Mr. Wow Blog
Mr. wOw Survives Irene with a Big Dose of Carole (Lombard)
4:29 pm | August 30, 2011

Author: Mr. Wow | Category: Point of View | Comments: 89

Carole Lombard

How Turner Classic Movies saved the day

Last Friday, Mr. wOw was all sanguine about the apocalyptic event advertised as Hurricane Irene. He’d been fooled before, about forces of nature that turned out fairly benign. Also, he is of hearty Irish-Italian stock. My goodness, what is a little wind and rain while I drink and whip up a batch of lasagna? (Okay—I don’t drink at home and I don’t cook anymore. But you know what I mean.)

B. and me joked about the TV hysteria. Then, on Saturday morning, early, I noticed that our next door neighbors had kindly taped up our front door—and their own. They also provided sand bags for us! Across the street, others had also taped their windows. The rest of the block was fleeing. For hours, all I heard were the sounds of people loading their cars with children, pets and valuables.

I was a little less sanguine. But not yet nervous. B. awoke later. I mentioned the window-taping, the sand-bags, the exodus. He was pretty cool. “Taping windows doesn’t help much in a hurricane, in fact not at all.” B. knows a lot, so I let that go. Still, I was uneasy. And I didn’t want to be.

I went to the supermarket, which is only yards away, and bought a few things—soups and such. But I wasn’t hoarding for disaster. I was convinced the cataclysm was just going to pass us by. I checked in, via e-mail, with my one Hoboken friend, Mike. He was on his way into Manhattan to celebrate his niece’s birthday or something (Mike loves his family). But, I gasped, in e-mail reply, “Bloomberg is shutting down all transit, how will you get back?” Mike replied coolly that New Jersey transit wasn’t going down until 6 pm. He’d be back by then.

B. was fixed in front of the TV in the living room, watching every dramatic moment of…nothing yet.

I went upstairs to my room and tried to watch The Food Network and read a book. (Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters. This is the first of her Amelia Peabody series, which I will acquaint myself with further, as I enjoyed this one quite a bit.)

BUT…I was lured back to my computer. I typed in “storm Hoboken” and found to my shock that our lovely mayor, Dawn Zimmer, was urging everybody to get the hell out of the town that spawned Frank Sinatra. And then I heard, on the street, cop cars passing by, announcing that “all those in ground floor apartments must evacuate—immediately!”

Just as I was absorbing this, my friend Mike e-mailed. He’d heard about Mayor Zimmer’s warnings, and though he referred to her as a “panicky bitch”—he had not voted for her– he was not returning to spend the night in Hoboken. His father was driving him back in, just so Mike could pick up a few things, and then he’d be taken to safer environs, not so close to the water. (He had kindly offered me and B. his fifth floor apartment, in case we were deluged.)

So now Mr. wOw was really not at all sanguine. In fact, he was more I’d-like-some-sangria!

I wafted downstairs, pale, lovely and distressed. Distressed, anyway. “Are you sure about the windows?….Later on, should we put the cats in the bathroom upstairs, so they won’t be blown away?…Do we have candles?….Water! Do we have enough water?!.. should we pick things up off the floor now, in case of first floor flooding…why the hell do you have so much shit on the floor anyway?!”

B. was a brick and assured me we’d likely have some ceiling leaks—as we always do, in a heavy rain—but that he wasn’t expecting to make like Noah. In fact he was so sure, that by 7:00 pm, he was surprised that our fave Chinese place wasn’t open—we couldn’t order in. Now it was raining rather heavily, the wind was—windy—and I exclaimed: “You expected delivery?! Everybody’s been ordered to evacuate!!” B. said: “Oh, well, there’s some left-over chicken.” He ate that. I chewed my lip.

Just as B. predicted, ceiling leaks opened later that night (early Sunday AM, to be precise.) Now, I was electrically awake. The rain was pounding and the wind was howling. I had but one respite—Turner Classic Movies. Lucky me, it wasn’t a 24 hour tribute to westerns. TCM was honoring the divine Carole Lombard. And so, from 6 AM Sunday to 1 AM Monday, I was on board for Miss Lombard, from 1933 to 1942. When I wasn’t wandering up and down through our cozy three-story house checking on the leaks, I was huddled on my couch, in my memorabilia-packed room, gasping over Miss L.’s beauty, charm and talent.

I was even luckier that my all-time favorite Lombard movie aired just as the weather was scariest—“In Name Only.” I’ve seen it a million times, this tale of unhappily married Cary Grant, his materialistic wife (the great Kay Francis, at her most wicked) and Carole, as the spirited artist, who fights the good fight against being drawn into Cary’s life, but…hell, it’s Cary Grant.

