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[Matt H.]

As far as the big star who allegedly raped Natalie Wood as a kid, the scuttlebutt around is that it was Kirk Douglas. But that's just a rumor. Who knows if we'll ever know the truth.

[Panni]

Good Morning. Trying to find a fave Natalie Wood movie, I realize how many great films she was in. Either she or her agents had excellent taste in choosing material. It's hard to list favorites, so my list is long...
MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET
INSIDE DAISY CLOVER
MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR
THE SEARCHERS
SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS
LOVE WITH A PROPER STRANGER
THIS PROPERTY IS CONDEMNED
WEST SIDE STORY
GYPSY
BOB&CAROL&TED&ALICE (although I haven't seen it in decades and don't know how I'd feel about it today)

My daughter, when she was very young, was always being told she looked like a young Natalie Wood (and Natalie Portman). In fact, when we were living in LA (the first time) she played Susan in the LA premiere of the stage version of MIRACLE ON 34th STREET. I just recently got a photo of her (and lovely mother) on the day of her 20th birthday when I went to visit her in San Francisco, and will e-mail it to JRand53 to ask him to post it. She no longer looks like either of the Natalies, but is lovely in her own right.

[DERBRUCER]

My contribution to International Relations and World Peace!

A Stately Story

An American tourist in London decides to skip his tour group and explore the
city on his own. He wanders around, seeing the sights, and occasionally
stopping at a quaint pub to soak up the local culture, chat with the
lads, and have a pint of Guinness.

After awhile, he finds himself in a very high class neighborhood....big, stately residences...no pubs, no stores,     no restaurants, and worst of all...  NO PUBLIC RESTROOMS.

He really, really has to go, after all those Guinness's. He finds a narrow side street, with high walls surrounding the adjacent buildings and decides to use the wall to solve his problem.

As he is unzipping, he is tapped on the shoulder by a London Bobbie, who says, "I say, sir, you simply cannot do that here, you know."

"I'm very sorry, officer," replies the American, "but I really, really HAVE TO GO, and I just can't find a public restroom."

"Ah, yes," said the Bobbie..."Just follow me". He leads him to a back "delivery alley", then along a wall to a     gate, which he opens". In there," points the Bobbie. "Whiz away, ...anywhere you want."

The fellow enters and finds himself in the most beautiful garden he has ever seen. Manicured grass lawns, statuary, fountains, sculptured hedges, and huge beds of gorgeous flowers, all in perfect bloom.

Since he has the cop's blessing, he zips down and unburdens himself and is greatly relieved.

As he goes back thru the gate, he says to the Bobbie "That was really decent of you .... is that "British Hospitality?"

"No" replied the Bobbie, with a satisfied smile on his face, "that is the French Embassy."

der Brucer (hoping NOT to prompt a flood of postings about private acts in public places)

[bk]

One must mention the score to Daisy Clover, which is quite wonderful - by Andre Previn, with songs by Andre and his then wife Dory.

[DERBRUCER]

A respectful comment about next years HHW Oscar Party!


Today's LA Times reports on The best supporting supper as follows:

Inspired by a chandelier-hung ballroom ambience he compared to "the palace at Versailles," chef Wolfgang Puck created an elegant supper for the 1,650 guests attending the Governors Ball:

An antipasti course including smoked salmon served on Oscar-shaped flatbread, roasted peppers and white anchovies and beet and goat cheese napoleon.

A first course of roasted Yukon Gold potatoes with crème fraîche and Osetra caviar; an entree of roasted filet mignon and Maine lobster with two truffle sauces.

"Dessert Oscar," the pièce de résistance, a Viennese chocolate torte topped with a gold-dusted 6-inch chocolate Oscar statuette.

With a 1,200-member staff — including 150 chefs, 453 waiters, 50 bartenders and 50 managers — Puck planned on slicing up the $20,000 worth of black truffles from Périgord, France, himself.

Now Ham chunks and Cheese slices holds no candle to this repast.

I think Jose and Woody should join forces and create a HHW Oscar Party menu to enthral all the Hainesies/Kimlets and breathing Guests.

der Brucer (and Jane or no Jane, no Tofu!)

[Jrand73]

No DRMBARNUM I did not see the Adam-12 boys reunited on Hollywood Squares - maybe I can catch it when it rerun late at night around here!  Did they share a cube?  Who was driving?

