A Salute To A Childhood Icon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     Girls, this is the Spinning Wheel Diner, or as I called it when young the Spinning Diner Wheel.  It was located on one of the corners of Commercial Avenue and Georges Road, in North Brunswick, New Jersey.  We would pass it every time we drove to my grandmother, grandfather and Aunt Katty, who lived on Nassau Street in North Brunswick.  But the real spectacle was at night, when the sign would be lit up, and the rim around the circle would spin.  It looked so sophisticated to me, at that time, that I would beg my parents to let me dine in there.  Alas, I never got to.  I think my parents recognized it for the dive it was and would not allow me to be seen there. 

                                         Now, the diner is still there, but it does not look like this anymore.  It looks like any other diner, but Commercial Avenue and Georges Road were still not classy areas.  And I bet they are not now.

                                           But his photo takes me back to a time in my childhood, when this was glamour, and I believed the moon was with us, as it seemed to follow only me home when we were enroute from my grandparents.

                                             Treasure that innocence, darlings.  The memories it brings are priceless.

Now, Here Is A Fabulous Alternative, Darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                  This film was the Technicolor film event of 1968, for those of us young enough to remember and appreciate it.  On a second viewing years ago, I found it to be a Technicolor candy coated fantasy; the kind of movie Vincente Minnelli made for MGM.  Too bad Minnelli did not direct it.

                                       Channel 13 is showing this at 9PM.  Something interesting for a change!!!!!!!!!!

                                    The visuals are the mail reason to see this film. But this is something else.

                            That is right, darlings!  Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious.   Who she admits herself is "scrumptious as a cherry peach parfait."  When this film first appeared, we all wanted to look like Truly Scrumptious and eat cherry peach parfaits!!!!!!!!!!!!  Seeing this movie is almost its equivalent.  Just think of the sugar count!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                             Better to live out one's childhood fantasies than being bored by crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's Start With The Poster Being Better Than The Movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                       Tonight, "Svengoolie" is showing "The Night Walker" for the first time in two years.  He should have skipped it altogether.  This is a contrived, semi-serious study of a woman, played by Barbara Stanwyck, who is being gaslit.  But she is not up to Ingrid Bergman or Joan Crawford in "Strait-Jacket."

                                           The film takes itself too seriously, with no campiness or humor, and there is no reason to watch it except for Queens who may crave Stanwyck or have the hots for Robert Taylor.

                                               Really, I would skip this one.

                                               Where is "Killer Klowns From Outer Space," when needed?

This Is How I Feel Right Now, Darlings!!!!!!!!!!! But I Will Do My Best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                             I should have known something was wrong Wednesday night, when my throat began feeling funny.  I had the suspicion I was coming down with a cold.  This is the first brain activity in days.  My head is so congested, I am not sure I could read.  But I am going to try.

                             Girls, can you believe it?  I sail through the holidays, only to end up with the annual Winter cold in late January.  There is just no escaping it.

                                I can barely talk, and my energy level is low.  It is taking every bit of effort to write all this.

                                  I just hope David does not catch it.  Baby Gojira and Company are busy enough taking care of me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    Wish me luck, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Bay Ridge Icon Has Closed!!!!!!!!!!!!! What Will Become Of The Building????????????

                            When I was a young ingenue, darlings--and I really was! -- I moved to Brooklyn in December of 1983.  Just in time for Christmas season in Manhattan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                               At that time, the building pictured above was known as the New Royal Restaurant.  The Bay Ridge Avenue subway stop was mine because I lived in that neighborhood, over at 6647 Bergen Place.  Many a night, after a tiresome day at work, or when it was too hot to cook--I had no AC then, though my bedroom had two windows that got a wonderful breeze from the bay.  And the view was gorgeous.  Still, it seemed like some nights I would float up the subway steps, and straight into my seat at the New Royal.  Margaret, the waitress, always served me, and I almost always had Chicken Parm.  It was delicious.  Not so when I had the scallops the night before visiting my father in Florida, back in 1992, when I developed a terrible GI illness that ruined the vacation.  I remember my father taking me to see a doctor, and all I got was a lecture on sexual morality and told to see a GI person when I returned to New York.  I did, and there was no sexual component to what I had, and it mysteriously cleared up on its own.  After three weeks, and a loss of eleven pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 Fifteen years later, after living in Woodside--the less said, the better--I come back to my beloved Bay Ridge, not only to find the New Royal is now Emphasis, but the staff and quality were lacking.  Something happened in those 15 years, and it was not good.

                                   Emphasis says it has been around for 21 years, and while that may be true, my experience proves it was around as a restaurant longer than that.  Try 30 or 40 years.

                                      It closed for good on January 9, 2026!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    Still, I mourn the loss of a place once important to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     As Sally Bowles says, "It isn't that long a stay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Girls, Imagine A Broadway Show Featuring These Four Gentlemen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                                                    

                                                                                       

            

                                                                                   

                     These are four of the most talented men Broadway has and two of them--Jonathan Groff and Aaron Tveit --are working hard, eight shows a week.  The other two, Jason Danieley and Josh Grobin--have put in their time; I have seen Josh and can attest to his talent and that he is so scrumptious, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!      

                          So, why not a show featuring all four of them?  What could it be called?  "Gorgeous Hunks?"  "The Men Of Broadway?"  "Give Us Your Panties?????????"   While the last is apt, because panties would fly like crazy ever single night, I think "The Men Of Broadway" is best, because too often women get singled out on the musical stage, with men pushed to the side.  But here are four powerhouse male performers that can hold their own with any femme.

                          Maybe a revue show where they do covers that made them famous and go through the repertoire finding duets that these men could sing.  Imagine the four of them doing "Love Child?"  Even Miss Ross would love that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                             Think about it, girls!  We need to see Jason, Jonathan, Josh and Aaron on stage more often!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                I would run to get tickets to this!  Holding up my panties!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why Do Apples In The Supermarket Remind Me Of "Snow White????????????"

                           First, darlings, they are so suspiciously shiny.  Like someone has been polishing them over and over to make them look enticing to the patron, like the Witch/Queen made the apples look enticing for Snow White.

                            The reddest ones are the worst, girls!  They may look the most polished, but they are dry and tasteless.  Trust me; I have fallen for this trap!  David and I were at the supermarket yesterday--now that he is retired, I lose track of what day of the week it is, because our routines have changed.  Not in how we do them, but when.

                              We did food shopping yesterday, and when I saw all these apples, I instantly thought of Snow White.  The dwarves warned her to watch out for the Queen, but they only knew one Queen.  Like apples, there are many different kinds, and I ought to know, because I am one of them

.                                Remember, there will always be the Wicked Queen, but I am and always will be The Raving Queen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  That is why she looks so jealous!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    No poisoned apples for my girls!  Only Golden Delicious!  And the green ones!!!!!!!!!!!!