IJBFC Chat - September 10, 2006

(Name of message originator in [] brackets at the beginning of each line)

Welcome

Laura_Leff has joined the chat.

[Barbara] Hi everyone! Beautiful day here.

[Laura_Leff] Hi folks

[Brad_from_Georgia] I thought I'd try to catch Don's Jell-O pitch.... :D

[Laura_Leff] How's everyone doing tonight?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Hi, Laura. Got Vol. II recently--it's great!

[Laura_Leff] Brad - Thank you! Much appreciated.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Me, I'm recuperating from Dragon-Con, a big SF convention in Atlanta. Mickey Rooney was a guest!

[Laura_Leff] Oh, loved your story about Eddie and Rip Taylor on the Bulletin Board.

Scott_in_KC has joined the chat.

[Laura_Leff] Hey Scott

Steve_(shimp) has joined the chat.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Thanks, LL--Eddie laughed his head off when he was telling me the last bit (seeing Rip at the Sportsmen's Lodge)

[Laura_Leff] But riddle me this...why is Rip Taylor appearing at Sci-Fi/Fantasy conventions?

[Laura_Leff] Hey Steve!

[Steve_(shimp)] Hi folks

[Steve_(shimp)] Rip Taylor already? I shoulda brought my confetti

[Brad_from_Georgia] Why is Mickey Rooney, for that matter? Dragon-Con now calls itself a "popular culture expo."

[Laura_Leff] Mickey Rooney needs the money. So does Rip Taylor, I suppose.

[Laura_Leff] How was Mickey, anyway?

[Scott_in_KC] Hi everyone. My PC locks, so I might not say too much. However, tomorrow, please give pause and reflect upon the events of 9/1

[Brad_from_Georgia] I did get to chat with Billy West, voice man from "Futurama." Mickey was fine, a little rambling in his anecdotes....

[Scott_in_KC] 9/11*

[Laura_Leff] That's Mickey.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Thanks, Scott. We plan a mermorial at school.

[Steve_(shimp)] Billy West is a talented fella. Did great work on Futurama, I hear it's coming back.

[Laura_Leff] There actually is a tie in between 9/11 and Jack Benny...

[Barbara] What's that?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Rip Taylor told Eddie he'd made a ton of money autographing photos and urged Eddie to attend Dragon-Con next year.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Sorry, LL-What's the tie-in?

[Steve_(shimp)] Dare I ask what a Rip Taylor John Hancock goes for these days? (interested in the 9/11 thing too)

[Brad_from_Georgia] Steve--twenty bucks.

[Laura_Leff] When the original Waukegan statue unveiling was scheduled, it was supposed to be 9/9 or 9/10 (IIRC). But it was

[Steve_(shimp)] *)

[Laura_Leff] rescheduled for the following summer. Then when 9/11 happened, Dan and I looked at each other and said

[Brad_from_Georgia] Steve--but you get CONFETTI with that....

[Laura_Leff] "Thank goodness it was rescheduled, or 9/11 would have completely obliterated any good feeling we'd generated."

[Steve_(shimp)] LOL, the kids must like him after he did "Jackass the Movie"

[Laura_Leff] Rip Taylor did "Jackass the Movie"?

[Steve_(shimp)] Yep.

[Laura_Leff] Never saw it so I don't know. I think of him for the $1.98 Beauty Contest.

[Laura_Leff] BRB

[Brad_from_Georgia] Barbara and I were scheduled for a Disney cruise on 9/15/01 (her birthday). We did, too, though we had to drive to Canaveral.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Subdued cruise, only 1/3 full.

[Scott_in_KC] I bet, Brad.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Ya know, if Eddie did make Dragon-Con, we could re-enact the "Suspense" episode with him!

[Laura_Leff] Why Barbara...I didn't know you were going on a cruis with Brad.

[Scott_in_KC] Brad, and you would be Xeno?

[Steve_(shimp)] Anyone else picturing Jack in a goofy Plan 9 from outer space outfit in the mind's eye?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Scott-Naw, Jack would be Xeno. I'd probably wind up with the Don Wilson part...I got the build.

[Brad_from_Georgia] OOps, Eddie would be Xeno!

[Laura_Leff] I didn't realize Ed the Guard's last name was Wood.

[Scott_in_KC] Or is it Zeno?

[Steve_(shimp)] See, you learn somethin' new every day... :D

[Brad_from_Georgia] I wondered how it was spelled, too!

[Laura_Leff] Xeno. Plan X. :)

[Steve_(shimp)] Xactly.

[Laura_Leff] Xtremely.

[Laura_Leff] So what did folks think of Plan X?

[Scott_in_KC] I have heard it before.

[Steve_(shimp)] Interesting. They never could give Jack a part totally devoid of Bennyisms though.

[Brad_from_Georgia] WELL...it wasn't exactly suspenseful, but it was kinda fun. Didn't think the ending had much punch.

[Barbara] Jack did a good job, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

[Scott_in_KC] Xeno was a Mama

[Laura_Leff] It's interesting to hear Jack out of character playing something totally different.

[Brad_from_Georgia] ....or cup of punch.

[Steve_(shimp)] It had weird parallels to Horn Blows for me - Jack being "selected" for a mission, etc.

KayLhota has joined the chat.

[KayLhota] whew! Hi

[Laura_Leff] Steve - I was thinking that when I was listening to it as well.

[Steve_(shimp)] Hi Kay!

[Laura_Leff] Hi Kay!

[Scott_in_KC] Xeno was a Mama's Boy.

[Brad_from_Georgia] It reminded me in an oblique way of Bradbury's Mars stories, which were appearing about that time.

[Steve_(shimp)] with a lack of biological urges! LOL

[Laura_Leff] Scott - Was he, or was that an appropriate type for the day?

[Brad_from_Georgia] In one of Bradbury's tales, the Martians "hide" from exploring Earthlings, by becoming invisible, IIRC.

[Laura_Leff] The Lieutenant in "Naked City" is older and lives with his Italian mother, but it's clear that he was heterosexual.

[Laura_Leff] Brad - Is that from "Martian Chronicles"?

[Brad_from_Georgia] LL-Yes, that's one of the stories Ray later redid for "Chronicles."

[Steve_(shimp)] It definitely had a third-rate Bradbury knockoff vibe to it.

buck_benny_rogers has joined the chat.

[Laura_Leff] Hiya Buck!

[buck_benny_rogers] Hello, you all!

[KayLhota] It's sort of a send up of "The Martian Chronicles," isn't it?"

[Brad_from_Georgia] Around that time, lots of people were knocking off Bradbury's stories, including EC comics.

[Laura_Leff] Brad - It's been a couple years since I read that...was trying to recall...

[Laura_Leff] You all know that Bradbury was also from Waukegan, right?

[Brad_from_Georgia] There are a couple of segments--in one an Earthman meets a Martian, and both think the other is an hallucination or ghost.,

[Steve_(shimp)] Yeah, I hadn't thought of that though!

[Laura_Leff] Kay - It does start with a comment about "following a popular trend"

[buck_benny_rogers] That's interesting, Laura

[Steve_(shimp)] So was Elliott Lewis the primary producer for SUSPENSE at this time?

[Steve_(shimp)] Was he doing Phil's show concurrently?

[Brad_from_Georgia] I once asked Ray if he'd ever met Jack, and his answer wasn't clear, though he said "Jack was a lovely man."

[Laura_Leff] Steve - Or at least this one.

[Steve_(shimp)] The female lead was Mary Jane Croft, Elliott Lewis' wife.

[KayLhota] Elliott Lewis was producing and directing SUSPENSE for a year or so

[Laura_Leff] Say, the voice that's the head of the council or something, gives Jack his orders. Why am I sure I've heard that voice on the

[Laura_Leff] original Star Trek?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Nepotism, unadulterated nepotism.

[KayLhota] I don't have the exact dates, but I know that there was a period of it

[Barbara] Jack's persona has been around for so long, it's hard to place him in an unrelated environment. June Moon is another example.

[Laura_Leff] The Man Who Came to Dinner is yet another.

[Steve_(shimp)] Was that Bill Conrad?

[KayLhota] yes it was williamconrad

[buck_benny_rogers] This reminded me of a later Suspense adaptation called "Zero Hour"...kids pretend to be "playing" while preparing an attack...

[Laura_Leff] Steve - That's what I thought, but I looked him up in IMDB and he's not listed for Star Trek.

[Barbara] That's right. He also did something about a man with a face nobody noticed.

[Laura_Leff] The Face Is Familiar

[Barbara] Yeah.

[KayLhota] my favorite of Jack Benny's SUSPENSE episodes is "Murder In G Flat"

[Laura_Leff] Kay - Say more about it.

[KayLhota] It actually is the most suspenseful of hisSUSPENSE episodes

[KayLhota] he is a piano tuner whose bag is accidetly switched with a bag full of stolen money

[KayLhota] oops. My spelling!

[Barbara] Do you suppose Jack liked doing these shows for something different? I wonder if they paid well.

[Brad_from_Georgia] 'sokay, Kay. We know you meant piano tuna.

[Laura_Leff] I'd bet it was his connection with Elliott Lewis.

[Laura_Leff] Brad - That reminds me of when Phil was selling fish out of the piano

[Barbara] It may also have increased the ratings for the shows.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Oh, LL, that was a lu-LU!

[KayLhota] I think so, Laura. Elliott Lewis made a point of casting a lot of the comics for dramatic roles on SUSPENSE

[Brad_from_Georgia] Bob Hope did a couple about that time, didn't he?

[KayLhota] The episode with Alice Faye and Phil Harris is another example

[Laura_Leff] Say Kay...quick question. Your last statement came through with lighter print and gave a beep. What did you do differently?

[Steve_(shimp)] That Phil & Alice Suspense is great!

[KayLhota] a lighter print?

[Laura_Leff] Yes...it comes out in sort of an olive green rather than black.

[Laura_Leff] Started with "I think so, Laura."

[Steve_(shimp)] Laura, it comes through like that when you use someone's screen name in text.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Laura-Leff - mine does that when someone directly addresses me.

