Wiendish Fitch

Thank you all for the advice. I'll take a chance and go, kill the "what-ifs". Besides, I haven't been to a live interview in a while, so it'll be good to get back into practice.

Hey, if you can't vent here, where can you?

I'm having a bit of a personal dilemma: I've been invited to a job interview at a small medical university for a full time library assistant position. I worked at a college library in the past and liked it, so I ought to be excited. The problem? I just found out the university in question has certain views that absolutely don't line up with my political and personal beliefs. On one hand, no organization is perfect (I mean, we can't cancel everything out of our lives), but on the other hand, it's something I feel very strongly about, and I don't know if working there would wear on my conscience (assuming I actually get the job). I am old and pragmatic enough to know compromise is a part of life, so what should I do? Skip the interview, or suck it up and give it a shot?

Margie is a neat little movie, I never understood why it's never gotten a proper home release. If one can handle The Major and the Minor (a movie I love), then one can handle Margie. I do adore this exchange: Margie: I wish I was dead! Margie's grandma: "Were dead". No kidding? Wow! Heck, Thelma Ritter is absolutely a star in my book, and always will be.

I think Wolverine is the most overrated comic book character ever. Go ahead, pelt me with all the tomatoes you want!

I have never liked John Mayer. I don't like his hoarse, mouth-breathing style of singing, and he just seems like a loathsome jackass.

The husband I recently watched That Darn Cat! (1965)*. Random thoughts: It's cute, if a touch overlong. I agree with Mr. Fitch that they could have eliminated at least one "follow the cat" sequence. The fact that Hayley Mills's character has a boyfriend named Canoe never fails to make me giggle. Does anyone else think that Dean Jones had a vaguely John Mulaney-esque quality to him, physically speaking? He has the lanky frame, boyish face, and ears that stick out a bit, and considering Jones spends all his time in suits, the resemblance really hit me. I know I shouldn't have laughed so hard at William Demarest calling the cops on his own busybody wife (Elsa Lanchester), but I couldn't help it. DC is one of the most beautiful movie cats I've ever seen, but I'm also glad I don't have a pet like him. I don't think I'd be as forgiving as Patti is. *No, I've never seen the 1997 remake, nor do I wish to.

Sorry, Buffy fans, but Anthony Stewart Head's singing voice has never impressed me.

DC in the original That Darn Cat! is so beautiful! Wouldn't want to be his owner, though (he'd drive me up the wall).

Mr. Fitch and I rewatched 1933's The Invisible Man recently, and it is impossible for me not to crush on Claude Rains's voice! Every word that comes out of his mouth (even when his character is at his most unhinged) is so velvety and poetic. Rains could have read some random loser's tweets, and I would still be rendered helpless. As for his looks, while Rains doesn't immediately spring to mind when discussing handsome men of yesteryear, truth be told? He wasn't half bad in that department.

The Letter is fantastic, an absolute master class in acting, storytelling, and suspense. It's funny that Herbert Marshall would play some poor dope foolish enough to love Bette Davis in both this and The Little Foxes (truth be told, I find him more sympathetic in that film).

I found Anchorman appallingly unfunny. I watched maybe half an hour of it, and I swear I could feel my brain leaking out of my ears.

These old Nick at Nite promos are an absolute must for Newhart fans (the one on Joanna's sweaters is a hoot).

I have a cover letter (that probably needs updating) that I use. I frankly find cover letters a little bit old-fashioned and redundant, but if they ask for it, I enclose it.

Poor Jennifer Holmes, she did her best, but the character of Leslie just did not work. I will give Bob Newhart and company this, at least they didn't talk smack about Holmes years after the fact like the writers of Friends did with Helen Baxendale. It was absolutely not Holmes's fault that Leslie wasn't that interesting. Them's the breaks, I guess.

A while back we discussed Phoebe and Mike's relationship on Friends. My UO is a revelation I just had: I don't think Phoebe "settled" at all. To me, it's only settling if one (or both) in the relationship sees it that way. Viewers didn't like Mike and that's absolutely fine, but I never, ever got the impression that Phoebe was just staying with Mike because she had no other options. Remember, she had the opportunity to get back with David... but she didn't want him anymore. Phoebe may have still been eccentric and "floopy", but her priorities and needs changed, and David couldn't fulfill what she now wanted. Mike could, and that's why she chose him.

Kirk was awful; a charmless, unfunny, horribly written character. Writing him out improved Newhart tremendously.

When the hell are people in the public eye going to learn to think first, talk later? While I grudgingly admit Ariana is a heckuva singer, she seems like an unbearable human being.

I was rewatching the first Rescuers since it had been too long*. I have to be honest, I was not only touched when Miss Bianca fell asleep on Bernard's shoulder (I'm such a sucker for this trope), but I got a lump in my throat when Bernard puts his arm around her and softly says, "Good night, Bianca". Bob Newhart's delivery of that line is so damned sweet. *My verdict? The parts satisfy more than the whole (sorry, I find the pacing a little tedious). The sequel is above reproach, IMO.

Never gets old!

Even though I vastly prefer the sequel, I really love the part early in the first Rescuers where the RAS members are singing their official anthem, and Bernard (who's still the janitor at this point), is discreetly singing along, hat in hand. He clearly loves the RAS and everything they stand for. God, but I do love good screenwriting!

We will all remember Bob Newhart’s unassuming brand of comedy and his delightful classic sitcoms… but let us not forget his role as Bernard the mouse in the Rescuers film series. Bernard taught kids that anyone can be a hero, and we need that lesson more than ever these days.

RIP, Shannen Doherty And I'm sorry you were given so much grief in the 90s.

Dr. Ruth had an amazing life story, and such a remarkable career. I confess I puckishly have respect for anyone who raises the hackles of small-minded prudes, which she absolutely did. She was also a hoot in interviews (I always got a kick out of how she rolled her "r"'s).

Barely relevant (my apologies, I'll keep this brief), but for those disgusted by Stanley Kubrick's treatment of actors, I urge you to read I Am Spartacus by Kirk Douglas. In one chapter, Douglas tells how, fed up Kubrick's pretentious and unprofessional bullshit*, he confronted Kubrick and called him "a little shit"... while he (Douglas) was riding a damn horse! *Kubrick allegedly wore the same, possibly unwashed outfit every damn day. Charming.