In my heightened state, I appreciated more than ever Miss Lombard’s naturalistic acting, how she elevated every scene, how even her most casual gesture and facial expression conveyed a universe of emotion. Though she gained her fame as an antic comedienne, “In Name Only” is her masterpiece dramatic performance. The last twenty minutes of the movie are intense beyond belief. (If you don’t cry, just remove yourself from the human being category.)

And as always, I was hypnotized by the movie’s final showdown, between Carole and Kay:

“You’d rather see him dead than be with me.”

“Yes.”

“You don’t love him. You don’t love anybody except yourself.”

“I gave up love for what I have now. Do you think I’m going to let you or anybody take it from me?”

“All you get from Alec is money. He’ll give you everything.”

“If Alec gave me every cent he had it wouldn’t be enough. But someday his father will be dead…”

I will spare those who haven’t seen the film its final, exquisitely satisfying dénouement (notice how I love these fancy schmancy French words.)

Anyway, by mid-afternoon Sunday, the worst (which for us hadn’t been bad at all) had passed. The house was wet in spots, it was dank, but our windows were intact and the sandbags hadn’t been employed. We had never lost power.

B. wasn’t smug. He hugged me tight. He knew I’d been far more frightened than he’d ever known me to be, or that I’d let on, verbally. (Mr. wOw’s face reveals everything—I’m a terrible liar.)

I just wish I could have hugged Miss Lombard.

Comments:
  • Baby Snooks

    I’m glad you are alright – I had this horrible thought that you had fled to Vermont…

    4:49 pm | August 30, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dearest Baby… thank you!

      But  why would I flee to Vermont?  I  was thinking more on fleeing to New Mexico. 

      XXXMr.W

      5:47 pm | August 30, 2011
      • Baby Snooks

        Well, someone I know fled to Vermont.  The friend she went to stay with should have fled to New York. Something tells me they were not watching TCM.  I suspect next time they will both flee to New Mexico.

        6:59 pm | August 30, 2011
        • Mr. Wow

          Dear Baby…

          Vermont was not a not a great flee-to spot.  My friend there is stranded without power and very unhappy. 

          8:37 pm | August 30, 2011
  • J G

    Hi Mr. Wow,
    When I saw the footage pertaining to Hoboken, you were the first person that I thought of. Is Mr. Wow safe? Will B. be strong enough for both of them, and lead them to safety? Is Mr. Wow going through his gaudy but lovable Christmas memorabilia, deciding what to take with him as he flee’s his precious city?

    I’m so glad that you are safe and sound. I live on the Connecticut coastline, and while my town had severe damage, we were fortunate as well.

    I can now exhale. Thank you for letting us know you and B. are both safe.

    XO

    5:24 pm | August 30, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear JG…

      Thank you. Please exhale. We are okay.  B. is very strong.  He is my guy.

      5:49 pm | August 30, 2011
  • J G

    Oh, please WowOWow, install an edit button. Flees, not flee’s. Sigh…

    5:27 pm | August 30, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear  JG..
       
      Oh, honey…who would notice?  I didn’t.  But I’m an illiterate  high-school drop-out.

      6:00 pm | August 30, 2011
  • TheTexasMom

    I was watching those wonderful Lombard movies with you for an entirely different reason.  Houston’s offical high temperature was 109 and I was foolish to be out in it.  So Saturday night I was up and dehydrated wishing for it to rain on me. 

    I kind of got distracted with Hands Across The Table.  Fred McMurray was from from the character of Steven Douglas in My Three Sons.

    6:52 pm | August 30, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Texas Mom…

      Excuse me, but how hot was Fred McMurray?!  Fred needs to be re-discovered.  He was not always the dad of “My Three Sons.”

      Re “Hands Across The Table”–could they really have made it a go–being married and poor?

      8:00 pm | August 30, 2011
      • TheTexasMom

        Mr. Wow – Mr. McMurray’s hotness was exactly why I was distracted.

        9:34 pm | August 30, 2011
        • Mr. Wow

          Dear TexasMom…

          I mean, really—in his shorts, and barechested?  He had some sexy vibe there, and especially with Lombard. 

          1:55 pm | August 31, 2011
  • Count Snarkula

    Mr. Wow, you can think anything you like, but you must KNOW that you are loved and cared about. All of us regulars here on one post or another expressed our concern over both you and B’s safety and whereabouts. Bathe in it. Enjoy it. Take it for granted. We care.

    7:24 pm | August 30, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Count…

      What I think is I’m going to cry. 

      Thank you.   B. is here, over my shoulder.  He says thanks, too. 

      Love,
      Mr.W

      8:02 pm | August 30, 2011
      • Count Snarkula

        @Mr. Wow and B.

        You both are so very welcome. The Count works very hard not to show emotions. And NEVER in public. But, since you might feel like a cry, just because I care so much, the Count just might, might, let you know that as he was composing his post, he might have had a little bit of moisture in his eyes. Maybe because of Irene, but since she was about 1500 miles away, maybe not. Maybe because of a truthful happiness that I was able to tell you something from my heart that is a beautiful truth.

