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Author Topic: THE PERSNICKETY DAY  (Read 26816 times)

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Tomovoz

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #60 on: March 13, 2004, 02:13:06 PM »

Hello Jed. Good morning. Breakfast time here (LATE!)
« Last Edit: March 13, 2004, 02:24:02 PM by Tomovoz »
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"I'm sixty-three and I guess that puts me with the geriatrics, but if there were fifteen months in every year, I'd only be forty-three".
James Thurber 1957

Jed

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #61 on: March 13, 2004, 02:50:45 PM »

Tarnation???
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bk

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #62 on: March 13, 2004, 03:02:28 PM »

Book delivery has been made to Bookfellows.  We also, for a couple of reasons, moved the signing there up by one week, to the original date I'd wanted, April 10.  We'd pushed it because I wanted to be absolutely certain I'd have the books in hand.  Also, it turns out that there is some giant first-time art fair on Glendale on the 17th, and while that will mean that the streets will be jammed with people, it also means it will be impossible to park and that most of those people won't even go near the sidewalk to see what stores are there.  So, it's the 10th and I'll be sending out the first of two e-mail announcements about it in a week or so.  They should have a nice display of the new book up by end of today, or so I was told.

Pogue: Your book and CD are here - anyone who blurbs gets a free book and CD.
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Charles Pogue

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #63 on: March 13, 2004, 03:18:27 PM »

BK..many thanks!  I apparently just missed you at Bookfellows.  But I saw the stack of books on the counter and very handsome they are indeed!  Also got a gander at my blurb. It looks great!  Hope it sells you a lot of books.  Is your publisher doing advertising bookmarks this time?  If so, I'll need a few for my bookmark collection.

Another wonderful comic play I love...that I also played the dual lead in...FLEA IN HER EAR.
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Matt H.

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #64 on: March 13, 2004, 03:33:20 PM »

What do folks around here think about Neil Simon's RUMORS? I haven't seen it mentioned in any of the posts, but the theater groups in this area seem to put it on every other year. And it always does lots of business, more than a farce like LEND ME A TENOR does.

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Dan-in-Toronto

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #65 on: March 13, 2004, 03:50:29 PM »

Persnickety is correct of course (even preferred). But I use the also acceptable pernickety. Does anyone else?
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William E. Lurie

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #66 on: March 13, 2004, 03:58:58 PM »

I didn't find RUMORS all that funny, but it is a good choice for community theatre groups because it has an ensemble cast with no real leads.

By the way, regarding NOISES OFF and LEND ME A TENOR, I think a lot has to do with the production.  As funny as I found LEND ME A TENOR on Broadway, a community theatre production was so deadly that I left at intermission.  So far all three productions I've seen of NOISES OFF have been well done (original, revival and one community theatre) but I can imagine in the wrong hands it could be deadly.  And forget about the film --- you must see this play live to appreciate it.
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Dan-in-Toronto

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #67 on: March 13, 2004, 04:00:37 PM »

We shopped at a favorite European cheese store this morning, and a bag of "Sweet Hungarian Paprika" caught Gord's eye. That inspired him to prepare Chicken Paprikash - and invite some neighbors over for an impromptu dinner. By coincidence, last night I baked DR Panni's scrumptious chocolate cake with a walnut crust. (Some months back, DR P had contributed the recipe for the benefit of DR RLP. The way I found it was Member List/Panni/Search/Bottom Layer.) So, without planning one, we've wound up with a Hungarian meal, which will be served in about half an hour. Music suggestions anyone?
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Tomovoz

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #68 on: March 13, 2004, 04:01:50 PM »

Wondered about the film WEL. I have not had the chance to ever see "Noises Off". It has been performed here but I think I was out of the country or something. Chances are I wasn't too young.
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"I'm sixty-three and I guess that puts me with the geriatrics, but if there were fifteen months in every year, I'd only be forty-three".
James Thurber 1957

Panni

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #69 on: March 13, 2004, 04:28:29 PM »

Dan-in-To - if you have any Marta Sebastyen recordings, they'd go very well with a Hungarian meal. So glad you've made my cake! Drink a toast of Egri Bikaver (Bull's Blood Wine - cheap and available most places) to my homeland!
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Jane

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #70 on: March 13, 2004, 04:35:27 PM »

Then I went to the pet store and petted a dog, since I miss mine.