[KayLhota] not for me. I don't know.

[Scott_in_KC] Wasn't Jack in another "Suspense," as a rip-off banker and department store employee?

[Laura_Leff] OIC

[Barbara] Kay just likes green.

[Laura_Leff] KayLhota - Does this do it?

[KayLhota] I might have bumped something when I accidently hit the cap lockkey

[Brad_from_Georgia] Mine does it when someone says Brad- etc.

[Laura_Leff] Kay - Naw, Steve and Brad just did the same thing.

[Laura_Leff] OK. Just wanted to make sure it was still something everyone could see and not some sort of private message.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Now, mine did it when I mentioned my own name. I feel so special.

[Laura_Leff] Laura

[Laura_Leff] OIC

[Brad_from_Georgia] You're just showing off now!

[Laura_Leff] OK, just learned something new about the chat room.

[KayLhota] geesh, I wish I knew!

[Laura_Leff] So anyway, thanks for the sidebar.

[Laura_Leff] Did Bob Hope do Suspense?

[KayLhota] yes

[Scott_in_KC] Green as the Green of Jack's money in that Vault.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Actually, I'm not typing this. I've got "monitor fright," so a teenaged girl is standing in for me....

[KayLhota] he did and WilliamConrad co starred \

[Laura_Leff] I know he was going to drama with things like Sorrowful Jones.

[KayLhota] Eddie Cantor did a SUSPENSE

[KayLhota] I read that Red Skelton did, but I've never heard it

[Barbara] A new suit with 2 pairs of pants.

[Laura_Leff] Eddie Cantor doing drama?

[KayLhota] it is not all that dramatic

[KayLhota] Dennis Day did a SUSPENSe

[Barbara] Comedians say that drama is easier to do than comedy.

[Brad_from_Georgia] I think SUSPENSE was a little looser with "drama" than, say, LIGHTS OUT.

[Laura_Leff] Dying is easy, comedy is hard.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Tie-dyeing is messy, though.

[KayLhota] LIGHTS OUT is more of a mental trip

[Steve_(shimp)] SUSPENSE definitely had more of a flexible format.

[Scott_in_KC] Laura, I have a question about Harlow Wilcox, the announcer. There was a song in 1969 called "Groovy Grubworm" by Harlow Wilcox

[Laura_Leff] Comedy relies a great deal on timing, inflection, etc. Getting things just right.

[Laura_Leff] Scott - OK...

[Barbara] I'm on my way to

[Scott_in_KC] and the Okies. I know Wilcox died circa 1969, did his son do the song?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Comedy and horror actually have the same structure--anticipation, surprise, release.

[Laura_Leff] Scott - Couldn't tell you that. Maybe a question for the Forum? Or the OTR Digest?

[Barbara] I'm on my way to Fuddricker's so I'll see you guys next time.

[buck_benny_rogers] He was a session guitarist from Norman, Oklahoma...(where I am!)

[KayLhota] yum

[Laura_Leff] Take care, Barbara!

[Scott_in_KC] I mean Wilcox passed around 1960.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Enjoy yer burger, Barbara!

[Steve_(shimp)] You would be going somewhere with a funny name, Barbara! Night!

[KayLhota] Happy burgers Barb

[buck_benny_rogers] Night, Barbara

[Barbara] Love you all.

Barbara has left the chat.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Fuddrucker's used to serve my son's favorite: an ostrich burger.

[Laura_Leff] Buck - Wilcox was?

[buck_benny_rogers] Yes, Wilcox

[Laura_Leff] There you go, Scott. Buck - Any relation to Harlow Wilcox?

[KayLhota] Harlow Wilcox was the announcer for SUSPENSE and FIBBER McGEE and MOLLY.

[Laura_Leff] I mean, cutting a record...I can see the wax connection.

[KayLhota] Yup.

[Scott_in_KC] This was an instrumental C&W song.

[Scott_in_KC] LOL Laira...Cute.

[Scott_in_KC] Laura*

[buck_benny_rogers] The Billboard Top Pop Singles entry for Wilcox doesn't say anything else, however

[Brad_from_Georgia] One hit wonder, eh?

[buck_benny_rogers] Yup

[KayLhota] I imagine so

[Scott_in_KC] Buck, "Groovy Grubworm" made the Top 40.

[Laura_Leff] I didn't even know about the 60's cartoon that was an imitation of Jack Benny until relatively recently...

[Brad_from_Georgia] I vaguely remember that title, but not the actual tune.

[buck_benny_rogers] I remember the song...it was a much bigger hit in OK, as you can imagine

[Laura_Leff] "Danger is my business"...can't remember the character name.

[KayLhota] which cartoon what that?

[Steve_(shimp)] What was that cartoon, LL?

[KayLhota] Cool McCool!

[Laura_Leff] That's it

[Brad_from_Georgia] LL-That's "Cool Macoool"

[Brad_from_Georgia] Oops, McCool--but Kay got it.

[Steve_(shimp)] Oh, OK. I've heard of it but never saw it.

[KayLhota] If there is one thing I know, it's tv cartoons from the 60's

[Brad_from_Georgia] The character sounded, but didn't look, like Jack.

[Laura_Leff] I probably saw an episode or two some time in my life, but it didn't make an impression like "The Mouse that Jack Built"

[Scott_in_KC] Kay....I understand the voice of Chumly the Warus is still living.

[KayLhota] oh, "The Mouse That Jack Built"was a real eye-opener for me

[Brad_from_Georgia] Geez, I remember the "Laurel and Hardy" cartoons, the "Abbott and Costellos"...Abbott, who needed the $, voiced himself.

[KayLhota] I never knew who did the voice of Chumley. I knew Mr. Whoopie was Larry Storch

[Laura_Leff] Oh, I have some of those comic books.

[Scott_in_KC] Kay...I can find out.

[Laura_Leff] The Abbott and Costello ones. There was a series in the 50s, and then another in the 60s.

[Laura_Leff] I also have an issue of Bob Hope Comics.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Say, the International Laurel and Hardy festival's comin' up the first Saturday of October, in Harlem, Georgia. I'm goin'.

[Laura_Leff] Bring your tent

[KayLhota] FESTIVAL?

[buck_benny_rogers] Didn't DC put out the Bob Hope comics...and Jerry Lewis, too?

[Brad_from_Georgia] You betcha, Kay. Harlem was Norvell's home town.

[Scott_in_KC] Kay, will you be in the room for a while? I will check.

[KayLhota] I'm in the SONS up here in Boston

[KayLhota] a longtime BRATS member!

[Laura_Leff] Buck - I'd have to look at the edition on my wall to be sure.

[Brad_from_Georgia] SOTD will have a meeting at the L&H fest.

[KayLhota] Scott, I hope to be here

[Scott_in_KC] OK...BRB

[KayLhota] I've been a member of the SONS since 1972.

[Laura_Leff] I'm more of a SPAZ woman myself...

[KayLhota] SPAZ?

[Steve_(shimp)] Y'all have more acronyms than the military!

[KayLhota] LOL

[Laura_Leff] The Society for the Prevention of Abuse to Zeppo Marx

[Brad_from_Georgia] I'm not a member of much of anything except for the IJBFC, the AAUP, and the SFWA.

[KayLhota] Yay, Laura!

[KayLhota] I'll join that club!

[Laura_Leff] Kay - Look it up! You can!

[buck_benny_rogers] I walk on WPA sidewalks

[Brad_from_Georgia] Heh..Garrison Keillor says college-age kids are SPASM children--"Simply Pray and Send Money"

[KayLhota] I saw a photograph of Thelma Todd and Zeppo from "Horse Feathers" that was from Thelma's personal collection

[Laura_Leff] I'm presuming there are no first-timers here, so it's OK to go off-topic as we usually do...

[Brad_from_Georgia] Oh, forgot, I'm a member of MWA, too. I served on a jury this year for the Edgar Awards.

[KayLhota] Zeppo was slumped in a chair and looked really pissed and bored

[Steve_(shimp)] OK, I actually know that one!

[Laura_Leff] but any reactions here to the recently-released "Prairie Home Companion" movie? I haven't seen it.

[KayLhota] I haven't seen it

[Brad_from_Georgia] Poor Zep. Some people said he was the funneist of the Bros offscreen.

[Laura_Leff] Kay - Maybe Thelma had just spurned his advances?

[Steve_(shimp)] Nope, I get enough of Keillor's nose whistling on the radio!

[Brad_from_Georgia] I saw it--if you like the radio show, you'd like the movie. It's very random, minimally plotted.

[buck_benny_rogers] I'm worried - I don't think I have an Autolite battery

[Steve_(shimp)] I only put water in mine twice this year, buck.

[KayLhota] no idea who she may have rebuffed, but Zeppo sure looked like he wanted to be anywhere else

[Laura_Leff] I've had a lot of people say that if I like Jack, I'd love Keillor. And I know Keillor is a big Benny fan.

[Laura_Leff] But it doesn't spark my battery.

[buck_benny_rogers] Keiller was much better years and years ago, IMO

[Brad_from_Georgia] Keillor tells one story involving Jack, but I think there was a post regarding that earlier this month.

[Steve_(shimp)] Keillor usually mentions Jack's birthday on his little morning spot show, whatever it's called, not "Prairie Home".

[Brad_from_Georgia] "Writers' Almanac."

[Scott_in_KC] Bradley Bloke was Chumley the Warus. <singing> "I'm Am the Warus....."

[KayLhota] okay

[Steve_(shimp)] That's it. Jack, the writer, who knew!?

[Laura_Leff] Actually...early on for the Web site, one day we got about 10x the hits we normally do, and it was because Keillor linked to us

[Laura_Leff] on Jack's birthday.

[KayLhota] Bradley Bloke. Wow. not a familiar name at all.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Sweet of him!

[Laura_Leff] Goo goo g'joob

[Brad_from_Georgia] I'm a Bradley bloke, but not THE Bradley Bloke.

[Laura_Leff] Speaking of cartoons, does anyone else think that the "Daffy and the Dinosaur" caveman isn't very much like Jack?

