Haines His Way

I take a few days off from the posting and reading at HHW and I miss SANDWICH DAY?!?  Note to self: never take a day off.

Question for DRs Michael Shayne and Jennifer:  I know both of you are current or former West Islanders.  Have you ever been to Smoked Meat Pete's inbetween Saint-Anne de Bellevue and Dorion?  The guy who owns it used to be a partner in Schwartz's and I personally think their sandwiches better than what you can find on the Main.  You should defintely check the place out if you can.

Mucho yum.

Happy Birthday François and Welcome Back Jason!!!

Jose: Thanks but no thanks on the bacterial infections. But I'll gladly break my own rules for a Galaxy bar every now and then. :-)

Almonds: I can take or leave 'em.

Rye: No, thank you. I'll take whole wheat.

Strawberry Quik and lots of it.

Original Recipe--white meat only.

On AI last night:

The judges seemed to have decided what they were going to say before the show started.

First, and least -- Jasmine was outclassed all night.  Nothing she sang was remotely in the same class as the other two competitors.

Second -- Diana deGarmo's first song was a knockout.  I know it, and the audience who she sang it to knew it.  Randy gave one of his patented "bleh" responses, and the litany began, one after the other, as well-rehearsed as the singers.  Simon felt compelled, however, to tell Diana to ignore the audience (i.e., the folks who would be voting and, potentially, buying records -- Simon has no regard at all for the public).

Fantasia was pretty good each time, although I thought her second song was far and away her best performance.  

Diana has a greater range, and is far more flexible in the various musical genres, than any of the contestants we have seen.

Fantasia has a unique voice which makes it "seem" like she's doing unique takes on songs, but I'm not convinced anything she did last night was any more unique or original than Diana.

As MattH has said, the judges decided to do their annointing last night.

Unfortunately for them, the most vociferous was Simon, and backlash usually ensues.

Bottom line: It ain't over til it's over.  There's one more week of competition and we don't know who will be competing.

Questions for BK - and/or other DRs:

Hershey's Syrup, Quik, and/or Ovaltine?

No Bosco or Cocoa Marsh?  Then I take what is offered by Frau Blücher--[horses whinny]--and choose Ovaltine.

With or without Almonds?

Without

Rye: with or without caraway seeds?

With seeds!

Original Recipe or Extra Crispy?

I haven't liked the Colonel for years.

1.)  Quik

2.)  Without nuts

3.)  Either way.  A rye is a rye is a rye

4.)  Original without a doubt, but Barbecued is a close second

I've been gathering a ton of new CDs lately...some of them of the tacky variety...and I've just been given a new demo to listen to: "The Screams of Kitty Genovese." I can't decide if it's a brilliant topic for a serio-dramatic musical or if it's simply a tacky travesty. I am, however, intrigued by the story.

I got one LAST week, however, that is the epitome of tacky travesties: PRINCESS DIANA THE MUSICAL. Yikes! I'm very much looking forward to getting my copy of UGH: THE CAVEMAN MUSICAL today from a co-worker, and then there's THE BLACK TULIP, which I recieved about a month ago. It's about the tulip madness that ran rampant through Holland in the late 1600's. Quite horrible, but delightfully so...

Some things never change.  It is nice to know, Jason, that you are just as cute as always, and just as weird!

Good Afternoon!

-I'm sorry if I left off some more regional/specialty choices of chocolate syrup.  Which leads me to another question - which was sort of hinted at in the yesterday's posts/answers:

Is there one particular restaurant, road side stand, shack, etc., that serves one particular food item that would gladly go out of your way for to have whenever you are near it - or not near it?

For myself:

Chicago - Ann Sather's for those sticky, cinnamon buns.  And/or a Chicago Beef from a couple of favorite places.

Richmond - Sally Belle's bakery for any of the wonderful cupcakes, and her ham salad sandwiches.  And the Cinna-Bean (cinnamon ice cream with chocolate covered espresso beans) at Bev's Ice Cream.

DC area - The flourless chocolate waffle at the Carlyle Grand Cafe - although I wish they would bring back the macadamia brittle ice cream to accompany it.  -Oh, and their appetizer of home-made potato chips topped with blue cheese and pesto - served warm!

