Why not Wednesday?

Date:                           Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
Word of the Day:        chichi; trendy; showily or affectedly elegant or trendy; pretentious
Weight:                        224 pounds
Goal:                            lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:            92 pounds
Waist Size:                  51 inches
Rowing Duration:       111 minutes, 2 seconds, 75 minutes, 54 seconds (second session)

Okay, the second rowing session isn't as impressive as the first one, but, I had just got off the phone from Dell and didn't feel like doing anything, I mean it, those people get the best of me.

I tried setting up a page with tabs and proper alignment on my new version of Word, but I'm just new to it so you will have to wait a little bit for me to get to know how to best use it, maximize the settings etc., when that does happen, I will be able to cut and paste into this blog,  and you will be able to see a blog that also looks appealing as well as being informative, entertaining, and all about me.  I really like that last part.    

I received an email from a very, very dear friend of mine, with whom I was very close when we worked together, unfortunately, Britt has been somewhat busy as a caregiver for her Father who is quite ill.    It is so ironic that everything really does come around, our parents once took care of us and then, fittingly, we end up taking care of them, or so we should, I don't know how you personally feel about this subject, but it seems that that is the least we can do for the people that made life possible for all of us. 

 I can remember my own dealings when my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease (a very cruel, horrible disease,) and I wish Britt nothing but the best, she is doing the right thing in caring for her father, I hope she remembers to take time out for herself, like everyone should when they are faced with difficult situations, otherwise things may just add up to too much stress and overwhelm her.  Fortunately for Britt, she has a very strong, loyal, and loving partner.

Back to Dell for a moment, I have just about had it up to here with the support technical team of Dell, I have been cut off on the phone with them several times, and this is after I have been on hold for about an hour.  I'm sure some of you can relate to my frustration.  

I know Dell is saving alot of money by having their technical support outsourced from India, and I'm glad to see the people of India get work,  and some much needed money, I can only imagine how much they're not being paid,  but I sometimes wish their communications skills in English were a little better; I find myself losing patience, and I try to remember how difficult it must be for them, after all they do want to help, but when I have to repeat myself five or six times, well, I tend to get a little annoyed, and that is always not pretty.

We are supposed to to to Zac's cousin Bobbie's for dinner this afternoon (late,) but with the mood I'm in right now, I don't think I would be very good company.  It is grey, cloudy and dismal, yet again, this makes about the sixth day in a row, shouldn't it start to be getting better, it still is Summer after all.  I wonder what she'll serve!!!!!

I am such a fussy eater, it is embarrasing, I hate seafood, lamb, veal, Chinese, Indian, Thai, tongue, brains, mushrooms and onions and I've probably left off a thing or three!   If the host/hostess does serve one of the above, sometimes I will try and suck it up and eat it, but I refuse to make myself sick,  and I don't think the host/hostess would want that either.  However, what I don't make up in being an epicurean, I try to make up in sparkling dinner conversation.

I don't look sparkling at this time.  My hair is all over the place, I haven't showered and I'm feeling tres lazy, I will feel alot better after I have bathed and after I publish this post, my mind seems to be somewhat blank aujourdhui, that Dell must have sucked up all of my creative juices.

With regard to my post yesterday on Pets, one final note, I don't know how people can surrender a dog or a cat for that matter, back to the Humane Society, or shelter,  after they have invested six months of theirs and the pets 'life.  How can they not fall in love with these adorable gifts from God?  I won't even visit a pet store as I'm wont to purchase all the animals that are for sale, except the snakes of course.

I hate snakes, they give me the creeps and I'm sure I suffer from ophidiophobia, this goes way back to my childhood when I once went to a summer camp.  We slept in tents at this camp and we were advised that there were rattlesnakes in the area, who occasionally crawled into people's sleeping bags for the warmth of the human being.  If this was to happen to you, you were supposed to lay absolutely still until the snake left your sleeping bag.  The other boys in my group decided to play a prank on me,  and found the largest garter snake that they could,  and put it in my sleeping bag.  Well, that night, I got into my sleeping bag and immediately could feel the snake moving around.  I started to cry and pray to God that he help me, I would be the best little boy in the world if only he would save me from this fate.  The counsellor of our tent noticed that I was upset, I was crying rather hard,  and asked me what was the matter?,  to which I promptly told him of my dilemma.  The counsellor seemed to know instantly what was going on, the other boys were laughing hysterically, pointing at me, etc., and after briefly reprimanding them, the counsellor (I forget his name) came over and helped me get out of my sleeping bag without injury.  I went home the next morning and never returned to that camp ever again.

