IJBFC Chat

[steve =shimp=] There's a clip of Johnny Carson interviewing the "backward talking man", who can do that in his head, and speak backward. It is weird.

[steve =shimp=] Jack's Xmas show, o'course

[yhtapmys] I've seen it, Steve. Carson tried throwing him and it didn't work.

[Laura Leff] Steve - OK, that's a good answer. So let's build on that.

[steve =shimp=] OK

[Laura Leff] So if Jack was giving Don cufflinks in real life, what might he have engraved on them?

[Brad from Georgia] Steve-Maybe that inspired the "Slow Talkers of America" bit by Bob and Ray.

[steve =shimp=] A D on one and a W on the other?

[steve =shimp=] Or What about that middle initial...

[Brad from Georgia] "To Don, in Gratitude for Years of Fri continued on other arm"

[Laura Leff] A little too literal perhaps. Think about the photos in our gallery.

[Frank J. Lhota] What about the ... slow ... typers?

[steve =shimp=] JEL on the left and LO on the other?

[John P.] I have Tiffany pair that were given to someone directly from Jack

[Laura Leff] Another good answer. Think Seinfeld, if you subscribe to the Times.

[yhtapmys] Three flavours for each cufflink.

[KayLhota] wow, John!

[Brad from Georgia] The Seinfeld Times?

[Laura Leff] Ah, John spilled the beans.

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[Brad from Georgia] Oho!

[Brad from Georgia] Hi, radiomaster!

[Maxwell] Hi radiomaster

User Frank J. Lhota has logged out.

[Laura Leff] RM! OMG! Welcome back!!!!!

[steve =shimp=] Hi radiomaster

[radiomaster] Hi guys...

[KayLhota] but what exciting beans to spill

[John P.] JACK on one and BENNY on the other

[yhtapmys] Frank having laptop troubles?

[Laura Leff] You know the pair that has "Jack " on one side...John beat me to it.

[ed] bye frank again!!!

[yhtapmys] It's like a running gag here.

[KayLhota] yes, Frank'a laptop keeps on knocking him out of the room

[Maxwell] He'll be back. He always comes back.

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - Like our Governor.

[ed] can it batteries

[ed] be*

[Laura Leff] John - Tell about celebrities giving gifts with their names on it. I found that particularly interesting.

[Brad from Georgia] So if the recipient lost the cufflinks...they'd go back to Jack, and he could give them to someone else?

[Laura Leff] Or if he lost one, it might go to Benny Goodman...or Jack Palance...

[John P.] The receiver has a bunch of items engraved with the celeb's names

[steve =shimp=] Didn't Jack also do that with money clips and the Bouche art on it?

[Brad from Georgia] (Course, I'd kill for a pair of those cufflinks. Well, maybe not kill, but I'd give somebody the frowning of their lives.....)

[Laura Leff] Steve - That's it.

[John P.] The issue was that Joan thought that Jack would never have given them

[John P.] I belive otherwise

[Laura Leff] She told me she thought it seemed too egotistical, but there are too many sets of them around.

[steve =shimp=] Maybe it was someone named Benny Jack, depends which are the right and left cufflinks.

[KayLhota] wow

[Laura Leff] Jerry Seinfeld has a pair. He seems to think that Jack actually owned them, but I seriously doubt that.

[yhtapmys] Could the production company have had them created?

[Brad from Georgia] "Your cufflinks or your life."

[Laura Leff] Yht - You know, I thought about that.

[John P.] Generic Tiffany sets today start at $200 custome sets would go for $500 today expensive gifts

[Laura Leff] And they're silver with gold overlay, you mentioned.

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[yhtapmys] Hmm.

[John P.] The folks I know say they came direct from jack

[KayLhota] welcome back frank

[Laura Leff] John - About when did they get them from Jack?

[Brad from Georgia] So how many sets have you heard about, other than these two?

[Maxwell] Frank's back! Hi again, Frank!

[Laura Leff] Like a year.

[John P.] That's correct

[Laura Leff] Brad - I've been approached by several people who have pairs, seen at least two or three on Ebay, and Seinfeld has a pair.

[John P.] From the hallmark it had to have been in the 60's

[steve =shimp=] Seems like Tiffany would have some record of those, if they were a custom job.

[John P.] they wont give up the info

[Laura Leff] John - OK, that's what I figured. He was doing the money clips around the early 70s.

[steve =shimp=] Because anyone could have "Jack" and "Benny" engraved on regular old cufflinks, no?

[Brad from Georgia] steve--I was about to type that! Great minds run in the same gutters, I guess.

[Laura Leff] Steve - Well, I thought about that too. But there are too many and they're all just alike.

[Laura Leff] So it doesn't seem like a one-off.

[Frank J. Lhota] ... allowing us, even in a resession, to make money from violin string futures.

[John P.] they aare hand engraved and would have been expensive to do just for that assuming you didnt know the others existed

[Laura Leff] And who other than, say, me and a few others would really want cufflinks with Jack's name on them? And I don't even wear French cuffs.

[steve =shimp=] How about records of Jack ordering such things from Tiffany?

[steve =shimp=] Seems like he'd do a batch order.

[steve =shimp=] for business gifts.

[Laura Leff] Steve - I have a list of the people who got money clips, and I was thinking I might run across something similar on the cufflinks.

[John P.] Laura if you wish to cut and paste my email that would be fine

[Brad from Georgia] LL--where did Seinfeld get his pair?

[Brad from Georgia] gee, that sounds dirty now that I've sent it...

[Laura Leff] Brad - Don't have that info. Just know about it through an interview where he talked about them.

[Laura Leff] John - Not a bad idea...let me see if I can.

[Brad from Georgia] While we're waiting, I just found out that a celebrity now lives in my little home town.

[Brad from Georgia] Jodi Benson, the voice of the Little Mermaid.

[John P.] mine are identical to the pics on the site

[radiomaster] may i ask what spawned this particular conversation?

[radiomaster]

[Brad from Georgia] I t'ink it were a crob, mon.

[Laura Leff] (This from John) A couple of points, in favor of Jack having given them, as opposed to individuals ordering them. They're all identical. Someone had to have a standing order at Tiffany's. They're relatively expensive. They are hand engraved, not some

[Laura Leff] mall machine job. Those same cufflinks are available today in sterling for $195 with no gold layering and no engraving. So they would probably be close to $500 in today's dollars as delivered. Nice gift, it would turn the head of the gift receiver.

[Laura Leff] The son from whom I received these, responded when I asked about having "named" cufflinks, "Dad got a lot of these type of gifts from various celebrities and they're ALL engraved with the name of the celebrity." (My emphasis.) I also think having the

[Laura Leff] name on the cufflinks is a bit of an inside joke. As there are so many of these out there, when someone wore them they immediately identified you as a "member of the club" among your peers. Sort of like being a friend of the Rat Pack or a Friend of Bill.

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[Laura Leff] To say nothing of being one heck of a conversation piece, as they are today. During the 60's when these would have largely been given (as determined by the Tiffany hallmark)

[Laura Leff] a man had three pieces of jewelry he could wear; a ring, a watch and cufflinks. This was the one real area of jewelry in which self-expression could occur as it is today.

[Laura Leff] So in summary; They're identical. They're from Tiffany. Other celebs did similar things. It ID'd you as a member of the in crowd. Also Joan probably would have never known about them because it would have been done as a standing order at Tiffany's

[Laura Leff] and shipped directly to the receiver. My family has been in the jewelry biz for generations and we have had these types of arrangements over the years.

[Laura Leff] (end)

[Brad from Georgia] Wow.

[John P.] thanks Laura

[radiomaster] you must be exhausted

[yhtapmys] Laura, speak up.

[Brad from Georgia] And today celebrites probably give out engraved nipple studs.

[Laura Leff] Sure...talk about a conversation piece.

[Frank J. Lhota] Hey Steve, that was my line.

[Laura Leff] Again, all that was from John. Just copying from his E-mail.

[steve =shimp=] What was your line?

[Brad from Georgia] Fascinating, John P!

[Laura Leff] Thoughts from the group?

[Frank J. Lhota] Logging out and logging in unexpectantly.

[KayLhota] yes, I enjoyed hearing about these cufflinks

[steve =shimp=] "a man had three pieces of jewelry he could wear" - well, publicly visible pieces of jewelry!

[steve =shimp=] In line with Brad's thoughts...

[Brad from Georgia] Fascinating, LL! Fascinating, Captain Kirk! Help, I've been vulcanized....

[Laura Leff] John - Based on the reception you got, do you think there's any chance I might get further coming at Tiffany's from a pure research standpoint?

[Maxwell] Don't you TIRE of being vulcanized?

[John P.] I dont think so

[Brad from Georgia] LL--Might Joan enquire?

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[John P.] Beverly Hills doesnt keep records past 5 years

[steve =shimp=] It seems Tiffany's must have some kind of authenticator. It would be stupid for them not to.

[Brad from Georgia] Maxwell--not in a good year....

[Laura Leff] Brad - You know, that's not a bad idea. Let me see if that's a possibility.

[John P.] he must have ordered from the BH store

[Brad from Georgia] She might say, "I think Dad forgot to payyou....."

[Laura Leff] John - Agreed. I can't imagine him doing it elsewhere.

[Brad from Georgia] I'll bet those records are somewhere.

[John P.] when I spoke to Tiffs they were sending me to Christies. I kept telling them I didnt want to know value

[John P.] I wanted to know when they were made thats all

[Laura Leff] Yeah, just tell us the deal on them, not a price.

[Brad from Georgia] "We're trying to establish provenance...."

[radiomaster] LL...who was that lady that had all those records she copied from the UCLA archive...remember?

[Laura Leff] RM - Barbara.

[steve =shimp=] There's always Antiques Roadshow...

[Laura Leff] RM - She's been on many chats, but has been having Java trouble since she got a new machine some months ago.

[Brad from Georgia] Provenance, Rhode Island. Charming community, full of Baptists and swingsets.

[Laura Leff] Steve - Nah, if I don't know, I think they'd be hard pressed to find someone who does.

[radiomaster] would SHE have anything on that?

[Laura Leff] Unless they had the inside track at Tiffany's.

[steve =shimp=] LOL, definitely.

[Laura Leff] RM - Doubt it, although I can ask her.

[Brad from Georgia] Get Mickey Rooney to ask! He was in "Breakfast at Tiffany's!"

[steve =shimp=] The Tiffany's isn't in question, it's whether Jack ordered them, correct?

