Posted by Sarah @ 08/15/2003 08:09 AM PST

I am here to tell you that our very own Sarah, she of the Swishy Shorts, has a beautiful voice, and you should all get a copy of her little wav. thing and listen to it. Singing Someone to Watch Over Me acapella is no mean feat, let me tell you, and she sings it quite loverly, if you ask me.

Posted by bk @ 08/15/2003 08:09 AM PST

Sarah can you e-mail me the file? I'd love to hear your singing voice...

Posted by Emily @ 08/15/2003 08:10 AM PST

In the spirit of that freckled, red-headed, pigtailed little imp Anne Shirley (aka: Anne of Green Gables), I propose that we all give ourselves nicknames here at HHW.

Sarah of the Swishy Shorts
Emily of Poutine
Honolulu Lulu

Posted by Lulu @ 08/15/2003 08:15 AM PST

DR Sarah, I'm still waiting to receive the file. :-)

Posted by Susan @ 08/15/2003 08:17 AM PST

CD Player (car) The Linda Eder CD, Broadway My Way. I haven't figured out yet whether I am enjoying this CD or not, but I haven't thrown it out the car window yet, so....

CD Player (house) Still playing this fabulous Australian CD featuring movie themes.

DVD Player The Dead Zone-The Complete First Season. What a great show. I love what they have done with King's premise and Anthony Michael Hall has really come into his own as an actor.

VCR The poor thing isn't even plugged in any longer (or shorter).

Posted by TCB @ 08/15/2003 08:18 AM PST

LOL Thank you BK, I tried emailing you a response that said the same, but I'm afraid my poor computer is failing miserably.

To everyone else who wanted it, if you could just wait a few hours longer! I promise you'll get it, but I need to leave my house for a little while, but when I come back, I'll devote every second to get it to you.

DR Susan: I got your email and it sounds like it could be a great opportunity. I'll beg mes parents :)

DR Lulu: You crack me up :)

Posted by Sarah @ 08/15/2003 08:38 AM PST

Nickname???!!!

Anyway....
DVD Player - I am watching GYPSY with the Misses Rosalind Russell and Natalie Wood. I saw this on the big screen all those many years ago, and I still enjoy it very much! The music and lyrics are very well served (and in stereo on the DVD), the costumes are lovely, the supporting cast is on the money (with exceptions) and then there is YOU GOTTA HAVE A GIMMICK! Russell is terrific, though it is a bit jarring when she starts to sing - Wood is beautiful, and boy she had some dance training! Did you ever see her terp in MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR? Somebody sure got a hand on her feet.

In my CD Player - the recent Broadway Cast Album THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW!

In my VCR - Dirk Bogarde in A TALE OF TWO CITIES...my favorite version of many.

There is a Region 2 DVD of this film with extras and interviews and EVERYTHING...but of course, I can't play it.

It was amazing to think that all those people were without electricity! Scary. And as Lisa Douglas said yesterday, obviously someone plugged in the toaster before they unplugged the coffee pot!

Posted by Jrand52 @ 08/15/2003 08:44 AM PST

The title of today's notes reminds me of my second favorite stage direction. It is in the script of OKLAHOMA! and reads:

DIM LIGHTS
DROP FLIES

My favorite stage direction is:

FROM OFFSTAGE WE HEAR THE SCREAM OF A NAKED WOMAN.

Posted by Jrand52 @ 08/15/2003 08:50 AM PST

Re: The BLACKOUT

Was anyone else as amused as I at the PM of Canada's assertions as to the cause(s) of the blackout?

It's nice to know other countries' leaders are as apt to insert a foot into mouth as ours are!

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/15/2003 08:58 AM PST

Jrand: LOL. Was the naked woman supposed to be cold or hot?

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/15/2003 08:59 AM PST

I've been thinking about DR Michael, who I believe was scheduled yesterday for eye surgery. I think Michael's in Montreal - so am hoping the operation went without a hitch. If good vibes from HHW help - then you should have a quick and complete recovery.

We were hit about 4 pm yesterday - just as I was about to take Archie the spaniel for his p.m. walk. I work at home, and of course the computer screen went blank (my mind was similarly blank at the time, so nothing worthwhile was lost). My partner works at the other end of town - it took him hours to crawl home, and then he had to face the prospect of walking up 34 flights of stairs. (The stairwells were pitch black.) Fortunately, he was able to stop for drinks at friends on floors 14 and 17. Eventually he arrived home - pissed, but safe. Archie was a good sport about everything, and when, at dawn, the elevators started moving again, so did he.

Darling of the Day is on the CD player. I find it comfort music. For comfort food, I made myself a bowl of hot kasha.

Posted by Dan-in-Toronto @ 08/15/2003 09:02 AM PST

Did Allen Funt ever get around to answering the question, "What do you say to a naked lady?"

Posted by TCB @ 08/15/2003 09:04 AM PST

Dan-in-Toronto Was that pissed in the American way or in the British way?

Posted by TCB @ 08/15/2003 09:08 AM PST

VCR: Continuing my Katherine Hepburn Mini-Film Festival (of her early films that I never saw), in my VCR is CHRISTOPHER STRONG (1933). Now, IMO, this is a very interesting film (although not without flaws). No chatty, carefree-for-all Kate here. She plays an intelligent, self-possessed woman aviatrix. The first shot you see of her is when she's driving her roadster (very fast). It's startling at first. Without her saying a word, you immediately get the gist of her character--self-assured, independent, kind of masculine, and above it all. Wow! It was directed by the pioneering woman director, Dorothy Arzner. One of the puzzling things about the film is its title. Although the story is clearly about Hepburn's character, its named for the married man she falls in love with.

Francois: I just read that France has had--within a one month period--up to 3000 heat or heat-related deaths. Can this possibly be true or a terrible exaggeration?

Posted by Donna @ 08/15/2003 09:11 AM PST

LOL, TCB. I wondered the same thing. ;)

Jrand: Choose a nickname:

Jack of the Corn

The Guy Who's Obsessed With Frances Farmer and Allison Hayes

Bevhater

Posted by Lulu @ 08/15/2003 09:11 AM PST

Donna: François is on holiday and won't be able to answer your question for three weeks. :( I didn't want you to think you were being ignored.

Posted by Lulu @ 08/15/2003 09:13 AM PST

Hi from NYC, where we on the upper west side have the power! POWER TO THE PEOPLE!! I tried to go to work today (my boss swung by and picked me up), but when we got to the building on E. 42nd street, they wouldn't let us up. So we came home, and YAY! a free day off work!

