Mr. Wow Blog
Musing On 2014…a Chill Descends.
5:40 pm | December 31, 2013

Author: Mr. Wow | Category: Point of View | Comments: 49
Musing on 2014

Musing on 2014

Comments:
  • Haunted Lady

    Stunning.

    5:44 pm | December 31, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      Two weeks before her death.

      5:56 pm | December 31, 2013
      • BabySnooks

        You do have to wonder what she was reflecting on. She was such a tragic figure. Blessed by the gods in one way. Cursed by them in another. But then I suppose we all are in a way.

        11:16 am | January 21, 2014
  • Mr. Wow

    One in three Americans do not believe in Evolution.  

     The son of  “Duck Dynasty” emperor Phil Robertson will help FOX News ring in the New Year. 

     MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry (an extremely annoying person and sub-par “journalist”)  has been forced to apologize for her insane, insensitive segment about Mitt Romney’s black grandchild.

    I have told B. that Denmark looks pretty good for 2016.   At least we’d be back with the swans.

    Not kidding. 


    5:53 pm | December 31, 2013
  • Haunted Lady

    It’s disheartening, I know, but there’s a lot of decent stuff, too. You have to do what you believe is right. If you go anywhere, please make sure you can still log on and maintain contact with all of us. Life without Mr. Wow is boring as hell.

    6:30 pm | December 31, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Haunted One.  I am staying put.  I did Times Square once, way back in the 70s, when it was still kind of unfettered and wild.  Once was enough.   B. is cooking, I am reading Henry James, all is right in my world. 

      6:37 pm | December 31, 2013
      • Mr. Wow

        Oh, silly me.  I thought you were referring to my going out for the night!  (I’m like a sloth.  Stick a pin in me and ten days later I say “ouch!”)

        As to leaving the country.  Well, I’m in that kind of mood right now because the “DD” debacle has opened up so much hatred and fueled the conservative right to a frenzy.  The Melissa Harris-Perry thing was the rancid cherry topping the sour sundae.

        And I am still living with that book in my head–“Christian Nation.” 

        I’m reading “The Tragic Muse” tonight and maybe it’ll pull my mind out of Paranoia Town. (Reading real literature takes concentration.  Sometimes I forget.  I did so much “serious” reading as a child and young man.  I have not been immune to the last 20 years of quick-cuts, shortcuts and fast online browsing.)


        7:20 pm | December 31, 2013
        • Haunted Lady

          I hope you stay here. Even though you’re not exactly next door or anything, I feel better to know you’re out there in the U.S. somewhere and maybe I could stumble upon you and B having a croissant and hazelnut coffee  and we could sit down and have a nice chat. Or something to that effect.

          2:14 pm | January 1, 2014
          • Mr. Wow

            Dear Haunted One…I like that!  Hazelnut coffee, yummy.  I don’t think I’ll be leaving the country.  I’ll just fuss and worry a lot. 

            I tried to make a strong resolution about drinking in 2014.  I haven’t had a margarita in two weeks.  Of course I feel fine and I never have an urge to drink, or to drink to excess, when I am away from “work.” (I have to put it in quotes, the reality of the $ situation is so absurd.)   Do I  have the strength to drink an ice tea at lunch, as I decompress from the first three hours in the office, and can I avoid the truly lethal after-work alcohol dowsing?    I hope so. 

            2:25 pm | January 1, 2014
        • BabySnooks

          Just be glad you don’t live in Texas. Or in Louisiana. As for the Duck Dynasty crowd, well, they’re what is called swamp trash in Louisiana. And rich swamp trash with a reality television show is still swamp trash. And you must always consider the source. 

          11:07 am | January 21, 2014
  • mary burdt

    Ah, Marilyn–What were you thinking?  

    6:37 pm | December 31, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Mary…Happy New Year!


      I know.  As an MM fanatic, I am always searching her photos, hoping the next one I come upon will tell me her secret.  She is the big “what if” of  prematurely dead, iconic celebrities.  More than Dean, more than Elvis, more than Judy or Janis or Jim. Certainly more than Michael Jackson.