        Nah. Must be Irene.

        XOXO – The Count

        12:39 am | August 31, 2011
  • Mr. Wow, I second and third your other fans here. So glad to hear you and B. weathered the hurricane with no problems and even had TV! There’s nothing so cozy as being home in a storm with everything you need.

    9:05 pm | August 30, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Lila…

      Thank you.  I was anticipating the power going  down, so I’d gotten a good flashlight and propped it up, wedged it in above my couch, to be able to read.  But it never came to that.

      1:59 pm | August 31, 2011
  • Jon T

    Unlike you Mr. Wow, I only faux-time traveled this weekend. I’m only just now getting into Mad Men and did a weekend long marathon, compliments of Netflix. A nice little show that looks back on what a twenty-something writer imagines the 60’s were like. 🙂 (But I’m completely hooked!)

    9:54 pm | August 30, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear JonT…

      “Mad Men” is faboo. As the late, great Jayne Mansfield would have said. 

      2:01 pm | August 31, 2011
  • Lori Castle

    Our power went out 3:30 am Saturday night/Sunday morning and didn’t come back on today. I need a ventilator to breathe so I was grateful that I had relatives that had power that I could go to. I did not want to wind up in the hospital because they had power because of this. I am on Con Eds list of people that have life sustaining machines in their homes and apparently this means nothing because I was not a priority in their eyes to turn my electricity on. I wish I had TCM to take my mind off this stuff!

    10:04 pm | August 30, 2011
    • Baby Snooks

      As many of us found out after Ike hit Houston, it sometimes is not a matter of just turning the electricity back on. Sometimes they don’t check “damage reports” and they “flip the switch” and transformers blow after a tree limb on lines cause a short and the lines catch fire. Which is what happened to me and my neighbors. People in the next block had lights 2 days after Ike hit. We had lights 11 days after Ike hit.  None of us should assume we will have lights. Or that we will have lights quickly after the storm passes. When issuing warnings, local officials often neglect to emphasize the impact on those who depend on electricity for not only ventilators but keeping medication refrigerated.  The general rule is if you don’t have a generator you need to be at a facility that has a generator. And you need to go there before not after. As some in North Carolina and New Jersey and Vermont discovered, often it is impossible for someone to get through to move you after the storm has passed.  It may not be a case of your not being a priority but simply your area, or grid as they call them, being a priority. We were  not a priority. We were one block. There were entire grids without power. So they were the priority.  Many in River Oaks, the most exclusive area in Houston, went without power for 14 days. For the same reason. Part of the grid had power. Too many others did not.

      We all assume things about these storms we shouldn’t.  Many on Bolivar Peninsula believed they could “ride out” a Category 2 storm named Ike.  And were killed as their houses collapsed in 25-35 foot storm surges. It was a Category 2 storm. With a Category 4 storm surge in many places.  Most should have remembered Camille. We rarely remember the last storm for some reason. Believing this one is no big deal. Until it turns into a big deal. 

      They said Irene would bring heavy rains as it moved up towards New England. For some reason no one paid attention.

      10:46 am | August 31, 2011
      • Deirdre Cerasa

        Baby Snooks,
        This is the best comment on what happens after a natural disaster I have seen in a long time. We all seem to think that there is a “breaker” for the utility to flip and the power goes back on. Or that no matter how severe the damage, it will be fixed in 24 hours. I don’t negate anyone’s frustration, but it is never that easy. Your advice for those who rely on power for life sustaining equipment is great. Again understanding that no one wants to leave their home; under these kinds of circumstances, it is necessary to do so. I honestly don’t understand people who won’t put life above stuff.

        1:48 pm | August 31, 2011
        • Baby Snooks

          After Rita I had lights again that afternoon.  The people across the street? The following week. Same street. Just different grids.  Quite a few people in the North have generators to deal with the loss of electricity from winter storms.  Something more and more people in the South are buying to deal with the summer storms.  But they need to be outside or in a detached building. Not in the basement. Not in the attached garage. Each year people die from the carbon monoxide from the generators they dont realize produce carbon monoxide.  A detached building is best.  Even in the best neighborhoods someone will be tempted to have lights themselves. And “borrow” your generator at 3 am.

          We are entering our “season” finally here along the Gulf Coast. And of course now there is the familiar “something” off the Yucatan moving into the Gulf of Mexico. Which causes pause for thought as they say.

          2:40 pm | August 31, 2011
          • sandra b

            Isn’t that weird Baby that people don’t know generators produce carbon monoxide? They burn gas just like a car. You wouldn’t leave your car running in the attached garage unless you were committing suicide!

