Posted by Jrand55 @ 11/27/2002 08:46 AM PST

Well, we have survived another train trek to Wisconsin. Whether or not we survive Wisconsin is yet to be seen. It snowed buckets yesterday, which made the kids ecstatic. That and having Cartoon Network on the hotel tv (we are luddites and do not have cable at our home).

So my question to BK is: have you ever been to Wisconsin? And, if so, did you survive?

If I don't get a chance to drop by tomorrow, everyone have a great Thanksgiving!!

Posted by JMK @ 11/27/2002 09:08 AM PST

For Ask BK Day:
Who is cooking your Thanksgiving turkey? What side dishes are you making? What about dessert?

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 11/27/2002 09:09 AM PST

Question for BK - Where do all
the manuscripts for film scores
end up after they are used? It
seems like a lot of wonderful
music is used for film and never
heard from again. Another
question, if a performer is
playing a role in a professional
show, does that performer have
the rights to record his/her
songs from the show, is that in
the contract? Hmm, this could
be a topic in itself. Anyway,
I'm off to try and make my band
for "Annie" sound big with 4
people. Thank God for
keyboards.

Posted by Matthew @ 11/27/2002 09:40 AM PST

1. First I have a copyright question - you often see the words 'copyright renewed' against a song, for instance. How long does copyright last and can people keep on renewing copyrights until the cows come home?
2. When you were at Varese Sarabande, I seem to remember seeing some reference to a Judy Kuhn album entitled something like 'Great Ladies of the Stage' - I think Jason Graae even makes a reference to it on one of his albums. What happened to that?

Posted by Allan @ 11/27/2002 10:04 AM PST

For unlucky Bruce with Luckie who pees if you look at her askance.

Stop being an askancierge.

Don't have playtime in the house.

When you feel playful, take her outside and then scare the pee out of her to her heart's content.

My cat Vickie "used" to be of a similar predisposition when she was new to my household in which there was a younger, larger, male cat. But she only did that if I picked her up. So I stopped picking her up.

If I picked her up outside when she was acting strangely -- which was often -- she'd poop and pee. Totally evacuate the bowels and bladder. Lovely!

I stopped picking her up when she acted strangely. I just let her stay outside until she let me know she wanted in.

And I still didn't pick her up. When she wanted attention, she'd jump on my lap. I'd look at her and tell her she'd better not pee and she wouldn't.

She hasn't had those problems for a long, long time, though. She finally learned to trust me and feel comfortable around me.

Is Luckie's "other" home one in which there is a male figure? If not, THAT could be part of her problem. She may not be used to being around a male human.

Of course, if that's not the problem at all...it's still something...and she's wary about it.

Reassurances....loving strokes down the back....gentle massaging motions (on either side of the spine...not on the spine)...will do a lot to allay fears and relax any animal (well...any animal that doesn't bite or maim you when you reach out to touch them).

My $.02.

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 11/27/2002 10:16 AM PST

I think Luckie will be fine once she's not going back and forth between two homes. Now, where in tarnation is everyone - I need divertissements, I need posts to read, I need entertainment and I need questions. However, that said, the good news is (I'll write more extensively about it tomorrow) is that we have already surpassed our best month ever (August) and we've surpassed it handily. The traffic has almost doubled this month and we must keep that momentum up through the rest of this fine holday season. No slacking off. I'll check back in a bit and hopefully there will be some divertissements.

Posted by bk @ 11/27/2002 11:49 AM PST

This is not a question for Ask BK day but a question about the site statistics mentioned above. I know that these statistics tell you how many total posts there were for any given period, but do they also tell you how many different people posted? A lot of us --- me included --- post multiple times almost every day. To me, 100 posts from 100 different people would be more impressive than 200 posts spread among 50 people. In other words, is the number of Hainsies and Kimletts growing or are the same Hainsies and Kimletts just more active?

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 11/27/2002 12:23 PM PST

We had rain yesterday. Hoorah! I think Allan organised it. Thank you. More of the same please. We are really into bush fire season and it has been a very dry three years.
BK: My questions 1. Have you ever had to escape or run for your life from a natural (Not theatrical) occurance - major flood, etc.? 2. If you had to rescue something (other than Luckie) from your home, what would be the item that you would try to take to safety?

Posted by Tom from OZ @ 11/27/2002 12:30 PM PST

Dear Reader Sandra:

You really must see Arnold Schwartznegger's The Last Action Hero, which I think was unsuccessful because it wasn't what his fans expected. (How many of them understood the reference to Bergman's The Seventh Seal?) Arnold manages to make fun not only of his own movies but of his own personality, with his wife making a brief appearance to chastise him. It is a sort of Purple Rose of Cairo, with a young boy who goes through the movie screen into the world of his favorite hero and eventually brings him back (with the villain) into the real world where he must save Arnold Schwartznegger, the actor who plays him (!).