[radiomaster] just a thought...lol

[John P.] the folks I got these from dont want their name involved. I got them only because they knew they werent going to end up on ebay for absolutely certain. these will be buired with me

[Laura Leff] Well, all these identical sets always show up in Tiffany boxes.

[Brad from Georgia] Steve--yes. Whether it was personal or maybe the production company.

[Laura Leff] John - Gosh. Shame to bury them, but I respect your wishes!

[Laura Leff] And I don't release my interviews with people because I don't want people selling them on Ebay. So know how it is.

[John P.] they are tiffany because they are both hallmarked

[John P.] the burial was an overstatement. they are staying with me for a long time.

[Laura Leff] Sorry for not knowing, but what does a Tiffany hallmark look like?

[KayLhota] and you can will them to someone who will treasure them as you do

[Brad from Georgia] Like me....

[Laura Leff] John - Well, if you ever change your mind, remember me. And my collection eventually goes to a couple of national archives.

[steve =shimp=] It's a little picture of Audrey Hepburn wearing a stained glass lampshade hat.

[John P.] "Tiffany & Co." "STERLING"

[Laura Leff] Ah, pretty direct.

[steve =shimp=] Mine's more creative.

[Maxwell] You know it's a forgery if instead of "Sterling," it says "Rock Falls."

[Brad from Georgia] I'd pay just to see that, steve.

[Maxwell] (A little Illinois humor there.)

[Brad from Georgia] The land of the corn, eh, Maxwell?

[ed] max we know all about the humor in this state

[Maxwell] You betcha, and it's almost time to plant it.

[Laura Leff] John - Thanks very much for sharing that. It's great to know that these things end up with people who really appreciate them!

[Brad from Georgia] Deere me.

[ed] deere crossing

[Maxwell] Deer meat.

[Brad from Georgia] Thanks, John, seriously.

[Laura Leff] So how about tonight's show?

[steve =shimp=] Was you Deere, Sharley?

[John P.] Laura I told my sister I cant believe I have them and cant imagine something that makes me happier. They will be worn.

[Maxwell] Seriously, we're just a bunch of would-be comedians. I'd seriously like to know if you find out anything.

[Laura Leff] Everyone enjoy hearing Jack play the Bee?

[KayLhota] The show tonight is one of my favorittes

[Brad from Georgia] Well, I thought it was an excellent showcase for Blanche Stewart.

[Laura Leff] John - That's fantastic. There are so many people now who don't know who Jack is, and it's wonderful to have that sort of direct connection!

[steve =shimp=] The Bee, with a little Plenty of Money and You

[KayLhota] I just love that he plays it well enough to prove that he can, with Plenty of Money and you at the curve

[Brad from Georgia] Someone--Steve?--remarked that the combination of classical/popular was reminiscent of Spike Jones.

[yhtapmys] Blanche is so underrated.

[Laura Leff] It was really a trip to hear Jack play it just minutes after hearing Stuart Canin play it here. Suddenly, Jack's performance doesn't sound quite so good...

[steve =shimp=] Wasn't me, Maxwell?

[Brad from Georgia] Odd line reading from Phil, though: "Yeah, but you clipped its wings." "Wings" is pulled so low it sort of deadens the gag.

[Maxwell] I think Jack proved, though, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he really was a mediocre violinist.

[yhtapmys] He's better than I am .

[Maxwell] Wasn't me either.

[radiomaster] I loved this how and the subsequent ones...esp the one where Jacl interrogates Stuart Canin...funny stuff

[KayLhota] aww, you could tell that he loved to play it, even if not all that well

[Brad from Georgia] Tell us about Patsy Flick, LL!

[Laura Leff] Well, remember that this is before Jack got really serious about the violin. He started that in 1948 or so.

[Brad from Georgia] He didn't do bad for an amateur on "The Bee." Lord knows he didn't do good, but he didn't do bad.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Well, he appeared fairly regularly for a while.

[steve =shimp=] It still requires an awful lot of dexterity!

[radiomaster] didnt he play for Stuart Canin< who was the concertmaster somewhere later in life< ll?

[Maxwell] Brad, like I said, he did mediocre.

[Maxwell] But it WAS fun!

[Laura Leff] IIRC, he was sort of the West Coast equivalent of Schlepperman for a while.

[Brad from Georgia] Mediocre Jack. Reminds me of a Smothers Brothers song....

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[Laura Leff] RM - Didn't who play for Stuart...Jack? Stuart's the concertmaster for the Los Angeles Opera.

[KayLhota] stay a spell, Frank

[ed] hi frank

[Maxwell] Set a spell, take your shoes off....

[Frank J. Lhota] don't pay the ransom; I just escaped.

[radiomaster] yes...that was it...my typing is atrocious...sorry

[Laura Leff] Frank is caught in an Internet revolving door.

[Brad from Georgia] Was this the first show to feature a violin passage that later became a staple as part of the intro, LL?

[yhtapmys] Brad, it seems to me Pat C. Flick did some comedy shorts, too.

[ed] welcome to escape

[Maxwell] The Kreutzer exercises....

[Laura Leff] Brad - You mean the exercises?

[Brad from Georgia] Yep!

[Brad from Georgia] I don't remember hearing them in earlier episodes.

[Laura Leff] RM - Well, if he did, Stuart didn't remember it. He played The Bee for me, and then was surprised when I told him that Jack did eventually play it.

[radiomaster] no kidding...

[Brad from Georgia] Yeah, but he clipped its wings.

[Brad from Georgia] I liked the vocalized bzzz bzzz bzzz bits.

[yhtapmys] Brad, he did a series called "Radio Flash Comedies" for RKO in 1939.

[radiomaster] that was great

[Brad from Georgia] Ah, THAT Patsy Flick!

[KayLhota] I could just picture Jack Benny smiling a mile wide playing the piece

[Laura Leff] Brad - You know...I did trap on it in 39 Forever that it was the first time I ever heard him play that on the air. But there were other times that he might have done it as an ad lib, and we simply don't have the audio of the show.

[KayLhota] he just seemed elated

[Laura Leff] I certainly would be if I worked that much to play such a hard piece!

[Brad from Georgia] LL--That must have been where I got the info, from your book. Which is in my lap. Open to that page right at the moment.

[Laura Leff] Brad - I was looking at it as I listened to the portion of the show I heard as well...:)

[radiomaster] me too...we're nerds

[steve =shimp=] He had to work hard to make it sound a certain KIND of bad as well, I'm sure.

[Brad from Georgia] Jack was acting for the bit, of course, but I agree with Kay--he seemed really pleased that he'd pulled it off!

[steve =shimp=] like it sounds squeaky, but plays through without breaks or wrong notes, etc.

[Laura Leff] Steve - Maybe not as hard as you might think.

[yhtapmys] Hmm. Flick also wrote the screenplay to Stage Struck in 1936.

[Brad from Georgia] Steve--on the "Looney Tunes" collection with "The Mouse that Jack Built" on it the commentator talks about what a hard time the studio violinist had trying to sound BAD as "Jack"!

[Laura Leff] Remember, he wasn't playing the violin in his act since the 20s, probably early 20s. So he might have been mostly away from it for almost 15 years at this point.

[Maxwell] I caught a lot of problems with his intonation, but he did get through it. I play piano with about the same skill as Jack played on that piece.

[Brad from Georgia] But it's just like riding a bicycle, LL. Once you learn, you almost never fall off a violin.

[Frank J. Lhota] Both Spike Jones and Weird Al have noted that you have to be an excellent musician to play funny.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Just like getting down off a duck.

[Brad from Georgia] I thought you got down off a horse!

[ed] say the secret woid

[yhtapmys] You working Orpheum Time, Laura?

[radiomaster] 17 minutes

[Laura Leff] Yht - Keith

[Laura Leff] I want the Palace.

[ed] radio

[Frank J. Lhota] I can always tell a phoney!

[KayLhota] oh no

[radiomaster] yes

[Laura Leff] Frank's been watching Jack and Groucho Marx.

[yhtapmys] You can start there and go to Blue Tooth, Arkansas.

[KayLhota] yes he has

[Laura Leff] Yht - Bennie and Woods pretty much did.

[Brad from Georgia] I really liked the show overall. Andy Devine's little bit was very good--and Jack seemed to be on the verge of cracking up on some of Andy's reactions.

[Laura Leff] Brad - That's why I like the shows of this era best. They feel a lot more loose and not so "high performance" tuned.

[Laura Leff] Also notice how much of Mary's letter is about chasing men.

[KayLhota] I hadn't thought of that, Laura

[Brad from Georgia] Oh, LL--I finally found the script I wrote years and years ago on an old computer disk--"Jack Listens to 'Lights Out'". I'm lucky I found ONE machine at school that could read a 5 1/4" disk!

[Laura Leff] You can see the guts of the comedy a lot more.

[Frank J. Lhota] What is "sdrawkcab" spelled backwards?

[Maxwell] Brad, transfer it to a CD.

[steve =shimp=] There are probably a lot of comedy guts in Brad's script.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Wow...is it any good? Worth sharing?

[Brad from Georgia] Maxwell--already have.

[Maxwell] Good!

[Laura Leff] Steve - Eviscerated.

[Laura Leff] Ah look...entrails...

[Brad from Georgia] LL--I honestly haven't read it all the way through. We talked about doing it for ARTC, but we don't do recreations. My late writing buddy Tom Fuller SO much wanted to play Phil!

[steve =shimp=] Chicken Hearts and Jell-O

[Maxwell] Along the Santa Fe entrails.

[Laura Leff] You know, speaking of recreations...

[Brad from Georgia] I'll send you a copy, LL--though I'll probably mail it, not email it!

[Laura Leff] I gave Bill a big introduction last time, and I must do the same for Radiomaster this time.

[radiomaster] please do

[Laura Leff] RM used to play Dennis Day in our recreations.

[KayLhota] how nice

[steve =shimp=] Ohhhhhhhhhh....Radiomaster!

[Laura Leff] And he's got a very fine singing voice...trained by Perry Como.

[Frank J. Lhota] I think you might be able to get an external 5 1/4" floppy drive, although even that is getting hard to find.

[Maxwell] Yes, please?

[yhtapmys] Can he sing Clancy Lowered the Boom?

[radiomaster] blushing

[Laura Leff] Yht - He did in Waukegan!

[yhtapmys] !

[yhtapmys] That's great

[radiomaster] i did sing that...eddie called me a ham..

[Brad from Georgia] Can you sing "Danny Boy?" I make people cry when I sing "Danny Boy.' Of course, I make them cry when I sing anything....

