Ok…. a recent trend that has come to the Broadway stage is the reimagining of Hollywood movies as stage musicals. I am not speaking of Disney animated features being adapted for the stage (I have made at least 2 postings on that subject). I have felt that the best of these cartoons easily lend themselves to staging. However, musicals such as The Producers, Hairspray, Xanadu, and most recently, Young Frankenstein all seem to be doing quite well.

I think the strangest of these creations is Xanadu. The 1980 movie was to be Olivia-Newton John’s follow-up to the phenomenal hit Grease. I’m not precisely sure why the movie flopped but it could have been the death of disco or perhaps that the movie was just terrible. It was the winner(?) of 1 Razzie and nominated for 4 others. Hopefully, I am not going to be the victim of a mob of cultists who actually liked the movie. Strangely enough 25 years later, nostalgia (or the few people who have actually seen and enjoyed the movie) must have created the necessity to revisit the movie. I wish I could dwell on the plot of the show. However, I have never seen either version and reading synopses just gave me a headache because they made little sense.

I suppose that this streak of bringing movies to the stage will continue as long as they are profitable. On the horizon a stage version of the Dolly Parton, Lili Tomlin, and Jane Fonda classic(?) 9 to 5 opens in Los Angeles in September ’08. I’m certain that I have heard rumors of a Back to the Future musical being produced. Any others? While Mel Brooks seems to be on a role, he might as well develop Spaceballs or Blazing Saddles. Or how about Road House: The Stage Version Of The Cinema Classic That Starred Patrick Swayze, Except This One Stars Taimak From The 80’s Cult Classic “The Last Dragon” Wearing A Blonde Mullet Wig (oops that was not a musical,correct?).

What other movies would make great musicals or which am I forgetting besides Footloose and Saturday Night Fever to name a few. 

I guess it depends on what you would call a good town.  A place we used to live called Naperville Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, was once considered a good town.  It had lots of fun things to do, relatively low crime, good schools, and lots of money.  It was never my ideal place to live, however, because it was always way too crowded and had way too much traffic for my tastes.  But I never considered it a dangerous place to live…  until yesterday.  Being from the Chicago area and having friends and family who still reside there means I maintain an interest in keeping up with their local news.  Yesterday I came across the following newspaper article about a murder that was committed in the neighborhood where we used to live:  Man Shot, Killed in Naperville

In a city the size of Naperville (about 10 square miles, with a population of over 140,000 people), this incident might not appear to be as shocking to the normal reader as it was to me.  However, having lived in this neighborhood only about 7 years ago, I can’t believe how much it has changed.  We lived in a small townhome; it was very nice and backed up to a school.  It seemed like the perfect picture of suburbia at the time.  It was VERY over-priced for what I would expect to pay for a 1.5 bedroom where I live now, (we paid $1380 rent a month, and our place was not more than 650 square feet), however at the time I thought it was worth it because it was a “nice” area and close to family in a place I thought would be safe to raise kids.  Needless to say, I was wrong on that account.  In the article about the crime, the newspaper drew a nice little map.  Turns out the victim (who had an arrest record himself – not that I’m judging, just noting) lived not more than 2 blocks from our old home.  The victim’s body was found 5 blocks from our old home.  We used to take our daughter for walks around the area all the time; there was a Walgreens we used to walk to right near where the body was found.  Readers who posted in the comments section of the story say how the area has become “seedy”, and in the article itself, they state that the victim’s home was a “high traffic area”.  All of this adds up to a place where I would NOT want to raise kids, let alone pay through the nose for a small place to live, only to have to worry about protecting my family from the violent crime that seems to have invaded the area.  Some might say this is an isolated incident; they can say “this can happen anywhere.”  That IS true.  Anything can happen anywhere.  However, one can now say that it can happen anywhere, but it DOES happen there.

It truly makes me thankful every day that we’ve now found such a wonderful place to call home; away from the city and its crime, pollution, and expenses, not to mention how superficial and just downright unfriendly the residents of a town like Naperville can be.  It’s baffling to me that they charge EXTRA to live in a place like that!  It makes me feel really good knowing that when my kids grow up and want to raise children of their own, they will have the option to stay in the wonderful town where they grew up.  I did not have that option, since I grew up in a town next to Naperville, and it is no longer a good place to raise children.  If my kids want to spread their wings and fly away to explore the world and see what else is out there, that is fine.  I will miss them of course, but I am quite confident that if all else fails out there,  they will always have the option to return to the place where they grew up to live safely and prosperously.  Country living is not for everyone, I guess, but I don’t think I’ll ever understand those who choose to pass up utopia for city life 🙂

I’ve been steaming about this most of the evening. For supper I put in a Lasagna for dinner, set the timer, the temperature and walked away. An hour into the cooking time I smelt something burning. I checked the stove and there was a blinking light. I opened the oven, and it was much warmer than the 400 I set it at, and the broiler was on too. I couldn’t turn the thing off either!!!!! Dinner almost ruined (very brown on top) and a stove that would not turn off! I had to turn off power at the breaker box to make sure it was off.

