This Is How I Know I'm Home

Coffee, In my own house. Not having to dress and bathe for the hotel restaurant, not having to answer the door for room service. And, Miss Piggy. Wonderful.

¿Como se dice "hangover" in Costa Rican?

Grand Ol' Opry

That great Aussie bum Joan Sutherland went up to Heaven this week. I was never a big Opera fan (mostly it's like a long episode of Frasier but with singing), but I do like talent.

Here she is with Dame Ella Fitzgerald & Dame Dinah Shore, upstaging them without even a microphone.

God Bless, Joan Sutherland

Drei Dinge auf Deutschland

Here are three things I learned while in Germany.

One: if you order Nachos, you get a plate of Doritos with three dips.


Two: they have no idea what QWERTY means. Tzping can be a dooyz.

Three: here's a gratuitous picture of me with culture and coffee.
Das Ende.

A Raw Pearl & A Honey of a Carol

I'm a little surprised I haven't blogged about this yet.


A few months ago I stumbled across this at the NYPL. I have to say, it is the most amazing hour of television I have ever seen. I mean, it's Carol Freakin' Channing and Pearl F'ing Bailey, on Broadway, together.

The two buddies had each starred in Hello Dolly - Carol originating the role, then a few years later Pearl headlining an all-black revival. And then of course, Ms. Streisand was in the movie version. Here they are together with some Jerry Herman, one of the writers of Hello Dolly:
And here they are drinking demitasse (that's French for coffee):


In Carol Channing & Pearl Bailey on Broadway they run through a bunch of greatness together and apart - songs from Guys & Dolls, Fiddler on the Roof (What, you never saw Carol play Tevye?), Pearl nails '76 Trombones,' Carol does her Dietrich impersonation, and the banter is a delight.


I dunno. There's no way to really do it justice unless I eventually show all the clips here. Instead, I think I'll just go watch it one more time.


Here's the first eight minutes or so. Is it a long-ish clip? Yes. Have I watched the whole program about a dozen times already? Yes. Enjoy. Oh, and I will forever pronounce the word 'autobiography' in the Carol Channing Way.

Viscous and Sawdust

The novels we know best have an architecture. Not only a door going in and another leading out, but rooms, hallways, stairs, little gardens front and back, trapdoors, hidden passageways, et cetera. It's a fortunate reader who knows half a dozen novels this way in their lifetime. I know one, Pnin, having read it half a dozen times. When you enter a beloved novel many times, you can come to feel that you possess it, that nobody else has ever lived there. You try not to notice the party of impatient tourists trooping through the kitchen (Pnin a minor scenic attraction en route to the canyon Lolita), or that shuffling academic army, moving in perfect phalanx, as they stalk a squirrel around the backyard (or a series of squirrels, depending on their methodology). Even the architect's claim on his creation seems secondary to your wonderful way of living in it.

Zadie Smith on my favorite Nabokov novel, one that I too have read a half dozen times, and given away at least that many.

(And yes I realize in the photo that it is literally Nabokov on Zadie Smith, rather than Zadie Smith on Nabokov. And I didn't have a squirrel but the little buddy I used otter be close enough.)

Stritchy! ME!

I sure got to cross something off my Bucket List last night!

2009: And There It Goes

I made this using Technology. And Friendship. (And also Pearl Bailey and Kitty Cats.)

God Bless Us, Everyone

This is my New Year's wish for everyone. I can't imagine anything grander.

The Christmas Pig!

It's a Christmas Miracle! Santa knows just how I take my coffee!

Let's Just Do It One More Time

So a few weekends ago I had the pleasure of driving 435 miles round trip to attend my nephew's first birthday party.


This was made extra fun by the stress my mom caused me by telling me the trip would be 8 hours each way, but in truth the whole excursion was about 12 hours total, including the party time, which involved at least a dozen babies, including the one related to me. Oh, and of course the snow storm was awesome too.


Most awesome? I listened to Miss Della Reese the entire way there and back. I am sorry no one was there to witness me deftly singing along, adding harmonies, fill, and inbetween song banter.