[Laura Leff] Right in the heart of downtown Waukegan before the unveiling of the Benny statue!

[Laura Leff] Brad - He did that in Los Angeles!

[Laura Leff] Brad - At our 39 Forever convention!

[yhtapmys] Brad, you won't work Keith Time with that routine.

[radiomaster] sore throat and all...lol

[Laura Leff] RM - He called you a ham for the Spanish captain bit, though.

[Brad from Georgia] That's the one I TRIED and TRIED to persuade Barbara to attend.

[radiomaster] thasts right...LL

[yhtapmys] So, RM are you in radio?

[radiomaster] railroad...

[Brad from Georgia] Instead, we went to the SPERDVAC later on. I would have loved to be at "39 Forever" instead.

[Laura Leff] RM's on the radio. And his family is waiting for him to get off so they can change the channel.

[Maxwell] Station.

[Brad from Georgia] You're on the radio ont he railroad? Don't the engines bother you?

[KayLhota] too funny

[radiomaster]

[Maxwell] Channels are on TV.

[Brad from Georgia] Canals are in Venice.

[Maxwell] And Mars.

[radiomaster] I drive a locomotive

[Brad from Georgia] I do like M&M's.

[yhtapmys] This past week is the 35th anniversary of my first paid job in radio.

[Brad from Georgia] Get that raise yet?

[Frank J. Lhota] "I've been broadcastin' on the railroad, all the live-long day..."

[Laura Leff] RM - Side note...did you and Charlie Willer ever get a chance to talk about that? He was a locomotive nut.

[Brad from Georgia] A loco motive nut?

[ed] speaking of 39 iam it's been 39 years since i was introduced to OTR and 25 years ago today since I got my first in the collection i have now

[Laura Leff] Charlie did the sound effects for our Waukegan show.

[Brad from Georgia] Nearly had a joke there, son.

[yhtapmys] Brad, I got a Xmas bonus in 1975. I've had one since.

[radiomaster] no...unfortunately...i think he died before i started working for the railroad..

[Brad from Georgia] yht--Tell me about it. I've never received a Christmas bonus.

[yhtapmys] Ed, do you collect discs?

[Maxwell] Our Christmas bonus is two weeks off.

[yhtapmys] Transcriptions?

[Laura Leff] RM - OIC. That's too bad...he would have loved talking with you about it. He even started building a small railroad on his house property.

[ed] no discs cassettes records CD's and 1 eight track

[Brad from Georgia] My son complains if he gets less than three grand as a Christmas bonus...and for Christmas he gives me shoelaces. Plastic tips yet.

[yhtapmys] OK.

[Maxwell] They don't make metal tips anymore.

[KayLhota] plastic tips!

[Laura Leff] Ed - That must have been frustrating being interested in OTR and not being able to get recordings.

[yhtapmys] Gopher trap!

[radiomaster] ...yes...and I would've loved to share expereinces and stories i've heard...he was on in FW, right?

[radiomaster] only

[ed] originals LL that is true

[Brad from Georgia] Reminds me of the time Barbara and I were driving past a store with a sign: ADULT TOYS. I begged her to go inside with me. She wouldn't. Later she asked, "What would you have looked for?"

[Laura Leff] RM - Yes.

[Brad from Georgia] I said "one of those miniature trains you put in the yard."

[radiomaster] roflmao...

[Laura Leff] Rimshot please.

[Maxwell] I'm not gonna touch that with a 10-foot pole...or a 6-foot Irishman.

[Brad from Georgia] I later went in by myself. Man said they had just sold out of those.

[Laura Leff] I think RM will have to sing "An Irishman will Steal Your Heart Away" the next time we do a recreation.

[ed] one of the OTR records i had and still have is the jack and frank knight records circa 72 maybe

[radiomaster] Brad and Maxwell...at the Palace...this week only

[Brad from Georgia] "An Englishman is charming..."

[Laura Leff] Ed - Oh the Longines Symphonette?

[ed] 'yes

[Laura Leff] Ed - You know, that's a good point. I think that was one of the first really good OTR sets, other than the 1948 Top Ten sets.

[Maxwell] I've only got the two of those that were later released commercially.

[ed] i see one of the record covers on my wall

[radiomaster] dont know thatone...but willing to try anything in my key...

[Brad from Georgia] You know, this is always the same Sunday that my writers' group meets down in the Atlanta area. We were talking today about the Jack Benny TV shows that are being rerun (duh) on a local cable station.

[ed] LL what year did it come out

[Laura Leff] RM - You might look on You Tube. I know there was a clip of it available some time ago.

[Brad from Georgia] Kim asked "Why is that show still funny?" We all agreed it boiled down to one vital ingredient: Jell-O. No, I mean personality as the base of the comedy.

[radiomaster] ok

[Laura Leff] Ed - I'd have to pull the last Times to be sure. I know I wrote it up there. About 1965 I think, but would have to check.

[steve =shimp=] And the JELL-O, Brad.

[ed] 'wow 65 great

[Brad from Georgia] Dang it, I have to get the moolah together to get a copy of the First Farewell Special.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Why that one specifically?

[Brad from Georgia] Isn't that the one with Eddie Carroll?

[Brad from Georgia] He's told me about it so many times...

[Laura Leff] Brad - No that's Jack Benny's Birthday Special.

[Brad from Georgia] Oh, well, forget it!

[Laura Leff] Brad - You were here when I told about showing it to him, right?

[KayLhota] yes

[Brad from Georgia] No, that's the first one I want to get, really. Yes, LL, I was here.

[KayLhota] I mean, I was here

[Maxwell] That was last month, wasn't it?

[Brad from Georgia] Who knows? Time flies like an arrow.....

[Frank J. Lhota] Does anyone have a color print of the '65 special?

[KayLhota] Laura does

[steve =shimp=] Laura does

[Laura Leff] Direct from the master copy.

[Brad from Georgia] Gee, I give you guys a great set-up line.....

[Frank J. Lhota] Time flies an arrow ... fruit flies like a banana ...

[Laura Leff] There's an echo in here.

[Brad from Georgia] Thank you, Frank.

[Laura Leff] Brad - I expected everyone else to seize on it.

[Maxwell] Houseflies like, never mind.

[Brad from Georgia] I never seen a elephant fly.

[Laura Leff] Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.

[ed] i ve seen butter fly

[Maxwell] You've never seen Dumbo?

[Frank J. Lhota] And horseflies like ...

[steve =shimp=]

[Brad from Georgia] Seen Dumbo? I used to date her!

[radiomaster] wow

[ed] brad...

[Laura Leff] Ah, the Mary Kelly jokes have started.

[KayLhota] poor kid

[Laura Leff] Fortunately, I've dropped 40 pounds (right on my foot) and am not nearly as subject to those jokes any more.

[Brad from Georgia] I have lost thirty pounds since November.

[Maxwell] If you miss them, you can have 40 of mine.

[Maxwell] And Brad can have another 30.

[radiomaster] i mustve found everyones...hmmm

[Laura Leff] Brad - Congrats to both of us! I started in December.

[Brad from Georgia] Still have thirty to go, alas...and have been stuck right where I am for three weeks now.

[Laura Leff] I have 30 to go as well. So good luck to both of us.

[Maxwell] Okay, that's it. Now I have to get started.

[Brad from Georgia] I can't understand it. I walk on our nature trail every day. And I stopped listening to Garrison Keillor on the Walkman, so now I go faster.

[Laura Leff] Anything else on tonight's show?

[Brad from Georgia] Some of the Mary jokes were, well, corny, but fun.

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - If you ever want to know about my cleanse program, you know where I am.

[Brad from Georgia] "Between trains."

[KayLhota] the song, "Gee But You're Swell" I recognize from a Warner Bros cartoon

[Maxwell] Phil griping about not having enough lines....

[Maxwell] That would change soon enough.

[KayLhota] but I have been trying to remember if it is "The Daffy Doc"

[steve =shimp=] Did you notice Jack fluff his brother in law's name "Hillard"?

[Laura Leff] Phil's character was still developing at this point.

[Maxwell] steve, In the 10-year testimonial to Jack Gracie Allen pronounced it that way, too.

[Brad from Georgia] I liked Jack's upper-clawss accent when he was chiding Philip about not being satisfied as a member of "our little group."

[Laura Leff] Steve - Either that, or he just said it fast. I wonder if the family might have said it that way.

[steve =shimp=] Interesting. What's that testimonial, Max? That's not ringing a bell.

[Laura Leff] Who names their child Hilliard anyway? Poor moniker...

[steve =shimp=] Sad, ye.

[Brad from Georgia] You know, I heard an interview with Andy Devine, and his voice was--really very euphonious. I never realized that he put on so much of the screechiness.

[Maxwell] NBC had a dinner for Jack in honor of his 10th anniversary (but I think it was in '41 that they had it).

[KayLhota] well the nicname of Hickey wasn't and improvement

[ed] mrs marks

[Maxwell] It's recorded, but I've only heard it once.

[steve =shimp=] What was Babe's real name?

[Maxwell] Maybe 2-3 years ago.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Really! I don't know that I've ever heard him totally out of character.

[steve =shimp=] Or WAS it BAbe?

[Brad from Georgia] LL--Supposedly he injured his throat when he was a kid, but in the interview, he's very relaxed and not gravelly at all.

[Laura Leff] Steve - It was Babe as far as I know.

[steve =shimp=] Who names a baby babe?

[Maxwell] Maybe her name was Ruth.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Oh I know the story. Just funny that it was more PR.

[steve =shimp=]

[Laura Leff] Max - You beat me to it.

[radiomaster] steve...evidently Vancouverians...lol

[Brad from Georgia] Britney Spears?

[Laura Leff] Rochester's story is similar.

[Maxwell] Ya gotta be fast around here!

[steve =shimp=] Sarah Palin?

[Laura Leff] Sarah Palin has a son named Hilliard?

[Brad from Georgia] LL-And Eddie Anderson didn't always sound as gravelly--not in Gone With the Wind, for example.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Exactly. Welcome to the studio system.

[Maxwell] Brad, it was kind of gruff, though.

[steve =shimp=] Hilliard Truck Distributor Cap Palin.

User John P. has logged out.

[KayLhota] oops we lost John

[yhtapmys] Que?

[Frank J. Lhota] I'm still here.

[Laura Leff] Well, I'm glad he shared his cufflinks story.

[KayLhota] I am too

[Maxwell] Same here.

[Brad from Georgia] Wasn't it a "Monty Python" bit where they were doing a take-off of "Jane Eyre," and Jane says, "I have to tell you, Mr. Rochester, that I really love you!" And in Eddie's voice, Rochester says, "My, my!"

