That first clip had me baffled. Am sure that’s Howard Keel in the costume but who are the two suits? The little one looks like a very young Spencer Tracy but it can’t be!
They are JAMES WHITMORE (“the little one”) and Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (better known as KEENAN WYNN), both veteran character actors, with Wynn being the more recognizable. In Cole Porter’s KISS ME KATE, they play a pair of parody thugs in this film version of Shakespeare’s TAMING OF THE SHREW. It’s one of my favorite musicals.
The vocalist in the POTATOES ARE CHEAPER clip is Beatrice Kay, who was famous back in the day for her big-voiced, humorous take-offs on Gay 90s (& other) songs. She would’ve been the perfect vocalist for the Spike Jones Band.
Great selections today, as always, but my fave is from Kiss Me Kate with James Whitmore and the fab Keenan Wynn. To be honest, I’ve never seen that film – and I call myself a classic movie blogger!
When I was young, the above was one of the first truisms I remember coming upon which took me beyond the surface of its simple truth….a proposition, if you will, that by any other name would be as true. After all, what is a name but a representation of what must be named because how else are we to picture in common what is being referred to? For example, if my name were Mister Muttonhead, I would still be me, though my name would be Mister Muttonhead, not Mister Muse (and I would still smell as sweet).
With that in mind, I thought I’d try my hand at furthering the Bard’s example by expounding on his original paradigm, to wit:
Flour by any other name would smell as wheat.
An alert cat by any other name would smell a rat.
An antique by any other name would cost far less.
The God of man by any other name would smell like WHAT’S UP WITH THAT.
Time by any other name would smell like a flier on life.
A duck by any other name would quack like the other name.
A Donald Trump by any other name would quack like an amuck Donald Duck.
Thanksgiving turkey by any other name would smell like a thankless (but not tasteless) turkey.
So very true, Mister Muse.
I’m still ‘down under’ and wanted to point out to you that your last line – “Such is Life” is supposed to be the last words uttered by one of Australia’s infamous ‘hero’s – Ned Kelly. Before he was hung in the Melbourne Goal, that is.
Do have a lovely Thanksgiving and I really hope you avoid the spending frenzy of Black Friday. .. *she shudders*. Hope you enjoy your turkey though!
Thanks, Carmen. It’s too late for me to wish you a lovely Thanksgiving because, as a Canadian, you had your holiday in October. In Australia, they don’t even have a Thanksgiving day, so the best I can do is wish you a lovely day thinking of Mister Muttonhead — I mean, Mister Muse — enjoying his turkey, while I try not to think of the poor turkey sacrificing his life so a bloke like me could stuff himself like a gluttonhead. Oh, well, at least I can take consolation in knowing it was for a good cause.
You got that right, r.g. They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, so I guess Antiques Roadshow might then be called TRASH ROADSHOW. Somehow it doesn’t quite have the same appeal, and Shakespeare’s “rose by any other name” assertion would become a thorny issue. 😦
markscheel1
8:05 pm on November 26, 2018 Permalink
| Reply
Muse,
Indeed, some names are interchangeable. However, if Adolf Hitler had taken the name of his illegitimate father’s mother, Schicklgruber, would he still have been Hitler? Why, we might have avoided WW II!! LOL
Thank you, my Thanksgiving was most pleasant. Hope yours was likewise.
Mark, I must admit that “Heil Schicklgruber!” doesn’t command quite the same obeisance as “Heil Hitler!” Another ‘benefit’ of the name “Hitler” was that “Schicklgruber” would’ve taken a lot longer to spell and pronounce.
To see or not to see, that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to look past
The slings and arrows of outrageous tweets
And excuse the lies and insults of our imperial Don,
So long as such doth advance our noble cause
And lead us back to the glory of righteous times,
Devoutly to be wish’d. Ay, there’s the rub:
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th’opressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of dispriz’d love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office, and the unworthy spurns,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus devil-deals doth make cowards of us all
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
Lie paraded, bare and exposed for all but us to see.
