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[bk]

Well, you've read the notes, I hope you've understood them better than I have, and now it's time to post with gay abandon and elan and sparkleneelysparkle.  To it, you gay madcap sprites.

[Jed]

DR Jay at the end of yesterday's posts said...

Oh dear!  I hope she's all right.  I had food poisoning once and wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

Been there, done that, agree 100%

[bk]

I, too, have had food poisoning, but not until AFTER I'd read the current notes, JED.

Seriously, I had food poisoning twice - the first time the day after my ex-wife moved out of the house (karma, I'm afraid to say).  I had a Carl's Star Burger and was sick for three days - totally incapacitated.  The second time was eating takeout from Acapulco Mexican Restaurant in Hollywood.  That only lasted a day-and-a-half.

[Jed]

I, too, have had food poisoning, but not until AFTER I'd read the current notes, JED.

You caught me, Bruce!  Something I almost NEVER do, posting before reading the notes.  But I hied my buttcheeks to the current notes IMMEDIATELY after posting, so maybe that counts for something.  But it may not...

[Panni]

I must say that today's notes rate pretty high on the hit parade of weird.   Not that there's anything wrong with that...

I usually don't pay too much attention to what's going on with me health-wise... (I once had a doctor say to me - after questioning me about my health history and getting a variety of shrugs because I really don't care to keep track of every little thing - "I can't treat someone with a death wish." Needless to say I never went back to him.) ANYWAY, what I AM paying attention to tonight is that my heart is hurting. I'm not being poetic here. My heart - or where I think my heart is - is hurting. A lot. I don't know what that means - but if I conk out before the morning, somebody come over and take my doggie.  

[bk]

Weird?  This from the Weird Sister?  I take that as high praise from the Queen of Weird.

[S. Woody White]

I have to be honest.  There are a few "worst enemies" upon whom I would wish food poisoning.

On the other hand, please take care of yourself, Panni!  The odds are you're just getting some gas, but you have been going though stress lately.  If the chest pains are in the middle of your chest, be cautious.  Try to meditate, relax, absorb the good vibes I'm sending you, and feel better.

[move=left,scroll,6,transparent,100%]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/move]

[S. Woody White]

Media report:

There's a whole box of discs (CDs) that der Brucer ordered that arrived, minus some important ones for which he's still being billed.  I'm still waiting for him to say "Let's start playing these babies!"

Meanwhile, I gave a listen to the new cast recording of Wonderful Town, and all and all I have to agree with der B's review when he said the real star of the show is the band.  Sorry, Donna, it's true.

I'm cheating when it comes to DVDs, because I'm going through them the way I like to go through books, a few chapters at a time, and then switch over to something else, or just put it aside and continue the next night.  This is the stunt I'm pulling with 28 Days Later and Passion.  The guy who played the Major in the first is going to be the new Doctor on Doctor Who, currently filming.  As for Donna M., would it be fair to her to watch her playing Fosca while listening to her Ruth Sherwood at the same time?  Or how about the garden scene while playing "Getting to Know You" from the BK produced King et Moi?

[S. Woody White]

As for you, BK, sir, you are evil, yes, quite evil!  You sent both der Brucer and myself e-mails about your upcoming Bookfellows reading and signing, knowing full well that this is the first time you'll be having a reading and signing there that we won't be able to attend.  Talk about rubbing it in!  Fie, I say, fie!

(Actually, I hope everyone in the Los Angeles area, and several others, are there this time, because you're always fun to hear and see.  And you always have cheese slices!  And cake!)

[elmore3003]

Good morning, all!  I'm so bummed!  My VCR died last night, so it's time to buy a new one.  It's been refusing to eject videotapes lately without lots of wheedling and verbal threats, and I fear the last cassette is stuck for good.  Luckily, VCRs don't cost much these days.  A friend had lent me her video of BEST IN SHOW, so I'll have to buy her a new one.

Media alert:

VCR:  see above; it was BEST IN SHOW
DVD:  MONSIEUR VERDOUX
CD:  Judy Collins

[Michael]

DVD: Sleuth. I have watched the interview with Anthony Shaffer and he states that Stephen Sondheim was the inspiration for the play but none of the characters are based on him. I had read and it is not mentioned in the interview that one of the titles considered for the play was "Who Is Afraid of Stephen Sondheim" or something like that. I remember it being a play on an established title.  I have already seen the film, but it will be interesting to watch knowing the outcome.

[Dan-in-Toronto]

I'm not being poetic here. My heart - or where I think my heart is - is hurting. A lot. I don't know what that means - but if I conk out before the morning, somebody come over and take my doggie.  

DR Panni,
 
That last sentence in your post is quite Jewish-motherly. But if I can add some J-M advice myself, please don't shrug this off - and follow things up with a doctor's visit.