Anyway, at the beginning the kid is being bored by his teacher who is lecturing on Hamlet and showing the kids your favorite film, the Lawrence Olivier version.

"You may recognize him from the Poloroid commercials," she says. The in joke is that the teacher is played by Joan Plowright, Olivier's widow.

The boy falls asleep and dreams about Arnold's version of Hamlet: "Something is rotten in the State of Denmark--and Hamlet is takin' out the trash!"

I loved the picture. But then again, I loved Sly Stalone in Oscar, which the studio didn't seem to realize was Molière's Le Bougeois gentilhomme updated. See what an actor gets for playing against type?

Posted by William F. Orr @ 11/27/2002 12:46 PM PST

William - My wife and I both loved The Last Action Hero for all the reasons you cite. Ahnald's fans did not want to be told that they were idiots for buying into those type of action movies. It had the same reaction that greeted the final episode of Seinfeld. The audience didn't know that they were supposed to "dislike" the characters all along. Very clever stuff.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 11/27/2002 01:19 PM PST

The statistics I speak of have nothing to do with posts. They are for site traffic, daily visits, hits, etc. And all I can tell you is that traffic is nearly double what it was three months ago. So, we are growing and soon we will be the most popular site on all the Internet.

Posted by bk @ 11/27/2002 02:02 PM PST

I don't have ANY days off work this week - the next day I don't have to go to work is December 4th.

WAAAAH!!!!!!!

Posted by Stephen Farrow @ 11/27/2002 02:21 PM PST

Bruce: What sort of divertissement do you prefer?

As for traffic on this here site, I guess we all have to thank the Merry Searchers for adding to the site's "busyness"??

: )

Stephen: I hope you enjoy your work. If it's a great job, anything is endurable!

Pollyanna, Out!

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 11/27/2002 02:51 PM PST

YEAH! Two days off for me too. Well, at least 48 hours - I go back into rehearsal Friday afternoon at 5:00. -But, then I get Monday off too - and I plan to get the bulk of my holiday shopping done on that day too! Then the three "10 out of 12s" in row, then first preview...

As for Ask BK day...

1) Do you keep your own personal archive of all the recordings you've produced, the films you've been in, the commercials, etc...? If so, do you keep everything or sort it out as you go along?

2) Have you ever had deep-fried turkey? -We're doing one here tomorrow.

3) Did you ever work with Mary Martin?

Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 11/27/2002 02:52 PM PST

I'm glad I'm not the only one getting the days mixed up. Yesterday I was annoyed that my DH woke me up early, because Saturday is the only day I can sleep in. Oy!

We just got our tickets to the tour of Forbidden Broadway in February. We are so happy.

My question for BK: What are your favorite Forbidden Broadway bits?

Posted by Laura @ 11/27/2002 03:41 PM PST

What is your least favorite "traditional" Thanksgiving Day dish? Something that you wouldn't partake of even if your life depended upon it, but one that most other people (as far as you can tell) seem to like. What's your most favorite dish that you HAVE to have every year (Eileen and Chet Atkins notwithstanding).

Posted by George @ 11/27/2002 06:00 PM PST

What a glorious thing a long weekend is. I got a jump on mine, as all but one of my profs cancelled class today, and I simply skipped the one class that didn't cancel to give myself a five (count them five) day weekend! If tomorrow's notes aren't up early enough for me to post before I head to my aunt's house in Seattle, a very happy Thanksgiving to one and all, all and one.

BK: When eating your turkey, do you prefer white meat or dark meat? Dry or wet stuffing? Jellied cranberry stuff that maintains its cylindrical form or something more homemade? Any other food stuff that really defines a holiday meal for you?

Posted by Jed @ 11/27/2002 06:03 PM PST

My BK questions of the week.

Have you ever been up for a role that got down to you and another person and the other person got the role? What was it?

Have you ever turned down a role that you later regretted doing so or it turned out you chose correctly in turning down the role? What was it?

What well known song would you chose to be "The Theme From Bruce Kimmel's Life"?

What do you think of songs that were not songs to begin with (lyrics were added after the theme music became popular)? Some of them were: Where Do I Begin? (The Theme From Love Story); Speak Softly Love (Love Them From The Godfather); Somewhere My Love (Lara’s Theme From Doctor Zhivago)?
In other words (pardon the pun) the music was not composed to accomadate lyrics, but they were shoe horned into them.

