pianogonzology

Friday, November 18, 2016

Blast . . .

. . . from the past (of course) . . .
(the ridiculous and the sublime . . . you choose)

(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Trivia/TheDickVanDykeShow)
Actor-Shared Background: Jerry van Dyke's childhood sleepwalking became Stacy's adult sleepwalking.
Rob used to entertain his fellow troops in the Army, just like Dick Van Dyke.
The Danza: Jerry Paris as next door neighbor Jerry Helper.
Development Gag: "The Last Chapter" ends the show with one recalling its origins. Rob completes a manuscript about his various experiences as a writer, but the publisher rejects it. However, Alan loves it and intends to turn it into a TV series, where he'll play Rob.
Directed by Cast Member: Jerry Paris took over as the show's chief director during the third season, leading to his acting role in the show being cut down.
Executive Meddling:
Carl Reiner wrote the role of Rob Petrie for himself (sensibly, considering the show was based on his experiences writing Your Show Of Shows), but the studio rejected him in the role and instead cast Dick Van Dyke. In fact, there exists a pilot of Carl in the role of Rob Petrie called "Head of the Family". It actually aired in the summer of 1960. The whole cast - including Reiner - consider this a rare case of Good executive meddling.
Marathon Running: Nick@Nite's The Dick Van Dyke Collection.
Real-Life Relative: Jerry Van Dyke appears in a few episodes as Rob's brother Stacey.
Special Effects Failure: The scene with the kangaroo in Never Name a Duck is obviously the available footage of the man controlling the 'roo run back and forth.
Un-Cancelled: CBS officially cancelled the show after its first season, and the cast had even had a farewell party before Procter & Gamble threatened to yank all their popular soap operas (As the World Turns, The Edge of Night, Guiding Light and Search For Tomorrow) off of the network's daytime schedule if the series wasn't renewed.
What Might Have Been: Johnny Carson was the runner-up for the role of Rob.
If not for the influence Procter & Gamble had with CBS, the show would have been A One Season Wonder.
Write Who You Know:
Carl Reiner based Buddy and Sally on fellow comedy writers Mel Brooks and Selma Diamond.
Write What You Know:
The entire basis of the show. Carl Reiner has said that he was a New York comedy writer who lived in New Rochelle with his wife and son, so he decided to write a show about a New York comedy writer living in New Rochelle with his wife and son.
Reiner carried this over into running the show, insisting that the plots should be based not on old sitcom tropes but on real things that happened to the writers in their family or work lives. Ironically, many of these stories have themselves become stock sitcom plots thanks to their use on this show.
The Petries even live on the same street as the Reiners did (Although Carl DID add a 1 to the house number).
You Look Familiar: Greg Morris guest starred in two episodes as two different characters.
Van Dyke's stand-in Frank Adamo often turned up in various supporting parts.
Carl Reiner played several different guest parts in addition to his recurring role as Alan Brady.

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Thursday, November 17, 2016

Burning . . .

. . . Grey

Do you mean you were just lying there?

Out of reach of anyone who cares

They have bound you with their loving arms

In the distance I still hear you sound the alarm

Can you see yourself more clearly now?

As if you stepped out of a cloud

Beginning when it seems to end

Above below merging

Your mind doesn't feel

Your fingers don't think

Your eyes do not touch

While the heartbeat goes skipping away

It's now and then you're living

While you wait start the giving

Prove it it's always there

Burning grey without its flare

Obligated but one hand is tied

Constant chattering within your mind

How to leave it no one cares

To hear the silly language spoken there

There's a love that empties its own veins

As they spend they fill up again

The flow traffics through eternity

Carries on in all purity

Now you feel and you think

You see and you touch

With a matrix that springs from your heart

To your hands through your head

Burning grey

(Burning Grey performed by OHO at Pleasant Valley Golf Club,

October 2016;

Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak)

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Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Building . . .

(from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/f/frank_zappa.html)
"Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe. "
-Frank Zappa

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Tuesday, November 15, 2016

House . . .