      6:41 pm | December 31, 2013
      • mary burdt

        And, a Happy New Year to you and B.  I have never liked this holiday particularly.  I am one of those people who hate change, hence arriving in a new year is challenging and scary.  I will be happy when Thursday arrivesOf course, I will enjoy all the football games.   Go Stanford!Love and hugs,Mary

        6:50 pm | December 31, 2013
        • Mr. Wow

          Yeah—it’s all much ado about the very next day.  I am much more sentimental about Christmas, although I have no religious investment and we don’t exchange gifts anymore. (Really, after 38 years, I don’t need a present to feel his love.)  New Years is kind of tiresome.  Except for millennial New Years.  That was a thrill, I have to admit.   I can’t wait for the next.

          Oh, yeah…right.  Okay, I saw one, anyway.

          6:58 pm | December 31, 2013
  • Jamie

    Happy New Year, Mr Wow, B, and all here in our little corner of the world.
    Marilyn Monroe looks stunning in your photo, Mr. Wow, and also, it appears she had been doing some musings of her own when the photo was taken. 
    Ok, I’ve made my first New Years Resolution in many years…I am going to watch Cleopatra, as I want to know for myself what all the fuss is about.

    “…I will not be triumphed over….”

    Runs off wondering if that means that she will not be made a fool of….

    PS

    After watching NBC for the past 2 hours it appears I’ve missed every single viral video. Is this a good thing or a bad thing, I wonder?

    9:57 pm | December 31, 2013
    • Mr. Wow

      Happy New Year, Jamie!

      If you watch “Cleo” I hope you have a big screen TV.  Needs to be watched epically.

      Missing viral videos is always a good thing.

      “I will not have love as my master.”

      “Then you will not have love.”

      “Nor will I have Octavian!”


      Oh, don’t get me started.

      11:33 pm | December 31, 2013
  • Delusional

    What musings are you having about 2014? Are they philosophical or dreads over cable news? The recent Chanel ad with MM wasn’t as good as it could have been. Will Ms. Perry be true to herself and insist on her own punishment?

    12:26 pm | January 1, 2014
  • Mr. Wow

    Dear Delusional…

    Well, I put some of them above.  Yes, I have sinking feeling about the increasing power of cable news. More accurately, FOX.  CNN and MSNBC  are essentially non-existent. MSNBC annoys me as much as FOX outrages and even frightens me.

    Ms. Perry after an unforgivable 24 hours, in the which the story went “viral” as they say, did issue an unqualified apology.  But too late.  She never should have let the segment get out of hand.  She never should have had–or have again–those unfunny “comics.” 

    I liked the MM/Chanel.  It’s interesting to hear to speak, in her own voice (not the manufactured breathy thing she used for many of her roles.)   And I’m sucker for mob-scene  newsreel footage.

    I saw the New Year in watching a marathon on TCM–all three “That’s Entertainment” movies.  Watching the first one, I was swept back to 1974, seeing it on opening day at The Ziegfeld Theater in Manhattan.  I recall when Frank Sinatra announced Elizabeth as the next narrator, something went wrong with the projector, just as she began to glide down the staircase.  The entire audience erupted into boos and shrieks until suddenly the movie snapped back on, and there she was, all gauzy and glam with her big mane of hair. (The premiere of the film was televised, a big thing back in 1974.   TCM has an extended version of that premiere, with great footage of all the stars walking from the theater to the party. Miss Taylor, in between marriage to Burton, looks tan, overflowing and gorgeous in a blue Edith Head gown–pleated and goddessy.)

    And I have a special soft spot for the third film.  I went  out to L.A. doing interviews with several of the stars, in advance of the movie opening.  Hard to believe it was so long ago–1994.  I was still years away from depression.  Or maybe  not.  I was busy at least, and half-convinced I was worthy of being busy.

    Just finished watching “Splendor in the Grass” and was moved again to tears by Natalie Wood. (“Spoiled?  I’m not spoiled Mama!  I’m a good little girl, a good girl.  I’m pure and virginal, I do everything my daddy and mommy tell me to, I hate you!”)  This was one of several movies in which Natalie’s character had huge issues with her mother–just as she did in her own real life.  Woods’ “mama” confrontation scenes always have a gripping electricity.

    Waiting anxiously to catch “Magnificent Obsession” later today.  Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson.  It’s kind of terrible. But you can’t look away.  The two were much better served by “All That Heaven Allows” another Douglas Sirk  soaper, but much stronger than “M O.”


