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Tag Archives: entertainment

Slacker Saturday with Some Cinema

This is going to be a Slacker Saturday Post, but at least I will be making it on Saturday.  I hope.  It has not been a very good day for me, although it has had its moments.  Never mind the bad stuff; that is not my story to tell anyways.  Oh dear, did I just make a mysterious, cryptic statement?  Nah, that is just flattering myself, to feel I would be mysterious and cryptic.  Let me get on with the post.

The most productive thing I did today was to go for a run, which I believe I alluded to in this morning’s late Lame Post Friday post.  I later went for a walk, mailing my weekly post cards and stopping by Basloe Library to check out a couple books.

One of my favorite places.

Wow, that took a long time to find that picture in my Media Library.  It took a shorter time to find two books!

Well, that didn’t turn out very big.

Back home, my husband, Steven, and I decided to watch movies on out DVR.  For one reason, we have a lot of them.  We can get that frisson of virtue from cleaning out our DVR.  We started out with Phantom Lady, a stylish noir.  I found the pre-  and post-movie commentary as interesting as the movie.

I did not realize it was 1981 till I looked for this image on Facebook.

Next we watched The Howling.  This is not from my preferred era of horror movies, but I found it surprisingly entertaining.  Steven missed part of it by falling asleep on the love seat, but these things happen.

We started watching another movie but did not get very far with it.  However, I see I am over 250 words, so I say, Score!  I hope you are all having a lovely Saturday.

 

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Shakespeare Memories

Hoping to continue my streak of posting on the day specified, I will attempt a Throwback Thursday Post.  I realize my WordPress timestamp may say something different, but let us gloss over these little inconsistencies.  I wonder what I can throw back to this week.

What a cast! What a performance!

So many of my throwbacks are to theatre, but I just cannot help myself.  In this case, I looked at my Media Library in August 2017 (my Media Library only goes back to October 2016) and saw some colorful pictures of The Tempest, as performed by LiFT, Little Falls Theatre Company.  Did you hope that with the end of Love’s Labour’s Lost I would stop talking about Shakespeare?  Forlorn hope, that!

I’m the one in the orange tights.

The first picture was at the Utica Zoo.  The above was at a venue near Caroga Lake.

I was really getting into the scene.

I have no upcoming theatrical endeavors in the foreseeable future, Shakespearean or otherwise.  I have other things on my mind, unfortunately nothing that would make for a decent blog post.  You’ll have that, I suppose.  Yes, I see you in the back there, ready to make unkind remarks about the subjects (or lack thereof) I see fit to blog about and what do I know about a decent blog post etc., etc. (you know who you are).

Be all that as it may, I am over 200 words with three fun pictures.  I say good enough, and Happy Thursday, everyone.

 

Murder? Music? It’s a Friday Lame Post!

How do I not manage to make a Lame Post Friday post on Friday?  It’s a lame post,  how hard could it be?  Oh well, I was having a nice evening, sipping Barefoot Pinot Noir and watching true crime on cable television.  Yes, I am too lame to stream.  So twentieth century of me!

They are bad-ass and compassionate.

Part of the evening was spent looking at my new favorite thing, Reasonable Doubt on ID on DVR (I am at least technologically adept for that).  Actually, it was my new favorite thing some months ago, but I have not had a new favorite thing in a while.  I need some new favorite things in my life.

Speaking of favorite things,  my husband, Steve, and I may be heading to the Mohawk, NY American Legion tonight to hear The Posers, our favorite local band (preview of coming attractions).  I heard too late last night that another good local band, the Playin’ Again Trio, was at Fratello’ Pizzeria in Frankfort.  Then again, we had such a pleasant evening at home, I do not regret it too much.  We missed hearing another favorite,  Phil Arcuri, on Wednesday, because Steven was not feeling well.  And that is my local music plug for the post.

So I guess this is my Lame Post Friday post, made on Saturday morning,  but who’s counting?  Oh, YOU probably are (you know who you are).  As always, thank you for tuning in.

 

It’s a Mystery on Lame Post Friday

Today I was not feeling well and decided to take the day off.  I already had the day off work, so it was only a matter of letting myself off the hook regarding household chores.  I had already mowed the back lawn when I decided, so I can comfort myself with the thought that at least I did something.   A day off blogging, however, is a much more serious proposition, especially on Lame Post Friday.

I would love to be at such a cocktail hour.

