Not With My Wife, You Don't (1966)

Not With My Wife, You Don't by #NormanPanama starring #TonyCurtis, #VirnaLisi and #GeorgeCScott, "a charmer of a film but it runs far too long and drags in its final third"

NORMAN PANAMA Bil’s rating (out of 5): BB.5 USA, 1966. Fernwood Productions, Reynard Productions. Story by Norman Panama, Melvin Frank, Screenplay by Norman Panama, Larry Gelbart, Peter Barnes. Cinematography by Charles Lang. Produced by Norman Panama. Music by John Williams. Production Design by Edward Carrere. Costume Design by Edith Head. Film Editing by Aaron Stell. Norman Panama struggles to…

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Saul of the Mole Men #1: “A New Friend” | February 12, 2007 - 12:00AM | S01E01 Revised version first aired April 17, 2007 @ 12:15

Imagine you’re watching a movie. A character in the movie turns on the TV, and there’s a show that’s too stupid to REALLY exist in the real world. TV shows are already a heightened form of reality, and so are movies, so when the character watches this show, chances are it’s going to be pretty dumb by our standards. But because the movie person lives in a heightened version of reality, it only makes sense that the TV show will be a heightened version of that heightened reality. That movie character is used to this version of television. But, we as the audience watching the movie are not. 

Very simply, you have what you’d refer to as a “fake show”. These usually exist so you can watch a movie character watch the show, giggle at how stupid it is, and maybe also giggle at how stupid the character is for liking it, or how notice how cool and relatable they are for not liking it. Sometimes, not often, but SOMETIMES, the show is actually fully produced to some extent and included as an extra feature on the special edition DVD. Isn’t that neat? 

Fake shows exist on TV, as well, usually serving some allegorical function. “Invitation to Love” on Twin Peaks. “Terrance and Phillip” on South Park. “Pscyho Dad” on Married… With Children. That sort of thing. This blurs the concept of “Fake shows” altogether.

You’d think this was a simple concept, but it’s not. In fact, there is yet another step towards the uncanny: the “fake shows” that exist in real life. Some of them are a little less vague because they are broad genre parodies (Fernwood Tonight*, Night Stand with Dick Deitrich). But for some of them, the joke is that they exist at all. Those are the truly uncanny ones: That’s My Bush!. Let’s Bowl. And this: Saul of the Mole Men. 

Saul of the Mole Men was created by a big foam mouth whose top part of its head was the word FUNNY and jaw was the word GARBAGE. I don’t really care to actually untangle the ownership here; for some reason I assumed Jimmy Kimmel was the owner of this company because I remembered he had an affinity for Josh Gardner (the titular Saul), and he supported the career of Adam De La Pena (whose Minoriteam sported this production logo). There’s some vaguely recognizable names in here, like Tom Stern and Tim Burns, who worked with Alex Winter on Idiot Box (underrated) and Freaked (one of the best comedies ever made). Oh, hey, Alex Winter is credited as a voice in this! I think that’s him as the king Mole Man?

The premise was that Saul Malone, a nerdy and anxious geologist, is one of the sole survivors of a disastrous mission involving a drill-mounted underground vehicle (is there a word for this?? I wonder!). Among the living is a rude robot who says stuff like “(slur)”, and a vapid 60s style pop star, who is in stasis on board during the first scene for some reason that isn’t explained. When their vehicle crashes and everyone on the ship winds up dead, Saul ventures into the subterranean world of the Mole Men, to go and have… serialized adventures… uh, down there. 

The first episode’s plot: the craft crashes, Saul, Johnny Tambourine, and Robot need to find their locator antenna, which has landed in the Mole King’s throne room. The Mole King dutifully brings the antenna to Saul, and kindly introduces himself. Saul is freaked out by the Mole Men to such a degree that it causes him to ignore this friendly gesture and stab the king in the head with the antenna. And that all takes 11 minutes for some reason. 

Okay, so the show is cheesy and crappy-looking on purpose. It’s meant to look like a Sid and Marty Krofft production from the 70s. Other references get thrown around like Doctor Who. The opening reminds me of Ark II, or any number of Saturday morning semi-serious action shows shot in the desert aimed at really stupid children. It shares something in common with Sid and Marty Krofft productions: damn, it looks really fun! But also: damn, the people shooting this really didn’t give a shit. Like at, at all. 

That’s the prevailing feeling with Saul of the Molemen. The aesthetics are really pleasing, honestly. The Mole Men are really fun to look at. The opening theme sequence and credits and stuff are beautiful. It does look really fun to make. But the script and the shooting of the show? I will give props to Josh Gardner, who had a small cult following from Gerhard Reinke's Wanderlust on Comedy Central, a short-lived show that never grabbed me, but I remember a small number of people in my orbit insisted that it was “actually pretty good”. His performance is occasionally very fun, and he embodies the character well. Certain action shots are on-purposes lackluster. That’s the main joke of the show: unconvincing action and dumb jokes. 

Speaking of jokes: actual written jokes are few and far between. There are maybe two lines in this that qualify as a joke: Saul’s dying crew mate thinks Saul is another guy on the team: “why do you have his cold sore?” “It’s a mustache!” “The coldest sore of them all”. It’s an okay joke, but you can’t imagine anybody in the room saying “let’s try and come up with something better”. I would bet that this show was entirely produced from first draft scripts. 

That’s not entirely accurate; this episode is in fact a revision of a revision; First there was the pilot version of this, which I recall adultswim.com had clips of online (I found information that suggests the whole pilot was up, but I only remember a clip package that shared the scenes that were cut from the final version). The shot with Saul being barfed on by subterranean birds seen in the opening is derived from the original pilot. There are also many shots that seem like they were shot at different times; The costumes, Saul’s mustache, or the video quality all seem slightly different from shot-to-shot. 

The version available online for viewing was actually revised a second time; later they added a gag where the show kept playing different opening sequences for different shows before settling on Saul. This version aired midway through the series and became the “final” version of the episode. I VASTLY prefer the first aired version and don’t think the additional intros opening adds much. In fact they come off too jokey and at worst tacked-on (they are in fact both of these things). What IS legitimately great though is the actual Saul of the Mole Men theme song, sung by television’s Trey Parker. It’s very catchy, and the single best thing about the show. 

There is one other notable dialogue-driven joke: Robot can’t tell if the Mole Men are mongoloids or what. Johnny Tambourine says his sister was (paraphrasing) born retarded. Or was it Chinese? Actually, she was stillborn. (end joke, which ends on a lingering shot of Saul furrowing his brow as if the home audience needs to recover from laughing so hard) I’m not trying to win woke points, I swear to god, but: this joke always rubbed me the wrong way. Like there’s something really unsatisfying about it. Maybe it’s a hat on a hat kinda thing? I remember friends quoting it and I sorta was like, “yeah, I guess that’s funny.” I don’t know man. I feel like they were going for stupid-on-purpose, but the stupidity on this show has a way of leaving me cold. The writing just seems brushed-off. I often wonder if this show was a little more PG or a little more straight-faced, as though it really were children’s television, if it would be better. 

It reminds me of certain producer-types I’ve talked to, whose whole attitude is that comedy is easy: you just try a bunch of dumb but novel ideas and wait for one to catch on. This one apparently caught on: I mean, it sold, didn’t it? For some reason Adult Swim greenlit 20 episodes of this thing, and it’s baffling why? Did they commission and then not even watch the pilot? I’m hazy on the details, but I remember them taking shots at this show later on in bumpers: citing it as an example of greenlighting gone-wrong. 

I… (gulp) remember this being the best episode of the show, from what I saw. It’s only downhill from here. Oh no!

PS: I am going to save the Jonah Ray bashing for another write-up. This is already too many words. 