[Steve_(shimp)] Bradley Bloke is actually a funnier name even than "Chumley Walrus"

[Brad_from_Georgia] I heard Keillor say in a nonbroadcast performance that when he was little, he'd close his eyes to listen to Jack's show

[Brad_from_Georgia] because it made him "see pictures in his head."

[Laura_Leff] Brad - Sounds like something he should have seen a doctor about. :)

[KayLhota] The caveman doesn't look like Jack and is grouchier, but the voice is similar to Jack's voice.

[buck_benny_rogers] I thought the "Goodnight, folks" was the only direct Jack reference in there...

[Brad_from_Georgia] LL-I think they TRIED to make the caveman, Casper, look a little like Jack--the walk, etc. And he did the hand-to-face bit.

[Laura_Leff] Kay - Yeah, becuase it was Jack Lescoulie who seems to have been one of the earliest Jack impersonators.

[Scott_in_KC] Laura, I noticed the other announcer referred to Jack as "Mr. Jack Benny." Was radio that formal sometimes?

[KayLhota] interesting because the hand to face gesture wouldn't be as familiar to the audience that knew him more from radio

[Brad_from_Georgia] I remember Lescoulie from the "Today" show, sharing billing with a chimpanzee named "Zippy."

[Laura_Leff] Scott - I think that's more a device of Suspense and other shows like Lux Radio Theatre.

[Steve_(shimp)] Scott, I think that was the convention for the drama shows.

[buck_benny_rogers] But the character was more like a very cranky villain...not Jack-like at all

[Laura_Leff] Buck - Yes, thank you. That was a big thing that made me shake my head about it.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Well, I'll bet YOU'RE grouchy in the morning, too!

[KayLhota] at least he turns to the audience and explains why

[Scott_in_KC] Laura and Steve...It sounded a bit hoity-toity.

[Laura_Leff] Brad - Like Mary in Yosemite

[Brad_from_Georgia] Or like the caveman, who says that to the audience!

[Brad_from_Georgia] "Yum, yum. Duck--my FAVORITE vegetable!"

[Laura_Leff] I guess I'm just a bit doubtful when someone points at something and says "That's Jack" when it's not something like a photograp

[KayLhota] It's that cartoon period where Chuck Jones was trying to perfect his craft.

[Laura_Leff] Too many Ebay wanna-bes

[KayLhota] It's cute, but not where he got to be later on.

[Scott_in_KC] When you are going hunting, are you going to hunt "bare"? :)

[Laura_Leff] I met Chuck Jones years ago

[buck_benny_rogers] But I think the mean problem with taht cartoon is that it just wasn't verry funny...WB cartoons were still developing then...

[Laura_Leff] Fleischer was king about that time

[buck_benny_rogers] Blow me down!

[Brad_from_Georgia] LL-So did I. He autographed some photos for my kids, who were dressed as Daffy and the Martian.

[Laura_Leff] Tex Avery was also pretty good

[KayLhota] Oh, I do think it's funny, but I also think the WB cartoons improved in the next few years

[Scott_in_KC] Bad pun, Laura. I love it!

[KayLhota] and Chuck Jones grew as an artist

[Laura_Leff] Chuck Jones got really cutesy in his later years.

[Brad_from_Georgia] I think WB really hit their stride in the war years. At first Chuck Jones tried to be too Disney-esque and cutesy.

[Brad_from_Georgia] And later on...oh, Laura said it already.

[Laura_Leff] Yeah, the drawings of Bugs, etc. looked so adorable that they should have had really long eyelashes on them.

[Brad_from_Georgia] "Gay Purr-ee" is realy excruciating to watch--Chuck at his most recherche.

[Scott_in_KC] << Lives five blocks from where Mickey Mouse was created!

[buck_benny_rogers] Jones' development is amazing...you wouldn't have dreamed from his pre-1942 cartoons that he would do great things

[KayLhota] I showed my son Daniel "Gay Purree" last year

[Laura_Leff] Who did Gremlins from the Kremlin?

[KayLhota] Bob Clampett

[Laura_Leff] Kay - Thanks.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Yep, Clampett--the Beany and Cecil man.

[Laura_Leff] I didn't think Jones was in that one.

[KayLhota] The gremlin's were all charicatures of the WB animation studio staff

[Laura_Leff] Oh, in....ah....dang....the non-Benny cartoon we've got in the library...there's a table at Ciro's with the head of WB

[Brad_from_Georgia] The Disney artists did that a lot, too.

[Laura_Leff] and his personal assistant.

[Laura_Leff] Hollywood Steps Out, I think.

[Scott_in_KC] I loved Beany and Cecil and Rocky and Bullwinkle.

[buck_benny_rogers] "No bikini atoll??"

[KayLhota] yes Leon and Ray Katz in "Hollywood Steps Out"

[Laura_Leff] Kay - OK, you've got it all over me on this one. :)

[Brad_from_Georgia] The singing Dinah-saur....

[KayLhota] I know. the pitfalls of being a movie geek.

[Laura_Leff] And for me, the pitfalls of being siloed on one subject.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Nyah-ah-hah!

[Laura_Leff] It's time for Beano...

[buck_benny_rogers] "If at first you don't succeed, try, try a gun" - Dishonest John

[Scott_in_KC] GMTA, Brad. Dishonest John.

[buck_benny_rogers] Laura - wince

[KayLhota] I have the complete set ofBeany and Cecil on video tape

[Brad_from_Georgia] I should've mentioned to Eddie that Rip Taylor's reappearances were like Frank Nelson's to Jack...just ubiquitous.

[Laura_Leff] Er...Beany...

[buck_benny_rogers] I have that B & C set too, I was watching some last night

[Laura_Leff] I bet Rip could do that character reasonably well....OoooooOOOOOOO could he!

[Brad_from_Georgia] I THINK Tommy Lee Jones references "Beany" in the first "Under Siege" movie.

[KayLhota] just last night? Cool. I never hear much mention of the Beany andCecil's

[Scott_in_KC] I envy you, Kay. I like Moose and Squirrel more, however.

[KayLhota] Oh, I love those too.

[Laura_Leff] So since we're into kid's shows and cartoons, what shows/cartoons would you most have wanted to see Jack in/on?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Our first answering machine message: "Moose and Squirrel can't come to phone-they all tied up. Hoo boy! Leave message."

[KayLhota] LOL

[Steve_(shimp)] Oh, man. The MUPPET SHOW.

[buck_benny_rogers] It just seems right for Saturday evening...that's when I watched B & C as a kid

[Laura_Leff] Steve - Ah! And even Jim Henson had plans for that.

[Scott_in_KC] Jack on The Simpsons.

[Steve_(shimp)] You're kidding.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Okay, Steve--my daughter works with Heather Henson, Jim's daughter!

[KayLhota] Jack Benny wason everything for so long.

[Laura_Leff] Steve - No, I swear. Henson wanted to do it after he was on a Tonight Show with Jack.

[Steve_(shimp)] Jack and Kermit would be...profound.

[KayLhota] I used to watch jack Benny on CBS and NBC as a child

[Laura_Leff] The mind boggles

[buck_benny_rogers] Laura, did I ever tell you about running across Jack in a Dennis the Menace comic book?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Kermit: It's not eady being green, Jack. Jack: Or GETTING it, at the rates Henson pays.

[Laura_Leff] Buck - No!

[Scott_in_KC] It's not easy being Blue (eyed).

[KayLhota] LOL

[Laura_Leff] Miss Piggy giving Jack the karate chop

[buck_benny_rogers] It was a "Dennis Goes to Hollywood" comic from the early 60s...

[Steve_(shimp)] lol

[buck_benny_rogers] And there's a portion that's a letter from Dennis to his dog back home...

[Brad_from_Georgia] Miss Piggy: Kissy kissy, Jacky-Wacky....

[Steve_(shimp)] I'd love to see Jack fiddle with Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.

[KayLhota] I have to check out my son Jonathan'sDVD of George Burns on the Muppet show episode

[Laura_Leff] Or exchange barbs with Statler aND Waldorf

[KayLhota] It's been so long since I last saw it.

[buck_benny_rogers] And he writes about going on being chased by "Mr. Benny" off of his lawn...

[Laura_Leff] Buck - I'll be darned

[buck_benny_rogers] He says, "Boy, he sure gets sore if you try to pick his smelly ol' flowers"

[KayLhota] aww

[Laura_Leff] Jack is mentioned in a Superman comic

[Steve_(shimp)] Yeah, I need to see that George Burns episode again as well.

[Laura_Leff] Dan told me about this one

[Brad_from_Georgia] I've always wondered if George gave Henson the "Simon Smith and His Dancing Bear" song. It was in George's repertoire...

[Brad_from_Georgia] ...and in one of the albums, Scooter sings it.

[buck_benny_rogers] The kicker is, there's an illustration showing Benny (in silhouette) chasing Dennis...and his toupee is shown flying off!

[KayLhota] wow

[Brad_from_Georgia] I think Jack should've been in STAR WARS. As Luke.

[Laura_Leff] Buck - Hmmm...I guess in the 60s, that would have been well known.

[KayLhota] we did that last month, Brad

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[Brad_from_Georgia] Uncle: If you don't fix those vaporators, there'll be hell to pay. Luke: Would you SHUT UP about the toupee?

[Laura_Leff] Brad - No, no, no....*curling up in fetal position*...Jet Benny...*SOB*

[KayLhota] hi Yip Yip

[Laura_Leff] Hey Yht!

[yhtapmys] Greetings, all.

[Scott_in_KC] Laura, did Jack really wear a "rug"? Or was that a radio gag with Jack and Rochester?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Sorry, missed that chat and didn't go back to read it....

[Brad_from_Georgia] I've heard he wore a small "front" piece, mainly for movies and TV work.

[Laura_Leff] Scott - Only for some of the 30s movies, just a piece in the front that lowered his hairline.

[KayLhota] he wore a hairpiece in the movies

[KayLhota] yes,a small frontpiece

[Laura_Leff] Hey, let's all chime in on that one... :)

[Brad_from_Georgia] OTOH, I've seen photos of Bing Crosby without his rug, and it's an alarming sight.