I remember a skit they did once in their uniforms on Laugh-In....  They were in the front seat and Kent turned to Marty and said..."Well how about it?"  Marty says:  "What do you mean?"  Kent:  "Don't you think it's about time? After all we've been partners for years."   Marty: "Do you really want to?"  Kent: "Yes, you know I do."  Marty stops the car and says:  "Okay, you can drive."  LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!

DR Panni mentioned a movie I was about to post....BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE!  

[Matt H.]

I thought about listing BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE, too, but it was so much a movie of its time, and I wasn't sure it would play at all today. I haven't seen it since it first came out.

[Matt H.]

I wish Warners would remaster INSIDE DAISY CLOVER and release it on DVD. I play my laserdisc of it quite a bit.

[Jrand73]

Same for me DR MATTH - not sure if BCTA would play - or even be watchable today.  I know that even though at the time I thought Dyan Cannon was just the living end - it is hard for me to watch those performances now.

[Jennifer]

I'm curious, how many carbs are there in one slice of low carb bread?

[Jrand73]

DR Jennifer is it a dual carburator or a four barrel carburator?

[Lulu]

This has nothing to do with anything, but a strange thing has happened to me.

For the past two days, my upper lip has been somewhat puffy and Angelina Jolie-esque.  And I have no idea why!  Did I bite my lip in my sleep?  Is my husband bashing me in the mouth and I'm not realizing it?  Or what??

I can't believe there are women who pay thousands of dollars for this.  I don't like it.

Anybody got a cure?  Anybody else ever had this happen to them?

[JMK]

Jennifer, the Oroweat low carb bread has 6g net carbs (9g total - 3g fiber).  There's another low-carb bread available here in the NW (I don't think it's available nationally) by NatureBake, that has only 5g net carbs, but it's not quite as tasty as the Oroweat (damning with faint praise).  There are a number of "reduced carb" breads available up here now with net carbs in the range of 10g - 15g per slice.  Methinks if you're not compulsive about your carb intake that those might taste a little more like real food.

[Lulu]

Just another random thought: I think I would have more thoroughly enjoyed some of Natalie Wood's later roles if they hadn't happened to fall into that era when highly histrionic performances were de rigeur.  I'm just not about that.

I'm thinking mainly of Rebel Without a Cause and Splendor in the Grass.  Whenever they do a clip thingy they invariably represent Splendor in the Grass with the scene where she splashes around in the bathtub while screaming at her mom, "I'm just as pure and virginal as the day I was born!!!" NOT her best moment, IMO.  I much prefer the scene in the classroom when she quaveringly reads aloud from Wordsworth's poem and, as she begins to break down, and obscuring half her face with her hand, walks up to the teacher (Sybil's mom) and whispers, "May I please be ex--" then runs out into the hallway.  

Why do they never show THAT scene?

[Lulu]

I eat Arnold's reduced carb (6 net grams per slice) bread.  Or whole wheat pita.  Or whole wheat lavash.

South Beach is SO much less restrictive than Atkins.

[Panni]

I thought Dyan Cannon was just the living end - it is hard for me to watch those performances now.

And now that Miss Cannon is a minister with her own church, it would be sacrilegious.

[Jrand73]

And now that Miss Cannon is a minister with her own church, it would be sacrilegious.

That must be a WILD communion!  

[Charles Pogue]

I think William Hung should take some of the money he is making right now during his fifteen minutes of infamy and get extensive work done on his teeth.

[JoseSPiano]

Good morning!

Natalie Wood movies - Hmmm, there are a lot of them I haven't seen, but the ones I have seen, I have liked.  So, off the top of my head:

West Side Story
Gypsy - I, too, love her transformation in the final part of the movie.  And that final scene!
Brainstorm - I remember all the publicity about this movie since it was her last one.  And what an interesting topic too - kind of spooky.
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice - I always remembered hearing about how scandalous this film was when I was a kid.  It just always seemed to come up on various tv shows, magazine articles, etc.  Well... I remember staying up really late when I was about 10 or 11 since it was coming on in the wee hours of the morning on cable - actually, it may have even been one of the local station's late night movies.  So, I watched it... And, afterwards, my pre-adolescent self felt very gipped!  (gypped - sp?)  And tired and sleepy.  What was the big deal?  Of course, I did realize that having four people in one bed at once was/is quite scandalous, but where was the flesh?  Show me some skin! -Maybe it was just on one of the local stations then.  I've been tempted to rent it, but it's not that high on my "must-see" list.  

