straight ahead and rest assured

 

Earlier this week I posted the lyrics to the Sylvia hit song "Nobody" here -- it got me thinking about songs that you can't get out of your head unless you -- change your identity and move to another country.

("I now identify as Belizean.")

What makes a hit song?

With "Nobody," I think it's that classic combination of well-written lyrics, beguiling melody, and rhythm that feels, simultaneously, pleasantly reliable and innovative.  It surprises the listener just enough.

"You say nobody's after you,

The fact is what you say is true..."

Seriously, somehow I found my way to that song on You Tube and then I just couldn't stop playing it, and after I did manage to stop playing it ("OK, I've heard it enough") snatches of it still keep showing up in my brain!

"Sittin' in a restaurant, she walked by..."

(I can't escape!!)

---------------------------- That led me to thinking of another song that's so bouncy and jubilant and even exciting that once you play it, it's like Lay's potato chips....

♪♪♪ ♪

[bong!]  (a chord)

This is it!

(This is it)

This is life, the one you get

So go and have a ball

This is it!

(This is it)

Straight ahead and rest assured

You can't be sure at all.

So while you're here enjoy the view

Keep on doin' what you do

So hold on tight we'll muddle through

One day at a time,

(One day at a time)

So up on your feet!

(Up on your feet!)

Somewhere there's music playing

Don't you worry none

We'll just take it like it comes

One day at a time (one day at a time)

One day at a time (one day at a time)

One day at a time (nah-nana-nah)

One day at a time

(One day at a time)

One day at a --

Nah-nana-nah --

one day at a time!

{"One Day At A Time" -- network situation comedy, 1975 - 1984}

______________________

After playing a video of this tv-show theme song on You Tube, I read some Comments -- one guy said he loved this song so much as a kid, he took his Fisher Price tape recorder and held it up to the TV and recorded it, then played it later in his room and danced, doing all the things the actors did in the intro.

He finished the comment with, "I was lame as hell."

I thought he was not "lame," but great; I only wished I had thought of doing that.

-30-

sitting in a restaurant, she walked by

 

Sittin' in a restaurant, she walked by

I seem to recall that certain look in your eye

I said who is that

You said with a smile

Oh it's nobody, oh nobody

Well maybe that explains the last two weeks

You called me up, dead on your feet

Working late again

I ask who with, you said nobody - oh nobody

Well, your nobody called today

She hung up when I asked her name

Well, I wonder, does she think she's being clever

You say nobody's after you

The fact is what you say is true

But I can love you like nobody can, even better

Late last night we went for a drive

You were miles away, I ask who's on your mind

You said nobody - why do you ask

Oh her again, I could've told you that

We came back home, got ready for bed

I said to myself, I've got one shot left

You're still mine and I won't stand in line behind - nobody, nobody

Well, your nobody called today

She hung up when I asked her name, well I wonder

Does she think she's being clever

You say nobody's after you

The fact is what you say is true

But I can love you like nobody can, even better

Well your nobody called today

She hung up when I asked her name, well I wonder

Does she think she's - being clever?

You say nobody's after you

The fact is what you say is true

But I can love you like nobody can, even better

[FADE]

Oh well your nobody called today

She hung up when I asked her name, well I wonder

Does she think she's being clever

________________

{"Nobody" - written by Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan.

Recorded by Sylvia.  1982.}

-30-

il fait chaud

 

        The thing about the Kathleen Turner character, Matty Walker, at the end of Body Heat was -- all she wanted was to be left alone.

        All the money -- and to be left alone.

Although -- she isn't actually, technically alone at the end of the film, lying back on the beach with ocean waves and a blue sky.  There is a lanky, dark-haired man next to her on the beach.

        You can tell she isn't too involved with him, however.  (We don't really see him - he just kind of bobs up at the edge of the screen - we see the back of his head.)    He says something to her, it sounds like it's in French.  And she turns her head ever so slightly in his direction and says, still lost in her own thoughts, "What?"

"It is hot," he says, in English.