[KayLhota] Fred Astaire, too. Not a pretty sight.

[Steve_(shimp)] Offscreen, though, Jack wore a curly rainbow clown wig. Mary liked it. (Startin' rumors)

[Laura_Leff] I've seen George Burns without his rug late in life and it's...mind-altering.

[Laura_Leff] Steve - Oh right. The one he got from Harpo Marx.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Burns went toupee-less for one scene in "Sunshine Boys."

[buck_benny_rogers] "Gimme a head with hair...long, ersatz hair..."

[KayLhota] Iremember the gasp in the audience when we saw him without it in "The SunshineBoys"

[Laura_Leff] Burns played a dramatic role in the 80s as "Papa Ross" in a TV movie

[Steve_(shimp)] I think George was wearing that rug even back in the B&A TV days.

[KayLhota] everybody sort of sighed

[Scott_in_KC] :) Buck

[Brad_from_Georgia] I heard Burns say on TV, "I was surprised at 'Sunshine Boys.' 'Till I saw it I never knew i was bald."

[Scott_in_KC] On radio, who would know otherwise?

[yhtapmys] The impression I was left from a couple of Burns' books is he had one in vaudeville.

[Laura_Leff] That's like Oscar Levant's comment of "I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin"

[Brad_from_Georgia] Reminds me of Reagan-as-president: "Sir, do you dye your hair?" "No, son, I'm just prematurely orange.'

[KayLhota] I remember when Jack Benny was saying that he hadn't starred in a movie since "The Horn Blows at Midnight"

[KayLhota] and then when George Burns was announced, he said that he hadn't starred in a movie since "Honolulu"

[KayLhota] I sort of gonged in my head, "wow" that was even longer ago

[Laura_Leff] Burns also said that his father died in a childhood accident when he was five...

[Steve_(shimp)] And Gracie said, your father was five when he died?

[KayLhota] LOL

[Laura_Leff] Steve - That was the implication.

[Laura_Leff] Burns said it to Carson, and Carson bought it for a moment!

[Brad_from_Georgia] Burns: "Age is just a state of mind. I can do everything at ninety that I could at 18. Shows you how pathetic I was at 18."

[KayLhota] LOL

[Laura_Leff] Every morning I wake up and get out of bed. I can't make any money in bed. Only my sister could.

[buck_benny_rogers] lol

[KayLhota] LOL

[Laura_Leff] Just binging on Burns lines

[Steve_(shimp)] LL, are you puffing on a cigar? I think I smell smoke coming out of the computer.

[KayLhota] LOL

[Laura_Leff] No, that's the motorcycle that just went by

[Laura_Leff] Down in the garden where the red roses grow...

[yhtapmys] El Producto made motorcyles?

[Scott_in_KC] Or your geese, Laura?

[Laura_Leff] Turkeys...I saw them yesterday and gave them some corn.

[KayLhota] Oh good lord. She's begun singing his vaudeville patter songs!

[Brad_from_Georgia] I'm having some network problems here--screen froze for a while.

[Laura_Leff] I'll be waiting for you Bill when you come back from San Juan Hill...

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[Laura_Leff] I figured Phil Harris would have given the turkeys corn, so I would too.

[KayLhota] I hope Brad returns

[buck_benny_rogers] We need one of those old cards to put up on the screen..."Network Trouble"

[Laura_Leff] So anyhow...what else is on everyone's minds tonight?

[KayLhota] oh a lot

[buck_benny_rogers] I got bills to pay...

[Laura_Leff] WE ARE EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES - PLEASE STAND BY

[KayLhota] remember I said last month about the guy I met whose mother catered a party at JackBenny's?

[Scott_in_KC] Not to be self serving, Laura, but did you get that book on TV shows?

[Laura_Leff] Kay - Right...any more on that?

[buck_benny_rogers] In these parts, the most oft-used one was..."WEATHER BULLETIN"

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[KayLhota] I told him that I reported the story to the chat, and he told me more

[Steve_(shimp)] Brad, long time no see!

[Laura_Leff] Scott - Ah yes! My apologies for not yet acknowledging it.. Thank you!

[Brad_from_Georgia] Jello again....did ya miss me/

[buck_benny_rogers] WB

[Steve_(shimp)] Kay, give us a refresher, I must've missed that story last time.

[Brad_from_Georgia] I don't know what's going on here...no bad weather. Maybe it was the earthquake this morning.

[Laura_Leff] Steve - Or too busy eating People Jerky

[Laura_Leff] Earthquake...in Georgia?

[Steve_(shimp)] ??? I know a lot of jerky people...

[Scott_in_KC] You are welcome. I know you are busy. Your apology is accepted but not necessary. Enjoy!

[Brad_from_Georgia] LL-Earthquake in the Gulf. They felt it in FLORIDA, and we got a tremor or two.

[Laura_Leff] Steve - Cast your mind back to Trader Vic's.

[Steve_(shimp)] Oh, OK, it's a hufu thing!

[Laura_Leff] Brad - I guess it's that big oil field they found.

[Laura_Leff] Scott - Will do!

[Brad_from_Georgia] All I know is there was a tsunami in my coffee cup at breakfast.

[buck_benny_rogers] "Sailin' into Banty Bay...bringin' home the oil..."

[Laura_Leff] Oil Fatha Hines

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[Laura_Leff] Was it something I said?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Oil Can Harry..another cartoon villain.

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[Steve_(shimp)] Aw, Kay was going to tell us a good story.

[KayLhota] whew

[Steve_(shimp)] She's back!

[buck_benny_rogers] WB, Kay

[Brad_from_Georgia] Earthquake there, too, eh, Kay?

[Scott_in_KC] The worst earthquake in the U.S. was here in MO. It changed the course of the Mississippi.

[KayLhota] yeah, a real freeze

[Laura_Leff] And I'm the one in San Francisco.

[buck_benny_rogers] "Here I come to save the daaaayyyyy..."

[KayLhota] okay, he confirmed that his mother worked for the caterers in 1969

[Brad_from_Georgia] Ah, San Francisco. I left my suitcase in San Francisco.

[KayLhota] and he got a nice jacket that had belonged to Jack Benny's grandson

[Laura_Leff] I left my harp in Sam Clam's Disco.

[Steve_(shimp)] I left the BART in San Francisco.

[Scott_in_KC] Laura, I might be moving back there.

[Laura_Leff] Scott - Really?

[buck_benny_rogers] "...be sure to wear a flower in your hair..."

[KayLhota] and he told me that his mother also had a really nice experience working at a party for Groucho Marx

[Brad_from_Georgia] Say, remember that TV show about the police dentist? "The Gums of Sam Francisco"?

[Scott_in_KC] Yes, I will keep you posted.

[Laura_Leff] Kay - Was this late enough for Erin Flemming?

[KayLhota] that like Jack Benny, Groucho also went into the kitchen and entertained the kitchen staff

[Laura_Leff] Brad - No, but I remember "The Gums of Navarrone"

[KayLhota] this was before Erin Fleming, I believe

[Laura_Leff] Groucho had to be performing or he was unhappy.

[KayLhota] Groucho flirted with all of the women in the kitchen and tipped generously

[Laura_Leff] Kay - Why am I not surprised?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Groucho's son Arthur always said he hated going places with his dad, because Groucho was always "on."

[KayLhota] he made it clear that he prefered their company to the people he invited who were Hollywood phonies

[Laura_Leff] Actually, I know Jack felt much the same.

[KayLhota] it's nice to hear that they were real people

[Brad_from_Georgia] All the anecdotes I've heard about Jack portray him as really down to earth. Sometimes cranky, but down to earth.

[KayLhota] very much

[Scott_in_KC] Ditto, Kay.

[Laura_Leff] I've got another quintessential Jack story for an upcoming issue of the Times. Jack in a parade in Anaheim, I think.

[Steve_(shimp)] LL, nice current issue of the Times, BTW.

[KayLhota] And Steve, this man I met said that Jack Benny and Groucho Marx were the nicest experiences that his mother had whileworking

[Laura_Leff] Steve - Thank you very much.

[KayLhota] for the catering company

[KayLhota] yes, thank you for the latest Jack Benny times.

[Steve_(shimp)] That is really cool.

[Laura_Leff] You wonder if anyone in Hollywood today would do that sort of thing.

[KayLhota] I especially enjoyed reading about Dix Davis

[Brad_from_Georgia] LL-Loved all the info on "The Bee1"

[Laura_Leff] Kay - You're most welcome.

[Brad_from_Georgia] oops. "The Bee!"

[KayLhota] oh I know!

[Laura_Leff] I was happy to get out two interviews that had been really good.

[Steve_(shimp)] I am amazed at how much Dix Davis remembers!

[Brad_from_Georgia] I gotta get a new keyboard. Earthquake damaged this one and it can't spell anymore.

[KayLhota] I love the way that Jack played "The Bee" and swerved into "With Plenty of Money and You"

[Laura_Leff] And here's the funny thing...Dix told me in advance that he didn't think he had much to say.

[KayLhota] a modest mean

[KayLhota] man

[Laura_Leff] About an hour later...

[KayLhota] whoops

[Brad_from_Georgia] Sometimes the quiet ones are the most interesting ones.

[Laura_Leff] Brad - Oh amen to that.

[Laura_Leff] I loved his stories about Verna Felton

[Laura_Leff] Imagine going fishing with Frank Nelson and Mel Blanc!

[Brad_from_Georgia] Mickey Rooney began his talk in Atlanta with "I don't have much to tell you," but then he rambled for an hour.

[Steve_(shimp)] With the hot legs!!! LOL

[Laura_Leff] Mickey Rooney was the hardest and easiest interview I ever did for the IJBFC.

[Scott_in_KC] Laura, they would talk so much, they would scare the fish off?

[Brad_from_Georgia] How so, Laura?

[Laura_Leff] I was escorted in (this was backstage at Sugar Babies, which shows you how long ago it was)

[Laura_Leff] I shook his hand, he started talking, I started the tape recorder.

[Laura_Leff] Eventually he stopped talking, I thanked him, turned off the tape recorder, and left.