[Laura Leff] Maybe he's a Republican????

[radiomaster]

[steve =shimp=] Republican, Democrat, that woman names her kid doofy things!

[yhtapmys] SCTV

[yhtapmys] Sheesh.

[ed]

[Maxwell] Bristol was named after Harvey's.

User John P. has entered this room.

[Laura Leff] You know, as long as British comedy has been introduced...

[steve =shimp=] Welcome back John

[Brad from Georgia] Yht--Right! I think I got that confused with the "Semaphore Version of 'Wuthering Heights.'"

[ed] here's johnny

[KayLhota] welcome back John

[Laura Leff] WB John...I was afraid we were boring you!

[yhtapmys] Being a Vancouverian, I know that.

[John P.] no no

[Brad from Georgia] A recovering Vancouverian?

Maxwell generally disappears when I X out the wrong window.

[Laura Leff] I've been watching the "Jeeves and Wooster" series, based on P.G. Wodehouse's books.

[Frank J. Lhota] Speaking of British comedy, are there any "Goon Show" fans here?

[Brad from Georgia] I like the "Goon Show."

[KayLhota] usually it's my husband that bounces out of here so helplessly

[steve =shimp=] Brad, have you heard of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies?

[Laura Leff] And I notice that some of the dynamic between the two seems closely connected to the Jack and Rochester dynamic.

[ed] i have heard one show on tape

[Brad from Georgia] Steve--Yes! From the film professor at our school!

[steve =shimp=] I'm looking forward to that...

[Frank J. Lhota] Is that anything like "I Walked With a Zombie"?

[Laura Leff] Spike Milligan, right?

[Maxwell] I'd walk a mile for a Zombie.

[Brad from Georgia] LL--I love that set. So much better than the David Niven/Arthur Treacher interpretations.

[Laura Leff] I'd walk a mile for a Calamel

[steve =shimp=] Apparently, it is a straight adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, but, with flesh-eating zombies added somehow.

[Frank J. Lhota] .. or "Walk Like an Egyptian"?

[Maxwell] Oh, you must mean chocolate calomel.

[KayLhota] you mean choclate calemel

[Brad from Georgia] "Elizabeth Barret must struggle against her prejudices and find love whilst battling an invasion of zombies."

[Laura Leff] Brad - Benny aside for a moment ;), I am having a hard time resisting putting the latter into queue but I see all the bad reviews of it. Seems like dream casting, though.

[Maxwell] Ya gotta be fast around here, Kay.

[Laura Leff] The Marx Brothers are having a strong influence on tonight's chat...

[KayLhota] I'm slow tonight

[steve =shimp=] http://www.chroniclebooks.com/index/main,book-info/store,books/products_id,7847/title,Pride-and-Prejudice-and-Zombies/

[Brad from Georgia] LL--Only the first one is even remotely based on a P.G.Wodehouse original. The second one presents Jeeves on his own, as a silly dupe!

[John P.] has anyone heard the Flywheel marx Bros recreations

[Laura Leff] Brad - That's what I read. Unfortunate!

[Laura Leff] John - Oh absolutely.

[Brad from Georgia] And at least the movies are short, so cue up the first one.

[John P.] the ones by the BBC

[KayLhota] I haven't heard them. Any good?

[Laura Leff] John - In fact, one of the gentlemen at our London IJBFC dinner did the British recreations of that whole series.

[Brad from Georgia] I keep thinking that guy who plays "House" would make a good Bertie Wooster.

[Laura Leff] John - Yeah...that one!

[John P.] the voices are amazing

[Laura Leff] Brad - Har har...I kept making Dan watch bits of "House" to try and get him to believe that it's the same actor.

[John P.] the writing is iffy thats why it only lasted a very short season

[Laura Leff] John - I thought it was based on the original scripts.

[John P.] it was

[Brad from Georgia] Groucho complained about the scripts.

[radiomaster] hey guys...got to get going...todays been long and tomorrow will be worse...good night all...

[John P.] but it pales to even Jacks worst IMO

[Brad from Georgia] Of course, Groucho complained about everything. Bye RM

[Laura Leff] Groucho on radio only is really good if he's semi-unscripted.

[Maxwell] So long RM. Nice meeting you!

[KayLhota] I can still remember when I saw the book of "Flywheel" scripts at the store

[steve =shimp=] thanks for stopping radiomaster

[Laura Leff] Great to see you again, RM! Be well!

User radiomaster has logged out.

[KayLhota] because I knew that they had done the radio series and I had longed to hear the shows

[KayLhota] oops we lost RM

[Brad from Georgia] LL--Going to SPERDVAC?

[Frank J. Lhota] RM said good night, so he probably left on purpose.

User steve =shimp= has logged out.

User steve =shimp= has entered this room.

[Laura Leff] TBD right now, need to see what's going on with my job.

[Brad from Georgia] Either that, Frank, or he plans his outages.

[Laura Leff] Toying with the idea of going to REPS.

[steve =shimp=] sorry, my wireless blinks out once an hour or so. It's irritating.

[Laura Leff] I'm tapering off with my current client and interviewing for a couple of consulting gigs that would involve some travel. So I just have to see.

[Brad from Georgia] I've tried to get ARTC to start the ball rolling for an OTR gathering in Atlanta, but they're just trying to survive.

[Laura Leff] Brad - That's one part of the country which really doesn't get any coverage from any of the OTR conventions.

[John P.] Folks I have to be going thanks for everything. I'll be back next month

[yhtapmys] I'd think, Brad, there'd be interest in OTR there.

[yhtapmys] OK John

[KayLhota] goodnight John

[Brad from Georgia] "It has been a quiet week in Arkham, Massachusetts. On Tuesday the Whateley boy, Wilbur, turned into a monster from outer space...."

[Laura Leff] John - Thanks so much for stopping and sharing your story!

[KayLhota] come next month

[yhtapmys] Interesting story, thanks.

[steve =shimp=] See you John!

[Maxwell] Good night John

[Brad from Georgia] Goodnight, John!

User John P. has logged out.

[ed] bye john

[Laura Leff] Hooray! Maybe a new regular! Hopefully...

[Brad from Georgia] Seems like a right nice fella.

[Frank J. Lhota] Maybe youtube can revive OTR; except it would then be NTR ...

[Laura Leff] Nothing against the rest of you...

[Laura Leff] Frank - That's a radio network.

[KayLhota] thaks Laura. I agree a new person to chat with is fun to have with us.

[Laura Leff] All things considered...

[steve =shimp=] Brad, you may be the first to exploit the "quaint" in Lovecraft...

[Brad from Georgia] It was discouraging when ARTC did its show last weekend and we had audiences of fifty people in a 125-seat room.

[ed] ait wait don't tell me

[ed] wait*

[steve =shimp=] folksy, tentacled things.

Maxwell would take umbrage, but I'm out of crayons...no raw umber to take umbrage with.

[Laura Leff] Maxwell Car Talk...

[Laura Leff] If Jack and Rochester had to battle flesh-eating zombies...what would happen?

[Laura Leff] What would it look like?

[KayLhota] whoa-- what a concept

[Brad from Georgia] "The real excitement began the next day, when Professor Armitage invited three of his colleagues to come up from Boston to perform an exorcism. We just don't get visitors from Boston all that often..."

[Laura Leff] Dennis' mother would probably come in and frighten the zombies away

[Maxwell] I picture Jack setting up a toll booth and not letting them through because they don't have any money.

[Brad from Georgia] "In Arkham, they say a piece of Doris's pie can make a dead man revive long enough to finish off the slice. Of course many things in my town have that kind of effect, but Doris's pie is among the more pleasant ones."

[KayLhota] I love it Laura

[steve =shimp=] I was watching JAWS, and thinking of Jack as Roy Scheider, Phil as Robert Shaw, and Dennis as Dreyfuss...

[Laura Leff] But I'm sure much would happen in advance...

[Laura Leff] Steve - If only I'd seen Jaws...

[Brad from Georgia] Lookit, we're gonna need a bigger boat.

[Frank J. Lhota] The Zombies would give up after trying to reason with Dennis...

[Laura Leff] Rochester would try running them over with the Maxwell

[Brad from Georgia] And instead of "Farewell and adieu," Phil could sing "The Thing."

[Frank J. Lhota] Don would convince the Zombies to eat Grape Nuts instead.

[KayLhota] that malty rich goodness in every bowl

[Laura Leff] Ed (not you, ed) would just stay down in the vault oblivious

User Frank J. Lhota has logged out.

User Frank J. Lhota has entered this room.

[ed] and eat ewell gibbons

[steve =shimp=] That's what I like about the Shark

[ed] i know LL

[Brad from Georgia] Ewell Gibbons! "Ever eat a Chevy? Many parts are edible!"

[Frank J. Lhota] Hello again.

[Maxwell] Jell-o again.

[ed] frank hi

[Laura Leff] Ewell Gibbons?

[Brad from Georgia] An advocate of eating natural foods.

[ed] he sold GNF in the 70's

[Laura Leff] I thought that was a kind of monkey

[Brad from Georgia] Like pine cones. I am not making this up.

[yhtapmys] 70s reference lost on younger viewers.

[Laura Leff] OIC

[Maxwell] LL naturalist and star of a series of Grape-Nuts ads in the '60s or '70s.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Plenty of fiber in them pine cones, y'know.

[yhtapmys] He ate tree bark.

[Maxwell] "I think they taste like wild hickory nuts.

[Maxwell] "

[Frank J. Lhota] He did commercials pointing out how many edible foods could be found in nature.

[yhtapmys] Yeah, Brad's right, and pine cones.

[Maxwell] He died not long after doing those ads.

[Brad from Georgia] "Unfortunately, I also think wild hickory nuts taste like crap" (the part they edited out)

[Laura Leff] You know, that's just the kind of person who would probably enjoy eating Grape Nuts.

[ed] wheat and barley stuff

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - I was just wondering that.

[Maxwell] Hey! I LOVE Grape Nuts!

[Laura Leff] Sounds like the guy who died on Dick Cavett's show.

[steve =shimp=] Grape nuts are good for putting under your tires, for traction, when you are stuck in the snow.

[yhtapmys] Maxwell: "Oh, so you're the one."

[KayLhota] I'd forgotten him, but I vaguely remembered his name.

[Laura Leff] Ah yes, that reminds me...I was going to eat some wheat germ.

[Frank J. Lhota] Many parts of a Hostess Ding Dong are edible too.