*FERNWOOD TONIGHT ADDENDUM: Fernwood Tonight is typically described as a spin-off of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, but I’m one of the few people on Earth who has actually watched every episode of Mary Hartman so I am going to use this blog to clear up the distinction: YES: there were moments in the show where characters watched a show called “Fernwood Tonight” but it did not resemble the real-life Fernwood Tonight at all and was more of a local news magazine program. In that incarnation it was just an expression of the idea of “going on TV” whenever the plot called for it. Like, if a character on the show is doing something that gets media coverage, it’s gonna happen on “Fernwood Tonight”. The Mayor needs to announce something to the whole town, it happens on “Fernwood Tonight”, etc. The concept of the show being revamped and hosted by Martin Mull as Barth Gimble (twin brother to Garth Gimble, who died on Mary Hartman) was introduced late in the series as a tease for the upcoming “spin-off”. So I don’t really count it as a show-within-a-show really at all. It’s more of a calculated extension of the Fernwood universe. Thank you. Thank you for letting me say this stuff.

MAIL BAG

Tim and Eric Awesome Show premiering on Adult Swim, THE CARTOON NETWORK, was like Bob Dylan going electric. Same feigned outrage followed by significant amounts of influence for the world of comedy. May Tim and Eric STAND the TEST of TIME!

I agree with you, even though I don’t know who Bob Dylan is. Seems like a weird guy to know about honestly. Bye.

Hacky Sack Extreme. Million Dollar Extreme. See the connection? As the late Bill Murray would say: Friend of yours?

Bill Murray recently found himself in hot water for massaging his niece Geena Davis. So back the fuck off pal

I have a friend named Connor but we call him C-Boy from time to time so its pretty cool there was a C-Boy on Tim and Eric. Shout out to him! Keep New Jersey weird dude, Jersey style!

This is a banner day for mentioning weird guys. But... I have a feeling... this C-Boy of yours is a good guy and a good friend. May the friendship STAND the TEST of TIME!

I dont like how they say "fuckin podcast" in the podcast episode. So rude! If that was the first thing I ever saw them do I may have never give them a chance. Instead I love the guys. Can life be really that precarious?

I agree, and yes. It’s like my friend who turned off the Comedy Central TV Funhouse show because an animal swore. He hated that. Even when I pointed out “that was in all the promos. You were ready for it”. He stuck to his guns. That guy died, probably.

FLP POETRY BOOK OF THE DAY: This Persistent Gravity by Angie Crea O’Neal

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This Persistent Gravity explores our deepest longings to find wholeness, our desire to set things right and to, as Wordsworth wrote, see “into the life of things.” This desire to reconcile only exists because things have gone wrong, sometimes in sudden terrible ways but mostly in gradual inevitable ways, the consequences of daily living—aging parents, broken hearts, even growing children. Inspired by Romantic poetry, astronomy, physics, nature, and motherhood, the poems in this debut collection chronicle what it means to live and lose and what exists in the wake of our losses. It’s about waiting, surrendering, and rediscovering joy and awe in the midst of a fallen world.

Angie Crea O’Neal’s work has appeared in Sycamore Review, The Christian Century, The Windhover, Cumberland River Review, and elsewhere. She teaches English at Shorter University in Rome, Georgia, where she lives with her daughters.

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR This Persistent Gravity by Angie Crea O’Neal

The Old Testament, the history of poetry, “the thrumming music of bodies”: Angie Crea O’Neal’s superb new collection contains multitudes and rewards numerous careful readings. These are poems to fall into and wander, as many-roomed as heavenly mansions. Together, they comprise what will surely be among the year’s most auspicious debuts.

–Graham Hillard, Editor, Cumberland River Review

In Angie Crea O’Neal’s vibrant first collection This Persistent Gravity, she guides us with a sensitive hand through the difficulties and fears of single motherhood and the joys and losses time brings. She invites us to “climb the streets of your childhood, the place / that still holds you, haunts you like a dream” in search of wisdom and truth. These poems contain the mundane and small – laundry, Mayflies, playing in the hose in the summer—alongside the philosophies of Milton, Hopkins, and the Holy Bible, and lead us “Back to paying attention as / we listen for the lonesome shrill of a night / train in the distance, its promise of going home.”

–Renee Emerson, author of Church Ladies (Fernwood Press 2022)

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Rattan Tray : Goal

The provinces have existed since the nineteenth century however did not have any legal status till 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. The transformation of a handful of dust into an emblem of magnificence reveals a spectacular story of Dankotuwa Porcelain. Shaping and transforming every masterpiece is a meticulous task by which we take great pride.

You’ll see advert outcomes based on factors like relevancy, and the amount sellers ppc. Quinn Headboard is built with blended materials for added interest, and is contact grade and constructed to last. This piece is also constructed from sustainably sourced supplies in a method that is eco-conscious. Choose between a queen measurement or a king dimension to match your bedding setup. From our superior glazing to decal prints and bespoke designs, Dankotuwa Porcelain has created a timeless and modern assortment of porcelain ware that expresses an unique eating experience. The techniques used centuries in the past though seeming quite fundamental by today’s standards nonetheless imparts an virtually authentic stage of creativity that was half and parcel of the business at the moment. It is that sense of creativity and keenness that induces the folks to bring about a sense of elegant end, to our merchandise, which completes the general look of any eating desk. Below, we rounded up 11 of the best rattan headboards you could get at present.

Bowery Hill Mid-century Rattan Full Dimension Headboard In Ash Walnut

But, because of the massive drain of overseas exchange attributable to this, Deepthi expectation is to make his products utilizing locally available uncooked materials. We should be joyful as a country for his experiments using environment-friendly raw supplies similar to ‘Gallaha’ reeds, banana fibre and palm leaves proving to be successful. Deepthi has secured several awards for rattan merchandise of Viveca Rattan.

Keep your rest room counter organized and tidy with this Rattan Tray from Threshold™.

Harbour Cane Bed was impressed by a Louis XIV mattress but freshened up with tropical vibes.

Woven elaborations across the frame reinforce the piece and add a bespoke handmade feel to the design.

Deepthi is properly versed in going through the ups and downs of his Company with equanimity and restraint.

End merchandise of the local industry got here in types of pots, goblets, ingesting vessels and receptacles – and so they attain the standard farmer and highly effective monarch alike.

With an ash wood building, a rattan backboard, and detailed carving, it's a classic find that can look stunning in your bedroom for years to return.

Java Rattan Headboard is constructed with one hundred pc manau rattan to maintain it light-weight. This bold and bohemian piece is ethically crafted by grasp artisans from Indonesia. Sausalito Headboard is crafted with strong Meranti wood which is a tropical derived wooden identified for its beautiful lengthy grain. This standalone piece is designed to work with any commonplace body, however it is recommended it be used with a PB metal frame. Harbour Cane Bed was impressed by a Louis XIV bed but freshened up with tropical vibes. This bed was meticulously woven by artisans by hand with sustainable materials. Choose between natural, ebony and white to completely tie this piece into your house. We delight ourselves as trendsetters within the international tableware trade. The state-of-the-art designs and shapes complement individual existence. While pottery has retained its artisan-like high quality, it has turn into a world enterprise. Dankotuwa Porcelain and its subsidiary Royal Fernwood are well-known producers of progressive and designer tableware.

Expressways In Western Province

Sarah writes about all issues purchasing for Apartment Therapy, The Kitchn, and Cubby helping you discover one of the best deals and the best merchandise for you and your home. A Brooklyn-born Jersey Girl, she loves a great playlist, a good bagel, and her household . Presenting a traditional product with added worth in accordance with modern social requirements is a useful function in Deepthi’s business. Deepthi is nicely versed in dealing with the ups and downs of his Company with equanimity and restraint. When the German buyers left the nation due to the warfare scenario and the market was collapsing in the face of native and international economic crises, he successfully faced those challenges. While rattan furnishings sometimes incorporates caning, that's not the only application out there. Instead of the traditional method, this unique headboard opts for a wave-like sample of rattan rods that add a graphic touch to an otherwise neutral piece. Here is a choice of four-star and five-star critiques from prospects who had been delighted with the merchandise they discovered on this category. University of ColomboAlmost all of the premier instructional establishments in the island are positioned in the Western Province. Having the best population in all of the provinces, Western Province has the most important number of schools within the nation, which includes national, provincial, private and worldwide faculties.