Last night was wild. I walked home from 42nd and 3rd to 107th and Broadway, picking up my fiancee at 50th and 8th along the way. The sidewalks were packed and there was no getting on a bus! Finally we got home, cleaned out the fridge, sat on the fire escape and looked at the stars, which we could see for the first time! That was the best thing about the evening. We lit candles and played a few songs on the piano (Dancing in the Dark, etc.) and went to bed in an amazingly dark room! Power was restored sometime early this morning, but we were able to get online last night thanks to a laptop and phone jack.

In my CD player is a compilation called "Strip Jointz II", which is a great workout CD. Among the heart-pumping tunes are "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mixalot (who had a birthday Wednesday, happy birthday Sir!), "Do Me" by Bell Biv Devoe, and "Whoomp, There it Is" by Tag Team. In my DVD player is still "Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood".

Posted by Joy @ 08/15/2003 09:16 AM PST

Lulu - I am immobilized by my choices.

Posted by Jrand52 @ 08/15/2003 09:28 AM PST

Pissed as in tiddly and sloshed. Not as in displeased and irritated (in fact, quite the opposite).

Posted by Dan-in-Toronto @ 08/15/2003 09:34 AM PST

DR Dan, thanks for the clarification. That could have turned into an international misunderstanding! ;-)

Posted by Susan @ 08/15/2003 09:39 AM PST

DR Ron - her supposed temperature was not disclosed.

I didn't hear what the Canadian PM said.

I personally think the blackout was caused by all the people currently on Broadway with long names...all those light bulbs on the marquees....I suggest they shorten or abbreviate and save power:

B Peters in Gypsy

Tony Band in Nine

Mel Griff & Bre Bar in Chicago

After all, Peggy Cass always told the story that after she won the Tony for Gooch in Mame, they put her name up...and the first night...the "c" burned out.

Posted by Jrand52 @ 08/15/2003 09:42 AM PST

In the DVD player. Nothing. But I'm renting THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES today. Haven't seen a Western in ages. This is a good one to revisit. (And John Vernon, the villain with the bluest eyes ever seen on film, is an old friend.)
CD player: HAINES HIS WAY, a tuneful way to start the day.

Posted by Panni @ 08/15/2003 09:46 AM PST

DR Sarah, please don't dilly dally about it, or even dally dilly about it. Appointments fill up fast. It's only for one day!

Posted by Susan @ 08/15/2003 09:46 AM PST

TCB - although Mr Funt got several responses to the question, I am not sure any one of them is definitive.

Joy - maybe you were on CNN crossing the bridge. Everyone in town was there.

Posted by Jrand52 @ 08/15/2003 10:09 AM PST

Jrand: I prefer Jack of the Corn. You could use BEVHATER as a personalized license plate.

Posted by Lulu @ 08/15/2003 10:14 AM PST

Actually, I guess it would be

BEVH8R

Wouldn't it?

Ciao.

Posted by Lulu @ 08/15/2003 10:15 AM PST

Since the subways still aren't running I'm home today!

At 4:17 yesterday afternoon I was in the bathroom at work when the light went out. Since the switch is outside the door I thought someone knew I was in there and was playing a joke, but when I finished the entire office was in the dark and we found a portable radio which told us what happened. The subways weren't running and I didn't know how I was going to get from Brooklyn to Queens. My boss told me to get in his car and he took me to a limo service near the office which was closed but he found one of the drivers and convinced him to take me home for $100 (which he paid!!!). So I rode home in the back seat of an air conditioned limo. It took two hours, but otherwise I would probably still be in Brooklyn.

Ray had gotten off a little early... just early enough to get home right before the subways stopped. It was warm but the most annoying thing was the Mr. Frosty truck parked right in front of the building which played continually that awful theme at full volume until 10:00 (and probably sold more in one day than in a usual month).

The lights came back for us at 8:15 this morning for us (different areas were different). The dsl modem was back about 2 hours later but the cable is still out. (We also lost water because of the electric pump in the building from about 11:00 last night but it came back shortly after the electricity)

Neither of us could get to work today, so it's like a long weekend and we can catch up on some of the things around the house.

By the way, nothing in the freezer was ruined. The ice cubes and the meat were still frozen solid. And only the milk spoiled in the refrigerator.

But what was so unusual for New York was that the people were very well behaved. On the limo ride only once did we hear a driver honking his horn; and with street lights out neighbors were directing traffic.

I want to hear other stories... good or bad from other dear readers.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/15/2003 10:19 AM PST

I find it interesting indeed that this blackout apparently led to far less street crime and looting in NYC than did the 1977 blackout.

Posted by Lulu @ 08/15/2003 10:26 AM PST

See the tree, how big it's grown.

Posted by Bobby Goldsboro @ 08/15/2003 10:31 AM PST

Great comments, Bill - and DiT - not sure how I would react in such circumstances. I keep thinking of all the crowds in the Godzilla movies.

DR Lulu - I am still thinking. But nobody else has chosen a nickname either! Work on them for awhile. I will get back to you on that, Miss Wahini.

Posted by Jrand52 @ 08/15/2003 10:37 AM PST

I'm babysitting, and I'm very, very bored. The people here don't let their kids watch anythign but TLC, ESPN, and Playhouse Disney (I'm not EVEN kidding), so I'm stuck here bumping back and forth from A Makeover Story and Tennis, both of which are not holding my attention.

DR Susan: I do believe that you, Emily, and Noel are the only other cookies who have appointments today. I have plenty of time, :)

Again, I ask, who here wrote My Louisiana Sky?

Posted by Sarah @ 08/15/2003 10:59 AM PST

Cookies??? Cookies???? Did someone mention cookies???? (Oh, a Cookie Monster reference.)

Posted by Susan @ 08/15/2003 11:03 AM PST

Has anyone noticed that dear
reader Susan has become our
official HHW Den Mother?

I will let the dear reader who
wrote the film of My Louisiana
Sky identify their very own self.
That dear reader should be
very proud of her work on said
film. I woke up at three-thirty,
unable to sleep and I watched
quite a bit of it. Excellent
performances by Shirley
Knight and Juliette Lewis.

Posted by bk @ 08/15/2003 11:13 AM PST

We have power!

And we had a cozy fire in the fire place last night--very romantic!

More later.

