haines his way

08/08/2003:
"MEN WITH BIG MACHINES"

Well, dear readers, right after I’d posted yesterday’s notes, some men came to my street, men with big machines, and they started to rip up a portion of the street. These machines were making so much noise that my house was literally shaking. Now there are holes in my street, holes I tell you, but hopefully the men with the big machines will be done with their work soon and they will repave the street. I think these men with big machines don’t do anything – I think they are part of some program the city provides. They give work to these men with big machines – and their job is to go into nice quiet neighborhoods and rip up the streets. There is nothing wrong with the streets, that is my opinion. They just rip them up, repave them, and move on. I do not like men with big machines. I gave them quite a nasty look as I drove past them singing Summertime Love from Greenwillow at the top of my lungs. That taught them a lesson they’ll never forget. Damn them, damn them all to hell.
Last night I watched a motion picture entertainment entitled Wait Until Dark, starring the lovely and incandescent Miss Audrey Hepburn, along with Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna and Jack Weston. I love this movie, even though the husband character (Efram Zimbalist, Jr.) is one of the worst-written idiots in the history of film. But everything else works splendidly. It has one of Mr. Henry Mancini’s finest scores, and one of the biggest jumps in screen history. I saw the film opening day at the Egyptian Theater, and I’m here to tell you that the scream and the accompanying jump was so loud they could probably hear it at the Brown Derby. The jump never fails to work and I have analyzed it and I think it’s because even if you’ve seen the film and know it’s coming up, it happens a half-second later than you think it’s going to happen, and it catches me by surprise every time. I wish I had better things to say about the transfer. It’s certainly decent, enhanced for widescreen TVs and all – but the source material is surprisingly littered with marks and is also noticibly on the brown side. The colors are all there, but it does not look like the Technicolor print I owned. There really is no excuse for this sort of thing anymore – all they had to do was look at a Tech print and match the color – in this case, add some blue. Then the color, at least, would have been perfect. Still, if you love the film, this is all you’re going to get for awhile, so buy it and enjoy it.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I am frankly or even georgely concerned that men with big machines will show up again and I do not wish to be here if they do.

Yesterday I signed all my Important Papers. It took one hour and I had a headache afterwards, but it’s done, and hopefully the rest of the process will proceed apace and by the end of next week all will be a bit better. So, send those excellent Hainsies/Kimlet vibes or, at the very least, those excellent Hainsies/Kimlets xylophones.
Tomorrow she of the Evil Eye will be at the house, so I will be having to leave quite early. Then, tomorrow night I will be viewing an IB Technicolor 35mm print of The Wizard of Oz, a motion picture entertainment starring, Miss Judy Garland. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must work all the livelong day, and then I must come home and sit on the couch like so much fish and entertain myself with the story of The Randy Vicar and Jason Graae. Oh, that’s a good one. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/video player? I’ll start - DVD, a very strange film by Larry Cohen, entitled God Told Me To. How strange is this film? Well, for starters, it features A Chorus Line's Tony award-winning Sammy Williams as a sniper. Up after that will be The Quatermass Xperiment, which I just got on a region two DVD. CD, a plethora of CDs which have to do with the album I've decided to do of which more later. Your turn, and let's have loads of lovely posts for me to read all the livelong day.

Replies: 223 Unseemly Comments

Good morning, one and all!
Posted by TCB @ 08/08/2003 08:00 AM PST

In my cd player: Moby Dick, The Musical
Posted by Laura @ 08/08/2003 08:03 AM PST

Gee, I wish I had a copy of Moby Dick. And somehow I must have missed out on the explanation of Poop: The Musical.
Posted by TCB @ 08/08/2003 08:07 AM PST

Just perused the last of the late posts from yesterday. Welcome to lurker-now-poster Panni. It appears that new DR Panni is having a problem (I received an e-mail about it). DR Panni is posting from a Mac and the posts keep getting cut-off in mid-sentence. Since others have Macs is there a reason or a solution we can offer?
And Matt, DR Panni is right about Joseph Sargent's directing Emmy - the Emmy book is riddled with errors.
Posted by bk @ 08/08/2003 08:11 AM PST

Jason is featured on the recordings of both MOBY DICK and POOP: The Musical.
Seems to me that if you combined those two shows, you would get a musical about a floating crap game. (Ooh, a Frank Loesser reference...)
Posted by Dave @ 08/08/2003 08:11 AM PST

I must go and read the late posts from yesterday....
In my CD player MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. Sometimes I just like to hear it. And TV GREATEST HITS Volume 2 Black & White.
In my DVD player 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, an overlong, but exciting movie that I still like to watch. The extras are very interesting.
In my VCR, THE RESTLESS YEARS featuring Miss Sandra Dee and Mr John Saxon.
Posted by Jrand52 @ 08/08/2003 08:22 AM PST

On my DVD player, if it existed
in DVD, would be MISS ROSE WHITE.
Which I really must tell Matt H.
won six Emmies, not three,
including Best Director for
Joseph Sargent. Trust me, Matt H.
I know whereof I
Posted by Panni @ 08/08/2003 08:23 AM PST

...speak. Cut off again.
Posted by Panni @ 08/08/2003 08:24 AM PST

Morning all--
Just received a fresh batch of goodies from my good friends at Amazon.com, so that's what's in my CD player:
Elegies, the new song cycle by William Finn
Wonderful Town, in the studio cast recording that features Kim Criswell, Audra McDonald, Thomas Hampson, Rodney Gilfrey and our beloved Brent Barrett
Amour, OBC recording
1983 Broadway revival cast recording of On Your Toes, featuring, among others, Christine Andreas
The Last 5 Years, OBC recording
House of Flowers, OBC recording
Posted by Jay @ 08/08/2003 08:29 AM PST

In my CD Player: John Mayer. I love this guy.
In my DVD Player: Lord of the Rings, Fellowship. I loe this movie.
I'm in a very lovey mood today. But that will soon be banished, as I have the great task of cleaning my room and bathroom today. I REALLY REALLY dont want to. I have too much stuff. Would any of you like some of my stuff? I'll gladly give it away, it causes me too many problems.
Posted by Sarah @ 08/08/2003 08:30 AM PST

And welcome to the fold, Dear Reader Panni. Dare you share with us some of your vitals? Where you live, what you do, how old you are, how you found haineshisway.com?
Posted by Jay @ 08/08/2003 08:31 AM PST

Apparently I loe this movie. I think we all know that it should be Love. *sings*
"L is for the way you Look at me, O is for the Only one I see, V is Very very extraordinary, E is Even more than anyone that you adore and Love is all that I can give to you, Love is more than just a game for two! Two in love can make it, take my heart and please don't break it, Love was made for me and you!"
Posted by Sarah @ 08/08/2003 08:32 AM PST

Welcome to Dear Reader Panni.
BK, I envy you (and some other dear readers here like you) so much. You lived in exactly the right place at exactly the right time to have all sorts of faboo movie memories. What are MY fershlugenah memories? Well, they don't stack up to yours, that's fer sure. My parents were not the type to take us to the opening day of anything. In fact, quite often we would walk into the theater partway through the film, watch it 'til the end, wait through the intermission, then watch the film from the beginning until whatever the point was that we came in. And the 'rents couldn't understand why this drove me crazy!!
DVD: When Harry Met Sally...
VCR: SCTV
CD: Hits of the '30s (various artists)
On my way to Cuban Cafe and a carafe of sangria! :)
Posted by Lulu @ 08/08/2003 08:35 AM PST

Lulu,
I have never seen a movie, or even been in a theatre, with my parents. My sisters took my brother and me to the theatre a couple of times, until we were old enough to go on our own.
I never went to a drive-in until I was old enough to drive there myself, with my girlfriend.
When my in-laws gave us the video of "Mary Poppins" a few years ago (for my son), I remarked, "Oh, I've never seen that." Well, you should have seen the looks that I got. I was forced to sit down a watch the movie immediately. (Enjoyed it quite a bit, too...)
Currently in my DVD player: a copy of "The Rookie" that my friend lent me the other day. He likes it, and seems to think that I will, too. I'll try to get to it this weekend.
CD player (car): OLC of BOMBAY DREAMS
CD player (home): OBC of THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE
CD player (work): nothing, right now. maybe OBRev of NINE later.
On order from Amazon: OBC of AMOUR and Studio cast recording of BROWNSTONE
Posted by Dave @ 08/08/2003 08:44 AM PST

BK, I hope the good vibes I sent your way yesterday helped!
Posted by Susan @ 08/08/2003 08:54 AM PST

BK - If you think people scream at the movie WAIT UNTIL DARK it's nothing compared to the reaction you get if you see it on stage. I've seen a couple of different productions over the years, and even though I know what's coming it's still very effective; as for people who don't know what's coming, well they scream even louder.
In my VCR - PICTURE MOMMY DEAD with our very own Susan Gordon (before she had to use a middle name) starring as the daughter of Don Ameche and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Nothing more needs to be said.
In my DVD - I'm finally getting around to the 3rd disc in the second wave of Disney Treasures from last December. This one is various films and tv shows that present a tour of the Disney studios including "The Reluctant Dragon". The third wave will be out this December with a Donald Duck collection, a 2nd Mickey Mouse in color set and "Disney in World War II" which I assume will feature "Victory through Air Power" and a lot of the special shorts Disney made for the war department. They haven't decided if "Disney in Space" will be part of the 2003 wave or if they will wait for 3004.
CD - In addition to the old standbys (8 WOMEN and AMOUR) I'm listening to a demo of THRILL ME, the Leopold and Loeb musical I saw last week. This is a perfect case of a demo not showing off a show well at all. There is an awful electronic orchestration on the disc that was replaced by a piano in the production and also the demo features singers who sang but did not act the songs.
Reminder to all Hainsies and Kimlets: We have reached 200 posts twice in the last week and 300 on Wednesday. Every other day was over 100 except last Sunday. This is a 7 day a week site. If BK takes the time to write new notes on Sundays, the least we can all do is post so the average numbers don't fall down because of Sundays. There usually isn't even a topic for Sunday, so you can post on any topic you want. Let's get to over 100 posts this Sunday.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/08/2003 08:56 AM PST

I'm here at home just about to leave for work, so I can't say what's in my CD player yet. I'll report back on that later.
But, in my VCR: "The Philadelphia Story" with, and written for, Katharine Hepburn. Right after that, "High Society" with Grace Kelly (the musical movie version of "The Philadelphia Story").
In my DVD player, from my local library "Alice at the Palace" with Meryl Streep. I remember watching this on TV 20 years ago and, of course, forgetting everything about it since then. I finally get to see it again.
After that, "The Hire" with Clive Owen. It's a series of eight short films from bwifilms.com that can be downloaded and watched from your own computer, but I sprung for the $4 shipping and got the (otherwise free) offical DVD so that I can watch the movies on my 27 inch TV (and no, Michael, size isn't everything). Yes, I know that they're all just a bunch of fancy ads to sell BMW cars, but they're all pretty cool...and Clive Owen ain't so bad to look at. On a side note, my cousin Doris (my mom's brother's daughter) who's German (as is my mom) has a boyfriend Lawrence. Lawrence works for BMW in Germany making the cars. He may have actually helped build the cars in these movies!
Posted by George @ 08/08/2003 09:02 AM PST