[KayLhota] Frank remembered him.

[Brad from Georgia] I have said this before, but Grape Nuts heated in the microwave are not terrible.

[ed] check out youtbe he maybe on it

[Laura Leff] Frank - I beg to differ with that.

[Maxwell] Brad, just remember to put the milk on them BEFORE heating.

[Maxwell] And the butter, too.

[Laura Leff] Don't heat Weetabix in the microwave, they catch fire.

[Brad from Georgia] Then you lose the sizzle.

[Laura Leff] First hand knowledge, folks.

[Brad from Georgia] Oh, Lord, I hate Weetabix.

[Brad from Georgia] We tried them in London.

[Brad from Georgia] I stuck to Kellogg's Corn Flakes after one taste.

[Laura Leff] Hey, I like Weetabix. I just can't handle much of the milk any more.

[Brad from Georgia] Of course, the rooster was wearing a monocle..

[Maxwell] You just brought back an old memory of my grandmother who used to say things tasted like Weetabix.

[Laura Leff] Brad - No no...that was Pathe.

[yhtapmys] They have Weetabix in the States?

[KayLhota] thebiggest show in town is Huckleberry Hound with all his cartoon pals

[Maxwell] Beats me.

[Brad from Georgia] Barbara thinks it's hilarious that Spike eats Weetabix soaked in blood. I told her, "Blood could only improve it."

[Maxwell] We used to think Weetabix was Swedish for ****.

[yhtapmys] Abba?

[yhtapmys]

[yhtapmys] Same thing.

[Brad from Georgia] Yes, we have Weetabix in Georgia. Our local Publix has had the exact same box on the shelves for ten years now.

[Maxwell] Some would say that, yht...including me.

[steve =shimp=] You come down and chum some of this weetabix!

[Laura Leff] Yht- Sure do. You have to know where to look.

[yhtapmys] I'd rather not, Laura.

[Brad from Georgia] What I did like about British breakfasts was the toast rack. They're years ahead of us in breakfast rackage.

[Laura Leff] So the British like cereal that turns into sawdust when milk hits it. What can you do?

[steve =shimp=] Plus baked beans and black pudding (ulp)

[Maxwell] Okay, what's black pudding?

[Laura Leff] Brad - And I understand British newlyweds obtain a great number of them on wedding.

[Frank J. Lhota] Don't the British have Captain Crunch?

[Brad from Georgia] Black pudding, I wasn't crazy about. Beans for breakfast, no. Broiled tom-AH-toes, I'll pass. Gimme that old-time toast rack.

[steve =shimp=] congealed blood yucky stuff

[Laura Leff] Black pudding is much, much, much better in Argentina.

[Brad from Georgia] Maxwell--a kind of sausage made of breadcrumbs and blood.

[Laura Leff] Mushy peas

[Maxwell] Ah...blood sausage?

[steve =shimp=] a giant, "edible" hematoma.

[Brad from Georgia] Sort of, Maxwell, but much more crumbly.

[Maxwell] Brad...gotcha.

[Maxwell] Yuck!

[Brad from Georgia] Very onion-y, too.

[Frank J. Lhota] How about that British breakfast specialty, a french fry sandwich?

[Laura Leff] I ate black pudding in England, Ireland, and Argentina all in the same year. It's much better in Argentina.

[Brad from Georgia] Gack.

[Frank J. Lhota] A Black Pudding fly likes ....

[Laura Leff] They don't use so much oatmeal and fillers...not sure what they do use, but I was happy to eat it there.

[Maxwell] Sawdust.

[steve =shimp=] Extra blood means extra yummy!

[Brad from Georgia] We did have a splendid breakfast in Inverness. Eggs, bacon (which was not like either Canadian or American bacon), kippers, etc.

[Laura Leff] Maybe Weetabix.

[steve =shimp=] Kipper? I just met her!

[Laura Leff] English bacon = ham

[Brad from Georgia] I wanted to try haggis, but Barbara threatened to leave me.

[KayLhota] I wouldn't be afraid of haggis

[steve =shimp=] Haggis is less gross than black pudding, oddly enough.

[Frank J. Lhota] IMO the best food in Britian is in the pubs.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Well, after you eat haggis, you have to toss it.

[Brad from Georgia] We did drink straight out of Loch Ness. Cold, pure water. Sixty proof.

[Maxwell] You will note that NOBODY ever talks about British cuisine.

[Brad from Georgia] "A wee sheep's stomach with the eyeballs, lungs, and guts chopped up inside it! Tastes as good as it sounds!"

[Laura Leff] I drank straight out of the Rio Mendoza flowing down from the High Andes. Pretty good.

[Maxwell] It's even better from the High Amoses.

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - So can someone explain to me why so many cooking shows nowadays have British chefs in charge?

[Brad from Georgia] "...whereas in hell the British are the cooks, the Germans are the comedians...."

[Laura Leff] Gordon Ramsey...there's a new one as well...

[Frank J. Lhota] I drank Boston water and lived to tell about it.

[Maxwell] You mean the ANGRY British chefs? Why do you think they're angry?

[Laura Leff] Brad - No, the Germans are the police

[Brad from Georgia] Yeh, I forgot the joke.

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - Oh right. Mushy peas.

[Brad from Georgia] I put mushy peas on my hot dog.

[steve =shimp=] Having tried chapulines in Oaxaca, I've got no complaints about mushy peas.

[Brad from Georgia] That's just because I don't like hot dogs.

[Maxwell] Brad needs to come to Chicago for a hot dog.

[Brad from Georgia] steve--How do you pronounce that? Woo-HOCK-ah?

[Laura Leff] The new people leave and we quickly go far away from Jack Benny.

[steve =shimp=] Wah-Ha-Ka

[Maxwell] Woonsocket?

[Brad from Georgia] I see. And how do you pronounce Oaxaca?

[Laura Leff] Steve - Are you laughing?

[KayLhota] guys, how does that joke go? The ideal world the British are the police, the French are the cooks

[steve =shimp=]

[Laura Leff] The Italians are the lovers

[steve =shimp=] chapulines are fried grasshoppers, by the way.

[KayLhota] the Germans are the engineers, the Italians a

[KayLhota] and the swiss are the organizers

[Laura Leff] And the chapulines are the fried grasshoppers.

[KayLhota] in the nightmare world the British are the cooks, the french are the engineers

[steve =shimp=]

[KayLhota] the germans are the police

[Laura Leff] The Italians are the organizers

[KayLhota] okay

[Brad from Georgia] And the chapulines are the fried grasshoppers.

[Maxwell] "Welcome to heaven. Here's your harp."

[KayLhota] and the swiss are the romantics?

[Laura Leff] The Swiss are the lovers I think

[Brad from Georgia] No, they're the chapulines.

[Maxwell] "Welcome to Hell. Here's your accordion."

[Laura Leff] And the chapulines are the police

[yhtapmys] In Heaven, Jack asked about a violin..

[Brad from Georgia] "Why do you bagpipers always march when you play?" "Och, laddie, we're tryin' tae get awa' from that horrible noise!"

[Laura Leff] OK...can anyone explain to me what the "Play an accordion, go to jail. It's the law!" bumper stickers are about?

[Maxwell] The chapulines are making their way from Champaign-Urbana to Chicago.

[yhtapmys] And they told him his playing belonged in the other place.

[KayLhota] I was trying to remember that joke, I swear to you, only yesterday

[steve =shimp=] Peter Graves will save you Maxwell.

[Laura Leff] And the fried grasshoppers are the lovers

[Maxwell] steve Thank heaven!

[Brad from Georgia] For leetle grasshoppairs...

[Laura Leff] For Seven Eleven

[Maxwell] Kay is psychic.

[steve =shimp=] We must really terrify any unsuspecting Jack Benny fans.

[Brad from Georgia] We gots serious grasshoppers in these hyar parts. We gots these jobbies we call "lubbers."

[KayLhota] yes, it was spooky to have the conversation unfold like that

[Brad from Georgia] They four inches long, jet black, with red racin' stripes. And you know what--I'm not exaggerating. They scare me.

yhtapmys fortunately isn't paying attention

[Laura Leff] Steve - Well, that's why I try to hold more to topic when there's anyone new!

[Laura Leff] Brad - And if they're on land, they're land lubbers.

[Maxwell] And sometimes you even succeed! But that's despite the rest of us.

[Brad from Georgia] In psychology, such a convergence of elements is called "thematic apperception." In entomology, it's called a grasshopper.

[Maxwell] What's the etymology of entomology?

[Laura Leff] And if you fry it, it's called a fried grasshopper.

[Brad from Georgia] One thing about it, you fry up one o' them lubbers, yore fambly gone eat for a WEEK.

[steve =shimp=] Those little legs are hard to get out from between your teeth.

[Brad from Georgia] Talk about drumsticks, though.

[Maxwell] More drumsticks than a John Madden turkey.

[Brad from Georgia] That's what I like about the South.

[KayLhota] do wah diddy

[Brad from Georgia] "Mama's out in the yard with a chopper, Gone fry up a big grasshopper..."

[Laura Leff] should I even bother to ask what else Benny-wise is on everyone's mind?

[Laura Leff] Or just whether Kay has anything else we can help her remember?

[Frank J. Lhota] Now in seven delicious flavors: lemon, lime, cherry, lubbers, ....

[Maxwell] Is this supposed to be about Jack Benny?

[KayLhota] what are you planning for us to listen to next month?

[steve =shimp=]

[Laura Leff] Dunno...what you wanna hear?

[Brad from Georgia] Oh, oh! Was "Lena" in the Jack Benny Show the prototype for "Lena the Hyena" in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"

[Laura Leff] Or talk about?

[Brad from Georgia] I really want to know.

[Laura Leff] Brad - I've seen the movie, but I don't remember the character.

[Maxwell] We'll talk about whatever comes to mind. Now all we need is something to listen to as a pretext.

[Laura Leff] I'm always happy to surprise you if you'd like.

[Brad from Georgia] Eddie Valliant mistakes her for Jessica--she turns and screams, "A MA-YUN!" and chases him down the hall and out the window.

[KayLhota] a surprise is nice.

[Maxwell] A surprise show from April!

[Maxwell] Maybe an Easter Parade show?

[Laura Leff] Brad - I don't think Lena got enough air time, and was a little more the giggly-type than the man-chasing type. There were lots of those.

[Laura Leff] OK, let me see what's interesting that is time-coincident.

[yhtapmys] Brad, that's an old Elvia Allman line, isn't it.

[yhtapmys] ?

[Maxwell] LL sounds good to me.