Posted by William F. Orr @ 08/15/2003 11:13 AM PST

How many other coast
Hainsies/Kimlets turned OFF
their power, just so our East
Coast Hainsies/Kimlets didn't
feel they were being singled
out?

Posted by bk @ 08/15/2003 11:24 AM PST

OMG, Sarah of the Swishy Shorts, you gave me a flashback to my own Babysitting Days.

The couple I sat for had two kids, 9 and 10 months, and I sat for them every Wednesday evening so that they could lead a Bible Study. The only things that the older child was allowed to watch were Wheel of Fortune and Highway to Heaven. That's it! And I hated both shows with a passion that burned with the intensity of a thousand, thousand suns.

The first night I sat for the kids, I made the mistake of bringing the book I was reading at the time: _The Color Purple_. The dad made some comment about it being "racy." I assured them I was reading it and doing a book report for a class; I hadn't brought it along for Storytime.

Posted by Lulu @ 08/15/2003 11:26 AM PST

Correction: 9 YEARS and 10 months. ;)

Posted by Lulu @ 08/15/2003 11:27 AM PST

Don't get me wrong, NYC Kimseys and Hainslets, but I am very disappointed with the news coverage of this blackout. The impression we got here on the Left Coast was that the blackout was in New York City. There was almost no coverage at all about the rest of New York State, or Ohio or Pennsylvania or Michigan, or Ontario in Canada (which in South Park tradition we should blame, of course) or New Jersey. Well, no one ever talks about New Jersey, so that's no suprise. Still, I would have hoped that the national broadcasters would have realized that this was an National event.

Still, I am glad that all the DRs are well, even if unrecognized on the news.

The Great Birthday Raid on DVD Planet May Be Postponed! The brithday is on Sunday, but Tuesday is when Chicago is being released. It is also (promotional drumroll here) when the DVD for All That Jazz is being released, for a listed sale price of $10.50! Or is that a re-release? All the same, it's reason enough for the ever-lovin' der Brucer and I to be considering putting off the birthday raid by two days. And it's the thought that counts more than the actual day, right?

As it is, I've got my hands full going through a trove of discs der Brucer found on sale at Sam's Club on Wednesday. The intention was to simply go to Sam's Club to get a bag of dog food. Der Brucer dropped me off at the Barnes & Noble next door to pick up his news magazines, while he parked. But in the time it took me to get his magazines (and do a quick browse through the rest of the store), he had found no less than thirty-one DVDs that were on sale, and had loaded them into the cart.

It's a good thing I've got a good memory for what we already have in our collection, because two of the discs he'd found were duplicates and I had to have him put them back. Other than that, he managed to find a number of interesting discounts. For the grandlads, there are Peter Rabbit animations and films like Madeline and The Indian in the Cupboard. True Grit and Paint Your Wagon were being sold packaged together, which got me fantasizing about Lee Marvin and John Wayne singing duets. A terrible horror called The Sentinel was one der Brucer insisted on getting dispite my protests.

And then there were the boxed sets of 8 discs each, for less than $30 each. One is of "Timeless Movie Classics," which included such films as Charade, Life with Father, My Man Godfrey, His Girl Friday, and Of Human Bondage. ("I didn't know Summerset Maugham wrote comedies," I said to my mate.)

The other box is of early Hitchcock films, silent and black & white works he made in England. Many of these films I only know of by reputation, such as The Lodger, The Ring, and Sabotage. So I really can't complain about der Brucer's bargain hunting.

Well, yes I can. My copy of Hitchcock/Truffaut was lost years ago, so I guess it's time for me to start checking the used bookstores, to find a decent copy. Getting the backstory on these films is suddenly important, and that book was filled with Hitchcock's tales.

All for now. I've got a lot of viewing to catch up on.

Posted by S. Woody White @ 08/15/2003 11:32 AM PST

DR SWW, was that a New Jersey joke?

Posted by Susan @ 08/15/2003 11:36 AM PST

Dear DR Sarah: I can understand how cautious some parents must feel about their children's television habits. Letting them watch FoodTV could entice the l'il ones to putting all sorts of strange things in their mouths! The Travel Channel keeps repeating their programs on Las Vegas. Discovery Arts & Leisure has that show with The Designer Guys. And Bill O'Reilly seems like such a nice fellow, but he keeps talking about dirty things and really isn't appropriate for anyone's viewing.

Have these parents ever heard of DVDs and tapes? Let the kids choose their own programming from a selection the parents have already screened. Better yet, let them listen to music, like Carnival of the Animals and The Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra. Let them use their imaginations while they listen.

Even better still, why not go outside and play? It's too nice a day to be stuck inside, at least it is where I am.

Posted by S. Woody White @ 08/15/2003 11:43 AM PST

Uh...yes! :-)

Posted by S. Woody White @ 08/15/2003 11:44 AM PST

Yes, they should go outside and play in traffic.

Posted by Minnie Kritzer @ 08/15/2003 11:51 AM PST

I growed up watching "Peyton Place" and sci-fi movies and I done just fin.

Posted by Jrand52 @ 08/15/2003 11:51 AM PST

I just scrolled up and read the old postings and came across bk's kind words about MY LOUISIANA SKY. I was going to pull a Greta Garbo when the question was originally asked by DR Sarah about the identity of the DR who wrote it, but now I feel silly. So, okay, I wrote it. Not the book, Sarah. The screenplay. Sarah, you love the book (as you should - it's good), so it would be interesting for you to rent the movie and compare. There are many things in the book which are not in the movie, and many things in the movie, not in the book. I've done quite a bit of adaptation in my time and the one cardinal rule for me is to be respectful to the source material, but not so respectful that it gets in the way of the film. I'm sure many DR's can offer examples of films in which too much R-E-S-P-E-C-T killed the movie. Hitchcock said (in the Hitchcock/Truffaut book?) that he preferred adapting bad books. I know what he meant.

Posted by Panni @ 08/15/2003 11:58 AM PST

A shandeh un a charpeh

Posted by Ahntoisht @ 08/15/2003 12:03 PM PST

And a bralla bralla suet.

Posted by Ish Kabibble @ 08/15/2003 12:13 PM PST

Lulu: Re: Francois - Thanks for letting me know.

I'm with WEL. Let's have more stories of your blackout experiences. It's very instructive to know how people react in an emergency.

Posted by Donna @ 08/15/2003 12:37 PM PST

Did Francois get Den Mother
Susan't permission to go on a
three week holiday?

I'm off to get a salad. When I
return I hope there are a lot of
posts for my mental
delectation.