[Laura_Leff] No questions.

[KayLhota] wow

[Steve_(shimp)] *)

[KayLhota] I can picture that.

[KayLhota] Mickey rooneyis another one of those "always on" types

[Laura_Leff] He just went on about how there should be fan clubs for people like Wallace Beery and Judy Garland.

[Steve_(shimp)] I imagine, somewhere, there are...

[Laura_Leff] I'm sure there are ones for Garland.

[Brad_from_Georgia] That was pretty much the case in Atlanta..he asked the AUDIENCE "What picture did Victor McLaughlan win the Oscar for?"

[KayLhota] The Informer?"

[Brad_from_Georgia] I yelled back "The Informer." But I think I just misspelled Victor's name. Yep, Kay, that's right.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Rooney said, "

[Brad_from_Georgia] "

[Brad_from_Georgia] There's someone who knows Hollywood history." That was my whole interchange with him.

[Laura_Leff] I'm impressed he acknowledged you.

[KayLhota] oh gosh

[Laura_Leff] Rooney is a very bitter man, I'm told.

[Steve_(shimp)] That's pretty much what I've heard too.

[Brad_from_Georgia] He did get onto a few rants about how unpatriotic young people are today.

[KayLhota] he's gone through several money managers that wiped him out

[Laura_Leff] Not to mention several wives.

[Steve_(shimp)] I have to say I've always thought he was a little creepy.

[Brad_from_Georgia] If he'd left time for questions, I would've tried to ask one about Jack.

[Laura_Leff] "How was it being in jail with Jack Benny, Mr. Rooney?"

[buck_benny_rogers] I would think that a Wallace Beery convention would be kinda dull...

[KayLhota] LOL

[Laura_Leff] Just people beating up each other.

[KayLhota] LOL

[buck_benny_rogers] lol

[KayLhota] dear lord!

[Laura_Leff] And drinking and shooting guns

[KayLhota] LOL

[Brad_from_Georgia] Nah, people pretending to have only one leg. "Allus spit to leeward, matey, never ta windward."

[Laura_Leff] The Wallace Beery convention crashes the Three Stooges convention and kicks everyone's butt

[Steve_(shimp)] I wonder who is the dullest celebrity with a dedicated fan club?

[KayLhota] Oh Laura!

[Brad_from_Georgia] KEEFE BRASELLE!

[KayLhota] LOL

[Laura_Leff] Keefe Braselle has a fan club?

[Steve_(shimp)] There's a Keefe Braselle fan club?

[Steve_(shimp)] Or "Keith Brazil" as Jack called him...

[Brad_from_Georgia] "Keefe's Krewe." They meet once a month and bitch about everybody else.

[KayLhota] tears are rolling donw my face

[buck_benny_rogers] Durward Kirby?

[Laura_Leff] Does everyone get the reference of Beery kicking the Three Stooges?

[KayLhota] Ido

[Laura_Leff] Brad - LOL

[Steve_(shimp)] yep

[Brad_from_Georgia] Not me, Laura.

[Laura_Leff] Kay/Steve - You can explain...

[Brad_from_Georgia] I know that Sir Laurence Olivier'

[Brad_from_Georgia] s movie debut was with the Stooges...just kidding.

[KayLhota] There is a rumor that Wallace Beery beat Ted Healy to death.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Gee, why couldn't someone have introduced Wally to Keefe?

[KayLhota] oh y

[KayLhota] yeesh

[Steve_(shimp)] I thought that was true?

[KayLhota] no way of really knowing, Steve.

[Brad_from_Georgia] BTW, Durward Kirby once tried to sue the makers of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" because they named a magical hat

[Brad_from_Georgia] "The Kirward Derby."

[Laura_Leff] I know there are a bunch of Fabio fan clubs. He does nothing but stand there and look pretty. Dull.

[KayLhota] the Kirwood Derby

[buck_benny_rogers] Yes, and Jay Ward begged him to do so

[Brad_from_Georgia] right, Kay. I'm not kidding, my keyboard is messed up. I'm getting shiftless!

[Laura_Leff] BRB...now I want to pull an old Fan Club directory to see what dull things I can find for you...

[Steve_(shimp)] We have a great local story about Fabio here in Williamsburg

[KayLhota] my keyboard is doing the same thing

[Brad_from_Georgia] Mine's new, or not old, anyway. Bought it last spring. One of those ergonomic ones.

[KayLhota] we have a new computer with a wireless keyboard

[KayLhota] that sometimes space shifts and sometimes doesn't

[Brad_from_Georgia] Let's see, dull fan clubs..."The Followers of Shemp Howard?" "Ben Stein's Groupies?"

[KayLhota] hey, don't put down Shemp!

[Steve_(shimp)] The Wink Martindale appreciation society.

[Laura_Leff] The National Association of Fan Clubs broke up a few years back, but I've still got their directories.

[Brad_from_Georgia] One of my friends maintains that Shemp was the true sparkplug of the Stooges.

[KayLhota] I belong to waytoo many as it is.

[Laura_Leff] The Anne of Green Gables fan club

[Brad_from_Georgia] LL-I have to cop to having visited Green Gables last year!

[Steve_(shimp)] Oh my...

[Laura_Leff] Greg Arledge and the Mounain Express Band

[KayLhota] Shemp was very funny in his own way.

[Brad_from_Georgia] ...but then Anne was SUCH a HOTTIE....

[Laura_Leff] Adam Ant

[Laura_Leff] Let's see if Shemp Howard has one...

[Steve_(shimp)] Mantovani?

[Brad_from_Georgia] I kind of suspect that Garrison Keillor's fan club is way laid back....

[buck_benny_rogers] The Ritz Brothers?

[Brad_from_Georgia] I like the Ritz Brothers! And their crackers, too.

[Laura_Leff] I can't find it among the 1,000 or so Engelbert Humperdinck fan clubs

[KayLhota] my husband and I created a RitzBrothers fan club as a joke

[Laura_Leff] The Jon-/erik Hexum Fan Club

[KayLhota] we love the Ritz Brothers

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[KayLhota] WB Scott

[buck_benny_rogers] I don't think I've seen a Ritz Brothers film...

[Brad_from_Georgia] Kay...so you were...putting on the Ritz (fans)?

[Laura_Leff] Oh here you go...here you go...

[Steve_(shimp)] THE GORILLA is kinda fun.

[Laura_Leff] The Princess Kitty Fan Club

[Steve_(shimp)] LOL. Who is princess kitty?

[Laura_Leff] There's a whole page ad for them.

[KayLhota] they are very funny but you have to like loud broad comics

[Brad_from_Georgia] Daughter of Queen Cat, isn't she?

[Scott_in_KC] Thanks, Laura.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Loud broad comics? Phyllis Diller?

[Steve_(shimp)] Ah, ha ha! Fang loved her.

[Laura_Leff] Called "the Smartest Cat in the World" - "Princess Kitty Says" advice column read by pet lovers nationwide.

[Laura_Leff] I'm really gonna throw up...you should see this...

[KayLhota] think of Mel Brook tripled

[Steve_(shimp)] Holy crap. I want to join that!

[Laura_Leff] Still looking for the Ritz Brothers

[Laura_Leff] The Rin Tin Tin Fan Club

[Laura_Leff] Nope...Tex Ritter and then Lauren Robbins

[Brad_from_Georgia] Hmmm....I know several people who are Baker Street Irregulars.

[Steve_(shimp)] That sounds like a dog.

[Scott_in_KC] Look under "crackers," Laura.

[Steve_(shimp)] The cracker fan club is the KKK

[Laura_Leff] Shuckey Duckey?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Hey, hey, the first pro ball game I ever saw featured the Atlanta Crackers!

[Scott_in_KC] LOL Steve.

[buck_benny_rogers] How about T. Texas Tyler...

[Laura_Leff] Trying to get to the Three Stooges section...

[KayLhota] I know of two Three Stooges Clubs

[buck_benny_rogers] He has a connection to Wink Martindale...

[Laura_Leff] Oooo...Kevin Sorbo Fan Club

[Brad_from_Georgia] Kay, that's a total of six stooges.

[Laura_Leff] Oh crap...just got bogged down in the Star Trek clubs which are endless

[KayLhota] I agree.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Star Trek clubs....the final frontier...to boldly go where all geeks have gone before...

[KayLhota] there were six Three Stooges.

[Laura_Leff] The Thelma Todd Society

[Laura_Leff] Henry David Thoreau Fan Club

[Laura_Leff] Thin Lizzy

[KayLhota] I belong to the Thelma Todd Society.

[Laura_Leff] Nope...only thing for Three Stooges is the Three Stooges Fan Club.

[buck_benny_rogers] Oh, I bet a Thoreau Con would be exciting...

[Brad_from_Georgia] No, there were seven Dwarfs: Sneezy, Dopey, Happy, Sleazy, Winey, Moe, Curley, and Larry.

[Laura_Leff] Buck - Hold it out by the lake.

[Scott_in_KC] Who was/is she, Kay?

[Laura_Leff] The Tiny Tim Times

[Brad_from_Georgia] Say, I wouldn't trust that guy as far as I could Thoreau him.

[Laura_Leff] The Tick MultiMedia Fan Club

[KayLhota] Thelma Tood was a beautiful actress in the 1930's who worked with Laurel and Hardy

[Laura_Leff] The Judy Tenuta Fan Club

[yhtapmys] And Buster Keaton

[Laura_Leff] And the Marx Brothers

[Brad_from_Georgia] She met a tragic end, didn't she, Kay?

[KayLhota] Joe E. Brown, Charley Chase, The MarxBrothers, Buster Keaton

[KayLhota] yes, unfortunately.

[Scott_in_KC] Thanks, Kay.

[Laura_Leff] The Devotees of Larry Semon...

[Brad_from_Georgia] Ah, a semonal comedian.

[buck_benny_rogers] Does Bonita Granville have any followers?....besides me, that is...

[Laura_Leff] Anyone you want me to look up?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Babe Hardy worked with Semon in a "Wizard of Oz" silent film.

