Haines His Way

And he [Stiller] should relax and stop glaring at the camera like a cornered animal. Dustin Hoffman played an uncomfortable young lover, sixties style, in "The Graduate," then kept growing as an actor. Now, in "Meet the Fockers," he's a joyous, dancing clown, completely at ease in his aging but superb flesh. For an actor about to hit forty, that's a spiritual victory worth imitating."

I haven't seen the new Focker movie, but I'm not surprised he's having fun.  Dustin payed for his acting classes in the 1960s by playing piano for dance classes, and he used to play quite well.  At one point, I suggested to the Punch Production folk that Dustin should play Ko-Ko in THE MIKADO.

I'm still trying to decide if I have the energy to go over the hill at six to see Ray.

Until I read about Jamie Foxx's Golden Globe win, I had no idea he was lip-synching to Ray Charles recordings rather than doing his own vocals. This has rather spoiled any enthusiasm I might have had for RAY. Like Jessica Lange in SWEET DREAMS, knowing that the star is lip synching to someone else's voice takes just a tiny bit of the wonder out of the performance.

And, yet as I write this, I realize that it didn't bother me with Tammy Blanchard and Judy Davis doing it to Judy Garland's recordings in LIFE WITH JUDY GARLAND. Maybe that was because it was a made-for-TV film.

Re:  Dustin Hoffman.   Elmoore, you may not have been around when I posted this a long time ago, but he was one of my late, great Uncle Charlie's many tenants who didn't have to pay rent when they didn't have it, so that was one bill he didn't need to worry about, LOL.  I mentioned here many a moon ago that one summer when I was back in NYC the phone in Charlie's apartment rang and I picked it up.  The male speaker asked for Charlie, who wasn't there, and said to tell him "Dusty called."  It was only later that Charlie told me who "Dusty" was.  This was long after The Graduate had hit, but they stayed in touch.  In fact, as I think I mentioned, in the commentary on The Producers DVD, when Mel Brooks talks about "Dusty" (hey, I feel I have permission to call him that now) throwing rocks on the window of an apartment house on West 11th between 5th & 6th, that was one of Charlie's buildings.  And I think it was probably next door to where "Dusty" rented, since Charlie owned a lot of that block.  Why "Dusty" didn't phone is anyone's guess.  

Re:  the bank/synagogue story.  Oy.  I am still fuming.  The synagogue moved, so Betsy, who does the books, called the bank to change the address that the bank statements come to.  She only gave them the account numbers for the synagogue, but they asked her to verify the spelling of her last name as a security precaution (she's listed as a signer on the checking account).  So, of course, she goes over to pick up the mail yesterday and lo and behold our personal checking account statement is there.  So I end up arguing with the frigging bank customer service people (two of them, since the first one had no clue, and the second, an alleged supervisor, had an attitude the size of Texas) about what our address was.  I ended up having to call the corporate office in Seattle.  Washington Mutual's "Supervisor" Linda is about to get a major taste of her own medicine.  The thing that drove me crazy was this was a mistake they created and then they absolutely refused to do anything to rectify it until I called corporate.  Unbelievable.

End of rant.  For now.

I learned an important lesson today.  Don't ever read those consent forms they make you sign before surgery.  I went in for my pre-op appointment today, and had all these forms to sign.  One of them actually said, and I quote, "This surgery might not work for you.  You may in fact be worse off than you were before."  The rest of it talked about how I might become paralyzed, have a heart attack, permanent disability,  or just plain die.  I know they have to cover their butts, legally speaking, but oy...

JMK -  Shortly after my appointment this morning I called my mother.  You see, I had many reconstructive surgeries as a kid due to birth defects.  Most of them involved cutting and moving bones around my face, and they were downright risky.  I asked her if she had to sign those forms for me, and if it was hard knowing the risks I was dealing with.  Her response "You have no idea, I may write a book about it someday."