Matty pauses, staring out to sea, and then says, "Yes."

So -- not technically, physically alone, but -- that guy is a Daiquiri, to her.  Like -- whatever.  

Finally, everybody has to -- leave her alone.

She was so focused on that goal, she got it, by hook or by crook.  

I don't think Brian Laundrie was that focused.  I went from seeing him as an evil person to -- this week -- remembering that he is (was?) surely mentally ill, and does not have the focus to light out for a foreign country with a beach.

The elder Laundries' lawyer is out there on the news shows being belligerent on their behalf.  I don't know....

        A You Tuber I sometimes listen to, Dr. Grande, said Brian L. couldn't face taking responsibility for what he did.

        Some parents teach their children responsibility.  Other parents do everything for their children, and protect them from having to take responsibility for their actions.

___________________________________

OSCAR:  Do you hear what you're saying?  It's crazy!  This Matty would've have to been one quick smart broad.

NED:  Oooh--Oscar, don't you understand?  That was her special gift.  She was relentless.

-30-      

get clear, with no one looking for you

William Hurt; Kathleen Turner, in "Body Heat"

Today the Gabby Petito story moved forward a square:  they're reporting that Brian Laundrie's parents decided to come and help search the park and they apparently went straight to a spot where some of Brian's things and some remains were.

The remains are now said to have his DNA and dental records match....

Well -- that was fast.

__________________________________

Reader Comments on an article:

* Does anyone else find this all pretty fishy?

* So hundreds of LEOs search the area for weeks, using helicopters, dogs, drones and other means, attempt to locate Brian with no luck:

Then Ma & Pa stroll three miles into the park and magically locate Brian in about an hour?

Why do I find this a little too staged:  just a bit too convenient and neatly covering all the bases?

____________________________

------------------------------------------

Some thoughts I had earlier today before the DNA and dental info was released:

I thought,

Let's ask ourselves:  if the public and law enforcement can be convinced (or take the position) that it's Brian's remains, who benefits?

The people who benefit are Brian and his parents.

Because now the search can be "over" and public interest can move on to something else.

And Brian, theoretically still in hiding, can breathe and relax a little.

It reminded me of the Lawrence Kasdan film, Body Heat.

..."But then Matty sees a way... a way to solve all her problems and get clear, with no one looking for her....It was so perfect, so clean....Case closed."

It occurred to me that Brian Laundrie would probably very much like to "get clear, with no one looking for him"....

__________________________________

Reader comments

* CHECK THE DNA!  Probably killed another random hiker, left his stuff to "throw the police off" and is hiding out somewhere...

* I have to admit, that thought crossed my  mind as well.

* I don't know, maybe show some common decency and compassion by demanding that their son contact Gabby's parents immediately, when he arrived home without her, in her van?  And if he refused, they would make the call?  Instead, two weeks went by as they all went on camping trips.  These people are....

* ...The area apparently is where they often hiked.  It's the area they told authorities to focus on a month ago.  That's been the focus of the search.

* And the area was flooded and inaccessible before.

* I honestly would not be shocked if this was all some bonkers, elaborate ruse to buy him more time to escape.  He seems too narcissistic to kill himself and his parents seemed like they were willing to do anything to help him.  They didn't seem to care about Gabby at all.

* Yep, I can't help but feel this is a distraction to help him make a final run for it.

* It will be interesting to learn if the items with the remains include his getaway money.  If the cash isn't there...hummmmmmm....

_______________________________

_______________________________

NED RACINE:  But then Matty sees a way -- to get rid of both of us at once -- at the boathouse.  A way to solve all her problems and get clear, with no one looking for her.  And Oscar she was right too, because I would have never stopped looking for her.  Matty killed this other girl and put her body in the boathouse.  It was so perfect, so clean.  You find two bodies, me and this girl.  Two killers - dead.  Case closed.

        You can't find the money, can you Oscar?  Doesn't that tell you something?

-30-

just outside our dreams

 

"Human remains and items found" read the headlines today, in the ongoing Florida search for Brian Laundrie.