Now it is an older stove (10-15 years?), so you can expect a thing or two to go wrong after the use it got. But really, a failure of some part causing both elements of the stove to turn on and continue heating? Shouldn’t it fail to the off position (no heat)? I found out the cause of the problem, and the part is around $100 dollars. I should be able to put it in myself. My concern with this is that the thing will fail again in the ON position. At that much money (1/3 to 1/5 the cost of new), I may want to research new stoves, and find one that fails on the off side. I find this a little dangerous, especially now that I’m getting older. Fixing this problem will give me another 10-15 years, and by then I may have some concentration problems. Bad enough I won’t remember I put the tea-kettle on, but the stove being on when it looks off bothers me.

Yet another April Fool’s Day surprise awaited us when we got home tonight…  seems the newest addition to the family is a little jokester.  Our dog Beesley, who we’ve had for almost a month now, is an escape artist.  We have a little mud room in the back of the house that leads to the garage, and if we don’t lock the dogs out of it, Beesley can push open the door leading to the garage and escape.  Apparently, tonight was one of those nights when we forgot to make sure the dogs were locked out of the mud room because when we got home and opened the garage to pull the car in, out runs Beesley.  We corralled her into the car, and that’s when we saw it – a HUGE mountain of garbage in the middle of the garage, along with several smaller hills of doggie-doo.  Seems during her great escape into the garage, she decided to tear apart the garbage that was in there waiting for garbage day.  Of course, being a family of 5, we have lots of garbage, including lots of dirty diapers.  Seems little Beesley had herself such a feast that she immediately had to add doggie-doo to the mess without waiting for us to come home and let her outside to do her business.  Compounding our luck had this happening on a Tuesday, which is only 2 days before garbage day, so we had just about as much garbage out there as was possible.  I’ve been trying to convince Hubby that we need to buy one of those mega garbage cans just to store our garbage in until garbage day ever since the local squirrels discovered we have a parrot who discards nuts into our garbage.  They sneak into the garage constantly and tear little holes in the garbage bags to get at the nuts.  But at least they’re dainty about it, which is more than I can say for Beesley.  It’s just difficult to justify spending money on something that you’re going to put garbage into – it’s like literally throwing money away…  or the reverse actually, but still…  maybe now we’ll be able to justify that expense a little better.  April Fool’s – Beesley style – YUCK!

And a side note about April Fool’s Day from our local paper.  No one knows how April Fool’s Day came about.  There’s a theory that it originated when the Gregorian Calender was adopted in the 1500’s.  Seems there were a few folks stubborn about adopting the change of New Year’s Day from April 1 to January 1, so others made fun of them, pranked them, and sent them on fool’s errands, hence the origin of April Fool’s Day.  That is just a theory however, but equally amusing and NOT just a theory is how the country of Scotland celebrates April 1st.  Apparently Scottish April Fool’s Day jokes often focus on the buttocks and the day is known as Taily Day.  According to our local paper, the “butts” of the Taily Day jokes are known as April “Gowk” which is another name for Cuckoo bird, and it’s believed the ole “kick me” sign gag originated with these Scottish customs.  I think I’ll stick with good old April Fool’s Day, thanks, though this year in our house, I guess you could call it Taily Day!

Well, I tried to get my oldest with an April Fool’s Joke today, but unfortunately she had a similar idea to try to get me. Both of us failed. I know her too well. And since my joke was similar she saw right through it. All in good fun. She’s been trying to get me since I got her up for School on a Saturday. That had to be one of my best.

I do try to plan my pranks, jokes and other April Fools day fun on people who like that sort of thing. Getting caught by that may not be everyone’s favorite thing. I tend to plan one or two major things, and a couple of smaller ones. I have yet to make anyone really mad.

Did anyone catch the Google prank today. It was a stroke of genius. The ability to send your e-mail back in time. I wonder how many people believed that one.

Also see the following for the 100 best all time pranks.
April Fools’ day Pranks

It is April 1 after all.  How old does one have to be to have criminal intent?  Well, there were those ten-year-olds a few years ago who tossed a five-year-old off of a balcony, but how about eight or nine?  And an actual plot to attack a teacher?  Among not one, not two, but nine students?  Read on…

Police Release Photos of Weapons in Waycross Plot

Superhero teamups among characters of both DC and Marvel universes are quite common. In the 70s-lates 80s there was the “Superfriends.” More recently, a Justice League series was produced on Cartoon Network. Even crossovers between the rival comic franchises have occurred. Superman and Spider-Man have crossed paths in comic book form.