The embedded rattan brings a mid century trendy aptitude to this timeless and beautiful piece. Akshay Headboard is a singular circular design constructed from wicker and rattan. This piece was built to evoke the same feelings of sand and heat sunshine. Bring texture and delicate allure to any area with this beautiful headboard. This piece is suitable with both a full sized bed and a queen sized mattress. Balboa Bed is a ratton headboard made from stable mahogony and finished by weavin rattan collectively to create this gorgeous piece. Each leg of this bedframe is capped in brass for a stunnign modern flare, this detailing adds extra protection to forestall the weaving from unwinding. Choose a end that complements your bedroom’s colour scheme, and ensure the rattan is of top of the range with tight weaving for durability. Check the attachment method to ensure it securely matches your bed body.

Spherical Rattan Tray, Further Giant With Handles (169 Inch) For Coffee Desk, Ottoman

The factory positioned in Dankotuwa and Kosgama has been in existence for over three many years and at present has a production capability of 1.6 million pieces per 30 days. End products of the local industry got here in types of pots, goblets, ingesting vessels and receptacles – and they reach the humble farmer and highly effective monarch alike. "Beautiful tray excellent for the place I wished to use it, items had been nicely packed and very fast supply." The experiments Deepthi conducted to advertise environment-friendly products using indigenous uncooked material needs to be valued tremendously. Founder of Viveka Rattan Craft Deepthi Wickremasinghe made his first enterprise into the native market, but his goal was the export market. headboard double were beneath the deep-rooted impression that rattan merchandise from Sri Lanka disintegrate and get attacked by weevils inside a very brief time. Deepthi was eager to know an angle in rattan, bamboo, reed and banana fibre-related business hitherto unseen by most craftsmen. Rattan merchandise and home beautification field is excessive in high quality and commonplace. Send me exclusive offers, distinctive gift ideas, and personalised ideas for buying and selling on Etsy. Found one thing you like however need to make it much more uniquely you? These four or 5-star critiques characterize the opinions of the people who posted them and don't replicate the views of Etsy. We love the breezy look of this cane headboard from Sand & Stable at Wayfair. It's hard not to fall for the mix of coastal and farmhouse styles, complete with a clean-lined, square silhouette and a mix of woven rattan and solid wood details. Custom rustic distressed charcuterie boards / serving trays with raised edges and elective engraving and handles; nice wedding ceremony present. From handmade pieces to vintage treasures ready to be liked again, Etsy is the worldwide marketplace for distinctive and creative goods. It’s also residence to an entire host of one-of-a-kind items made with love and extraordinary care. While lots of the objects on Etsy are handmade, you’ll also discover craft provides, digital gadgets, and extra. Dolores Cane Platform Bed is hand made from mango wood and pure cane. This bed is adjustable and full with an adjustable mattress base and individually moving levers on the legs for uneven surfaces. Choose between pure wooden or black washed wood to match your house. Made from pure wood, every single piece shall be certainly one of a kind and present completely different variations in the wooden. Skilled artisans hand-weave sustainable rattan into an ethereal cane pattern, and the headboard is completed with a weathered wash that gives a contemporary neutral look that complements varied inside kinds. Caspian Natural Headboard is a hand woven design crafted with pure water hyacinth materials. This piece comes in one solid type and requires minimal setup in your house. This stunning design is bound to bring much needed texture and brightness to a bedroom. This headboard comes in sizes compatible with any twin, queen or king sized bed. Finished with top quality walnut, this headboard is constructed to last and brings a softness and uniqueness to any area with its intricate texture.

Rattan Craft To Accentuate Handicraft Exports

Woven gildings across the frame reinforce the piece and add a bespoke handmade feel to the design. Creative Co-Op Handmade Rattan Slatted Headboard is woven with rattan and features clear lines and delicate curvature. This headboard is built for a queen sized bed and could be mounted on to a wall. The sunflower design is crafted from natural wood and brings a softness and curiosity to any area. This is ideal for those hoping to realize a boho, dreamy or beachy aesthetic in their area. But, he says the most useful award surpassing all these awards has been offered to his Company by its consumers. A group of German entrepreneurs investing in Viveca Rattan was an excellent alternative to broaden the operations of his Company in the international market and an endorsement of his merchandise from Germany. The needs of buyers change every so often and country to nation. This bed was meticulously woven by artisans by hand with sustainable supplies. Choose between pure, ebony and white to completely tie this piece into your house. We delight ourselves as trendsetters in the world tableware industry. The state-of-the-art designs and shapes complement individual lifestyles. While pottery has retained its artisan-like high quality, it has turn out to be a worldwide enterprise. Dankotuwa Porcelain and its subsidiary Royal Fernwood are well-known producers of innovative and designer tableware.

Deepthi Wickremasinghe, starting his life as a banker, left his career to generate the inventor dwelling in him. Interested in manufacturing research, he sought a new dimension to spread his business acumen. "Sri Lanka to create worldwide financial zone where individuals also can park their money". Agriculture solely made up 1.7% of the GDP the bottom among the 9 provinces whereas Industrial sector made up 34.6% the highest within the country and repair sector represented fifty six.5%. The province is surrounded by the Laccadive Sea to the west, North Western Province to the north, Sabaragamuwa Province to the east and the Southern Province to the south. These stunning shapes are a stark reminder of the spirit of innovation and creativity and of being crafted with mastery and finesse. The embedded rattan brings a mid century fashionable flair to this timeless and beautiful piece. Akshay Headboard is a novel circular design built from wicker and rattan. This piece was constructed to evoke the same feelings of sand and heat sunshine. Bring texture and delicate charm to any area with this beautiful headboard. This piece is appropriate with each a full sized bed and a queen sized mattress.

Baxton Studio Malvina Trendy Brown Rattan Queen Size Wall-mount Headboard

This headboard could additionally be expensive, however it's one of the most unique finds on this record. Featuring both a cross-hatched rattan panel and a slatted one, this handmade Spanish magnificence is the stuff dreams are made of. Made from stylish mango wooden, this headboard features a wholesome combination of wood and rattan for a superbly balanced look.

“Buyers had been underneath the deep-rooted impression that rattan products from Sri Lanka disintegrate and get attacked by weevils inside a very brief time.

Made from pure wooden, every single piece shall be considered one of a kind and present different variations within the wood.

We love the breezy look of this cane headboard from Sand & Stable at Wayfair.

While most of the items on Etsy are handmade, you’ll additionally discover craft provides, digital items, and extra.

Instead of the normal technique, this distinctive headboard opts for a wave-like pattern of rattan rods that add a graphic touch to an in any other case impartial piece.

You’ll see ad results primarily based on components like relevancy, and the quantity sellers ppc. Quinn Headboard is constructed with combined supplies for added curiosity, and is contact grade and constructed to final. This piece is also built from sustainably sourced supplies in a means that is eco-conscious.

