Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
"Blog"trospective 8: Stang, Arnold
With the recent passing of Arnold Stang, perhaps an addition to our series of "blog"trospectives, accounting for every time that Mr. Stang has been mentioned on the "blog," will serve as some small tribute. Stang, Arnold - absolute best information on---as epitome of a "kindly old gentleman"---as unlikely point of reference---as voice of Popeye's pal Shorty---as voice of Super Pac-Man---birthday of---"blog's" repeated use of same picture of begins to weary Dr. "M."---book club potentially named for---BROADSIDE (TV show)---Brown, Dan spots surname of at Super Bowl---Callas, Charlie joins ranks of---CANNIBAL GIRLS and---cocktails renamed in honor of---THE COLOR OF STANG---connection with causes rise in McNeil's awe of Phil---could make you a nice Denver omelet---crazy person resembles---death of---difficulty of introducing slang word named after---FBIL researches slang usages of surname of---hanging out with Fess Parker and Peter Lorre---head of tacked to Phil's wall---HELLO DOWN THERE (film)---HERCULES IN NEW YORK (film)---hot dogs of---illustrating a "post" about wild turkeys---imagined in a velvet suit---improper usage of slang word named after---in the membrane---interviewed by a young Mr. Ward for school newspaper---invention of slang word named after---IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD (film)---ka-stang (variation on slang term)---Lewis, Jerry does not mention---MAD MEN and---THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (film)---Miller, Roger mentions---Miller, Roger mentions (time code correction)---Mount Stangmore---Netherlands "web" site bearing name of---not in a video clip---not to be confused with a mustang---nowhere in the index of THE CITY IN HISTORY by Lewis Mumford---"One Year Ago" in history of---once again, he's in HELLO DOWN THERE---Oppenheim, Phil and---persistence of as object of contemplation---Phil takes picture of from television screen---Phil's mother dated---photograph of favored---physiognomy of---possibly endorses Truman for president through the medium of song---prediction of use of slang based on surname of on THE WIRE---Preminger, Otto harasses---Robinson, Edward G., on same "web" site as---SECOND FIDDLE TO A STEEL GUITAR (film)---slang word named after popularized in California---slang word named after rises to number three spot in "urban dictionary"---song I like to pretend is about---sorghum and---"Soulstang"---Sparrow (character played by)---"Stang Me Up"---Stangsgiving (holiday)---Stevens, Wilkins, Newdow and---Sturm Und Stang Book Club---Sunshine Kids and---surname of appears in CSI: NEW YORK---surname of appears in sandwich "blog"trospective---surname of on real estate sign---Swedish word similar to surname of---Verdell introduces slang word named after to "urban dictionary"---Verdell reminds everyone about slang word named after---Winchell, Walter threatens to supersede position of on "blog"---winery of Fess Parker and---your daily. Don't forget to check out the seven others in our famous series of "blog"trospectives: TOM FRANKLIN---PHIL OPPENHEIM---MOVIES---THE MOON---SANDWICHES---THE UNITED STATES---THE BEACH BOYS.
Stang Day Plans
Tonight, Kelly Hogan is making sidecars for all her friends and renaming them "Stangs." How will YOU celebrate the life of Arnold Stang?
Goodbye, Arnold Stang
I am sad to say that "Blog" Icon Arnold Stang has passed away. His wife, to whom he was married for 60 years, is still around, and is quoted a number of times in the obituary. In a parenthetical statement, the New York Times tells us that Wally Cox was a "skilled goldsmith" and made the wedding rings for the couple. Who knew? I hope you will read the article. It covers a lot of his great performances we have talked about on the "blog," so maybe it will encourage you to rent an Arnold Stang movie. I hope so! Go back and read the great Stang profiles on the WFMU "blog" too. Do it for Arnold Stang! We love you, Arnold Stang!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Resurgence of the Velvet Inventory
Remember how we used to count everybody we saw wearing a velvet suit or velvet jacket? It's not over! Not as long as there is velvet to be inventoried. The NBIL has just spotted Smokey Robinson on TV in a green velvet jacket. "It matched his eyes," the NBIL observed. Mr. Robinson now joins Charlton Heston and Katt Williams in our subcategory of people who seem to prefer their velvet on the green side. What the heck, it's the holidays. I'm going to forget the "random picture rule" and find a new one for you of somebody wearing a velvet suit or something.
