Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[bk]

Guess I'll watch Mad Men now.

[John G.]

Five!

[John G.]

Nothing in Elephant Walk appears to have been filmed together. All of the "on location" shots have studio shots tacked on, and they have not been pieced together very well at that. The colors don't match and the cut outs of Elizabeth Taylor or Dana Andrews are sloppy, to say the least.

[Dan M]

Here's a very funny clip from The Show Formerly Known as The Martin Short Show (1995) in which Martin plays Ringo Starr in the Dean Stockwell role in an imagined Richard Lester version of A Hard Day's Journey Into Night, a mix-up of the Eugene O'Neill/Sidney Lumet movie and the Beatles' movie:

https://youtu.be/gqN3TL0qqSg?t=9m

[ChasSmith]

And I am finally home after sitting in road repair traffic for an extra hour.  What, they couldn't take one night off?  I mean, it's only the busiest travel day of the year next to Thanksgiving.  Oy and vey.

[ChasSmith]

ZORBA, for all the pans (no pots, just pans), is intensely beautiful, and today's sights and sounds were thrilling.

[John G.]

ZORBA, for all the pans (no pots, just pans), is intensely beautiful, and today's sights and sounds were thrilling.

I love that score. Most of the reviewers just didn't get it. They didn't get it when it first opened. They didn't get it in the revival. And they seem to get it less now. 

[ChasSmith]

I wasn't sure it could happen, but it did -- there were several parking spots available on the Toyland block, something heretofore unknown, and virtually unimaginable.  Yes, it was a late Sunday afternoon, but every other street was packed, so imagine my delight when 27th Street welcomed me with open arms.

So, as you have heard, DR Elmore and I had a successful trip from there back to the Upper West Side, followed by a delightful repast at Artie's.  No Jewish foods today.  We both were hungry for a cheeseburger deluxe, and we inhaled them.  Hmm.... can you vape a cheeseburger deluxe?

[ChasSmith]

Parking, you see, is something we talk about here in the wilds of New York City. 

[John G.]

I wasn't sure it could happen, but it did -- there were several parking spots available on the Toyland block, something heretofore unknown, and virtually unimaginable.  Yes, it was a late Sunday afternoon, but every other street was packed, so imagine my delight when 27th Street welcomed me with open arms.

So, as you have heard, DR Elmore and I had a successful trip from there back to the Upper West Side, followed by a delightful repast at Artie's.  No Jewish foods today.  We both were hungry for a cheeseburger deluxe, and we inhaled them.  Hmm.... can you vape a cheeseburger deluxe?

I'd give it a try.

[ChasSmith]

Well, Artie's serves a good one.  The fries were delicious, too, and I very much like their cole slaw and the half sour pickles.

[singdaw]

DR ChasSmith, I am so grateful that you could help out DR elmore3003 today. And take in a great show, besides!

[singdaw]

Put me in the Oxford Comma lover's camp. Always have. Always will.

[Cillaliz]

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ to Cilla.

Thanks, I slept for 3 hours after turning off my phone...

[ChasSmith]

Oh yes, the Oxford comma.  Absolutely.  Count me in.

I never even knew about it until several years ago.  We were taught to do without, and do without we did.  The discovery of the Oxford comma was a joy and I adopted it immediately.

[Cillaliz]

Time to see if I can fit everything I have out to pack into one large suitcase.  If not, something will have to be left behind.

Or you could get another suitcase

[Cillaliz]

I was taught to use the Oxford comma, but didn't know until today that it was called the Oxford comma

[Cillaliz]

Wow, was I exhausted earlier today.  That three hour nap made me feel somewhat human again

[John G.]

I was never taught grammar. I learned it by studying foreign languages. When I entered journalism, I learned Associated Press style, which shuns excessive, unnecessary punctuation in the cause of writing that is clearer. So, it is the anti-Christ of the Oxford comma.

The two books I wrote used the Oxford comma, as most books do. Including it, after more than 30 years of writing without it, was extremely difficult.

[Cillaliz]

I wanted to go and see my neighbor to give her my condolences and maybe take a vegetable tray to have some healthy muchies, but by the time I was ready to go over the house was dark and only one car in the drive.  I think she's probably with her kids.  They all live here in town so she'll have several places to go.   