Classic Tv Tray | Dinning Room Table Wooden Placemat Set | Ottoman Coffee Table Rattan Tray, Wicker Tray

In such a background, if the worth of the product is not increased and does not evolve to go well with the demands of the modern world, the attraction of the shoppers towards that product drops. Shipping policies range, but many of our sellers supply free shipping if you purchase from them. Typically, orders of $35 USD or more qualify free of charge commonplace delivery from participating Etsy sellers. Mael Mākāṇam) is doubtless certainly one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first degree administrative division of the nation. Our designs have evolved over the past three a long time, offering consistency and really feel with a modern look and development while fulfilling the demanding customers and stores around the globe. Our combination of delivering a quality product with exquisite designs, give us the opportunity to get pleasure from a various customer base. "This tray is so beautiful! It is precisely as pictured & the colors are excellent for my coastal decor. The shipping was super fast & it was packaged nicely to keep away from damage. Definitely advocate this vendor." We independently choose these products—if you buy from one of our links, we could earn a fee. “Buyers had been under the deep-rooted impression that rattan products from Sri Lanka disintegrate and get attacked by weevils inside a really short time. Deepthi was eager to grasp an angle in rattan, bamboo, reed and banana fibre-related industry hitherto unseen by most craftsmen. Rattan merchandise and home beautification subject is excessive in quality and normal. Send me exclusive offers, distinctive reward concepts, and customized suggestions for buying and promoting on Etsy. Found one thing you like however want to make it much more uniquely you? These 4 or 5-star critiques characterize the opinions of the individuals who posted them and do not reflect the views of Etsy.

Additionally, think about how the headboard will mix together with your present bedroom decor and furniture. Another wall-mounted choice, the Java headboard from The Citizenry is our favourite pick for these on the lookout for a timeless yet standout fashion. Made utilizing lightweight yet sturdy manau rattan, this easy-to-install find is handcrafted by master artisans in Cirebon, Indonesia in a good commerce setting, making it a pick you can be ok with. Create a heat, classic vibe with this stunning piece produced from a delicate woven rattan that's certain to up the comfy issue. ZARA is house to much more than just fashionable garments, and this headboard is proof of that. With an ash wooden building, a rattan backboard, and detailed carving, it is a traditional discover that can look beautiful in your bed room for years to return. Farmhouse Plant Stand Keep your rest room counter organized and tidy with this Rattan Tray from Threshold™. This ornamental rattan tray brings storage and natural type to your bathroom. It showcases a light-weight brown woven end for textured appeal that blends with any toilet decor, and the rectangular-shaped tray with raised sides helps maintain small gadgets and bottles contained. Complete the look with coordinating bath equipment, and simply spot clear for straightforward care. Made in Indonesia using pure rattan, this gorgeous oval headboard brings softness and texture to your area, along with a decidedly boho-chic perspective. The ratings/reviews displayed here will not be consultant of each listing on this page, or of every review for these listings. Please click on on a particular listing for more information about its average rating and to see extra customer critiques. Sellers seeking to grow their enterprise and reach extra fascinated consumers can use Etsy’s advertising platform to advertise their gadgets. Trust us, after looking at these picks, you’ll hop on the rattan bandwagon, too. “Most of our entrepreneurs import as a lot abroad merchandise as potential and market them in Sri Lanka. But, I wanted to provide and export a product capable of competing with the merchandise of different international locations of the world. Rattan is imported as a raw materials for the merchandise of Viveca Rattan, as the uncooked materials available in Sri Lanka are of low high quality.

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In Memory of Brian, Fred and Jerry by Susan King

I mourn the loss of Hollywood legends, especially those I have interviewed over the years. I broke into tears when Debbie Reynolds died four years ago, recalling our last chat together in 2016 when we did a duet of “Moses Supposes.” And I still haven’t watched TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (’62) since Gregory Peck died in 2003. I had the opportunity to interview the handsome Oscar-winner at his now torn down home in 1997 and 1999. He was everything you’d hope he would be – sweet, intelligent and funny. He also loved Bob Dylan. His last words to me as he walked me to my car were: “You are a most interesting young lady.”

In 2020 alone, I lost over 20 former interviewees including Kirk Douglas, whom I interviewed eight times between 1986-2017, and my beloved Olivia de Havilland, who I found to be delightful and a bit ribald in the two interviews I did with her. I got more than a little misty when Brian Dennehy, Fred Willard and Jerry Stiller died this year. They were supremely talented and made our lives a little brighter with their performances. And, they all were great guys and fun interviews.

Brian Dennehy

I interviewed Brian Dennehy, who died in April at the age of 81, several times in the early 1990s when I was at the L.A. Times. The former U.S. Marine and football player was intimidating at first sight. He was tall, burly and barrel-chested. He had a no-nonsense quality about him, and he spoke his mind. But he also was funny.

In 1991, discussing how hard it was for some actors to land parts after starring in a TV series, he noted “coming off a TV series is a tough deal, and you go into limbo land for a while, if not forever. Most actors go immediately to the ‘Island of Lost Actors’ and stay there. Troy Donahue is the mayor.” Dennehy never went to that island. Not with the complex and often memorable performances he gave in such films as FIRST BLOOD (’82), SILVERADO (’85), COCOON (’85), PRESUMED INNOCENT (’90) and as Big Tom in the comedy TOMMY BOY (’95).

He was nominated for five Emmys, including one for his chilling turn as serial killer John Wayne Gacy in the miniseries To Catch a Killer (’92).

I had one of the most extraordinary evenings at the theater in 2000 when Dennehy reprised his Tony Award-winning role as the tragic Willy Loman at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in the lauded revival of Arthur Miller’s masterpiece Death of a Salesman. It was a gut-wrenching performance that left me emotionally exhausted. He earned another Tony in 2003 as James Tyrone in the revival of Eugene O’Neill’s superb Long Day’s Journey into Night. And he never stopped working.

Shortly after his death, the drama DRIVEWAYS (2020) was released on streaming platforms. And it could be Dennehy’s greatest performance. He plays Del, an elderly widower and Korean War vet who sparks a warm friendship with Cody, the young boy next door. The reviews for the film (it’s at 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and Dennehy have been glowing. The L.A. Times’ Justin Chang wrote that Dennehy’s Del is as “forceful and tender a creation as any in this great actor’s body of work.” And Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times stated: “What we might remember most, perhaps appropriately, are Dennehy’s warm, weary features and rich line readings. In a lovely final monologue, Del advises Cody to avoid rushing past the experiences in life that matter, as they pass so quickly on their own. Much like the careers of beloved actors.”

Fred Willard

I first encountered Fred Willard as the clueless sidekick of sleazy talk show host Barth Gimble (Martin Mull) in the late 1970s on the syndicated comedy series Fernwood Tonight and its continuation America 2-Night. I quickly became a fan, and that admiration grew when he became a member of Christopher Guest’s stock company of zanies in such comedies as WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (’96) and BEST IN SHOW (2000). In the latter, he played the equally clueless dog show announcer Buck Laughlin who quipped in his color commentary, “And to think that in some counties these dogs are eaten.”

Willard told me in a 2012 L.A. Times interview that he didn’t think he was funny until he was an adult. “I always loved comedy growing up – Bob Hope, Red Skelton and Danny Kaye,” said Willard, who died in May at the age of 86.

Willard got a serious part in Tennessee Williams’ one-act in a summer theater group when he was in his 20s. “I was getting laughs on all the lines,” he noted. “The director got upset because the audiences were always laughing. I didn’t try to do it deliberately. Then I realized I would say things around people, and they would laugh. I didn’t mean to be funny. I have always been relaxed around comedy.”

Just as Dennehy, Willard kept working. In fact, he received an Emmy nomination posthumously for his hilarious turn as Ty Burrell’s goofball dad on ABC’s Modern Family. He told me he wished he could try to do more dramatic fare like in Clint Eastwood’s World War II drama Flags of Our Fathers (2006). Willard even called his agent to see if he could get a role in the movie. “Clint Eastwood’s people called back and said, ‘We love Fred, but we are afraid if he appeared on the screen, they might start to laugh.’’’

Jerry Stiller

Jerry Stiller was a real sweetie and also very thoughtful. He sent me a lovely thank you note when I interviewed him and his wife, Anne Meara, in the early 1990s. When I talked to him for his son Ben Stiller’s remake of THE HEARTBREAK KID (2007), Stiller sent me a lovely bouquet of flowers. Ditto in 2010 when I interviewed the couple for a Yahoo! Web series Stiller & Meara: A Show About Everything. I also received Christmas cards until Meara died in 2015.