Do you think that now that the Cinegrill Cabaret at The Roosevelt is going to have its name changed to the Feisntein's at the Cinegrill will make it an overpriced venue like its counterpart in NYC?

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 11/27/2002 06:39 PM PST

Michael Shayne:

As a sometime lyricist myself, I take umbrage in the phrase "shoe-horned into them", which may apply to a particular song, but is certainly not appropriate to the "genre". Some of the greatest songs have been music-first.

Pardon me if I sounded a bit huffy. Hrrrmph!

Posted by William F. Orr @ 11/27/2002 07:19 PM PST

A few questions for Bruce...

1. Have you seen the animated movie ICE AGE which is now on DVD - what are your thoughts? If you don't own it yet, do you plan on purchasing it? (I just did and the transfer is crystaline - really amazing!)

2. It's well known that the Gershwins would write "dummy" lyrics to many of their songs while they were working on them. Do you use this methodology at all?

3. If you could cast yourself in a remake of any movie, what movie would it be and what character would you take on?

4. same as above, but TV show

5. Is there a song that will ALWAYS bring a smile to your face when you hear it? What is that song? Is there a song that you absolutely have to turn off when it's on because it's too painful to hear? (you don't have to tell us why, but what's the song?)

There.. that is my mini-plethora of questions.

I have to add that I got my 15 DVD collector set of 45 episodes of the muppet show. I have watched the first one with Julie Andrews, Elton John and the ever suave Gene Kelly. These really are a treat to watch!

Posted by Craig @ 11/27/2002 07:38 PM PST

I have seen better high school production of OUR TOWN than the underwhelming production currently in previews at The Booth Theatre. The star power of Paul Newman (who does not get star billing – it’s all alphabetical) has this limited engagement 91% sold out already, and I think a lot of people who are unfamiliar with this classic play will wonder why it is so revered and so often performed.

The problem is not with the cast. All of them are good actors and I have seen many of them before, always better. Rather it is the low key, slow pacing of James Naughton, a talented musical theatre performer who is clearly out of his element here. He opens the play with stagehands moving the few set pieces around at a leisurely pace and it never speeds up from there. My friend Ray fell asleep and I sat there thinking how can OUR TOWN be so boring. It was like the entire cast had no energy. Only Stephen Spinella as Simon Stimson showed any sense of life, as if he wandered in from a good production of the show and wasn’t told to slow it down. Paul Newman looked great and was no better and no worse than his castmates. Of course it didn’t help that the whole first act (we left at intermission ) was played in pools of light on a dark stage. And why did people who all grew up in the same New England town have different New England accents --- some authentic sounding, some not – some constant, some sporadic?

I don’t think the background was the actual wall of the Booth Theatre. It looked like a phony backdrop of what Tony Walton thought a theatre back wall should look like (but I may be wrong). What I am not wrong about is how phony the make-up and wigs on Jayne Atkinson and Jane Curtin looked when looked at through opera glasses.

I now plan on watching the PBS video of the Broadway revival of this classic from the late 80s to remind myself how good OUR TOWN can be when done right.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 11/27/2002 08:18 PM PST

What are your five favorite advertising icons? I was going to just say favorite, but I'll give you five. Tony the tiger, perhaps? Elsie the cow? Bob's Big Boy (one of my favorites-- I'd get one for my yard if I could). Speedy Alka-Seltzer? You have a whole world from which to choose.

Posted by Kerry @ 11/27/2002 09:07 PM PST

As for Last Action Hero, if I remember all the press at the time, the whole movie became more or less a "throwaway" effort for everyone involved. So much so, that they purposely began not checking the continuity from shot to shot. AND then had a contest to see who could spot the most continuity errors in the movie. BUT then not that many people saw it, and I think the studio even lost money on that promotion.

Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 11/27/2002 09:14 PM PST

I'm all alone for Thanksgiving. :-( Feel bad for me. Haha...I'm so pitiful aren't I? Not as pitiful as my mom sounds on my answering voice mail..."Call us in the morning. We love you..." All I can say is we better have one heck of a Thanksgiving party here at HHW.com to keep my spirits up. Otherwise I may have to go see a movie. Maybe even both.

Posted by Jason @ 11/27/2002 09:30 PM PST

Jason: I go home (South Carolina) each year at Christmas. It's a long, expensive trip from California unless I'm staying more than one week (and even then, it still costs the same). I could probably go home a couple of times a year with special airfare deals...for a week at a time, too...but if I didn't come home at Christmas, my mom would despair something awful. So, all my energy and half my annual vacation, plus a good chunk of change goes into Christmas.

And I love it, of course.