You may come pet Echo any time you want. :)
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Panni

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #71 on: March 13, 2004, 04:43:58 PM »

WEL - Interesting that you're reading ACT ONE (one of my faves). I posted the review of KRITZER TIME which I did here (with some alterations, natch) on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. On the BandN site they ask for other book recommendations for those who like this book. I chose ACT ONE; PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN and the other two KRITZER books.
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Jane

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #72 on: March 13, 2004, 04:47:59 PM »

Some Saturdays our visits at the nursing home are very difficult and I return home emotionally drained.  Today was one of those.   But then I picked up Dragonheart, the novel, began to read and completely forgot about myself.

Charles Pogue the dedication is beautiful.
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Jane

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #73 on: March 13, 2004, 04:52:55 PM »

Tomovoz, I see you there.  So are our ice cream cakes similar?
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Panni

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #74 on: March 13, 2004, 04:57:03 PM »

FS Pogue - Re THREE MUSKETEERS. It was 1968. I don't know if that's what you saw on PBS. This version was directed by my wildly wonderfully talented and difficult cousin, John Hirsch. It was so fast and confusing that as actors made their wild exits and entrances, ASMs were strategically posted backstage not only to help with costume changes, but direct them where the hell to go.

Here’s a bit from one of the retrospective Stratford programs:

Stratford's 1968 production of The Three Musketeers was marvelously lavish, and busy. It boasted "a mixture of three-ring circuses and Dumas and everything else that might be called 'camp', of Batman and Superman and pop art and every swash-buckling scene that Douglas Fairbanks or Errol Flynn ever played in, of dastardly villains and vixenish women and maidens or  pseudo-maidens in distress, of breathtaking gallantry and acrobatics, of incredible love-making, of eye-smiting costumes and ear-smiting noise."
Furthermore, "lurid seductions and rapes were initiated by both sexes and carried to successful conclusions in almost every scene."
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Panni

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #75 on: March 13, 2004, 04:58:42 PM »

...You can tell it was directed by a Hungarian!
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Panni

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #76 on: March 13, 2004, 04:59:57 PM »

...from my family.
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Tomovoz

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #77 on: March 13, 2004, 05:09:20 PM »

I'm back Jane. Our ice cream cakes are JUST ICE-CREAM. There is no cake involved. They are just made to look like cakes. They are usually pre-ordered for a suitable design - racing car, teddy bear etc.
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"I'm sixty-three and I guess that puts me with the geriatrics, but if there were fifteen months in every year, I'd only be forty-three".
James Thurber 1957

William F. Orr

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #78 on: March 13, 2004, 05:28:52 PM »

Besides Hamlet (that was my selection, not DR Kerry's), let me join the chorus for

The Importance of Being Ernest, which is always funny, but better with the best actors.  The Esperanto version, btb, is La Graveco de la Fideligho, with the name Fidel (faithful) doing duty for Ernest.  The translation is by the masterful Scottish poet William Auld, who has also published translations of Shakespeare's sonnets, several of his plays, Byron's Don Juan and the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Auld has the distinction of being the only Esperanto writer to be nominated for a Nobel prize.

And now that I've told you more than you want to know on that subject--oops, one more thing about tIoBE.  The other day there was a sad story on the radio about an abandoned infant being found somewhere here, but when they said the baby was left in a haaandbag, I couldn't help but guffaw.  It reminds one of the worst excesses of the French Revolution.

