Raffi Downey Junior?
I haven’t seen Iron Man, but I’ve suddenly noticed that Robert Downey Jr. is all over the place. Is it just me, or is Robert Downey Jr. starting to resemble beloved children’s singer, Raffi?
Robert Downey, Jr.
Raffi
Mr. Drummond, Willis, and Friends!
When I was a kid, “Diff’rent Strokes” was one of my favorite shows. In fact, when I was still in a highchair, I would point to the TV and say, “Boy!” whenever Arnold was on. I used to hope that I would get discovered by a Hollywood agent who would want me to have a recurring role on “Diff’rent Strokes” to star opposite my favorite star at the time: Gary Coleman.
By the time I was about 8, the show was off the air but my sister and I would watch reruns of it every day after school. I think it was on WPIX. And then a few years later, I stopped being able to find reruns of it. That broke my heart!
Then, a few weeks ago, I learned that BET was rerunning episodes at 9 and 9:30 AM. I immediately added it to my Tivo. Matt got excited, too! I found out that he, too, was a big fan of “Whatchoo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” in his youth.
Now we watch “Diff’rent Strokes” as soon as we get home from work. Matt loves to watch TV during dinner and while I am usually very anti-watching-TV-during-dinner (”DINNER IS A TIME TO TALK ABOUT OUR DAY, MATT!” I cry! “Whatever happened to the art of conversation?!?!”), if Matt suggests “Diff’rent Strokes”, that changes my tune. “Well…ok…if it’s ‘Diff’rent Strokes’.”
Matt likes Willis so much that he wants to name our firstborn after him! Willis Munroe Mahoney…sounds like a troublemaker to me! Matt hates Mr. Drummond, though, and his cheesy, WASPy jokes.
Filed under Uncategorized, celebrities, nostalgia | Comment (0)Tough Broads
I am in the process of reading a book called Bella Abzug: How One Tough Broad from the Bronx Fought Jim Crow and Joe Mccarthy, Pissed off Jimmy Carter, Battled for the Rights of Women and Workers, Rallied Against War and for the Planet, and Shook up Politics along the Way. Great book.
On occasion, I will read Rosie O’Donnell’s blog, and she has a section where you can ask her questions. While reading Rosie’s blog, I thought about the Bella Abzug book and about how it seemed like something she would like. So I asked Rosie a question, and I got an answer, posted on her blog!
Kristine writes:
I’m reading an oral history/biography of Bella Abzug. Great book. Have you read it? If not, I think you’d really like it!yes
she was one of my favorites
Neat!
Filed under Politics (general), celebrities | Comment (1)Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name…
We have two mail carriers in our neighborhood. One delivers regular mails, like envelopes, bills, circulars. One delivers packages via USPS. We got lots of packages around the wedding, so I saw the second mail carrier regular. I think that package deliverer looks JUST like Cliff Clavin.
I kid you not.
I wonder if after he finishes his route he stops at Cheers to hang with Sam and “Nahm.”
Filed under celebrities | Comment (0)The Sam and Diane Phenomenon
I was thinking about a common trend in television shows. A man and a woman who obviously have chemistry, they usually get together at some point, or you are lead to believe that they will get together at some point. Then there are seasons of “will they or won’t they?” Something almost always happens to keep them from getting together, which can delay the possible relationship for another season.
I’ll call this “The Sam and Diane Phenomenon”, based off the relationship of Ted Danson and Shelley Long’s characters on “Cheers.” It didn’t bother me too much on “Cheers” because ultimately Diane left, so it wasn’t the entire show’s run.
Another example is Ross and Rachel from “Friends.” Throughout the whole ten seasons, viewers were left wondering if/when they’d get together, complete with season cliffhangers.
Now, there is Pam and Jim on the American version of “The Office.” The plotline also existed on the British version, but in the American version it gets really schmaltzy. It’s attempting to tug on my heartstrings, but when it comes to “The Office”, I just want to LAUGH! I don’t want my heartstrings tugged on! If I wanted my heartstrings tugged on, I’d watch “7th Heaven” or something else like that. I think this will cause the Jumping of the Shark!