            5:03 pm | September 1, 2011
          • Baby Snooks

            Most people don’t think about it. They put it where it is most convenient which is usually an attached garage and forget and close the garage door without realizing the carbon monoxide will start leaking into the house. But even a covered porch can be dangerous I’m told since the carbon monoxide will go up and then possibly leak in through cracks in the side of the house. Candlelight is much safer. Although some forget to blow the candles out when they go to bed and the dog or the car knocks over the table where the candle is and it falls on drapes which then catch fire. Again, people don’t think about it.  Even the oil lamps can prove deadly if left unattended. Better light but, well, candles are, well, more romantic. I like romantic after a storm. But I’m a little nuts.

            10:07 pm | September 2, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Lori…

      I am so glad you  had nearby relatives! 

      I was very lucky.  And even if I hadn’t been, I had B. with me.  We’d have been unlucky together.

      How are you now? 

      2:03 pm | August 31, 2011
      • Lori

        Thank you Mr. Wow! I am fine. It was just frustrating but like you said I was glad to have nearby relatives. I can’t afford a generator unfortunately. I am glad you had B with you to make you feel safer!!

        8:56 pm | August 31, 2011
  • rick gould

    Am spending 2 weeks in Upper Michigan where it has been nothing but late summer/early fall sunshine.

    Mom and I, when not overdosing on HGTV and Law and Order, have watched some pretty diverse movies.

    Didn’t catch the delightful Carole Lombard (we could use her natural beauty and class today!), but we watched some pretty campy crowdpleasers: “The Towering Inferno,” surprisingly tense special effects 35+ years later, despite absurdities as OJ Simpson as the kindly firefighter who rescues a kitty; “The Blackboard Jungle” had me rooting for the school punks over the speechifying ninny teachers; and “Zardoz,” a futuristic “drama” with Sean Connery sporting a mankini, hipboots and rounds of bullets draped over his hairy chest (did Bob Mackie create his costume?); and “Torch Song,” with Joan Crawford playing an aging, tough, controlling star…the blackface number with her ripping off her wig at the end is right up there with “Valley of the Dolls”! 

    Glad you survived Irene with your usual flair, Mr. W!  

    12:30 am | August 31, 2011
    • Count Snarkula

      @Rick – Upper Michigan, campy movies, the weather, and time with YOUR MOM ! ! !

      Jealousy is such an inadequate word to describe what I feel right now.

      Incredible Happiness for you and your Mom, however, are two words that describe it perfectly.

      XOXO – The Count

      12:46 am | August 31, 2011
      • rick gould

        Count-Thanks! I am trying to enjoy every moment before hunkering down to grad school this fall.

        And Baby-Sean looked pretty fine in a pre-overbuff Rambo/Terminator way. His getup kept me thinking he would burst into a few bars of “If I Could Turn Back Time”! 

        11:32 am | August 31, 2011
    • Baby Snooks

      Sean Connery. In a mankini. Heaven.

      10:54 am | August 31, 2011
      • Mr. Wow

        Dear Baby…

        It wasn’t very attractive, actually.  Sean was…not young anymore.

        We do better to remember Mr. Connery in his swim trunks in “Thunderball.”

        2:42 pm | August 31, 2011
        • Baby Snooks

          I actually have found him sexier as he has grown older. Like a fine wine as they say. Bods get boring. And not too many bods have that voice. Does something to me.

          9:43 pm | August 31, 2011
          • Count Snarkula

            Dear Baby:

            I have kept “the bod”. Not the huge bodybuilder bod, a more appropriate, lean muscle mass body in keeping with my age. And I have been told that I have “the voice”. Now that I am 50, do you think that I have a shot at a serious, monogamous relationship? I don’t want to go back to when I was a Bodybuilder who just took what I wanted and left broken hearts in my wake. I want to give. Like I did in the last one. But with one that will appreciate it. Too much?

            I value your opinion, as I know you will be (kindly) blunt and honest with me.

            That means so much these days.

            Mr. Wow, would love for you to jump in here with your opinion if you are so inclined.

            XOXO – Your Count

            10:25 pm | August 31, 2011
          • Count Snarkula

            And the opinions of any and all commentators also. Pile on. Love you all.

            XOXO

            The Count

            10:26 pm | August 31, 2011
          • Count, I will tell you that my Great-Aunt was one of three general’s daughters who were expected to marry fine West Point grads and do their part to make their husbands into generals, too. All three did. But this G.A. was cursed with a philanderer. Even her own family impressed upon her the career disaster that a divorce would be for HIM. Never mind HER. With no way home and no way out, she stuck it out for decades until finally, she was a 70-something widow and on her own for the first time in her life. She wasn’t “looking,” but soon found a steady boyfriend and they adored each other. Although she never again married, that choice was hers. Her remaining years were her happiest ever. Way to finish with a bang!

            So YES, I think — of course you can find a monogamous partner. Just don’t look too hard — don’t force it and end up with “buyer’s remorse” — just let it happen naturally.

