separate track, but they've simply presented us with the film with the "live" performance. It's one of those things you never want to hear again. Should have been "isolated" as score only so you could see the film with only the music.
My QUESTION FOR BK:
When you were making that little commercial that appears in "E.T.," were you specifically doing it for Spielberg's production company? Did he direct it, or was it subbed out?
OR, was it really a commercial that he licensed?
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 10/23/2002 10:58 AM PST

I would just like to elaborate a bit on my Ask BK question from above. I feel that nudity in the theatre falls into three categories. The first is the kind where the nudity is the whole purpose of the show going as far back as OH, CALCUTTA and as recent as the current long run NAKED BOYS SINGING. These shows have no real value except to show off naked bodies.
The second kind is the gratuitous nudity that is not needed but added for the publicity it gives a show. HAIR is a prime example --- nudity was not part of the original off-Broadway production, and it really added nothing to the Broadway version except a lot of buzz about the show. Even Sondheim shows are not exempt: Marin Mazzie did not really have to appear naked in the first scene of PASSION but it sure got people talking. She was not nude when the show was telecast on PBS nor was Rebecka Luker naked in the same role in Washington. And a naked Crystal was not in Clare Booth Luce's script for THE WOMEN but that didn't stop The Roundabout when it was done in the recent revival. That brief scene got more publicity than anything else in the play.
The final kind of on-stage nudity is nudity that is not the purpose of the play but is germane to it... the man who walks out of the bathroom and says "You know I can't hear you when the water's running" (with appologies to Robert Anderson). This is the category that THE FIRST NUDIE MUSICAL falls in. You can't do a spoof of skin flicks without showing some skin. The title is perfect for the film (and now play) but I think it may be the reason that most major publications didn't review or even list the recent DVD release. While shows in the first category do a lot of business, their audiences are not usually regular theatregoers, and these shows are never taken serious by the critics and award givers. I don't want this fate to befall FIRST NUDIE MUSICAL...THE MUSICAL and the purpose of my question is to find out what steps are being taken in the publicity to let theatregoers know that this is a good old fashioned Musical Comedy (the two most glorious words in the English language) with nudity and not a show for those with more purient interests.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 10/23/2002 11:19 AM PST

Re: divoon. Well, just goes to show ya how far out of the hip and happening loop I am. I'm still dealing with groovy.
Posted by JMK @ 10/23/2002 11:23 AM PST

Didn't Cole Porter use "divoon" in RED HOT AND BLUE's "It's Delovely"?
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 10/23/2002 11:49 AM PST

After an unsleemly absence, I'm back! We had a bad round of flu here, where der Brucer and I were hit at the same time. Normally he gets hit and I nursemaid, or I get hit and he stays out of the way. But the two of us together getting hit meant that he wanted me to nursemaid while staying out of my way, and the two systems just don't operate well together. Blech.
Which leads to my question, BK: When you have a need for chicken soup, what (besides chicken) do you like to have IN your chicken soup? Veggies, starches, special herbs and spices?
Posted by S. Woody White @ 10/23/2002 12:08 PM PST

Jose: I have fixed the offending "I". That happens sometimes when I am yawning and typing at the same time.
Posted by bk @ 10/23/2002 12:24 PM PST

I thought "divoon" was what Jayne Mansfield's character said all the time in "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter."
Posted by Kerry @ 10/23/2002 12:38 PM PST

I remembered her character's name: Rita Marlowe. So, wasn't it Rita Marlowe who used the term?
Posted by kerry @ 10/23/2002 12:41 PM PST

JMK: You're "allowed"! : )
I think "groovy" gave way to "far out", "that's rad", "coo-ol" and "I'm jazzed."
I'm not sure I know what the current (a ce moment) equivalent is...or whether I want to know.
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 10/23/2002 01:18 PM PST

I have been without a phone for 18 hours or so. Yes I have paid my bills. No calls in or out and even my "cell" phone would not do anything. Very spooky. I have had to wait nearly a whole day to check into HHW.
My question. In the movie "Harvey", do you know if the same actor who played the title role played it on stage and has that actor had much other work in Hollywood or on Broadway.
Posted by Tom Guest (from OZ) @ 10/23/2002 01:56 PM PST

Ask BK: Is it just me or was it a great pleasure to see Robert Armin posting again?
And where is Freedunit?
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 10/23/2002 02:20 PM PST

My questions for BK:
1) On the TV commercial you appeared that also appeared in ET. Did they do a buyout or do you get residuals from the film re-release in the theaters and on DVD/Video?
2)On the Atkins diet are you taking of the supplements or have you bought any of the food? Has it been difficult to cut down on the carbs? I've lost 17 lbs in 4 weeks. The ketosis has really happened yet. Looking forward to that happening. But I'll be happy with the 4 lbs a week until I get down to my fighting weight.
RENTED ET. I was hoping for some of the deleted scenes with Harrison Ford. Big disappointment there. Thought the special material was a big yawn. Laurent Bouzereau (sp?) who usually does fine work with documentaries created for DVD releases has struck out here.
Bought Casino Royale. A guilty pleasure. Always saw it in Pan and Scan which was always annoying. Looking forward to the wide screen version.
It also has the 1954 TV version with Barry Nelson and Peter Lorre and Linda Christian as part of the special extras. This I am looking forward to this as well.
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 10/23/2002 04:46 PM PST