[yhtapmys] When she did Cobina on the Bob Hope show.

[KayLhota] Oh, Laura-- I finished reading "Sunday Nights at Seven" for the radio station in MA

[Laura Leff] I noticed today that Iris Adrian was in the original "That Darn Cat"

[steve =shimp=] Yeah, sounds like an Elvia Allman in my head, Yht.

[Laura Leff] Kay - Ah great! How did it go?

[Laura Leff] Steve- Maybe Brenda and Cobina

[steve =shimp=] Iris Adrian did a lot of 70s Disney stuff.

[KayLhota] I think it went well., They are supposed to send me a disc with the 16 hours of recordings on MP3s

[Laura Leff] Any chance they'd let us put it in our audio library?

[KayLhota] I had a lot of fun reading it along with Stan Troupe

[KayLhota] If they send it to me, I will send it to you

[Laura Leff] Cool...thanks!

[KayLhota] and if you like it, you are welcome to it

[Brad from Georgia] Just wondered. The voices were similar. Just checked on IMDB, and Lena's voice isn't listed.

[Laura Leff] Well, I think Blanche Stewart was dead by that time.

[Brad from Georgia] Oh--I said earlier that the lady who voiced the Little Mermaid lives in our town now...my daughter is playing the Little Mermaid for the Atlanta Puppetry Arts Center, so...

[Laura Leff] So what else?

[Frank J. Lhota] For next time, how about the Decc 7 1941 show?

[Brad from Georgia] We're going to invite the actress to the show as our guest!

[Laura Leff] Frank - Again?

[yhtapmys] Does it live in infamy?

[Maxwell] We should save that for Dec. 7, 1991.

[Brad from Georgia] Yes, but this time without the bombers.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Might be cool if the character has a mother

[KayLhota] Frank's heard that show recently

[KayLhota] let's give him one he hasn't heard

[Laura Leff] I see...I know we used it at some point for a chat.

[yhtapmys] I was listening to the Fred Allen King For a Day show today. Geez, it's funny.

[Brad from Georgia] How about the infamous "lost" show?

[Laura Leff] Yht - I think we used that one as well!

[Brad from Georgia] The one no one talks about:?

[yhtapmys] There's a "lost" show?

[Laura Leff] Brad - What, shoelaces? We did that too.

[steve =shimp=] There are lots of lost shows!

[Brad from Georgia] Yes, no one's ever heard about it.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Except me, probably.

[Maxwell] So it really isn't lost.

[Brad from Georgia] No, I don't think so, because I just made it up.

[Laura Leff] Well, I went out of my way to find all the lost shows.

[Brad from Georgia] Oh, well.....

[Brad from Georgia] How about a nice Easter Parade ep? I know of a couple.

[Laura Leff] The only one I couldn't find was Mary's first appearance.

[Maxwell] Is Lost still on the air?

[yhtapmys] Sigh. I guess no more will ever show up, Laura.

[Brad from Georgia] There's one where Jack and Mary sing the song from "Easter Parade." Not that one, the other song.

[Laura Leff] Yht - Well, don't be too hasty. I know where there are some, but I don't know which ones.

[Maxwell] yht You never know what somebody might have in an attic that ends up in an estate sale.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Which they did a few times.

[yhtapmys] Oh, in the quarantined basement?

[Laura Leff] Yht - Well, there too. But I was thinking of another collection.

[Brad from Georgia] Yep, one of those. A nice Easter show.

[Laura Leff] OK, I'll find an Easter show. Easter Columbia, Broadway at Ninth.

[yhtapmys] With Elmer Fudd.

[yhtapmys] Wasn't he in a couple of them?

[Brad from Georgia] Oh that's right! He sells Jack some Wukky Stwikes.

[Laura Leff] Sure was

[Laura Leff] Arthur Q. Bryan

[KayLhota] he did a 1943 show, Was it Algiers or Brazil?

[yhtapmys] As Waymond Wadcwiffe.

[Laura Leff] Oh please...not Brazil...

[KayLhota] wight

[KayLhota] lazy lazy

[yhtapmys] He was on, I think Cantor's show doing the same character.

[Laura Leff] Aughhhh

[Laura Leff] Unfunny unfunny

[KayLhota] I heard him as Waymond on a Dinah shore program

[Laura Leff] Sort of like Kitzel

[yhtapmys] No, it was somewhere else, Kay.

[Maxwell] Maybe that's why Dinah Shores are extinct.

[Frank J. Lhota] Who here has heard Arthur Q. Bryan play a gnagster?

[Brad from Georgia] I heard him as Cwawence the Angel on the radio version of "It's A Wonderful Life."

[Laura Leff] It's actually pretty cool to see him in person in one of the shorts in the video library.

[Frank J. Lhota] gangster?

[yhtapmys] Gnagster?

[yhtapmys] Just one rehearsal!!

[Frank J. Lhota] retsgnag?

[Laura Leff] Is that like a flesh-eating zombie?

[Brad from Georgia] What's a gnagster? A fried grasshopper?

[KayLhota] hey, the inevitable was Mr. Potter on that show

[Laura Leff] Or more like a fried grasshopper?

[Maxwell] Pronounced Nagster.

[yhtapmys] I'd gnag on that.

[yhtapmys] Hey, Kay, have you seen Hans in The Alphabet Conspiracy?

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - I thought that was an illegal music-sharing system.

[Brad from Georgia] I still say he's Harry Potter. I know it says Henry, but his friends call him Harry. Of course he doesn't have any.

[steve =shimp=] Gried frasshoppers fall somewhere between grassreeks and chiss sweeze. Your moment of Zen.

[Maxwell] I was just about to write that, LL.

[KayLhota] Yes, I have seen it. In fact I saw it in school when I was a girl 40 years ago

[Laura Leff] Steve - Let's fry Jim Cramer now.

Maxwell saw it on TV over 50 years ago.

[Frank J. Lhota] Arthur Q. Bryant playing a zombie? "I want your bwains ..."

[Laura Leff]

[steve =shimp=]

[yhtapmys] Kiww the zombie!

[Maxwell] With Richard Denning as Mr. North and Dr. Frank Baxter as Mrs. North.

[Brad from Georgia] "This ought to gwind their bones vewwy nicewy."

[KayLhota] The Alphabet Conspiracy is a trip!

[yhtapmys] Hans is very good in it.

[Maxwell] Or was Richard Denning in that one?

[yhtapmys] I saw it for the first time a couple of weeks ago.

[Brad from Georgia] At the writer's meeting today, I was the only one who recalled who played the advice-to-the-lovelorn columnest "Dear Phoebe."

[Brad from Georgia] Columnist.

[yhtapmys] No, MAxwell, he was replaced by Desi Arnaz.

[Maxwell] Brad: Starring Peter Lawford.

[KayLhota] I saw it for the first time in nearly 40 years just last year

[Brad from Georgia] Yup.

[Laura Leff] Who is Richard Denning?

[Brad from Georgia] A fried grasshopper.

[Laura Leff] Oh, got it.

[yhtapmys] He was replaced by Desi Arnaz.

[KayLhota] He was My Favorite Husband (aside from Frank)

[Maxwell] He was Lucille Ball's husband in My Favorite Husband and Mr. North in Mr. and Mrs. North on TV.

[Maxwell] And radio.

[steve =shimp=] And he killed the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

[Laura Leff] I thought Richard Denning was a flesh-eating zombie named Hilliard.

[steve =shimp=] Who looks much like a fried grasshopper

[Maxwell] And led three lives.

[yhtapmys] Did he have two shows?

[Maxwell] In I Led Three Lives.

[Brad from Georgia] No, the Creature was only pinin' for the fijords. He came back for two sequels.

[Laura Leff] Ah, we've all been well-trained in the "rerun" device of comedy perfected by Jack's writers...

[Brad from Georgia] Who were fried grasshoppers.

[Frank J. Lhota] I led three lives as a Communist for the FBI

[steve =shimp=] Revenge of the Grasshopper and the Grasshopper Hops Among Us

[Laura Leff] Sarah Palin had a son named the Creature?

[Maxwell] Herb Philbrick.

[steve =shimp=] Creech Palin

Maxwell remembers Denning talking to himself a lot via voiceover.

[Frank J. Lhota] That was beyond the Palin

[Brad from Georgia] Good old Herb Philbrick. Red as they come.

[Laura Leff] No no...that's Creech Marin

[Maxwell] No, that was Kim Philby.

[Laura Leff] Creech and Crong

[Maxwell] Philbie?

[Maxwell] Phillie Cheese Steak?

[steve =shimp=] The Creature gets really, really baked in that sequel.

[Brad from Georgia] Good old Kim Philby. I love Korean coleslaw.

[Maxwell] Well, who would want a half-baked sequel?

[steve =shimp=] Chapulines, now baked, not fried.

[Laura Leff] Unfortunately, an awful lot of Hollywood executives these days.

[steve =shimp=] O grams Trans Fat

[Brad from Georgia] In the third Creature sequel, they actually surgically remove the gills from the beastie. And Jack takes it on a date for New Year's Eve.

[Maxwell] Gladys was working?

[steve =shimp=] Creechie? Jack, is that the girl you sued when she cut you with her buck teeth?

[Brad from Georgia] It was a ploy to make Gladys jealous.

[Laura Leff] I kissed her at midnight and got slime all over me.

[KayLhota] good lord, the bugs have overrun this chatroom

User ed has logged out.

[Brad from Georgia] Ehhhh...what's up, Kay?

[Maxwell] They just passing Paxton on U.S. 45.

[Maxwell] They're

[KayLhota] too many grasshoppers

[Maxwell] Meaning the grasshoppers.

[steve =shimp=] Quick, lure 'em into lake Michigan, with a loudspeaker!

[Laura Leff] Invasion of the Fried Grasshoppers...tonight on the IJBFC chat!

[steve =shimp=] See "Beginning of the End" to get the joke...

[Maxwell] Actually they should have turned back once they got a look at Kankakee.

[Laura Leff] C'mere grasshoppers! C'mere little grasshoppers!

[Brad from Georgia] "Why do you call me 'Grasshopper,' Master?" "Because I snigger everytime I use your real name, Hilliard. teehee."

[Frank J. Lhota] I've only seen the MST3K version.

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - Or Gary Indiana

[Maxwell] Pronounced Hillard.

[steve =shimp=] Beginning of the End has such cheap special effects, that they put real grasshoppers on photographs of the Chicago skyline.

Maxwell grew up in Kankakee and taught in Gary. You're right.

[steve =shimp=] At some points, they just walk off the buildings and onto the "sky".