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_Jacobs_Mansion)
". . . The mansion encompasses what once was three large row homes. The original Garrett Jacobs home, 11 Mt. Vernon, was built by Samuel George in 1853 on property purchased from John Eager Howard. The property was located in the then-new suburb of Mount Vernon, which was a haven for the newly-rich of Baltimore as a place to escape the congestion of the city. The property lay directly across from the site of the Baltimore's Washington Monument (completed in 1829), which further enhanced its value. . . Robert andd Mary lived in their row house for ten years during which time Robert was first President of the Valley Rail Road, a short line on the Shenandoah Valley Rail Road managed by the B & O and then promoted to third Vice President of the B & O. After the death of John Work Garrett, Robert Garrett became president of the B & O in 1884. Prompted by their growing business and social responsibilities and money, the Garretts decided to enlarge their home to create a fitting place to entertain the important people who were guests of the president of the B & O, including other railroad presidents, bankers, and state and national legislators. Robert Garrett attended to the neighborhood as well as the house, enhancing the setting of his home by engaging Fredrick Olmstead to design the four parks of the square. Additionally, he commissioned sculptor W.W. Story, who had just created a sculpture of George Peabody for the people of London where Peabody enjoyed public acclaim, to make a copy of that sculpture to be placed in front of the Peabody Institute. Inspired by the Champs del Elysees in Paris, Garrett wanted a similar park in front of his own home. Henri Cremier designed the fountain that graces that space. . . Robert and Mary Garrett then engaged Gilded Age architect Stanford White of architectural firm McKim, Mead and White to help them realize their vision of a beautiful home that would compare with other Gilded Age homes in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. The renovations would continue for thirty-two years until the house included over forty rooms, sixteen fireplaces, and one hundred windows. . . Mary Garrett Jacobs died in 1936 leaving the house to her husband. They had no children. At his death, in 1939, the mansion which had renovations amounting to more than $2 million was auctioned for $36,000 to William Cook who planned to use it as a funeral home. Zoning laws prohibited this. The mansion was then sold to Boumi Temple. Three of the beautiful Tiffany windows were sold; other changes were made. . . Baltimore City purchased the mansion in 1958 with plans to use it for the Walters Art Gallery. These plans did not materialize. For years it sat empty, deteriorating. . . In 1962, it was sold to Baltimore’s Engineering Society, an organization that contributed much to Baltimore’s revitalization after the Baltimore fire of 1904 that destroyed most of the downtown. In need of a new home, the Engineering Society moved into the property and rescued it. . .The Engineering Society has overseen restoration of this mansion since that time. . ."

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Monday, November 14, 2016

Bloggers . . .

. . . who need to realize that . . . It's A TV Show! . . .
and that happy endings and perfect people are few and far between in real life, and very formulaic in entertainment . . . but hey, that's only my opinion . . .

(http://uasblognet.blogspot.com/2014/04/5-things-wrong-with-ally-mcbeal.html)
". . . Ally McBeal is one of the most irritating and offensive female characters to have her own series.
Here are five reasons why:
1 She is unprofessional. . . She continuously wears short skirts, saying she wants people to see her lovely legs, and in one episode it puts her jail. . .
2 Her emotional insecurity gets the better of her in a grotesque fashion. When she finds her boyfriend (Robert Downey Jr) casually having ice cream with his ex wife, she hilariously tips the vanilla cream, chocolate sauce and whipped cream all over him. . .
3 She is slightly homophobic. . . when she begins to to date a man who later reveals that he is openly bisexual. Unable to get rid of the flashes of him naked with other men and she promptly breaks up with him. . .
4 The thin epidemic, which happened sometime in the 90s, required all of the leading ladies in the series to be super thin. . . resulted in emotional, psychological and physical damage for the women in the cast. . .
5 The Times Magazine cover. On June 29, 1998, Time Magazine issued its cover with pictures of Gloria Stienem, Betty Frieden and Susan B. Anthony in black and white and Ally McBeal in color with the sideline "Is Feminism Dead?" Funnily enough, in the second season, Ally has a dream in which she is chosen to be on the cover of Time Magazine as the "face of feminism". . ."

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Sunday, November 13, 2016

Stuck . . .

. . . in my head stream of consciousness. . .

Contest, winner, loser, shock, fear, disgust, choice (was there one?) . . .

Unite, protest, resist, hope for the best . . .

But how does one summon hope after witnessing the tactics employed throughout the contest????

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Saturday, November 12, 2016

You. . .

. . . were always . . .

You were always
In the right place
At the right time
When I needed
You to be there
In the rain or shine
And I don't believe
I ever heard
A word of complaint
Sometimes there was not
A word at all
You were always
There to give me
The direction true
Now it's time I
Must be there
For you.

In a world where
There is danger
And uncertainty
You were there to
Give me comfort
And security
You were like the sun
Upon which could be
Counted to rise
Like the rain you gave
What made me grow
And though now things
Seem confusing
I can't make you see
I'll be here 'cause
You were there
For me.

LVJ
©2010 Raymond M. Jozwiak

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