Baby boomers remember Stiller, who died at 92 in May, and Meara for their smart and sophisticated comedy act, in which the majority of the humor came from the fact that he was Jewish and she was born Irish Catholic. They recorded albums, were popular on the nightclub circuit and did The Ed Sullivan Show three dozen times. They split up their act when musical variety series went away.

Both were terrific dramatic actors. In fact, I saw Stiller in the 1984 Broadway production of Hurlyburly, David Rabe’s scathing look at Hollywood, and he did a 1997 production of Chekhov’s The Three Sisters. Of course, Stiller garnered even more success in his Emmy-nominated role as Frank Costanza, the caustic father of George (Jason Alexander) on NBC’s Seinfeld (1993-98) and was the best reason to watch CBS’ sitcom The King of Queens (1998-2007) as Kevin James’ acerbic father-in-law

But I most remember that 2010 interview where Stiller and Meara bantered back and forth much to my enjoyment. Here they talk about Ed Sullivan:

Anne: I never liked him.

Jerry: You are out of your mind. You never liked him?

Anne: He scared stuff out of me. I am talking about Mr. Sullivan himself. I wasn’t the only one. There were international favorites throwing up in the wings—singers and tenors and guys who spin plates. It was live. We were scared.

Jerry: Ed Sullivan brought us up to the level that we knew we never could get to – him standing there on the right side of the wings laughing, tears coming out of his eyes and then calling us over and saying, ‘You know, we got a lot of mail on that last show you did.’ I said, ‘From Catholic or Jewish people?’ He said, ‘The Lutherans.’”

Today, Live! Greg L Mullavey, Greg L Mullavey. I can't even. I've adored this man for 41 + years. To at last have the opportunity to sit face to virtual face and get to know the Greg behind the Tom Hartman, Tom Hartman is beyond thrilling.

In 1977 before there were VCRs (DVRs for you youngins) we had to actually watch shows in real-time - Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman was on five days a week (325 episodes), 10 pm Tucson time, where I was I was in a rep company and it took effort to not miss one show, not ever. MH, MH was sacrosanct. As was Fernwood Forever (130 episodes) which it morphed into. The fact that all of those shows ( 455 episodes) aired between 1976- 1978 and to have nary missed a one, well, that’s love… and devotion to brilliance and hilarity. Thank you, Norman Lear and company.

Greg did many television appearances prior to MH, from Ben Casey, to It Takes A Thief, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Marcus Welby to Mod Squad, just to name a few… and many after, Centennial, Dynasty, Civil Wars ( a load of others) to recurring roles on Insight, Rituals, The Bold and The Beautiful to iCarly and has appeared on and off-Broadway and in over 100 theatre productions across the USA. His film work includes Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, The Birdmen, The Love Machine, The Disappearance of Flight 412, and The Hindenberg, to name some.

Lovely in the reals does not begin to describe Greg. With social conscience and a load of grace, I’m excited almost beyond compare. This sit-down has been a long time coming. Do I feel blessed. Bring it on!

Greg Mullavey Live on Game Changers with Vicki Abelson R Wed, 8/18/21, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET Streaming Live on my Facebook http://bit.ly/2y47ZCi

Daily by Toni Vincent & @peter_and_paul_ Cartoons

How the late night talk show set became an American icon Written by Jacqui Palumbo, CNN “The Story of Late Night,” a new CNN Original Series on the history of the iconic genre, airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Listen to the companion podcast, “Behind the Desk: The Story of Late Night,” here. For more than six decades, American late night talk show hosts have sat behind large wooden desks, with guests in cushioned chairs or couches to their right. Behind them, the wall may be painted to mimic an open vista; around them, a brightly lit studio set is made more inviting through warm wood tones, mugs on a desk or — in Johnny Carson’s case — a couple of well-placed house plants. As much as the programs themselves are part of Americans’ nightly rituals, the late night talk show set has become an iconic — and predictable — fixture in television, today inhabited by comics including Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, following in the lineage of Jay Leno and David Letterman, and further back, Carson, Steve Allen and Dick Cavett. Johnny Carson (pictured with Dolly Parton) remains televisions longest-running late night talk show host, spending four decades behind the desk for “The Tonight Show.” Credit: Alice S. Hall/NBC/Getty Images “It’s funny how late night sets have not changed much since they started,” said Robert Thompson, a media scholar and professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University, in a video interview. “It’s an attempt to show some semblance of our idea of an American living room. But an American living room where one of the people, the owner of the living room, sits behind a desk.” When it was first introduced around 1949, late night was a different beast than the already familiar entertainment of evening variety like “The Ed Sullivan Show” or daytime talk show programming like “The Today Show.” The late show concept had a very low bar for success, as the CNN original series “The Story of Late Night,” details. Prior to the debut of the then-novel, post-11pm programming, the nightly news would give way to a test pattern, and then static — a foreign visual today, in an era when there is always something to stream. Watch a brief history of late night talk shows “Late night began as a way to kill time,” host Conan O’Brien, who just announced the end of his long-running program on TBS, said in the docuseries. “It was the networks realizing… ‘let’s kick the football a little further down the road and see what happens at 11:30.'” Today, late night talk shows have branched out beyond network television, and have begun to include more women and hosts of color, including new shows helmed by Seth Meyers’ writer Amber Ruffin and popular YouTuber Lilly Singh. Yet the desk setup largely remains, and it’s notable when a host tries to do away with the formula — like when Bill Maher sat among his guests on the ’90s show “Politically Incorrect.” Last year, Samantha Bee explained the reason her weekly show “Full Frontal” is deskless in an interview for the Television Academy Foundation, saying the traditional approach made her feel “super confined.” Comedian Steve Allen first introduced the talk show desk during the often experimental 1950s show “Tonight Starring Steve Allen” — the first iteration of “The Tonight Show.” Credit: NBC/Getty Images Still, the spirit of the 1950s and ’60s era of set design has largely persisted. “Every time you see a late night show, it seems like everybody starts with the same formula,” said Keith Raywood, a production designer who has built sets for O’Brien and Fallon, in a video interview. “They just dress it differently.” Designed for power dynamics The pioneer of the late night talk show was actually a woman, the actress Faye Emerson, who hosted interviews and gave her own political commentary in 1949 on “The Faye Emerson Show,” often from a couch in a living room. But then women were relegated to the realm of daytime television, where advertisers could appeal to stay-at-home wives, media historian Maureen Mauk explained in “The Story of Late Night.” “The men started to take over (late night), and the women were really never to return, in a lot of ways,” Mauk said. (The next female host to nab a nighttime talk show was Joan Rivers in 1986, but Fox cancelled “The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers” the following year. A decade later, Cynthia Garrett became the first network late night Black female host, but her NBC show “Later” was axed after a single season.) Joan Rivers was often a guest host for Carson on “The Tonight Show,” as pictured here with Oprah Winfrey, but wound up competing against him with her own short-lived Fox show. Credit: Paul Drinkwater/NBC/Getty Images Comedian Steve Allen first introduced the desk during his wacky and experimental programming that was the first iteration of “The Tonight Show” — which included him dipping into vats of jello and happily pie-smashing his guests. According to “The Story of Late Night,” Allen’s successor, Jack Paar, added the content format we’re still familiar with today: a monologue, interview and performance. But it was Johnny Carson, host of “The Tonight Show” for over four decades, whose affable, family-friendly charm became synonymous with late night. And his long-running show also cemented the hierarchy implicit in the layout of the set. “The desk is occasionally breached,” said Thompson. During the first taping of the “Late Show with David Letterman,” Bill Murray spray painted Letterman’s desk. Credit: Alan Singer/CBS/Getty Images “It’s less democratic, less egalitarian, if someone is sitting behind a desk in an elevated position, and his guests are not equal in stature in terms of how they’re being seated,” Raywood said. Thompson points out the setup “leaves the guests to be fully exposed.” Cavett, whose talk show slots included late night, preferred to sit more casually on comfortable chairs with his guests, putting them on equal ground. Arsenio Hall (here with Eddie Murphy) shook up late night as the first Black host — and notably did away the desk format. Credit: Ron Galella, Ltd./Getty Images But one magnetic personality aimed for an even more personal way of engaging with his guests. Arsenio Hall, who in 1989 became the first Black host to helm a late night talk show, sat close to his guests, who were on a couch, and leaned in with rapt attention. “We see him in his entirety,” Thompson said of Hall. “He would lean into his interviews…which gave it a sense of intimacy.” Carson, on the other hand, “had an emotional distance to him,” Thompson said. “The idea of him leaning in in that friendly, familiar way that Arsenio did would have been unthinkable. And I think it’s one of the reasons (“The Arsenio Hall Show”) really had some voltage and some energy — because it looked less like what we had seen so many times over and over again.” Reworking the formula Some of the most creative takes on talk show sets have come out of the parodies, which have become as ubiquitous as late night itself. The original spoof, Norman Lear’s “Fernwood 2 Night” from 1977, and its grandchild, Zach Galifianakis’s “Between Two Ferns,” which premiered in 2008, directly referenced the ever-present greenery on Carson’s set. President Obama was famously tapped for Galifianakis’s Funny or Die series, which took place on a simple black set with two towering green ferns. During his interview, Obama deadpanned to the comedian: “When I heard that people actually watch this show, I was actually pretty surprised.” Eric Andre and Semere Etmet at “The Eric Andre Show Live!” The sketch comedy series parodies public-access talk shows with a wild dose of surrealism. Credit: Michael Tullberg/Getty Images Meanwhile, “The Eric Andre Show,” the absurdist Adult Swim show that debuted in 2012 and repeatedly destroys its set, heightened all of the strangeness that Steve Allen had established in the Wild West of late night, and that Letterman continued early in his career. “Older late night television had a real sense of that iconoclastic,” Thompson said. But Thompson has noted how even kitsch and subversion has become cliché. It’s only recently that another substantial shift in late night set design has occurred, he said, thanks to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which forced late night hosts to tape from home for an extended period of time. “All of a sudden, the set of the talk show itself was totally downsized, because people were doing it from home,” he said. “Colbert started in his bathtub the very first day.” As Colbert suited up in his bubble bath the first night for “The Late Show” on CBS, Meyers posted up at his in-laws’ house for “Late Night” on NBC. After 68 episodes there, a painting of a sea captain, which had become an animated “guest” throughout the remote shows, said goodbye with a jaunty sea shanty. Late-night TV marks anniversary of pandemic “In a strange way, the liberation from those Carson-era studio sets was actually, creatively, a good thing for late night talk shows,” Thompson said. Instead of guests stopping by the set, they could dial in from wherever, using Zoom backgrounds or sharing the intimacy of their homes. “Sometimes it’s more interesting to talk to Arnold Schwarzenegger from his house, than it is to have Arnold Schwarzenegger wander onto the stage, which is so artificial, so prepped,” Thompson said. Raywood also signaled that it’s time for something new, after nearly seven decades of following the same formula. “I think we could easily be due for a change in format for late night television,” he said. “Every generation veers into another direction — how they look at things, how they dress, the kind of music they listen to — so why are we doing the same show every (time)?” He added: “You need producers who are creative enough, and brave enough.” This article has been updated to correct the title and year of Joan Rivers’ late-night show with Fox, and to include additional context regarding the Dick Cavett set. Source link Orbem News #American #icon #Late #night #Set #Show #talk