But...my point (yes! I have one)..I, too, will spend Thanksgiving alone.

And despite that, I'm used to it and it doesn't matter. I've just put a rump roast and a package of frozen stew vegetables into my crockpot, with a little water. Tomorrow morning, I will have a feast fit for a king.

And I might suggest we go to the same movie to make it seem more like a Thanksgiving outing. I'm partial to going to see "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets." Will entertain other films, though.

Or, maybe tomorrow would be a good day for my new DVD of "Sunset Boulevard" -- or a repeat viewing of "Gosford Park."

At any rate, you're not spending Thanksgiving alone 'cause Bruce has already commanded that we gather here for Thanksgiving.

So...you're not alone in spending it alone and you'll have all of us here anyway.

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 11/27/2002 09:50 PM PST

Jason, I just finished watching SUNSET BLVD on dvd, and I have to say, if you don't get out to a movie - get this dvd and watch it, because it's one that will make you truly thankful that you own it!
I won't be partying at haineshisway tomorrow, as I'll have sixteen people sitting down for the feast at 2:00pm, and I'll be seeing Tony Curtis in SOME LIKE IT HOT (the musical once known as SUGAR) tomorrow evening; after which I shall drop in at my favorite town bar and drink to the health and happiness of all the friends I'm thankful for.
I'm a little excited right now, for I just received the sweetest email from none other than Miss Donna Lynne Champlin!
Donna and I go waaaaay back, to her days at Carnegie-Mellon AND to that Stephen King movie that she doesn't name (on which I hammered a few nails here and there, since I was dating a carpenter on that crew). I just love it when these "small world" things just sorta happen. Last night, as I was finishing up my review of HOUSEBOAT for dvdlaunch, as I was writing about a certain connection to a fellow Hainsie, who should appear on my Instant Messenger, but that person!

BK Question time:
I know that you have strong feeling about "karma," so, what are you feelings about fate?
Predestiny?
Synchronicity?
Extra Sensory Perception?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!!!

Posted by td @ 11/27/2002 10:04 PM PST

Yes!! I want to see "Harry Potter" tomorrow. I would love to own the Sunset Blvd. DVD but alas...I only have a VCR so the DVD would do me no good.

Posted by Jason @ 11/27/2002 10:09 PM PST

Why has the word UNSEEMLY crept into my everyday vocabulary????

Posted by Matthew @ 11/27/2002 11:01 PM PST

I hope this is appropriate. Happy Thanksgiving to you all. No-one is truly alone when HHW is here.
For what it is worth! Thanksgiving is not celebrated nor recognised in OZ - Halloween just gets noticed. I guess our convict settlements did not get the same press as the Pilgrims!
Even our "National" day "Australia Day" is hardly noticed - it is in the School summer holidays so the kids don't see it as special at all. This is a truly non jingoistic, non-nationalistic country most of the time. (And we're proud of it!). Sometimes I envy the patriotism of other countries but I also see the results when such sentiments (usually with a religious mix) go too far.
Hope that was not too soapbox!
Hope you all have a peaceful and very happy holiday - particularly those alone.

Posted by Tom from OZ @ 11/27/2002 11:13 PM PST

I don't know if anyone will see this post because it's pretty late, but I woke up a few hours ago because I dreamed that I was eating dead goldfish. They were all white and puffy and it was really gross. Isn't that disgusting?? So I've just been sitting here eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts because I don't want to go to sleep again.

So I guess my question for BK is: Have you ever had a dream like that and then stayed awake the rest of the night because you didn't want to have another dream?

Posted by Sandra @ 11/28/2002 02:02 AM PST

Jason:

Hey, you! Get Thy television set on and turned to Channel 11 at 9:00 this morning. It is Laurel and Hardy's March of the Wooden Soldiers, aka Babes in Toyland, a Thanksgiving tradition hereabouts. And with Hainesy/Kimlets, on the one hand, and MotWS, on the other hand, No One Is Alone, on your third hand. That was not a reference. Oh no, that was not a reference--not.

I will tell you about my sad, sad, sad Thanksgiving alone lo these twenty-five years ago, and then you will weep, oh yes, you will weep. But it has a happy end. Yes, it has a happy end.

I had met a "person" (as we used to say when I was young), i.e., a man in whom I was romantically interested, and it appeared to be mutual. He lived in Manhattan (in the same building as Joel Grey and Fay Dunnaway, if I may drop some names), and I had invited him out to my tiny Long Island apartment for Thanksgiving dinner.

No great cook I, I had gone all out, picking the wine, getting a recipe for roast duck, the duck, vegetables, sweet potatoes, dessert, two wines, apèrétif, choice of music. Oh, I had planned it, I had.