    2:17 pm | January 1, 2014
    • mary burdt

      Funny thing, but I love Magnificent Obsession.  One of my all time favorites.  I haven;t seen it in a long time—I will try to catch it. 

      2:43 pm | January 1, 2014
    • BabySnooks

      I love TCM. It was the only thing that kept me half-way sane in 2013. And will probably be the only thing that keeps my half-way sane in 2014.

      11:04 am | January 21, 2014
  • Daniel Sugar

    For depression, Mr. Wow, I would recommend reading “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” – every sentence is a Faberge egg. No one wrote more beautiful sentences than Truman Capote. It really is a work of genius which has almost nothing to do with the charming (but silly) movie.
    Also, Anthony Trollope’s “The Way We Live Now” is guaranteed to make you smile.  (It’s Bernie Madoff in the 1800’s.) It really makes you realize that there’s nothing new – human behavior is constant, only the players change. 

    P.S. I love Henry James (especially “The Wings Of The Dove”). 

    4:50 pm | January 1, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Oh, Dr. Sugar, you are sweet.  I searched and found “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” in my bookcase.   Great idea! 

      I’ve never read “Wings of the Dove” or the Trollope.  On my list now.

      4:58 pm | January 1, 2014
  • Daniel Sugar

    BBC filmed “The Way We Live Now” in 2001. It stars David Suchet.  Brilliant performance.

    5:04 pm | January 1, 2014
  • rick gould

    The magnificent Juanita Moore is gone, at age 99. Everytime “Imitation of Life” is on, my sister and I watch it on TCM! Lovely lady, from what I gathered reading “Born to Be Hurt,” about the making of that soap classic.

    Mr. W–It sounds like we rang in the New Year the same way, Turner Classic Movie style!It was so much fun seeing those great stars, in their middle to later years, looking back on the glory days of MGM with “That’s Entertainment!”
    My sister made an interesting comparison, how much Elizabeth Taylor and Ann-Margaret sounded alike, having just watch “Viva Las Vegas,” which was silly but boy, A-M and Elvis rocked some serious chemistry! Liz and A-M both have that scratchy, girlish voice that I find appealing, esp. in contrast to their va-va-voomness ; )
    Anyway, back to real life as opposed to reel life!Cheers ; )Rick

    7:18 pm | January 1, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      A-M had (has) a great voice.  So did Taylor when she didn’t get too hysterical–shrill. 

      ET’s voice was also much effected (and affected) by her marriage to Burton.  Picked up that posh British tone.  She sounded utterly un-English before her first infusion of Mr.B.   And then her acting inflections became insane.  Her line readings were like Bizarro World.  So great!  You never knew what word she’d emphasize or how, or what variable accent. It rarely made sense.  Genius.

      George Sidney directed “Viva Las Vegas”   He was utterly obsessed with A-M (check out their two other collaborations–the  enjoyable “Bye, Bye Birdie” and the unrelentingly sleazy “The Swinger.”)


      7:49 pm | January 1, 2014
      • rick gould

        Mr. Wow–Do you remember the crazy/wonderful Catherine O’Hara’s impersonation of Liz on SCTV?She had ET’s interesting em-PHA-sis down to a T! (Which some say came from Monty Clift’s method acting tics…)

        7:38 am | January 2, 2014
        • Mr. Wow

          I do recall it. 

          Ummm…I don’t think ET was influenced by Monty.  But then again.  She did give the first of her truly garish performances w Monty in “Raintree County.” (For this bodice heaving carrying on she nabbed her first Oscar nom, when she was so much better in “A Place in the Sun” and “Giant.”)

          In “Suddenly Last Summer” (w Monty) she introduced the breath-between-words style.  “It’s. That. Nice. Young Man’s. Specialty. He. Bores .Holes. Into. The Skull. And Operates. On. The Brain!!!!”   

          But what happened après Burton was beyond control or human understanding.  Pauline Kael wrote of “Secret Ceremony”—“her misreading of every line approaches sublimity.”

          Later, she calmed back down and gave some nice, subtle performances. But my Liz is the Liz of, say–“Night Watch.”   (“They own that company, and that company owns that old house!”  Honey, the pronunciation on “house” still makes me feel I’m drunk when I’m stone sober.)