[KayLhota] Hardy made many movies with Larry Semon

[Laura_Leff] Buck - Not listed here.

[buck_benny_rogers] Well, I

[yhtapmys] How 'bout Liberace? :)

[buck_benny_rogers] Well, I'll just have to start one, then

[Laura_Leff] REmember this is a 1996 directory, so a lot can happen in 10 yearas.

[buck_benny_rogers] What about Deanna Durbin?

[Laura_Leff] The Louis Prima Society

[Brad_from_Georgia] Hey, if I make it to the Laurel and Hardy International Womp Rat Festival, or whatever it is, I'll report back next month.

[KayLhota] I know that there is a Jeanette and Nelson club

[Laura_Leff] Yes, the Liberace Club of Las Vegas

[KayLhota] Water Rat?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Water rats? they's little rodent-like critters.

[Laura_Leff] The Deanna Durbin Society!

[KayLhota] yes, please report back. I would really enjoy hearingabout the even

[Steve_(shimp)] And some of them aren't so little!

[Laura_Leff] Out of the UK

[buck_benny_rogers] Yay!

[Brad_from_Georgia] Womp rats are native to Luke Skywalker's planet.

[KayLhota] LOL

[Laura_Leff] The Official Electric Light Orchestra Fan Club

[Steve_(shimp)] OK, that one's funny.

[Brad_from_Georgia] They have a Babe Hardy lookalike contest. I may shave my beard and try out.

[KayLhota] loved them in XANADU

[buck_benny_rogers] Oh, how about Teresa Wright?

[Steve_(shimp)] IJBFC should have a Babe Livingstone lookalike contest.

[Laura_Leff] Elfquest?

[Brad_from_Georgia] There's a Tom Cruise society, but I think it's some kind of religion.

[KayLhota] I should lose weight and try for that.

[Laura_Leff] Steve - Might as well have Mary lookalike contest, since they looked a lot alike.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Hey, LL, I know the Pinis who drew Elfquest!

[Steve_(shimp)] Aw, I'm talking the fictional Babe.

[buck_benny_rogers] "Religion" should be in quote marks there, Brad

[Laura_Leff] No Theresa Wright

[Scott_in_KC] Brad...I think it is called Scienotology.

[Steve_(shimp)] Uh, Brad, what did you call that guy who drew Elfquest?

[buck_benny_rogers] Well, phooey...I named my dog after her...

[Laura_Leff] Gee, Steve, I could hold that right here. ;)

[Brad_from_Georgia] Richard Pini. His wife was Wendy. Haven't seen them in years.

[Steve_(shimp)] OK, just checkin'.

[KayLhota] Brad, did you go to the SONS convention in Augusta this July?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Last "Elfquest" I saw was really kinky...lotsa XXX-rated elves.

[Laura_Leff] Oh, I may have a winner here...

[Brad_from_Georgia] Kay, no, I'm not a son of the desert.

[Laura_Leff] The Dweezil Zappa club

[buck_benny_rogers] Oh...joy

[KayLhota] Oh, it's a lot offun, Brad!

[Brad_from_Georgia] "

[Brad_from_Georgia] "Dweezil Zappa, Dweezil Zappa men have named you...for the Dweezil Zappa strangeness of your smile..."

[Scott_in_KC] He is singing Frank's old hits, and I do not mean Sinatra.

[KayLhota] We weren't able to go to the convention this year, and I'm sorry we missed it.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Kay--I don't tink I know any Sons of the Desert, actually. I do like Laurel and Hardy, probably should join.

[Laura_Leff] The Thelma Todd Society actually has a convention

[KayLhota] Yes, I think you should look up the tent.

[Brad_from_Georgia] "Honolulu Baby, where'd you get those eyes...and that dark complexion...that I idolize..."

[KayLhota] They had their event this July

[KayLhota] Held on her centennial birthday weekend this July 29

[KayLhota] How far is it to Augusta for you, Brad?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Augusta is about 120 miles. That's nothing. I went to Macon and back yesterday, and that's farther.

[Brad_from_Georgia] No, I went on Friday, sorry. For the University System conference on European exchange students.

[KayLhota] look up the Sons of the Desert on the web,Brad. I really encourage you to do this.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Okay, Kay, I will.

[Laura_Leff] A little strong-arm marketing going on in the IJBFC chat room...

[KayLhota] okay, Laura

[Laura_Leff] Kay - Just teasing.

[KayLhota] LOL

[Brad_from_Georgia] Hey, Laura, is there a fan club for Eddie Anderson?

[Laura_Leff] Brad - People have joked about "being" it or "heading" it, but there's none as far as I know. We sort of sub for it.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Pity. You know, I really suspect it might be difficult to have a fan club for some of the African-American comedians of the 40s.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Too politically incorrect these days, though there were some great talents back then.

[Steve_(shimp)] True. Politically complicated at least.

[KayLhota] indeed

[Laura_Leff] On a related note, I was selecting vintage sheet music for the wall of my office a couple months ago.

[buck_benny_rogers] Well, maybe more so for Mantan Moreland or Stepin Fetchit...

[Laura_Leff] And there were plenty of really great covers that were simply politically incorrect.

[Laura_Leff] "It Takes a Long, Tall, Brown Skin Gal To Get a Preacher To Lay His Bible Down"

[Laura_Leff] You get the idea

[KayLhota] oh wow

[Brad_from_Georgia] Buck--right, but lots of people put Eddie in the same category, though I think he was much more nuanced in his comedy.

[buck_benny_rogers] Brad - that's probably true

[Steve_(shimp)] Eddie usually had better material, for one thing.

[Laura_Leff] To "get" Eddie you need historical context. Maybe he's not Sidney Poitier, but he was progressive for the time.

[buck_benny_rogers] Probably Eddie would get knocked for his voice alone, regardless of anything he actually said or did

[Brad_from_Georgia] Years ago I had a joke about the song "Darktown Strutter's Ball" published in Harper's. Bet I couldn't do that today!

[Laura_Leff] Sure he calls Jack "Boss", but Jack himself said that if he didn't, they'd lose all their Southern audience.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Laura--I agree. I think that not seeing these performers for what they were--pioneers--history does us a disservice.

[KayLhota] and Rochester got the song and dance numbers in "Buck Benny Rides Again"

[Laura_Leff] Brad - Agreed. People need to look at them in the context of the time, not current social mores.

[Scott_in_KC] Missouri's State Song is the "Missouri Waltz," and one of the lyrics talks about the "darkies singing...."

Steve_(shimp) has left the chat.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Hattie McDaniel said "I could either BE a maid at seventy dollars a month or PLAY one at seven thousand a month."

[buck_benny_rogers] I think they'll be better appreciated years from now than they are now

Steve_(shimp) has joined the chat.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Steve! Hi again!

[yhtapmys] Still, Rochestrer was no Stepin Fetchin by any stretch of the imagination.

[KayLhota] the chat room has been a little wonky tonight

[Laura_Leff] Brad - Yes, I love that quote.

[Steve_(shimp)] Sorry folks, I've been having weird connection fizzles too.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Rochester was wonderful as a character-just about the best foil in radio. And versatile, too.

[Laura_Leff] yhtap - There are elements of that in his very early Benny appearances (including a direct reference in his first appearance),

[Laura_Leff] but they go away quickly.

[buck_benny_rogers] There was some racially-based humor now and then, but it wasn't prominent

[Laura_Leff] There are still things in the 30s shows that even make me wince, mainly because it's hard to defend them to anyone.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Man, I love those bits where Roch' is singing "My Mama Done Tole Me" and Jack gradually joins in.

[KayLhota] can I a question related to tonight's SUSPENSE episode?

[Laura_Leff] Kay - Absolutely.

[Scott_in_KC] Laura, how did Ricjster and Jack really meet? Besides a "grass reek."

[KayLhota] Jack did four SU

[KayLhota] SUSPENSE shows. Have you heard them all?

[buck_benny_rogers] "And when two lovers woo...they still say I love you...oh, cock-a-doodle-doo..."

[Scott_in_KC] Rochester*

[Laura_Leff] Scott - Basically they auditioned people for the part of the porter, and Roch got it.

[Laura_Leff] Kay - I'll admit that I haven't. Sorry to say. Haven't heard Murder in G Flat.

[Brad_from_Georgia] "From Memphis to St Joe---oh, they LOVED me in St. Joe....."

[Scott_in_KC] Laura, when or about when did he make his first appearance?

[Laura_Leff] And for the record, there was never a real Jack Benny statue in St. Joe.

[Laura_Leff] Scott - On Suspense?

[KayLhota] I guess having come late to the game of old radio, I've been more zealous in trying to hear it all at once

[Brad_from_Georgia] ...but there's a Benny statue in Rancho Cucamonga!

[Scott_in_KC] Rochester on the JBP?

[yhtapmys] Kay, there's so much stuff, it's impossible to hear all of it.

[Laura_Leff] Kay - Well, it's a funny thing heading up a fan club. There's a lot of administrative overhead tasks that one has to do

[Laura_Leff] And it's hard to just sit down and listen to something for pleasure.

[KayLhota] that's the truth.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Didn't Rochester first appear as the porter in 1937?

[KayLhota] yesBrad

[Laura_Leff] Brad - Right.

[KayLhota] you hear hima short time later in a Buck Benny sketch

[Steve_(shimp)] I know "The Face is Familiar" got readapted by Frank Tashlin for TV, wasn't there one other Suspense script filmed with Jack?

[Scott_in_KC] I live 60 miles south of St. Joe. I will find a Jack statue and place it up there.

[Brad_from_Georgia] So this is his septidecimation anniversary or something coming up.

[Laura_Leff] So my time is spent more on accumulating and making material available to the rest of you than just sitting and enjoying it.

[buck_benny_rogers] I listened to Murder in G Flat one night, it wasn't gripping, but pretty enjoyable

[Laura_Leff] Scott - Say hi to the City Government for me. I sent them the St. Joe show for their archives.

[KayLhota] That is my favorite of the Jack shows, my second being "The Face Is Familiar"

[Brad_from_Georgia] Now, how did the fake story that Eddie Anderson was first called "Syracuse" get started?