Came the appointed time, no guest. Passed an hour, no guest. Passed another hour, no guest. I called and left a message on the machine. Passed four hours, no guest, no reply. Despondent is what I was feeling, most despondent.

So what did I do, I ask you? What did I do with this fine dinner and this fine music and this fine wine? I finally said to myself, "Well, if he doesn't want it, don't I deserve it? Would I ever have gone to all this trouble for myself alone? Why should I not enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner myself, and damn them all to hell, as Bruce Kimmel would say." (Anachronism--I did not know Bruce Kimmel from Adam Sandler then.)

And you know what? I did have a wonderful Thanksgiving all by myself that year, because I made up my mind to.

So buck up, young man, and maybe next year my Joe and I will invite you out to Long Island. (No firm promise there.)

Post Script: I later got a call involving a friend and a medical emergency, and I am not sure whether it was true or not, but it hardly mattered at that point, because I was feeling very happy.

Posted by William F. Orr @ 11/28/2002 04:27 AM PST

td

At the mention of Donna Lynne Champlin and the Stephen King movie that dare not speak its name, I just had to check it out on the imdb. And what did I discover? Donna was in a TV version of By Jeeves! It is listed as Canadian, 2001. Did this ever play in the U.S.? Is it available on tape and/or DVD? Does anyone know? Does Donna?

Posted by William F. Orr @ 11/28/2002 04:30 AM PST

Jason:

If you go see Harry Potter stay to the very end. There is a scene after the credits which run about 10 minutes. There is another scene. I only heard about it afterwards and missed it.

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 11/28/2002 05:40 AM PST

William F. Orr:

Sorry! Shoe Horned was a bad choice of words.

I actually liked those above songs and especially one in particular "Somewhere In Time" (from the film of the same name) it is beautifully orchestrated and sung by Kevin Koelbl on his solo cd. It was written for the Las Vegas stage show EFX that Kevin appeared in. I highly recommend it. The John Barry score is one of my favorites and one of the most gorgeous score ever written. I think it is under appreciated and should be better knpwn. I recommend the Varese Saranbande recording of the score over the soundtrack on MCA.

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 11/28/2002 05:51 AM PST

"VAGINA Monologues" producer David Stone put one over on The New York Times last Friday, slipping the phrase "clitically acclaimed" into the show’s quarter-page ad. "I’m very proud," Stone told us. "It took two years. We tried it twice before, and it was rejected. But this time we got it through." Stone has been messing with the Times throughout the show’s run, testing the limits of decency with his promos. While tag lines like "Spread the word," "The word on everyone’s lips" and "Going down in history" have made the cut, others - like "Think inside the box," "Deep into our fourth year" and "Why haven’t you come yet?" - were axed by the paper’s censors. A Times rep promised to look into it.

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 11/28/2002 07:39 AM PST

I'm not feeling as bad as I thought I might on this...the most solitude of Thanksgiving days. I received a call from my employer at the Met who found out that I was all alone for this holiday and he invited me to join him and his family for Thanksgiving in Long Island. As I was half asleep when he called me I politefully declined...so now I have no reason to complain. I had a chance and blew it. Oh yes...the chance has been blown. Oh well. C'est la vie. I've yet to go into the city but I'm sure I will do so very soon as I am starting to get hungry and my parents have offered to re-imburse me for whatever glorious meal I buy for myself today. Isn't that exciting? Isn't it just too too?? Anyway..thanks for the heads up on Harry Potter Michael. I will be sure to wait to the end. I hope everyone is well and having a good time with their families...friends...loved ones...and Luckies. Or...by themselves if that's the case. HAPPY TURKEY DAY TO ALL!!

Posted by Jason @ 11/28/2002 09:27 AM PST

I don't think you blew it, Jason. Sometimes a holiday with someone else's family can be worse than one with your own!

Posted by Laura @ 11/28/2002 09:56 AM PST

Oh yes, Laura. I used to say going to a holiday meal with my Joe's family was wonderful, if I convinced myself in advance it was an anthropological field trip. 8-)>

Posted by William F. Orr @ 11/28/2002 10:10 AM PST

Jason - I'm reheating two day old pizza for my Thanksgiving Day lunch. My wife just went to a friend's for the real festivities, but I'm sick in bed and chose not to venture out in this sub-freezing weather. Maybe you could come by later for a movie at our place -- if you're not afraid of my germs.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 11/28/2002 10:38 AM PST

Okay, you merry poster.

Let's get postin'!

Posted by William F. Orr @ 11/28/2002 01:44 PM PST