Posted by bk @ 08/15/2003 12:48 PM PST

About screenplays and source material. At the time Ann Rice was making a fuss about the casting of Interview with the Vampire, I read an interview with Olivia Goldstone, author of First Wives Club. She was asked about the screenwriter's respect (or lack of) for her novel, and she replied (a paraphrase), with honesty, that the huge check she received for the rights was respect enough, thank you.

Posted by Dan-in-Toronto @ 08/15/2003 12:54 PM PST

Greetings all! I'm writing this on behalf of DR Jason and myself to say we're sorry we've been absent and are unable to read or post as much as we'd like. We are deep into performances of SCARLET PIMP and are sweating so much we look as though we're constantly walking in from the rain.
Jason informs me that there may be a DR or two paying us a visit this weekend. That'd be smurfy, if I do say so.
Love to all... and don't forget us!

Posted by Don & Jason @ 08/15/2003 12:57 PM PST

Den Mother? When was I elected Den Mother? As long as it's not Hen Mother, er, I mean, Mother Hen. Somehow that would be unseemly. ;-)

Posted by Susan @ 08/15/2003 12:57 PM PST

I know it was said the lights on Broadway would be dimmed for Gregory Hines, but this is ridiculous.

Posted by Noel @ 08/15/2003 12:58 PM PST

As soon as I hit the Post button, I realized that I was under the influence of Gypsy. Olivia Goldsmith (she took the name from Oliver Goldsmith), not Mr.- have-an-eggroll - Goldstone.

Posted by Dan-in-Toronto @ 08/15/2003 12:59 PM PST

DR Susan, if we get unruly, may I suggest you shrink us and put us in glass tubes?

Posted by Jrand52 @ 08/15/2003 12:59 PM PST

In the car cd player: Guy Haines
In the house cd player: Moby Dick

Since we had a bit of rain last night, it was fairly cool this morning (by AZ standards), so I went to the zoo. Even now at 1 p.m., it's only 92F. Unheard of!

Posted by Laura @ 08/15/2003 01:02 PM PST

How nice to hear from DRs Don and Jason. Hi boys!

Posted by Laura @ 08/15/2003 01:03 PM PST

LOL, DR Jrand! Where do you get such ideas? ;-)

Posted by Susan @ 08/15/2003 01:07 PM PST

Oooooooooooooooh this kid is bad. I'll tell more later, but his dad's home. I am SO mad...

Posted by Sarah @ 08/15/2003 01:14 PM PST

From ALL those neat-o movies, DR Susan, now available on DVD!

Hey DR DiT - in about 5 1/2 hours I will BE Mr Goldstone! Hopefully I won't bite my cigar in two this evening. Bleh! And did you ever eat an eggroll and a spare rib at once?

Posted by Jrand52 @ 08/15/2003 01:17 PM PST

CD--Ute Lemper mix of her singing Weill and German cabaret songs. Would that I understood a word of German!

DVD--Spirited Away. Utterly delightful, if a bit creepy at times. I think that if I was a little kid and watched it, it would give me nightmares.

DR S. Woody White--as a former employee of Sam's Club, I can well understand your coming in for dog food and ending up buying 30 DVD's. The place is a money trap. But they do have good prices, especially on DVD's. The one I worked at though didn't sell nearly as many classic movies...mostly stuff like XXX Terminator-Robot: Revenge of the Killer Spy Robots.

DR Panni--how awesome that you are a screenwriter! Without fear of plugging your own work, could you tell me some of the other stuff you've written? I'd love to know.

Posted by Maya @ 08/15/2003 01:17 PM PST

Peyton Place! Well, Jrand, that explains a lot.

Posted by TCB @ 08/15/2003 01:18 PM PST

Oh..Sarah...I'd like to hear your version of Someone to Watch Over Me too.

Posted by Maya @ 08/15/2003 01:18 PM PST

Thank you to all those who have given good vibes about the eye procedure yesterday. They had a difficult time at first as when it comes to this kind of procedure (laser) it is difficult for me. So I told them to freeze it (which they did) and it made the it all that easier. The doctor was able to firm the holes that needed it and close ones that were not done. It was a strange sensation when the novacaine wore off. My eye is having a little problem adjusting and my vision is still a bit blurry.

Catching up on yesterday>

Happy Anniversy to Susan. Damn! missed this one too.

I worried about the Blackout as my parents live in Montreal, but when I called them they told me Montreal had been spared.

To: Dan-in-Toronto
Thank you for your extra good thoughts. I do not live in Montreal anymore and have been living in the USA for the past 8 years. Both Montreal and Toronto have changed so much over the years I don't recognize it anymore.

In my DVD player
Season 3 of Babylon 5
Season 1 of Will and Grace
Sordid Lives. (I love this movie and have already watched it seveal times.)
Coming up over the weekend I will be watching the original Haunting, West Side Story and Lord of the Rings on my new set! I love it. It really makes all the difference when you watch movies this way!!

I am so happy to hear about Duck You Sucker (as I have know and loved it) that it is finally coming out on DVD. Of all the movies I wanted to see this has been at the top of my list. I can't wait for it to come out. I just hope I will not be disappointed. I expect BK to give a full report on the DVD set.

CDs: Kevin Koelbl (Somewhere In Time) and Peter Cincotti (Self titled) which I cannot praise more than enough. I highly recommend anyone who likes jazz/cabaret singers. A great mix of songs one would not expect to hear including The Rainbow COnnection, You Stepped Out of a Dream and Come Live Your Life With Me (actually the Godfather Waltz with lyrics added to them)

RE: And then there were the boxed sets of 8 discs each, for less than $30 each. One is of "Timeless Movie Classics," which included such films as Charade, Life with Father, My Man Godfrey, His Girl Friday, and Of Human Bondage. I would be very wary of the quality of these DVDs. These films are in the public domain are not from original negative sources.

Fav songs from yesterday. Like Matt I am also a Broadway Baby, even though I don't have a favorite I have a lot that I like to hear and wouldn't switch to another radio station if I heard them.

Thanks again to everyone who posted witth good thoughts.

Posted by Michael @ 08/15/2003 01:20 PM PST

Bravo, Noel, I have been waiting for someone to come up with a good line about the blackout.

Posted by TCB @ 08/15/2003 01:25 PM PST

You know, all those years Jrand was watching me, I had a little crush on him.

Posted by Allison McKenzie @ 08/15/2003 01:25 PM PST

Me, too!

