It has been ages since i wrote a blog post. And since I’m paying good money for this domain name, I shouldn’t let that happen too often. But there have been many things competing for my attention with the blank white screen of my WordPress template. So I figured I’d tell you what I’m enjoying–what’s keeping me from writing blogs more frequently.
So here they are, in no particular order, the things I am enjoying:
Perry Como Records. I got a vinyl LP of Perry’s final studio album, “Today”, which features ol’ Perry’s always-mellow take on newer tunes like “Wind Beneath My Wings” and “That’s What Friends Are For.” I also got a 2-CD set that repackages four of Perry’s vintage 50’s and 60’s albums. (They can get two albums on one CD because vinyl could only hold 35 minutes or so whereas a CD can hold 77 minutes or thereabouts.) The vintage albums include “Lightly Latin” with many of the same Antonio Carlos Jobim and Getz/Gilberto songs other crooners were covering at the time; and “Perry Como In Italy”.
I’m not sure why I dig Perry Como music. The answer I have given in the past is that I play rock and roll at work and when I go home I like something relaxing. Which is not quite true because I listen to rock at home too. But the older I get, the croonier my music taste skews. Crosby, Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Nat King Cole, and perhaps the co-champion with Perry of Easy Listening, Andy Williams.
Being In A Play! After a you-know-what hiatus, the Main Street Players are back at it! We’re doing a show this Saturday night at Newberrys in Alliance…it’s a one-act murder mystery followed by some improv comedy. It has been a joy to get back together with my theater friends…and we have some new folks in this show which is always exciting. I will say, I am a touch nervous about my lines. But I’m nervous about the lines for every play we’ve ever done, which is good! Because that makes me look them over more than I would if I was feeling confident.
Going to Denver Fan Expo. I did a big write-up on my Facebook page with a mess of photos so I won’t regurgitate all that here. Suffice to say my pal Dangerous Dave and I had a marvelous time and I brought back all kinds of cool stuff.
The Flip Wilson Show. This is the latest Time-Life video release on which I have frittered away a few bucks. I love old variety shows, and Flip Wilson’s was fairly unique. Visually, the show was done in-the-round on a very small stage…so all of the sketches, musical numbers, talk spots etc. feature the “FLIP” logo backdrop and members of the studio audience. It’s fun to watch the camera operator go in a little tighter if a well-lit audience member is ruffling through their pocketbook or staring blankly at the performers.
Flip Wilson’s most famous character was Geraldine, which he performed in drag. And the studio audiences can’t get enough. In 1970 or ’71 just seeing a man in full drag was a joke, in and of itself, before anybody spoke a line or did anything. The guest stars have trouble keeping their composure with Geraldine too…even the typically rock-solid Lucille Ball breaks into a grin:
“The Boys”. This book, written by Ron and Clint Howard, is an incredibly engrossing biography not just of the two brothers, but their parents and grandparents. The emphasis of course is on the acting careers of Ron, who experienced two hit series divided by a period of inactivity that led him to directing; and Clint, who worked with a bear on “Gentle Ben” and went on to become one of those “Hey, it’s that guy!” character actors. The story, told in alternating chapters by Ron and Clint, is surprisingly honest, heartwarming, informational and life-affirming.
And yes, before I started page one I skipped to the “Happy Days” part. There’s more detail than ever previously discussed about the Fonzie-mania that led the network to suggest the title change to “Fonzie’s Happy Days”, and the friendship between Ron Howard and Henry WInkler that remained rock-solid despite the frustrations Howard felt with the way he was treated by executives.
I’m still waiting for “Welcome Home Richie” to come up in the rotation on MeTV so I can write another “Happy Days Epics” article. Gotta wade through the truly heinous “Fonzie’s in a relationship” episodes with Linda Purl as Ashley Pfister. It’s no fault of Purl, or of the little Poltergeist girl who played her daughter; it’s just that a monogamous Fonzie is like The Dukes Of Hazard becoming certified public accountants; nobody asked for it, it’s not interesting, and it should never happen. It was a desperation move to give the series some kind of story structure after Joanie and Chachi got their spin-off.
Writing With My Pal. A major writing project is going on right now between my pal Dangerous Dave and me. We do the internet radio shows, you see—I guess they would call them “scripted podcasts” these days. Dave and I are taking turns writing scenes for a Thanksgiving show in which the Golden Girls and a variety of characters we’ve created over the years put on a stage production of “The Wizard Of Oz.” Working from a story outline, he writes a scene, I write the next one, he writes the one after that, and so on. Once the script is finished we’ll draft some friends into recording their parts….Dave and I will record our parts….then we’ll edit the whole thing together with music and sound effects. Generally speaking, the “effort exerted in creation to amount of listenership and/or feedback” percentage on these things is about 100% to .05%. But we have a lot of fun putting them together and it’s nice to work on something where the only ones who have to be happy with it are Dave and me.
So there’s a sample of what’s distracting me from the ol’ blogola. I appreciate you reading this, and anything I write here. I know my weird interests are…well, weird. So let’s enjoy the weird things together!