This morning I was at the Y doing the treadmill — dreadfully boring but now that summer’s here it’s too hot to walk outside even early in the morning. And of course at the Y they have the bank of TV screens to distract from the plodding — or even trotting — along the moving belt. Usually the screens are full of talking heads solemnly pontificating about the meaning of the latest (fill in the blank) …, but this morning the screen in front of me was showing a Dean Martin Roast. Well, more accurately, a promo for the roasts — snippets of various stars saying funny things about the guest “roastee.” I suppose Saturday is not a big news day. There were the cream of the crop of funny men and women — Bob Hope, George Burns, Don Rickles, Rich Little, Lucille Ball, Johnny Carson, and many others. As I… Read More »
Looking for Phyllis Diller
“… and she did some other movies, too,” I told the class at UNLV. “It wasn’t just the Bob Hope movies, although that’s what everyone thinks of.” (Now I have an admission to make — I have never seen any of the Phyllis Diller/Bob Hope movies: “Boy, Did I get a Wrong Number,” or “Eight on the Lam,” or “Did you Hear the One about the Traveling Saleslady?” Really, there’s no excuse except that I’m not a movie-goer. If I see more than two movies a year, that’s a lot.) “Like what?” the instructor asked. “She made called ‘The Adding Machine.’” “Who knows what an adding machine is?” he asked the class. Nearly all of them raised their hands, this being a class of mostly retired people. I wonder what the response would be from a regular college class. Probably not much! The plot, as I recall, was that Phyllis… Read More »
The PERFECT Day !
You’ve had those days when nothing goes right, haven’t you? Well, how about a day when absolutely everything goes right? Yeah! That’s the day I had on Wednesday when I went to the “gala cocktail party and auction preview” of Phyllis Diller’s estate! It was as perfect as a day could get. Driving down to L.A. was almost comical. The Highway Patrol has come up with a clever ploy, putting signs at strategic places saying “Highway Patrol Zero Tolerance Zone.” So while I used to go 80 in the right lane being passed by nearly every car on the road, now everyone drives a sedate 75, barely five miles over the speed limit. I had Google-mapped directions to Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, but before that wanted to drive by the old family home in North Hollywood and visit the thrift store which one of the Dustbiters discovered had a lot of Phyllis Diller’s stuff. I… Read More »
READY FOR THE PARTY !
Wow, I can’t believe I’m actually excited about this, but yes, I am! In the morning I’m taking off for L.A., ending up about 6:00 at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills. I’ve already packed my invitation to the “gala cocktail party and auction preview” of Bob Hope and Phyllis Diller’s estates. Probably don’t need it — I RSVPd twice — but just in case. Today I got the car washed, then printed out the directions for Julien’s, and tried on my good white slacks that I just got back from the cleaners and they fit! YES! No reason they shouldn’t of course — I wore them as recently as last month, but sometimes those cookies from Trader Joe’s sneak up on you. But what to wear with the slacks? I’d already decided to splurge on something new, so last Saturday I happened upon the perfect rest of the outfit to wear to a snooty party in Beverly Hills… Read More »
All right, all right, I’m GOING to the Party!
I’m sitting here with the invitation to “A Private Gala & Preview Party” for the auction of Phyllis Diller’s estate. Bob and Dolores Hope’s estate is also being previewed. With a few nudges — and a couple of actual shoves — from friends, I realized it would be silly to not accept the invitation to a once-in-a-lifetime event. So this morning I called Julien’s Auctions and RSVPd. Susie, my catsitter, has agreed to watch after my fur family for the night. Now all I have to do is figure out what to wear. “Casual Attire,” it says. That means not formal attire, right? But not something you’d wear to mow the lawn, either. I’m glad that this is just a preview and not the actual auction. When I lived in England several decades ago, I went to an actual, real live auction at Sotheby’s. I’m pretty sure my friend and former Foreign Service roommate, Barbara, was visiting… Read More »