I'll have to investigate the other favorites and recommendations that other DRs have listed.

DR George - Glad to know the music finally got to you!  And enjoy the "bonus" material too!

Well, it's laundry day for me - I need clean clothes for Chattanooga.  Thankfully, my small "excavation" project this morning was successful.  I lost track of some receipts and one credit card, and after some sorting and re-sorting, they turned up.  Whew!

[William E. Lurie]

I thought William Hung was hilarious on last night's American Idol. He is a terrible singer.  But he's just so sweet that he makes me smile.

Jennifer you don't get it.  He's happy because he isn't aware that he is the object of a very cruel practical joke.  He thinks he is a good singer and since he is so bad and so dorky everyone is going along with him.  He almost seems like he might have a mild case of Downs Syndrome.  I don't think he will seem so happy when he finally discovers the truth.  You could tell the way the girls in the audience were snickering at him as they asked their questions what the audience really thought of him.  It's like when a group of cruel high school students elect the class nerd as Homecoming King.  Unless Mr. Hung is just putting on a big act, the truth will totally destroy him.  

[DERBRUCER]

In a more serious vein (A Dracula reference):

Here is a rarity today, a Review of The Passion that neither rants nor hollers:

Mel Gibson's Two Movies

It is crucial for Jews and Christians to try to understand what version of 'The Passion' the other is watching and reacting to.  
 
By Dennis Prager  
...

When watching "The Passion," Jews and Christians are watching two entirely different films.

For two hours, Christians watch their Savior tortured and killed. For the same two hours, Jews watch Jews arrange the killing and torture of the Christians' Savior.
 
In order to avoid further tension between two wonderful communities that had been well on their way to historic amity, it is crucial for each to try to understand what film the other is watching and reacting to.
 
First, what Jews see. The Jews in the film (except, of course, for those who believe in Jesus) are cruel and often sadistic. One prominent Christian who saw the film along with my wife and me said that while watching the film he wanted to take a gun and shoot those who had brought such pain to Jesus. I couldn't blame him. The Jews in the film manipulate the Romans -- who are depicted as patsies of the Jews and in the case of Pilate, as morally far more elevated -- into torturing and murdering a beautiful man.
 
Why does this bother Jews so much? Because for nearly 2,000 years, attacked as "Christ-killers," countless Jewish men, women and children were tortured and murdered in ways that often caused more suffering than even Jesus endured (e.g., not only tortured and murdered themselves, but also seeing their families and friends raped, tortured and murdered). For Jews to worry that a major movie made by one of the world's superstars depicts Jews as having Christ tortured and killed might arouse anti-Semitic passions is not paranoid. Even though Islam denies the crucifixion, it is difficult to imagine that this film will not be a hit in the virulently anti-Semitic Arab world.

It is essential that Christians understand this. Every Jew, secular, religious, assimilated, left-wing, right-wing, fears being killed because he is Jewish. This is the best-kept secret about Jews, who are widely perceived as inordinately secure and powerful. But it is the only universally held sentiment among Jews. After the Holocaust and with Islamic terrorists seeking to murder Jews today, this, too, is not paranoid.

However, what Jews need to understand is that most American Christians watching this film do not see "the Jews" as the villains in the passion story historically, let alone today. First, most American Christians -- Catholic and Protestant -- believe that a sinning humanity killed Jesus, not "the Jews." Second, they know that Christ's entire purpose was to come to this world and to be killed for humanity's sins. To the Christian, God made it happen, not the Jews or the Romans (the Book of Acts says precisely that). Third, a Christian who hates Jews today for what he believes some Jews did 2,000 years ago only reflects on the low moral, intellectual and religious state of that Christian. Imagine what Jews would think of a Jew who hated Egyptians after watching "The Ten Commandments," and you get an idea of how most Christians would regard a Christian who hated Jews after watching "The Passion."

I particular find the "two different film " argument informative.
So often viewers' reactions to books/films/shows are significantly warped by the "personal baggage" they bring to the experience. None on us can be purely objective, but some of us like to think we give the old "college try".

der Brucer (HHW's answer to Rex Reed)

[Ron Pulliam]

I agree about William Hung.