            11:17 pm | August 31, 2011
          • rick gould

            Count-

            It’s always when you’re not looking that you meet Mr. Right, at least this is what my friends keep telling me! 

            RG

            12:50 am | September 1, 2011
          • Mr. Wow

            Dear Count…

            Fifty?  Well, you’re still a child, darling.  Wait until you’re staring sixty in the face, like Mr. W. (two years to go, but let’s face it, 58 might as well be 60.)
            And of course you have a chance at a serious monogamous relationship.  But…it’ll just happen.  Wanting won’t make it so, and, well…I just don’t know how effective new-fangled online “dating” is.  Keep active, keep mixing with friends, accept invitations, even when you’d rather not.  He’s out there, honey. 
            Now, the monogamous part–you have to ready for that.  By now you might be ready?  As Alida Valli said to Gregory Peck in “The Parradine Case”:   “It would not surprise you I suppose if I told that my life has been…colorful.”

            12:23 pm | September 2, 2011
          • Count Snarkula

            Thanks to all for the sage advice. I will take it. And Mr. Wow, my last relationship was totally monogamous for all 8 years. My foot never slipped once. Wasn’t ever tempted. So I think I got that covered. XOXO – The Count

            2:19 pm | September 2, 2011
          • Mr. Wow

            Dear Count…

            Your foot never slipped.  Cool.  What about the rest of you?
            But seriously.  If you were faithful for eight years, then you know the score on that. 
            I wish you a happy beginning, soon.
            Mr.W
             
             

            3:36 pm | September 2, 2011
          • Baby Snooks

            I knew I had forgotten to do something before I went to bed last night – the phone rang as I was about to reply.  Very complimented that you would ask. But, well, “Dear Margo” I ain’t. Particularly with regard to men and money.  For me, well, money is to stuff in mattresses where it is safe and men, well, avoid all men!

            I think you should move with me to Costa Rica and just be content with houseboys and poolboys and not worry about it.

            8:52 am | September 3, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear  Rick…
      I am totally into House Hunters and House Hunters International.  (Notice how many same-sex couples are featured?  No big deal, it simply is. GLAAD should honor this show!)

      “Torch Song”—ah, yes.  “He’s being paid to dance around that leg!!”

      2:08 pm | August 31, 2011
      • rick gould

        Those HGTV shows are addicting and irritating! Love checkin’ the locales and real estate… but the ninnies that come thru and zero in paint color or lack of crown molding while ignoring everything else 😉

        “Torch Song” is mind-boggling from start to finish!  This was obviously a thinly veiled take on Joan’s persona. Why she was flattered by it is anyone’s guess 😉

        Another lovely Lombard performance in 1939 was “Made for Each Other” with Jimmy Stewart. They played newlyweds and encounter all the obvious obstacles. But it’s done in such a natural way, as is Carole’s straightforward performance…and she and Jimmy have great chemistry…who wouldn’t with her?!  

        12:44 am | September 1, 2011
  • LandofLove

    Great story, Mr. wOw! Your memory for movie dialogue is amazing. I’m glad that you and B. made it through OK.

    7:24 am | August 31, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear LandofLove…

      Thank you!

      As I said, I’ve seen “In Name Only” a million times.  And that final scene between Lombard and Francis–yikes!   As a ten year-old it drove me crazy. 

      2:10 pm | August 31, 2011
  • D C

    Your story reminded me of sitting up all night in southwest greater Houston as Hurricane Ike rolled in in 2008.  Except for the watching movies part.  We lost power early on, and didn’t get it back for 4 days.  We were some of the lucky ones.  As the storm took my huge cul-de-sac lot fence, brought down huge tree limbs that just barely missed the house, and wreaked havoc all around us, it sounded like my roof would go flying off any time.  Huddled together in the master bedroom, my husband snored, and my 3 kids on twin mattresses dragged into the room slept soundly.  Even the dog slept, while I sat and waited to watch the roof fly off to some yellow brick road somewhere.  Luckily, the roof remained and never even leaked.  But I truly hate hurricanes and the tornadoes they spawn. 

    We are truly desperate for some rain here in Texas, and a lot of people jokingly wish for a hurricane to come our way… until we think about the one we went through.  It’s truly unnerving, and I’m glad to hear you survived with your nerves intact with the help of TCM. 

    9:31 am | August 31, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear DC…
      My nerves are intact, and now I pray for some rain for you all. 
      With wet thoughts,
      Mr. W.
       

      2:12 pm | August 31, 2011
  • Mary

    Mr. Wow,  I was worried about you and B as well and was so happy to see your post today!  I kept my eye on Irene this past weekend and kept thinking, is Mr. Wow fleeing, or hanging tight to B or is B being cool and roaming the house while Mr. Wow is pacing the floors?  Well now I know and phew, happy you are both OK.