Question for anyone.
I had a friend ask me today who first sang "Mama Don't Allow"?
I know it as a traditional blues/folk/jazz song but don't know if there is an author/composer known. I only have the version by The Rooftop Singers which is not that much help as they wrote new words. My search of the NET did not help - apart from a few of the lyrics used on Campfire songs.
I know I need to get a life.
At least I was able to help with Diane Ray's "Please Don't Talk To The Lifeguard" earlier today. Such is my role in life.
At least I'm posting. Where is everyone? (Thank you Michael & Ron).
Posted by Tom from OZ @ 10/23/2002 05:09 PM PST

BK -
What was your least favorite subject in school?
What is your favorite bit of Monty Python humor?
What are your thoughts on Roger Miller's music?
Posted by Jed @ 10/23/2002 05:34 PM PST

Hmmph! I could post, too, if Ron would let me. He criticizes my grooming habits and says he doesn't want fur and dander floating every time he uses the keyboard!
As if!
I save all that for his bed!
Posted by Miss Vickie @ 10/23/2002 05:36 PM PST

I will repeat questions unanswered last week.
I think it's about time that somebody made a movie or TV special of FOLLIES(not concert).It would be terrific to cast. What do you think??And how about an adaptation of SHE LOVES ME? This could be filmed on location and I believe would make one hell of a movie.
Posted by Arnold M,Brockman @ 10/23/2002 05:41 PM PST

Tom:
Can it be:
Mama Don't Allow" by Milt Hinton?
or the Ink Spots in 1935
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 10/23/2002 05:50 PM PST

Michael: As for ketosis, if you're averaging about four pounds a week, your body is probably already in ketosis, or at least an "early" or "mild" stage of it. As the book states, some people just can't make the strips turn from pink to purple that easily. It's all different from one person to the next. Personally, I had a few days of "purple", but most of the time it was in the mid-range. BUT, my weight is going down, and my waistline is definitely getting smaller. Even my parents noticed! About six weeks into it, I do allow myself a nice splurge once a week - my latest being those small Scharffenberger Chocolate bars - The Nibby Bar is my favorite. Great chocolate, and only 15 carbs per bar. Definitely the type of chocolate you take your time eating. I've also started exercising more, and that (presumably) "allows" me to have more carbs - the muscles need them to fully recover from the workouts. All in all, I'm happy with my progess on Atkins, but I am careful when the term "liberal" is used in conjunction with fats and oils. I get - and would get - a headache whenever I eat a meal with too much fat in it, and that's my body telling me something.
Well, enough of the diet talk for today... Oh, but I do like the Atkins Bars. But some of the bakes mixes, shakes mixes, etc., actually seem a bit too engineered for me.
I think I finally have a few questions for Ask BK Day:
1) Would you like to be a Tony voter? Or at least sit in on the nominations meetings?
2) Do you know a good source on the web to consult regarding securing rights for songs that are going to be recorded and subsequently released on CD for public sale? -And, just how necessary is it to secure those rights for basically a vanity recording that someone is doing? *Yes, I am asking for a friend. I'm familiar with cabaret and theatrical revue situations, but the recording biz is new to me.
3) A couple of years ago, I believe there was some talk about putting together a vocal selections collection of some of the songs from the "Lost In Boston" and "Unsung Musicals" collections. Was this ever true? Or was it just very wishful thinking on a lot of people's parts? And how cooperative do you find composers are in supplying music for those songs if one were to contact them and ask for a copy? *I also know such a collection would have been a publishing rights nightmare. At least there was that nice Unsung Irving Berlin book.
I actually had some more "creative" questions to ask, but, again, they slipped my mind. Maybe next week...
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 10/23/2002 06:14 PM PST

Ron -- apparently, it's just you.
Posted by Robert Armin @ 10/23/2002 07:53 PM PST

Robert Armin - it's not just Ron at all. The rest of us just don't want to be caught answering an Ask BK question. :-) Welcome back to the unseemliness.
Posted by Jed @ 10/23/2002 08:47 PM PST

Dear BK,
Have you ever worn leopard spots?
Yesterday I spoke on my handy dandy telephone with Dear Reader My Mom somewhere in New Mexico. She would like to know if you did the musical directing for the Toast to Cole Porter CD she'd been listening to since she left Arizona. At least I think that's what she said... I was too busy picturing you in leopard spots to pay much attention.
Posted by Sandra @ 10/23/2002 08:59 PM PST

:-) ditto
Posted by Robert Armin @ 10/23/2002 09:11 PM PST

Ask BK Day:
What is your favorite cartoon character?
Tell us about Vinnie "where did he get all those wacky middle names" Cirilli?
sniff, sniff, still wanting a chocolate flick fix......
Posted by Angela D. @ 10/23/2002 10:11 PM PST

Robert -- does this second day of posting mean you'll be posting more frequently again???
I hope, I hope, I hope!!!!!
R
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 10/23/2002 11:11 PM PST

Bruce,
Do you know if Dear Reader Sandra ever finished her term paper?
That was the only question my brain could manage.
Although my divoon Rita Marlowe question may be one for you to answer.
Posted by Kerry @ 10/23/2002 11:27 PM PST

Who is Robert Armin and why are people saying anything about him?
Just kidding. Welcome back Robert.
I too want to know about Sandra's paper.
Posted by Tom Guest (from OZ) @ 10/23/2002 11:38 PM PST

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