Also - for all DR's, especially those who live alone:

In Toronto there's something called life-line: a gizmo you wear around your neck, with a button to press in an emergency. (It connects with the nearest hospital; they in turn contact someone on a list you provide.) I was told that this service (and I'm sure there are comparable ones) is not just for the elderly - but for anyone who lives. (It proved very helpful to a neighbor who locked herself in her bathroom.)

[Dan-in-Toronto]

DR td,

Thanks for sharing the very good news about your parents, and thanks for giving credit to HHWVIBES. Continued good health vibes to td père and mère. And please give yourself a major - and well-deserved - acknowledgment.

[Ben]

Panni, I hope it's just heartburn, but if it's not CALL YOUR DOCTOR! East coasters will have a hard time visiting you in the hospital. We do send our best vibes for heart unhurting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm listening to AccuRadio (internet station) right now. Nothing in the CD player. The home CD player (a cheap job from the early 90s anyway) is slowly breathing its last. Anthony has clown shows on LI this weekend so he's bringing in another one on his return trip which will do until we get a new one. We have a tape of Queer Eye and Two's Company to watch when he returns on Monday.

Tonight I'm seeing Pardon My English, the Encores production of the Gershwin musical. Tomorrow, I'm seeing Miss Barbara Cook in her new one woman show. Sunday I have nothing to do but rest. Monday I'm going to a focus group for a small theatre company here in New York, The Drama Department. They have lots of good, well-known members like Cynthia Nixon, B.D. Wong, Charles Busch, Debbie Shapiro Gravitte and others. I remember seeing one of their first productions, As Bees in Honey Drown and loving it. I think they are having growing pains. They are trying to figure out what to do and where to go now. They haven't done anything for quite a while other than the reading of Bell Book and Candle two weeks (somewhat frustrating for their subscribers). They are looking for input on what they should be doing, I guess, so I will gladly oblige with my opinion. And then on Tuesday I'm seeing Sixteen Wounded, a new play about a Jewish baker who takes a teenage Palestinian as an assistant and finally on Wednesday, I'm seeing 20th Century at the Selwyn (AKA American Airlines) Theatre. It opened to mixed reviews yesterday though friends who have seen it said the performances (Alec Baldwin, Anne Heche, Dan Butler, Julie Halston and others) are good. We shall  see.

Well, I should post this so I can get back to work.

[Robin]

First off...Panni, get thee to an Urgent Care facility.  It may be nothin', but it's not worth taking a chance.  

Second off...as to the weekly media check:

I've gotten a few of FSM's limited-edition soundtrack CDs earlier this week: Alfred Newman's The Prisoner of Zenda, Victor Young's Scaramouche, Jerry Goldsmith's The Wild Rovers, and Leonard Rosenman's The Cobweb and Edge of the City.  They're all quite wonderful, but I like the Newman and Rosenman discs the most.  

In the deeveedee player has been The Brain from Planet Arous and Star Trek: Voyager--Season One, which I'm finishing off tonight.  

In the laserdisc player has been The Picture of Dorian Gray, with Mr. Hurd Hatfield, Mr. George Sanders and the lovely Miss Angela Lansbury.  I picked up a sealed copy of this on eBay for under ten bucks, including shipping.  A bargain, I tell you...a bargain!

Finally, I must apologize in advance for some upcoming e&t:  the Significant Other and I are heading off to a friend's cabin come Saturday evening, and we'll spend a three-day weekend there with each other, a stack of books, and a few CDs.  No TV, no internet, just a spectacular view of the Mississippi river and some wonderful, wonderful solitude.  Every once in a while, we need to do that.  

But first, come Saturday morning, I'm playing in a local Scrabble tournament.  I usually do quite well in these, even making it through into the final rounds...but I've never actually won.  (However, I did come up with the highest-scoring single word in the last Scrabble tournament I was in...FATHERED, in the upper-left hand quadrant of the board.  Not only did I use all seven letters, playing off of an E, which earned the fifty bonus points, but I also hit TWO "triple word score" squares.  Over three hundred points for ONE word.  Needless to say, I won that game.  But I lost the very next one.  Ah, well...!)  

So, wish me luck, eh?  

[Dan (the Man)]

DR Panni, if you are reading these notes and good vibes, chances are that you are alright.  More than likely it was heartburn from all the sweets or something muscular.  Still, it never hurts to hear a doctor cluck "It's not your heart."

The Media Report of Me:

VCR:  I taped City Lights Wednesday night.  I'm saving that for this weekend.

DVD:  Young Frankenstein.  I was just given an extra copy from a nice guy at work.

CD (at home):  The new Wonderful Town cast recording.  It's disappointingly flat compared to the actual show and even to the ootlegbay recording that's floating around.  But still, it's Wonderful Town and it's still heads and tails better than a lot of other cast recordings I bought this past year.  I find myself constantly humming the music.