On Kuyek's Community Organizing: A Holistic Approach

Chapters 9-11 Kuyek, Joan Newman. 2011. Community Organizing : A Holistic Approach. Winnipeg: Fernwood Pub.

This is my first time having a chance to deep-dive into Kuyek, and I'm glad I did. I almost want to say she was ahead of her time, but it reminds me so much of Angela Davis, and both channel the ideas of Marx to our time as it has evolved.

These chapters were focused on economy, in the traditional sense (not the Chicago School of Economics sense)—the goods and services that sustain a community, and the labour of the community that produces them.

What spoke to me most was the following passage:

Protecting the Commons

The commons refers to resources that are held collectively by all humans. This can include everything from land, minerals, plants and water, to the products of human labour, to the human genetic code itself. The transformation of the commons into private property is fundamental to the accumulation of wealth and power by elites. The corporate paradigm seeks to transform everything into private property—commodities that can be controlled, bought and sold.

I've given a lot of thought to circular, community-based economies over the last year. That's what Community Power is all about. But what I've come to learn more recently was that (of course) colonizers and settlers broke up communal assets and reassigned them as individual commodities. This was done to Creek Nation as it was forcibly relocated via the trail of tears.

Today it's easy to look at water as a right and argue that Nestlé shouldn't be able to privatize it. But why is it so hard to see the forest from that single tree? It isn't just water. It's everything. This legal system, which supports this neoliberal economy, is the driving force of the climate crisis, and of the generations-long humanitarian crisis we didn't realize was happening until we all collectively burnt out when given the chance, during this pandemic.

We need a legal system that supports collective assets.

Chickensoup for the anarchist’s soul

Radical social movements, then, are both the products and the producers of culture at the crossroads of not-success and not-failure, an ecology of perseverance.

-- Haiven, Max and Khasnabish, Alex, The Radical Imagination, Halifax, Fernwood Press, p. 131.

TWENTY-TWO HUNKS VIE FOR MMISTER OF FILIPINAS 2019 By Noli A. Berioso From more than hundred of applicants, twenty-two hurdled the final screening for Misters of Filipinas 2019 a month ago. They were presented to the members of the press last September 4 at Fernwood Gardens in Quezon City. The search, now on its 7th year is considered one of the most prestigious male pageants in the country today. President of PEPPS (Prime Event Productions Philippines, Inc.) Carlo Morris Galang says the this year’s crop of candidates is another tough batch in the history of the male pageant. He is thankful to all the support from sponsors, members of the press and friends of PEPPS who made Misters of Filipinas 2019 edition a guaranteed success. There will be five titles and two runners-up at stake this year. Mister International Philippines, Man of the World Philippines, Mister Model Worldwide Philippines and the two new titles Mister of Filipinas Tourism and Culture Universe and Mister Model Universe Philippines. The candidates will embark on a provincial tour in Davao, Kapalong Davao Del Norte ans in Bataan for the various preliminary events of the pageant. House Manila in Pasay City will be the venue for the Gala Night and Fashion Show. Misters of Filipinas 2019 is a joint production of PEPPs Foundations, Inc. and Profiles Entertainment Productions, Inc. The search will culminates in a grand finale on September 21 at the Flying V Arena in San Juan. Three lucky candidates were chosen as Darlings of the Press voted by the media who attended the edia presentation. They are Misters Filipinas Cebu - Kevin Joy Secoya, Misters of Filipinas Tarlac - Levin Arguelles and Misters of Filipinas Bataan - Tommy Penaflor, Jr. The Official Candidates for Misters of Filipinas 2019 are: 1. BONJOUR VELOSO ADAZA JR - MISAMIS ORIENTAL | 20 5'8" 2. PETER MENDIJAR - BAGONG SILANG, CALOOCAN | 26 5'8" 3. RAMIL PALAJE - GUINOBATAN, ALBAY | 22 5'10" 4. GIANLUCA LANTA - FILIPINO COMMUNITY OF ITALY | 21 5'10" 5. VANDAVE - PASIG CITY | 20 5'11' 6. LOUIE LAPENAS - MANDALUYONG CITY | 29 5'10" 7. TOMMY PEÑAFLOR II - BATAAN | 25 5'11'' 8. JOY JEROME GARCIA EVANGELISTA HAGONOY, BULACAN | 26 5'11" 9. ARJUN GANGE - CALOOCAN CITY |28 5'11" 10. MATTHEW LOUIE ARBOLE - PANGANTUCAN, BUKIDNON | 25 5'11" 11. JOSHUA FELIMINIANO - CASTILLEJOS, ZAMBALES | 24 6'3" 12. YAS PANGANDAMAN - ILIGAN CITY | 23 6'0 13. JESUS NORBERT MACARAEG - MALASIQUI, PANGASINAN | 23 6'1" 14. JULIUS CHRISTIAN DAVID BUENAFE - PROVINCE OF BILIRAN | 28 6'1" 15. RUBEN SEGUNDO - ISABELA | 26 5'10" 16. KEVIN JAY SECOYA - CEBU CITY | 22 5'10" 17. AIN JAMES VEGA - FILIPINO COMMUNITY OF USA | 23 5'11" 18. JOSEPH XAVIER PILI - TABACO CITY , ALBAY | 24 5'9" 19. KYLE SEAN SALLIDAO - BAGUIO CITY | 20 5'9" 20. LEVIN ARGUELLES - TARLAC | 22 5'9" 21. JADE ANTHONY DULAY - ANGELES CITY, PAMPANGA | 25 5'8" 22. LEX AKIHIRO JULIAN 24 5'11" PROVINCE OF LAGUNA # 24 5'11"

