Tepid Tuesday

Today in history:

The first televised debate took place between JFK and "Tricky Dick" Nixon.
(Does YouTube have video of this? I'm going to check.)









T.S. Eliot was born on this date in the year 1888.
(I'm a poet and don't know it, but my feet show it 'cuz they're "Longfellows". Yeah...I know...lameness personfied. However, even though I like Eliot, I hate the musical "Cats". Too many wanna-be divas maul that song for my taste. Bleah.)




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Jeepers...lots of people responded about the mega-tuna incident at Casa De Sudiegirl. I was quite surprised at the turnout. Just goes to show that you never know quite what will be a hit or miss in the blogiverse.

However, I do have to note that Ed H. came to my rescue yet again. Here, in his own words, is what he had to say re: the director, Anthony Minghella:

Anyway, Minghella didn't actually direct any episodes of The Storyteller. He just wrote 'em all, every single one of them. And though I don't care much for his movies, that was one beautifully written show.

Thanks so much for the clarification, Ed-man...I knew I could count on you. Please take a moment to read his blog, BTW. He's on my blogroll as "Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy" and is quite the writer. He's also obsessed with tuna, so if you want to get in good with him for any reason, buy him a four-pound can. He'll be your best bud if you do.

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Also, if you read my entry about the new and improved Metropolitan Opera staging of "Madame Butterfly", here are some updates for ya.

Click here for the review of last night's "Madame Butterfly" performance at the Metropolitan Opera, NYC

It's very favorable, and I'm just wishing I can attend a showing...sigh.

Click here to go to the MetOperaFamily website.

If you go here, you can watch related video from the Associated Press (please advise if the link doesn't work):

All in all, sounds like the score is:

Minghella/Metropolitan Opera - 1, Boring old opera productions - 0

Yeah, BOYYYYY! (OK...that didn't sound right, but too bad.)

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Next, in the "Baffling birthdays" department...

OK...as far as birthdays are concerned, there are a few that have me intrigued. Let me note a few...

1. Fitness expert Jack LaLanne is 92...I only know of him in passing as opposed to watching his classic exercise shows, but still...ninety-TWO??? Does he still wear those stupid jumpsuits? I hated those. Also, he's another one of those folks that I thought were no longer in this mortal coil. I guess I need to start exercising, right? Bleah.




2. Singer Lynn Anderson is 59. Singer Olivia Newton-John is 58. OK...they're approximately one year apart, but I always thought Lynn Anderson was, like, at least 10 years older than "lovely Livvy". It must be the hairdo she had when she first started...that big bouffant thingie. It seems like all the country girl singers had them back in the day...I never understood why either. I mean, between the hairspray, any bobby-pins and barrettes used as accessories, and the height of the 'do itself, it's a wonder they didn't set off alarms or get picked up by magnetic devices. It'd be a great place to hide stuff, though...money, jewelry, a pistol...the possibilites are endless.

Olivia, on the other hand, always seemed to look a little younger than she really was. She didn't do the big hair thing, even though she started out in the same general time period.

However...this means that when she was cast as high-schooler Sandy Olson in "Grease", she was 30 years old. Do the math...at release time, she was 30, at any rate. I can suspend disbelief for only SO long...can someone explain this phenomenon of hiring someone at age 29 or 30 to play a 17-year-old? Me neither, but it's been happening for a while now. I played Rizzo in that same musical (on stage) at age 27 or so, therefore I probably shouldn't complain about THAT part of it. I will complain about other parts of it in a later entry. I'm sure you're looking forward to that.

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NaBloWriMo - it ain't baby talk.

This stands for "National Blog Writing Month", to create awareness for the unique yet popular art of blogging. To find out more, click on the NaBloWriMo link and you will be magically WHISKED away to this enchanted land. The originator of this concept is Groovygrrl from Denver, CO, who can be found here and on my blogroll.

Check it out - if you want to join, follow the splendid directions on the NaBloWriMo blog. I know I will. :0)

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Audience Participation Time!

I've got two questions to ask. Please note that this is not a meme...just leave your answer in the comments. I swiped the questions from a meme, and I can't remember where from. If you recognize it, just let me know and I will give proper acknowledgement by linking to the entry.

Question #1: How do you eat an Oreo cookie?

Sudiegirl's answer?
I eat them fully assembled and dunked in milk. I don't take them apart and lick out the filling, because to me, that's blasphemous. You have to fully appreciate the filling AND the cookie together.

Of COURSE, milk is essential to the Oreo experience. I suggest at least a 16-oz. glass with a large mouth so you can dunk the cookies even at the very end of the glass' volume. Yeah, you'll get your hand wet, but hey - nobody else will bum your milk either. Double-plus bonus.

Finally...word to the wise...Oreos and beer are not a good taste combination. Many things go well with beer, but not Oreos. Ed H. swears by Oreos and Bailey's Irish Creme. I'm not sure I'm down with that because I want to be fully sober for the Oreo experience. Now, making a frozen drink with Bailey's and Oreos - I can get behind that.

Question #2: How much ice cream can you eat at one sitting?

Sudiegirl's response:

One pint. Preferably Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby ice cream, but one pint nonetheless.

I am frustrated with my taste in ice cream because I have "champagne taste and a beer pocketbook" as far as ice cream is concerned. I mean, it is one of the more expensive brands, and even if it's on special it's still expensive. But I can't help it. It's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. I'll fry in Hades, but I will not regret it. (a bit dramatic for ice cream, but hey...life's like that.)

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Finally, the Thought for the DAY...(oh, I do have an award to present as well, but it will have to be a separate entry so this one won't be so UNGODLY long)

Thought for Today:
"That the end of life should be death may sound sad; yet what other end can anything have?" - George Santayana, American philosopher (1863-1952).

Sudiegirl's response: I don't know...some folks might say marriage.

With that, rock the HELL on, my friends...

Sudiegirl