It’s Krewe du Vieux Saturday. I’m not marching this year, but I’ll be at the Spanktuary, which is where friends and family of the krewe gather for our annual parade party.
I’m having a hard time summoning forth the Carnival spirit. It hasn’t been the same for me since 2020, which I called The Cursed Carnival. I’m trying to work through this, so I’ll go to the parade and enjoy myself but I won’t miss marching this year. I got poked and prodded by the crowd in the French Quarter last year because I costumed as The Dude from The Big Lebowksi. I hate being touched by strangers when parading. I tried but failed to abide.
It’s time to stop kvetching and start kvelling. This week’s theme song was written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen for Steely Dan’s 1973 album Countdown To Ecstasy. The lyrics are inspired by the college shenanigans of Becker and Fagen. Even then, they were louche.
We have three versions of My Old School for your listening pleasure: the studio original, Steely Dan live on The Midnight Special, and a mid-tempo version by the Midnite String Quartet. Enjoy:
Before we get to our second act, two tunes about schooldays:
When in doubt, post a Kinks song is my motto as a blogger.
Today’s second act is a Slate doubleheader. Let’s begin after listening to Ella sing:
Jeopardy UK Bombs Again: ITV has a new show based on the classic American quiz show, Jeopardy. The host is the man who played Jeeves, Stephen Frey. Unlike Alex Trebek, Frey inserts himself into the proceedings, which are an hour long. I prefer my Jeopardy short and snappy as favored by creator Merv Griffin, and hosts Art Fleming, and Alex Trebek.
Have I told you lately that Merv Griffin and I share a high school alma mater? Go, Bearcats.
This is the third time the Brits have taken a whack at Jeopardy. According to Slate’s Luke Winkie, it’s another cockup.
Here’s a clip from Jeopardy UK:
Tales Of A Victorian Criminal: Slate’s Cheyna Roth has a fabulous crime history piece about a gentleman crook, George Leonidas Leslie. She thinks his story should be turned into a mini-series. I concur.
The last word of our second act goes to Genesis:
We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.
Separated At Birth, Funny Men Edition: I don’t remember who told me that if I liked Barney Miller, I’d like Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I not only like it, I love it as does Dr. A. Thanks, unknown person.
Joe Lo Truglio who plays zany detective Charles Boyle resembles British comic actor Rowan Atkinson. Mr. Bean meet Mr. Boyle:
The Movie List: Film director Norman Jewison died this week at the age of 97. He was not Jewish but landed the job helming Fiddler On The Roof because the producers thought he was. Oy, just oy.
Before looking at the list, read this terrific tribute by the great Matt Zoller Seitz at Vulture.
My Top Ten Favorite Norman Jewison Movies
- Moonstruck
- The Cincinnati Kid
- In The Heat Of The Night
- The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming
- The Thomas Crown Affair
- A Soldier’s Story
- The Hurricane
- Fiddler On The Roof
- And Justice For All
- Agnes Of God
Tevya sings us out of this segment with a number from the number 8 film on the list:
Your Weekly Oscar: We have another doubleheader. OP solo followed by Louis and Oscar.
Have I told you lately how much I love Oscar Peterson? That goes for the trumpeter too.
The Best Of Johnny: Mel Blanc was best known as the voice of Looney Toons. He was also a recurring character on The Jack Benny Program. Mel + Jack + Johnny = Hilarity.
Get ready to keep laughing.
Saturday GIF Horse: We continue to celebrate Brooklyn Nine-Nine with these 3 GIFs. The first one features the late great Andre Braugher.
Now that we’ve seen Amy and Terry dance, let’s move on to a venerable segment that returns this week.
Celebrity Coffin Nail Corner: We go big with two actors who played Henry Higgins on screen: Leslie Howard and Rex Harrison. FYI, I prefer Howard in Pygmalion to Harrison in My Fair Lady. Sorry, Rex.
In case there are hurt feelings about My Fair Lady, here’s a tune from it as performed by Frank Sinatra:
Tweet Of The Week: In my post about redistricting skullduggery in the Gret Stet of Louisiana, I told my friend Clancy that I wanted to steal his nickname for Gov. Landry. This is his response:
I hereby bequeath you The Clownfish, only I ain’t dead yet. Thanks for the shoutout.
— Clancy DuBos (@clancygambit) January 25, 2024
Merci, mon frere. I might make it Cajun Clownfish. My election wrap up post was called Cajun DeSantis, after all.
Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with some more music.
Saturday Closer: You may have noticed that my perennial tagline for Saturday Odds & Sods is this: Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. That’s the opening line of ELP’s Karn Evil 9 1st Impression, Part 2. Holy long title, Batman. Let’s rock.
That’s all for this week. The last word goes to the cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Chelsea Peretti, Joe Lo Truglio, Joel McKinnon Miller, Andre Braugher, Andy Samberg, Terry Crews, Melissa Fumero, Stephanie Beatriz, and Dirk Blocker.
I agree with everything on your Norman Jewison movie list and people should catch up with these films if they haven’t seen them. For me, though, the pure joy I recall from seeing “The Russians Are Coming…” puts it at #1 on my list. That stellar cast, not all of them known for comic-acting, is only a part of my reasoning. Although the Soviet Union banned the film for making Russians look silly, it actually taught me that Soviet citizens are just folks with the same difficulties and foibles and big hearts as anyone else. The film also gave me a nearly debilitating adolescent crush on John Phillip Law! Decades later, I was fortunate enough to see Theodore Bikel as Teyve in a stage production of “Fiddler…” and no offense to Chaim Topol, but Bikel was more brilliant!!