One of the few times when I was in the audience when someone else's phone went off (mine never has...fortunately) was during a local production of Assassins.  Actually, the husband of the woman playing Emma Goldman (and other characters) was the offending patron!  He was sitting in the back row when it started ringing DURING HIS WIFE'S EMMA GOLDMAN SCENE!! It took several rings before he was able to turn it off.  He was given a very stern talking to after the show by the director of the show who was in the back of the auditorium right behind the back row when it happened!

The talking-to by the director was probably nothing compared to what he probably got from his wife after they got home!  

Furniture:
One of my favorite pieces is a side table/entry table that I saw and fell in love with.  It has great lines and looks vaguely 30's (althogh it's new).  The wodd is pretty; the lines are pretty-- there's just something about it.  Another favorite piece that I've worked hard to hang onto (especially when we had no room for it) is a Victorian sleigh bed that MusicGuy inherited from a relative many moons ago.  It's the width of a double bed but shorter.  It's now considered my nephew's bed since it is in "his" room at our house.  It's quite comfortable, and I have some fond memories of times in that bed.
Have you ever noticed that furniture you don't like has a way of staying around forever?  It always makes me very cautious when shoppping because  I know if I don't like it'll be always be there.  The furniture I hated the most was this awful French Provincial bedroom set that Lyn's mother brought to our first house when MusicGuy and I first got together.  She'd gotten it in one of her marriages and thought it was still really something.  At the time, our room was the only one big enough for the set, so we ended up using it for years.  It took moving from our second house to finally get it back to her and then another 10 years to get it out of the picture altogether.  I hated the nightstands, the bed , the dressers-- all of it.  So naturally we couldn't get rid of it.
So, caution out there- you have to like the piece of furniture or don't get it because it's like Jason in all the "Halloween" movies-- you can't kill it or get rid of it.

The only piece of furniture (if you can call it that) that I'm attached to is my piano.  It's in my extra bedroom...and not very accessible, being that the extra bedroom is really my storage room.  Anyway, when my sister was about 10 and I was about 8, we lived in Colorado.  My parents got the piano for my sister to take lessons and I got accordian lessons (a My Favorite Year reference ).  After we moved to Washington (when I was 10), we both gave up lessons.  However, I started tickling the ivories (of the piano) and eventually started taking piano lessons myself.  Since it was my sister's piano, I traded her (and she accepted) my binoculars and a clock radio for the piano.  It's been mine ever since.  I've taken that piano with me every place that I've lived, except for college and my last apartment when I was on the second floor.  My mom keeps asking why I still have it when I can't get to it, and I just say, "It's mine and I'm keeping it."  Someday I will clear out the stuff in the room and have access to it to be able to play.  Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

It's even worse when you're signing for one of your kids.  The night Gabe got hit by the car and he was in the trauma unit, they kept shoving these release forms under my nose and it was just maddening.

Similarly, but on a much lighter note, we took our son to the ER shortly after his 18th birthday (a minor mishap requiring a couple of stitches) and they totally ignored us.  After they turn 18, they sign for themselves and parents become superfluous.  That was a rude awakening.

DR Ann,

Make sure your surgeon knows what meds you've been taking - even over the counter ones, including aspirin.

I don't know that I'm going to make seeing Ray tonight.  I'm just not in a Ray mood.  I do have to eat something right this very minute before I fall over.  So, tomorrow night I'm definitely going to see Sideways at the DGA, but Ray will have to wait until the DVD.

My cellular phone in theater show.

It happened during a performance of my show Survivors (which I co-wrote and directed). It was during the Montreal Fringe many summers ago.

The moment it happened during a very intimate moment. The actor was very close to the audience during this sequence. (He had single spotlight on him) When the lady who was sitting directly in front of him cell phone went off. She grabbed it and then dropped it on the stage. The phone continued to ring. She eventually grabbed and left the theater to answer the phone. My actor never skipped a beat and continued as if the phone had never rung.

Coda: Once the performance begins no one is allowed into the theater. She complained about not being able to see the rest of the show and wanted her money back.

DR BK:

Furthering your response to my ASCAP question.

Could you devise 5 questions for me to ask the audience to give constructive feedback to the play?

Or something I could look out for as we go into rehersals as a guidline.

Thanks