A friend of mine posted this, which is good enough by itself.
That however led me on a 20 minute hunt for the Me & My Shadow routine - which sure isn't labeled very well. Fanboys! Work on your metadata! This, my friends, is genius. And even includes a Hitchcock reference!
(Start the proceedings at the 11 minute mark or just click here to skip all the preceding skits)
In conclusion, a lovely Wednesday night was had by all.
Yesterday, I went on an educational jaunt to QUEENS. Whaaaa?!? Yep, Queens.
See, the Museum of the Moving Image had a little show about the Muppets - I'll blog about that later. The last time I went to the MoMI, it was raining, and we saw a double-feature of Night at the Opera and Der Blaue Angel. If there's one thing I can suggest, don't ever go straight from a Marx Brothers movie to one where someone dies from loving Marlene Dietrich. It does not make for a fun night. However, my companion found a $20 bill outside the museum on our walk home, so you never know.
HOWEVER, this Sunday none of that happened. Here's a few of the gems they have on display.
Elsa Lanchester's wig! Who knew the bride of Frankenstein was a ginger?
They had a whole Star Wars toy exhibit, which was pretty awesome - I remembered owning and playing with each and everyone of of the Action Figures. What I did not remember, was this quasi-NSFW C3-P0 tape dispenser.
I have a question on these books here below. Did Betty Grable, Judy Garland, and Ginger Rogers figure in as characters in these novels? A little research is in order, but I don't want to be late for work. Furthermore, I wish I had this Julia lunchbox growing up. I loved that show. The legs really are the last thing to go.
In conclusion, my favorite bit of memorabilia was these Geraldine and Flip Wilson dolls. God, but they'd look grand on my fireplace mantle.
Television is great. Also, movies. Queens, not so bad.
The New York Times is a hotbed of awesomeness this week.Where do they come up with this great stuff?
From a joint review of memoirs from Dick Van Dyke and Barbara Eden: As much as television has changed in 50 years, you can trace “30 Rock” directly back through “Mary Tyler Moore” to “The Dick Van Dyke Show”: beneath its oh-so-nuanced emotional firewall and the sophisticated embrace-rejection tango with cynicism, there’s at least as much insulation from the harsher facts of show business and personal misery as when Van Dyke was trading writers’-room one-liners with Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam. ...“I Dream of Jeannie” is certainly far more anachronistic, yet its infantilism is somehow invincible, imperturbable, timeless.
The joke of the Jeannies and Gilligans is on all of us who even as smart-aleck kids thought they were destined for the dustbin of television. Au contraire: Jeannie long ago transcended the mundane laws of time and space and taste, like Dalí or Bettie Page or Paul Lynde sitting catbird-like in the center square of eternity.
"Sophisticated embrace-rejection tango..." and that last bit throwing Jeannie in with Salvador Dalí, Bettie Page and Paul Lynde? Bless your cotton socks, Grey Lady.
Oh god. I don't watch Nurse Jackie, but I know it's about that lady from the Sopranos except she has a short haircut and the subway advertising seems to indicate she does drugs.
However, this holy trinity might just shock me back into regular behavior. God Bless, Mike Douglas, for assembling Alfred Hitchcock, James Brown, and Joan Rivers on the same stage. How could something like the clip below NOT happen?
I love that James Brown calls the movie "Homicidal" and Hitch doesn't correct him. Classy, that one.
I was sad to read this article in the paper a few months back - why, oh why, must the Liberace Museum close its doors before I ever get to go?
Thankfully, Google Images will not close its doors anytime soon, at least not until world domination is achieved. Here's some of my favorites of Mr. Showmanship.
I mean, I'd have a piano-shaped pool if I could.
I'd also be friends with Phyllis Diller if I could.
Maybe not with the Walken. Stay off the boat, Liberace!
And one more Diller for good luck:
In conclusion, here he is on the Smothers Brothers - kinda long but fun.
I have to admit, I had no idea Jane Russell was still alive. But, she was, and until yesterday was 89 years young. She died too late to make the Oscar R.I.P. list, but at least she didn't get skipped, poor Corey Haim. Anyway, I only really knew her from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which is certainly a fun romp. Thanks to jet lag, I woke up at 4am today so I've had plenty of time to do research.
The duet with her & Marilyn is fantastic, but for fun here's "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love," her solo number where the boys are wearing skin colored trunks (we'd now call that peach). Hollywood sure was racy back then.
Furthermore, I hadn't heard the story of how Howard Hughes claimed to have created a special "cantilever bra" to hold up her 38D rack. I mean, I had only learned the word "cantilever" last year, so maybe I had heard this but didn't know what it meant.
I had heard the Bob Hope quip though, he once introduced her as "the two and only Jane Russell." Boobs!
More importantly, I had NO idea that in 1971 she took over for Stritchy in Company. I kinda wish there was a youtube of her doing "The Ladies Who Lunch" with those bathing suit boys in the background.
In conclusion, here she is doing "Looking for Trouble" from The French Line. Ladies and Gentlemen, here they are, Miss Jane Russell:
I have a question on these books here below. Did Betty Grable, Judy Garland, and Ginger Rogers figure in as characters in these novels? A little research is in order, but I don't want to be late for work.
Furthermore, I wish I had this Julia lunchbox growing up. I loved that show. The legs really are the last thing to go.
Television is great. Also, movies. Queens, not so bad.
My favorite of the toys I had was the panther that turned into a cassette tape. I miss him.
I'd also be friends with Phyllis Diller if I could.
Maybe not with the Walken. Stay off the boat, Liberace!