[Scott_in_KC] Will do, Laura. But if I move to the Bay Area, sorry, all bets are off.

[Laura_Leff] Brad - I'm not 100% sure of that. But Eddie may have told you that I quashed it with him.

[Brad_from_Georgia] (Eddie Carroll perpetuates the "Syracuse" story in his show, btw.)

[Brad_from_Georgia] LL-He was still telling it in March!

[KayLhota] tsk

[Laura_Leff] I've listened to the shows and read the scripts. If it's there, I can't find it.

[buck_benny_rogers] I love Suspense, I could listen to it anytime...

[Laura_Leff] Oh, there's plenty of made up stuff in Eddie's show. He's an entertainer. I'm a historian.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Maybe Benny just thought it sounded funny. I mean, Rochester kinda SOUNDS like a name, but Syracuse?

[KayLhota] Remember how Benita Colman kept calling him Manchester?

[Laura_Leff] I can imagine one of the writers writing that for Jack to tell in a TV interview. It's a good line. If it wasn't,

[Scott_in_KC] The Colemans called him Manchester. :)

[Laura_Leff] Eddie wouldn't be using it.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Jane Eyre: "I am the new governess, sir. And I trust you are Mr. Rochester?" Mr. Rochester: "My, oh my!"

[Steve_(shimp)] LOL Brad

[KayLhota] I can picture that!

[Scott_in_KC] Kay...GMTA!

[buck_benny_rogers] Did the story anything to do with Wilie Best being called Syracuse in "The Ghost Breakers"?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Now, see, Jack should've done a parody of Jane Eyre.

[Laura_Leff] I don't know the story, so I can't appreciate that.

[KayLhota] Buck, I heard that Bob Hope wanted Rochester for that movie, but Jack Benny refused to let him be in it.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Buck--wasn't "Ghost Breakers" 1939? I'll bet the Willie Best character was named for Eddie's character!

[KayLhota] I don't know if it is true, but Willie Best got a pretty decent role.

[buck_benny_rogers] Brad - I think it was 1940

[yhtapmys] Brad - He could have used The Ink Spots, then!

[Brad_from_Georgia] Well, it was probably SHOT in 1939...gee!

[KayLhota] LOL

[buck_benny_rogers] Darn, Rochester and Bob Hope would've been an interesting pair!

[Scott_in_KC] How did Rochester get the name Richester?

[KayLhota] I can't type for sour apples!

[Laura_Leff] I never knew anyone to call him Richester...

[buck_benny_rogers] lol

[Steve_(shimp)] Poorchester, Maybe!

[Scott_in_KC] OK...I can't type either

[Laura_Leff] Probably sounded good to the writers. I don't have any specific story on it.

[KayLhota] darn these stiff keyboards.

[Brad_from_Georgia] "There was a young lass from Cirencester Who made the male saints in their niches stir...."

[KayLhota] go on. Do you know the rest?

[Brad_from_Georgia] It was a great name for Benny: "Oh, RAH-chester!"

[Laura_Leff] You'd be amazed how often people spell it Rodchester.

[Steve_(shimp)] Yeah, how lame would it be if his name was like, Dave?

[buck_benny_rogers] "Oh, Syrrrracuse"...nope, it doesn't work as well

[KayLhota] nope

[Brad_from_Georgia] Kay...been a long time.... If the story is true, Then I'm telling you She made the front of the Bishop's new britches stir!

[Scott_in_KC] Chester H. Riley

[KayLhota] LOL Brad

[Laura_Leff] I'd say that I'm hoping there's no one here under 18, but that's nothing compared to publicly available song lyrics.

[Laura_Leff] And keep in mind, I like a dirty joke as well as anyone.

[KayLhota] we've been polite,here.

[Laura_Leff] So don't think I'm prudish.

[buck_benny_rogers] "Age is just a number and mine is unliested" - Durward Kirby

[Brad_from_Georgia] Speaking of Eddie's fictions..."And they guy who GOT the role was Bob Hope, and it gave him his theme song, "Thanks for the

[Brad_from_Georgia] Memory."

[buck_benny_rogers] Hmm, I can't type either

[Laura_Leff] Brad - Excellent example.

[Scott_in_KC] There was a lady from Tall/Went to a masquerade ball/To her despair/She had nothing to wear/She backed in as a Parker House roll

[Steve_(shimp)] rall?

[Laura_Leff] Ted Rall?

[Brad_from_Georgia] A frisky young miss from St. Paul Wore a newspaper dress to a ball, The dress caught on fire And burned her entire Front page,

[Brad_from_Georgia] sports section and all.

[Steve_(shimp)] Must be a KC accent!

[Laura_Leff] Brad - Tha't's cute.

[KayLhota] LOL

[Scott_in_KC] Poetic license, folks. Like my terrible typing.

[Laura_Leff] And the Doctor said, "Zie genug pisht!"

[Scott_in_KC] <ust be a GA accent. :)

[Laura_Leff] Punch line from one of Jack's favorite Yiddish jokes.

[KayLhota] I found used copies of "Good Night, Gracie" and "All My Best Friends" that I am giving to myfriend forher birthday

[Scott_in_KC] must*

[Laura_Leff] Kay - Must be a good friend. Those are good books.

[Brad_from_Georgia] A stingy old fiddler named Benny Never willingly gave up a penny. His cast all complained, But he said, "Just the same" --- last

[Brad_from_Georgia] line, anyone/

[Steve_(shimp)] It's harder to find, but I got a real kick out of GB's "I LOVE HER, THAT'S WHY"

[KayLhota] She is a very special friend. her big love is Fred Allen, but I hope she will like them.

[Scott_in_KC] What does that phrase mean, Laura?

[KayLhota] I've never read that book.

[Steve_(shimp)] It actually has a lot more about George's youth and family than the other books.

[Steve_(shimp)] Jack wrote the intro to it.

[Laura_Leff] Scott - Which phrase?

[Scott_in_KC] The Yiddish phrase?

[Laura_Leff] Should I just tell the joke? It's probably strange out of context.

[KayLhota] sure, go ahead!

[Brad_from_Georgia] So tell the joke, already. My poem died.

[Laura_Leff] It's funnier in Yiddish, but a guy goes to the doctor and says, "Doctor, I can't pee."

[Laura_Leff] The Doctor says, "How old are you?"

[Laura_Leff] The patient says, "Ninety-two."

[Laura_Leff] The Doctor says, "That's OK, you've peed enough."

[KayLhota] LOL

[KayLhota] that shouldn't be funny but I'm laughing

[Steve_(shimp)] :D

ChezCyn has joined the chat.

[KayLhota] hello Chez

[Laura_Leff] The phrase basically translates to "You've peed enough"

[Laura_Leff] Hello ChezCyn

[Brad_from_Georgia] Hello, Chez

[Scott_in_KC] It must be your CA accent Laura.

[Steve_(shimp)] Hi Chez

[ChezCyn] Hello everyone.. what a nice welcome.. thank you!

[Laura_Leff] Jack simply loved that joke.

[Laura_Leff] I'm told he laughed and laughed every time he heard it.

[Laura_Leff] So much for comedy requiring the element of surprise.

[Steve_(shimp)] Another great Jack pee story...

[KayLhota] ohboy

[Laura_Leff] Steve - The pay toilet?

[KayLhota] yeah!

[Scott_in_KC] Cyn, are you SinkY?

[Steve_(shimp)] No, when he had to give a urine sample at the hospital, he'd already recently gone.

[ChezCyn] You guessed! I'm am! LOL

[Steve_(shimp)] Went a little in the sample cup and the nurse gave him a withering look and said

[Laura_Leff] Chez -after a couple hours, we allow some off-topic stuff!

[Steve_(shimp)] "You never give ANYTHING away, do you?"

[ChezCyn] what gave me away ?

[Steve_(shimp)] And Jack hit the floor.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Rochester was a great valet, And once he studied the ballet, For a good pas de deux Earned a good buck or two,

[Scott_in_KC] Laura, Cyn is from your former hometown of Grand Rapids.

[ChezCyn] Ah.. thanks Laura :)

[Brad_from_Georgia] And helped to fatten his wallet....

[Laura_Leff] Ah, a fellow Grand Rapidian! Are you still there?

[ChezCyn] Unfortunately yes Laura.. how did you manage to break free? LOL

[KayLhota] My husband grew up in Detroit

[Laura_Leff] Cyn - I'm not completely free yet. I still come back from time to time. Are you in the city proper or a burb?

[ChezCyn] Oh really? What a diry city Detroit has become..

[Brad_from_Georgia] "Hail to Thee, o fair Grand Rapids, our Alma Mater dear...."

[ChezCyn] right now I'm in the burbs.. Kentwood

[KayLhota] his Mother now lives in Harper Woods

[Laura_Leff] Brad - That doesn't rhyme.

[ChezCyn] are you familar with that area?

[Steve_(shimp)] I'm a former East Lansing - er.

[Brad_from_Georgia] LL-It goes on to rhyme.

[Laura_Leff] Cyn - I grew up on Old Town Drive right at Kalamazoo. About the 4000 block.

[Brad_from_Georgia] LL-No kidding? I'm going to be in Kalamazoo on my birthday in October this year.

[Laura_Leff] Brad - Oh...thought it was the last line of your limerick

[ChezCyn] Not familar with Harper Woods.. what's it near? OMG Yes i know that area Laura..

[Laura_Leff] Brad - You got a gal there?

[Scott_in_KC] Cyn, tell her you are from Virignia.

[KayLhota] Grosse point.

[Brad_from_Georgia] LL-No, I got a book signing date in Marshall, but Kalamazoo's as far as the plane will take me.

[ChezCyn] Well have fun Brad.. KZoo has grown a lot more than Grand Rapids..:)

[Laura_Leff] Cyn - If you ever feel like it, look for 1620 Old Town Drive. That's where the fan club really started. We used to own

[ChezCyn] Oh okay.. i know the area then Kay..

[Brad_from_Georgia] Last time I flew in I was in one of those toy planes with actual propellers.