---------------------- [CBS News] --------------- The FBI confirmed Wednesday that authorities have found "what appears to be human remains" at the site where they were searching for Brian Laundrie.  Michael McPherson, special agent in charge of the FBI's Tampa field office, also said authorities found personal items nearby -- including a backpack and notebook -- that they believe belong to Laundrie.

The suspected human remains were found in an area previously underwater, the FBI said.  Authorities are investigating whether the remains belong to Brian Laundrie. --------------------- [end, CBS News excerpt]

...found in an area previously underwater -- would a notebook survive hanging out underwater for a period of -- what -- days?  Nights?  Weeks?

-------------------- Does this seem real?

______________________________________

________________________________________

[excerpt from

Human Life's Mystery

a poem by

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

---------------------------

II

The senses folding thick and dark

        About the stifled soul within

We guess diviner things beyond,

And yearn to them with yearning fond;

We strike out blindly to a mark

        Believed in, but not seen.

III

We vibrate to the pant and thrill

        Wherewith Eternity has curled

In serpent-twine about God's seat;

While, freshening upward to His feet,

In gradual growth His full-leaved will

        Expands from world to world.

IV

And, in the tumult and excess

        Of act and passion under sun

We sometimes hear -- oh, soft and far

As silver star did touch with star,

The kiss of Peace and Righteousness

        Through all things that are done

V

God keeps his holy mysteries

Just on the outside of man's dream....

-30-

life without underworld contacts

 

Washington Post article on Gabby Petito - coroner's report,

Reader Comments

----------------------------

* They should lock up his aiding and abetting family until they give up where he's hiding.  I have no doubt they know exactly where he is.  With his father supposedly joining search efforts, it just seems like they're literally screwing around with law enforcement for shts and giggles.  What a disgusting, disgraceful family.

* I know, makes no sense they can't bring his family in for questioning.  Pretty obvious they know his whereabouts.

* His lawyer is as insufferable as his parents.

* I have suspected from the start that his parents provided cover.  He may not have ever been in that wilderness area close to his home.  Did he have a passport?  I'm sure that is one thing the FBI looked at.  

        His parents are an accessory.  They provided him a vehicle to get away and that other vehicle parked at the wildlife refuge was just another red herring.

* Central American countries are lawless.  He could have taken a boat to one and disappeared into the jungle.  No one is going to ask him for a passport!

* Really, it's that easy to get on a boat and go hundreds or thousands of miles, and get dropped off in a foreign country in the middle of the night so that no one sees you?  Then go and "disappear" into the jungle to live it up -- in the jungle?  Yeah, sure, I'll bet you've done it a dozen times.

        BTW, every country in the Western Hemisphere has an extradition treaty with the US except Cuba.  You think they would welcome him?

* And, frankly, even if a country has no extradition treaty with the U.S., I doubt Laundrie is the kind of guy they want in their country.  Embezzlers yes, wife murderers no.  He would get a de facto extradition on the grounds of being an undesirable alien.

* Some Central American countries are lawless.  Costa Rica isn't lawless.  Panama isn't lawless.  And these two have extradition treaties with the US, as do others.

* Where in the heck is the kid?  I mean, he's a white, middle class 23-year-old, not some high level career criminal who knows how to disappear.  I suspect he's either dead or getting some very savvy help.  Are his parents the type who would have those kinds of contacts?  Most suburban people aren't.

* Do you think "suburban people" are a bunch of hicks?  I live in a suburb outside of a major metropolitan area.  The overwhelming majority of the people in my community are highly educated, upper middle class to wealthy, and capable of having contacts with people who can provide what you refer to as "pretty savvy help."

* No I don't think they are a bunch of hicks.  I think they are suburban people living suburban lives.  Does not having criminal contacts - or people willing to commit crimes if you request it - mean you are a hick?  "No criminal contacts" -- I never heard that definition of a hick before.

* The background of the Laundries should be researched.  Who are the people whom they know?

* The authorities need to follow the money.  

