EtheltoTillie

Oh, thanks for posting this, @shapeshifter. It made my night. So many double entendres. Gene didn't have the long microphone yet.

Dragon icon: I think that was Walnut Queen. I think she is gone. @kristen111 I got one of those school zone tickets on a Sunday in Brooklyn recently. Grr. For those from out of state, these are photo-only tickets. No cop pulling you over. So you find out about it weeks later when it shows up in the mail.

All this discussion of movie musicals leads me to pick @Rinaldo's musical theater brain (and anyone else's) regarding the comparison between movie and stage productions of the same shows. I enjoy stage musicals, but for some of the classics that I could never have seen but for the movie productions, I regard the films as the definitive versions for me (I know that many fans might not agree). They have crystalized in my mind as the "best" version. For example, last night I rewatched Guys and Dolls, which as we all know has been criticized for Brando's singing. I don't think it's that bad for this movie. And he's great as a sexy romantic figure. I have never seen a stage production except for one done in my high school (yes, really). I think "Pet Me, Papa" is a better, sexier song than "A Bushel and a Peck." "Marry the Man Tonight" is not a great song and was best left out. "I've Never Been in Love Before" is a good song, but you don't miss it.

There's so much erudition hidden in the toons.

Interesting pairing on the double feature. Paul Thomas Anderson picked Bugsy Malone and The Bad News Bears. Both kid actor movies. He told a story of growing up in LA and going to movies with his mom. He was destined to be a filmmaker from childhood. He saw both movies first as a child, whereas I would have been an adult already when these pictures were released. I tried watching Bugsy Malone but I could not stick with it, let alone understand what would have given Parker the idea to make this bizarre monstrosity. But Anderson and cohost Mankiewicz seemed to have derived some joy out of having watched it as children watching other children in the position of adults. On to The Bad News Bears. I wasn’t going to watch all of it after the host intro, but I couldn’t turn it off. It’s a work of genius. There is so much heart and character conveyed in little moments. Watch the host outro on Watch TCM. Watch pint-sized Jackie Earle Haley try to pick up an adult woman in Tatum's ballet class with the immortal line "I'm batting .841. I'm on the Bears (swings imaginary bat). You live around here?" (Trigger warning: there is some improper use of slurs.)

Success! Just downloaded from the library.

I loved those books. I’m going to get this bio posthaste!

Do you know the Thalia theater on West 95th Street? It used to be a repertory cinema. They had a jumbo Looney Toons retrospective in the 80s. It was fun to see those cartoons as an adult. As a kid I always got a kick out of the celebrity cameos, like Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart. Here's a compilation of Frank Sinatra appearances. They always made fun of how skinny he was.

Old Match Game and Hollywood Squares were absolutely hilarious -- and yes a cringefest now. Gene Rayburn had such a good leering delivery with his long microphone. Still fun to rewatch. I liked the reboot of Match Game also, with Alec Baldwin, but now they'll never bring it back, at least with him.

It doesn’t help. If you try pausing it doesn’t make any more sense.

I hadn’t thought about Orange Julius for years, but yes that’s what it was like, a creamsicle drink. We used to have several franchise locations in NYC.

US pudding and custard are synonymous. Frozen custard is not— it is soft ice cream like Mr Softee or Carvel. I made the BIrd’s custard with whole milk and sugar. According to recipe on the container. Meh. I love custard and pudding of various kinds. Rice pudding, vanilla pudding, chocolate pudding, crème anglaise made from scratch. Pastry cream. I think the Bird’s custard is supposed to be like a quickie crème anglaise.

I love custard, but I did not love Bird’s custard. It was not yummy to me. Is that a brand you would regularly use? I was so disappointed.

I don’t think any state has a statute of limitations for murder. New York doesn’t. I have heard of cases where someone died years after an injury so they could indict.

We don’t get many spam calls, @shapeshifter, because we never give the number out to anyone. We got a new landline number with this service because when we shifted over we could have kept our old Verizon number of 35 years’ duration but there was a screwup in the switchover. It’s just as well, as we really had switched over to cellphone use. This reminds me of another phone issue. I have a landline number in my office and have now had it for at least 25 years. Every so often I get a wrong number for people who are seeking the NYC employee pension office. My number is one number different. I am polite to them. Sometimes they call back a second time because they make the same misdial again.

We do keep a landline, as it's included with our cable/internet package, but we rarely use it. One use was to call the missing cell phone. Or if my husband was home, he could call my phone from his. But now that I have the Apple watch, I ping the phone with it. I love that feature.

I like chicken fried steak with cream gravy, but can’t really get it in NYC.

I am astonished. He does not look smaller.

He’s excited. Translation: delusional.

I wager he weighs 675

I’m proud of you for choosing something healthy : giant turkey sandwich on white, greasy green beans and red beans. And some thing else.

Now he will go to Hungry Farmer Barbecue. Diet portion.

One half hour left and he has never actually done the diet.

It is a puzzlement, said the King of Siam.

Jinx