[Scott_in_KC] Brad, I grew up in Marshall.

[Laura_Leff] the lot between it and Kalamazoo Ave., but we had to split the two and they built a house on that lot.

[Laura_Leff] Brad - Yeah, not a lot of planes in Marshall.

[KayLhota] wow, the room is loaded with Michiganians.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Scott--Yes, I remember. I'm signing the new "John Bellairs" book in Marshall on October 28. Want me to say hi to anyone/

[ChezCyn] I will Laura.. :) Okay.. thats an interesting area.. especially now with Steelcase buying up as much of the land as they can..

[Brad_from_Georgia] My ? mark comes out as /. Shift problems.

[Laura_Leff] Is Win Schulers still there?

[Scott_in_KC] Battle Creek used to have an airport.

[Brad_from_Georgia] LL-Don't know. Does Win own Schulers Restaurant?

[Laura_Leff] Cyn - If Cone City ever goes out of business (in the Town and Country Shopping Center), it's going to be a real sad day for me.

[Laura_Leff] Scott - Doesn't it still?

[ChezCyn] I am not familar with it being here now.. it may have been ..

[Scott_in_KC] Laura...It was there a decade ago.

[Laura_Leff] Scott - With Kellogg's there?

[ChezCyn] I know we still have the Cheese in every grocery store.. LOL

[Laura_Leff] Win Schulers used to be in Marshall.

[Brad_from_Georgia] I'll be signing at the Kids' Place Bookstore, owned by Anne La Pietra. She's been there for ages.

[Laura_Leff] All you can eat prime rib.

[Scott_in_KC] Laura, we moved to Missouri in 1958.

[ChezCyn] Brad do you write childrens books?

[Steve_(shimp)] There were a bunch of Win Schulers, we had them in Lansing too.

[Brad_from_Georgia] LL-Schulers is still there.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Chez--Yes, I've written about 64 kids' books, and I took over the John Bellairs series when he died.

[Laura_Leff] Suddenly I have a craving for Win Schulers cheese and tiny pretzels. A taste from my childhood.

[Steve_(shimp)] And, yeah, what is the obsession with that funky cheese spread, Cyn?

[Brad_from_Georgia] His son requested me to do so, I hasten to add. I didn't have the chutzpah to do it on my own!

[Scott_in_KC] Marshall was one of the last stops of the Underground Railroad.

[Laura_Leff] Steve - Ah, you must know the wonder that is Win Schuler's cheese. It is even better than Velveeta.

[ChezCyn] That's wonderful.. i have always wanted to write childrens books.. so did my Mother.. Good for you!

[Steve_(shimp)] And has pink swirley stuff in it!

[Laura_Leff] Scott - Last stops before Canada.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Yes, and Battle Creek has a wonderful Underground Railroad museum.

[ChezCyn] Steve.. that's a good question.. no matter how bad my munchies are.. and trust me..I am a cheese aholic.. I still have never

[ChezCyn] craved that cheese!

[Brad_from_Georgia] Chez--you can look up my bibliography if you want--www.gsc.edu/humanities/bstrickland

[Scott_in_KC] O think there is a statue of Harriet Tubman...Rochester's wife. :)

[Steve_(shimp)] It was de rigeur at any family gathering. That and Sander's colonial buttercream cake.

[ChezCyn] I will. .thank you!

[Laura_Leff] Goes well with Howard Johnson's fried clams.

[Scott_in_KC] I* even

[KayLhota] yum

[Laura_Leff] Gosh, my cholesterol is going up just having this conversation.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Oh, I'll be in Marshall on the last day of the great Scarecrow Festival! I love Halloween in Marshall. We can't do it in GA now.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Too many religious objections here.

[KayLhota] oh my

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[Laura_Leff] Hey Brad, while you're in Michigan you ought to go to Hell.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Oops. I didn't mean to intimidate anybody.

[Scott_in_KC] Bard...would you mind e-mailing me? KCAgape@aol.com

[Laura_Leff] I may have scared her off with my GR nostalgia.

[Steve_(shimp)] Brad, too bad you're going to be in Marshall about 2 weeks after I'm heading up to Mich, I'd love to hit your book signing!

[Scott_in_KC] They had an ice storm there, Laura. and the headline of the paper said: Hell Freezes Over!

[Laura_Leff] (Now someone not in the know is going to think I told someone to go to hell...)

[Steve_(shimp)] Hell's a bit of a drive from Marshall though.

[Brad_from_Georgia] LL-I BEEN to Hell. Also to Colon.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Scott--Just emailed you.

[Laura_Leff] Brad - You might be able to get to Climax. It's right on the way.

[Scott_in_KC] I have been to Hell and back. Thanks Brad. I have a lot of questions.

ChezCyn has joined the chat.

[KayLhota] hi again Cyn

[Laura_Leff] WB Cyn. Thought I scared you off.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Somehow, I'd sorta like to live in Colon. I'd call my house "Tapeworm Acres.'

[ChezCyn] OOps.. i went to look at your site Brad.. and clicked myself off.. sorry.. LOL

[Steve_(shimp)] LOL

[Scott_in_KC] WB Sinky, er Cyn

[Brad_from_Georgia] I knew it was my fault. Sorry.

[ChezCyn] nope.. it would take more than talk about Mich to scare me off.. LOL

[ChezCyn] Neat site.. i bookmarked it to take more of a look later.. thanks..

[Laura_Leff] Any specific Benny questions Cyn?

[Brad_from_Georgia] Thanks, Chez.

[Laura_Leff] We're deep into free association at this point.

[Scott_in_KC] Cyn, were you ever offended by the Rochester character?

[KayLhota] Laura, I just thought of another fan club that I belong to. In fact I went to the convention in NYC twoweeks ago.

[KayLhota] Dark Shadows

[Laura_Leff] Kay - Ah, put out my MPI Media.

[Laura_Leff] put out BY MPI Media

[Steve_(shimp)] Oh, Dark Shadows is fun. Actually, connecting it to OTR, some of the cast is doing some new audio dramas I'd be interested in.

[KayLhota] I've got the first two CDs, Steve.

[Laura_Leff] Yes, there are three Dark Shadows clubs listed.

[KayLhota] The next two are on order and are coming out this fall.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Ah, Barnabas, we hardly knew ye.

[Steve_(shimp)] Are they good Kay?

[KayLhota] sure, they sound fine. I'm enjoying listening to their familiar voices.

[Steve_(shimp)] OK, I will take that as a recommendation then and check them out!

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[KayLhota] they seem well produced.

[Brad_from_Georgia] Recently the original cast (most of them) of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' reunited for another series at BBC.

[KayLhota] really?

[Brad_from_Georgia] They sounded very good, but Arthur is definitely more stroppy these days!

[Laura_Leff] It's called "42"

[KayLhota] LOL

[Laura_Leff] So anything else Benny-wise on everyone's mind tonight?

[Brad_from_Georgia] I was in a radio comedy at DragonCon: "Rory Rammer--The Enemy of the People." I played a mad Russian.

[Laura_Leff] How do you dooooo

[Brad_from_Georgia] Oops, that's Cantor, though....

[KayLhota] LOL

[Brad_from_Georgia] I vas Rex Gorbachev...ex-engineer...now engached in smuggling eggs to Mars.

[Steve_(shimp)] OK, folks, I think I am going to head on out. Wonderful to spend some virtual time with you all as usual though!

[Laura_Leff] Take care, Steve!

[KayLhota] I hope you will someday get to listen to all of Jack Benny's SUSPENSE programs

[buck_benny_rogers] Night, Steve

[Brad_from_Georgia] Bye Steve. I gotta go, too. Got school tomorrow!

[KayLhota] night Steve

[Laura_Leff] Kay - I'm sure I will.

[KayLhota] bye Brad

Steve_(shimp) has left the chat.

[Brad_from_Georgia] So long, all.

Brad_from_Georgia has left the chat.

[Laura_Leff] Have fun, Brad!

[Laura_Leff] So should we call it good for this month?

[KayLhota] okay, Laura

[yhtapmys] Laura, any recommendations on a show to listen to tonight?

[buck_benny_rogers] "Good"~

[Laura_Leff] yht - What are you in the mood for?

[yhtapmys] Well, a BENNY show, of course!

[KayLhota] any particular era?

[Laura_Leff] Yht - Jell-O or Lucky Strike?

[yhtapmys] Lucky Strike

[Laura_Leff] Have you heard the show where Jack gives a bum 50 cents?

[KayLhota] Ican't look at your screenname without hearing "Yip Yip yhtapmy

[buck_benny_rogers] 50 Cents is a great one!

[yhtapmys] With John L.C. Sivoney? Yeah, I can pull that one out again.

[Laura_Leff] Yht - I can give you another if you've heard it.

[yhtapmys] Oh, no, I've heard a lot of them. I can listen to them again and again.

[KayLhota] I love CASABLANCA

[KayLhota] from1943 where Jack Benny drillshis new writing staf

[Laura_Leff] How about this one...12/23/45.

[Laura_Leff] Colmans come to Jack's house for a dinner party

[yhtapmys] Well, there's a bunch of pick from.

[buck_benny_rogers] "She left me a pathetic, broken down old man" "Boss, that's how she *found* you"

[KayLhota] 12 23 45. gotcha. I'll pull that one too

[KayLhota] LOL Yes!

[yhtapmys] I haven't heard Casablanca, so I'll start with that.

[KayLhota] it's a good show

[Laura_Leff] That's 1943, I think

[yhtapmys] OK.

[Laura_Leff] One of the first outings for the new writers.

[Laura_Leff] Or you can pull the Yosemite series if you want to go before LS.

[KayLhota] with the running gag of Crowley the taxi driver whohad a brother in Casablanca. Corporal Crowley

[yhtapmys] Ta ta. And remember - sympathy spelled backward is Yhtapmys!

yhtapmys has left the chat.

[KayLhota] yip yip yhtapmys

[Laura_Leff] Okay folks, thanks for your participation. See you next month!

[KayLhota] goodnight Laura

[buck_benny_rogers] Night, you all! Have a good September!

[KayLhota] thanks