I know the story of The Randy Vicar and Jason Graae -- only it should be The Randy Vicar and the Jason Graae CD Cover.
Posted by Laura @ 08/08/2003 09:10 AM PST

Thank you for asking about my
vitals, Jay. Age: pleasantly
adult. Profession: screenwriter.
Where I live: You'd never believe
it. Anyway, I'm moving soon. How
I found this site: a long s
Posted by Panni @ 08/08/2003 09:13 AM PST

Cut off! ...a long story.
Posted by Panni @ 08/08/2003 09:13 AM PST

In my DVD player: Apollo 13
In my car CD: Ragtime
In my home CD: A wonderful CD that was made for me by DR Tom of Oz that includes includes The Exodus Theme, Theme from the Apartment, The Alamo Theme, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, The Exodus of Pepe, Look for a Star, and on and on. (Thank you, kind sir)
Posted by TCB @ 08/08/2003 09:23 AM PST

In my CD player: Maria Friedman, "Broadway Baby."
I don't know, really, what's so Broadway about it. Its nothing but ballads! They sound great, but, come on...ALL ballads?!?!
Oh, yes...WELCOME, PANNI!!!
Posted by Jason @ 08/08/2003 09:36 AM PST

Can no one help dear reader
Panni with her cut-off
problem? I would imagine
there is some frustration
setting in and we simply can't
have that for a new dear
reader, now can we?
Also, I forgot to mention - I was
planning to have our
Unseemly Live Chat this
Sunday, but I can't as I'll be
doing the final mix on our CD.
So, this week's Unseemly Live
Chat will be on Monday - I may
be a bit late to it (depending on
how editing is going) but I'll
make sure the chat room is
open. If I'm still at work, I'll
simply partake of the chat from
here.
Posted by bk @ 08/08/2003 09:37 AM PST

Its just as well that chat isn't on Sunday, since that's the night we'll all be glued to our TVs watching the Tonys retrospective on PBS. :-)
Posted by Jason @ 08/08/2003 09:42 AM PST

I have a plan. What is this plan about, you might ask? I'll tell you.
My best friend in the WHOLE world is going to be celebrating her 16th birthday next April. She's absolutely awesome, etc.etc., and I wanted to do something cool for her birthday (plus, I have a very good feeling that shes throwing me a surprise party for my sweet sixteen at the end of this month.)
The plan is this: I've been scrounging the internet for celebrity addresses. I only wrote down addresses that had gotten responses, and had pictures to prove it. So far I have 33 that interested me. I was wondering, dear fellow Kimlets, if you had any way of getting me autographs for my friend. Actual autographs, addresses, anythign would be appreciated. I have until the end of next April to get them in. -Of couse I shall be mailing dear BK with an envelope and request :)- Email me with anythign you have to help.
BTW, I forgot to say WELCOME TO HHW, PANNI!!! So happy to have you here, :) Question: Do you own Swishy Shorts?
Posted by Sarah @ 08/08/2003 09:59 AM PST

DR Panni - If you add a couple of extra carriage returns at the end of your post, you should avoid the unsighly cut-offs.
Posted by Russ @ 08/08/2003 10:05 AM PST

DR Dave - still laughing at the Frank Loesser reference.
Dr Jason - That's why Percy sounded so familar.
DR Panni - Welcome aboard.
CD Player: Sarah Vaughan, The George Gershwin Songbook Volume 2 (including these possibilities for Percy the musical, depending on who gets the title role: Embraceable You; Isn't It a Pity).
Video (from last night): My Favorite Broadway - The Leading Ladies.
And I'm reading the very enjoyable: Ambulance Girl (Jane Stern).
Posted by Dan-in-Toronto @ 08/08/2003 10:10 AM PST

Welcome Panni
Posted by TCB @ 08/08/2003 10:10 AM PST

Dan-in-Toronto: I love that Leading Ladies video. I have it on DVD and watch it whenever I can...Usually just Jennifer Holliday singing "And I'm Telling You..." over and over again. Hahaha! My favorite part of the whole show, though, is when Elaine Stritch can't find her beginning pitch for "Ladies Who Lunch."
Posted by Jason @ 08/08/2003 10:12 AM PST

TCB: For an explanation of POOP: The Musical!, to go www.poopthemusical.com . That is the official website.
Posted by Jason @ 08/08/2003 10:13 AM PST

I lied. Its www.poopthemusical.net .
Posted by Jason @ 08/08/2003 10:14 AM PST

Damn - Chat on Monday means I'll miss it as I'm going to see a workshop of GILBERT AND ANNE, a sequel to Green Gables.
For those of you who want to see your Tony show Broadway musical numbers uninterupted by beg breaks, without phone numbers being flashed across the screen and with the end credits intact, this weekend's PBS special is being released on videotape and DVD next month. There will be five additional numbers that PBS had to cut for begging time. It's worth the wait.
Someone wrote the Daily News and asked why it's not okay for gay men to marry each other but it is okay for gay men to marry Liza.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/08/2003 10:22 AM PST

Dan-in-Toronto,
Just goes to show that Canadians have a shared sense of humour. Nobody else really gets us like we do. ;-)
Posted by Dave @ 08/08/2003 10:24 AM PST

Yes, damn PBS. Damn PBS to hell for showing quality, cultural programming and then having the gall to ask for a contribution so that they continue to cause their mischief. They're nothing but trouble makers, I tell you...hooligans with nothing better to do than educate and enrich people's lives. Give me MTV or Skinemax anyday.
Posted by Jason @ 08/08/2003 10:34 AM PST

Thanks to all of you East Coast H/Ks for reminding me about the Broadway's Lost Treasures broadcast this weekend. Unfortunately, those of us in the Seattle / Tacoma area will not be able to see the show until, at least, August 24th.
Posted by TCB @ 08/08/2003 10:39 AM PST

I also watch Leading Ladies a lot. I loaned it to a neighbor who was heading to a cottage with friends. None of the group is a Broadway aficionado, but they loved the video (apart from a negative review - theirs, certainly not mine - for Lea DeLaria). I have several favorite moments, including Faith Prince's sweet toss of the medical reference in A Person Can Develop A Cold. I only wish Elaine Stritch could redo Ladies Who Lunch. I cringe when, instead of "a piece of Mahler's," she sings "a piece of Mahler."
Posted by Dan-in-Toronto @ 08/08/2003 10:45 AM PST

Welcome DR Panni!
DR TCB, did I miss something? When is the Broadway's Lost Treasures broadcast?
Posted by Susan @ 08/08/2003 10:45 AM PST

Thank you for all your welcoming
welcomes. What a swell bunch you
are!I actually shouldn't be doing
this. I should be writing, but I
find these postings strangely
addictive. I was struck by
William Lurie's mention of
GILBERT AND ANNE. I didn't know
that a sequel to Anne of G.G. was
in the works. I loved the Anne
books when I was a child. My best
friend, Kate, even as we speak is
in Prince Edward Island,
holidaying at the family
compound. Her great-aunt Belinda,
BTW, was the person after whom
Johnny Belinda was named. And she
was not a raped deafmute. Just
someone whose name the author
liked. Your factoid of the
Posted by Panni @ 08/08/2003 10:50 AM PST

Jason, I would be on your side, if it were not for the fact that our local PBS affiliate continutes to favour hours of has-been "doo-wop" performers over anything resembling theatre. In fact, the Detroit affiliate was one of the few in the nation that didn't even bother to show the first hour of the Tony awards broadcast for a couple of years, favouring instead an old rerun of Frank Sinatra concert (and not even Frank at his best, either...)
I also think that PBS tries to have it both ways. They claim to be "commercial-free", while they are anything but.
Personally, I would prefer to have the occasional commercial interruption, rather than the endless pledge breaks that interrupt any program worth watching.
Posted by Dave @ 08/08/2003 10:51 AM PST

...of the day. Cut off again!
Even though I tried leaving
Returns after the last line.
Dra
Posted by Panni @ 08/08/2003 10:52 AM PST

Dra...t
Posted by Panni @ 08/08/2003 10:53 AM PST

...the Cat!
Posted by Dave @ 08/08/2003 10:53 AM PST

Dave, I'm not looking for people to "side-up" with me. I suppose, though, that those hours of educational programs for kids and mini-series like "Anne of Green Gables" and "Sherlock Holmes" and Great Performances don't count as good programming? I don't sit and watch PBS all day long, but occassionally they'll show something I'm interested in, such as this Tony Awards compilation, and I don't have any problem sitting through it with the breaks and crawlers and all, and I'm probably one of the most impatient people you'll meet when it comes to commercials. But, for someone who has never seen these clips before, I personally can't wait.
Posted by Jason @ 08/08/2003 10:56 AM PST

Welcome to DR Panni
Posted by Jrand52 @ 08/08/2003 11:02 AM PST

Panni: I'm an Anne fan, too! I've never been to PEI, but I'll get there someday! I'd love to travel through all the maritimes, actually. WEL, be sure to let us know how you liked Gilbert and Anne!
Jason: I'm with you. I do find the PBS pledge breaks annoying, but what I find even more annoying is the fact that they're forced to beg for money! The airwaves belong to the people, gosh darn it! We need to have at least one TV channel out of the HUNDREDS that exist that DON'T have to cater to special interest groups and certain demographics just to stay afloat. When PBS started, it represented the spectrum of society much, much more than it does today. Now they have to cater to the people who will pledge money, so a lot of people wind up out in the cold.
Geez, if every taxpayer in the US paid $2 in taxes every year to fund PBS, they'd be in clover! I can think of lots worse ways to spend my tax dollars.
Posted by Lulu @ 08/08/2003 11:04 AM PST

Susan - I believe WNET in New York is showing the Broadway program this Sunday night and so are the PBS stations in New Orleans and, I believe, Boston.
Our Seattle station doesn't even have it scheduled this month at all, although our smaller Tacoma affiliate has it scheduled for the 24th.
Posted by TCB @ 08/08/2003 11:06 AM PST

Thanks, TCB!
Posted by Susan @ 08/08/2003 11:09 AM PST

L.A. is the second largest broadcast market in the country and the local PBS station hasn't yet bothered to schedule the Broadway special, either.
Don't get me started...
Posted by Jay @ 08/08/2003 11:10 AM PST