*with appreciation, but no apologies, to Shakespeare
Thanks, Paul. I hope I have applied Shakespeare to more learned purpose than this:
“To know the force of human genius we should read Shakespeare; to see the insignificance of human learning we may study his commentators.” –William Hazlitt
My April 22 post (MARK TWAIN ON DONALD TRUMP) was so well received that I’ve decided to give that theme (of holding up a mirror to The Tempest of Trumpian self-glorification) another go….this time, with the reflections of an even greater giant of literature: the Bard of Avon taking aim at the target of Twain and giving us his measure of the Tweeter of Twaddle. So, in case you haven’t given The Bard a second thought of late: straight from TAMING OF THE SHREW (filmed as KISS ME KATE), what say you….
and we’ll all know how….the Bard’s words speak to the Iago of Mar-a-Lago:
Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides. Who cover faults, at last shame them derides.
False face must hide what the false heart doth know.
Go to your bosom: Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know.
God has given you one face, and you make yourself another.
It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.
When we are born we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.
“Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown,” Sr. Muse. Also, “Woe to the land that’s governed by a child. It’s bad news when a country is ruled by a child.”
KISS ME KATE (the movie, not a personal request) is one of my fav musicals, with great songs….and why wouldn’t they be great? They’re by Cole Porter! 🙂
He posits posts you can bank on for interest, though short term in sum cases (sumtimes as little as two seconds). If you’re thinking in terms of interest that goes on and on, read The Bard or The Donald (depending on whether you’re more attuned to Bill Shakespeare or Bull Shit).
For this particular caper, we stick up — I mean pick up — from the initial A, where our girl’s-name songs left off….this time killing two letters (B and C) with one post. For our B song, off to BONNIE SCOTLAND we go:
As long as we B in Scotland, we might as well C in Scotland:
OK, so CLYDE isn’t a girl’s name — not a minor detail, I confess. I am thus forced to acknowledge that selecting the ideal song isn’t as simple as A-B-C — our girl C will have to wait until my next post after all. I Be C-ing you then (Lord willing and the river don’t rise).
Clever intro to a clever post, Muse. I’ll pass on The Donald myself – I’m NOT interested in any more BS from him if I can possibly avoid it.
Clyde may not be a girl’s name, but I loved the River song – especially the beautiful visuals. Thanks for sharing. C you next time.
xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMORE dot com)
ADD/EFD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder
“It takes a village to educate a world!”
I thank you a wee bonnie bit and then sum, Madelyn. I too dig the River Clyde song — I’d ne’er heard it before and was glad to stumble upon it (who knew you could stumble upon a river?).
I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re right, Don — even a few human “Clydes” may have started out as girls. As for the “Dale” part, remember Dale Evans (wife of Roy Rogers)? I’m pretty sure she was a girl from start to finish. (That’s intended to be humorous, is case anyone takes that seriously.)
Great characters and great film. In my opinion, the violence wasn’t gratuitous, although at the time it came out (1967), some considered it so. Of course, it pales in comparison to the violence in modern movies, but even back in the 1960s, I didn’t think it was as violent as the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO.
Ricardo, that brings back all-but-forgotten memories of the Legion of Decency pledge renewed annually at Sunday Mass which forbid Catholics from watching movies with too much sex and/or violence (which in those days meant almost any sex or violence). As I recall, violation was under pain of mortal sin, but that just made such forbidden pleasures all the more enticing for some of us.
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty — that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
–John Keats, from ODE ON A GRECIAN URN
On this day in February, 399 BC (according to onthisday.com) occurred the fateful trial of the famed Grecian philosopher Socrates, of whom it is said that he didn’t put anything in writing during his lifetime — or even afterward, for that matter. This might lead one to think he was either paranoid or illiterate. By all odes, however, he was neither — otherwise his life/trial/death-by-hemlock would have earned him no esteem….and in theory, the following quotes attributed to Socrates might have been not only recorded by, but credited to, Plato (as well as others Greek to me):
Wisdom begins in wonder.