In conclusion, if you put me in a Chevy Aveo Or Simillar, give me a Large Dunkin Donuts Coffee and a singing dame, you're in for a good time.

Here's Della in an early music video. Happy Pre-Christmas.

The (Christmas) Giving Tree

So on Sunday I was a little blue. Not too much, but I woke up tired and it was rainy and gray and I just wasn't feeling my best.


I also thought that because of the rain I wouldn't be able to pick a Christmas tree - who after all, wants a soggy Canadian six-footer in their apartment (except maybe this guy)?

And that is when I realized that the one set of footprints in the sand were Diana's. She came over for Make Your Own Taco Club not only with gingerbread tasties (a piece of which I am eating right now with my morning coffee), but with the demand for a tree and the wherewithal to get one and even bargain down the price (ably assisted by a Bostonian elf).

It is certainly the most beautiful tree I have ever had, as shown below with Kevin.


The tree was trimmed, Peggy Lee sang her Christmas Album for us, and Tacos were eaten.

And to all, a good night.

This Here? THIS Is What I Am Thankful For This Year

God Bless us all.

Nothing Like A Dame

I was very excited to find an email from an old friend in my Inbox.

Yep, that's right, Dame Shirley Bassey emailed me herself (including the honorific!) to let me know that her new LP, The Performance, is available for sale in the UK.
I dutifully visited her website, where I was pleased to see I could download a free track, and learned more about the record. Seems like she took a play from her old chum Nancy Sinatra, who released an album a few years back with songs written for her by Morrissey, Bono, Thurston Moore, Jarvis Cocker, etc. Anyway, Dame Shirl has some new tunes by Gary Barlow, Rufus Wainwright, the Pet Shop Boys, and more.

I first discovered Dame Shirl as a wee tot with a record my parents had called Shirley Bassey Belts The Best!, which was a collection of Broadway songs.

I still associate "Everythings's Coming Up Roses" and "If Ever I Would Love You" with Shirl. It wasn't until many years later when I read an article called "Sassy Miss Bassey" that I deduced the correct pronunciation of her last name.

Now, I never forgot ol' Shirl, but I sure was glad to be in a Gentlemen's Bar a few years ago and see a video of her covering Pink. I think my jaw may have dropped, but we'll let the history books decide if that's true or not.

Some fink turned off embedding for that video proper, but here she is cutting it up live:




She sure is a fun one. I'm so excited to wait patiently for the new album to be released legally in the US in a few months!

In the meantime, here's the lady visiting our mutual friends, The Muppets, for a little Goldfinger action.

I'll be giving thanks for Dame Shirley this Thanksgiving, for sure.

Live Blogging! Morning Latte

With heart in foam! And gourds!

Mad About Ellie, or, The Real Leader Of The Pack

Now, yesterday was a big day in R.I.P. World. First Mr. Kennedy, then Mr. Dunne. Sad as this is, I had mixed feelings about both of them. The senator did a lot of great stuff for my home state, but there was the incident on the bridge. And Mr. Dunne was an interesting reporter, but he did at one point take an unseemly interest in a friend of mine.



But there was a third death yesterday about which I have no second thoughts - Ms. Ellie Greenwich. Greenwich was one of the original Brill Building writers - who, along with Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Jeff Barry, and her protege, Neil Diamond, wrote some of the greatest songs of the 1960s, mostly for the girl groups. Greenwich's credits include that awesome death song "Leader Of The Pack," "Be My Baby," "Da Do Ron Ron," and many, many others.

Here's a few of my favorites, in my favorite way of remembering them.


She co-wrote this one with Phil Spector, and here's the "River Deep" scene from What's Love Got To Do With It, one of my favorite bits.


Here's Ms. Elizabeth Shue bringing us "Then He Kissed Me," in what was probably my introduction to the song.

And here's Cyndi Lauper performing "Right Train Wrong Track," a B-side off of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.