[Cillaliz]

I will really miss Louie.   He was the nicest guy.  They are retired but have an antique and online book business.  They go to flea markets and sell things.  I loved chatting with him about their lastest find at a garage sale or to see how he had restored something.  They love nature and he was delighted when I recently gave them a photo of the Cooper's Hawk.  So sad.  He and Sue had been married 40 years.  I'm glad she has her kids around.  I found out by reading his obit in the paper. 

[Cillaliz]

I hope Sue stays next door, but you never know. 

[John G.]

Sorry for your loss, Cillaliz.

[Cillaliz]

I can't wait to sleep tonight

[Cillaliz]

There were tornados about an hour from here today.  Always sad when that happens.

[Dan M]

I was never taught grammar. I learned it by studying foreign languages. When I entered journalism, I learned Associated Press style, which shuns excessive, unnecessary punctuation in the cause of writing that is clearer. So, it is the anti-Christ of the Oxford comma.

The two books I wrote used the Oxford comma, as most books do. Including it, after more than 30 years of writing without it, was extremely difficult.

Then, again, is the comma obsessed writer. When I worked at various jobs I always wound up being a proof reader. Not sure if I had a "proof reader" sign on my back, but that fell to me. I didn't mind, but it was at times disheartening that people who were supposedly more intelligent than me, with several higher degrees, yadda yadda yadda, couldn't write and had the worst grammar and syntax. I'm a bit of a grammar snob I guess.

I had an English teacher in junior high who was great. She asked all of us to memorize the pronouns, but to find a creative way to do it. Then, we had to present our mnemonic device to the class. Everyone liked mine. I set the pronouns to the Triumphal March from Aida. It was catchy and made them easy to remember.

[John G.]

I was never taught grammar. I learned it by studying foreign languages. When I entered journalism, I learned Associated Press style, which shuns excessive, unnecessary punctuation in the cause of writing that is clearer. So, it is the anti-Christ of the Oxford comma.

The two books I wrote used the Oxford comma, as most books do. Including it, after more than 30 years of writing without it, was extremely difficult.

Then, again, is the comma obsessed writer. When I worked at various jobs I always wound up being a proof reader. Not sure if I had a "proof reader" sign on my back, but that fell to me. I didn't mind, but it was at times disheartening that people who were supposedly more intelligent than me, with several higher degrees, yadda yadda yadda, couldn't write and had the worst grammar and syntax. I'm a bit of a grammar snob I guess.

I had an English teacher in junior high who was great. She asked all of us to memorize the pronouns, but to find a creative way to do it. Then, we had to present our mnemonic device to the class. Everyone liked mine. I set the pronouns to the Triumphal March from Aida. It was catchy and made them easy to remember.

I think my professors as I worked on my master's degree were, by and large, terrible writers. That might not have been bad if I had been focused on astrophysics or molecular engineering, but I was studying a good deal of literature and writing.

[John G.]

Part of my current job involves using grammar, and many of my co-workers cannot punctuate a sentence.

It's also occasionally hard because the writing part of the job involves using conversational speech, which is often ungrammatical. As far as my writing goes, "whom" is never used. Write around it, etc. Social politics and conversation have also made it impossible to use a singular pronoun anymore. We use "their" instead of "he or she."

[John G.]

Listening to a fascinating interview with Yo-Yo Ma on a DVD of a show called "Extraordinary Minds" with Howard Gardner as host.

Far more rewarding than "Elephant Walk."

[Dan M]

I had a teacher in college, she wasn't a professor, but rather a lecturer. She taught a class on writing. Boy, was she tough! We started the semester with 30 students. By the end there were only 4 of us left. The syllabus was deceiving. We would get a reading assignment of maybe a chapter length from a textbook. She would chose something from one of the major disciplines so we had to actually read a work written at a reading level of 13^th grade, not the usual which is written at elementary school level. She would ask us very pointed questions about the reading. We had to answer them in an essay no longer than 3 typewritten pages. At the start of the semester, many fell into the wrong impression that this would be a cinch. It was far from that. I'd hand in a paper that I thought was pretty good. She would return it completely marked up front and back. The next assignment was given along with the previous paper that had to be rewritten. Even though these were maximum 3 page papers, the demand was high and the writing turned out to be even more difficult. She was a great teacher, though, and I am always very happy that I went through that grinder.