The unexamined life is not worth living.
To find yourself, think for yourself.
By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.
I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.
But why should Plato and a few of his fellow G(r)eeks get all the credit for handing down what Socrates supposedly said? I may not be quite as ancient as they, but I go back far enough to be able to confide with the utmost confidence that Socrates never denied saying the following:
Wisdom begins in wonder….and ends the same way.
There’s no fool like an old fool. (On the other hand, some of us “old fools” prefer to think of ourselves as misanthropically eccentric seniors.)
It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. (Or, you could just pay your electric bill on time.)
My wife would talk to a wooden Indian. (That’s why I keep a wooden Indian around the house.)
All’s well that ends well. (Well, I don’t know about that….but I suppose if it was good enough for the doomed Socrates, it’s good enough for the likes of Shakespeare and mistermuse.)
What the long-suffering Socrates actually said about wives, according to Xenophon (Symp. 2.10):
“If that is your view, Socrates,” asked Antisthenes, “how does it come that you don’t practise what you preach by yourself educating Xanthippe, but live with a wife who is the hardest to get along with of all the women there are—yes, or all that ever were, I suspect, or ever will be?”
“Because,” he replied, “I observe that men who wish to become expert horsemen do not get the most docile horses but rather those that are high-mettled, believing that if they can manage this kind, they will easily handle any other. My course is similar. Mankind at large is what I wish to deal and associate with; and so I have got her, well assured that if I can endure her, I shall have no difficulty in my relations with all the rest of human kind.”
These words, in the judgment of the guests, did not go wide of the mark.
Don Frankel
8:20 am on February 15, 2017 Permalink
| Reply
Muse are you saying that Socrates was like Yogi in that he didn’t say all the things people say he said? Or was it just that there was no pen and paper as yet and he didn’t feel like hammering away with a chisel and a piece of stone? He thought it was just to crude.
Thanks, Linnet — I appreciate your very interesting comment.
From what I’ve read (admittedly limited) of the writings of Plato and Xenophon re Socrates, Plato’s were the more brilliant/less literal, and Xenophon’s the more prosaic….so, assuming that the latter took fewer or no liberties with Socrates’ words, “What the long-suffering Socrates actually said about wives” was indeed on the mark. However, whatever the “By all means, marry” quote lost in translation, length-and-literatim-wise, it apparently captured gist-wise.
Apparently, they wanted one of their own kind in the White House, Ricardo (notice I said “they” instead of “old fools” because I disavow guilt by association).
I recall that Socrates called writing “the dead flower of speech.”
I’m not sure if he was responding to my blog … or maybe he just wasn’t a good gardener?
In any event, we’re lucky Plato recorded all of Socrates’s wisdom so future humanities students could groan about it in Philosophy 101. I can’t remember quite how they go, but I recall one where Socrates said “Don’t put words in my mouth!” while Plato scribbled away furiously, putting words in his mouth.
Or something like that. I’m not sure; I didn’t do to well in humanities. Clearly.
Clearly a Conundrum. I, on the other hand, might be labeled a Punundrum, judging by all the groans my writing seems to induce. It probably has something to do with a prophet being without honor in his own puntry (I know that’s not exactly what Jesus said, but Jesus, give me a break).
Larry was writing rhyme at the age of six; by 1910 [age 15], he’d been christened “Shakespeare” by friends. [He had] a passion for Shakespeare, a delight in wordplay, and a fondness for anachronistic juxtaposition. Not for nothing was Hart known as “Shakespeare.” –Dominick Symonds, author of WE’LL HAVE MANHATTAN (subtitled THE EARLY WORK OF RODGERS & HART)
My previous post featured the words and music of Richard Rodgers and Larry Hart, which — along with the above — conveniently serve as segue into Shakespearean speculation:
BARD’S TUNE
What would William
have done with jazz?
Would he take jazz
where no one has?
Would jazz-you-like-
it, he accost?
Would he find jazz
love’s labor lost?
