Two Questions For Dan Levy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                          I don't know if Dan Levy reads this blog, but let me tell you, girls, he should, as it would certainly keep him informed.

                                            The other day, while watching Joe Sabia grill Dan on his "73 Questions," I thought of two I would ask,  myself.

                                              The first I direct to the girls--namely, gay guys, on here.  How can someone as bright, talented, personable, and,  yes, cute, as Dan,  still be single?  On one hand, girls, he is on the market, so snap him up!!!!!!!!!!   On the other hand, why hasn't anyone done this, already???????????

                                                Could this have something to do with trips to Japan?  Maybe he is a Rice Queen!  Nothing wrong with that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                  Actually, I think the answer lies more  with Redmond, his adorable dog.  Anyone interested in Dan has to pass  inspection by  Redmond.  And I am  sure his standards are high! He keeps Dan from perdition's path!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                   The other question--something I relate to--is books.  For sure, a book is  an essential in my bag, whenever I am on the go, but really, Dan, Joan Didion???????????  JOAN DIDION????????????????????????????   Oh, come on, now!  Sure, the woman can write;  I have read several of her books, too.  But inspiring and uplifting?   Come on,  Joanie is one  big DOWNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   I mean, if you are going to go with her,  then resort to the Depressive's Self-Medication Kit--Didion, Sylvia Plath, and Virginia Woolf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                        There are better things out there,  Dan.  Like this blog,  for instance,  or "Valley Of The Dolls," which are pretty much the same, when I think of it, and do make others and myself laugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                         I  think you would  enjoy "The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier And  Clay," by Michael Chabon.  I have read it three times--Jewish NYC history, a comic strip empire,  superheroes, stories within stories.....WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                          So, those are some questions Dan should have been asked.

                                                           And, now, he has, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here Comes Question #3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                Today, a reader asks, "What are your ideas of battling crime and poverty in NYC?"

                                 Well--

                                 That is a difficult one, because often the two go hand in hand.  As to  crime,  I would beef up the NYPD with more staff,  even undercover,  but before doing I would vet each and every one, thereby eliminating any potential Derek Chauvins.  And I know, they are out there, darlings.  Why not just start with every male cop on Staten Island?

                                    Once vetted, forces should be sent to the more problematic communities, which means just about every neighborhood in The Bronx.  Laws must enforced, with each officer on the same page about how to do so.  Gun use should be allowed, but  only if necessary.  The law cannot be enforced without them.   Otherwise, there  will be handfuls of dead cops.  And change the gun laws to make them  less accessible, as the  cops disband the gangs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                      The harder part of this equation is poverty.  It has always been in existence.  One reason for that is lack of education.  And here is where I get radical.  Children from these areas can be sent  to school as much as possible, but once puberty hits, they will be sucked up into the bowels of the community.  What does this mean?  It means that, at said point, children should be removed from  these  families and environments, to keep them from re-absorption.  There are private, boarding schools for  the affluent; why not some from  the poor?  Black or Hispanic, or whatever,  history proves the kids who make it OUT are the ones who make  it.  The system in place does not reinforce this.  It just assures those who want to deride these folk that things will go on, as usual.

                                        Federally and city funded, of course, as these groups lack affordability.

                                         Am I being realistic?  I wonder, myself.  But, unless real, actual,  CHANGE is implemented, then, half  a century later, when most reading this are gone, things will be the same.

                                           Wrong.  They may be worse.  Covid, and the rent protections,  while necessary, have placed tenants in an impossible situation; how will they pay this money back?  Either rents will plummet,  and the city will collapse, or  the whole economic system will have to somehow be overhauled.

                                              Hmmmm....that could lead to an end of  corporate greed.