Earlier today, we watched Evil Under the Sun, a star studded Agatha Christie romp.  In fact, that is how I expressed it to Steven when I suggested a movie, “I could get into a star studded Agatha Christie romp.”  I do love a good old movie, especially one featuring the divine Maggie Smith.

Since the movie, I have been looking at regular television in a rather desultory fashion.  At least I have gotten some crocheting done.

One of my favorite movie couples.

Here is a scene from another Agatha Christie adaptation we recently viewed, Witness for the Prosecution.  Although the cast includes Charles Laughton, Else Lanchester, Tyrone Power, and Marlene Dietrich, it is not a star studded Agatha Christie romp.  Nonetheless, it is an excellent movie, directed by Billy Wilder.

 

Who killed Benny the Bootlegger?

This was not an Agatha Christie,  but it was definitely a romp and we like to feel it is star studded.  It is the LiFT,  Little Falls Theatre Company, production of the interactive murder mystery, Rubbed Out at Ruby’s.  Regular readers may remember that it was written by me.  Do I flatter myself by including my mystery in a post about Agatha Christie?   I daresay I do.  Then again, a healthy ego is an asset for writers and actors.  Happy Friday, everyone!

 

William Castle, Can You Help Me Now?

Hello and welcome to another Monstrous Monday Post.  Once again I intend to pull monster pictures from my Media Library and hope to find something new to say about them. We shall see how successful I can be.

Who will win?

Full disclosure: I have never seen this movie.  I can’t help wondering if they are running out of ideas when they have to combine monsters.  Then again, I can’t judge, as I am suffering from a dearth of ideas myself.

A director who truly loved his work.

Here is a fellow who never seemed to run out of ideas, William Castle on the set of House on Haunted Hill.  Perhaps I can find some inspiration from a man who lived to entertain.

Scream! Scream for your lives!

In my search for inspiration,  I find a shot of Vincent Price in The Tingler, another Castle masterpiece.

Mine is not this big.

Not a Castle film, but one of my favorite pictures to share when I am feeling brain dead: The Brain From Planet Arous.

Great side eye, and totally deserved.

For my final picture,  I show the opposite of brain dead: The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, one of my all time favorite cheesy movies.

Yes, this is what I do when I feel unable to write: share pictures and spew nonsense.  Perhaps tomorrow I will be able to write something better, even without a brain or inspiration.  As always, I hope you will stay tuned.

 

Summer Shakespeare? Bring Your Brain!

OK, I have just now been trying to open with the logo for LiFT’s Summer Shakepeare in Little Falls, and WordPress apparently wants me to write something first.  Will it now let me continue the post after sharing the logo?  Ah, the computer tribulations I suffer!

 

Then I typed in a whole paragraph which I mysteriously deleted.  It wasn’t any great shakes as prose anyways.  The point is that our next session of Brainstorming the Bard is this Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. at Meeples Mug House in Little Falls, NY.  We intend to discuss actual scenes we want to present, so participants are asked to bring in scenes, either photocopied or a book with a bookmark.  I guess some people have these things on their devices, too, but I am not adept at such things.

At our last session we talked about doing perhaps three or four scenes, coming to a total of 45 minutes performance.  We thought comedy would be more accessible to the audience, although personally I can think of a couple of scenes from tragedies that might be doable.  What I would really like is for a few people to step forward and say, “I would like to direct this scene.”  But perhaps I ask too much.

In any case, I hope some local theatre people join us this Saturday.  Bring a scene or just bring your brain!

Theatre is my life!

Um, this is not a scene from Shakespeare, but I thought another picture would pep things up.  I think it is relevant, because in Shakespeare’s time, young boys played the girl parts.  Now we often have women playing men’s parts.  Gender blind casting!

 

Lame Me Entertain You

I never ask myself to do much on Lame Post Friday.  Right now I am sipping wine and watching movies with my husband, Steven.  We started with The Bad Seed and moved on to House on Haunted Hill.

Check out the crazy eyes!

Steven always remarks on how right away you can buy the little girl as a killer, although the other characters never seem to catch on.  Both of us would like to see a version where Rhoda really seems to be the sweet, wonderful child people seem to think her.  At least the above Rhoda is not as creepy as the girl in the Rob Lowe remake.

I had such high hopes for it.

In the first scene, the little girl looks out the window and notices a dead cat.  She says it in such a creepy, undead, movie psycho voice, I immediately retired all hopes of a classy suspense feature.  Still, I watched it till the end, I’ll give it that.  I will not voluntarily watch it again, but I sat through it once.