VMO Announces Publishing, Digital Move With Fernwood <b>Fitness</b>

VMO has today announced a commercial partnership with Fernwood Fitness that will see see VMO take on the production of Fernwood's custom ... from Google Alert - Fitness https://ift.tt/2tVnsEn

Hello from the confines of my apartment.

Although The O Report usually only appears when I am travelling I decided to spend a little time writing about my current situation and keep you updated on what I am up to.

And so here we are world, millions of people being asked to stay at home. You would think that is not that hard however the crowds at our Australian beaches and people having parties and gatherings show why much of the world have gone into lockdown. Here in Australia we are not at full lockdown but I feel it is only a matter of time. On a solo walk yesterday I passed a local park and was angered to see a group of three people lazing in the sunshine and then turn to greet their friend who was strolling up to join their group. This group was seated away from but on the same lawn as a family and several solo people with laptops, books, etc. What part of stay home and not congregate in public do these people not get?

I do not want to dwell on others and their lack of comprehension of the situation we are facing as a worldwide community. Instead more about me. I mean, I am pretty important, hahaha.

So what have I been up to…

Exercise: I have been lucky enough to be able to borrow some equipment from my lovely gym Fernwood St Kilda. This means that I am lucky enough to be able to use my Les Mills on Demand app on my TV to do Body Pump and Body Step. As well as the activities that do not require any equipment. Of course there are so many online exercises all over the internet, on social media and in apps for home exercise. I have also gone for some walks and a run but I do really want to try and stay in now as much as I can so home workouts it is.

TV: OK so no-one really wants to admit that they are watching A LOT of television at the moment but for most of us it is true. I have Netfilx, and Stan, access to iTunes and the shows I love that are on Foxtel (as I do not have Foxtel) and just the general internet and TV. I think I will make a list of things I have been watching and you can find it here (in progress). I will update as I go along so maybe you will get some reviews and ideas from me. If anyone has any suggestions let me know and maybe I will add them to my list, or I can just add if you loved or loathed them.

Books: I do not just want to sit around watching TV so I am endeavouring to read more as well. Again I will make a separate post about what I am reading (here). But so far I have finished the book I was reading, Rich People Problems, the last of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy. And yes I have read the other two previously.

Cleaning: Well this is one that I keep saying I am going to do. Let’s just say its a work in progress and that slow and steady will win the race. I hope…

Cooking: When I first started writing this I had many ingredients and had only made one Zucchini Slice. It was a good Zucchini Slice however I had not cooked much. However last night, before I actually posted this, I got moving and made Thai Pumpkin Soup (basically has curry paste in it), a not so great I think Laksa (minus some of the amazing ingredients that make it great and not from an authentic source) and some Chili Con Carne. I have more to do but that is a good start if I do say so myself. Though trying to cook a plastic container due to turning on the wrong burner was not the best idea.

Social Interaction: Well this one is a difficult one to do and of course I am not meaning actually going and visiting people or hanging out. I have been using the amazing technologies that we have at our disposal these days. Of course calling Mum and Dad. I have done some FaceTime with my niece and nephew. My amazing Wednesday night crew have really been getting into this socialising from home with a Wednesday night Netflix Party, where we watched Emoji Movie together. And last night we checked out Zoom and Houseparty together. Oh and we have all started playing Words with Friends 2 together. So it has made it a little less isolating which is nice.

Otherwise I have just been working on dealing with these crazy times. Contacting the bank. Talking to work about options as I do a job you cannot do from home. And some home work for a project I am working on (which I will talk more about once I have more to reveal). But I am going to keep working on it and make use of my new time.

Well there you go that is my one week of no work update. I am working towards being more productive and getting things done but at the procrastinator I am we will have to see. But here we go.

Stay at home – No work, week one Hello from the confines of my apartment. Although The O Report usually only appears when I am travelling I decided to spend a little time writing about my current situation and keep you updated on what I am up to.

Consumer Behaviour – Consumption communities

Consumer Behaviour – Consumption communities

Consumer Behaviour – Consumption communities

Consumption community: Fernwood Fitness

Community structure: what are the structures of your consumption community of focus? What are the common values, rituals and traditions, and structures guiding how members of the community interact with each other and with the brand, product, or service? PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET…

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Goodbye to the Sigh Guy: A Tribute to Tab Hunter, 1931-2018

When Tab Hunter was at the apex of his stardom in the Fifties, virtually every aspect of his career and life was under the control of a Hollywood studio system that determined everything from the roles that he would play to his very name. As a result of this, he had a few years of fame before he was inevitably pushed to the side for a new wave of hot young things ready to take his place. And yet, it was the very things about him that the system sought to repress—such as a sly, self-effacing sense of humor and his homosexuality—that helped breathe new life into his career a couple of decades down the line. Now that he has left us, three days before his 87th birthday, Hunter will be remembered not just as a pretty face with an admittedly memorable name. He'll also be celebrated as a trailblazer whose accounts of his experiences as a gay matinee idol in Hollywood at a time when such things were unheard of helped pave the way for acceptance.

He was born Arthur Andrew Kelm in New York City on July 11, 1931 and, following his parents divorce a few years later, moved to California with his mother and older brother. After taking his mother’s surname of Gellen, he competed as a figure skater and even joined the Coast Guard at the age of 15, though he was soon discharged once his real age was discovered. The turning point in his life came when he made the acquaintance of actor Dick Clayton, who suggested that he take up acting as well and who later introduced him to agent Henry Wilson. Wilson, who specialized in guiding the careers of actors whose talents were, more often than not, secondary to their looks—his clients included the likes of Robert Wagner, Guy Madison and, most famously, Rock Hudson—signed him on despite his lack of acting experience and even gave him his soon-to-be-famous stage name. He made his screen debut with a tiny role in the film noir “The Lawless” (1950) and had his first lead role two years later with “Island of Desire” (1952), a soapy romance in which he played a Marine stranded on an abandoned South Pacific island with an older nurse (Linda Darnell). The film wasn’t much but it was a minor hit back in the day for reasons attributed almost entirely to the fact that he spent much of the running time bare-chested. Over the next couple of years, he appeared in such programmers as “Gun Belt” (1953), “The Steel Lady” (1953) and “Return to Treasure Island” (1954) and also made his first stage appearance in a production of “Our Town.”