Perhaps someone should write to Mr. Bush and suggest that, in addition to asking if we want to contribute to the Presidential Campaign Fund on our IRS forms, that they add a second question regarding funding of Public TV.
Posted by TCB @ 08/08/2003 11:10 AM PST

The "Gilbert and Anne" is actually the second reading and the first (about 2 years ago) was so enjoyable that we're going back. The only problem is that it has a large cast which is fine for a reading where nobody gets paid, but it is too big to be financially viable unless it were a big hit, and Americans are not as familiar with the basic material as Canadians. I think they should do a full production in Canada first and then possibly move it here.
My favorite PBS begging horror story happened several years ago. Some friends had a son who was about five at the time and one Sunday morning he was watching Sesame Street while they were in another room. He came running to them in tears saying "Mommy, Daddy, the man on television says they will take off Sesame Street unless you send them money." Do they have to cause panic in children to survive?
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/08/2003 11:12 AM PST

Jason,
I'm not denying that there is quality programming on PBS. I would suggest, however, that there is often material that is just as good on other, commercial channels.
Yes, there is quality children's programming on PBS, but there is just as much on TVO, CBC, YTV or Treehouse (these may all be Canadian stations, but I know you have equivalents).
Since you mentioned it, "Anne of Green Gables" was aired on CBC before it was ever on PBS. There is also good material to be found on Bravo!, A&E, Discovery, etc. Even TVO, which is a public television station in Canada, manages to air quite a bit of quality programming, yet don't seem to be nearly so intrusive with the pledge breaks as PBS.
As for the Tony compilation, I believe that I just might need to buy the DVD. This is something that I can see myself returning to from time to time, plus it features material that PBS has chosen to exclude, as they usually do.
Posted by Dave @ 08/08/2003 11:14 AM PST

WEL: It is entirely possible that they would have to take Sesame Street off the air. TV shows don't produce themselves, and they certainly don't do it for free. I'm sure they didn't intend to cause a panic amongst K-3rd graders. Then again, maybe that's the best way to get the parents to listen and understand how much they need the funding.
Sesame Street and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and 3-2-1 Contact and Square One...those are all things that I grew up on thanks to PBS. PBS also introduced me to SWEENEY TODD and INTO THE WOODS and SUNDAY IN THE PARK and MADAMA BUTTERFLY and several other operas and musicals. I think it would be a terrible shame if kids didn't have that in their lives.
I understand that the fund-drives are aggrevating, but the bottom line is, if you (generic 'you,' not anyone here specifically) not contributing money to PBS, then you have no right to complain about their programming or the way they choose to raise money. I can't afford to give them money, so I enjoy their programming--for free--and I suffer through the 10-minute "beg breaks" and I don't complain. If I don't like what I'm seeing, then I can change the channel. That's the beauty of free will.
Posted by Jason @ 08/08/2003 11:24 AM PST

I'm glad you can afford to pay for cable so you can have those channels. Many of us cannot.
Posted by Jason @ 08/08/2003 11:25 AM PST

Yes, but Dave, does TVO get financial support from the Canadian government? The reason our PBS stations have to beg so frequently is because they have consistently had their funding cut back for the last 20 years.
And if you can point out any American channels that are equivalent to the CBC, et. al, I wish you'd tell me what they are. I can't find any, in more than 200 channels with digital cable. Bravo and A&E started out as "arts" channels but have now devolved. Unless Inside the Actor's Studio with special guest Drew Barrymore and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy are your cup of tea, you're outta luck. And even if you like those programs, you can hardly make the case that they're in any way "cultural."
I agree that PBS could be doing a LOT better, but with the dismal funding they receive, I'm amazed that they have as much quality programming as they do. And yes, Anne was on the CBC first, Sherlock Holmes and pretty much everything on Masterpiece Theater were on the BBC first...that's because those networks can actually afford to produce original programming. All PBS can afford to do is pay licensing fees to show them here once they've already been shown in Canada and the UK. Pretty sad.
Posted by Lulu @ 08/08/2003 11:29 AM PST

Making children cry is not the way to get money. It is the way to make parents so mad at PBS that they will never donate. If they have to beg, it should only be during adult programing. Granted the begathons are each run by the local stations, not PBS itself, so this may have been an isolated incident. But if you were a parent I'm sure you would not give money to someone who has disturbed your child.
I don't know the timing involved (before or after PBS and CBC), but ANNE OF GREEN GABLES was also a staple on the Disney Channel (before it became MTV-Jr) for years and they produced several miniseries based on the various books.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/08/2003 11:34 AM PST

I forgot to warn dear reader
Panni about how addictive this
here site can become.
I haven't really watched all that
much PBS. I've seen the
occasional show video, and
the occasional concert - but
my darling daughter did like
Sesame Street very much.
There is something a bit uppity
in the PBS attitude that has
always rubbed me the wrong
way, and I only like to be
rubbed in the right way. A foot
rub would be the right way and
I mean now.
That said, PBS has put on
some very worthwhile
programming, including the
entire Theater In America
series. If it weren't for that
series, I would not have been
able to immortalize my
performance in Mr. Peter
Nichols' Forget-Me-Not Lane.
Posted by bk @ 08/08/2003 11:37 AM PST

You guys keep talking about this show was on Disney and that show was on A&E... Well, guess what? Those are cable channels with loads of money that only a few people can afford to watch. When you're making $275/wk. like I am, cable is not an option, so my only link to "intelligent" TV is PBS. I'm very happy for you that you have jobs that afford you cable TV or even digital TV, but I think maybe you're forgetting that PBS really isn't intended to cater to people with cable. Its for poor people like myself who are starved for quality programming from the networks. People take cable TV for granted now, but I'd be willing to bet that there are a lot of families in New York and around the country who cannot afford cable and rely on PBS for better programming.
I don't even know how we got off on this ridiculous tangent. If you want to watch the Tony retrospective on Sunday night, or whenever its airing on your local PBS station, please do so and enjoy it. I know I will.
Posted by Jason @ 08/08/2003 11:41 AM PST

Well, the one thing we can
agree on is that network TV
offers little of interest, at least
to me. So little, in fact, that I
don't even have cable
anymore, and get no stations
at all. Eventually, I will start up
a dish or digital or whatever
the hell they call it. PBS has
nice programming - but I
agree that their fund-raising
drives are a bit annoying. But
we're all allowed to think what
we think - tangents are fine,
too. But in the end, we are all
Hainsies/Kimlets and
therefore the tangents and
discourse are as erudite and
interesting as any on all the
Internet. Thus it is written,
thus it must be. Yea, I say,
verily yea - so it shall be
written, so it shall be done.
What am I, Cecil B. DeMille all
of a sudden?
Posted by bk @ 08/08/2003 12:04 PM PST

Cd player has Sinatra's September of My Years, Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos and an unmarked home-made CD that may be music for our wedding.
Computer CD drive has Michael Colby's Quel Fromage
DVD has Ya Ya Sisterhood
My income's very low, and yet I have to pay Time Warner cable 53.35 every month to get reception. An antenna, here in the biggest city in America, gets you nothing. I don't get so-called "premium" channels but I do get about 75, and just about all of these also charge me in the form of running ads before my eyes. Very frustrating...hardly ever watch the thing. $53.35 could get me a ticket to a musical I'd actually enjoy.
Posted by Noel @ 08/08/2003 12:08 PM PST

In my VCR -- My Katherine Hepburn Mini-Film Festival (of her early films that I never saw) continues. This time it's THE LITTLE MINISTER (1937). Based on a James Barrie novel, Kate plays a free-spirited gypsy who falls in love with the new minister of the town. What I love about early Hepburn is her energy. On the screen, she's brimming with life and her emotions seem to be right on the surface ready to bring forth whenever she needs them. She also moves like a dancer who understands phrasing. A delight to watch. This movie also has a host of accomplished and recognizable character actors.
P.S. Click on my name to go to the Cabaret West website. On the right is a link (under Cabaret Series) to Mama Rose Restaurant in Costa Mesa. I've gone to two shows there and it is truly a wonderful cabaret experience. It's $45 per person which includes a dinner, tax, gratuity and the show. The owner, Richard Lombardi, is a wonderful chef and the place is absolutely charming. You get to see an exceptional performer (coming up are Alan Chapman and Karen Benjamin on August 20, Susannah Mars on September 10, Clairdee tba and Leah Kline on October 8). I recommend it.
Posted by Donna - Cabaret West @ 08/08/2003 12:09 PM PST

If anyone is interested in reading about the latest Andrew Lippa news click on my name.
Posted by Jennifer @ 08/08/2003 12:10 PM PST

For anyone who watches the Amazing Race, were you as scared as I was when that shark almost ate Reichen?
That scary Jaws music did not help!!! :)
Posted by Jennifer @ 08/08/2003 12:11 PM PST

Welcome to Panni from Down
Under;
I use a Mac too and do not get
your problem.... It might be that
"your" system is deficient...
You're ALL going to be mad at
me, but I find Jennifer
Holliday's presentation quite...
embarrassing and definitely
over-the-top! I know i am not
being PC -- well, i'm Mac,
remember! -- but she goes
"over-the-board"" as Mr
Patinkin can do, the song
being out of its context!
Now, give me Rebecca Luker,
Marin Mazzie, Dee Hoty --
VERY underrated, IMHO...--
any time....
BUT, the best leading ladies of
that program have to be Tony
Roberts and Robert Morse....
;- )
Can you believe that the
Amazon reviewer for that show
complains that dame Julie
Andrews does not sing.... I
hope by now he knows why!?
Used to LOVE the PBS shows
when I lived in the States! ...
even with the breaks and
interruptions...
It was -- is -- the price to pay to
get fantastic programs....
NOW, 104°F here in Paris,
France, for the last too days is
quite... unseemly, without any
AC!
AC, PC, Mac!!! You follow
me??
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 12:26 PM PST

I read at CNN.com that this is the hottest its ever been in European history. Can you confirm or deny such allegations, Francois? I don't remember it ever getting into the 90's or 100's when I live in England...then again, that was 20 years ago.
My friend, Mo (some of you may remember him--he's doing quite well) is in Hamburg, and he said its just sweltering. They can't even smoke on the street for fear of lighting fires. I guess if you're not used to that kind of heat it can be very dangerous! Hope you're keeping cool...
Posted by Jason @ 08/08/2003 12:32 PM PST

Jason, so glad to hear that Mo is doing well. Hope it stays that way.
My work CD was jazzy today. Blossom Dearie Jazz Masters from 1951 and a compilation CD of the wonderful Mr. Dave Frishberg.
I'm exhausted from working overtime (I'll be in the office tomorrow - Saturday) so I'm not watching anything on the VCR since I have trouble staying awake when I'm at home. Good thing Mr. Anthony is at rehearsal. His show opens tomorrow and I will take a nap after getting home from work and then go see his show. Sunday will be spent sleeping late, late, late (that's three lates).
That's all for now.
Posted by Ben @ 08/08/2003 12:48 PM PST

