Bedroom Dancing

Well, I've done it. I bought the Parsons bed. There were many contenders, but I chose it for its minimal design / simplicity, height, and really I just like it. It gets delivered this Friday.

Soon I will stop sleeping like this:

and start sleeping like this:

Amber & Canadian Dangers

Oh hai. It's me, ALH from Amber & guest blogging for your regular host, CRD, while he is Away. And what a bad time for a journey northward for poor CRD! Canadian gorillas have rebelled... with knives!
That is a real photo from the Calgary Herald and a real knife in the hands of a real dangerous gorilla! It seems like a keeper dropped the knife in the enclosure while cleaning the cage. My guess is that they were using it to open bags of food or cut the string on bales of hay. This was something my keepers during my zoo time warned me about extensively.

The article goes on to lament the horrors of bad zoo keeping and attribute the incident to poor training. I think that's a bit harsh. Yes, the gorillas could have been hurt. But, in this case, the gorilla returned the knife to its keepers on request. It seems like human error-- a simple oversight. It was a really horrible oversight, but I doubt the keeper didn't know that she wasn' supposed to drop the knife. Taking care of gorillas is super hard work and doesn't pay very well. I'd like to see these watchdogs clean a gorilla cage.

Meanwhile, I hope CRD is okay. I don't think he said his meetings were at a zoo, but I can't really remember him saying at all. If he doesn't come back, it will sure be hard to update two blogs every day.

Also? Otterly Hilarious

The Big B.M.

Happy Birthday, Barry Manilow!

It's always fun to mock Barry, but I think he's terrific, and have thought so ever since I was a wee lad.

There are many reasons I like him so much, notably "Mandy" (which I can sing in perfect pitch), "A Linda Song," and many others. I used to play his records over and over at my Nana's house and sing along to the lyrics that were printed on the LP sleeve.

About the time I was born, Barry was playing piano in the Continental Bath House for Miss Bette Midler - which I think is just about the coolest thing one could do.

Also cool? What this Danish person did to put a video together for Mandy.



And now, I'm off to Canada. See ya, America!

The Divine Misses M & G

So last night I watched Miss Kathy Griffin's latest program, which I liked a lot. She's funny, sassy, irreverent, and apparently channeling my good self. Last night she had dinner with Bette Midler, at which they called Stevie Nicks, then later they went for a stroll and Griffin referenced Cybill Shepherd breaking the fourth wall on Moonlighting. I ask you, could I have done any better?






Probably not, and I sure couldn't have done better than the clip below. Griffin asked Midler about a lot of things, one of them was the time that she, Flip Wilson, and Elton John guested on the premiere episode of the Cher show. Now, as an avid corporate member of the "Museum" of Television and Radio I have spent a good amount of time searching through their library, and I actually watched this episode a few years back. You watch the programs while sitting in a little cubicle with headphones on, library-style; as I recall my laughter was so loud I was afraid I'd get kicked out.

Herewith, a musical number.



I sure do wish someone good would bring back the variety hour.

Dot, Line, Love

This one is a little long, but is absolutely worth it.


The Dot And The Line won the 1965 Academy Award for animated short, deservedly so. Amber and I saw this as a Bonus Feature with a Doris Day movie once. The movie itself was fun, Doris wore a mermaid costume and Dom DeLuise was up to all his old tricks, but this little coda was perhaps my favorite part.



Enjoy.

Cats! Dogs!

Really, America? MORE rain?

I sure wish I still had this slicker.