Haines His Way

Epee.

Isn't that a foreign language, namely Cockney English for a man urinating?  

Isn't that a foreign language, namely Cockney English for a man urinating?  

NO!

That's French for "sword"!

Any new names of famous "dead people" who are still alive, JMK?

NO!

That's French for "sword"!

I'm sure he knew that...it was a little joke, yes, JMK?

         

Good Afternoon!

The bathroom is CLEAN!!!![/b]

...I knew there was no turning back when I started disassembling the shower head!

 

But I'm glad I got it done.  I even wiped down the walls, and cleaned off some of the dust out of various nooks and crannies that were a result of having the floor redone... back last August!  I went ahead and did the floor by hand.   Just easier that way to scrub up all the scuff marks.  The new floor is some sort of linoleum/vinyl deal with a tile pattern embossed in it.  I just worked quadrant by quandrant.  Can you say, "anal retentive"?  It took me little over and hour to do, and I definitely think that that counts as my workout today.

I was thinking of tackling the kitchen floor, but...  Tomorrow is another day.

And the word of the day is: ERSATZ!

A true California Roll contains ersatz crab meat.  Accept no substitutes!

JMK - I'm the guilty person who still has George's copy of What If.  I was trying to get it to TCB so he could see it before sending it out of the Tacoma area.  Just as I was about to give up and send it off to you, TCB showed back up.  I believe I shall be driving it over to his place at some point soon, as soon as I get his address.  Many many apologies for the delay!

Re:  cooking for more.  My Mom used to tell a very funny story about right after she had married my Dad.  My Dad kept raving about some food he was getting in the Army (I want to say it was some kind of potato casserole), and my Mom said, "Well, bring home the recipe and I'll make it for you."  So he brought home the recipe and my Mom discovered it was for a Battalion!  I seem to remember one of the ingredients was 200 peeled potatoes.

DR FRANCOIS - how was your vacation!!!

Sorry DR SWW - I didn't flip the page.  DR WFO posted the Pajama Game pic with Mr Brent Barrett.  You can imagine my embarrassment.

Welcome back, DR Francois!  We have missed you.

While I was growing up, the television in the living room was a black and white Zenith.  It was built into a large blonde-wood unit that had dual hinged doors, so we could hide the set if we wanted.  I liked it because I could lie on my back in front of the set and change the channels with my toes.

Eventually, Dad decided to upgrade to a color set, so he bought a Heathkit kit and built us one.  The diningroom table was filled with the various parts, and we all helped.  At least, I think we all helped; I don't really remember my sister taking part during that evolution, the bitch.  Mom was very happy when she got her diningroom table back for serving dinner (and less happy when Dad decided to build a set for his own father, but gracious about it).

The old Zenith was moved to the den, where I could watch what I wanted when my shows conflicted with what the rest of the family was watching.  This generally meant that my sister would watch The Virginian in color while I watched Lost in Space in b&w, the bitch.  But it also meant that I discovered The Avengers long before I could convince the rest of the family of it's value.  

Eventually, the tube in the set burnt out.  As a science experiment, to show us what a vaccum really was, Dad took the tube out of the set, put the tube in the back yard and threw a rock at it from a safe distance.  We were careful to wear shoes in the back yard for some time after that.

As for the cabinet, Dad installed shelves in it, and used it to store his photography equipment.  Mom and Dad moved it with them to the Sierra Nevadas after he retired, and he's still using it.

And my sister is still a bitch.

After catching up on yesterday's posts, I played "Guess the Dictator."  It turns out that I'm the Professor on Gilligan's Island.

Well, the Chinese buffet was absolutely delicious. The place was called Tin-Tin, and they had the biggest selection of food I've ever seen ata Chinese buffet.

They had butter shrimp which was superb, and I had several beef dishes including beef with rice noodles. Never heard of it before, but it was excellent. My friend picked up the check (a total surprise), but it was a bit expensive for lunch every week. I guess I'll go back to my regular buffet next week, and only go to Tin-Tin when the yen (no pun intended) becomes too great to resist.