Hi all... I only had a half-day of work today! Woohoo! Yippee! Thank God for intrusive computer technicians who demand a "minimal amount of people in the workspace". What the heck is that about ANYWAY? Sometimes I want a "minimal amount of people in MY workspace" but I don't get paid $115 an hour to do so!
My business to take care of:
WEL: sorry - I must of gotten you confused with someone else in regard to The Last Five Years. Who made the comment about wanting to vomit when seeing the show in NYC?
JASON: If the US government would fund PBS you'd might actually get truly commericial free tv. With Bushie in the oval office though, that wish is dead.
LULU: In regards to your reference about the CBC, recently the Canadian federal government severely slashed funding to the Canadian Television Fund (which funds CBC TV, CBC Radio 1 and 2, Radio Canada, Radio Canada TV, CBC Newsworld and Réseau d'Informations.) You can click on my name to read the story from (where else?) the CBC web site. Also, the CBC's amount of truly new Canadian content has dropped dramatically over the last four or five years. Sure, the big name shows like "La Fureur", "Hockey Night in Canada" and "The National" are still alive and well funded, the CBC's backbone of original series, documentaries and minisereies have been getting rarer and rarer. They hide this by showing LOTS of older re-runs. They simply don't have the resources to keep up with their previous standards. Take the example of what happened when the producers of Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High (both of which were HUGE successes for the CBC) decided to come back with another Degrassi series Degrassi: The Next Generation. They offered it to the CBC, but the network didn't have the necessary resources to produce the series. It wasn't shy about announcing what the real reason for its turning down the project either. The show is now successfully running on CTV (a private station).
Posted by Emily @ 08/08/2003 12:48 PM PST

Hi Panni! I forgot to welcome you... oops :)
Posted by Emily @ 08/08/2003 12:50 PM PST

François, I have heard about the heat wave hitting Europe. It's in the high 90s in Wales (my favorites station for some reason ;-) and hot all over the continent. When I was in Europe in the summer of 1988 I remember no air conditioning. I'm such a baby. I can't live without it when there is a heat wave. I shut down like a wilted lettuce leaf. Oh, well. Enough of that. Back to work.
Posted by Ben @ 08/08/2003 12:50 PM PST

Panni! All these posts and I forgot to say Welcome. Forgive my manners.
Enjoy your stay amongst the strange folk.
As Mr. Bakalor has been wont to say at times
"You're all crazy!"
Posted by Ben @ 08/08/2003 12:52 PM PST

As Colonel Pickering would
say; Quite right, Jason, quite
right!
The LAST time it was this hot
in Paris was in 1947...
I LOVE MacDonald's here
because they sure have AC
and somewhat clean
bathroons that you can use
even if you're not a customer!
I can't take 104°F here, even if
I've lived in Florida for six
years!
I feel like i'm performing in
"104 In The Shade" -- French
adaptation! -- every day, and i
wish I could be a real
rainmaker....
"Soon It's Gonna Rain
I Can Feel It
Soon It's Gonna Rain
I Can Tell"...
How about... mixing
shows????
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 12:53 PM PST

What's the point in re-posting the whole beginning?
Posted by Sarah @ 08/08/2003 12:53 PM PST

DVDS
Casablanca
The Haunting (original)
Wait Until Dark
The Bullwinkle Show (They altered the title sequences for the series to Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends
Looking for to the Wicker Man (uncut version)
and looking forward to trying out my new widescreen TV
CDS
Laurie Beechman 4 solo albums what a joy that is.
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 08/08/2003 12:57 PM PST

I believe some Gremlins are
fooling around with the site....
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 12:59 PM PST

Oh my god what I have wrought. I thought I only copied one paragraph!!!!
Bruce or Craig or Mark can you edit???
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 08/08/2003 12:59 PM PST

If one is to believe what one reads in the papers, funding for TVO has declined steadily in the past several years, too. Still, the point is well-taken.
But here's what I don't understand. Prior to every show I have ever seen on PBS, I hear about how the broadcast is made possible by funding from...and then a list of corporations, foundations, and of course "viewers like you". So it is clear that PBS is not opposed to receiving money from the private commercial sector. Is this markedly different from airing commercials for those companies?
And they have to be making money from the sale of taped broadcasts, and the merchandising for such shows as Sesame Street et al.
I also have to believe that they must have amassed a sizeable phone and mailing list, which could be used to solicit funds from their regular supporters.
When so many people complain about the nuisance of the pledge breaks, it seems that it would behoove PBS to find a better way to raise their funds - especially in an increasingly competitive market for viewership.
Posted by Dave @ 08/08/2003 01:09 PM PST

Let it go!
Let it go!
Give it up and let it go!
Posted by The Full Monty Boys @ 08/08/2003 01:15 PM PST

Sorry, Michael Shayne, but the
easiest way to restore the
site's original aspect ratio was
to delete the post - so make
your pertinent points again. I
feel one can't have enough
pertinent points. I also don't
feel we've had nearly enough
posts on today's topic of
discussion.
Posted by bk @ 08/08/2003 01:16 PM PST

When so many people
complain about the nuisance
of the pledge breaks, it seems
that it would behoove PBS to
find a better way to raise their
funds, stated Dave.
Certainly they could find
methods of fundraising that
would not pose a similar
irritation to some viewers, but
if the current pledge drives
generate a good amount of
money for the stations, then
the alternative means could
hardly be considered "better."
As much as mail or phone
campaigns may seem
preferable to the current
pledge breaks, I have a feeling
the revenue would drop from
such a tactical change. Just a
hunch on my part.
Posted by Jed @ 08/08/2003 01:19 PM PST

DR William Lurie said
They haven't decided if "Disney in Space" will be part of the 2003 wave or if they will wait for 3004.
If I have to wait until 3004 they can forget about it.
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 08/08/2003 01:20 PM PST

Now in my CD player: Jason Graae: Live at the Cinegrille. I love this CD!!
I got a call from a director today inviting me to audition for the National Tour of MY WAY. I'm assuming its a Frank Sinatra show, but I don't know it at all. Is anyone familiar with it? I can't go to the audition either way because we have a matinee that day. :-\
Posted by Jason @ 08/08/2003 01:22 PM PST

Oh yes, the topic de jour...
DVD: empty
VCR: L.A. Story
CDs: "Someone To Watch
Over Me" - Terri Richter (a
Seattle singer friend of mine)
110 IN THE SHADE (OBC)
Gershwin's Rhapsody in
Blue/American in Paris/Piano
Concerto in F - Andre Previn,
Pittsburgh Symphony Orch.
Posted by Jed @ 08/08/2003 01:25 PM PST

Sorry a reply to my 3004 typo caused such a long post. I type so fast and I usually find and correct most of my typos, but some still slip through.
The saddest loss of corporate funding doesn't involve PBS at all. Texaco had been underwriting live radio broadcasts of the entire season of Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinees since before most of us DRs were born. They ammased a network of stations across the U.S. (and I think Canada). That has ended. I don't remember if the season that ended a couple of months ago was the end or if there is one season to go, but it is a major loss.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/08/2003 01:26 PM PST

Jason-
That may be the show that was playing off-off-Broadway for a while. If it is, it's a Sinatra songbook but not someone imitating old blue eyes. I think that was the name of it.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/08/2003 01:29 PM PST

I'm on the very last page of my crazy perusal project! Woohoo!!
Posted by Jason @ 08/08/2003 01:34 PM PST

I'm thinkin' we might just have
100 posts today, that's what
I'm thinkin'. I just ate a nice big
chicken salad sandwich on rye
bread with cole slaw on the
side and a pickle. I fee like
vomiting now. But I shan't
because that would skeeve
people, oh, yes, it would
skeeve people and we cannot
have skeeved people because
that would skeeve me and we
cannot have a skeeved me.
Posted by bk @ 08/08/2003 01:37 PM PST

Question to those that have the DVD of Ben-Hur.
I know that it was one of two films (Raintree Country being the other and abandoned after it) in MGM's Camera 65. Which I believe was the widest film process ever done.
The DVD release is supposed to be anamorphic. How does it look on a widescreen tv? Are there still black bars? Are the sides cut off?
I had it on a video letterbox edition which actually makes the image tiny on a regualr screen but you do see the whole image. After seeing it that way I can't believe anyone would watch it in a pan and scan. I am sure there are actors who are totally absent from a P & S version.
Also the video had a documentary on the making of Ben-Hur. Is That included and what else might there be?
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 08/08/2003 01:38 PM PST

Done! :-D
Posted by Jason @ 08/08/2003 01:45 PM PST

I have sent off letters to Cameron Diaz, Steve Martin, Kate Hudson, Antonio Banderas, and the cast of the Broadway production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, requesting autographs. I'm going to start a time chart to see how long it takes each respondant.
Posted by Sarah @ 08/08/2003 01:52 PM PST

bk and DR Panni, Thanks for the corrections on the EMMY book. I will be warier using it in the future.
Michael, I don't think anything has been snipped from the sides of BEN-HUR, but I must be honest and say I didn't take out a ruler and measure. Definitely there are going to be black bars with the picture, even in anamorphic because the picture was so wide. The bars only disappear in 1.85:1 anamorphic aspect ratios or smaller. And, of course, Cinerama was wider than Camera 65.
CD - the EMI 3 disc SHOW BOAT.
VCR - Chaplin's THE CIRCUS (love his background score for this film)
DVD - Pinter's THE HOMECOMING
Posted by Matt H. @ 08/08/2003 02:00 PM PST

Congrats, Jason!
Posted by Dave @ 08/08/2003 02:00 PM PST

Oops, I meant to mention that the USA TODAY theater critic (whom I don't usually like) had a really downbeat reaction to the BROADWAY'S LOST TREASURES show. (Gave it 2 stars out of 4) complaining that the numbers weren't interesting or understandable taken out of context. Huh? Does she not understand AT ALL the historical significance of seeing original stars doing their signature roles pretty much as presented on stage? It's a daffy review and one that made me angry. You might want to read it for yourself on-line today.
Posted by Matt H. @ 08/08/2003 02:03 PM PST

BTW, Lulu...it sounds like you give the CBC too much credit. Trust me, the vast majority of actual Canadian content aired on the CBC is, and always has been, embarrassingly bad. Earlier, somebody mentioned "Degrassi Junior High". Need I say more?
Posted by Dave @ 08/08/2003 02:06 PM PST

I have had trouble posting to HHw this morning - I only got the first page of posts for ages.
Whilst I can:
CDs: Savage Garden " Affirmation"
Linda Eder "Broadway My Way"
Richard Hayman "When You Wish Upon A Star" (Should be listened to by all who have written off "It's A Small World" - wonderful arrangement.
Now to go back and read all those posts - or maybe back to bed for a while first!
Forgot: VCR: "Another Country" (a revisit to these great Uk film after watching the wonderful "Cambridge Spies" on TV a few weeks back.
DVD: nothing.
Record player: Heintje "I'm Your Little Boy". I guess not many of you Stateside people ill no that one!
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 02:09 PM PST