They need to get a hold of the parents' banking records - it doesn't appear that this is by any stretch a wealthy family, but this sociopathic murderer can't survive indefinitely without funds.  

Someone is funneling money to him, after, of course, he stole his dead fiance's debit card after strangling her, and took her money and her van to drive back to Mommy and Daddy's house and plan his disappearance.

* I think his parents were into some kind of shady business dealings.  The description of their "business" sounds more like something set up to launder money.

* He is probably living in one of their basements.

* There aren't basements in Florida - the water table is far too high.

* Steven Bertolino, the attorney for Laundrie and his family, makes me embarrassed to be an attorney.  I hope he is investigated for his involvement in what I am convinced is criminal conduct on the part of Laundrie and his parents.

* What is this guy living on?  Wherever he is, he doesn't have his phone or a credit card, or he'd have been located by now.  Did his parents give him a huge amount of cash?  Is he hitchhiking?  

If he's on the Appalachian Trail, he's got to come to town for food.  

People have seen him in North Carolina.  

Where are the police there?  

His photo should be on billboards, with a beard and scruffy long hair added like on a milk box.

* I don't believe he's in a swamp or the Appalachian trail, I don't believe he's left Florida.  Just look at this guy, 23 years old, doesn't own a car, lives with his parents at "23."  He's an underachiever socially and financially and very dependent on his parents.  He's not gong to go too far away from them.  

He's sitting at a safe house / apt. 

He's never roughed it a day in his life.  

Playing at being a survivalist is completely different than actually having the skills and stamina to be a survivalist....

* All of the speculation is moot because Laundrie is long gone.  His parents, lawyer and sister worked to get him out of the country by seaplane or boat.  He made his way to Mexico early on and by now is living in some SA country with new name and docs.  He will not return to the US.

* The dude ran home to mommy and daddy as fast as he could.  Kinda think he's too weak to live in central or south America.  By himself.

* A sad, tragic story.  There are bad people out there.

* It is to their everlasting shame that the police allowed this guy to slip away.  They should have been watching his every move.  And what is wrong with his parents?

* The Laundrie parents remind me of the Vatican....

* His family members are also Accessories after the Fact.

* Probably before the fact.  The parents were housing this 'love story'.  They knew their son.

They knew.

* Was expecting a head injury consistent with falling down / knocked down.  But strangulation is first degree murder with the aggravating circumstance of robbing her bank account.  

Brian is a psychopath aided and abetted by his parents.  

Sod the lot of 'em.

-30-

still searching that swamp in Florida

 

Timeline of the Gabby Petito story

__________________________________________

July 2

Gabby and boyfriend Brian Laundrie left from Blue Point, New York, on a planned four-month, cross-country journey.  They were traveling in and living out of a white van, and vlogging for You Tube.

August 12

Police in Moab, Utah, responded to reports of disorderly conduct involving a couple.  Police interviewed Petito and Laundrie, who were described as having "engaged in some sort of altercation."  Neither was charged with anything.

August 17-23

On August 17th Brian flew to North Port, Florida, where he and Gabby had been living with Brian's parents.  While in Florida for five days, Brian said he cleared out a rented storage unit.

On August 23rd he flew back to Salt Lake City and reunited with Gabby to continue their road trip.

August 24

Gabby was seen checking out of a hotel in Salt Lake.

August 27

At the Merry Piglets Mexican Grill in Jackson, Wyoming, Brian and Gabby had lunch and argued loudly.  Brian yelled at some members of the restaurant staff.

        This was the day when Gabby was last seen alive.

August 30

Laundrie is accused of using a debit card and PIN number for accounts that did not belong to him between the dates of August 30 and September 1, according to a federal indictment.

September 1

Brian Laundrie returned to his family's home in North Port, Florida, according to police.  Petito was not with him.  The van, which was owned by Petito, was recovered at the Laundrie residence.

September 6-8

Brian Laundrie and his parents, Christopher and Roberta Laundrie, stayed at the Fort De Soto Campground.