Posted by Rodney Harrington @ 08/15/2003 01:27 PM PST

DR Michael, I'm delighted to hear all went well with the operation and that you are on the road to recovery. Thank you for your sweet wishes; you really didn't miss anything.

Posted by Susan @ 08/15/2003 01:29 PM PST

Are My Louisiana Sky and My Private Idaho the same film, Panni?

Posted by TCB @ 08/15/2003 01:34 PM PST

OK, so I get there today, and the kid is already gone. I panic, and start calling a list of his friends. Finally, I find him, and he says "Oh well, I figured you'd know where I was."

grr

Then, later, he's on the computer, and I'm sitting at the table being bored. I wander over to see what he's doing, and he's searching for porn! (He's 12, mind you.) I yell at him for that, and he says "Oh whoops, I typed the wrong word. Sorry!"

Grr.

THEN, he tells me that he's going over a friends house down the street. I say "OK, check in in an hour." He agrees, and rides his bike over. 2 hours later, he shows up, not having checked in, with his friend. They don't know I'm listening to them, and I hear the friend mutter "Just don't tell her we went, ok? CVS is on main roads, we could get grounded for this."

I'm REALLY mad now.

I confront him later, and he LIES about going, and then, after threatening him, he confesses, and lies about lying! He starts yelling at me, and I tell him to go to his room, he calls me a few choice names and slams the door. I told his parents though, and they apologized, saying they were going to have a "LOOOOOOONG talk" with him.

I left smiling :)

Posted by Sarah @ 08/15/2003 01:42 PM PST

Good to hear you are OK Michael.Also great to have the East Coasters back on board.

CDs: Jerry Vale "The Italian Album"
OBC "Wildcat"
Oz Cast "Shout" (David Campbell).

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/15/2003 01:55 PM PST

From yesterday's posts:

I am still hoping a DR may be able to give me information (or better) on the availabilty of the movie "Caravans". (The CD soundtrack is great). Any format for the film PAL or NTSC is fine. I can't find it listed anywhere.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/15/2003 01:59 PM PST

In media players:

CD - FADE OUT, FADE IN (OBC)

VCR - Chaplin's THE CIRCUS

DVD - HOUSE OF WAX/MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM with ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE AND FRIENDS, Season 1 on tap.

Posted by Matt H. @ 08/15/2003 02:00 PM PST

As a screenwriter who's been lucky enough to adapt some of his favourite authors, my goal is to be faithful to the spirit of the author without necessarily being literally faithful to the book. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately), I've never had to adapt any recent bestsellers that had a current following of mavens with hard-and-fast expectations, they were usually older, venerable classics of various genres where people's specific memories had faded and that's what I try to do: Give everyone their memory of the book. I also try to make it very hard to figure out where the original author leaves off and Pogue begins.

I tell a lie. I did do an adaptation for Anne Rice's WITCHING HOUR a while back for a rather powerful directing/producing team.
I think I did a rather brilliant job of distilling a 900 page book into a two and a half movie. The d/p team thought so too...up to a point. When they started to undermine the essentials, I balked. The director got very angry with me and said: "Are you going to write what we tell you to or not?" I told him: "You don't need me for that. You can get a secretary to take dictation." He called me the most disrespectful writer he'd ever met and hung up on me. The film, needless to say, never got done. Oddly enough, a friend of mine back East met Rice at a book-signing and mentioned my script to her. She looked up at him and sighed: "Oh, the one I liked!"

In the CD: Glenn Yarbrough: The Lonely Things (love songs of Rod McKuen).

Nothing in the DVD: I think the wife and I are going to a screening of Passionada tonight which stars a friend of ours, Jason Isaacs (from Dragonheart). There is a Q&A with the director, Dan Ireland, who I know slightly and directed a brilliant movie a few years back called THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD, which gave Rene Zellwegger her start.

Posted by Charles Pogue @ 08/15/2003 02:00 PM PST

I've read that Passionada also stars Emmy Rossum, who will play Christine in the movie Phantom of the Opera.

Posted by Maya @ 08/15/2003 02:04 PM PST

I'm back, I've eaten my salad,
and I've read these delicious
posts. Do you know what I'm
thinkin'? I'm thinkin' we might
just get to eighty posts.

Posted by bk @ 08/15/2003 02:09 PM PST

Am taking my second spin through the same six CDs I listed last week, enjoying each of them in its own way.

Posted by Jay @ 08/15/2003 02:21 PM PST

But what about Betty Anderson and Norman Harrington?

Posted by Jrand52 @ 08/15/2003 02:57 PM PST

Je suis tres heureuse dire que mon ordinateur est travailler!

Phew!

I'll get the clips to you, sooner or later, I promise....its divided into 2 parts though, because my computer was having a breakdown with a big file.

Posted by Sarah @ 08/15/2003 02:58 PM PST

The original one-part file
Sarah sent to me took twelve
minutes to download (a HUGE
file) but it was worth it.

Posted by bk @ 08/15/2003 03:01 PM PST

:) Thanks bk

Posted by Sarah @ 08/15/2003 03:09 PM PST

BTW (By the way in Internet lingo), Maya, what is your email again?

Posted by Sarah @ 08/15/2003 03:12 PM PST

I have been errant and truant and errant these last coupl'a days. Busy, busy, busy (that's three busys) but sometimes it seems like I'm not really doing much of anything. Anyway, to the regular topic at hand (and ear and eye).

In my work CD player: a CD-R of the vinyl LP soundtrack to "Mack the Knife" with Raul Julia and Julia Migenes. After that, the remastered "Sing a Song of Baise" by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. Fabulous.

In my DVD player: season 2 of Futurama. It's only the second series in which I intend to buy all seasons (thankfully, and sadly, there will only be four). The other title that I bought was the complete series in one set of Sports Night.

In my VCR: nothing.

Panni, I work for a library and just placed a reqest for the DVD of "My Louisiana Sky." I read a little synopsis of the book and it sounds interesting.

Posted by George @ 08/15/2003 03:17 PM PST

This should be post #87--only 113 more to get to 200!!

Posted by George @ 08/15/2003 03:18 PM PST

DR Charles, The Glenn Yarbrough CDs I have are "Time To Move On" and the double "Baby the Rain Must Fall" /"It's Gonna Be Fine".
Is the one you mentioned taken from the McKuen songs on these or is quite a different recording.
I love Glenn's version of "She's Too Far Above Me" and "The Honey Wind Blows" is a long time favourite.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/15/2003 03:19 PM PST

I do believe my computer is plotting against me. Susan, did you get yours?