[Brad from Georgia] Ya know, if you crossed "Beginning of the End" and "Them!" you'd get a whole slew o' bugs.

[Laura Leff] Steve - I thought Ed Wood was dead.

[steve =shimp=] Well, this was of his era, but Bert I. Gordon did it - and he's still alive!

[Brad from Georgia] They did the same thing with the original "Blob." The Blob engulfs a photo of the diner towards the end.

[Maxwell] Good old Bert I. Gordon.

[Brad from Georgia] Not the mad Russian, but the other guy.

[Laura Leff] You know the Blob was written by woman who was in "Buck Benny", right?

[Maxwell] He was a favorite victim on MST3K.

[steve =shimp=] Mr. BIG... all of his movies had gigantic or shrunken things as plot elements.

[Brad from Georgia] Did it write back?

[steve =shimp=] LOL!

[Laura Leff] Brad - No, it just sent money.

[Frank J. Lhota] Bert I. Gordon made it big in movies by making everything big in his movies.

[steve =shimp=] RIP Kay Linaker

[Brad from Georgia] Do you have its address?

[steve =shimp=] She seemed like she was pretty cool. Wish I had met her.

[Brad from Georgia] Right, I did use to know about Kay.

[Laura Leff] Yeah, Kay was great.

[KayLhota] I enjoyed meeting her

[steve =shimp=] There's a mini-doc about her on a Charlie Chan DVD I have.

[Maxwell] Did she bring grasshoppers with her?

[KayLhota] Hey, Laura-- ever coming back our way?

[Laura Leff] Kay - TBD right now.

[Brad from Georgia] Hey, I'm in "Romeo and Juliet" at our school, and our vocal coach works with the Pearl Theater in NY--I recognized her from some "Law and Order" episodes.

[Maxwell] I think every actor in NYC has been in at least one episode of L&O.

[Brad from Georgia] That's what she told me!

[Frank J. Lhota] I'm still here.

[Maxwell] What year is it in now? 19?

[KayLhota] maybe some other year, Laura

[Laura Leff] Hopefully so.

[Brad from Georgia] I'm hardly going to be in "R&J," really. The director keeps cutting my role down.

[Frank J. Lhota] In the making of the chat, no real grasshoppers were harmed in any way.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Poor Mercutio

[Brad from Georgia] No, I play the grasshopper.

[Brad from Georgia] Actually, I'm Lord Montague.

[yhtapmys] If they cast you as Yorick, then you're in trouble.

[Laura Leff] Fie my fingers itch!

[Maxwell] Hmmm...I'm a Capulet.

[Laura Leff] Oh right, that's Lord Capulet.

[Laura Leff] I just love that line.

[Brad from Georgia] "Many a morning hath he there been seen, with tears augmenting the fresh morning's dew..."

[Maxwell] When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way....

[Brad from Georgia] "Adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sighs, but all so soon as the all-cheering sun..."

[Maxwell] Oops...wrong version.

[Laura Leff] Maxwell -

[Brad from Georgia] Dang it, the director wants to cut both me and Capulet from the last scene! And I want to raise that statue in pure gold, I tell ya!

[steve =shimp=] Brad's in "South Side Story"

[Laura Leff] One of our rabbits is a crazy young rabbit and he loves running around like a nut. Dan then saw a bit of "West Side Story" and now sings to him, "Crazy boy, fuzzy boy...be cool boy!"

[Maxwell] The Capones vs. the Morans.

[Frank J. Lhota] "Alas poor Yorick, he smoked Lucky Strikes..."

[Brad from Georgia] "In fair ole Verona, Georga, we done gone lay air scene."

[Brad from Georgia] "Whut light through yonder winder breaks? Whoo-ee! It's the East, and purty ole Juliet is the sun!"

[Laura Leff] Y'all seen what a skerge is done laid upon yer hates?

[Brad from Georgia] 'Twarn't never no story o' more woe, then this hyar dang tale o' Julet an' her Romeo.

[Laura Leff] Ah, aren't we the simultaneous high and low-brow humor afficionados...

[Maxwell] Maria, I just kissed a guy named Maria...And suddenly that name will never be the same to me....

[Brad from Georgia] I wanted to play the Apothecary.

[Laura Leff] That was the Oscar Wilde version

[Frank J. Lhota] Juliet's father should be played by Jack Benny; Romeo's father should be played by Fred Allen.

[Laura Leff] Brad - What do you want to carry?

[Maxwell] Oscar was pretty Wilde.

[Laura Leff] Apoth?

[steve =shimp=] Pretty, and witty, and Gay!

[Laura Leff] Frank - That's actually an excellent thought...wish Love Thy Neighbor was more like that!

[Brad from Georgia] "Place but three drops of this in any liquid soever and drink it straight, and had you the strength of twenty men, it shall be your end! Side effects are rare, but include dry mouth, dizziness, diarrhea, and living."

[Frank J. Lhota] Oscar Wilde? You mean the victorian hippie?

[Laura Leff] The Victorian Truman Capote more like.

[steve =shimp=] Ever see Capote in "Murder by Death"?

[KayLhota] I did

[Laura Leff] Split screen of Wilde and Capote simultaneously waving a scarf and saying "Bergdorff's".

[Frank J. Lhota] Yes, he was awful.

[Brad from Georgia] "Our Town" is raw, but "Earnest" is milder, 'Cause Oscar's Wilde, but Thornon's Wilder.

[Laura Leff] Steve - I need to see that.

[steve =shimp=] The movie is hilarious, even if Capote is pretty bad.

[Brad from Georgia] Lionel Twain.

[Frank J. Lhota] They would have been better off having Rich Little play Truman Capote.

[steve =shimp=] who lives at two two twain.

[Laura Leff] Cut in Twain

[Brad from Georgia] "I am standing."

[steve =shimp=] Hey, Arthur Q. Bryant could have played that role!

[KayLhota] he was dead by then

[Laura Leff] Too bad Philip Seymour Hoffman was too young.

[steve =shimp=] In spirit.

[Laura Leff] Choo Choo Twain

[Brad from Georgia] Kay--Even so, he would have been better.

[Frank J. Lhota] "Be vewy vewy quiet ..."

[Laura Leff] full of fried grasshoppers and flesh-eating zombies

[KayLhota] yeah I was thinking that

[Frank J. Lhota] The part of grasshopper should be played by David Carrodine

[Laura Leff] Maybe the zombies could munch on the grasshoppers

[KayLhota] yum yum

[KayLhota] eat em up

[steve =shimp=] There was a sketch comedy show called Exit 57

[Maxwell] This just in: The Grasshoppers are passing Gilman.

[Laura Leff] fish heads fish heads roly poly fish heads

[steve =shimp=] Where they did a parody of those 50s bug attack movies

[Brad from Georgia] Oh--at the writers' meeting this afternoon, Bill didn't remember who Mr. Kitzel was, so I did the little bit where Kitzel is going back to the Old Country on vacation...."Irelant."

[Maxwell] Better that than passing Gas.

[Brad from Georgia] Bill did a spit take!

[steve =shimp=] With a ladybug. It sat, peacefully munching vegetation.

[steve =shimp=] Attack of the giant ladybug!!!

[Laura Leff] 30-foot Bride of Candy Rock

[Maxwell] or The Beginning of the Middle.

[KayLhota] I just realized that Frank has not been knocked out of the room for a long time!

[Brad from Georgia] "She's gone! What did you do to it?" "Told her her house was on fire."

[Laura Leff] Kay - Should we fix that?

[KayLhota] NO

[Laura Leff] Just asking.

[Laura Leff] :)(

[KayLhota] I'm glad he's here

[Laura Leff]

[steve =shimp=] LOL, Brad, they actually do that at the end of the skit!

[Laura Leff] We are too

[KayLhota] even with the gresshoppers

[Laura Leff] hopping over gress near you

[Frank J. Lhota] [Frank has NOT logged out]

[Brad from Georgia] True fact: My mountain mom and dad always called them "Hoppergrasses," which I find oddly charming.

[Laura Leff] Grasshoppers spit tobacco

[Maxwell] And they fail to prepare for winter.

[Frank J. Lhota] But do they know LSMFT?

[Laura Leff] Hard to get off your hands when you catch them

[Brad from Georgia] Yep. Except these lubbers. I think they spit the same thing the critter spat in "Alen."

[Laura Leff] Fred Alen?

[Laura Leff] I'd spit at Fred Alen too

[Maxwell] Brad's alen.

[Brad from Georgia] Ever play with June bugs? We used to harness them and tote them around like little buzzing balloons.

[Maxwell] He probably should see a doctor.

[Laura Leff] I played with July bugs

[Brad from Georgia] Same difference. They just appear up North a month later.

[Maxwell] We fry june bugs. We start by splitting them in half with june cleaver.

[Brad from Georgia] I recall them as having an oddly metallic smell.

[Laura Leff] And I was in Michigan, so there you go.

[Laura Leff] Brad - You don't want to know about that.

[Brad from Georgia] They are actually rare in these parts now. Not many cornfields any more.

[Laura Leff] So, what else is bugging everyone?

[Brad from Georgia] The June bugs, I mean.

[Laura Leff] Well, you keep frying and eating the grasshoppers, so I'm not surprised.

[Frank J. Lhota] Time flies.

[Laura Leff] Are we good for this month?

[Maxwell] I just want to re-mention that Chuck Schaden has announced his retirement from radio effective the end of June.

[Laura Leff] Not trying to shoo people (or bugs)

[Brad from Georgia] True fact: In every John Ford western in which he appears, Andy Devine makes at least one reference to "frijole beans."

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - Ah yes, that's right.

[Maxwell] Just a couple of months after his 39th anniversary.

[Brad from Georgia] Will no one take up his mantle?

[Laura Leff] Brad - I think I read that in some trivia book.

[Laura Leff] Brad - He's taking the fireplace with him.

[Maxwell] Steve Darnall is replacing him. He publishes the magazine that Schaden used to publish.

[Laura Leff] Didn't he appear in "Little Miss Sunshine?

[Brad from Georgia] The film teacher at school and I are toying with the notion of writing an academic article: "The Frijole Bean Motif in the Films of John Ford."

[Maxwell] Never saw it.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Sounds like the books I see in McFarland's catalog

[Frank J. Lhota] Eventually all radio will be replaced with podcasts.

[Laura Leff] And the recent remake of "Get Smart"?

[Maxwell] Never saw that either.

[KayLhota] that was a waste of celuloid

[Laura Leff] That's what I heard. I didn't see it.