September 10 weekend

A neighbor of the Laundries said she saw Brian at the family home during this weekend.

        Gabby Petito's family reported her missing Sat., Sept. 11.

September 14

The parents said this is the last day on which they saw their son Brian.  They said he left their home with a backpack and he stated he was going to camp in the nearby Carlton Reserve.

September 19

Gabby Petito's remains were found in Wyoming.

Her death was ruled homicide by a coroner.

September 28

The Petito family put out a statement through their attorney, asking Brian to "turn yourself in to the FBI or the nearest law enforcement agency."

______________________________

_________________________________

        When the Petito family hadn't heard from their daughter and could not reach her, they tried calling and texting the Laundries and simply received no answer.

        Mr. and Mrs. Laundrie had lawyered up and were not speaking.

________________________________________

Comments on Internet:

 * His parents are HORRIBLE people.

*Sociopaths and psychopaths are able to do tasks like cutting the grass or cleaning the garage or grocery shopping because they do not feel an ounce of remorse or guilt for the terrible things they do.

* The reason Brian did that was so that he could show everyone he was there.  It was for Optics.

-----------------------------------------------

* Brian's parents, when Brian arrives home in Gabby's van:

"Where's Gabby?"

Brian:  "I don't know."

Parents:  "Let's go camping."

Brian:  "OK."

---------------------------------------------------

* It baffles me why the police never questioned him, until they knew Gabby died.  They allowed him to take his own time to plan his escape.  Now they are doing a manhunt.  Just ridiculous.

* Keep mom and dad in interrogation and don't let them sleep until they tell the FBI where Brian is.

* ...They lawyered up already, they have no legal obligation to talk to anyone, including cops and FBI.

* Took a stroll in the neighborhood while that girl's body was left in the forest.  Sick family

* The walk was planning for his escape like the mafia "takes walks" to "discuss business."

* Gotta take a walk so the Alexa in the house doesn't hear their plans on where to take / hide Brian

* FBI better stop wasting time on that swamp and start grilling the parents they helped him escape and he is probably in some other state!

* His parents seem super sketch like him.  Like there is something up with them.

* His parents know everything from beginning to end.  They know what he did and they know where he is right now.

* If Brian is really lost his parents would be crying crying and crying and would speak to media and people to help them find Brian.  But they are chill asf.

* What did you expect them to do??  Go out in the street and rock back and forth in the fetal position?  Dress up like bats and roost on the roof?

        If they are the type of people who would 

        commit / help cover up 

a murder, of course they are just going to go about their business.

        That's what makes it awful.

* How much does it cost to fly to Florida round trip vs. a monthly storage locker fee?  Hmmm

* That trip back to Florida makes absolutely no sense at all.

* I'm still tripping off of what kind of man goes on cross country trip with his Girlfriend then leaves her out there alone while he flies home to empty a stupid storage shed.

* Does clearing the storage locker mean that it's premeditated?  This means that he knew he would have to be on the run.

* ...It's hard to imagine that his parents didn't notice Gabby not being with him on Sept. 1, and felt no need to call her family once they knew she was not there and not expected to follow him somehow.

        I believe the family were anticipating Brian to "get rid of Gabby."  How else could they act like they do???????

* Exactly!!

* Not notice?  She's not a sock!  They all lived together

* In the end, Brian is living in that locker.

* Maybe Brian had a body stashed in the storage unit?

* So do Laundries have other properties?  The neighbor said they were renting out the place before they lived there?  Very interesting?  Shady AF .. but interesting!  I have a feeling we will learn surprising details of just how nefarious the Laundrie Family really is!

* The less one talks, the less the authorities have to work with.  Personally, I think there is a really good chance Laundrie completely beats the murder rap.

        There is no physical evidence tying him to her death (that we know of).  Is there a murder weapon?  It's long gone.  Any blood or other DNA evidence on him or the van?  It's long gone.  Brian?  He's long gone lol.

* It doesn't take a genius to know that they're lying.  That camping trip they took when he got back was just loading up supplies for him to survive out there.