Posted by Sarah @ 08/15/2003 03:27 PM PST

I'm just thinkin' we might get to
ninety posts today.

Sarah, Susan won't be back
on her computer until
tomorrow evening. She does
the Jewish thing on Friday and
Saturday.

Posted by bk @ 08/15/2003 03:38 PM PST

bk: Thanks for enlightening me.

Emily: Do you have another email? I dont think Hotmail can take anything more than like 1024K.

Posted by Sarah @ 08/15/2003 03:41 PM PST

DR Tom from Oz, The Yarbrough McKuen CD is called The Lonely Things and is quite a different album than the two you mentioned as I happened to have both of those too. None of the songs are repeats from those CDs. There is another album of Yarbrough/McKuen songs called I Think of You and none of that is culled from either of the two you mentioned (It is not as good as The Lonely Things, in my opinion). I've had a record album of The Lonely Things since college (we're talking late sixties). The CD of it, I believe I acquired mail order some years back. The label is Calabasas (which maybe Yarbrough's own label, I'm not sure), but it's distributed through Folk Era Records. 1-800-232-7328. No, email, sorry, I think this was before email and corporate websites.

Posted by Charles Pogue @ 08/15/2003 03:42 PM PST

George,
Thanks for getting the DVD of SKY for your library! It won the 2002 Andrew Carnegie Medal, given by the American Library Association.

Posted by Panni @ 08/15/2003 03:57 PM PST

What we have here is a lull.
We don't need no stinking
lulls. First of all, our East
Coasters need to make up for
the blackout. We need to hear
from each and every East
Coaster, we do, we really do.

Posted by bk @ 08/15/2003 04:29 PM PST

Well today I realized what BK realized a few weeks ago. When I'm at work I am constantly reading and posting to this here site because I am sitting at the computer all day. On a day when I am home and doing other things, I somehow don't get to the computer as often.

NYC update: As of 7:15 all power is back in Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx; only one area in Brooklyn is still without power and about eight areas of Manhattan (including the Penn Station area) are waiting for power. Some of that may have been restored since the last report I heard was half an hour ago. Broadway shows will go on tonight since power is back in Times Square. Subways are still closed. They have to have the power on in all areas before they can start powering up the subways and that will take four to six hours. Our cable is back but not all the stations are working yet.

A nice story... Ray's sister lives in one of the neighborhoods in Manhattan where the power is still out. She decided she couldn't take the heat so she rode around on an air conditioned bus for a while to cool off. Hopefully by now her power is back.

The dog and cats took it in their stride, although I'm sure they wondered why they ate by candlelight last night. Ray wonders how many tropical fish died because their water pumps were off.

To change the subject... for fans of musical films, not only are CHICAGO and ALL THAT JAZZ being released on DVD this Tuesday, but also HELLO DOLLY, THE ROSE and COVER GIRL. The first two probably need no explanation, but for you younger DRs, COVER GIRL is the closest Columbia ever came to making an MGM Musical. It has a Kern/Ira Gershwin score and stars Gene Kelly, Eve Arden, Rita Hayworth (voiced by Nan Wynn) and Phil Silvers. Don't miss it.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/15/2003 04:32 PM PST

DR Sigerson Holmes Does Jimmy buffet's "Ringling Ringling" count. I assume it is a town but my knowledge of the USA and its place names it restricted to major cities - my Atlas does not help.

Thanks DR Charles. I shall ivestigagte. The Rod/Glenn combination is perfect. I like the Jimmie Rodgers songs of Rod too.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/15/2003 04:46 PM PST

Yee-ha!

Let's have more from the left coast posties...and more from the right coast posties....and all the toasty posties in Europe and in the middle of these here Newnited States!

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/15/2003 04:49 PM PST

And I certainly do not mean to omit any reference to our upside down posties, toasted or coastie variety...and they know of whom I speak since they're pretty sharp cookies Down Under!

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/15/2003 04:51 PM PST

WEL: Is that a rerelease or update cleanup of Dolly? I know it has been available here before. Maybe we had one form the UK. Thanks for the news about "The Rose" too. I must remember to avoid it. (OK. I am not a Midler fan).
And now off to the amazon for some discovery time - the amazing Yarbrough may be sighted.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/15/2003 04:52 PM PST

Please can I be 100.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/15/2003 04:53 PM PST

Thank you. I would need to be up at 3.00am to be #1. We all need something in our day to make it special. Until I heard a news report I had not thought of the poor unfortunate souls hanging upside down on rides at Coney Island. I don't need my day to be that special.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/15/2003 04:55 PM PST

I Want My Coast Toasties!

Posted by Little Whiny Kid @ 08/15/2003 04:59 PM PST

Firstly, you would think that I would know how to type "request" and not spell it "reqest" but I didn't copy and paste into Word to use the spell check. I did for this post.

Secondly, Panni, just to avoid confusion (and to not take credit where it's not due), the library that I work for had already purchased the DVD and VHS copies of the movie "My Louisiana Sky" and I just requested a copy for my own personal viewing. I do work in the Acquisitions Department, acquiring the materials, but I don't make the decisions.

Posted by George @ 08/15/2003 05:00 PM PST

I'm thinkin' we just might make
100 osts today.

Has anyone noticed that I
inadvertantly (rather than
vertantly) wrote "osts" instead
of "posts"? So, now we'll have
to have osts rather than posts.
Let's have lots and lots of osts.

Posted by bk @ 08/15/2003 05:03 PM PST

I have just found a website that is absolutely hilarious. And what do you know, it has a link to another website that is hilarious. And more.

http://maddox.xmission.com

My brother tells me over my shoulder that cultured people like yourselves wouldn't like it.

If that statement is true I think I might cry. We all need to laugh more. So read away my pretties.

BTW (By The Way in Internet lingo), some of the better entries are in previous years. A particular favorite is "Childrens Artwork" or something of the sort.

Posted by Sarah @ 08/15/2003 05:22 PM PST

My brother just suggested drinking a beer before you read it, because it'll be a lot funnier.

I have to go ask him why he knows this. He only just turned 18. Stupid kid.

