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[bk]

Well, you've read the notes, you've been informed that it's a December to remember, you know that you must keep the home fries burning, and now it is time for you to post until the December cows come home.

[Jrand73]

First post huzzah!

[Jrand73]

Hmmmmmmmm....ASK BK day.

I was thinking just the other day, when we were talking about Christmas movies.  And I remember reading that WHITE CHRISTMAS was the top moneymaker for Paramount for 1954.

However said movie was not released until October, 1954,  So are those box office numbers (or were) counted from the date of first release until it has been all around the circuit (first run, second run, etc, engagements in cities and hamlets), even if it took until many months into 1955?  So that of all films issued by Paramount in 1954, it returned the greatest amount in rentals?

And then any other money made after it was returned to the vault would be counted as a re-release.

[elmore3003]

Good morning, all!  I'm amazed at the number of posts for yesterday, a lot of frenzied activity beyond the sleeping time of this eastcoaster.  

I'll add my thoughts to DRTomovoz' inquiry into HBO's CARNIVALE.  I liked the show a lot.  I hated TWIN PEAKS, which I found to be Less Ado About Nothing, but CARNIVALE, with its dustbowl 1930s depression, seemed to me a Steinbeck novel written by David Lynch and Stephen King.  I found that quirky combo so interesting that I found the show fascinating.  I can't wait for Season 2.

I don't know if any DRs read Peter Filichia's column on TheaterMania.com, but two weeks ago he did an article, BABES IN NEVERLAND, on the musical theatre project I've been working on.  It's an interesting article.

I had weird dreams last night about being on a tour bus during an IRA assassination, my brothers being in mafia trouble at a construction site, and something about my father which I cannot remember.  I have no idea what I may have read, eaten, or ingested to conjure all that madness up.

As for the TOD, I have no questions at the moment.  Perhaps later . . .

[Dan (the Man)]

Question for BK:

How are you planning to store your Li'l Abner comicbook?  And will you have it professionally graded?

[Emily]

It's the first day of December and it's SNOWING!!!

Snowing so hard, actually, that G. W. Bush, who is in Ottawa on a state visit has been grounded.

HA! So God DOES have a sense of humour...

[Stuart]

My question for Ask BK Day is:  What in tarnation is going on at this here website??

Over 300 posts yesterday, and today, I -- on the East coast -- am posting Post #6???  at nearly 10AM??

[S. Woody White]

Panni wore everyone out yesterday.

 

[bk]

I'm up and must hurry and scurry.

The Li'l Abner comic (number one in this series) is already graded by the cgc and stored in their plastic thing which you can't break the seal of or the grade doesn't count.  

Not sure how they count the rentals, but yes, if it were their top money-maker for 1954 they'd have counted much more than three months worth of rentals to get that stat.

Yes, where in tarnation IS everyone?  Probably exhausted from yesterday's amazing number of postings.

[Panni]

Eeek! I just checked my last post of last night's frenzy and see that I wrote:
 "I think I'll sign of at 330 - a nice round number."
Of course, that should have been "sign OFF"... I was tired, DRs.
Okay, OFF to take Abie for a walk, then me for a longer, brisker walk, then shower and writing and an afternoon meeting in the Hills of Beverly. A busy day.

[MBarnum]

I have no questions for today, just yet, because it is early here in the Justice building in downtown Salem, Orygun, and I must get some more coffee.

But good morning to all on this December morn.

[S. Woody White]

I've been musing for the last couple of days (and this will prove that it takes very little to keep me a-mused) over a similarity between mystery plays and farces.

Physical farce requires a good sense of timing, what with the opening and closing of doors, the stumbles and pratfalls, all that sort of thing.  This physicality is part of what makes them fun for the audience.  Noises Off is a good example of this fun, and a lot of why the play works so well.

The similarity is with the physical aspect of mystery plays.  The direction of the sense of humor is different, of course, but, taking Death Trap as an example, there is a similar part of the play's "thrill" that comes from perfect timing.

Now, I admit there are mystery plays that play out entirely with words, and are fully satisfying.  But the word-mysteries aren't nearly as suspenseful as the active plays can be, IMO.  

What I find interesting is that the physical demands of both kinds of plays can be noted in the stage directions, clearly enough for the plays to be reproduced in later productions.

This could go a long way towards explaining why there haven't been many successful mystery musicals.  Redhead works as a good example here.  The timing falls heavily on the choreographer (in this case Fosse), whose work may not be easily copied or even notated.  

Any comments or other ideas, anyone?

[S. Woody White]

An actual question:

Are there any DVDs coming out soon that Dear Readers are looking forward to watching?

For myself, the release of the extended LOTR: Return of the King is way up there on my list.

[Matt H.]

Well, I spent this morning finally getting around to watching A CHRISTMAS CAROL from Sunday night. The story is so timeless that it always works, and I choked up and wept on a couple of occasions. I liked two songs: "Christmas Together" and "God Bless Us Every One." The rest were inoffensive but not nearly as instantly memorable as the Bricusse tunes in SCROOGE.

