Haines His Way

I was surfing through the channels this weekend and I came to one of those
Access Entertainment or Hollywood Extra shows that seem to be everywhere these days.  They were interviewing Brad Pitt as part of his press junket for TROY.  I could not believe the questions they were asking him.  Boxers or briefs?  Pajamas or birthday suit?  What kind of stupid questions are these to be asking an artist?  Granted Mr. Pitt will never be confused with Dustin Hoffman, or Jeremy Irons, or even Nick Cage, but could we not try and pretend that people go to his movies because of what he brings to the screen as an actor, rather than because some people look at him like some kind of beefcake?  I know these kinds of interviews go on all the time, and I am sure that I am not telling anyone anything new about the state of our society, but I honestly just sat there stunned that this crap was being shown on national television.  <END OF RANT>

TCB: The "How important..." questions annoy me.  Like asking the paramedics: "How important is it for people to have fences around their pools?" Or asking a doctor: "How important is it for people to watch their cholesterol?" That just wastes air time, as far as I'm concerned.

Thank you, everyone, for the Birthday greetings!

I've taken the day off in celebration, and have been watching TCM's mini-Miss Marple marathon.  I share my Birthday with Margaret Rutherford, it seems.  

Later on, I'm going to pop in the deeveedees of Around the World in 80 Days and Prince Valiant, both of which I've never seen.  I'm very fond of the score CDs to both movies (by Victor Young and Franz Waxman, respectively), and I'm curious to see how the music and the images "fit".  

I often buy score CDs without seeing the films the music is written for.  Sometimes, it's really the only way to go.  I love, for example, Jerry Goldsmith's score for Poltergeist II and  Supergirl, but the movies themselves are poo.  

Dan-in-TO - Do try sending the email again. I think I emailed you a while back and didn't receive a response. - So who knows what's happening in cyberspace between TO and LA?

Can't remember having favorite fairy tales as a kid. I had beautiful books of fairy tales in Hungary which were left behind. My favorite "story" book was a book of opera stories (many of which were fairy tale-ish -- The Magic Flute, Coppelia, Tales of Hoffmann, etc.). I got that for my 7th birthday and brought it across the border with me. Still have it.
I like the Disney movie of Peter Pan. My favorite ride at Disneyland is the Peter Pan ride. I still get choked up when you fly out the window over London - it's absolutely magical.

DR MBarnum: Don't forget to watch Thursday night!

DR Dan: Yeah Sue was at the reunion show.  But she didn't look that different to me (am I crazy?).  To me for them to call it an "extreme make-over" I should notice big differences.  And while she looked good, I totally recognized her!

Well, I guess it is sort of a toss up for me with Rupert and Rob. I think I just happened to like Rupert better then Rob. But I do agree that Rob, obviously, played a very good game. I do think his not hiding his alliance with Amber was not a good move...although it didn't end up hurting him simply because the others were too "not smart" enough to get rid of him or Amber! That part I will just never understand.

Happy Birthday, Robin.

Is the NW HHW get together still at my house?    (We do have 2/3 of an acre, so there's plenty of room in the backyard for camping out).

Interesting CASTRECL message about the label that will not be named.

And for those eBay junkies who may care to take a peek, it looks like a certain underappreciated off-Broadway composer shared a certain obsession with JR and me--there's a very interesting piece of memorabilia online now that I predict will go for over $1,000.

DR Panni, I resent the e-mail. (Make that: I re-sent the e-mail.)

JMK - any clues about the eBay item?

The TV repairman is here. Actually, the TV was fixed and I wrote him a check half an hour ago. But he's been watching something ever since. I don't know if he's hooked on the program, or checking to make sure the SONY's in good working order. I suspect the former. I really would like to go out soon, but I can't kick the guy out. (I just peeked in. He's laughing at whatever it is he's watching.)

Growing up, what were your favorite fairy tales – book, and also film and TV versions? Which ones made you laugh, which scared you, which moved you?

For some reason, the story of Hansel and Gretle held a fascination for me when I was a child.  I had several different books of the story and each one interested me in its own way.  One in particular I liked was set in modern day, with Hansel and Gretle looking very much like Dick and Jane.  And the witch was not scary or horrible looking but dressed sort of dowdy with a slight frown on her otherwise attractive face.  I remember reading that one and thinking, "Wow--this kind of stuff still happens" and making the conscious decision to never enter a stranger's house without someone from my family.  Children will listen (or in this case, read.)

Mary Martin's Peter Pan played a big part in our house, too.  Its effect would last a few weeks, with me and my sister playing out the part where we learn how to fly by jumping on all the furniture in the house.  My dad's flashlight made a pretty good Tinkerbell, too.

Movie-wise, my parents carted my sisters and me to all the Disney animated movies, but I didn't take much to them then because I thought they were mostly stories for girls.  Consequently, I did like Peter Pan.  But I absolutely loved Pinocchio.  This was the one movie that I was able to make my parents take me to twice.  It appealed to me on so many levels.  Aside from the wonderful character designs, lush animation and catchy songs, it seemed to me that Pinocchio had an ideal philosophy--that one should try to be good and do good, but one also has the freedom to knowingly make wrong choices and be bad, which wasn't a bad thing to do every once in a while as long as one atones for it afterwards.  For me, this was just the kind of confirmation I needed for my own ideas of personal behavior which were starting to widely diverge from the goody-two-shoes lessons I had to endure at my Catholic grammar school.

Dan, I have no email from you. Are you sending to the right address?

DR Panni

The address I have is the same as the one that appears with your name in the members' list. I'm not trying to send you anything important, but perhaps you can try sending me something - and I'll reply.

My computer is so weird sometimes.  I'm typing away and then it disappears - I'm obviously pushing two buttons at once accidentally, but I can't figure out which - I'm nowhere near the delete or backspace buttons so I'm at a loss.

Welcome ten GUESTS.  Finding what you're looking for?

The raccoons have been stealing der Brucer's bird feeder apparatuses...apparatti?  Whatever, they's busted.

The Wizard of Oz books certainly count as American fairy tales.  I can clearly remember my mother holding my sister and myself in her lap (or, really, one on each side) while reading the books to us.  And the color of the page changed as the book progressed from one part of Oz to the next.