Adventures in Sunday Culture

If there's one thing to know about me, it's to know how big a fan I am of High Culture.

For example, where did I go yesterday after listening to a Kate Bush tribute concert? Why, the Museum of Television & Radio, of course. What did I see? Why, I'll tell you.

First of all, who knew that Gypsy Rose Lee hosted her own San Francisco-based talk show in 1958? And that one of her guests was Miss Ethel Merman, fresh off her run playing Gypsy Rose Lee's mom in Gypsy. In this pic Ethel is wearing a giant fur hat and Gypsy is putting a bunch of hot dog links around her neck like a scarf. Of course.

Then, here we have Carol Burnett and Ella Fitzgerald doing a medley of duets, including the moment where Carol screams "Harry's dead!" while Ella swings "Mack the Knife." I had seen this before, and I will see it again.

Oh this? Why it's Shelley Winters on Conan O'Brien. She's ostensibly there to talk about her stint as Rosanne's grandmother on TV, but she manages to describe what it would be like to make love to Andy Richter AND calls Gene Hackman "a little bitch" for being difficult when they made Poseidon Adventure together. And she holds her breath for a minute fifteen seconds while Conan times her. And as you can see, she is for some reason wearing a sheriff's badge.

And to end? Miss Bette Davis on the Tonight Show. This shot? She's shaking hands with Richard Pryor.

Here's a crappy taping of that moment in time. It's shaky enough to make you seasick while watching, but definitely worth it to hear Ms. Davis' incomparable reading of the word "Charming."



Charming, indeed. Culture!

This Man's Work

There are worse soundtracks to Sunday morning swiffering.




More details here.

"How Many Girls Here Slept With Howard Hughes?"

How is it possible I have never blogged this? I mean, how is it possible that Debbie Reynolds did an exercise tape with Shelley Winters, Teri Garr, and Dionne Warwick, and I never blogged it? Why was Shelley invited? Why did she accept? How were the other ladies involved? Where was Carrie Fisher during this? I have so many questions, just like Shelley does.



I wish I could just "fun around" with Shelley Winters before an exercise class.

Angels, Rejoicing

Rest in Peace, Charlie Louvin. You made a lot of great music, but I'll always love you for this one album you & your brother did.


Let's hope you were a good boy, and/or the album title was wrong.

Here's an audio taste.

Cats, Science, Friendships

Here are two things that happened.

Tylden emailed me this, he clearly has an alert for "Cats" and "Science" and knows to think of me.



I don't know where I found this one, but I'm glad I did.


The End.

The Pirate Movie

Recently, I had the pleasure of seeing my favorite movie for the first time.

The Pirate Movie is a 1982 musical adaptation of Pirates of Penzance, starring Kirsty McNichol (Family, Empty Nest, Carpenter's Christmas Special) and Christopher Atkinson (Blue Lagoon). I had just eaten a cheeseburger with some pals when we decided to blow our minds with this lost classic.

I'm a little hazy on the plot because I feel asleep a few times, plus it was confusing, plus the director was also the lead villain, and also all I know of Gilbert & Sullivan is from that one episode of The West Wing where that lady from CSI got hazed by the handsome man from St. Elmo's Fire. In other news, it was REALLY REALLY good whenever I was awake.

Not convinced? Here's the original trailer:



Basically Kristy McNichol is a nerd who carries around a boom box and buys everyone McDonald's, and Christopher Atkinson is a hot fencing instructor. And then later she turns into a princess and he's a hot pirate orphan who wears this International Male swimsuit/diaper a lot. And they fall in love.

The music? Well, half of it was G&S songs from Penzance, with some playing around with the lyrics. The other half was original pop songs, written by Terry Britten. Britten is a name I certainly know from my high school days - he wrote for Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, Lisa Stansfield, Olivia Newton-John, and others. This is the man who brought us "What's Love Got To Do With It" and that other 80s soundtrack classic, "We Don't Need Another Hero."

Also? It was really gay, those pirates.


I'm not sure what else to say, except thanks to Jimmy for introducing me to these 98 minutes of pure genius. Life is better now.

This here is the best song in the entire movie. It's worth watching maybe 5 or 6 times in a row, and then watching again.



"Pumpin' & Blowin'"? How can it get better than this.

In the immortal words of Kristy McNichol:

If you're treading water,
And romance is on the side,
You're going to have to swallow something more than water -
It's your pride.

God Bless us all, very much.

"Well I Ain't Gonna Vote For You"

It's Sunday, so I must be looking for new Shelley Winters clips on YouTube.



I sure hope she & Leslie Nielsen are having a good time up in heaven right now.