Haines His Way

oooH!!! I'm first on page four, I'm supposed to dance now or sumpin' right?  C'mon help out a newbie!!

Charles LeMaire won an Oscar for this wardrobe for LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING - and he also did some terrific work in A WOMAN'S WORLD dressing Lauren Bacall, June Allyson, and Arlene Dahl.

Mr LeMaire began on Broadway; he designed THE NEW MOON in 1928 for Hammerstein and Romberg.

DR ELMORE do you think he ever got Arlene Dahl confused with Oscar Hammerstein?

DR ELMORE do you think he ever got Arlene Dahl confused with Oscar Hammerstein?

Only if she were standing in the dark with a light behind her.

Ummm... Excuse me, it's "First you breed your chicken..."  -But, of course, that's only after you've found the proper parcel of land to breed them on, so...

To truly make something from scratch, you have to create the universe first!

To truly make something from scratch, you have to create the universe first!

Easy for you to say, after all you are a  god!!

Well.....I reported all of my problems to Amazon.com yesterday, as I wrote, and a partial refund was credited to me.  There is a button to click if that solved the problem OR a button to click if it did not.

Of course, I clicked the "did not" button and gave someone else the whole story.  WELL - today, Aimee from Amazon emailed me and told me that I was being sent WITHOUT CHARGE a brand new SCARFACE gift set (price including shipping $42.98).  And sure enough it's in my order list, for FREE.

Hmmmmmmmmmm......thanks, Amazon - and Sally Brown for the lesson!

Wow JRand54! That was great customer service and a nice surprise, too!!!

Before she hit the big time, Gloria Gresham did the costumes for the theatre department at Rutgers Camden during the first two years I was a student.  She eventually went to work on films, including Diner.  Therefore, I am one degree from Kevin Bacon.

Gloria's sister, Georgia, was one of the faculty at Rutgers and also the scenic designer on all of the large scale department productions.  The Gresham sisters (there were three in all) hailed from Indianapolis, Indiana.

Good Afternoon!

First of all, my Dad will be discharged from the hospital today, and he should be home shortly.  Technically, any discharges are supposed to take place before 11:00am, but do some final procedure as well as an instruction session from his doctor for the in-home follow-up care over the next week, his discharge was scheduled for sometime around 3:00pm today.  So, hopefully, he'll be home sometime soon.

I got home about an hour ago, and I've just been waiting for my mom to call just in case I need to head back over to help her out at the hospital with my Dad.  A few minutes after I got in, a delivery man knocked on the door, and he had two big baskets of goodies for my Dad from his office at HHS - I need to check the cards to see if Tommy Thompson sent over anything personally.  

So, right now, the kitchen counter is a veritable culinary and dietary landmine.  Yes, there is lots of fresh fruit - apples, pears, oranges - but there are also boxes of assorted chocolates, cookies, pastries, even a box of some Hungarian chocolate and nut covered treats!  Plus hard candies (including those addictive strawberry ones), chocolate covered nuts, blocks of cheese, etc.  Oh, and one of the baskets has some gourmet coffee and tea selections too.  I haven't opened any of the baskets, but... There were some other baskets and boxes opened already, so...  Not to mention these over-sized scones (blueberry and cinnamon) - I think they were baked in a 8-inch square pan, and then just cut on the diagonal - it's a BIG scone!  In any case...

My Dad will be coming home today - momentarily, I hope.  He looked good.  Understandably tired - which actually sort of depressed me for a few minutes - it's just always hard seeing a loved one, especially a parent, in a state of compromised health.

While I was at the hospital, some other relatives dropped by, ones I haven't seen in a while, so it was good to catch up with them too.

My Mom and I grabbed some lunch down in the Cafeteria.  I wasn't too hungry, and just opted for some soup.  My mom opted for a pastrami sub from Blimpie's.  -The food selection in the cafeteria was not as varied as I thought it would be, well, not as healthy as I thought it would/should be.  Fairfax Hospital is a big hospital, and I just expected more - ??  It was also one of those places where most of the food service choices are franchised out: Blimpie's, Kwai (Chinese Food), Pizza Hut, etc.  The hospital itself does have it's own counter, but it consisted mainly of three steam table trays of fried chicken wings (with choice of dips), and two meat choices (meatloaf and chicken), vegetables (broccoli and carrots) and mashed potatoes with gravy.  Oh, and there was a friend food stand - french fries, onion rings - plus hamburgers and cheeseburgers.  I would have got some frozen yogurt, but the machine was broken, so... Ah, well...

Where was I?  Oh...

My Dad will be coming home today.  Thanks again for all the Vibes!

On my way to my mail place - apparently my amazon Germany package has finally arrived, which gives me hope for the subsequent amazon Germany package which was shipped on Monday.  

I think it's 51 that takes away that "newbie" label. You get to 50 and then add one more and you're on your way to Godhood.

We are officially finished with gift bags for Broadway Cares. Anthony is hanging cards in the living room (he's putting them on ribbons hanging from the door) and I just returned from a much needed haircut. I am tired. We will spend tomorrow quietly until late afternoon when I will return to the office for our annual holiday party and Anthony will go off to dance class. After that our lives will pick up again as the holiday rush approaches

Did you ever try putting them in a sauce made of one can cranberry jelly and one can tomato sauce, 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 steak sauce ? (then you simmer and simmer and simmer)  now that's good eatin'!

Not yet!

Charles LeMaire did all the costumes in ALL ABOUT EVE except the Bette Davis clothes. Both he and Edith Head won Oscars for it. Charles was the head of Fox's wardrove department for years.

I also like Orry-Kelly's work, and not always for flashy stuff like he did for Marilyn in SOME LIKE IT HOT (and won an Oscar). He gave Bette Davis some of her most flattering, feminine clothes ever in NOW, VOYAGER. He was her favorite designer.

If you haven't read EDITH HEAD'S HOLLYWOOD, it's worth reading. She comments on designs she was especially proud of. Once costume Oscars were instituted in 1948 (hard to believe they didn't have them before then), Edith pretty much expected to win every year, and as they had awards for both clothes in color films and black and white movies, she had two chances per year minimum to carry home an Oscar (she won 7 in her career). The two Oscars she was the most upset about losing were her first year nomination for THE EMPEROR WALTZ which lost to "the armor in JOAN OF ARC" (her words) and her dazzling gowns for Grace Kelly in TO CATCH A THIEF which lost to "LeMaire's kimonos" in LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING (her words). She seemed to be a humorless, all-business lady.

Excitement abounds at the Oregon Judicial Department. Protesters are out front protesting while the Supreme Court decides Oregon's Same-Sex marriage.  In the meantime some attorneys on the second floor set off the fire alarm when the popcorn in their microwave caught fire! LOL!

Just spent the last 20 minutes standing outside with about 1000 other Judicial and Justice department employees whilst the firemen did their duty amid protestors and media.