Sadly, the thought of getting his teeth corrected, possibly with porcelain veneers, probably hasn't entered his mind.

I'm glad he's making the most of all of this, but he seems to believe he will be getting "better" and that there is a possibility of a "career."

Do you suppose it has never occurred to him that he is a national joke?

[DERBRUCER]

... And, afterwards, my pre-adolescent self felt very gipped!  (gypped - sp?)  

Wye Double Pee is correct. Usage of the term is now probably "Politically Incorrect", considering it's presumed origins. to which abridged versions of dictionaries do not even allude.

der Brucer (who had to spend the last 20 minutes finding the box with the Unabridged in it.)

[Jennifer]

Jennifer you don't get it.  He's happy because he isn't aware that he is the object of a very cruel practical joke.  He thinks he is a good singer and since he is so bad and so dorky everyone is going along with him.  He almost seems like he might have a mild case of Downs Syndrome.  I don't think he will seem so happy when he finally discovers the truth.  You could tell the way the girls in the audience were snickering at him as they asked their questions what the audience really thought of him.  It's like when a group of cruel high school students elect the class nerd as Homecoming King.  Unless Mr. Hung is just putting on a big act, the truth will totally destroy him.  

I see what you're saying and I could be wrong.  I just don't think that he believes he is a great singer.  I think he knows that people simply find him funny and entertaining.

And I don't think people are snickering at him.  I think they genuinely like him.  

To me he is different than most of the other awful AI singers, because he makes me smile.  And it's not because I'm embarrassed for him.  He just has a personality that is contagious.  He entertains me.

[DERBRUCER]

I need clean clothes for Chattanooga.  

You have a date with Tulsa's brother?

[Jennifer]

Jennifer, the Oroweat low carb bread has 6g net carbs (9g total - 3g fiber).  There's another low-carb bread available here in the NW (I don't think it's available nationally) by NatureBake, that has only 5g net carbs, but it's not quite as tasty as the Oroweat (damning with faint praise).  There are a number of "reduced carb" breads available up here now with net carbs in the range of 10g - 15g per slice.  Methinks if you're not compulsive about your carb intake that those might taste a little more like real food.

But doesn't a slice of regular white bread only have like 13g of carbs?

Thanks for the info, I'd like to try a low carb bread. I'll bet it's available in the US in regular grocery stores.  But I think Canada is behind the times in the low carb craze. There is basically nothing low carb in regular grocery stores here.

[DERBRUCER]

And in a lighter vein ( a Tom Cruise as Lestat reference):

A New Yorker column proposes a ban on Samish-Sex Marriages and provides a Manly Scale of Absolute Gender.

der Brucer (who's that cartoon kid that keeps calling his lunch a "Samish'?)

[Jay]

There was a 2-page full color ad in today's NY Times for a new Disney movie opening Christmas 2005.  It's a remake of "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe".  How many versions does this make counting television and movie theatre versions?  Do we really need another remake?  Maybe that is why they are starting the ads 22 months early.

The same ad appeared in today's L.A. Times.  I am quite sure the timing and the placement of these ads are tied to the Disney annual meeting tomorrow.

[DERBRUCER]

He almost seems like he might have a mild case of Downs Syndrome.

As much as I might personally disparage the faculty at UC Berkeley, and think the Administration probably carries non-discriminatory admission policies to extreme, to suggest that one of their Civil Engineering students might have a mild case of Downs Syndrome is a bit much. (Now in the case of their PoliSci students........)

der Defender of Engineers Brucer

[Emily]

Good morning Haineshisway!

The Dell guy is coming today between 3 and 5pm (I have to RUUUUNNNN home from my last class to be there on time) to fix the computer from hell.  Hopefully it will now be heavenly.  

I share your feelings about Hung being the object of a cruel joke. The girls in the audience were actually snickering at him as they asked whether he had a girlfriend or not.  This whole thing reminds me of the "Star Wars Kid" phenomenon.   The internet can be a cruel place to gain infamy.

I don't know much about Natalie Wood and did not watch the movie last night.  I liked her in WSS even if she didn't sing (but that's a musical so doesn't count in today's topic.)    

Oh well... hopefully I'll be able to post from home tonight.  Cross your fingers and "enviben" me please