    Here in Ohio we need some rain but the weather has been absolutely gorgeous after the sweltering summer!  We did have a Tornado warning last week sometime close to the earthquake, but we have them often.  It is a way of life to live in tornado areas, they come, they go, but  when they hit, it is disastrous.  I’d rather go to the basement with my batteries, cats, radio and water if only for minutes than fly out of the house and awake in Kansas or further to OZ.  ( most of the time I feel like I am in Oz anyway).  Weather is nothing to laugh at. 

    11:53 am | August 31, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Mary…

      B. was really cool.  I tried to be.  We are fine.  I send rain wishes to all of you suffering down there!

      2:14 pm | August 31, 2011
  • Deirdre Cerasa

    The Post I have been waiting to see! Mr. WoW and B are safe and sound! Of course you made is sound like a super fun weekend. So happy you got through without too much distress and may I add a hug to B for keeping both of you safe for all of “us”.

    1:42 pm | August 31, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Deirdre…

      Thank you!  We are very safe and sound.  And we were lucky.  But then, I always am.  Which is why I tend to be so nervous, always anticipating midnight, when my life turns into a giant pumpkin. 

      2:18 pm | August 31, 2011
  • Jody

    Mr. Wow…

    SO GLAD to read you and B. are A-OK! I was one of those people who thought of you.

    If, at any time, you feel like fleeing to St. Louis, Missouri the door is open. I’ll have to ask you to disregard my two teenagers sports bags often lying on the floor near the door (where they are dropped and picked up everyday). However, during the summer months we could sit pool side and enjoy good wine and/or margaritas.

    Hugz,
    Jody

    4:05 pm | August 31, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Jody…

      Hmmmm…St. Louis!  Well, I’ve never been. 

      I will disregard your teenagers sports bags. And I hope they’ll disregard a crazy guy named Mr. Wow leading their mother to perdition and–yes!–margaritas. 

      XXXMr. D.

      4:16 pm | August 31, 2011
  • LOVE STYLE in disaster-planning. I have an irrepressible older neighbor who in bombed-out WWII London traipsed thorough the gray smouldering heaps to water red flowers.

    5:01 pm | August 31, 2011
  • Rho

    Hoboken, huh???  Are you related to Frank Sinatra???  LOL

    6:03 pm | August 31, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Rho..

      Related to Le Sinatra?    Not. 
      But we did move to Hoboken when it was still a sleepy little place, famous as Sinatra’s hometown and/or a joke about small towns in general. 

      Now it is very big, very young, very busy. Very “hot.” 

      Now I want to move.

      6:33 pm | August 31, 2011
      • J G

        Mr. Wow, Hoboken was just reported during the hurricane as having the most Bars per square mile then any town in America. Hmmm….. 😉 That sounds exhausting to me. One Bar, with good food and great Cosmos is enough for me.

        6:38 pm | August 31, 2011
        • Mr. Wow

          Dear JG…

          It has become a huge bar town.

          I am beyond that now.  Kind of.  Sort of.  That is….if B. wasn’t around to save me, I’d be a big Hoboken barfly.

          Cosmos are great.

          6:50 pm | August 31, 2011
      • Rho

        I was there a few years ago, loved it.  Went to where he used to live.  Actually, it’s next door, the original home was burned down.  But his star is there, also says From Here to Eternity.

        Don’t move.

        6:40 pm | August 31, 2011
        • Mr. Wow

          Dear Rho…

          Well, we will try not to, but we have been there over thirty years!

          6:51 pm | August 31, 2011
          • Rho

            Mr.Wow, I was born and bred in NYC, never even thought to leave it.  30 years is good.  Stay, unless you come to NYC.

            6:57 pm | August 31, 2011
      • Jody

        Mr. Wow… I would be more than happy to be your Realtor of Choice in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area in regards to your move. These days, thanks to the banking industry, we have many “blue light specials” (in the form of foreclosures and short sales). The biggest plus… no hurricanes here!… only tornadoes. 🙂

        Jody

        12:43 am | September 1, 2011
  • Mr. Wow

    Dear Rho…

    Having been born in NYC, that’s where I want to move.  But…easier said than done.  We are secure in Hoboken. 

    8:18 pm | August 31, 2011
  • mary burdt

    I am a little late with my concern for you and B. I am so grateful Irene skirted by your building with little damage. I have a nephew living in New York and after worrying about him I started thinking about you and B. I’m happy you posted to let all of your friends know you are O.K. You are important to us. Take care.

    10:06 pm | August 31, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Mary…

      I am humbled to think I came into your thoughts when you have family here.

      We are fine.  The roofer came in today to mend the latest leaks.  How lucky can you get? 

      How is your nephew?