Hunter’s first truly notable film performance came in 1954 when he was hired to play the key supporting role of Robert Mitchum’s younger brother in William Wellman’s frontier-based psychodrama (and future cult favorite) "Track of the Cat" (pictured above). Yes, I am aware of the potential absurdity of casting Mitchum and Hunter as brothers, but it actually works surprisingly well. Hunter more than holds his own in it acting against the likes of such veterans as Mitchum and Theresa Wright. At this point, Hunter was sufficiently hot enough to earn him a contract with Warner Brothers that first saw him playing a small part in the John Wayne war drama “The Sea Chase” (1955) and then wooing another older woman, Dorothy Malone this time, in “Battle Cry” (1955). Both films were among the top-grossers of the year and the studio decided to promote him to leading man status by co-starring him with Natalie Wood in a pair of films, “The Burning Hills” and “The Girl He Left Behind.” He even transferred his screen stardom to the music world with the hit song “Young Love,” which was #1 for nine weeks in 1957, and the #11 charting follow-up “Ninety-Nine Ways.” His singing success was so great that Warner Brothers studio head Jack L. Warner forbade Dot Records, who Hunter had been recording for, from releasing an album he had cut because of his contract and established Warner Brothers Records specifically as an outlet for his music.

During all of this, Hunter’s personal life was beginning to become a source of some controversy within the industry. In 1955, the scandal sheet Confidential ran an article about a 1950 disorderly conduct arrest that also included numerous innuendos regarding the actor’s sexuality. (Ironically, the article ran because Wilson arranged with the magazine to print that in exchange for keeping a story about the more-popular Rock Hudson buried.) This revelation did not have any discernible effect on Hunter’s rise but it did open up gossip about whether he was gay or not—if he was, that would have effectively killed his career right in its tracks. To combat this, the studio publicity department went into overdrive to convince the public that he was as manly as can be, hyping up non-existent relationships with such women as Wood, Debbie Reynolds, future co-star Etchika Choureau and Joan Perry, the widow of Harry Cohn. There were even rumors of impending marriage with the latter two but while all of this was supposedly happening, he was in the middle of relationships with the likes of Anthony Perkins and figure skater Ronnie Robertson. 

1958 would prove to be the apex of his career. He reunited with William Wellman to star in “Lafayette Escadrille,” in which he played an American pilot who goes to France to fly for the country during World War I—when preview audiences objected to his character’s death, the ending was reshot so that he lived. He followed that up with a role as Van Heflin’s hot-headed son in the Western “Gunman’s Walk,” a part that he would cite as his personal favorite. His next film would prove to be one of his most notable, the big-screen version of the Broadway musical hit “Damn Yankees” (pictured above) that saw him playing Joe Hardy, the magical incarnation of a middle-aged man who has sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his beloved Washington Senators, with his help, to beat the New York Yankees for the pennant. Hunter was the only major member of the cast who was not part of the original stage incarnation and indeed, he would later complain that director George Abbott (who made the film along with Stanley Donen) was more interested in replicating what he did on stage than in making it a movie. Perhaps as a result of this, Hunter gets a little bit of the short shrift (especially with the removal of a couple of his songs) in the end product. Still, Hunter more than holds his own in a film that is a reasonably solid film version of a stage classic.

After a couple more films, including the war movie “They Came to Cordura” (1959) and the romantic drama “That Kind of Woman,” in which he co-starred opposite Sophia Loren for up-and-coming director Sidney Lumet, Hunter elected to end his contract with Warner Brothers in order to get better offers on his own. This proved to be a mistake as he now had no studio with an interest in promoting him and newer stars like Troy Donahue were being groomed for the same heartthrob roles over which he once held sway. After failing to win the lead in the film version of “West Side Story,” he moved to television with “The Tab Hunter Show” (1960), a sitcom featuring him as a hip and swinging bachelor that had middling ratings and was cancelled after a single season. For the next couple of decades, he found himself making guest appearances on such shows as “Combat!,” “The Virginian,” “Cannon,” “McMillan & Wife,” “Forever Fernwood” and “The Love Boat.” He also found himself appearing in such second-tier films as “Operation Bikini” (1963), “Ride the Wild Surf” (1964), “Birds Do It” (1966), “Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood” (1976) and the immortal “Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold” (1979). He tried changing things up a couple of times but these efforts led to nothing—he appeared on Broadway in the Tennessee Williams play “The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore” in 1964 but it lasted only five performances and his attempt at shattering his image by playing a sexually dysfunctional psycho killer in “Sweet Kill” (1972) was a dud that is notable today only for marking the directorial debut of Curtis Hanson. He had a funny bit in the dark comedy “The Loved One” (1965) and was good in the Western “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean” (1972) but at this point, it seemed as if his career was destined to be stuck in a rut of crummy TV movies, forgettable features and the dinner theater circuit.

And then, true redemption and reinvention finally came Hunter’s way in the unexpected form of John Waters, best known then for the cheerfully demented underground cult films as “Pink Flamingos” (1972) and “Female Trouble” (1974) that he made in collaboration with the force of nature known as Divine. His next project, “Polyester,” was going to be an overt spoof of the Fifties-era soap operas made by the likes of Douglas Sirk. For the role of Tod Tomorrow, the handsome hunk who sweeps unloved and ignored housewife Francine Fishpaw (Divine) off her feet, Waters hit upon the idea of casting an actual star from that era in the part. Considering the notorious nature of Waters’s previous efforts—this was his first project aimed at a broader audience—signing on for such a thing would have been regarded as a huge risk, especially since this would be the first time that Waters had ever worked with a “real” actor. Nevertheless, Hunter took on the part and was pretty brilliant in it, demonstrating a flair for comedy and self-parody that he rarely was allowed to show in his movie star heyday. Not only that, he and Divine actually managed to generate a kind of chemistry between that helped to further sell the story. The idea of hiring Hunter may have seemed like a gimmick at first but it proved to be a genuinely winning and effective one and the end result is arguably Waters’s best film to date.

Although not a smash hit, “Polyester” got a lot of attention for Hunter and this was parlayed into a string of roles, many of which also goofed on his former image. In “Grease 2” (1982), he plays substitute teacher Mr. Stuart and leads the now-infamous “Reproduction” musical number—the film is bottomlessly horrible (though still preferable to the even-worse original) but that sequence is one of the few moments when it actually comes to life. That same year, Hunter then turned up in the silly mad slasher spoof “Pandemonium” and then reunited with Divine for “Lust in the Dust” (1985), a Western comedy that he produced and which was directed by Paul Bartel (and not Waters, as many have assumed). The movie is pretty silly and nowhere nearly as good as “Polyester” but he gets to goof of the Man with No Name image of Clint Eastwood (his former “Lafayette Escadrille” co-star) and he and Divine are still fun to watch, especially with the addition of Lainie Kazan to the mix. He and Divine would turn up again in the thriller “Out of the Dark” (1988) and he would also appear in the horror film’s “Cameron’s Closet” (1988) and “Grotesque.” His last feature film was “Dark Horse” (1992), a gentle family drama about a girl and her horse that he also wrote the story for.

Then came the unexpected third act of his career. In 2005, he, along with co-author Eddie Muller, wrote his autobiography, Tab Hunter Confidential, in which he acknowledged that he was gay and described the lengths to which he and the studio went in order to keep his true sexuality completely under wraps. At the time, such revelations were still considered to be shocking, especially coming from someone who was still alive, and the book became an instant best-seller. The book also became the basis for the acclaimed 2015 documentary of the same name that was produced by Hunter’s longtime partner, Allan Glaser, and which featured interviews with the likes of Waters, Eastwood and Reynolds, among others. The end result, like the book, was a fascinating portrait not just of Hunter but of the studio system that spawned him and then spat him out when it was done with him. And yet, Hunter seemed to bear no particular grudge against the industry and would turn up as a talking head in a number of documentaries on the history of Hollywood in his later years.

Was Hunter a great actor in the conventional sense of the word? Probably not, though to be fair, he was rarely given a chance to do much more than look handsome. However, he did have a flair for comedy that he was unfortunately not really given a chance to demonstrate until long after his heyday. His name will always instantly invoke a style of filmmaking that has long since passed, and it will also be remembered among members of the LGBTQ community for his struggles within the industry. It may be a cliche to say but in this case, it is true—the passing of Hunter really is the end of an era.

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