Posted by Sarah @ 08/15/2003 05:55 PM PST

It's the FRIDAY A/V REPORT:

DVD PLAYER:
BAND OF BROTHERS - this miniseries keeps getting better and better. I really can't wait to the rest of the episodes!
HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED KINGDOM - Reg Park. Christopher Lee. Mario Bava's first color film, and oooooooooooh!, what color!
PAPER MOON - I'll get to this one around ten. Looking forward to seeing it again.
THE RECRUIT - I'm on a Colin Farrell kick, since the man has been haunting my dreams. Last night, in my dreams, he was one of my ex-es and he was stalking me.

CD PLAYER:
Diana Krall - LOVE SCENES - "Peel Me a Grape is a highlight.
Peter Cincotti - Thank you for discovering him, Harry Connick.
URINETOWN - still haven't formed a solid opinion on this one.

DOWNLOADED CDS:
The Complete K. T. Oslin - warm, wonderful, humorous country-western voice. great songwriting.
A Debbie Reynolds Collection - I've been singing "Tammy" in HER KEY all this time! (It's in A-flat, and quite possibly, a bit too low).
Jennifer Warnes Duets - Matt and I worked on the "For Our Children"'s arrangement of "Golden Slumbers" this past Sunday - - Jennifer goes all the way down to a D (below middle C), and so did I. . .I think it's too low.

VCR and LASERDISC PLAYER are both gathering dust. . .

ask about dvds tomorrow, and I should be saying "HELLO, DOLLY!" as it was shipped on Tuesday afternoon.

DR Sarah: you send me YOUR voice, I'll send you mine. . .(several DRs, including host-master BK, already have mine).

. . .and this is my ost for the evening.

Posted by td @ 08/15/2003 05:59 PM PST

Guess I should not be too concerned about the plight of people hanging upside down at fun fairs yesterday. As DR Ron is so well aware we do that all the time here. Did you manage to come with when you were here Ron (in Perth I think). I shall avoid any unseemly reference to well hung whether it be right way up or upside down as this is a family site. Keep yourself nice TCB.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/15/2003 06:07 PM PST

Sarah--just click on my name!

TD--If you like Peter Cincotti, have you heard of Michael Buble? He has a great voice and he's totally swoon-worthy.

Posted by Maya @ 08/15/2003 06:07 PM PST

hey guys...

do you know what I feel like RIGHT now? Initiating an impromptu chat - that's what!

Posted by Emily @ 08/15/2003 06:10 PM PST

DR Maya - I have been on a Michael Buble kick for a long, long time! I believe I introduced a couple of other DRs to Michael's music!
And if you're really a fan of Michael, be sure to check out the title track to DOWN WITH LOVE.

As for NICKNAMES, DR Susan (and the gang at Scarlet Street) DO have a nickname for me; maybe, just maybe, I'll use that nickname from time to time here at HHW.

Posted by td @ 08/15/2003 06:11 PM PST

So, Sarah...are you in Springfield?

You said just southwest of DC.

I might be off on my directions.

Maybe you're in Falls Church?

Alexandria?

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/15/2003 06:15 PM PST

TD--thanks, I will have to check out that track..I don't think I've heard it.

Anyway, I'm off to a sleepover. See everyone later.

Posted by Maya @ 08/15/2003 06:22 PM PST

All right, everyone in the chat room, quick, the water's fine.

Posted by bk @ 08/15/2003 06:31 PM PST

Just tried with no luck. Are you teasing us, BK?

Posted by Jay @ 08/15/2003 06:34 PM PST

No tease. The chat room is open!

Posted by Jay @ 08/15/2003 06:35 PM PST

Okay, Emily, you wanted an impromptu chat, now get your butt cheeks in there. And that goes for the rest of you. Otherwise I shall have to close up the room.

Posted by bk @ 08/15/2003 06:37 PM PST

Come join us!

Posted by Jay @ 08/15/2003 06:38 PM PST

I'm in the chat... promise me there are other losers home on a friday night...

pleassssseeee....

Posted by Emily @ 08/15/2003 06:42 PM PST

Tom---
As far as I know it's the first time DOLLY has been released on DVD in the colonies.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/15/2003 07:08 PM PST

HI! I made it back from NYC! And what an adventure it was... More details later once I catch up on things...

However, I had a rather wonderful time during the "Big Blackout of 2003". And food was involved too!

Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 08/15/2003 07:22 PM PST

Haven't read a thing yet (at 10:25pm on Friday) Just wanted to say that we finally got our power restored. We were one of the last neighborhoods in the city to get our power back. It happened at 9pm this evening. So here we are. Ant's Fringe show for this evening was cancelled but his show for tomorrow will go on (at 10:30pm). I will go to the laundromat tomorrow morning to finish the laundry I had JUST started when the power went out. Our clothes are sitting in the washers all wet and soapy! Then I will throw out everything in the freezer. Well, it needed to be defrosted anyway.

Later, gang. Glad to see there are still over 100 posts in spite of an east coast blackout.

Posted by Ben @ 08/15/2003 07:29 PM PST

In my DVD player - disk 3 of season 4 of "Buffy" - and it's STUCK there, since the player died last week. It was a cheap player, and I've a horrible suspicion that it will be cheaper to replace it than have it fixed, even though I suspect the problem is relatively minor (probably the power supply - unrelated to the blackout, on which more later).

I have been errant and truant. I have been all over the place, actually. I was in New York for a conference at the start of the month, and now my mother's visiting and touring Canada, so I've also been in Ottawa and Montreal (and she's been staying with friends in Pickering, a suburb, so even when I've been in Toronto I mostly haven't been home). She went on to Quebec City on Wednesday, and I came back to Toronto on Tuesday night to go to work on Wednesday morning. Bonus - all of this running about on the train has pushed my VIA preference account (like FF miles) over the balance I need to get a free trip - so I get to go back to Montreal sometime this fall (which is good because Montreal is just about my favourite place).

And then I got to experience the blackout. My, was that fun. Fortunately, I was not in the subway, a tall building, or an elevator when the power went down. Unfortunately, I was not at home. I was downtown (and had actually declined a ride home from work because I was in the office doing a contract job, finished earlier than I expected, around 3, and wanted to head up to Yorkville to run a couple of errands. RATS!). I hung out with a friend for a while, because I didn't want to head home until the temperature had cooled a little (it was very hot yesterday, it's about a 5-mile walk home, and I didn't want to do it in the heat of the day). By the time I started to head back home, buses were replacing subway trains, but they were incredibly crowded and glacially slow (no traffic lights, though policemen were out with flares on the busier intersections downtown). I let about 10 buses pass before I could get on one, and it took me a couple of hours to get home.