                                               Maybe that is  not such a bad thing, after all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"All Things Bright And Beautiful," Darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   Before I reveal what this is,  let me say it  was constructed entirely of LEGOS.  I was not of the LEGO generation; I had Lincoln Logs,  which were wood, and all  one could build were log cabins,  or  a  fort.  Sort of like "F-Troop."  Then  Kenner Toy Company made  something called  "Girder and Panel Building Sets," which I used to love,  though the  panels gave every building a sort of Japanese tinge to them.

                                    LEGOS did not exist in my day, but there were some kind of plastic pegged and holed pieces, usually colored red and white, that could be put together to build more imaginatively, especially if one  owned multiple sets.   I cannot recall  their name.  Anyone who can, let me  know.

                                     The structure seen is ingenious, and was built, with LEGOS, by a young man well beyond the building toy years. His name is Henry Lee, and he is a student at Michigan University's Musical Theatre Program.  What he has built, in case you were not able to figure out, is a replica of the set model by Boris  Aronson, for the original, 1971, production of "FOLLIES," but entirely out of LEGOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                       Henry, hon, I am telling you, you are on to something.  Patent this, manufacture these, because Theater Queens all over will  want one so that, using Disneykins, or small figures of any kind,  they can stage their individual productions of "FOLLIES."

                                          You know, I am just SO anxious to  do  this!  Some may use the cast recording, which would be fun.  But,  as I can sing the entire score,  I  will do it myself.

                                            What's next?  "Sweeney Todd?"  'Merrily?'

                                             Keep  it up,  Henry!  You have forged  yourself an empire!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, Taylor, When, And Where, Are We Going To Have Lunch????????????????????????????

                                    I am talking, of course, about Taylor Swift, darlings!  I would love to visit her manse in Beverly Hills, but, much as I would like to visit the West Coast, drop in on Taylor, Blake  Lively, and others, I am not ready, psychologically, to get on a plane.

                                      But, Taylor, since  you own property in NYC, we can do something outdoorsy , with no problem, whatsoever.  Say, something in SoHo????????????????

                                       Trying to  have lunch with Taylor Swift is akin to getting a hair appointment with Sally Hershberger.  And I am  dying to know who does Taylor's hair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                          So, Taylor, ring me up on here, when in town.  We can chat, and  chill!!!!!!!!!!

                                           Just us girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     Here is Taylor's classic, "Blank Space."  Give it a listen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here Comes Question #2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 A reader has asked me, "What "celebrities," other than Gwyneth and Mariska, do you find insufferable????????????"

                                   Ok, Everyone, here goes--

                                   Let's start with Adam Sandler. There is nothing the least bit funny about his repetitive vulgarity.  Though he does try to stretch himself,  for which I give him credit,  his outright homophobia is enough to fill me with disdain.

                                    Lin-Manuel Miranda--I guarantee you that, in ten years, he will be forgotten.  He may have caught the pulse of the  time,  with "Hamilton," but he did not catch MY pulse, hons.  His need for recognition is insatiable.  And what is more, he is a great, big closet case and hypocrite.  When his fame flees, I will be glad.

                                     James Corden--Almost the same thing.  Closet case, definitely.  Tries not to be, but overdoes everything, even when attempting musical theater.  Forget his late night show; I am not up, and he is not one for whom I would stay up.

                                      Kate Hudson--Still known for just one movie, "Almost Famous."  How  long is she going to live off of that?  Has tried fashion, but failed abysmally.  If her mother were not Goldie Hawn, she would not even  be heard from,  anymore!

                                       Paula Zahn--Oh, my God!  She has absolutely no sense of  style or fashion, and  can't she even comb her hair!  That wild look she has  is  far  too  "mature" for--and I am  being kind--though her wardrobe  is  not  entirely her fault,  as she is clearly dressed and styled by straight men!  And then there  is her lack of  journalistic professionalism--you can tell she is  just  shilling for change, with not a bit of  interest in  the case, at hand.  And that wretched, earnest, school girl delivery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Hang  it up, Paula!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         Julie Taymor and Diane Paulus-- Both currently consigned to the Island Of Lost Directors.  Taymor  bit more than she could chew with "Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark," which should have been kept dark.  That Paulus got "HAIR" right--especially casting Allison Case as the best Crissy since Shelley Plimpton, was  something  of a  minor miracle.  I pray that her all female version  of  "1776" never reaches town.  If it does, then  I should be allowed to play Mama Rose!!!!!!!!!!!