BK...The lovely wife, Julieanne, and I, after a lovely alfresco repast at the Cat & Fiddle Pub last night(She had the soft-shell crab; I, the Shepherd's Pie), wandered over to Amoeba to scour the DVDs in search of Forget-Me-Not-Lane. Could not find it. Where might one find it? Or can one find it in LA? Must I ordered it?
In the CD: The Best of Vic Damone: The Mercury years. Alas, the title is deceptive. It is not the best of Vic Damone by a long shot, of whom Frank Sinatra said, and possibly quite rightly: "has the best pipes in the business." But I have several Damone albums much better than this. This is a younger Damone...song selection not great...many a tad too Italianate for me...Still some worthwile tracks: MY BOLERO, THE NIGHT IS YOUNG & YOU'RE SO BEAUTIFUL, EBB TIDE, THE BREEZE & I...and, if you are partial to the bizarre novelty tune, there's THE CINCINNATI DANCING PIG...I myself am not particularly partial to this novelty tune, despite the fact I was born and bred in Cincy. I did notice one of the song's writers was Al Lewis...I'm wondering if this was "Uncle Al" Lewis, who for many, many years had his own kiddie show in Cincinnati entitled, appropriately enough, The Uncle Al Show. Uncle Al played an accordian. This song should be played on an accordian, if it needs must be played at all...File it alongside Alley Cat and It's A Small World under the major heading of Irritating or, perhaps, Noxious.
In the DVD player: START THE REVOLUTION WITHOUT ME. "I thought it was a costume ball."
Posted by Charles Pogue @ 08/08/2003 02:10 PM PST

Dave, Dave, Dave - I just logged
on to see what my new dear
friends are up to - and what do i
see but an insult of my beloved
CBC. You're perhaps younger than
I (perhaps not) but the CBC has
done some incredible s
Posted by Panni @ 08/08/2003 02:12 PM PST

The "s" started the word "stuff"
Posted by Panni @ 08/08/2003 02:13 PM PST

Still here! Just noticed the reference to Jennifer H and "I'm Telling You...". I thought is sounded amazing when I first heard it on record. Every time I have seen it performed I thought she was making a parody of herself - It is just so funny. Truely over the top and I can never understand all the applause - maybe you had to have seen it in person originally and then imagine you were hearing it again as you first heard it. Very strange indeed!
But then I like Linda Eder.
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 02:16 PM PST

Despite Amoeba carrying
most of the Theater In America
titles, they've never had that
one. I got mine on amazon -
they also probably have it at
Laserblazer, where I buy my
DVDs, but you might call first.
Tomorrow I'm picking up the
latest batch of Paramount
titles: Daisy Miller, Paper Moon
and Targets. I'm especially
looking forward to the latter.
One mustn't take anything USA
Today says seriously.
There have been some who've
complained about the Ben-Hur
DVD, but I thought it was
excellent. Any film that was in
70mm (or 65mm) or
Cinemascope or Panavision,
will have black bars on a
widescreen TV, although
much less so than on a
standard TV. 1:85 and 1:66
pretty much fill the widescreen
TV. Flat films, i.e. 1:37 will
have gray bars on the sides of
the screen.
Posted by bk @ 08/08/2003 02:17 PM PST

Michael, Ran downstairs and got the BEN-HUR DVD. It does contain the documentary and also audio commentary by Heston. Also screen tests. (I think just tests of Stephen Boyd if I remember correctly. It's been some time since I watched this.)
Posted by Matt H. @ 08/08/2003 02:18 PM PST

I'm trying this posting using Netscape to see if it cuts me off. Back to my CBC comment. The CBC was the first place in North America that docudrama was produced. Good docudrama, dealing with relevant issues. There was a series called "Festival" which presented everything from classical drama to the latest in modern television - with some of the wrold's great actors. Some fine movies, great variety shows directed by the likes of Norman Jewison, and so on. I'm just going on and on so inform, but also to see if the evil genius who has been cutting me off will do it again. Here goes!
Posted by Panni @ 08/08/2003 02:27 PM PST

Every word as written! And was I #100? Do I get the door prize?
Posted by Panni @ 08/08/2003 02:28 PM PST

Dave,
As someone who loved the early Degrassi series (what is the plural of series? serii?) I am offended.
How different would our world be without Joey, Caitlin, Wheels, Spike, Mr. Radich, etc.? :)
Posted by Emily @ 08/08/2003 02:31 PM PST

Yes, you get the door prize
which is, of course, an actual
door.
Posted by bk @ 08/08/2003 02:32 PM PST

Congrats to Panni for #100!
The prize is in the mail...
Posted by Emily @ 08/08/2003 02:33 PM PST

Actually Panni, the #100 post has to buy the drinks for everyone.
Posted by TCB @ 08/08/2003 02:36 PM PST

By the way (BTW, in Internet
lingo), am I mistaken or wasn't
the Percy Faith Li'l Abner
supposed to be out by now? I
thought it was late June or
early July. I need my Percy fix
(well, let's not touch THAT with
Michael Shayne's 47 inch TV),
so if anyone knows or can find
out anything, please do so.
Posted by bk @ 08/08/2003 02:41 PM PST

Panni, I am passionate about good margaritas...
send 'em this way :)
Posted by Emily @ 08/08/2003 02:41 PM PST

Emily,
So sorry if you were offended. I found the series to be badly written and acted, and represented all that was wrong with Canadian television.
I don't dispute Panni's claims that CBC has produced some quality television. I only mean to suggest that it is the exception, not the rule.
Recently, we have had to endure the self-congratulatory 'retrospectives' on the CBC, wherein we see all the wonderful programming they have brought to us. Well, it is a dubious honour. When our great variety series consist of "Wayne & Shuster" and "Tommy Hunter", while our dramatic shows are the likes of "Degrassi" and "The Beachcombers"....well, I ask you...?
On the plus side: great news programming, top-notch documentaries, theatre coverage, and of course...Hockey Night in Canada!
Posted by Dave @ 08/08/2003 02:45 PM PST

I'm going to shower now (you're all my new dear friends, so I can tell you personal information of this type) and then head out for sushi with another writer friend who has not seen a human being for three days. I await my door in the mail. And - as some of you seem to disagree about the prize - I will please ALL by buyng drinks for those of you who show up at my neigborhood sushi place in the next two hours. It's so exciting to know that every word will appear when I hit Post!
Posted by Panni @ 08/08/2003 02:45 PM PST

The door is in the mail.
I'm thinkin' we might just hit
110 posts today, that's what
I'm thinkin'.
Posted by bk @ 08/08/2003 02:47 PM PST

Dave...
I actually wasn't offended...
I'm merely tiffed at the thought of a childhood nostalgia piece being ripped to shreds. jk :)
You have to admit that Joey's fedora was a great distinctive costume piece! ;)
Posted by Emily @ 08/08/2003 02:51 PM PST

I have a feeling that we are going to make it to 50 posts today -- on a Friday!
Posted by TCB @ 08/08/2003 02:53 PM PST

I can't go sushi without saying to Dave that were it not for Wayne and Shuster, there would be no Saturday Night Live. For those who may not know (and why should you) Lorne Michaels was Shuster's son-in-law and was, I believe, greatly influenced by the two comedians. And they actually were good, Dave. Smart ("Julie, don't go!") and funny. Not always. But who's always funny? (Only bk). I must go now, before they raw fish spoils. In honor of my new membership in this elite group, BTW, I will confound my dinner companion by saying when the meal arrives, "What is it, fish?"
Posted by Panni @ 08/08/2003 02:54 PM PST

Panni - Don't let them undercook your fish.
Posted by TCB @ 08/08/2003 02:58 PM PST

If anyone wants a good laugh... click on my name.
It had me rolling around on the floor in giggles. :)
The music is a tad annoying though...
Posted by Emily @ 08/08/2003 03:12 PM PST

My husband just came in here and, seeing that I was perusing that darned Haines His Way site, began singing, "Haines will make you smooth and silky, shapely sexy...gentlemen prefer Haines!"
Now you know why I love him! :)
Posted by Lulu @ 08/08/2003 03:15 PM PST

I keep reading DR in these posts as "Doctor."
Francois - Here is a quote from a review in today's L.A. Times about the movie, "Le Divorce."
More than a few corners [of Paris] are redolent with the waste of thousands of beloved chiens...
True or not?
Posted by Donna @ 08/08/2003 03:23 PM PST

Emily, that page was a hoot. A hoot, I say!
Sorry to hear the CBC is having their funding cut back. As to Dave's point, I'm sure they have plenty of lackluster programming. Nobody gets a bigger kick than I out of watching SCTV skewer CBC programming (of 20 years ago) with their takes on "Hinterland Who's Who," "It's a Canadian Fact," etc. But when we were up in central New York visiting my mother-in-law a little more than a year ago, we saw a TV movie on CBC about the VERY recently deceased Queen Mother that we thought was excellent. As we watched it, we kept saying, "You'd never see this on one of the American networks." And it's true. I can't even watch the output of the US networks now; it's dire. Thank God for Turner Classic Movies!
Posted by Lulu @ 08/08/2003 03:23 PM PST

Francois (How do you make the thingy under the c again? It's some combination of keys and the alt key, right?): I'm so glad to hear you say that you love going to McDonald's. I really don't like their food, yet I went to one while in Paris a few years ago (the one at the Galleries Lafayette...yes, I'm sure I've mangled it, but you know what I mean). It was the only place to get a soda - with ice! - for less than $6. I've felt guilt ever since that in the middle of Paris, I visited a McDonalds. You've expiated that guilt of four years back. Well done! :)
Posted by Lulu @ 08/08/2003 03:25 PM PST

Hello to all the dear crazies!! Well, first off I'll show my total lack of any remaining brain cell, by admitting that I have been thinking that our new dear reader "Panni" was a man ?!?!! Then in reading Panni's answer to the question about a little background/bio info about him/her, it sounded like it was written by Guy Haines PR office.
So, WELCOME new dear reader Panni! If you feel like shedding any further light on your enigma, feel free.
In the VCR -- the tape of the recent "Designing Women Reunion" special...it was pretty enjoyable.
Nothing in the DVD for now...(God, I wish the 4th season of the Sopranos would get released on DVD).
In the CD player....the big, soaring, beautiful voice of Jason Bratton...even if he is stuck with material that makes me wince now and then. I want to hear him sing "There's A Place For Us," and "Love Look Away," and lots more. And I want him to sing it to us as we are eating Pounded Steak at Musso & Frank's, and then having C.C. Browne's hot fudge sundaes.
Oh, and I want world peace.
Posted by MusicGuy @ 08/08/2003 03:53 PM PST