      10:15 pm | August 31, 2011
  • Deeliteful

    I lived on the Gulf Coast (of Florida and Alabama) for many years. I evacuated for a few hurricanes – Opal (1996), Eddie, Katrina & Rita (2005) and another in 2008 (I forget the name). I was in Nashville when Ivan hit in 2004 and there were evacutees sleeping in the lobby of my hotel (over 500 miles away). Most of us become complacement when dealing with hurricanes, but it only takes one to be a serious reminder. Even for the ones when I stayed in town, we suffered power outages that went on for days. Folks who have never lived thru a hurricane and the after effects have no idea how the areas are affected. FEMA is not always 1st on the ground to help those who lost everything. So, please all you wonderful people in the NE, be aware, be prepared and don’t take the warnings for evacutation lightly. Better to be safe than sorry. So glad Mr. WoW and B survided without bodily injuries or much property damage. 🙂

    2:47 am | September 1, 2011
  • HauntedLady

    Another one here who is glad you and B are safe and unharmed. I would pace along with you waiting for whatever disaster might occur. I’m happy that roof leaks were the worst you had to deal with.

    I also watched the glorious Carole Lombard on TCM. I think My Man Godfrey is my favorite, though that’s more for Powell’s dialogue. Lombard was stunning in In Name Only. Also caught Blackboard Jungle and a couple of others. Watching old movies is so much better than doing housework. If you and B are ever in Michigan (Lower Peninsula) stop by and we’ll have a pajama party and watch movies, eat junk food and gossip until our eyeballs fall out. You don’t have to wait for a hurricane, either.

    9:59 am | September 1, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Haunted Lady…

      Thank you!  Although me and B. have actually lived in Michigan.  Detroit, to be exact, for one terrible year.  (What I did for love!)  We never got to the Lower Peninsula.  I don’t think. 

      If we pop in with our jammies, junk food and a margarita mix (for Mr. W) don’t act surprised!

      2:08 pm | September 1, 2011
      • rick gould

        Mr. W-

        Detroit is in the Lower Peninsula 😉 It’s actually at the bottom, geographically.

        Though I was born in the Upper Peninsula, I spent my adult life in the northern Lower Peninsula, which is on the shores of Lake MI. Quite lovely and a nice breeze! And no hurricanes! Lotsa snow, tho.

        Rick     

        4:59 pm | September 1, 2011
        • Mr. Wow

          Dear Rick…

          Well, that sounds divine.

          And we are being invited when…?  (In time I intend to visit all my readers.  Bevare! As Bela Lugosi warned.)

          xxxMr.W

          10:11 pm | September 1, 2011
          • HauntedLady

            You’re invited any time you want to be here, though I usually recommend fall when it’s especially pretty.

            12:19 pm | September 2, 2011
          • Mr. Wow

            Dear Haunted Lady…

            I’ll be the middle-aged guy in the jeans, hoodie and Converse sneakers, lurking outside.  Do not call the cops!

            3:54 pm | September 2, 2011
          • HauntedLady

            Gee, you wear the same thing I do. Very cool.

            11:14 am | September 3, 2011
  • SMALL TOWN GIRL

    Mr. Wow

    Knowing that the Hurricane was coming I figured I’d wait it out and watch all the things I have on DVR
     but guess what no eletricity.  many of the  DVR stuff is TCM movies .

    I was lucky to be able to borrow a generator to plug in the refridgerator and a radio and just glad
    its was a category one !

    Don’t wanna know what a two or three or four is like !!!

    Take care happy labor day

    3:23 pm | September 1, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Small Town Girl…

      For my birthday I’m asking B. for a generator. As much as I love reading, and could have done it by candlelight, I’d have gone mad without my movies. 

      I guess I need a generator big enough to power the TV.  My TV, in my room.  (Sorry, B!)

      4:10 pm | September 1, 2011
      • SMALL TOWN GIRL

        if you do get a genarator and ever have to use it make sure to keep it outside and get a long extension cord and  multi outlet strip .

        When we decided to try and watch a movie my husband plugged the TV into it ,watched about 5 min.
        and the power came back. 

        It was a silly movie I bought for the grandkids TOOTH FAIRY   anyway we never finished it .

        Maybe if the poewer goes out again we’ll finish it. hahaha

        7:19 am | September 2, 2011
  • sandra b

    Mr. WoW,
    OK – off topic here, but I want to know why you don’t get a link on the Home page. Dear Margo does and you are way more interesting than the train wrecks writing to her! I say all your followers should bombard the site with emails demanding a direct link for your columns & archive. They should still leave you on the ribbon for your latest post.

    5:12 pm | September 1, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Sandra…

      First of all…Uhhhhhh….!  Let us not refer to Margo’s audience as “train wrecks.”   She’s a  big draw here. Her people love her. And they pretty much stay on  the rails. 