Arsenic and Old Lace.  I've seen it a couple of times on stage, but for me nothing touches my fellow Caltech graduate Frank Capra's film version.  It gives me the kind of laughter that is actually physically painful.  I only wish I had seen the original Broadway version with Boris Karloff as Jonathan--the self-referential jokes must have had the audience in paroxysms.  Now, if only you could combine Karloff in a production with Peter Lorre from the movie as Dr. Einstein, all that would be missing would be Teddy Roosevelt himself as Teddy.  Cary Grant could still play Mortimer.

DR Pogue:  The ACT production of Shrew was televised and had me doubled up with laughter.  Marc Singer's talents were wasted in his so-called movie career.

And oh joy, oh joy!  My Dragonheart is here, "used" from an amazon third-party dealer, but actually mint and never been opened.  Anyone looking for it should be advised that there are still copies listed.  Well, Dragonheart is here, Kritzer Time is on its way, and a brand new Guy Haines CD.  I'm in heaven.
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Jenny

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #79 on: March 13, 2004, 05:32:11 PM »

I had no idea whatsoever that you lived in Valley Stream.  My Joe lived in Malverne and went to Valley Stream High School.  ...If you weren't off slumbering at the slumber party, I would insist that you come to the funeral this morning.  It will be at 9:45 at Our Lady of Peace at 25 Fowler Avenue, corner of Merrick Avenue, just West of Peninsula Boulevard (Britania insula est.  Italia pæne insula est.  Italia pæninsula est.--as we used to say in my High School (oo oo) days.)  Heck, you can probably walk there from your house!

It's a shame that I didn't see your post until this evening, because Maya and I would certainly have stopped by to express our condolences.  That's a funny coincidence that Joe grew up in my town!  Do you know which of the Valley Stream high schools he went to?  

I am simply having the most lovely weekend.  Maya and I had a splendid time last night, even if I was a wussburger and went to bed obscenely early.  She's a wonderful girl, and I hope to see her again soon!  We make a fine pair.  

After I dropped Maya off, I joined derBrucer and SWW for an absolutely perfect day.  They are hilarious, kind, pure gentlemen, and a girl couldn't wish for better company!  We saw "I Am My Own Wife" (Which we all thoroughly enjoyed), and then went to Joe Allen's for dinner.  I'm sure that Woody will post a detailed description of the restraunt and all things eaten there.  I had a truly wonderful time, and I can't wait til I get to see them again!

This has been a perfect weekend.  :)
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William F. Orr

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #80 on: March 13, 2004, 05:35:24 PM »

And just so DR Panni won't feel left out, here is the poster for the Hungarian production:
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Jenny

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #81 on: March 13, 2004, 05:35:32 PM »

My favorite comedies are "Lips Together Teeth Apart" (Well, until it stops being a comedy somewhere in the middle), "Business Lunch At The Russian Tea Room", "Notes On Akiba", "For Whom The Southern Belle Tolls", and, of course, "The Importance Of Being Earnest".
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"I am always thinking of myself, and I expect everyone else to do the same.  That is what is called sympathy." -Oscar Wilde

William F. Orr

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #82 on: March 13, 2004, 05:40:29 PM »

Sándor Tóth (a major character in my novel Any Other Season also starred in Love's Labours Lost:
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"Champagne to my real friends, and real pain to my sham friends!"
--Wayland Flowers

Jed

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #83 on: March 13, 2004, 05:41:28 PM »

Mmmm... now I'm hungry for the ENORMOUS scallops I had at Joe Allen's.
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William F. Orr

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #84 on: March 13, 2004, 05:41:44 PM »

All of his Hungarian productions seem to get cancelled, you will notice.
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Panni

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #85 on: March 13, 2004, 05:43:26 PM »

Thinking about Three Musketeers and John Hirsch got me to look up an old interview with him. Thought I’d quote a bit –- relevant, I think to some of the things we’ve been talking about in the last few days…
A bit of history… John was a Holocaust survivor. His parents and most of his family were killed. He spent much of the war, as a teenager, hiding, alone.
After the war he immigrated to Canada. He died in 1989, only 59 years old.