I just watched the new direct to DVD feature Justice League: New Frontier. It told the tale of one of the first times heroes such as the aforementioned Man of Steel, Batman, and Wonder Woman collaborated with other crimefighters like Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and the Flash.

What I appreciated most about the film is that it was set during the 1950-60s when the silver age of comic books was beginning. The costumes reflected the period (Superman’s crest was a red “S” on a black background and Wonder Woman wore a star-spangled skirt instead of the more familiar, without sounding too blunt, briefs). Some of the themes revealed in the movie also were indicative of the time: McCathyism, the Ku Klux Klan, communism, and fear of alien invasion were all issues portrayed.

I was also pleased with the role of the less familiar players. The Flash particularly felt that he would never be able to make as big a difference when put up alongside characters like Superman. However, the fastest man alive contributes in a huge way in combating the seemingly invincible force threatening to destroy humanity.

If there is a flaw with New Frontier, it is the choice of Jeremy Sisto to voice the Dark Knight. Each of the other characters had voices that fit but there was something strange about Batman’s. Also, something that has always bothered me about the Justice League series: can Wonder Woman fly or not? It would seem unnecessary for her to have an invisible jet (a la the live-action series and “Superfriends”) if that were the case. A friend also pointed out that when shapeshifter Jonn Jonnz is knocked unconscious would he not revert to his martian appearance? Discuss.

Since October, Drew Carey has done his best filling the shoes of Bob Barker as host of the longest-running gameshow in daytime history, The Price is Right. Six months later, he is still attempting to find his nitche. I do watch a few times a week. Today was one of those days.

The showcase was one of the most memorable ever. The first showcase had as the top prize a trip to Singapore which was passed on to contestant number two. The second showcase was a masterful stroke of foolishness.

The first prize was something known as a statointellicator. It appeared to be a prop box full of multicolored switches and doodads which also was useful as a jello mold.

Prize number two was a transrebounder. I have no idea what that device was even supposed to be used for but it looked ridiculous.

Finally, the piece de resistance was a trip to the country of Baguslovania. The contestant would be flown via OSD whose tagline is : The airline that gets you there…. although it may not be the cleanest. While in Baguslovania, the lucky winner would dine on hasty tripe tarts and take in breathtaking vistas such as short site tower and no where palace. I wonder if Baguslovania is anywhere near Liswathistan.

After the showcase was presented, Drew let everyone in on the joke by announcing that the show would be aired on April 1st and unveiled the real prize.

I attempted to find the clip to post but only was able to find the climax of the game. But little touches like this make for entertaining moments on any show.

catch the showcase here

Another April Fool’s Day is upon us unfortunately.  I usually escape the day unscathed, but this year, that is not the case.  Seems some clever “hacker” decided to “get” us tangents.org bloggers with false threats of blog erasures…

I did not think it was funny.  Maybe I’m not a good sport, but the joke hit where it hurt – how many valuable documents; including pictures, diaries, even my oldest daughter’s electronic baby book, have I lost due to computer malfunctions?  I’m not saying my blogs are valuable, but I have spent lots of time on them.  They’ve also essentially replaced my family diary I was keeping since I now put most of my kids milestones in my blogs…

But I guess most people get a kick out of the day.  Drew Carey even got into the spirit today on The Price is Right.  They put in a joke showcase and were going to make some poor lady bid on a trip to Lebanon or someplace!  I was half-watching, wish I had seen the whole thing, it seemed hilarious.  But anyway, I hope others are better sports than I, and they find the blog prank funny.  And I’m sorry to the gleeful jokester who really wanted to have some fun at my expense before I spoiled it.  Maybe I’m just a spoiled sport because I can’t think of any good pranks myself.  But now that I know the playing field is wide open and I have a whole year to think about it, stay away from me this year and WATCH OUT for me next year 😉

Came across this news story after linking to the one about the hugely tall spire they’re going to build in the Middle East:

First Wedding Dress Shop for Pregnant Brides ONLY Opens

I agree with the people who posted comments at the end of the article – what is the world coming to when maternity wedding dresses are seen as a normal need to fulfill in the buyer’s market?  Should we be happy that these women are getting married rather than staying single?  What about the fact that they might be rushing into marriage just for the sake of getting to buy a pretty dress, or more likely, because it’s becoming extremely socially acceptable, which will surely raise the already obscenely high divorce rate?  And why are they bothering to make these maternity bridal gowns WHITE?

All I can say is, thank goodness this article isn’t about the good old USA – but then again, we probably have an American maternity bridal store chain or two or three already.