uncleblogsy

Stand and Deliver

I try, Heaven knows, to run a lighthearted blog, which tries to avoid current issues and the dark side of life. (Okay, we just had a blog where the hero considers a corpse. Yes, we did discuss profanity a few columns ago. If you’re not going to work with me on this, you’ll getContinue reading “Stand and Deliver”

Screen Scrooges: A Dead Man

He recoiled in terror, for the scene had changed, and now he almost touched a bed: a bare, uncurtained bed; on which, beneath a ragged sheet, there lay a something covered up, which, though it was dumb, announced itself in awful language. The room was very dark, too dark to be observed withContinue reading “Screen Scrooges: A Dead Man”

Carol of the Yells

I admit that, despite my omnipresence on the Interwebs, that I am not in the mainstream of pop culture. I am kept so busy producing brilliant work that I have o time to attend to the alerts on radio, TV, and social media. So I do not know yet what this year’s big controversyContinue reading “Carol of the Yells”

Hey, Good-Lookin’

One of the saddest, funniest book donations I received, and due to the nature of the donor, I received it more than once, as she donated things in small, easy installments, was a collection of books on the subject of, um, how to win friends and influence people. Nah, let’s put it right outContinue reading “Hey, Good-Lookin’”

Screen Scrooges: Scavengers

They left the busy scene, and went into an obscure part of the town, where Scrooge had never penetrated before although he recognized the situation, and its bad repute. The ways were foul and narrow, the shops and houses wretched; the people half-naked, drunken, slip-shod, ugly. Alleys and archways, like so many cesspools, disgorgedContinue reading “Screen Scrooges: Scavengers”

Murgatroyd

Oh, never mind why our conversation turned lightly to Gadzookie, the nephew, cousin, or son of Godzilla in cartoons of my younger days. (And no, we will not be considering what this means to the world that Godzilla must, therefore. have had siblings, uncles, or a wife. Other people have already discussed these things. Continue reading “Murgatroyd”

What the Dickens?

I realize that my serialized publication of my unpublished coffee table boo on performances of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol has a way to go, but as the season for actually watching these movies approaches, I thought I would add a few notes on which versions you should seek out. By the way,Continue reading “What the Dickens?”

Screen Scrooges: The Businessmen

“Lead on!” said Scrooge. “Lead on! The night is waning fast, and it is precious time to me, I know. Lead on, Spirit!” The Spirit moved away as it had come towards him. Scrooge followed in the shadow of its dress, which bore him up, he thought, and carried him along. TheyContinue reading “Screen Scrooges: The Businessmen”

Figure It Out Yourself

Sigmund Spaeth, best known for what people regard as a misguided attempt to teach children instrumental classics by setting lyrics to them, wrote a LOT about music. One of his wisest observations was about how audiences react to performance of a medley. It is true, as he states, that whenever a new song startsContinue reading “Figure It Out Yourself”

Number Please

A man named Charles Williams, Jr. had the honor of having the first phone number in the United States. (It was 1, of course. Mr. Williams produced telephone equipment for Alexander Graham Bell, so he played guinea pig. (He also, by the way, had the second phone number—2–for his shop.) You can read theContinue reading “Number Please”