Hogan Responds
In response to yesterday's irresistible "clip," here's an equally great one specially selected by Kelly Hogan:
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Barry B.'s Movie Korner
The intervals between new editions of McNeil's Movie Korner seem to be getting longer and longer. While we're waiting, here's a review hot off the wire from Barry B.: "I just watched Tommy. Have you seen that in a while? It's really a very strange movie. Everybody really overacts or underacts. They're all pretty great but it's just bizarre. Roger Daltry looks all wooden and glassy eyed (even when he's supposed to be normal). Eric Clapton looks like he's about to go to sleep. Oliver Reed is all sleazy looking and great but his singing is pretty awful. Keith Moon is really funny and out of control. Nothing he's ever doing seems to sync up to whatever music is playing. I think he should have been in Monty Python. The editing is pretty weird and choppy. At one point some violence is breaking out between a couple of motorcycle gangs and Tommy hang glides down and everybody starts flapping their arms like chickens, then some rockabilly looking guys are playing slot machines and Tommy hang glides down and they start dancing real crazy."
LiterJerry Matters
Everyone who has read our regular feature on the subject knows how horrible "Literary Matters" are, and how I occasionally attempt to soften and disguise their horrible nature by calling them "LiterJerry Matters" and making sure that most of them in a particular "post" are about the more palatable subject of Jerry Lewis and his relationship to literature. Today's "LiterJerry Matters" are even more palatable than usual, and there are just three of them, so relax. 1) First, I was wrong the other day when I stated flat out that Leslie Caron's autobiography contains no references to Jerry Lewis! I went back to Square Books and checked, just as I promised, and there are a couple in Chapter 20. Ms. Caron testifies that Jerry "had the whole town laughing" for the five days that FUNNY BONES shot in Blackpool, England. She also refers to the "teddy bear ingenuity" (whatever that is!) of Oliver Platt. 2) I thoroughly enjoyed Chris Fujiwara's new book JERRY LEWIS, which is from the University of Illinois Press "Contemporary Film Directors" series. I have been afraid to tell you how much I enjoyed it because I received a free advance copy from the publisher, and now the government demands to be informed of such things! I am scared of the government! But I understand their point. I never receive free copies of books from publishers. This was a real novelty to me. Well, I take that back. For some reason (maybe just because I live in Oxford, MS) I recently received, out of nowhere, a free copy of a book called WILLIAM FAULKNER AND THE SOUTHERN LANDSCAPE. I never cracked it open, so I can't tell you if it's any good. But it's a hardcover, so I put it on the shelf to make visitors think I'm smart. So those are the two free books I have ever received from publishers. Okay, government? Back to Fujiwara: the second part of the book is comprised of a masterful interview with Jerry Lewis, the best I have ever read, in that Fujiwara gets him to open up on the subject of technique, something he often seems unwilling to discuss in depth. In the first part of the book, Fujiwara brilliantly analyzes (among other subjects) the way Lewis plays with concepts of space and time in the cinematic frame. (He even uses a term - "Lewisian space" - we have used on the "blog," though to very different ends; all I'm really talking about is colorful couch pillows, while Fujiwara writes incisively about the way "Lewis's compartmentalized sets facilitate the discovery of inner narratives and secret worlds.") And here is one of my favorite parts: "Fairly long stretches of THE FAMILY JEWELS and HARDLY WORKING and, perhaps, nearly all of ONE MORE TIME are also lacking in humor. One of my premises is that Lewis's work creates an impure, shifting context within which such a lack need not be accounted a flaw." Somehow I find it touching! He is saving Jerry from people who don't find Jerry funny! "So what?" Fujiwara seems to say. I am simplifying. 3) Ace Atkins! I just read WICKED CITY by Ace Atkins. It is set in Alabama! And it is one of those books you can't stop reading at night even when you should be sleeping. It is one of those books that make you feel sad when you notice that the pages are running out, though at the same time you are racing through them like a fiend, desperate (and terrified) to discover what happens next! I see Ace around town all the time, and we often chat about our favorite subjects, which include FANTASY ISLAND, Shields and Yarnell, MAD MEN, Claudia Cardinale (pictured), and Megan Abbott. But why haven't I read his books before? Well, I have read one now and I am very glad. I don't have to tell the government about this, because I paid for Ace's book with my own money, and so what if he and I are friends? If I didn't love the book, I just wouldn't mention it. Okay, goodbye! These were possibly the least painful literary matters ever. But don't get your hopes up! Literary matters will probably remain on the whole just as unbearable as ever.