Interviewer: You remain essentially optimistic, don’t you?

J. H.: You come out of the furnace and you should be pessimistic? You’d have to really be an idiot. Still, you are not going to become a blithering optimist, either.

INTERVIEWER: So you’re not a Pollyanna?

J.H.: No! It is just simply that you cannot really live without believing that all this has some meaning. Not meaning that’s given to you, but meaning that you have to create for yourself.

INTERVIEWER: Is it a process of discovery?

J.H.: It isn’t lying under the bed, or whistling at the bottom of the garden in a little cage. Every day you’ve got to work at the meaning of your own particular existence. And one works with a lot of assumptions, which may or may not be true. But if they nurture you and if they help other people, then you embrace them.


And if I may take up some more space (It’s Saturday – there’s lots of space)…  This from his writings…

Feeling an outsider, “the other,” is something I have been used to all my life. After fifty years of rehearsal, I’m beginning to play the part quite comfortably.

(Tomorrow, or later today, I’ll post some very eloquent things he had to say about theater.)



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Panni

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #86 on: March 13, 2004, 05:51:00 PM »

WFO - First of all, sorry about the Hamlet mix-up. We should never censor first impulses. I automatically wrote down your name when posting about the quote, then thought about it and changed it. Thinking is always a mistake.

And how wonderful those posters are! I want to read Any Other Season. Did you have a Hungarian researcher? Or do you speak the language? - No way.
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William F. Orr

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #87 on: March 13, 2004, 05:53:10 PM »

Thank you, DR Jenny.  If you had managed to stop by the funeral you would have been whisked away to my sister-in-law's house and forced to eat more wonderful Italian food and desserts than you could possibly imagine, and all two million or so distant aunts and uncles would have treated you like family, oh yes they would have.

We were telling them Joe was in hospital, because he didn't want the present situation to be general knowledge (no, none of them are browsing this board, I can assure you), and all these people I've only seen at a wedding or two years ago were coming up to me and offering their sympathies as though I were Julia's son.  I don't know what they think of the political issues attendant upon marriage  right now, but they do know how you treat people.

I've been eating awfully sparcely (some lettuce and parsley) since Joe has been away, but today I heard Mom talking to me from heaven and saying,  "Have some more.  You look thin."

As it is, you got to dine with SWW and DerB, so cheers to all of you.
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William F. Orr

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #88 on: March 13, 2004, 06:04:49 PM »

DR Panni:  No problemo--I certainly am not insulted by being confused with DR Kerry.

As for my novel, it was on the internet for a few years (available free of charge--back before the days of blogs and such), until that site was retired by Hofstra.  I actually wrote it in the late 80's but updated it with the illustrations for my web page.

If I ever get off my butt-cheeks and do some technical revisions, I'll get it up again and my own eponymous (sorry, I just love that word) web site.

Alas, my knowledge of Hungarian is miniscule, and the translations for the posters were done by another internet friend, Janos Gereben by name, a film and theatre critic in Oakland, also of Magyar origins like yourself.
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"Champagne to my real friends, and real pain to my sham friends!"
--Wayland Flowers

Michael

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Re:THE PERSNICKETY DAY
« Reply #89 on: March 13, 2004, 06:06:59 PM »

DR Kerry: "Ordinary Miracles" sounds like it was written for "Yentle".  The song surfaced in Barbra's 1994 concert tour and and was issued with a live and studio version on a 4 track CD as well as "The Concert" Cd.
Tim Draxyl also sings the song and the liner notes for his album "Ordinary Miracles" just says "A love song introduced by Barbra Streisand during her historic live concerts of the mid 1990s"

But  you know who sings it even better than Streisand or Tim Draxl?? Miss Nancy LaMott. She was in incredible voice and especially when she (I think this is the right term) modulates up an octave on the last five words of the song.
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