Would he have played
jazz instrument
measure for meas-
ure, or hell bent?
Or would he have,
a jazz voice, been —
the ‘King of Sing’
of noted men?
No! Peerless bard,
writer of wrongs —
if you dug jazz….
you’d write the songs.
is an itty-bitty city in my neighboring state of Kentucky, voted “Most Beautiful Small Town in America” and noted for its annual KENTUCKY BOURBON FESTIVAL, MUSEUM OF WHISKEY, and MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME STATE PARK, site of the farm which inspired Stephen Foster to write “My Old Kentucky Home” (the state song of Kentucky).
I find the story of Stephen Foster most interesting, starting with the date of his birth: July 4, 1826 — the same day that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died hours apart. Foster was a dreamer whose love of music trumped more profitable ways of earning a living. Though he composed almost 200 songs (many of them popular in his own time), his last years were marked by poverty, a craving for liquor, and suffering from what may have been tuberculosis, dying 153 years and one week ago today (Jan. 13, 1864).
Foster can truly be considered the original bard of American music, as this 1946 quote by the late American composer and music critic, Deems Taylor, suggests:
What quality have they [Foster’s songs] that gives them such tremendous staying power? After all, other men in his day wrote songs that were as popular as his, possibly more so. What was his secret? It was, I think, that he helped fill a gap that had always existed in our musical culture. Our ancestors, coming here from all quarters of the globe, brought with them the folk songs of their native lands, but they were not peculiarly ours. It is ironic that the only race that developed a folksong literature in this country is the race that was brought here against its will, and was and has been the most brutally exploited of all — the Negro. The Negro spirituals and Stephen Foster’s songs are the nearest to completely indigenous folksongs that we have. Nor is it a coincidence that most of the best of his songs are in Negro dialect and sing the woes of the Negro.
But I will close, in keeping with the theme of recent posts, with one of Foster’s love songs:
I love your articles – and always learn something new. (the tunes ain’t bad either) 🙂
xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMore dot com)
– ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder –
“It takes a village to educate a world!”
Thank you, mgh. It’s too bad that more people don’t have the willingness to “always learn something new.” It is said that “curiosity killed the cat,” but, for humans, curiosity should be “the spice of life.” You (and other readers like you) are much appreciated!
We who continue to learn will be the ones who keep our brains sharp ’til the end, more able to engage with life in general (which may not always be a good thing – lol – but it beats the alternative in MY book!)
xx,
mgh
Nice poem and interesting post. 🙂
I’m sure Shakespeare would still be coming up with brand new words, if he was here today.
Now to look for the song on Youtube, as your clip won’t play for me here.
Thanks. There are quite a few clips of COME WHERE MY LOVE LIES DREAMING on Youtube. The one I chose (sung by Frank Patterson) seemed to best fill the bill here.
Don Frankel
8:03 am on January 20, 2017 Permalink
| Reply
Love that poem Muse.
Sometimes Rap music or its many different types sound like iambic pentameter to me. So perhaps the Bard would be rappin’ for Jay Z. Which of course made me think of the Bob Dylan line. “Shakespeare he’s in the alley with his pointy shoes and his bells. Talkin to some French girl who says she knows me well.”
Thanks, Don. I’m not into Rap music, so I’ll have to take your word that perhaps he “would be rappin’ for Jay Z” (whoever he is)….but your Bob Dylan comment is more up my alley (or at least not down my dead-end street).
I find the paradox in Taylor’s appraisal of spirituals really intriguing, actually. Maybe acts of displacement inspire ever more concerted attempts to create meaning and identity? Definitely gives me a lot to think about. But who knows what sort of lyrics Shakespeare would have spun if he was alive in our time!
To a large extent, we are creatures — even captives — of the culture in which we grew up or in which we live. Perhaps equally as interesting as the speculation about Shakespeare in our time is how differently would each of us think if we were alive in his time.
With the above in mind, I have tailored the following titles to fit a dozen poems fashioned to stir your imagination. WARNING: These poems may drive you stir crazy; do not take too literally.