CD (at work):  I brought in my Ella Fitzgerald/Rodgers and Hart Songbook Vols 1 & 2 to rip and store on the second PC in my office that I actually use as a jukebox.  Now these wonderful recordings will always be at my fingertips.

Book:  I'm at the tail end of Benjamin Kritzer.  Wait--let me rephrase that--I am about to finish reading Benjamin Kritzer.

[DERBRUCER]

...is not just for the elderly - but for anyone who lives.

All 6 billion of us!

der Brucer (Mulling over the thought of expanding the market for Dan's MedAlert device to include "anyone who dies" - the sales pitch being "If you're accidently (or for that matter, on purpose) buried alive when you awaken just press your Alert button and we will dispatch a team of diggers, posthaste!")

[DERBRUCER]

Well, I see BK is off in the world of the improbable/impossible again.

He post-notes (a 3M reference):

...we shall all flit about like gay madcap sprites who’ve eaten a large Jewish meal...

Now, those of us with gay-madcap tendencies know full well that, having partooked of a large Jewish meal (there's redundant for you) one can no longer "flit about", but is consigned to curl up in contentment at the bottom of the garden.

[Stuart]

Now, those of us with gay-madcap tendencies know full well that, having partooked of a large Jewish meal (there's redundant for you) one can no longer "flit about", but is consigned to curl up in contentment at the bottom of the garden.

Couldn't agree with you more, DR DerBrucer.  After a full 5 course meal (give or take) prepared by our mother, DR Jay and I were known to do nothing more exhausting than a round or two of the aforementioned Scrabble.  No gay madcap sprites (or Tabs, or Dr. Brown's Cream soda or Cel-Ray tonic) were we.

It was a holiday tradition.  One that I miss, with us all spread out.....

CD (Work): Currently, Christiane Noll/Broadway Love Story
CD (Home): Empty, but last thing was IRENE
VCR: Last night's WILL & GRACE
DVD: Empty,  but last thing was FINDING NEMO

[DERBRUCER]

As for you, BK, sir, you are evil, yes, quite evil!  You sent both der Brucer and myself e-mails about your upcoming Bookfellows reading and signing, knowing full well that this is the first time you'll be having a reading and signing there that we won't be able to attend.  Talk about rubbing it in!  Fie, I say, fie!

(Actually, I hope everyone in the Los Angeles area, and several others, are there this time, because you're always fun to hear and see.  And you always have cheese slices!  And cake!)

Well, since we won't be going, I guess there'll be no glorious pictures of food to be posted:



Note: penurious Author can't afford the hardback!

der Brucer

The first signing/reading is at Bookfellows in Glendale on April 10.  Mark your calendars.  It's before the dreaded Ides!
 
The second signing is a big affair, the UCLA Festival of Books sponsored by the LA Times.  I'll be at my publisher's table (1st Books) from 9:30-5:00 on April 24 and 25. Which those of you who have survived the dreaded Ides should attend!

[DERBRUCER]

... with us all spread out.....

Eating lots of Jewish food will do that.

der Brucer (still clinging to the thought that's it's the Olives in martinis that give you the hangover, and it's the Matzoh in Jewish cuisine that make you "healthy looking".)

[Dan (the Man)]

In Toronto there's something called life-line: a gizmo you wear around your neck, with a button to press in an emergency. (It connects with the nearest hospital; they in turn contact someone on a list you provide.) I was told that this service (and I'm sure there are comparable ones) is not just for the elderly - but for anyone who lives. (It proved very helpful to a neighbor who locked herself in her bathroom.)

This sounds like the device that spawned the line "I've fallen...and I can't get up!"

[DERBRUCER]

A prediction:

BK will take the profits from the Kritzer Saga and buy this simple acerage:


Located north of San Francisco in Napa, this 12,000-acre ranch includes several ponds, creeks, a waterfall and access to Lake Berryessa. Of the 12,000 acres, about 2,000 are suitable for vineyards.

There he will shoot a sequel to Barry Lyndon whilst Hainesies/Kimlets and other wayward gay madcap sprites are crushing grapes for the latest batch of "Kritzerwein".

der Brucer (who should leave prognostication to the Gypsy Awards Whore)

[DERBRUCER]

This sounds like the device that spawned the line "I've fallen...and I can't get up!"

Not to be confused with Satan's line "I've fallen and I can't get it up!" under consideration for a new Viagra ad.

[William E. Lurie]

BK - What is a "hash line" and how does it differ from a "cafeteria line"?  I've never heard the term before.