We moved on to House on Haunted Hill, an all-time favorite of ours.  I shared a picture from it yesterday.  However, I have other pictures I can use.

This was my cover photo for a while.

The actress on the left is a really good screamer.  I think the one on the right wore roller skates and was pulled along by stage hands.

I love a good director!

This, of course, is William Castle, coaching one of his actresses, or perhaps posing for a publicity still.  We LOVE William Castle. Some call his movies cheesy, and perhaps some of them are (although that is a selling point for me! ), but Castle loved what he did and had a sincere desire to entertain people.

I have that in common with Mr. Castle.  I hope I have entertained my readers.  Happy Friday, everyone!

 

Shakespeare to Svengoolie to Julie

The Blogger’s Sick Days continue, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, although there is always the possibility that it is an oncoming train.  Be that as it may, I am sitting on my couch, watching a DVR’d episode of Svengoolie and hoping to make some semblance of a blog post.

Svengoolie is showing Creature of the Black Lagoon.

I have been feeling marginally better.  Whereas on Friday, my head was in pain, today it was more lightheaded.  Comforting myself with the fact that having been on antibiotics for at least 24 hours I was not contagious (although I believe sinus infections are not contagious to begin with),  I went to the second session of Brainstorming the Bard at Meeples Mug House in Little Falls.

We made a little more progress in our quest to bring Shakespeare back to Little Falls this summer.  I shall blog more about that later (ooh, here’s a Freudian typo: I first typed “bore” instead of “more”).

In the meantime,  how about a couple more pictures of the Creature?  I just love a good monster movie.

“You look a little different from your match.com picture.”

Julie Adams certainly was a lovely young lady.  She was so gracious to fans of this movie all her life.  I was very sad to hear when she passed away fairly recently.

And here she is in later years, still lovely and gracious.

I’m afraid this is not a particularly Scattered Saturday post.  Then again, my health, Shakespeare,  Svengoolie,  Julie Adams.  It will have to do.  Happy Saturday,  everyone!

 

Not Too Crappy to Contemplate Murder

I feel less crappy than yesterday!

But crappier than tomorrow!

You know,  to the tune of “I love you more today than yesterday.”   I didn’t know that was a song for the longest time.  I noticed that lots of people (girls, mostly) (not to buy into gender based stereotypes, but such was my observation) would use it in the Valentine messages you could put in the newspaper.  Imagine my surprise to learn they were quoting a song.

Be that as it may, my aching head is saying, “I can’t write a blog post!”  Yes, in a pathetic, whiny voice.  I am sufficiently disgusted with myself.  And I know for a fact that it isn’t so.  I just kind of sort of wrote something.  I could probably share it here.  For one reason, it would up my word count.

You see, our friends at the Herkimer County Historical Society asked us (meaning me and my murderous actor friends) to revive a murder mystery we did some time ago at the Herkimer Elms Lodge.  I think Caryl referred to it as “the one with Tucker and the bugs.”  Kind of sounds like an episode of Friends, doesn’t it?  Today she messaged me asking for a few specifics for their newsletter.

First I had to find the script, which I had unaccountably not saved in the same place as the other murder mysteries in my laptop.  It too some clicking, but eventually I located it.  Luckily I had already been thinking about some modifications to make the script more suitable for the historical society.  Here is what I managed to send to Caryl:

Eric O’Chevsky, who describes himself as an organizer and community builder (although some call him a shady wheeler dealer, or so I have heard), has discovered that the Herkimer County Historical Society recently received a major grant. He organized this dinner for his associates to pitch their ideas for good uses for the money. Some of their ideas may seem to have a tenuous connection to local history, but you know, people have to follow the money.

The people vying for a donation are:

Meryl Barrymore, a community theatre actress, wants to do a historical play (assuming she can find one with a glamorous enough lead). Flora Fortenza, who is something of a flower child, wants to plant lots of flowers around the Suiter House and perhaps all around the Historic Four Corners. Phoebe Larkspur wants to place bird houses all around, perhaps patterned after historic buildings. Dudley Turnbull wants to place poop bags for people walking their dogs. Isn’t that corner a popular dog walking place? Harold Greene, an environmentalist and brilliant scientist, is partnering with Dudley’s project and wants to invent a biodegradable poop bag. Renwick Spaulding is hoping to mount a display of bugs. Historic bugs of course.

The title is Donate to Murder.  It will be presented on March 27 at the Travel Lodge in Little Falls.  More information to follow!

Looks like a suspicious bunch to me!