Sorry, but I still don’t see LIKES. Unfortunately, between the language barrier and my lack of computer skills, I can’t devote further time to pursuing this.
I disagree with Renard. Words are not just the clothes of thought; if they were, you could take the clothes off and the thought would still be there. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed taking in the golden syrup of Ella’s audio. 🙂
Titles, titles everywhere, but where are the poems? (Well, the titles do make a poem! Yeah!) LOL
Finally, here’s what I posted on The Grant Journal in reply to your comment. Hope it helps clarify????
Hi mistermuse,
Woops! Now hold on, partner. I deeply appreciate any and all comments and, indeed, I do reciprocate, both answering comments and also commenting myself on fellow bloggers’ posts. But, muse, you ain’t posted nuthin’ here in a long time. Come on, man. I had no idea you were still posting anywhere, or where to find you. I asked Richard Cahill here awhile back and he said you weren’t posting here anymore. So I let it go. Now, experimenting around today I did discover a link to what I believe is your own blog site? I’ll check it out and see what’s what there. But, I’d strongly urge you, if posting somewhere else, paste in your stuff here also and I assure you I’ll comment freely! Ha. Yeah, I’m busy, but that’s not it–it’s just a case of not knowing.
Okay, let’s see if I can find you. 🙂
Have a good one,
Mark
*****
As you see, I found you, but had to do a lot of surfing around, signing in, etc. Now post some of this back on Grant’s Journal–really, you’re needed there. And I’ll follow you like a faithful doggie! 🙂
Having already posted my answer to the above on your blog, I will only add that I have all I can do to stay on schedule (every 5 days) with my own blog, much less worrying about posting on Grant’s Journal.
I’ve been very busy myself lately, Don — so much so that I haven’t been able to devote as much time as I’d like to my writing and commenting. But I guess it’s better to wear out than to rust out, as the old saying (I think) goes.
Actually, I did, years ago — it’s titled SEX SCELLS. If interested, let me know and I’ll send you a free copy (paperback). If you like it, you can reimburse my postage (let’s say $1) if you choose, but in any case, it’s yours to keep (or dispose of).
Friends, I love to bomb the hell out of the enemy as much as the next guy, but as we know, in the dead-on, aptly-dubbed fogof war, mistakes are made (aka stuff happens)….for examples, the killing by “friendly fire” of former NFL star Pat Tillman in April 2004, the accidental bombing (which took the lives of 22 medical staff & patients) of a Doctors Without Borders hospital in October 2015 — both in Afghanistan — and who knows how many other such tragedies throughout history.
Thus it is with mixed feelings that I bring you tidings of a recent poll revealing that many Americans are in favor of bombing the city of Agrabah, which is located, not in the Middle East, but in the far-off kingdom of Apocrypha, no less:
Friends, after some animated soul-searching, I regret to say that I must differ with my fellow patriots. I do not favor the bombing of Agrabah. It’s not because Agrabahn terrorists don’t deserve to die — they are, after all, cartoonish, less-than-human barbarians, committing appalling atrocities in the name of Allah (who apparently controls the minds of his adherents from the heavenly kingdom of Allahbah). No, friends, I demur because there is a near-100% chance of fog in the war zone, and an even greater probability of collateral damage, which of course only turns survivors into revenge-crazed recruits for the enemy. Even many of our esteemed leaders, both military and political, are believed to be aware of these realities, though clueless as to what to do about them (other than deem them regrettable and unavoidable).
Well, I say we spare Agrabah and all the other bahs whose populace has the misfortune of living in a different dream world than ours. If we must show them who’s boss, we can always blow them to kingdom-come with politically incorrect ridicule and blasts of bombast, such as the Shakespearean likes of Donald Trump drops on his adversaries, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,signifying nothing.
Or – well, as a last resort, we could emulate the brilliant tactics employed by another politically incorrect Donald, by George:
So there, as a last report, you have my final post of 2015….and not a moment too soon, I dare say. Happy New Year to all, and to all, a good night.