          6:09 pm | January 2, 2014
      • BabySnooks

        Well as I recall she lost the effected/affected accent when she “waxed eloquently” with invective that would make a sailor, and everyone else, blush. And did.  I’ve found myself using the word “crap” a lot since she died.  Seemed to be her favorite word after “f**k.”

        Her children have “revamped” the foundation and hired two people to guide it although Bill Misenhimer had helped her to begin with as she put all the organizations seeking funding through the “smell test” and I suspect in the end it will be her one true legacy and probably the only one she really cared about apart from her children and grandchildren. 

        11:25 am | January 21, 2014
  • Mr. Wow

    Dear Rick….”Sarah Jane Johnson, you put your clothes on and get out of this place!”

    Too bad she wasn’t afforded more opportunities.  She is the heart and soul of “Imitation…”  Susan Kohner is the pelvis, and Miss Turner the wax figurine. (I think Turner is good in it, actually.  But man, to have played that role so soon after the Stompanato business.  LT was either very canny or very clueless.)


    7:40 pm | January 1, 2014
    • rick gould

      …a lot of peeps felt LT was not the most self-aware of stars…self-absorbed, yes ; )
      Lana was definitely the star power of “Life,” giving her best MGM dramatics performance (as Joan Crawford was wont to give!)
      …so Mister WoW, what did Sandra Dee provide in “Imitation of Life”? For me, it was the desire for a pair of earmuffs!
      But yes, Juanita Moore keeps it real as Annie…in the last few years, I perk up when I see those warm eyes and hear that distinctive voice in her few other movie roles!

      7:48 am | January 2, 2014
      • Mr. Wow

        Dear Rick..Sandra was there to play Cheryl Crane, sans the kitchen knife.

        7:19 pm | January 3, 2014
        • BabySnooks

          OMG you are dreadful. Thank you. I haven’t laughed this hard about anything in a long time. 

          11:11 am | January 21, 2014
  • Jamie

    “…Listen, do you want to know a secret? Do you promise not to tell?…”
    (I’m great with lyrics, especially The Beatles-and anything Paul McCartney)
    Ok, my secret that I must confess….I did not watch Cleopatra. Without giving it a second thought, I finally watched The Hunger Games.  That’s right…The Hunger Games. 🙂
    So, I have a new ingenue for you, Mr. Wow.  Jennifer Lawrence is a breath of fresh air. So, so darling, as after the movie I watched many of her interviews. A natural, stunning young starlet who says whatever is on her mind at the time. Which could be anything, as most of the Lettermans and Lenos and Conans seemed to anxiously anticipate.
    Sigh, now I’m musing …. She reminded me a bit of myself at that age.  
    I hope she stays the way she is now.  I hope Hollywood and that big bad marketing machine doesn’t change her.XO

    8:36 pm | January 1, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Jamie…you need a four hour stretch for “Cleo.”  I like Jennifer Lawrence, but not so much in the “Hunger Games” movies.    She super-talented and refreshingly “natural.”  We’ll see how that goes in the years to come.

      3:44 am | January 2, 2014
  • Mimi

    I disconnected my cable in May thinking that the builder would actually have the apartment done in September. Today is January 1st, may or may not be ready in time. I feel like I’m missing so much. Just crying self-pity tears. 

    11:02 pm | January 1, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Mimi…never, never believe it when they say “next week.”  And never assume it.   But don’t cry.  In time it all comes together.


      The New York Times and The Guardian are pressing Obama to grant “clemency” to Edward Snowden.  If  O  gives in to this (I despise Snowden and his slimy pal Glenn Greenwald), I may actually begin to petition for Obama’s impeachment.  Enough is enough–grow a pair. The guy is a criminal and an idiot.  He thinks we should “ask” rather than spy.  Yeah, “Oh, please, can you tell us if you’re planning a terrorist attack?  No?  Ohhhh..nifty.  I knew you’d be honest.  Bye, bye.”

      3:53 am | January 2, 2014
  • NSH

    Welcome back and Happy New Year to you.  Thank you for your kind words about my beloved Natalie Wood; her performance in Splendor is her best, I think.  Unaffected, sweet, passionate and stunning.  She was robbed of the Oscar.  