Fourth season of The
Sopranos will be out on DVD,
in late Sept or early Oct.
Posted by bk @ 08/08/2003 04:07 PM PST

Dear esteemed, wise, and fruitful BK --
Oh, a million thanks sahib for the info about the Soprano's! You must be rewarded, oh yes you must. In this hot weather, I think a nice dark booth at M&F with a brimming serving of a Combination Louis in front of us! Maybe Garlic Cheese Toast on the side. And in the immortal words of the Sea Hag from Popeye "On me, of course!"
Posted by MusicGuy @ 08/08/2003 04:18 PM PST

The "cédille" (the tail under the "c")under François' name can be made the following way:
1) Make sure you have NUMBER LOCK on first
2) Hold down the ALT button
3) While holding the ALT button, type 135 on the number pad
The result? A perfect cédille!
ç ç ç ç ç ç ç
I always though it looks like an ear with a dangling earring myself... :)
Posted by Emily @ 08/08/2003 04:18 PM PST

ç Yippee!!! Thanks, Emily!
Posted by Lulu @ 08/08/2003 04:26 PM PST

Or, for us Mac folk, for a lovely
cedilla, merely hold the
"option" key as you type your
"c." The result... ç
Posted by Jed @ 08/08/2003 04:26 PM PST

Today is the magnificent der Brucer's birthday! Calloo, callay, as they say! In fact, it's his sixty-fifth birthday, which makes the day worthy of several huzzahs as well!
Now, for the difficult part. He's decided that what he really wants for dinner is duck. Not lamb, which is his usual birthday dining choice, but duck. Donald or Daisy, he doesn't care which, he wants a dinner that quacks. The only place we've seen food that quacks on a menu lately, however, is a restaurant in northern Orange County called La Vie en Rose, which is very French and fancy. So we will probably be driving to Orange County this evening, to satisfy his desire for a bill with his dinner.
Nine days hence, when I celebrate my 50th, it will be interesting to see how to celebrate. Personally, I'd as much enjoy a raid on the DVD Planet outlet (again in Orange County), so that we can find all sorts of DVDs to share with the grandlads when we move. That, and I wouldn't mind a good roast duck recipe. Good roast duck, I have a hunch, will be harder to find in Delaware restaurants (but easier to do on my own).
Posted by S. Woody White @ 08/08/2003 04:26 PM PST

I am proud to say that I am part of CBC Documentary history.
I co-wrote the monologues and directed a one man show called Survivors: A Kurt Weil Sondpeil.It was part of the Montreal Fringe Festival and it was about three different who are "survivors" from the AIDS epidemic. (Loved ones have died from complications from AIDS.)
CBC Montreal made a documentary about people living with AIDS and people who are survivors. They complimented the narrative with excerpts from the monologues.
On the initial airing they forgot to credit my collaborator and myself and had to go to the Writers Guild of Canada to have our names added to the credits.
It was a moving and touching documentary and was proud to been part of it in a small way.
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 08/08/2003 04:41 PM PST

Yes, Donna, Paris really is a
sh..ty place, thanks to dog
poopoo, pipi and
Pepe-le-Pew... But the petfood
industry lobby is so strong!
As strong as the dejections
themselves!!
Sorry!
The ç has a preset key on my
keyboard! -- ain't life
wonderful???
I LOVE "It's A Small World" --
the song AND the attraction,
the 3 out of the 4 versions...--
and i can even sing it in
different languages...
Yes, I'm available for
banquiets, weddings, special
fonctions, BUT NOT for Mr
Swarchzenegger's
Campaign...
No, "Hasta La Vista, Baby
World " for me... and I hate
cigars!
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 04:41 PM PST

Lulu,
I praise McDonald's for the AC
and clean bathrooms but I
don't really care for the "food"
they sell.
It's as bad, I mean good as in
the States...
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 04:48 PM PST

Banquiets?? They're usually....
loud!
That's the spelling one gets
after eating at McDonald's,
where life is, of course a
banquet...
It's A Small McDonald's World
after all!.....
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 04:51 PM PST

Good xylophones to you BK.
;-)
Posted by OM Time @ 08/08/2003 05:07 PM PST

In the DVD: Kind Hearts and Coronets (old Alec Guiness movie)
In the... other DVD... : Solaris
In the CD... er, mp3: Star Wars The musical (not the Chuckie Strouse version) and Jane Eyre (don't ask how those both wound up there, together)
PBS used to drive me crazy when I was a kid, always breaking into my Saturday afternoon Doctor Who marathons. So much so that six- or eight-year old me would call in to pledge without even really knowing what it meant, and pledge five or ten dollars just to put Doctor Who, Blake's 7, or whatever else it was back on.
This idea just came to me, but I think we should all have the option to fund public broadcasting with our tax forms as we do the presidential campaign fund. That'd make a lot of headway.
And whoever said Disney Channel had become MTV Jr - how apt.
Posted by Don @ 08/08/2003 05:27 PM PST

Happy Birthday to der Brucer.
Why was it never "Donald Drake"?
I also wondered why the duck in "Babe" was Ferdinand. Maybe it was a Drake too.
The big questions that face us all!
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 05:30 PM PST

Dear Reader William E. Lurie--
ChevronTexaco will continue to sponsor the Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcasts through the 2003-2004 season. After that, who knows what will happen. I hope that the Met can find a new sponsor. The disappearance of these broadcasts is a real possibility, I suppose, and a very sad one at that.
I know the money that ChevronTexaco provided to air these broadcasts was not insignificant. Relative to the size of the multi-billion dollar ChevronTexaco company, however, it's an amount that gets lost in the rounding, as my accountant acquaintance might say.
Regarding Jennifer Holliday--I saw Miss Holliday live in concert earlier this year and it was an interesting experience. The woman has lost 200 pounds and you would not recognize her as the same woman on My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies. What is amazing is that the voice sounds exactly the same as on the Dreamgirls OBC recording and on the MFB: TLL video. The woman also redefines the meaning of "mannered" in both her vocal and physical delivery. There were more than a few times that Miss Holliday came off as a parody of herself. That said, she was still rather electrifying.
Posted by Jay @ 08/08/2003 05:33 PM PST

Firstly, happy birthday to Der Brucer.
Secondly, the absolute easiest way (IMHO in my humble opinion in Internet lingo) to re-create that pesky cedila attached to DR François name is to go up to one of his posts, highlight his name, right click your mouse, choose copy, move back down to the Unseemly Comment Box, position your cursor, right click again and choose paste! Voila, you have a perfect François. Of course, the other way is fine too and may be better if you're posting about our dear François on a day when he is not posting here, which, if I remember correctly, is usually late Thursday through sometime on Sunday.
Posted by Ben @ 08/08/2003 06:11 PM PST

1. Click on my name.
2. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Posted by Lulu @ 08/08/2003 06:15 PM PST

OMG, Ben, you're brilliant. I can't believe that never occurred to me.
François: I agree about the "food" at McDonald's. All I bought when I was there was a soda. Even when I was a little girl I wouldn't touch their tripe with a 10-foot-pole (which made field trips difficult, since as a "treat" they always took us to McDonald's for lunch). Hubby is currently reading Fast Food Nation, a book which justifies any and all reservations anyone could possibly have about eating there.
Posted by Lulu @ 08/08/2003 06:20 PM PST

Dear Reader Lulu--
I clicked on your name and all I can say is this:
AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!
Posted by Jay @ 08/08/2003 06:22 PM PST

Lulu - now it's my turn OMG. Unfortunately, I'm not surprised. Ugh and argh and sigh.
Posted by Ben @ 08/08/2003 06:26 PM PST

Ben,
It takes more than what you
said to do to get a PERFECT
François, take my word!
You, naughty Lulu; I clicked on
the link and..... I WANT ONE! I
WANT ONE!
Him & Arnie; boy, what a pair!
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 06:48 PM PST

Tom from Oz,
In the Duck family, let's not
forget Ludwig VonDrake,
voiced by the great Paul
Frees.....
Remember the Wonderful
World Of Color?.... which
theme was written by the
Sherman brothers of.... Small
World fame...
Can't you tell there's thread
somewhere here???
Mr Pogue might say ... a threat,
even more if he clicks on
Lulu's name!!
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 06:53 PM PST

So haved you heard? California has adopted a new state song: "Send in the Clowns." (Oh, a Sondheim reference.)
Posted by Jay @ 08/08/2003 06:54 PM PST

DR Jose: Our daily newspaper in Melbourne has a large advertisement for "Disney Auditions". I suspect there will indeed be work for you on your arrival.
I still use the Alt 0231 for ç. Easy enough for me to use must be easy for everyone!
And it does make François special!
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 06:54 PM PST

Thanks for the Lincoln link François. And we are not talking convertibles here.
Memories of my first to Disneyland as a child of approximately 40.
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 06:58 PM PST

BK,
If you click on Lulu's name,
you'll see that she has found
one of "your" men with big
machine!!
This one does not dig holes in
L.A.'s streets but in foreign
countries!
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 06:59 PM PST

LOL, Jay...
... but this one doesn't make
me laugh, really!
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 07:01 PM PST

Oops... by "this one" i meant...
clown!
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 07:01 PM PST

Thanks Lulu. I have ordered one (that should be enough) to run our country - not much different from the Bush Puppet we have now!
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 07:10 PM PST

Tom,
I believe that toy might be
smarter than the real thing!
... and it can be used as a
voodoo doll too...
Not a veedee doll tee
or a vaadaa doll taa...
sorry, folks!
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 07:42 PM PST

I just dropped in to see what's been happening with all you nice people while I was out in the big world... Only to discover that according to Music Guy there is a certain amount ambiguity about my sex. But before I make the big reveal -- what did you mean, Music Guy, by saying that my bio info sounded like it was written by Guy Haines' PR office?
It was written by MY PR office, well paid minions all. Now for the big reveal as promised: "Panni" is a Hungarian feminine nickname. Of course, I could be a man with a Hungarian feminine nickname. Hungarians are a strange lot. But I'm not, a man, that is. I've always thought my writing was very cute and feminine. Barbie-esque almost. I was wrong. Music Guy has opened my eyes to decades of ignorance. Thank you.
Posted by Panni @ 08/08/2003 08:13 PM PST

You have mail mon ami.
OK! I just wanted to be post #150
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 08:13 PM PST

I missed out by seconds it seems.
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 08:15 PM PST

"Gypsy" Cd available on August 19th. Or am I late with the news?
Posted by Tom Guest (from OZ) @ 08/08/2003 08:19 PM PST

