Monday, August 24, 2020
Saturday, August 22, 2020
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Monday, August 17, 2020
Saturday, August 15, 2020
SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN sung by Frank Sinatra
This great tune was released on Sinatra's 1961 album SINATRA'S SWINGIN' SESSION!!!
Arrangements and orchestra conducted by Nelson Riddle, featuring Buddy Collette on tenor sax and flutes.
You can listen to it here!
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Monday, August 10, 2020
Saturday, August 8, 2020
ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT...
...gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream!
Friday, August 7, 2020
OLLIE!
Oliver Hardy passed on this date, August 7th, 1957 at 65 years of age. When his on stage and screen partner, Stan Laurel heard the news, he was devastated and from then on, refused to perform on stage or act in another film again. Ever since they became partners in 1927, he thought of himself as half of an entity called Laurel & Hardy and consequentially, without Hardy there couldn't be any Laurel. That's how close they were. Their friendship had blossomed during their fading years when, out of work in movies, they began to tour appearing live before delighted audiences in the U.S. and abroad. Ollie was by this time, married to Virginia Lucille Jones, a script girl he met while filming THE FLYING DEUCES. Stan was married to Ida Kitaeva Raphael and the four of them struck a very close friendship during those tours.
Many people think of Hardy as being the perfect straight man to Laurel but in fact, there was no straight man in this team since Ollie shared the comedy equally with Stan. You could laugh at Stan's fumblings and get another laugh watching Ollie's reaction to his pal's blunders, which did not keep Hardy from committing some equally hilarious bits of slapstick himself!
Here's a link to last year's post on Oliver Hardy:
Thursday, August 6, 2020
THE GODZILLA YEAR!
2020 has definitely not been the great year we hoped for back in January. And it's getting even worse every day. However...hopes still run high that somehow it will get better before December. Like every Godzilla movie, after the mass destruction comes the happy ending where the ugly monster finally disappears. That is, until the next sequel!Monday, August 3, 2020
Saturday, August 1, 2020
Thursday, July 30, 2020
Monday, July 27, 2020
Saturday, July 25, 2020
Thursday, July 23, 2020
Monday, July 20, 2020
LAUREL & HARDY : The Definitive Restorations
Finally, after a long wait, the Laurel & Hardy Definitive Restorations DVD and Blu-Ray discs were released on June 30th and a joyous occasion it was for the countless fans who were eagerly awaiting for this event!
And it was everything it was supposed to be. The films look better than ever. The sharpness, detail and sound are exactly like they must have been when first released, almost 90 years ago.
I won't go into any details here because every Tom, Dick and Harry have posted their opinions on the social networks and I will not be adding my comments to them as I'm not interested in being a critic or reviewer, but mark my words, these films look gorgeous as never before.
The only drawback is that it's not a complete set. Laurel and Hardy appeared in about 106 films together, between 1917 and 1951 and this volume covers a mere fraction of that, which only wets L&H fans' appetite for more restorations.
Hopefully, there will be further volumes coming sometime but for the time being, let's enjoy what we have! Welcome back again, Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy!
For more details on this Blu-Ray and DVD release, check here:
You can watch the trailer here:
Saturday, July 18, 2020
SUNSET IN THE CITY
After three weeks of beautiful sunsets in Acapulco,
somehow sunsets in the city are kind of a letdown...
Monday, July 13, 2020
Life Forecast
Tuesday, July 7, 2020
The Wonderful World of Digital Photos!
No matter how good a digital HD camera can be, nothing compares to the real thing!Saturday, July 4, 2020
MY TEN MOST-WATCHED FILMS
I've seen quite a lot of films during my 69 years of life but just a chosen few have been revisited by me over and over again for different reasons. This here is a list of the first 10 films I know I have seen more than a 100 times, although there are more than 50 in my complete most-watched checklist. The question people may ask about this is: why watch a film over and over again when you've already seen it and know every scene by heart? Isn't once enough?
If you have your own MOST-WATCHED FILMS tally, then you know the answer!
And without any further explanation, here we go:
If you have your own MOST-WATCHED FILMS tally, then you know the answer!
And without any further explanation, here we go:
THUNDERBALL (1965)
BULLITT (1968)
GOLDFINGER (1964)
THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957)
CASABLANCA (1943)
THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING (1975)
THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963)
WAY OUT WEST (1937)
THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948)
CHARADE (1963)
I'll post 10 more in a later chapter.
Friday, July 3, 2020
SIXTY-NINE!
If sex was a number, it would be sixty nine. In numerology, 69 is a number of idealism, family and harmony. It is also a number of health and compassion. It is the natural number following 68 and preceding 70. In roman numerals, it's LXIX.
And as long as I can keep getting birthdays, everything will be just fine!
Monday, June 29, 2020
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Monday, June 22, 2020
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Saturday, June 20, 2020
MY COVID-19 ROMANTIC DINNER!
Not even the coronavirus lockdown will keep me from having a romantic dinner with a beautiful girl!
Thursday, June 18, 2020
Further Lockdown Activities...
The COVID-19 lockdown has enabled me to check out my apartment's magnificent view...
of the brickwall next door!
of the brickwall next door!
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
REMEMBERING STAN LAUREL
And among comedians, there's no one standing higher for me than Stan Laurel.
I've always admired his skill in pantomime and the remarkable ability to take a simple everyday situation and transform it into something funny, ridiculous and immensely entertaining. His partnership with Oliver Hardy was a blessing for Stan as it gave him a sounding board and instant feedback to his quiet bits of lunacy. Sadly, most of Laurel and Hardy's artistry is lost in present generations due to a lack of promotion and poor exposure of their films on the streaming services. Still, there is hope that their wonderful shorts and feature films somehow will find a way to be admired and become an inspiration to future generations. As for myself, I am just glad I was born when their comedies were still widely available on television because, to this day, I cherish their friendship and companionship through all the muck and mire of our daily existence.
God Bless Stan Laurel!
Monday, June 15, 2020
Saturday, June 13, 2020
SHINING!
The good news is that several months of being locked inside my apartment haven't had any effect whatsoever on my mental health!
Thursday, June 11, 2020
THE UNSTOPPABLE CORONA-PACMAN!
According to the latest reports and updates, the Coronavirus pandemic is still spreading like crazy in most countries. When will it stop, nobody knows!
Monday, June 8, 2020
SILLY WALKS!
The coronavirus lockdown has given me the opportunity to engage in a vast array of fruitful and intellectually rewarding activities...such as practicing my silly walks!
Saturday, June 6, 2020
THE PERKS OF COVID-19 SHUTDOWN
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Monday, June 1, 2020
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