      As for me, I think there is a reminder to our readers when Mr. Wow contributes.  Margo writes much more than I, so she deserves her link/name/whatever. 

      I’m only a paper moon. 

      6:54 pm | September 1, 2011
    • Irreverent

      I completely agree with Sandra B that Mr. Wow should get his own direct link for his columns and archive on the Home page.
       
      I completely disagree with Mr. Wow that he’s “only a paper moon.”
       
      Margo and Liz may write much more than Mr. Wow, but he certainly has a huge following. He deserves his own link.
       
       
      So to the PTB: I hereby demand a direct link to Mr. Wow’s columns and archive on the Home page.
       
       
      (Pretty please with sugar on top?)

      3:37 pm | September 2, 2011
  • Scarlett Ohara

    Mr Wow, I don’t check in here as often I as used to but I thought I would drop by and check in on you and B, Sounds like things went ok for ya’ll. I was really glad that NY didn’t become another New Orleans! Although I do believe that God might be a bit “pissed” with Bloomberg right now, I am certainly glad that it was not as bad as predicted!
    I am glad you enjoyed your movies, but as for me……I spent 3 glorious days in the Florida panhandle right on the ocean, enjoying rum and pineapple juice and enjoying a message! I hated to return to the world, but was glad that for the most part the real world was still in good shape! Glad to hear that all is well!
    Scarlett

    8:37 pm | September 1, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Oh Katie Scarlett!

      It is good to hear from you.

      Rum, pinapple juice and a massage?  What would Aunt Pittypat and Mrs. Merriwether say?  Not to mention that bitch India Wilkes!

      10:06 pm | September 1, 2011
      • Scarlett Ohara

        Weeeellllll, we mustn’t let them find out now mustn’t we!! (after all what happens on WOW and the beach stays on the WOW and the beach!) or I could just go with the Frankly my dear………….
        Smiles and Hugs and a big Smooch!
        Scarlett
        PS headed back to the gulf tomorrow, but it looks like some nasty little tropical storm heifer is trying to put the kaboosh on my wine, I mean FINE time. Oh well, the balcony and a bottle of Asti may have to do!

        10:21 pm | September 1, 2011
        • Baby Snooks

          Be sure to take your boat! Looked at the Weather Channel a little while ago.  Last place on earth that needs 10-20 inches of rain is New Orleans. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama are not the place to be this weekend. They say the levees will hold. But they said that before. At least some who need rain will get it finally.  Except for Texas. Which seems to have a pemanent high pressure area parked over Austin. Which makes me wonder if perhaps we should pray for rain and promise not to ever vote for Pastor Perry ever again! 

          9:22 am | September 3, 2011
  • Scarlett Ohara

    BTW, don’t let that India Wilkes fool ya, she has been known to cut loose down around Biloxi!!
    Scarlett

    10:24 pm | September 1, 2011
  • Charles Casillo

    If a  movie were to be made of Mr. Wow’s experience with hurricane Irene, I see Barbara Styanwyk playing Wow.  Just the right mix of vulnerability as you gather your strength and guts to weather the storm!  What a picture that would be.
    The wonderful, quirky personality that makes the Wow columns so unique and entertaining really shines through here.  A wonderful mix of pathos and quirky charm,  Thank you for letting us have a peek into your life and revealing it with such creativity and talent.
    And of course for reintroducing Carole Lombard.  A truly great actress.  I think her influence, particularly in screwball comedies, had a huge impact on her contemporaries and beyond.  Perhaps like Mr. Wow himself.

    11:51 am | September 2, 2011
    • Scarlett Ohara

      What he said! Ditto that!
      Scarlett

      3:01 pm | September 2, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Charles…

      The thing with Miss Stanwyck is that she would kill somebody to soothe her shattered nerves during the storm. She wouldn’t be watching movies.  Although I did have that crazy Stanwyck emotional rush–zero to 1,000 in one second—when B. was so calm about ordering out for Chinese.  I went into full “Thorn Birds” mode—“Inside this body I am still young, I still feel, I still want!!!”  And B. was all…”ahhh…sweet and sour pork?” 

      But I like being in Stanwyck territory, at least in your imagination.  Nobody pulled a gun on  a guy quite like Miss S.

      Lombard!  A genius, and only 33 when she died. 

      3:50 pm | September 2, 2011
      • rick gould

        Ha ha, Mr. Wow!

        Mom and I just watched “Double Indemnity” yesterday. The gunfire between Barbara and Fred MacMurray was entertainly over the top. Also, how many times does Fred call Babs “Baby” in this flick?!
         

        7:38 am | September 3, 2011
        • Mr. Wow

          Phyllis:  “i think you’re rotten.”

          Walter: “I think you’re swell, as long as I’m not married to you.”

          And of course, what is crazier than watching Babs amongst the canned peas in the supermarket scene?  

          1:58 pm | September 4, 2011
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