Are they going to stop that
thing about adding new
material to masterworks -- as
they say -- every 6 or 7 years,
and not deliver the goods once
and for all????
How many GYPSY cd's with
Merman am i going to buy over
the years?
Do they think I have Arnie's
budget???
... and i'm sure Arnie doesn't
even give a fig to GYSPSY, and
may never have heard and
heard of Ethel Merman in his
life...
She sure had the muscles
though!....
Sorry, but I feel better!
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 08:27 PM PST

OOOhhh, never mind... I'm
confused!
... it's British Petroleum's
GYPSY - and NOT GYSPSY as
printed above, (cute, hey?)...
My budget feels better...
I'll have an eggroll now ;- )
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 08:33 PM PST

Hello!
I didn't want to be errant and truant today - like I think I ended up being yesterday. I read some of the early posts, but still have some catching up to do.
My mind - and body - seem to be in "rest mode" - which, I'm finally realizing - is a good thing. I was hoping to get some small projects done while I was home for these few days, but just couldn't muster up the energy nor the motivation to get any of them started. I was getting frustrated. However, the rest has been good, and since I'm due for a busy week in NYC next week... Just pacing myself.
Thankfully, all I really have to do right now for my trip to Australia is to show up at the airport. The Admin Assistant for USJ has been very helpful! In the meantime, it's just a matter of deciding how much I want to overpack. ;-)
-I'm also digesting quite a wonderful meal I had earlier tonight. My ex, Steve, and I went to dinner at our favorite place, and proceeded to eat way too much food. It was kind of a combined birthday dinner for both of us - belated for him, early for me. By the time the desserts arrived, our appetizers, salads and entrees had settled, we both regretted ordering our desserts. (Can you say "FULL!"?) Neither one of us finished! -And that hardly ever happens! And it was tiramisu for him and a blackberry and peach cobbler with homemade vanilla ice cream for me. At least we made a good dent in our dishes. All in all, it was a very nice meal and a nice visit.
Thankfully, the walk back home seemed to help... -Oh, and there was a bottle of wine involved - a very nice Australian chardonnay. Not too oaky.
Well, time for me to "digest" more... I'll catch up in the morning.
As for any pending questions, situations, queries:
-Yes.
-Only on alternate Sundays.
-Never have, never will.
-Welcome new DR (fill in your name here).
-I can't believe it either!
-It will close in two weeks.
-Already bought it, but haven't listened to/watched it yet.
I think that covers most of the bases... ;-)
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 08/08/2003 08:35 PM PST

OH! And when I said/typed "there was a bottle of wine involved", I simply mean that we had wine too with all of our food. That's it. -Remember, we do have some you eyes and ears here in HHW. ;-)
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 08/08/2003 08:39 PM PST

OK, OK, OK..
you=young
-It was a big bottle (hiccup).
Time for me stop while I'm two steps behind...
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 08/08/2003 08:40 PM PST

Oooohhhh, yes, we call tell
that you DRANK the bottle,
Jose!
That, we can tell!
How many fingers can you
count here, hummm???
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 08:52 PM PST

have you gotten my package yet Jose?
Posted by Emily @ 08/08/2003 08:53 PM PST

The Friday Night Audio-Visual Report:
DVD PLAYER:
CASABLANCA - they just don't make them this good anymore, and the dvd is top-notch!
KANGAROO JACK - they do make them like this, and, more's the pity. BUT, for a family-popcorn movie, it ain't that bad.
BAND OF BROTHERS - Disc One, just getting started, but, it's quite an accomplishment for HBO. The packaging itself is award-worthy.
WAIT UNTIL DARK - gosh! I jump at the right moment, too! Which is surprising, since the jump is given away in the Retrospective interviews! Talk about spoiler space! Oh, did you notice that hair and that horrible red mark that keeps appearing just before Audrey's first entrance!?!?!? Love the comment about putting out cigarettes at the appropriate moment!
CD PLAYER:
Computer Generated Compilation CDs of:
Debbie Reynolds - I needed "Tammy," but found most of her THE SINGING NUN tracks, as well as ATHENA and BUNDLE OF JOY cuts, too.
Olivia Newton-John, mostly the duets from OLIVIA 2
K. T. Oslin - nearly complete two disc set culled from her five albums
Jennifer Warnes - mostly duets, but, including "NIghts are Forever" the theme from TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE and Stephen Schwartz' + Alan Menken's "Cold Enough to Snow."
MOBY DICK: THE MUSICAL
DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES
TABOO: THE MUSICAL
FOLLIES - The Los Angeles Cast with the heavenly Vicki Carr.
THE CLIFF RICHARD COLLECTION 40th Anniversary - highly recommended; very highly recommended.
VCR:
"Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and "Boy Meets Boy" from Tuesday night.
LASERDISC PLAYER:
ATHENA
Posted by td @ 08/08/2003 08:54 PM PST

DR Emily - Yes... And Thank You! -Sorry for not acknowledging your generosity - and "humor" earlier. -The cheese curds are in the fridge as we type! Poutine Party!
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 08/08/2003 09:06 PM PST

The Bad or Good news is that it is "Gypsy" in its current revival form with that person who did not pay for the desserts.
td: There was a Vicki (The Theme From Peyton Place) Carr version of "Follies?
Is it true that "life is fun if you vocalise"?
Vicki's "It Must Be Him" was a GIANT hit here in OZ. Guess we have all had those feelings and can identify.
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 09:09 PM PST

My Dear Friend Tom from OZ:
Yes, indeed there was a Vicki "It Must Be Him" Carr production of FOLLIES. . . but, I guess her casting was kinda overshadowed by the fact that Patty Duke was making her musical theater debut as Phyllis in the same production.
Lulu - love the Bush-ie boy toy!!! Wonder if it's anatomically correct. . .
Posted by td @ 08/08/2003 09:20 PM PST

I think I'm responsible for that The Last 5 Years comment. With freebies both times, I saw it twice. Since I've been confined to a freezing theatre for 12½ hours today, it's probably not a good time for me to go on about it in detail. Some other time, I'll reveal my true feelings about such things as self-pity, self-indulgence, high-concept gimmicks that didn't work in Merrily We Roll Along and don't work now, actors not relating to each other, and "ifs" that lack conclusions.
Posted by Noel @ 08/08/2003 09:29 PM PST

NO, td, the toy is politically
correct only...
They are working on Mr
Chirac's version; that's why
he's vacationing in Canada...
whatever that means!!!!
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 09:30 PM PST

Actually, Tom from Oz, the better Gypsy CD news is that Rhino will be releasing the WB soundtrack and as bonus tracks it will include Roz Russell's full vocal takes (sans Lisa Kirk's help).
Posted by bk @ 08/08/2003 09:31 PM PST

Oh, I remember that FOLLIES
version;
veni, vidi, Vicki.
Carr; what a singer!
Patty; what a s.... Never mind!
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 09:33 PM PST

See; I KNEW there was a new
GYPSY cd I had to buy!!!
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 09:34 PM PST

There are reasons why Patty Duke shouldn't star in musicals.
Posted by td @ 08/08/2003 09:41 PM PST

td, let me just say, "EW!!" at your question (posted at 09:20 p.m.) of the GW doll. There are some people that I just do not want to imagine that about and unfortunately, your question put that image in my mind. Damn you! Damn you to hell! Now, if we were talking about a Clive Owen doll.... ;-)
Posted by George @ 08/08/2003 10:07 PM PST

Can we make it to 200 posts before tomorrow? Only 28 more to go (after this post). It's not too late, but I'm off to bed. Post away!
Posted by George @ 08/08/2003 10:12 PM PST

Oh, I forgot. In my CD player at work: nothing. Now only 27 more to get to 200.
Posted by George @ 08/08/2003 10:13 PM PST

Good Gypsy news indeed BK.
Patty Duke. Would cousin Cathy have been better in musicals?
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 10:15 PM PST

Welcome DR Panni.
Donna - Susannah Mars has a terrific CD around that H/K should give a listen to. And of course her father is Kenneth Mars....Franz Liebkand!
DR Charles Pogue....first you tell me there is a Brook Benton CD and NOW you let me know that there is a Cd of Vic Damone's Mercury recordings...more $$ to spend.
DR Matt I have the "Complete" Showboat recording...it's great. I really enjoy hearing ALL the songs and music.
More things to say....how can we respond to ALL the posts in just one answer? We can't!
Posted by Jrand52 @ 08/08/2003 10:16 PM PST

Listen, chum, I was all set to open in "Hit the Sky" until the bitch Helen Lawson tied a can to my tail.
And I was out of town in "Tell Me, Darling" until I made suggestion that we do the second act first.
I don't have to live by rules set down for ordinary people because I me...baby.
And I will star in a musical anytime I want to. In fact how about VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, THE MUSICAL?
Posted by Neely O'Hara @ 08/08/2003 10:21 PM PST

Jrand52,
This is the one!
Click on my name! Go ahead;
it won't hurt!
;- )
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 10:22 PM PST

My CD list has changed considerable since this morning:
Michael Ball "Always"
OLC "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers"
The Mell-O-Tones "Swinging Down Broadway" (I think they are a Sydney Oz group).
DVD tonight could well be "The Importance Of Being Ernest" - the Dame Judi Dench version.
If the model for the Doll had not been anatomically correct I guess he would not have .....so much of the world. (This is a late night posting OK)
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 10:22 PM PST

Dear Neely,
This musical has been done
under the title:
FOLLIES...........
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 10:24 PM PST

And I had thought you had finished for the night François. Check your mail again mon ami.
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 10:24 PM PST

180? Someone said: 180?
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 10:24 PM PST

Missed!
Zut, crotte, flute ....;
or "Calice! Tabernacle!"
-- as they say in Canada (Even
more since Mr Chirac is there!)
I'm quotting, I'm quotting!
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 10:26 PM PST

Well, the Dubya certainly has awesome cojones - which is why I was wondering if the doll (did it come out of a valley?) was anatomically correct. If it were, wouldn't that doll have very stffed stockings? ? ?
Posted by td @ 08/08/2003 10:27 PM PST

7:20 am here!
Yes, Tom, but...
"Don't tell Mama, what you
know'"!
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 10:28 PM PST

Shouldn't those posts be in aphabetical order if they are at the same time? Maybe it is in order of seniority.
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 10:28 PM PST

Virtual cojones.... as in mass
destruction weapons!!
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 10:29 PM PST

Seniority or senility???
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 10:30 PM PST

Now I understand why I am first.Only senility could be an excuse for my past few weeks. Still as Michael Ball persists in saying "Love Changes Everything" or was it Jenny Lind with "Love Makes Such Fools Of Us All"
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 10:34 PM PST

I'm NOT AT ALL in love, not at
all in love, not I!
Posted by Babe @ 08/08/2003 10:37 PM PST

Is there someone else awake out there? Only a dozen to go. The West Coast gang should still be with us. OK TCB where are you? Where is DR Ron? Duty calls. (I think that is a song from a British musical but I can't remember which).
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 10:39 PM PST