Although this post is five days after my last one (which was a day early because of Christmas), I will get back on schedule January 5 – at least, that’s my (only) New Year’s resolution. I’d make more resolutions, but I’m retired.
Really, Sr. Muse, you seem to be making light of this two-dimensional threat to the American way of life. We could quickly storyboard up a fleet of cartoon cruise missiles to lay waste to Agrabah. Of course, it’s a Pentagon storyboard, so the missiles would cost some millions apiece, but freedom isn’t free.
Me make light of human folly? On the contrary, I’m shocked — SHOCKED — that there is bumbling going on here! Thankfully, not only do our political candidates have all the answers for all our problems, but they’re confidently humble about it. How, for example, could we not trust our future to a candidate whose principal qualification seems to be that he is leading in the polls (as he modestly reminds us ad nauseam)?
I say bomb the shit out of that place. I could care less of collateral damage, imagine you were the soldier on the ground, just talking for myself, but when I was in the army we infantry hated this stupid rules of engagement because of collateral damage. Sorry, we didn´t use civilians as our shelter, but we are the ones that had to go in on foot and see your friends die or you yourself might die all because there is a possibility of collateral damage, war is war, damn ugly i can tell you the nuerous times when we had the enemy on sight and couldn´t even shoot with our rifles because there could be civilians around the building, and you could see these nutcases through your scope holding an AK and call it in the radio, by the time it went up al the channels and got back down to us they where already gone, to come and kill us another day, so for me, just carpet bomb the place if you really want to win that shitty war, which Mr.O let it begin in my opinión by not taking action agaainst this nutcases earier on calling them the JV team, taking out all the US tropos and living a vacume there to be filled by the muslim nutcases, so I´m with the majority of America and I´m not even American I´m Spanish, they started this fight you better end it quickly with overwhelming fire power if not this is the place where you are at, debating now wether they should bomb their headquarters, if they had acted earlier we wouldn´t be having this discussion. So the longer you draag it the worst, and as I said, for the soldiers on the ground it is sad and it does impact you to see dead bodies of kids but i always put it in perspective, it was a mistake but better them than one of my collegues that´s for sure and absolutely no regrets.
Damn, I got wound up here. Good topic to point out though.
I’ve commented elsewhere that Obama was asleep on the job while ISIL/ISIS was overrunning 1/3 of Iraq and only half-awake thereafter. I like him as a peacetime President, but as a wartime President, he doesn’t seem to get that you gotta do what you gotta do…and the sooner, the better. I dislike ideological, jingoistic, simplistic thinking-politicians, but ISIL/ISIS also thinks in those terms, and in their case, it’s lethal not to take them (out) seriously.
Don Frankel
10:43 am on December 29, 2015 Permalink
| Reply
Muse this article fails to mention that a large number of democrats also want to bomb Agrabah which could mean that a majority of Americans want to bomb Agrabah and it has bi-partisan support. I say if we are to bomb Agrabah how can we not also bomb Shazam?
The article I cite does say (near the end) that 19% of Democrats want to bomb Agrabah, which, along with 30% of Republicans and undoubtedly some Independents, would indeed add up to a majority in favor of bombing….which also means that a majority of Americans failed to Google the name to learn where the hell Agrabah is, and thus would have found out that it doesn’t really exist, which means that most Americans want to bomb first and ask questions later. No wonder Trump is leading the polls.
Don Frankel
3:12 pm on December 29, 2015 Permalink
| Reply
I know that article said 19% but I read somewhere else that it was higher which makes it an overwhelming majority. But let’s go back to the good old days.
I wouldn’t bomb Agrabah. They’ve got a genie, and I’ve seen the TV series. We could all end up turned into rats or something before we know what hit us. And I don’t want to be a rat. I want to be something in the raccoon family, or maybe Eugene the Jeep.