Wow! I just got last night's ratings off the internet, and I am SO happy and surprised. MEDICAL INVESTIGATION actually not only won its 10 p.m. time period last night, but had the highest ratings of ANY show last night. Maybe NBC will consider giving it another season. Here's the excerpt ftrom the ratings report:

"At 10 p.m., the completion of the crossover on "Medical Investigation" scored a 7.5/13, the night's best rating and the show's best performance in some time. "Numb3rs," 6.8/12, continued its downward trend for CBS but managed to hold onto second. ABC's "20/20" came in at 6.5/11."

While I was growing up, the television in the living room was a black and white Zenith.  It was built into a large blonde-wood unit that had dual hinged doors, so we could hide the set if we wanted.  I liked it because I could lie on my back in front of the set and change the channels with my toes.

Eventually, Dad decided to upgrade to a color set, so he bought a Heathkit kit and built us one.  The diningroom table was filled with the various parts, and we all helped.  At least, I think we all helped; I don't really remember my sister taking part during that evolution, the bitch.  Mom was very happy when she got her diningroom table back for serving dinner (and less happy when Dad decided to build a set for his own father, but gracious about it).

The old Zenith was moved to the den, where I could watch what I wanted when my shows conflicted with what the rest of the family was watching.  This generally meant that my sister would watch The Virginian in color while I watched Lost in Space in b&w, the bitch.  But it also meant that I discovered The Avengers long before I could convince the rest of the family of it's value.  

Eventually, the tube in the set burnt out.  As a science experiment, to show us what a vaccum really was, Dad took the tube out of the set, put the tube in the back yard and threw a rock at it from a safe distance.  We were careful to wear shoes in the back yard for some time after that.

As for the cabinet, Dad installed shelves in it, and used it to store his photography equipment.  Mom and Dad moved it with them to the Sierra Nevadas after he retired, and he's still using it.

And my sister is still a bitch.

Don't hold back, Woody.  Tell us how you really feel about your sister!

Well, I am back from the Ray Courts Show.  BK & I, as always, amused ourselves, despite a rather lackluster show...

The highlight seemed to be sleuthing through a stack of sheet music.  Bruce was intrigued by a piece that had some lovely Li'l Abner artwork on the cover (not from the musical) but at thirty-odd dollars did not bite.  We were looking for a copy of "Put Me to the Test" from COVER GIRL, but came up empty.  Can anyone help out?

BK introduced me to Charlene Tilton and Linda Purl.  We shared some laughs with my pal, Ian Abercrombie (Bk's pix to follow).  We chatted with Johnny Crawford who BK knows and whose 1926 Dance Orchestra I have enjoyed on many occasions.  He still does not have the along-awaited CD of their work.  It's really a nice band and he fronts it with a nice light tenor. Robert Clary collared us and all but dragged us to his stall to look at his cache of recordings and brochures of his rather interesting artwork.  For a man of eighty, he was very energetic and well-perserved.  

And I badgered BK to finally give Hayley Mills the copy of KRITZERTIME, he brought along.  He was very shy about it. This is a man who talks to strangers in restaurants but when it comes to approaching his childhood fantasy heart-throb, he becomes a blushing, stammering little boy, poking his toe in the carpet.  But when he summoned up the courage and re-introduced himself from yesterday and presented her with the book, he was rewarded with a hug and a kiss.  He'll never wash that cheek again.

I was disappointed in seeing Carol Cleveland.  She looked like...alas, middle-aged British matron...not badly perserved, mind you, but not the sex bomb I remember from her Python days.  

Several other folks were not aging gracefully.  In fact, I think they were decomposing before our very eyes.  There was the usual flock of people with dubious celebrity or celebrity so tenuous even when you looked at their photos and stills, you still had no idea who the Hell they were.  

And then there were the young'uns...teens and sprites who I guess are on some unheard of cable show on some unheard of cable channel.  But you could go down whole aisles and have clear views of only "celebritys" sitting behind tables  and mountains of unthumbed, unsigned photos with no bodies browsing or chatting in front of them.

Bk, also introduced me to someone who mis-heard my name as "Mark Chapeau"...so I guess that will be my new stage name.

The dealer situation remained as abysmal as BK described last night.  I usually end up buying at least a CD or a piece of sheet music.  Nada this time.

The rain going over was insane.  It would come down in torrents one moment, rapids of water along the curb, and the next moment stop altogether.  The sun was out when I left the show (and we left early for us...12:30) and it was coming down in buckets driving home.  And now the sun is out once more.