Have a good time up in Heaven, Ellie. Have fun with all those choirs of angels!

Amazing. GRACE.

So I've seen some pretty great concerts in my thirty plus years. The highlights are all the times I saw Blossom Dearie, when Sarah and I saw Dolly Parton at Irving Plaza in Summer 2002, the Blind Boys of Alabama that same year, and the half-dozen times I've seen my chum Carolyn Mark.

Lemme tell you, last night's Grace Jones show at Hammerstein Ballroom is up there, and worth all nine thousand pennies or whatever I paid. I've seen all those lazy-a$$ new kids out there who have their dirty hair and just slouch over their guitars and play their records without even looking up. Not our gal.

Not all the pictures I took were so exciting, but I did a web-trawl this morning over coffee and found some goodies. I think we now have all seven or eight costume changes documented.

For starters, she did the opening song completely under a silk cloak.

Then she popped out wearing what was a cross between her Andy Warhol graffiti outfit of yore, a skeleton suit, and My Little Pony...


A few songs later she put on this glitter outfit for a few numbers - which threw off some pretty fun sparkles when the strobes hit it.

Then what else would you wear for La Vie En Rose, but this fun one? Eat your coeur out, Edith Piaf.

And really, what else would you wear for "My Jamaican Guy," but a Jamaican Flag Costume? I think this was right after she called out her friend "Miss M," aka Bette Midler, who was in the audience. I looked around but she wasn't up at stage right in front of the speaker with me.

"Corporate Cannibals?" This of course:

I was excited to see Grace show her pun side when she danced with a mannequin of herself for "I've Seen That Face Before."

My personal favorite was this costume for "Hurricane" - she sang it while walking into a wind machine with this satin parachute trailing behind.

There were a few more songs and costume changes, then it was time for the encore.

You know when Grace busts out the symbols and the confetti you're dancing to "Pull Up to the Bumper" and "Slave To The Rhythm."

My ears are still ringing, but they do that anyway. And it was worth it.

Truly Mad Men Deeply

I'll admit it, I'm just not a fan of the Mad Men program. I like tableaux vivant as much as the next guy, but I don't connect with the show. That's OK though, I have a lot of friends who like it and one great thing to look forward to on the Cape is watching it with Sarah. Any show is fun to watch with friends.

One thing I do like is the Mad Men Videogame they have over on the AMC website. You can create your own little mad man version of yourself.

Here's Sarah now, on her way to the office eating a donut. Mmm, donuts.


I also made ones of me and Amber. In this tableau she's bringing me a coffee, since she can't drink the stuff herself anymore.

It sure was fun in the 60s when your friends would bring you caffeinated beverages. And you would drink cocktails in your suit.

Also? A Gay Old Time

These are all over the web now anyway, but just for fun, herewith the opening and closing numbers from last night's Tony's. Me, I went to bed after Dame Angela won and Jane Fonda lost, so I'm sure glad someone taped Mr. Patrick Harris' closing bit.

The opener is just how I like 'em, big and bold. And can you get gayer than Elton, Liza, and Dolly sharing a stage? Plus Stockard C dueting with that Hair hottie?

The opener:



& the closer:



Thanks, Broadway

Murder, She Trod The Boards

If you're looking for me tonight, you can find me at The Theatre.

Of course, if you live in NYC, you're probably not looking for me - as you can see I have five tickets, so a good percentage of this blog's readers will be sitting with me.

We're off to see Blithe Spirit, which I'm pretty excited about. Not only does it feature the Grande Dame herself, Miss Angela Lansbury, but her costar is none other than Elaine' Stritch's favorite, Christine Ebersole.

Here they are with the full cast. Mr. Rupert Everett has a beard on (not that kind, he's out) which kind of hides his recent plastic surgery, which I think makes him look a bit like a scary Kevin Kline.

If we're lucky, Dame Angela will swing from the moon,

or get all Mame on us, even without her former costar, Bea,

Or really just be a smokin' pin-up gal.

See you tonight, Mrs. Fletcher!