My power came back on at 6 this morning, or thereabouts (I was asleep). It's a mess here - I had an unscheduled day off work because the university closed all three campuses. The subway and streetcars are still down, though buses are running. The ATM and debit networks are only working very sporadically. Traffic lights are mostly not working. It'll be Monday before all of this is properly restored, according to the local news. There are long, long lines at functioning gas stations - and yesterday, hot dog vendors downtown were doing a massive trade, since hot dog carts aren't on the grid and were the main source of food and drink for thousands of stranded, hot commuters (me too).

Fortunately, VIARail is still running - I'm off to Kingston tomorrow to meet my mother on her way back from Quebec (there was no power outage at all in Quebec City - the first she knew of it was when I phoned her last night). GO Trains (local commuter rail) are still down, though.

But as bad as it's been, it could have been so much worse - this kind of power outage here would be much, much more dangerous in the middle of winter. And at least my power is (sporadically) up now, though there are still rolling blackouts in the city (and will be for a while). I'll have to ditch the contents of my fridge, but that's relatively minor (haven't even opened the freezer, and I'm not going to until power is reliably, constantly restored - then I'll deal with it).

It was extremely strange, last night, to be downtown in a city this size and be in pitch darkness. Walking home from the bus was an interesting experience, simply because I couldn't see the kerbs when I was crossing streets. The atmosphere downtown last night, fortunately, was mostly calm and good-natured. And everyone I know is OK, thank God.

Posted by Stephen Farrow @ 08/15/2003 07:51 PM PST

Good to have you back Stephen. Can't imagine how I would cope in the subway of especially in an elevator. I don't even like them when there is power! As expected (better photo opportunities)NYC has had most of the international press. A few years back New Zealand had an enormous blackout - Thankfully most of the sheep are white so there would not have been too much confusion. (Oz people tend to make fun of a country where the sheep outnumber the people. In fact NZ it quite possible the most beautiful place on earth -LOTR territory - and the people are delightful.)

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/15/2003 08:06 PM PST

Sorry I missed the impromptu chat. Darn!

HOUSE OF WAX was lots of fun, just as much cheesy fun as I remembered it being. I will enjoy watching this fairly frequently, a new guilty pleasure.

Posted by Matt H. @ 08/15/2003 08:19 PM PST

Oh dear, this seems to be a lull!

Posted by TCB @ 08/15/2003 09:29 PM PST

You can say that again!

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/15/2003 09:37 PM PST

A lull breaker from upsidedownville is here. Check your emails TCB. Not sure they are getting there!

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/15/2003 09:40 PM PST

No response from my request re "Caravans". Where are all you movie/DVD buffs when you are needed? Ron? td? Am I the only one who loves the theme music?
OK. Back to the ironing and to listening to Jerry Vale.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/15/2003 09:45 PM PST

Back from a lovely supper. We had a fun impromptu chat this evening. Next time I promise to give some warning.

Posted by bk @ 08/15/2003 09:49 PM PST

Tom from Oz: Sorry, my friend, but I don't know squat about "Caravans." Including the music.

Actually, I do know that MGM "announced" this as a future production through the early 1960s, but it was dropped (like their productions of "Man's Fate" to have been directed by Fred Zinneman and "Say it With Music," to have been directed by Vincente Minnnelli).

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/15/2003 10:03 PM PST

Good evening esteemed BK, and dear readers....

I just thought I should check in and say hello at the end of a long day. Not the greatest of them either.

Some days you eat the bear, and some days the bear eats you.

I'm sorry we missed the chat earlier. I'm so glad though that power seems to be back on for our Ben & Ant, and dear Susan, and WEL and Ray, and any other Gotham dwellers.

Off to sleep now....much needed, it is.

Posted by MusicGuy @ 08/15/2003 10:03 PM PST

"Caravans" 1978. Anthony quinn, Jennifer O'Neil d. James Fargo. from the Michener Novel.(Dismissed as an update of "The Searchers"). Music score by Mike Batt.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/15/2003 10:08 PM PST

DR MusicGuy - I am so sorry the day has not been good for you. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Tom from Oz - Ironing AND Jerry Vale? You go, boy! (and you, I will keep in my dreams)

Posted by TCB @ 08/15/2003 10:11 PM PST

You too shall be hard pressed to escape my thoughts TCB. Do pumpkins still change at midnight I wonder. Not being a night owl I have not really noticed. Don't you all love personal cryptic posts?

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 08/15/2003 10:16 PM PST

bk, if you give warning, then it won't be impromptu!

Posted by Sarah @ 08/15/2003 10:25 PM PST

Good night, Peter

Posted by TCB @ 08/15/2003 10:26 PM PST

A two and a half hour lull. For shame. Please don't ask why I am up at this hour. Something to do with thinking I'm much younger than I am.

Posted by Jay @ 08/16/2003 01:04 AM PST

All I know about CARAVANS is that one of the last times I ever went to Radio City Music Hall to see a movie, it was announced in the program as the next attraction. I never saw it, but it was booked for that theater. At this point, I can't even remember what the movie was that I did see there that time.

Posted by Matt H. @ 08/16/2003 05:13 AM PST

Sarah: as I mentioned in chat, meticulously planned spontaneity is the very bestest kind. ;)

Posted by Lulu @ 08/16/2003 05:59 AM PST

A dozen pictures of my musical in Edinburgh, Scotland have appeared on-line:

http://www.eusog.org/photo_gallery/photo_gallery.php?catigory=Murder_at_the_Savoy

There's no place in the world I'd rather be right now, but the stuff I have to do I can only do here at home. Sans subways.

Posted by Noel @ 08/16/2003 06:06 AM PST

Michael - best for a speedy recovery

Jose - glad you had a good time in NYC. Sorry we didn't get to have lunch.

Susan - Shabbat Shalom!

BK - go eat some blintzes

Sarah - having problems sending email. If you don't get mine, use the link to send your .wav file

And to all: Power came back to Sea Cliff at approx 5PM, the last area on LI to be restored. And we only noticed when my son glanced up at the ceiling and saw the fan spinning!

The biggest challenge before then - getting gas. Most stations were closed as the pumps are electric. Once I found an open station (about 4 mi away) had a bit of a wait to fill it up. And people were losing their manners by then (a night of trying to sleep with temps in upper 80's and high humidity will do that to someone, I suppose).

Amazed how widespread the blackout was. Whether it started in Canada or the US is irrelevant - having each grid so interdependant on the others is very unseemly.

Posted by Phil @ 08/16/2003 06:48 AM PST