                                          David Birney--Ex-husband of  Meredith Baxter Birney,  who came  out as a lesbian!!!!!!!!!!!  See what living with him does?  Seriously,  girls, I have dealt with  him,  and the arrogance just  drips off him, like Giuliani's hair dye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                              How's that, hons??????????????????????????????????

                                    

Girls, Please Join Us For "Svengoolie" This Saturday Night!!!!!!!!!!!!! But Joan Crawford Mavens Beware!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                               I remember when this film came out, back in 1965.  Even then, its plot sounded familiar.

                                                Two teen-aged girls, with nothing better to do, make random phone calls to strangers,  using the phone  book.  When  said person answers, they utter the movie's title line, "I Saw What You Did (And I Know Who You Are!)".

                                                    If this sounds like 1979's "When A Stranger Calls," or the Drew Barrymore opening sequence of 1996's "Scream" (my God, the film is twenty five years old,  already!), or even 1997's "I Saw What You Did Last Summer," you are not only on the right track, but probably know already what you are in for.  I have a feeling this premise, or variants on it, have been used in previous films,  like 1952's "Don't Bother To  Knock," with Marilyn Monroe, or even Bobby Driscoll's  1949 triumph, "The Window."

                                                    So,  don't  look  for much.   Count very much on Kerwyn and Svengoolie to liven things up.

                                                      The  film will  be  most  disconcerting and disappointing to  Joan Crawford Mavens?  What is such a creature?   Allow me--

                                                    That's right!  A man--generally gay, but not necessarily--so devoted to  Joan he dresses up as the character, according to whatever film of hers he is watching.

                                                       This is a William Castle film, and the year before, 1964, Joan played that crazy bitch we all know and  love--Lucy Harbin, in "Strait-Jacket"-- with Diane Baker, as Carol,  her even more demented daughter.  Joan had a history of bad daughters, both onscreen and off.

                                                          Now, for those who don't know the story, she was originally cast with Bette Davis, as Miriam Deering, the White Trash northern cousin to Charlotte Hollis in what was to be director Robert  Aldrich's follow-up to 'Baby Jane,' "Hush....Hush, Sweet Charlotte."  Joan left the production, and Olivia De Havilland stepped  in, and she was a rip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                           But, Joan needed a film,  and  for her classic work in "Strait-Jacket," Castle had a part written in for her in  "I Saw What You Did (And I Know Who You Are)."  However,  Joan's screen time is minimal--maybe as  low as five minutes--and she worked on the film for only four days.  So, Joan Mavens, be forewarned.

                                                             Those looking for a howling good time are sure to laugh along with us--David,  Baby Gojira,  Kerwyn, and myself.   Especially since, with the advancement  of technology, this film would not play out like this, but as a cyber stalker thriller, where the culprit would be easier to trace than fifty six years ago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                                A little  Joan  is  better than none!  So, join us for the fun,  dolls!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                                 See you all on Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wouldn't This Look Fabulous On ME Darlings???????????????????????

                                                  I have quite a collection of  T-Shirts, all of which inform my personality,  so it is high time I owned a "VOGUE" T-Shirt.  After all, I am a strong ANNA  Advocate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                    The look  is classic, and could be worn with anything.  But, if I could  have my druthers, I would want it  in pink, as that is my favorite color.  And  pink  is SO me, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                        Hey, ANNA, is a pink one possible?  If not, then I would certainly be satisfied with this, coupled with a pair of designer jeans.

                                                           Hey, T-Shirts can be fashion items, too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!