Last night was the series finale of “Gilmore Girls”, another show with “The Sam and Diane Phenomenon.” For years, I just wanted Luke and Lorelai to get together…then they did, they broke up, and the writers teased us for a while without actually having them get back together. Finally, they did — IN THE LAST EPISODE!
NO! That is not why I was rooting for their relationship the whole time! Not so I can IMAGINE them living happily ever after the show ends…I wanted to SEE them together on the actual SHOW! “Friends” did this too, with Ross and Rachel. I was highly displeased.
It really irritates me. I don’t understand why so many shows feel the need to do this. It just seems like such a lack of originality. Maybe it’s also an attempt to keep viewers watching. I thought “Friends” got really bad in the last few seasons, so maybe if they kept teasing viewers with the prospect of Ross and Rachel, people would keep watching regardless of the fact that the quality of the show was on a steep decline.
Anyway, I’d like to see this trend abolished!
Filed under celebrities, nostalgia | Comments (2)The Nicest Guy in Rock & Roll
As I’ve written before, Matt and I were big fans of the local Beatles cover band, Beatlejuice. We saw them regularly and always had a lot of fun. They were scheduled to play a show last night and a show tonight, until lead singer (also of the band Boston) Brad Delp tragically and unexpectedly passed away.
Boston took their website down and just left this on their website: “We’ve just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll.”
It couldn’t be anymore true. After seeing Beatlejuice many times, we got to know the band. Every time we’d see them, Brad would make a point to wave at us, even if he was on stage in the middle of a song when we came in. He would always make time to talk to Matt and I after a show…he’d greet us with a hearty hug and genuinely thank us for coming. No matter how busy he was after a show, he’d always give us a loving greeting and talk for at least a few minutes. Matt had grown up as a HUGE Boston fan, so to get to see and talk to the voice behind “More Than a Feeling” was exciting.
I’ll always fondly remember hanging out with Brad last May at another friend’s band’s show, Velvet Elvis, where we just got to chit chat and be silly for a while. That picture was from that night. He was always so kind and friendly to us, and I always looked forward to the Beatlejuice shows not only because of they great music, but also because it was fun to talk to Brad.
I will miss Brad very much, and Beatlejuice, too. My thoughts are with the family, friends, and band-mates of Brad.
Rest in peace, Brad. Or at least, start up a rousing jam session with John and George.
Filed under Current Events (other), Greater Boston (General), Music, My Life, celebrities | Comments (4)Oh, Kramer…
OK, by now everyone has heard of the Michael Richards outburst. Obviously, I think that what he said is beyond awful…I was reading Huffington Post today, and there were a few posts about it. I was wrong when I thought there might be some thoughtful commentary on the situation. Instead, I saw some of the most despicable anti-Semitic comments I’ve ever seen in my life. It made me both livid and nauseous, but some of the comments were so DUMB that I almost laughed!
First off, is Michael Richards Jewish? I saw that on Wikipedia, as well as another source at some point, that he is Catholic.
Look at some of these snippets of the comments:
-By the way, is this Richards a hebe or is he White?
-This is TOO funny! A hook-nosed jewboy calling a n***** a n*****! [snip] And what gives Richards the idea that he’s white?
-So Richard may be Catholic, but his actions are Jewish, so critiquing him for his ‘Jewishness’ is rational.
- A racist jew? Yeah. Im not surprised. Chosen people…supremacy….genocide of the palestinians….hates blacks…yeah, it all fits together to paint a picture of a racist people.
-is he even jewish? He’s awfully tall
And then of course there are people claiming that Kramer’s career will bounce back, but Mel Gibson’s will not because Gibson insulted the Jews and the “Jews run Hollywood.”
The initial thread then devolved into:
Person 1: “Michael Richards is Jewish! All Jews are racist!”
Person 2: “No, YOU’RE racist!”
Person 1: “All Jews hate everyone!”
Person 3: “Michael Richards isn’t even a Jew!”
Person 1: “I don’t care! Jews are racist and bad!”
I’ve NEVER seen SO much anti-Semitism in my life as I have on Huffington Post today! These people are spewing hate on a political blog using anonymous names. It’s so depressing. I feel like things are going backwards sometimes. :-(
Filed under Current Events (other), celebrities | Comment (0)