CDs - 3 of the 4 shows I am seeing over the next 3 days to reacquaint myself with the scores: PARDON MY ENGLISH (Encores!), FANNY (Mufti) and SWEENY TODD (NYCO).  (The 4th show is a concert of William Finn songs with Betty Buckley, Raul Esparza, Jessie Tyler Ferguson, Stephen deRosa and Janet Metz.)  Also Guy Haines sings KRITZER TIME.

DVDs - If I have time CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN (original Clifton Webb version) and its sequel BELLES ON THEIR TOES.

VHS - Tonight I am recording SWING TIME from Turner.  I have not seen it in years and want to see just how faithful NEVER GONNA DANCE was to the film.  Now that THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT is coming out on DVD, the most needed titles are the Astaire/Rodgers films.

******

An interesting situation I have been wanting to post about for some time to get some feedback involves a good friend of mine who has decided he is an author.  If BK's KRITZERs represent the best books I have read in years, my friend Ross's FARRELL books (he plans 6, has self-published 3 of which I have read 2) represent the worst.  Ray could not get past the first chapter of the first, but I have plodded my way through two of them.  His writing style seems as if he doesn't know what an apostrophe is and how people really talk: "Hello, Tony, I am very glad to meet you".  It seems like a parody of Dick and Jane.  Almost every paragraph has something in italics like a place name, product name or some other proper noun.  And he pays no attention to real time: a character is born on the opening night of Broadway's FUNNY GIRL but is only about 20 in 2002!  I pointed out to him that it was very confusing because I assumed the book took place in 1984 because of that but every other reference made it obvious that it was current and he said that nobody else would ever notice that (yet it was written for gay readers).  Last night he had a reading at the Gay Center  (I refuse to call it Lesbian, Gay, Transexual & Bisexual Center as they prefer) because it was selected "Queer Book of the Month" - not something I would be proud of.  It was like a party at his apartment because nobody but his friends showed up.  Anyway he keeps asking me if I have read the third one yet and I don't want to tell him I really don't want to read any more.  They do not even fall into the "so bad it's good" category.  I give him a lot of credit for writing these and I haven't got the heart to tell him how bad they are.   Whereas I tore into KRITZER TIME the day after I got it (and am almost done), the thought of reading FARRELL IN LONDON --- especially after hearing a chapter last night where Farrell's partner Tony gets help unloading his luggage from Bill Clinton while Tony is in the Watercloset --- totally turns me off.  Any suggestions on how to keep the friendship without hurting him regarding the books?

[Matt H.]

I also have suffered through a bout of food poisoning, and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. Not only was I physically weak for DAYS after it first hit me, but just the sight of any food sickened me for several days. A ghastly experience.

[MBarnum]

First off, I hope you are feeling better Panni. Do please check in with us so that we know you are all right!

Robin, best of luck Scrabbling!

Media Check:

VHS: Taped off of TCM for my weekend enjoyment are CITY LIGHTS, SUMMER STOCK, and SWING TIME.

CD: Courtesy of DR Elmore who sent me a FANTASTIC (!!!) compilation of songs sung by one of my favorite singers Felix (March of the Wooden Soldiers) Knight!

DVD: Bollywood film INTAQAM. 1960s melodrama of woman who gets revenge on employer who had her mistakenly put in jail.

[Panni]

Dear every sweet person who expressed concern:
A) I obviously survived to continue my reign as Queen of Weird.
B) Thank you for you obvious caring and advice!
C) I wish I hadn't posted about my "heart ache" - I really normally wouldn't have - but I was a strange mood, brought on no doubt by crashing from the sugar high after eating far too much delicious chocolate. And probably stress, too. Yeah - STRESS! I do a good job of tucking it away, but once in a while it rears its ugly head.
D) DAn-in- TO - I refuse to invest in one of those life alert devices until I'm 102. And as that won't happen - don't buy stock in the company counting on my purchase. (I bought my mother one of them in the last year of her life, but I have a feeling she never wore it. Didn't match her outfits.)

So thank you all again. You're a swell bunch.
(As for dear daughter, still haven't heard from her re the food poisoning. Which is probably good news. Had she been REALLY sick, I'm sure she would have had no qualms about calling mom at 3 AM to hold her hand long distance.)
 

[DERBRUCER]

Scarlet Street Coven Alert!

Hellboy

der Brucer (still waiting for Perlman's Beast to make it to DVD)

[Matt H.]

Friday Media alert:

CD - Clay Aiken's MEASURE OF A MAN. It's better than my initial impression (which is not to say it's great, but a couple of the tunes do stay with you. I think I was initially disappointed it didn't show off his voice in any spectacular way. Hopefully, we'll get a CD one day that does that.)

DVD - LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, Special Extended Edition followed tomorrow by LOST IN TRANSLATION

DVR - last night's WILL & GRACE (Will has had a boy friend for two episodes and he's scheduled for next week, too. That will tie the longest relationship he's had on the series during its six year run - three episodes.)