"Blog" Advent Calendar for Dec. 20, 2009
If you have forgotten what a "blog" advent calendar is, "clicking" here might help. If you know what it is and are ready to go for today, "click" here instead.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Phil to QT Kitchens: "Drop Dead!"
You know, we haven't had a good oatmeal "post" in a long time. But thanks to oatmeal lover Phil Oppenheim, we are back in business. It isn't the return of our erstwhile regular feature "Oatmeal Tips," because it isn't a tip, but it's a step in the right direction. Phil sent the following photo attachment with the email subject line "QT is dead to me":
Friday, December 18, 2009
McNeil Takes the Universe In Stride
McNeil is not very upset about the physical makeup of the universe as recently described in the New York Times. In fact, he seems okay with it. On the subject of my concerns he had this advice, and I quote: "It's the universe you're stuck with! Like it or lump it!" As you may recall, the New York Times leaves one percent of the universe unaccounted for. When I asked McNeil what that part was made of, he replied, "Gravel."
Hot News From Chicago
Welcome to "Hot News From Chicago," which has just become our newest regular feature. Of course you recall the last time we received hot news from Chicago from our friend Judge. Well, folks, now she has more hot news from Chicago, via some graffiti she saw. She knows you probably can't read it. It says I DRANK 4 BEERS UP HERE. And that's the hot news from Chicago. See you next time there's more "Hot News From Chicago"!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Index Debacle
I was in Square Books indulging in my new pastime of checking the indexes of celebrity autobiographies I don't intend to buy for references to Jerry Lewis. So, Leslie Caron has a new book out, it seems, and I remembered that she was in FUNNY BONES with Mr. Lewis. But her book doesn't have an index! It seemed to be chronological, however, so I flipped to the 1980s. The chapter about the 1980s had some ominous title I can't recall, something like "The Eighties - Bad Times Indeed" (I'm paraphrasing, but that's close), and I was like, "Uh-oh! Watch your back, Jerry!" But flip and flip as I did through the chapter - indeed, through the book - I could not find a single reference to Jerry. If only there had been an index! Indexes are great. Who doesn't enjoy a good index? (Our randomly selected illustration features neither Jerry Lewis nor Leslie Caron. I wish I didn't have to tell you, but times have come to this.) PS: FUNNY BONES came out in 1995! What is wrong with my brain? I think I checked the 90s, too, but don't worry! I will go back tomorrow and make sure! I care about you! So much!
4% Atoms!
Did you know the universe is only 4% atoms, and the rest is some freaky stuff you don't want to know about? I read it in the New York Times! Now I'm worried. This is not how things were explained to me as a child. They told me EVERYTHING was made of atoms! That's what they said! EVERYTHING! And that freaked me out, too, a little, but I wrapped my mind around it. And now this! Did you know that four percent is less than five percent? And FIVE PERCENT IS LIKE NOTHING! Like, if you had five percent of something, you'd say, "Where's the rest of it?" You'd be like, "This is a rip-off!" And that's five percent! But we're talking about four percent! I knew there was a reason I felt like this all the time! So, what's the rest of the universe? Well, I guess 25% is "dark matter" and 70% is "dark energy" and I don't like the sound of that one bit! I'm also very upset that one percent is left over, and who knows what THAT is? The New York Times doesn't say! They just kind of gloss over the MISSING ONE PERCENT OF THE UNIVERSE! I also get nervous when I read newspaper articles describing, and I quote, "the first faint hints of a ghostly sea of subatomic particles" discovered at the bottom of an ABANDONED IRON MINE IN MINNESOTA! It's too much like the beginning of a horror movie. I hope you don't mind, but I told McNeil about this first, because he worries about these things.
Milky Concordance
Informant J2 agrees that Brown Family Dairy Farm milk is the best ever. "And I met the cows," she adds. I'm jealous! I would like to find the cow who made the milk I drank and shake that cow's hand.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)