Several things about the production amazed me for the good or ill. I couldn't believe that on at least three different occasions in that fifteen minute long opening number, the camera focused on singers who did not know the lyrics to the songs and whose lips were out of sync with the words on the playback. That's just shoddy directing and editing.

The dancing in the Fezziwig sequence was astoundingly athletic and dynamic, but it seemed totally out of period to me. The song was forgettable, too.

Jessie Martin's song and dance sequence in the music hall was awful. Wasn't his fault. I just hated the song, and the dancing there was robotic and totally uninteresting. What a contrast to the dancing in the Fezziwig sequence!

Don't know what to think of Alan Menken's music. Parts of it were so musically syncopated and rhythmically complicated that I thought he was aping Sondheim. Other songs were trite (the Jason Alexander number) and bland. As I said earlier, I liked some of the music very much and thought it fit well, but as a whole, the score was a mixed bag for sure.

Other thoughts: I thought Tiny Tim was too old.

It was novel for the ghosts to be portrayed by characters from the present whom Scrooge had scorned. Not sure if I like that motif, but it was different.

Did not think the two young actors hired to play Scrooge and Marley matched well to Grammer and Alexander at all.

Jennifer Love Hewitt's song could NEVER approach the poignant beauty of "Happiness" from SCROOGE, one of my all-time favorite songs from a film.

[Matt H.]

Looking forward to seeing last night's HOUSE this afternoon as I eat my lunch.

[Matt H.]

Yes, indeed, I am VERY MUCH looking forward to watching that extended edition of LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING. Loved the theatrical version, and I'm sure this one will expand the story in interesting ways.

[Dan (the Man)]

An actual question:

Are there any DVDs coming out soon that Dear Readers are looking forward to watching?

For myself, the release of the extended LOTR: Return of the King is way up there on my list.

I'm another one who is looking forward to the third LOTR extended release.  After the holidays, I'll spend a Saturday or Sunday watching all three.

Also looking forward to next week's release of Cinderella with Miss Julie Andrews.  

[JoseSPiano]

Good Morning!

...So my roommate comes home last night around 2:00AM and his friend, Alex, is with him.  Alex works at the restaurant with my roommate.  Last night was the first time I had met Alex, and it turns out he's the brother of my friend, Rob, who moved to Baltimore about two years ago.  So...  Long story short, we all ended up shooting the sh*t - don't ask me what the sh*t did to deserve that - for about two hours, and I finally headed to bed around 4:00AM.

Strangely enough, I'm up earlier today than I was yesterday, so...

And now that I've had my oatmeal and green & white tea blend...

[JoseSPiano]

LOL...

Ellen "working" at Art's Deli!

Sometimes TV can be educational too!

[JMK]

Hi, all, I'm back.  I know you've all been waiting with baited breath (or is that abated breath?).

DR Jane shamed me into returning today with a very sweet email last night (thank you, DR Jane).  I think it's DR JR who doesn't like excuses for being so horribly E&T, so I offer these not as excuses but simply to catch everyone up:

It's simply one of my busiest times of the year, what with holiday gigs and all.  Add in the fact that Dear Spouse Betsy has been putting in lots of extra hours at her job(s), leaving me with Mr. Mom duties on a daily basis.  Plus I am writing a new Bacharach revue from scratch, since the actors involved did not like either of the existing Bacharach revues that are available for license.  This means crafting vocal arrangements and orchestrations froms scratch, which is rather time consuming.  But I shall try to be more responsible with my duties as a H/K.

I have been thinking of BK and several others here.  To wit, just yesterday I listened to Bus & Truck, and it also is the basis for my Ask BK question (which may have been previously answered during my long absence):

BK, did you play piano on the demo?

[JMK]

P.S.  My LOL moment from a few days ago--one of my Tigard Pops Choir members went to my website and saw the picture there that is my Avatar here.  He mentioned it must have been taken 10 or 15 years ago.  I feigned mock amazement and replied, "You mean 10 or 15 pounds ago!"  (At least, LOL).

[JoseSPiano]

Hi, all, I'm back.  I know you've all been waiting with baited breath (or is that abated breath?).

DR Jane shamed me into returning today with a very sweet email last night (thank you, DR Jane).  I think it's DR JR who doesn't like excuses for being so horribly E&T, so I offer these not as excuses but simply to catch everyone up:

It's simply one of my busiest times of the year, what with holiday gigs and all.  Add in the fact that Dear Spouse Betsy has been putting in lots of extra hours at her job(s), leaving me with Mr. Mom duties on a daily basis.  Plus I am writing a new Bacharach revue from scratch, since the actors involved did not like either of the existing Bacharach revues that are available for license.  This means crafting vocal arrangements and orchestrations froms scratch, which is rather time consuming.  But I shall try to be more responsible with my duties as a H/K.

I have been thinking of BK and several others here.  To wit, just yesterday I listened to Bus & Truck, and it also is the basis for my Ask BK question (which may have been previously answered during my long absence):

BK, did you play piano on the demo?

Welcome back, DR JMK!   Well, you never really left, so...  We all have our busy periods, so...