    11:45 am | January 3, 2014
    • Mr. Wow

      Ah, Natalie.  Lyric.  Such a beautiful talent–delicate and incisive.  She was also a truly lovely, nice person.  Too nice to have ended up floating in Catalina Bay.



      5:59 pm | January 3, 2014
  • Mr. Wow, hope you’re staying warm.  In Northern Virginia we had 16 degrees this morning… AFTER the sun had been up a while!…  with a wind chill of -4.  Brrr.  Tonight, 10 degrees.

    Bundle up and stay inside, and stay safe! 

    10:10 pm | January 3, 2014
  • Haunted Lady

    We’re looking at a high of -4 Monday. Yes, that’s 4 below zero. Wind chills could go to -35. But, this, too, shall pass. I hope everyone here survives the Big Chill without untoward incident. This is a good time to wrap up in a warm blanket, grab a mug of hot chocolate and watch some movies.

    11:42 am | January 4, 2014
    • mary burdt

      I am sorry you are having such miserable weather, however, sitting by a fire and drinking hot chocolate ain’t all bad.  I was raised in Chicago and I remember those freezing days and blizzard conditions, brrr.  The good news is that I moved to Los Angeles some fifty years ago and today we will be blessed with 75 degree sunshine.  My eight year old grandson and I are going outside in a few minutes so I can help him learn how to ride his new bike.  Sounds like fun to me.Happy New Year!

      12:53 pm | January 4, 2014
      • Haunted Lady

        Thanks. I appreciate that. I lived in L.A. for about 20 years. It has it’s good and bad like any place.  I always missed the climate in the Midwest but it’s not to everyone’s taste. This is not the normal winter weather for us but it’s only for a few days. I spent two winters in North Dakota. Now that’s some nasty cold weather and not for just a few days.

        1:37 pm | January 5, 2014
    • Tuesday we are expecting single-digits PLUS a wind chill to take the effective temps below zero.  Something DC people are NOT used to.  I am lending my Russian sheepskin coat (a “dublyonka”) to a friend who will use it commuting to the Pentagon next week.  No wind will cut through that!!  I last wore it when I was working in the Pentagon and we had a cold snap in the single digits… the parking lot is open and windswept… and parking is so far away it can take 10 minutes or more to get from the building to your car.  One co-worker at that time was wearing just his usual business suit and trench coat and trying to be all brave and manly; got to his car and then noticed that the keys were in the ignition… he had locked them in there that morning.  He turned and RAN all the way back to the building, to hell with dignity at that point.

      6:36 pm | January 4, 2014
    • Haunted, what state or city are you in that is so cold right now?  Brrr. 

      11:02 pm | January 4, 2014
      • Haunted Lady

        I’m in south-central Michigan. This is unusually cold and it’s forecast to warm up a little by Thursday. I believe this is why God created cats, hot chocolate and movies.

        Seriously, I’m glad to be retired and not have to go out in this. I have plenty of food and cat litter and can make it just fine to Thursday. The snow looks pretty and I’m warm so have no real complaint.

        1:31 pm | January 5, 2014
        • mary burdt

          I am happy to hear that you have your cat by your side and are warm and cozy.  These could be the best of times to be lazy and with no place to go.  Sounds great.

          1:37 pm | January 5, 2014
          • Ditto, Mary!  It is a good time to stay in and watch the world through the windows.

            I will be going out to help my neighbor with her barn chores so she can more quickly get back inside her warm house, too!  I think I shall have to pull out my old LL Bean down coat and insulated boots (the Russian sheepskin coat is great but on loan to a friend, and I would not want it to smell like horses anyway). Used to think about getting rid of my super-cold weather gear- “When will I ever need this again?”  Now I’m glad I never did.

            Not “global warming,” even though the overall average temps are getting warmer.  “Climate change” is much more accurate.

            5:30 pm | January 5, 2014
  • Mr. Wow

    Despite the cold, it’s really rather nice in the New York-ish area (I still self-identify as a native New Yorker, tho  I live in Hoboken and am in fact a Jersey-ite, or whatever.)

    It’s sunny and there’s very little wind.  Brisk, I say. 

    Mary–I recall my year in Chicago w B.  Now, that was frigid weather! Brutal.


    2:48 pm | January 4, 2014
  • Rho

    It was so cold, my car would not start. Had to get a new battery.

    8:58 am | January 5, 2014
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