* They didn't have eyes on him.  If they did, they'd know his exact activities and whereabouts.

* The police department dropped the ball big time.

* Of course Brian's Dad joined the search because he would lead them off the track because he knows where Brian probably is!

* Smoke and mirrors from the parents.  Unbelievable behavior.

* If they had eyes on him how come they don't know where he is

* I'm sure the FBI has already checked out the Laundrie other properties.  If he can obtain a false ID, he's gone.  It will be very hard to find him.

*Brian Laundrie's parents with the lawyer real estate friend and the Uncle with the boating company helped him escape.  Brian's Uncle owns Denison Yachts just opposite DeSoto Park.  Brian is comfy indoors at a location his family set up for him.

* What is a scumbag?  I am from Iraq and I do not know what that means.

* The parents KNEW EVERYTHING prior to him arriving with Gabby's van.  That's the real kicker.  They were well prepared.  Add those 3 days to the 9 days they already bought him.  Nearly a 2 week head start.

* I know that Brian's parents know exactly where he is and they should be held for questioning.  All of a sudden Brian decided to go on a supposed hike.  I think they should be charged with interfering with an investigation.

* You can't just do that without the evidence.  No matter what it looks like on the surface.  That's not how the law works.  If it did work that way, there would be a lot of innocent people in jail.

---------------------- (One You Tuber, Gavin Fish-True Crime, looked into public records to check machinations being done with properties the Laundries own) --

* His dad net worth is 5 million so yeh they are getting ready for a possible civil suit.

* I wonder if the Laundries' assets will be protected from government seizure when it's discovered that they deliberately sent law enforcement on a VERY expensive wild goose chase to divert them from their son's real location?

-30-

never was born an Englishman

 

"There never was born an Englishman who understands the Irish people."

~ Bernadette Devlin, 1969

I remember this photograph -- in either TIME or Newsweek, of this person with the mini-skirt and long straight hair that was in style -- that she was going to represent the Irish people in Parliament.

Contemplating the murder of Lord Mountbatten depicted in The Crown -- got me thinking about Northern Ireland and that whole phenomenon.  

(Are they still fighting?  Have they always been fighting?  Is it like the Gaza Strip, where it's always something...?  I haven't kept track well enough.  How can we keep track?  How can we know?  Why do people want to fight and kill each other.

I remember in junior high being really interested in what was going on in Northern Ireland and why there were shootings and explosions.  In seventh grade we were required to make book jackets for our Ohio History books, to keep them nice.  I made mine out of newspapers and scotch tape, and put a photograph of people running with guns in Belfast and taped on the stark, one-word question:  "Why?"

Heavy, man.

        Over there, they call it "The Troubles."

-30-

13 dead and not forgotten

 

"Thirteen dead and not forgotten, we got eighteen and Mountbatten."

That's a statement made on behalf of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) in The Crown, after Royal Family friend Lord Mountbatten gets killed when his boat is blown up.

(With the Irish guy's accent, the word "forgotten" rhymes with Mountbatten - pronounced Mount-bah-ten...)

____________________________________

One Internet commenter said what I often think when watching The Crown:  "...very weird royal traditions affording incredible privileges and stultifying constraints."

In a way, the Queen is in charge of everything, and in a way, she can almost never have her way.

        "Of course, I shall have to take advice," she says.  She wants Martin Charteris to be her secretary; Tommy Lascelles tells her that her secretary will be Michael Adeane because he is next in line.

        Custom; tradition; protocol.

Another Commenter wrote, "I thought The Crown brought out the immense role that the palace staff had in terms of being advisers, handlers, and minders for the royal family."

comments

------------------

* The Royal staff seems to consider themselves more "royal" than the actual royals.  I believe that is why Diana, Fergie and Meghan were so frustrated by them.

* That is the fault of the Queen.  She could have slapped these people down and put them in their place, but did not.

* Easily enough said but I think the momentum of a thousand-year-old dynasty subdues even the one person it focuses upon.

