Andy Explained It All

Recently Andy Rooney, the curmudgeonly commentator who appeared for many years at the end of the CBS news magazine program 60 Minutes, had announced that he was planning to retire.  Perhaps it was time for that; after all, he was 92.
And then today came the news that, due to complications after minor surgery, Mr. Rooney has died.
Maybe he knew the Reaper was knocking.  That could be why he quit.  Or maybe he, at the age of 92, did not know outright that his number was nearly up, and he merely decided, out of a sense of prudence, or perhaps out of weariness, to lay down his work burdens and spend his remaining time with his family.  I don't know.  If the family keeps things private, none of us will ever know.

Everything Old is New Again! The Dark Shadows Film is Locked, Loaded, and Looking Good!

Some of you may know that I'm a fan of the classic Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows.  I loved the original show, the films that spawned, the 1991 reboot, the books, the comics...if it's Dark Shadows, I've enjoyed it at some point.
There'd been talk of a new feature film reboot for years, but the project was stuck in turnaround for so long that I kind of brushed it off.  But then, late last year, there was new buzz.  And as 2011 came in and picked up steam, there was more buzz, and then outright news.  Johnny Depp, a life-long DS fan, was attached to play his dream role of Barnabas Collins!  Tim Burton, another fan of the show, to direct from a script by that most ghoulish of the hot young novelists, Seth Grahame-Smith!  And then came a flood of casting news that was, by turns, thrilling and worrying, strange and perfect.

Self-Indulgence: Why I'm a Fan of Frances Ruffelle

It's fashionable at times to dislike certain people.  Be they entertainers, politicians, athletes, people from your home town...it seems like there are certain folks that others pick on when they want to trash someone.

9 times out of 10, the someone being picked on is someone that I like or adore.  Even if I don't know them personally...well, everyone has their favorite celebrities, right?

A Life of Horror and Wonder

Repost from last year, but I like this, so...

214 years ago, at twenty minutes past 11 on the night of 30 August, 1797, a baby girl was born to a pair of intellectuals residing in Somers Town, London, England.  She was named Mary, after her mother.

In less than two weeks, the mother was dead.

One More Dawn...One More Day...Pile...of...Crap...

So, I'm a fairly big fan of "Les Misérables" (me saying that to most people who know me is akin to me saying "Hi, I'm Lela.  Have you met me at all?")

No, I'm not just a fan of the musical.  I first fell for the book, reading an unabridged translation between the ages of 7 and 9 (hey, I was a slower reader than, and to be fair, it WAS almost 1500 pages!)  Of course, I've always been a big fan of musicals (on the Nature-versus-Nurture side of that matter, I'll speak later) so when I found out that there was a musical of "Les Misérables," well hell, I didn't need any encouragement to go and find a copy of the soundtrack.  But then, I've got plans for a series of posts discussing my love for almost all things "Les Misérables" later on.  What I want to talk about right now is the recent performance by the U.S. National Touring Cast of the musical on the TV show "America's Got Talent"

Drama Days

Like a lot of people around the world, I grew up with some knowledge of the existence of the entertainment genre known as the soap opera.  As a small child, I watched daily soaps with my mother.  Later, when I was in school, there were only sick days and summers to see them, but I kept up somewhat.

Mum and I mostly watched the CBS soaps (The Young & The Restless, The Bold & The Beautiful, As The World Turns, and Guiding Light) but I knew about the soaps on other networks.  I think most everyone in the U.S. has at least heard some reference to Luke and Laura from "General Hospital" or Erica Kane from "All My Children" and a host of other famed characters.

Such Things as Dreams are Made Of...

I have a lot of very wacky recurring dreams.  From the one with Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, and Emmanuel Lewis running what seems to be a curio/magic/everything else store, to the one where my sister is supposed to remove my leg, but she won't because I fall asleep from the anesthesia, I never know just how weird a night's dreams will make me feel.

There's one dream at the moment that I find both amusing and disturbing.  It's silly and simple, but I wonder what it says about me as a person.

Misty Water-Color MADNESS!

Okay, folks, I've got a little recommendation for you.  There's a fairly new blog, Retro-Recaps, and it would behoove all of you to give it a look see.  The premise of looking back at long-gone but still loved television shows has been done, but this blog delivers it with a sharper sort of snark, wit, and criticism wrapped up in an endearingly meandering package.
The creator, Annie, obviously loves the shows she's recapping (as of this writing, she's almost through with season one of "Xena: Warrior Princess") but she also holds nothing sacred.  Every character and convention comes up for a good ribbing.  For those who don't hold with the "subtext" aspects of "X:WP," a word of caution: Annie is heavily on the "They are!" side of "Are they or aren't they?" when it comes to Xena and Gabrielle.  Of course, I myself find that side of the argument endlessly enticing, and her humor in that direction is silly and fun enough for anyone.

Retro-Recaps promises to be a fun time for all.  Go, read, laugh.

Xena wants you to.

Who's Tommy?

Music has always effected me deeply.  Combine great music with a fantastic story and you've got me on your side for years to come.  But combine great music, a fantastic story, and the film making style of Ken Russell and I'm hooked for life.

When I was just a little kid, I saw the classic 1975 film version of The Who's rock opera "Tommy" and I was enchanted.  The film was magical in a way, suffused with color and light and so many strange and wonderful songs.  All the musicals I'd seen and heard before were more of the Rodgers and Hammerstein variety, or even Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.  The idea of rock 'n' roll songs as the pivots of the story was amazing to a little kid.

And then, a few years later, I played pinball (the very game "Tommy" revolves around) for the first time.  Care to guess what the theme of the table was?  I'll give you a hint.

 

They Had Stars Then: Jean Harlow

(Note: This is the first in a new series comparing stars and celebs of yesteryear with the folks who end up famous today.)

Many celebrities today are famous simply for being grossly rich, or for allowing every single second of their "real" life be filmed for television.  Those who are famous for appearing in film or television shows seemto suffer less from talent than from excessive attractiveness (yes, there is a limit), scandals, or an arrest record.  They Had Stars Then is intended to take you back to the days when celebrities were famous for doing something that was worth something and stars at least attempted to display some iota of talent or ability.