That'll do pig, that'll do.
Posted by Farmer Hoggett @ 08/08/2003 10:40 PM PST

Duty Calls is from the new
British musical:
My BLAIR Lady.
Posted by François @ 08/08/2003 10:41 PM PST

So why are yuor pajamas not where they should be? I hope they were not left at Hernando's Hideaway Babe? Or are we talking about an Australian Pig in pajamas. Senility is so confusing but I forget why.
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 10:41 PM PST

I am still here, and I'd like to know this: Why is DR Jason not performing more professionally? I think he has an awesome voice. And he's young and handsome too!
Posted by Laura @ 08/08/2003 10:41 PM PST

LULU...I clicked on your name and I won't be the same for a very long time.
I was thrilled to hear that you had the same movie going experience I had. It seemed like everyone went to the movies the same way when I was a kid. As you said, you went in to the theatre anytime, sat through intermission and left where you came in. It was about the late 60's when people started going to movies from beginning to end. It might have been earlier.
I thought I just lived among a bunch of weird people. It drove me crazy too.
Posted by Dennis Clancy @ 08/08/2003 10:42 PM PST

A "Follies" reference from DR Laura and a Randy Newman reference from DR François. What time is it in Phoenix? By the time I get there anything could happen. Did you know that Wanda Jackson sang an answer song to the Glen Campbell classic?
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 10:44 PM PST

If the pig has pajama's, they must be the cat's.
Posted by Farmer Hoggett @ 08/08/2003 10:47 PM PST

Good to hear from DR Dennis. As far as I remember (back until about 1950) the only movie theatres that were of the "repeat" kind were the Newsreel and cartoon cinemas that had a programme running for about an hour. These days those cinemas show Porn. I don't think there are any newsreel cinemas left in London either. They were great when you had to fill in anhour or so before meeting someone or catching a plane or whatever.
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 10:49 PM PST

Be brave someone has to take the glory. We can't all be foot soldiers. Another post please. (Maybe that was Georgia trying to escape Fosca).
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 10:53 PM PST

200?
Posted by td @ 08/08/2003 10:54 PM PST

Thanks td. I can turn off the computer and go back to the Saturday chores. Good night everyone. Good morning François.
(Good Grief! It is afternoon tea time here!).
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/08/2003 10:56 PM PST

Sing "hallelujah!" and you chase the blues away!
Posted by td @ 08/08/2003 10:56 PM PST

Good (late) evening dear readers.....
Well, I have to say that DR Kerry and I are certainly full of diversity and texture these days, yes we are! In the last 5 days we have sat in a cabaret room by Liza Minelli, gone to a bar for gentlemen who sell antiques, attended a happy hour for dogs and their owners, tonight went to a Diamondbacks baseball game, and tomorrow night are going to a reading of a new musical with DR Laura and Sandra. My God, we are so rounded and versatile that we aren't even Metrosexual, we're Pansexual or Mondosexual!
DR Panni -- Who would have guessed that you were an exotic Hungarian nicknamed female screenwriter.... living IN ___??? Excuse me?? Where was that big city?? Panni, you may, more than once here, hear or see the phrase "enquiring minds want to know."
Well, after the baseball game, I think I may go spit in the backyard before I go to bed.
Posted by MusicGuy @ 08/08/2003 11:15 PM PST

MusicGuy-- did our team win???
Posted by Laura @ 08/08/2003 11:22 PM PST

Good morning, Good day ...
Well, I spoke too soon about my access to HHW at work being fixed. It's now forever August 5th. Why, oh why?
It's been hot, hot, hot here this week (though probably distinctly cool compared to Phoenix) - I was in London on Wednesday and it was 37.5 Celcius (which I guess is about 100F). The trouble is England doesn't know how to cope with extremes of weather. When we get a sprinkling of snow the whole country shuts down and now, because of the heat, trains are restricted to travelling at 60mph because of tracks expanding!!!
In my car CD player:
Promesse, Promesse (no I didn't spell it wrong, it's the Italian version)
Amour and Elegies thanks to a DR
Cyrano, the new Canadian version with Brent Carver, which has some good stuff in it.
In the DVD player - watched Chicago twice now. I'm now also about half way through the first series of Six Feet Under. I didn't discover the delights of this show until Series 2 turned up on our screens. I'm now having a great time understanding why certain things are as they are in Series 2.
Also just arrived literally five minutes ago(I know we don't usually do books, but what the hell) a second hand copy of Beautiful Mornin' by Ethan Mordden, puchased via abebooks. com which I've only just come across and which is a marvel. I only ordered this book yesterday.
It's a bit cooler here on the coast today, so I'll be going down to the beach for a swim in our refreshingly cool (i.e. freezing) sea.
Posted by Allan @ 08/09/2003 12:22 AM PST

Don't have a DVD player. Partner has one. Last thing we looked at was a set of FLASH GORDON episodes about two months ago.
VCR: Tape of HAPPY GO LUCKY with Dick Powell & now-I-know-why-she-had-no-screen-career Mary Martin. Too bad for both of them that Betty Hutton is also in it. Wipes 'em both off the screen. But you knew that!
CD: Soundtrack of BEST FOOT FORWARD with June Allyson, Nancy Walker & Toimmy Dix. God bless Rhino.
Posted by MasterLcZ @ 08/09/2003 12:41 AM PST

It's nearly 5 a.m. and I'm still up. Why? I dunno.
Laura: Thank you for the sweet compliment. I'm wondering the same thing, though...and for more money than Bucks is paying. It'll happen...one day...after I scrounge up the money for new headshots.
And now...bed.
Posted by Jason @ 08/09/2003 01:55 AM PST

DR Dennis: I doubt you'll see this, but I wanted to clarify: my parents took us to movies this way in the '70s and into the early '80s! So it *was* weird! I guess that's what they did as kids and just continued the practice long after it was fashionable. It had its effect on me; now I hate being even a couple of minutes late to see a movie, even though all I miss are some Pepsi commercials and coming attractions of movies I have no interest in seeing. It's the principle of the thing.
Posted by Lulu @ 08/09/2003 03:48 AM PST

Hi DR MasterLCz...hurray another Betty Hutton fan!
thanks DR Francois for the Damone link, and DRCharles Pogue for enlightening me re:Vic Damone Mercury Years CD!
Neely O'Hara in Follies.
Oh my, a new game....casting fictional characters in real musicals. Maybe MR BK can suggest that some slow day. But then we never have a slow day here at HHW! It will soon become a full time job reading the wonderful posts!
Posted by Jrand52 @ 08/09/2003 04:50 AM PST

I am always more interested in the principle.
Posted by Ebenezer Scrooge @ 08/09/2003 04:51 AM PST

Me, too.
Posted by Connie Brooks @ 08/09/2003 04:51 AM PST

DR Jrand52, I pulled out the compelte SHOW BOAT because earlier in the week, I watched the wonderful documentary called THE SHOW BOAT STORY which was part retrospective on the making of the stage show and part documentary on the recording of the complete CD version by McGlinn. I will forever think William Warfield sings the best "Ol' Man River" (he was in the Lincoln Center version I saw with Barbara Cook as well as the 1951 film), but Bruce Hubbard's darker version is certainly spectacular.
DR Master, the DVD of BLUE SKIES also contains BIRTH OF THE BLUES with Bing and Mary Martin, and she's just as nondescript in that as she is in the film you mentioned. And count me in as another Betty Hutton fan. Are there others here who think she's been unfairly forgotten?
Posted by Matt H. @ 08/09/2003 05:46 AM PST

For the DR who was wondering about the release date for THE SOPRANOS: Season 4, I just read on the internet that its release date is October 28.
Posted by Matt H. @ 08/09/2003 06:02 AM PST

What I want to know is when Rhino will release the Gypsy soundtrack? I went to the Web site and saw no mention of it.
Posted by Ben @ 08/09/2003 06:39 AM PST

Allan,
A little while ago on CBC radio, Richard Ouzounian featured the new recording of CYRANO, with Brent Carver. I didn't get to hear all of it, but what I heard was not bad at all.
I would be interesting to compare three versions of CYRANO - The Musical...
Posted by Dave @ 08/09/2003 07:09 AM PST

I hope that Guy Haines reads this before the cur off date. But I think he should run for Govenor.
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 08/09/2003 07:16 AM PST

Has everyone heard that Gary Coleman is now running for governor of California, and has financial backing to do so?
That's not a joke! Actual fact!
Posted by Don @ 08/09/2003 07:56 AM PST

I want to audition for Degrassi: the next generation. I've been searching and searching but have found nothing. I figure that this is a really good way to start a real acting career. Please contact me if you have heard anything! I would really appreciate it. My name is Jenny and my e-mail is hyper_dumbass@yahoo.com i know that it's not very profecinal but hey, i tried. thank you for your time and concideration
Posted by Jenny @ 08/20/2003 09:53 PM PST

I want to audition for Degrassi: the next generation. I've been searching and searching but have found nothing. I figure that this is a really good way to start a real acting career. Please contact me if you have heard anything! I would really appreciate it. My name is Jenny and my e-mail is hyper_dumbass@yahoo.com i know that it's not very profecinal but hey, i tried. thank you for your time and concideration
Posted by Jenny @ 08/20/2003 09:54 PM PST

I want to audition for Degrassi: the next generation. I've been searching and searching but have found nothing. I figure that this is a really good way to start a real acting career. Please contact me if you have heard anything! I would really appreciate it. My name is Jenny and my e-mail is hyper_dumbass@yahoo.com i know that it's not very profecinal but hey, i tried. thank you for your time and concideration
Posted by Jenny @ 08/20/2003 09:54 PM PST

I really would like to audition for Degrassi:The Next Generation. Like Jenny I have been searching and searching but have found nothing.It would mean the world to me if I was to make it.I think I would have a lot to offer.If you have heard anything please contact my e-mail at crussell86@sbcglobal.net.I would greatly appreciate it.By the way my name is Charles
Posted by Charles @ 08/23/2003 09:15 PM PST

I really would like to audition for Degrassi:The Next Generation. Like Jenny I have been searching and searching but have found nothing.It would mean the world to me if I was to make it.I think I would have a lot to offer.If you have heard anything please contact my e-mail at crussell86@sbcglobal.net.I would greatly appreciate it.By the way my name is Charles.
Posted by Charles @ 08/23/2003 09:16 PM PST

Dear Mr. Kimmel,
I am a 17 year old living in Clovis, CA and am wondering how I can be part of the Degrassi cast. It has been a life long dream of mine to become an actor, but don't know how to be "discovered". If you know where any auditions for Degrassi or any other job that might be looking for new faces please contact me. I would be very much obliged and you would be helping my dreams come true! Thank you very much for your time.
Nelson Estrada
(no I am not related to Eric! :)
Posted by Nelson Estrada @ 09/28/2003 01:00 AM PST

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