New York - Hmmm... Tooooo many choices... But for right now, the "Snowy Chocolate" at Cones.

-I think we sort of covered this topic before... ah, well...

HBDRF!  (That's Happy Birthday Dear Reader Francois, in Internet lingo.)

A couple of questions for our esteemed BK and all the Hainesies and Kimlets:  How tall are you?  And, if you had a choice, would you rather be taller than you are now, or shorter?

For myself, I'm six foot two inches.  But I wouldn't have minded being taller.  The way I figure, it's hard enough finding clothes that fit now, so I might as well go for the jackpot!

(Der Brucer is six foot even, or that's what he says.  I think he's averaging up.)

I am five foot ten inches in my stocking feet.  In just my feet I'm five foot ten inches also.

Another question for ask BK day: When you were on a famous TV show with the rock band America, what song did they play?

Dave
(Have I asked this question before, or have I just wanted to ask it forever? Is it even a valid question? Help me BK!)

I don't recall being on a show with America, although, I suppose, they could have been one of the guests on Dinah Shore and Her New Best Friends.  I do remember The Doobie Brothers and Paul Williams on the show.  Were they on one of the Donny and Marie shows?  I guess that's a possibility, too.

What was is like working with Don Knotts and Tim Conway on The Apple Dumpling Gang? Any amusing stories?

I remember them being very nice and very funny.  No real stories, though.  I also loved working with John McGiver.  I remember Tim Conway's license plate even now: 13 WEEKS or WKS, which was in honor of several TV series he was in that only lasted that amount of time.

From the time you recorded the cast album of Stages to your most recent trip to the studio. What has been the most significant changes in the recording process?

Well, pro tools certainly - no tape and much easier to do fixes and punch-ins and to move things around.  You do lose a little warmth and air in the actual recording, which I always try to put back in either the mix or the mastering process.  The biggest change between Stages and the most recent trip is that at some point I learned what I was doing.

OK, here is my question (actually it's a convoluted question with more than one buried deep inside)

Question for BK and Panni and Charles (and any others who want to chime in - I mention Panni and Charles because they are screenwriters/writers as well).

Having been on a theatre binge lately, trying to see as many of the shows as I can before the Tonys (June 6th, CBS 8pm-11pm), I began to wonder about the difference between playwrights and screenwriters. More specifically, why do you think playwrights have more control over their work in the theatre than screenwriters do in film? I know that if a playwright is unhappy with a production, he can pull the show. That can't happen in a movie, right? They will just replace the screenwriter and it goes to arbitration as to who gets final credit, right? Is it because the movie studio and/or producer own the rights to the movie and they have ultimate say about what is written? I know there are unions for both playwrights and screenwriters. Is there a big difference between the two organizations (Screenwriters Guild of America and Dramatists Guild). Does Dramatists Guild have any influence outside of New York and Broadway? This is turning into more than one question and it seems rather convoluted to me. If you can figure out my questions and feel like answering, please do so.

I'll leave most of this to Charles and Panni.  I do know that screenwriters have no control over their work because the studio normally pays enormous sums to own it (or at least Guild minimums which is not chump change).  They playwright (correct me if I'm wrong) normally does not get paid for his play by the producer - the money kicks in once the show is up and running from his weekly royalties.  Therefore, the playwright retains control over his play - and is specifically protected that way by the Dramatists Guild, which is a whole different beast than the WGA.

For Ask BK Day---
I was listening to your recording of the York's MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG the other day, and as I was reading the credits on the back cover, I noticed that Jim Morgan was credited twice for set design.  Was this contractual or was it the only error I've ever found in the notes/credits on a BK-produced CD?

There are tons of errors in various booklets for CDs I've produced.  We try, we really do, but something always seems to slip by.  Looks like a stupid mistake to me, but since we usually used their credit billing block it may have been on their end, although we should have caught it.  There were times when I was doing so many albums at one time that I just had to leave the proofing to others, a dangerous game.

What is this BookWorm that you speak of? My curiosity is roused...