I got into big trouble when I got home, my Mom didn't know what she was going to do with me for the remainder of the summer, she kept telling me that boyish pranks being perpetuated was part of the fun of summer camp,  but I would have none of it,  and told her that if she sent me back to the camp, I would just run away and she knew I meant it.

The night they raided Minsky's is a 1968 musical comedy film directed by William Friedkin, who would later direct  the classic horror film, The Exorcist.

The night they raided Minsky's was the first musical shot entirely in New York and the budget exceeded three million dollars which at that time was the most expensive film shot at that time.

I saw The night they raided Minsky's at the Odeon Carlton when I was thirteen years old.  I went to see the movie because it was listed as a musical that starred the one and only Bert Lahr who had portrayed the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz.

Bert Lahr was a burlesque veteran.  On November 21st Bert Lahr was hospitalized for a back ailment.  In "Notes of a Cowardly Lion:  The biography of Bert Lahr," John Lahr wrote that Bert Lahr died in the early morning of December 4th, 1967.  Two weeks before, Bert Lahr had returned home at two o'clock am., chilled and feverish, from the damp studio where The night they raided Minsky's was busy filming.  Ordinarily, a man of his age and reputation would not have had to perform that late into the night, but Bert Lahr waived that proviso in his contract because of his trust in the producer and his need to work.  The newspapers reported the cause of Bert Lahr's death as pneumonia, but he really succumbed to cancer, a disease Bert Lahr feared but never knew he had.  I loved Bert Lahr as I'm sure, many people did!

 At the time of his death, most of Bert Lahr's scenes were filmed, fortunately, but later a double was used to complete some scenes which the studio decided to add after the fact.

The night they raided Minsky's is a fictional account of the invention of the striptease at Minsky's burlesque in 1925.  The film is based on the novel by Rowland Barber which was published in 1960.

Today, the terms burlesque and vaudeville are used interchangeably but they are in fact two different types of shows.

Vaudeville was a variety show that included comedians, singers, magic acts, tumblers and animal acts and was invariably clean, family entertainment.

Burlesque featured sketch comedy by a stock number of comedians and song and dance numbers by chorus girls and featured dancers, later strippers.  In the beginning, burlesque was relatively clean, but as competition from Broadway, and motion pictures increased, burlesque became bawdier to attract overwhelmingly male audiences.    The Minsky brothers are by far the most famous burlesque impersarios of that era.

The day they raided Minsky's, April 20th 1925 was the day that the raid on which the book was based took place.  It was hardly epochal in the history of burlesque,  but it did turn out to be a prelude to much greater troubles.  The raid story was fun, but the raid itself was simply one of dozens to which had become accustomed .  Certainly no big crises.

A stage adaption as a musical, title Minsky's  officially opened on February 6th, 2009 at the Ahmanson theatre in Los Angelos and ran through March 1, 2009.  The new musical was directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw with a book by Bob Martin and musical lyrics by Charles Strouse (Annie) and Susan Birkenhead.  Though the show's program notes that it is based on the film, the book is essentially a new story.

The dvd of The night they raided Minskys is available, and was released in May of 2008.  The film has a great cast which includes the aforementioned Bert Lahr, Elliot Gould, who was then married to Barbra Streisand and Britt Ekland.

Gosh, isn't it something that the day I hear from my friend Britt, is the day I decide, and this was totally unplanned  to write about the movie,  The night they raided Minsky's had the star, Britt Ekland in it, (as previously mentioned,)  still think everything is just a coincidence?

Topics coming soon:

Sex
Travel
Twins