I assume you mean the TV series I DREAM OF JEANNIE, which I confess I liked even if it wasn’t the most sophisticated comedy in the world (the fact that Jeannie was played by the luscious Barbara Eden may have had something to do with my appreciation of the show). In MY dream of Jeannie, the animal I’d have wanted to be is a wolf, but alas and rats! – time waits for no one, and she’s now 84, and I’m no spring chicken myself.
Scurvy knave! Pray you, sir, a word: and as I told you, a young lady bade me inquire you out; what she bade me say, I will keep to myself: but first let me tell ye, if ye should lead her into a fool’s paradise…. –William Shakespeare, ROMEO AND JULIET
Pray you, my readers, a word: I question whether even one of ye is a fool (a scurvy knave might maintain that all of you are — or you wouldn’t be my readers), but, for any who perchance may qualify, this is your day….July 13 is Fool’s Paradise Day.
As if that’s not cause enough for celebration, tomorrow is Pandemonium Day and National Nude Day. Personally, I think ‘twould be more fitting if all three were observed on the same day, but apparently the holiday gods don’t see the symbiotic connection. More’s the pity, but ye can’t fight deity hall, so on this day, Paradise must hold sway.
And where, you ask, might a fool go to celebrate this day in Midsummer Night’s Dream fashion? No problem — the Bard of Stratford and I know of just the place:
As for those who want a handier destination, there are towns named Paradise all across the U.S.A., including California, Kansas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Wyoming….all you need furnish is the fool. Sorry, I don’t do distant countries, but I’m sure love’s labor will not be lost if you seek heavenly accommodations assiduously enough.
And to insure All’s Well That Ends Well, I end with appropriate mood music:
All did indeed end well with Nat King Cole singing a romantic old ballad as only he could.
As for being a knave and a fool, all I can say is if you are, the world could use a lot more. At least, it beats being a demagogue and a politician, which, come to think of it, often amounts to the same thing.
calmkate 12:45 am on September 5, 2019 Permalink |
to win this kate, it must be prolific poetry, sexy sax or dapper dancing like those first two charmers … but no meat, only potatoes please 😎
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mistermuse 1:30 am on September 5, 2019 Permalink |
Will this do?
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calmkate 4:16 am on September 5, 2019 Permalink
lovely declaration but no poetry, no sax and no dancing … WTF?
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mistermuse 8:45 am on September 5, 2019 Permalink
Sorry about that, K-K-Katie, but like my m-m-mate-y, maybe you’re a little too hard to please. 😦
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Ashley 9:42 am on September 5, 2019 Permalink |
That first clip had me baffled. Am sure that’s Howard Keel in the costume but who are the two suits? The little one looks like a very young Spencer Tracy but it can’t be!
LikeLiked by 1 person
mistermuse 12:11 pm on September 5, 2019 Permalink |
They are JAMES WHITMORE (“the little one”) and Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (better known as KEENAN WYNN), both veteran character actors, with Wynn being the more recognizable. In Cole Porter’s KISS ME KATE, they play a pair of parody thugs in this film version of Shakespeare’s TAMING OF THE SHREW. It’s one of my favorite musicals.
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mlrover 10:01 am on September 5, 2019 Permalink |
This is almost as good as Spike Jones.
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mistermuse 12:21 pm on September 5, 2019 Permalink |
The vocalist in the POTATOES ARE CHEAPER clip is Beatrice Kay, who was famous back in the day for her big-voiced, humorous take-offs on Gay 90s (& other) songs. She would’ve been the perfect vocalist for the Spike Jones Band.
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Rakkelle 6:40 pm on September 5, 2019 Permalink |
Cute!
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Silver Screenings 6:27 pm on September 15, 2019 Permalink |
Great selections today, as always, but my fave is from Kiss Me Kate with James Whitmore and the fab Keenan Wynn. To be honest, I’ve never seen that film – and I call myself a classic movie blogger!
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mistermuse 10:44 pm on September 15, 2019 Permalink |
That Whitmore-Wynn song & dance is a classic, and is even more wonderful in the context of the film as a whole. KISS ME KATE is a must-see!
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