I did Back To Bacharach And David a couple of years ago, and didn't think the arrangements were that bad.  However, the rental books were a mess - just bad copying, at least in the piano/vocal score.  We had to request clean copies from Samuel French for a couple of songs.  But it was nice to have those two songs whose titles escape me right now... the two obscure songs in the show.  Sorry...  I'll have to go and dig out my program now.  -But, boy, did it take a while to find that Dionne Warwick recording for one of them!  And in a fun twist, we had "24 Hours" sung by a man about a man.

Is Look Of Love available now?  If it is, it shouldn't be...

And I know you Asked Bk, but...  Yes, BK, did play piano for the Bus & Truck demo.

[JoseSPiano]

...Oh, and I also liked the vocal arrangement of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" in B2B&D.

[George]

Welcome back JMK!!  The library where I work DID take the "Going to Pot" CDs!  The problem is that they haven't cataloged them yet, so they're not on the computer system.  But they do have them.  Thanks for the donation!

[JoseSPiano]

My brother lived in San Francisco
He said he'd finally found his place
And when I go to San Francisco
Everywhere I look
I see his face

[George]

Okay, here’s my dilemma for review by the Official HainesHisWay Ethics and Morals Committee that I mentioned last night:  I rent my house from my sister.  I have a housemate (strictly platonic) who makes about half as much money as I do.  Knowing this when we moved in together, I said that I would pay more rent (about 60/40), otherwise we split the utilities in half.  My sister has refinanced her new home and doesn’t have to make one month’s payment, so for Christmas, she said that she would accept only half of this month’s payment from me (us).  Now my dilemma:  Should I tell my housemate nothing and let him pay his full rent?  This is where The Committee is needed because it's really the only Christmas gift I'm getting from my sister.  Since her gift is in the form of a discount of rent (it amounts to several hundred dollars), am I obligated to pass this on to my housemate?  If so, how much less should my housemate pay?  Should we just split the discount in half or each pay half of what we currently pay or some other ratio?  That’s my quandary.  Any suggestions??

[JoseSPiano]

Okay, here’s my dilemma for review by the Official HainesHisWay Ethics and Morals Committee that I mentioned last night:  I rent my house from my sister.  I have a housemate (strictly platonic) who makes about half as much money as I do.  Knowing this when we moved in together, I said that I would pay more rent (about 60/40), otherwise we split the utilities in half.  My sister has refinanced her new home and doesn’t have to make one month’s payment, so for Christmas, she said that she would accept only half of this month’s payment from me (us).  Now my dilemma:  Should I tell my housemate nothing and let him pay his full rent?  This is where The Committee is needed because it's really the only Christmas gift I'm getting from my sister.  Since her gift is in the form of a discount of rent (it amounts to several hundred dollars), am I obligated to pass this on to my housemate?  If so, how much less should my housemate pay?  Should we just split the discount in half or each pay half of what we currently pay or some other ratio?  That’s my quandary.  Any suggestions??

DR George - The gift from your sister is to you not your housemate.  Your housemate should pay what he normally pays, regardless.  Now, if your sister had intended the gift to be shared between you and your housemate, well, then that would be a different story.

As for informing your housemate about the gift... Well, again, the gift was to you, not to your housemate.  However, if you are feeling a little "iffy", you could always give him a gift of free water, electricity, cable, or some other utitlity for the month of December.

Basically, it breaks down like this.. You just have to treat it as if you and your housemate were giving individual rent checks to your sister.  -From what you typed, it just sounds like he gives you his share of the money, and then you give the rent to your sister.  Since the gift is to you, she would "refuse" your rent check, but would still take your housemate's rent check.

[Stuart]

DR George - The gift from your sister is to you not your housemate.  Your housemate should pay what he normally pays, regardless.  Now, if your sister had intended the gift to be shared between you and your housemate, well, then that would be a different story.

As for informing your housemate about the gift... Well, again, the gift was to you, not to your housemate.  However, if you are feeling a little "iffy", you could always give him a gift of free water, electricity, cable, or some other utitlity for the month of December.

Basically, it breaks down like this.. You just have to treat it as if you and your housemate were giving individual rent checks to your sister.  -From what you typed, it just sounds like he gives you his share of the money, and then you give the rent to your sister.  Since the gift is to you, she would "refuse" your rent check, but would still take your housemate's rent check.

DR George, I think I agree with DR Jose.  I'm not 100% on it, but that's the way I am leaning right now.  I certainly understand the dilemma, though.

[JMK]

DR Jose--you're probably thinking of "This Empty Place" and "Another Night" from B2B&D.  I'm something of a Bacharach-ophile, hence my being hired for this gig.  We looked at B2B&D, indeed Steve Gunderson (one of its creators) was slated to come here to direct if we had done it (he's friends with one of the actors doing the new show, as is Kathy Najimy), but we decided we had a barn, we'd do our own, LOL.

[Emily]

I agree with DR Jose, George.

Unless your sister clearly states the gift is for both you and your roomate, then charge him rent.