[Brad from Georgia] "This is the twenty-first podcast in the seventieth series of the new Jell-O program..."

[Frank J. Lhota] Sorry about that film, chief.

[Maxwell] The last movie I saw was the last Star Trek movie.

[Brad from Georgia] Kay--I thought it had its moment.

[Maxwell] Singular, eh?

[KayLhota] did it? I loved the original series too much to want to see it remade

[Brad from Georgia] Maxwell--Are you planning to see the new last Star Trek movie? yes, singular.

[Laura Leff] Dan and I did a double-header one night of "Milk" and "Doubt".

[Maxwell] Probably.

[KayLhota] but, I am glad that you enjoyed it

[Maxwell] Now that Berman is no longer involved.

[Brad from Georgia] Really, I laughed once during "Get Smart."

[Laura Leff] Ingmar Berman?

[Maxwell] Shelly.

[steve =shimp=] The Seventh Spock?

[Brad from Georgia] Mary Shelly?

[Laura Leff] Where Kirk and Spock go back to the Catskills to find...

[Frank J. Lhota] How about a triple feature of "She", "It" and "Them!"?

[Laura Leff] BRB

[Brad from Georgia] I don't like the idea of them scrambling up the Offiial ST Chronology.

[Maxwell] Shelly Winters.

[Brad from Georgia] Lord knows, when I was writing ST books, Paramount had a whole team go over my manuscripts to make sure they didn't violate the Gospel.

[Maxwell] Heck, they started doing that when Chris Berman took over the franchise when Roddenberry died.

[Laura Leff] Folks...keep going, but I just got a call from my tax person so I won't be paying attention for a bit...

[Brad from Georgia] Don't like "Smallville" either, same reason.

[Frank J. Lhota] Casting Spock? Again, why not Arthur Q. Briant: "Highwy iwwogicaw..."

[Brad from Georgia] Worst ST moment for me: the Galactic Speed Limit.

[Brad from Georgia] Which they forgot next season, but still...

[Frank J. Lhota] Warp 6: it's a law we can live with...

[Maxwell] Nah...it was the Pledge of Allegiance. That was a horrible moment.

[Maxwell] The Yangs and the Comms.

[Maxwell] Or Combs.

[yhtapmys] Brad, Smallville's a show for teenaged girls.

[Maxwell] Or whatever.

[Brad from Georgia] My wife is older than that and watches it.

[Brad from Georgia] Of course, she watches all the supernatural shows...what's with all the shows about a detective who is or has been a pretend psychic?

[Frank J. Lhota] Who does Clark Kent take to the senior prom?

[Maxwell] I still watch the George Reeves episodes.

[Brad from Georgia] There are a whole grasshopperload of them on the air now.

[Maxwell] I never progressed beyond the George Reeves episodes.

[Frank J. Lhota] I like the Fleischer Superman cartoons.

[Frank J. Lhota] What about Mighty Mouse?

[Maxwell] And when they play them, I listen to Bud Colyer on the radio.

[Brad from Georgia] Frank--I liked the early ones, but when the vehicles stopped being rubberized, I felt they got away from their roots.

[yhtapmys] The cartoons are great; the Reeves shows have those great Jack Shaindlin scores.

[Maxwell] I liked the Phyllis Coates season. They had more of a B-movie feel to them.

[Brad from Georgia] At a Comics Con I heard a recreation of a Superman episode, with, oh, what's his name, the Laugh-In announcer as Superman/Kent.

[Maxwell] Gary Owens?

[KayLhota] Gary Owens

[Brad from Georgia] And the guy who does Pinky on Pinky and the Brain as the villain, right, Garry Owens.

[KayLhota] he would have been good

[Brad from Georgia] No, one r--I'm thinking of the song.

[Frank J. Lhota] The origional Space Ghost; also Roger Ramjet.

[Maxwell] Bud Collyer did a great job of changing his tone from Kent to Superman.

[yhtapmys] Brad are you thinking what I'm thinking?

[Brad from Georgia] I think so, yth, but how can we persuade a fried grasshopper to wear a see-through bra?

[yhtapmys] Heh.

[Maxwell]

[yhtapmys] We set em up and knock em down.

[steve =shimp=] I'll have one of what Brad's drinking.

[yhtapmys] We'll be at the Palace in no time.

[Frank J. Lhota] Don: "Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive..."

[Brad from Georgia] There's actually a "P&tB" episode told from Pinky's point of view in which...IT ALL MAKES SENSE!

[Frank J. Lhota] Don: "... so round, so firm, so fully packed ..."

[Maxwell] I like the P&tB episode that has the Orson Welles rant.

User KayLhota has logged out.

[yhtapmys] Geez, that's a great idea.

[Brad from Georgia] "I defy anyone to say that line."

User KayLhota has entered this room.

[Brad from Georgia] Hey, Kay!

[Frank J. Lhota] Hey Kay, I'm supposed to do that.

[yhtapmys] Hi K

[Maxwell] IN July.

[KayLhota] now, I've been knocked out

[KayLhota] whoops

[Maxwell] The internet wins by a KO.

[Frank J. Lhota] This must be the work of the fiddler.

[KayLhota] yeah, you got that

[steve =shimp=] *slap*

[Laura Leff] I'm back

[Brad from Georgia] "Well, we didn't have any grape jelly,"

[Maxwell] I'm front.

[yhtapmys] I'm Dickens

[KayLhota] and back in

[Brad from Georgia] He's Fenster.

[Maxwell] He's Fenster.

[steve =shimp=] I'm Fester!

[Brad from Georgia] Beat ya!

[Maxwell] Darn!

[Laura Leff] I'm Spartacus!

[Frank J. Lhota] I'm not a crook.

[Brad from Georgia] Fester Bestertester!

[Maxwell] And his sidekick Karbunkle.

[Laura Leff] I see nothing much has changed since I left...

[steve =shimp=] Karbunkle Fester?

[Laura Leff] Is Karbunkle Blue?

[KayLhota] nope, they are still playing with their grasshoppers

[Laura Leff] (For Sherlock Holmes fans)

[Maxwell] When Karbunkle gets blue....

[Laura Leff] and spitting tobacco

[steve =shimp=] The Adventure of the Blue Kerfunkle.

[KayLhota] want to cook your goose? slip in a blue carbunkle

[Laura Leff] Hey...someone who really knows the story!

[KayLhota] I do

[steve =shimp=] What, like we're not classy?

[Laura Leff] I can see that?

[Brad from Georgia] Friends, you can have a grand Christmas meal with just a goose and a diamond the size of a pigeon's egg. Here's wha tyou do....

[Laura Leff] So what are we talking about?

[KayLhota] I don't know

[steve =shimp=]

[Maxwell] Ya got me hangin'.

[Brad from Georgia] The Shadow knows.

[Laura Leff] Welcome to Blue Peter

[Brad from Georgia] Don't work blue, Laura.

[Laura Leff] Which sounds like porn for anyone not familiar with British TV

[Maxwell] Anybody know the real story of why Blue Coal was called Blue Coal?

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - I think I heard it, but feel free to refresh my memory

[Brad from Georgia] Hah! How about "Spotted Dick?"

[KayLhota] actually, I don't know at all

[Maxwell] They used to dye the occasional lump of coal blue.

[Maxwell] Hence Blue Coal.

[KayLhota] why dye it?

[Brad from Georgia] And if you found the blue lump, you got a prize.

[Maxwell] So they could call it Blue Coal.

[Laura Leff] Kay - Maybe it was overweight

[Brad from Georgia] Turpentine, so you could take the paint off.

[KayLhota] hmm

[Brad from Georgia] Blue coal of Kentucky, keep on shinin'

[Maxwell] After all, anthracite is anthracite.

[Maxwell] So to distinguish yours, you make it Blue Coal.

[Brad from Georgia] Anthracite for sore eyes.

[Laura Leff] As opposed to fried grasshoppers which may be anthropods

[Brad from Georgia] Arthopods.

[Maxwell] Arthropod...as in, It's Arthropod Godfrey Time.

[steve =shimp=] anthropods are human feet

[Brad from Georgia] You're thinking of Anthropoids.

[KayLhota] oh no

[Frank J. Lhota] I'm going to say goodnight now, it's been fun.

[Brad from Georgia] A octopus done is got Albert.

[Maxwell] Frank can't take it anymore!

[Brad from Georgia] Me too....spring break ends tomorrow....good night all!

[Maxwell] Good night Frank.

[KayLhota] goodnight Brad

[Maxwell] Good night Brad.

[Maxwell] My semester break is next week.

User Brad from Georgia has logged out.

[steve =shimp=] Yeah, time to go for me too. I've got the end of our spring break too. Teaching tomorrow!

[Maxwell] Spring break.

[Frank J. Lhota] I imagine I can view the chat transcript at http://www.nbc.com/blue/grasshopper.htm

[Laura Leff] Arthropods are animals belonging to the Phylum Arthropoda (from Greek ἄρθρον arthron, "joint", and ποδός podos "foot", which together mean "jointed feet") and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. Arthropods are characterized by the poss

[Frank J. Lhota] Good night folks.

[Laura Leff] OK, let's call it good.

[KayLhota] goodnight all

[Maxwell] It is good.

[steve =shimp=] Night all! See you next month.

[Laura Leff] Thanks for stopping all! It's been downright bizarre!

[Maxwell] Good night all!

User steve =shimp= has logged out.

[Maxwell] Yup, I think we really hit our stride this month.

[Maxwell] G'night everybody (left)!

User Maxwell has logged out.

[Laura Leff] Or felled our arch

[KayLhota] it was bizarre

User Frank J. Lhota has logged out.

[Laura Leff] Good night Kay, Yht

[KayLhota] but a lot of fun

[Laura Leff] Oh right, Yht isn't paying attention.

[yhtapmys] OK Laura

[Laura Leff] Let's go hide!

[KayLhota] I kept belly laughing and my son Jonathan kept asking Frank and I what was funny

[Laura Leff] Night!

[KayLhota] couldn't explain the jokes

[yhtapmys] I'm some surfing.

[Laura Leff] You had to be there

[KayLhota] yeah

[yhtapmys] Interesting Pat C. Flick stuff.

[Laura Leff] OK, I'm seriously leaving.

[yhtapmys] He later went to write on TV.

[Laura Leff] See you next month!

[yhtapmys] Night Laura.

[yhtapmys] See you Kay.

[KayLhota] he's a hoot as Cactus Face

[Laura Leff] Yht - Cool! Glad his career was that long!

[KayLhota] goodnight