-30-

custom; tradition; protocol

 

John F. Kennedy; Queen Elizabeth; Jacqueline Kennedy; Prince Philip

1961

        I read a review of Diana: The Musical, in The Guardian, written by Peter Bradshaw.

        It is one of those reviews that reminds us of the fact that complaining unrelentingly about a show and that it exists is not the same thing as reviewing a show.

The review employed the same tactic I observed once in a review of Bob Dylan's book, Chronicles:

Just stating that the book said this,

and the book said that.

Mr. Bradshaw's review included that same exercise --

lyrics of one song said this;

in another song the lyrics said that....

Simply repeating something from the work -- the play, or the book -- doesn't make a point, really, it just fills up some space.

Maybe that's what reviewers are doing, sometimes--just filling space.  (Like the Netflix problem -- take a minute's worth of action-situation-dialogue and wanting people to make an hour-long episode out of it.)

Editor:  "Here, review this show."

Writer:  "OK, they sang and danced and told a story.  

It is very bad.  

According to me.

The End."

_________________________

______________________________

Watching Diana: The Musical and The Crown --

Enlightening, because they tell some of the same stories, and each telling reveals things in a slightly different way, and puzzle pieces can sometimes be fitted together.  Impressions can be compared.

The Crown is so interesting, because you really get a granular sense of royalty and tradition and England's relationship to its own history, literature, and drama.  How tradition works -- 'we do things in the settled way, the way we've always done them, because that is the tradition, that is our custom.'

        'It is what protocol requires.'

And custom, tradition, and protocol steer everything, except for when they don't -- when "CHANGE" occurs.  When Prince Philip says, "Let's televise the Queen's Christmas speech," for example....

-30-

queen of hearts

 

headline in Elle online:

Actress Jeanna de Waal Thinks Princess Diana Would've Loved 'Diana: The Musical'

I agree!  I agree!

Ms. de Waal does an excellent job, imo -- she has to talk part of it and sing part of it.  And while she and the rest of the terrific cast only had to do it once for the Netflix film, they're going to have to do it over and over once they start up on Broadway.

-30-

up early in the mornin'

 

I read a list of Britney Spears songs in The Guardian, and typed some of them out onto a list for myself to dig into her music a little more.

Listening to something from the list, over the Internet, I noticed the phrase "can I get a witness" was in there.  The song was not "Can I Get A Witness" but the line was incorporated in.

-30-

a story's rhythm and speed

Then today I was watching something new on Netflix and ran into same problem I've encountered before.

Boredom.

And that's saying something because of two reasons:

1 is that the show was supposed to be suspenseful, with tension and action and mystery and detection; and the 

2nd is the fact of personal taste -- my favorite movies and plays and TV shows might be deemed "boring" by some people who have different tastes.  Like Joey Tribbiani on Friends when he says, "Hey, Shakespeare is great, but how 'bout a car chase once in a while...?"

        It's sort of -- if I think it's boring, then -- Man -- it's boring...!

The one I started watching (listening to) today, it was just -- you started to get riveted by it, but then it kept repeating, going over the same "gripping moment" over and over again.  With different words.  But it was as if it was stuck, sort of.  You wanted to get some chains, hook to the bumper, and pull it out....

        It made you wonder:  does the producer write two minutes of material, then put it on a table in the Writers' Room and direct them to, "Make this into a 30-minute episode" -- ?

It reminds me of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" when Lou Grant calls a meeting to figure out how to  make their news show better.  Someone suggests making it longer.  Lou says, "It's not doing too great, now.  That would just make it not doing too great -- stretched out."

Netflix producer to writers:

"Take this thin premise and -- stretch it to cover an hour...."

_______________________________

I remember reading a Comment under a You Tube video where the person said,

"I work in television, and in truth it's just like any other job.

People don't care, and they just want to get done and go home."

That was a little disillusioning to me!

I always want every show to be great.

__________________________________

♪♪   ♪♪♪♪    ♪

When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school

It's a wonder I can think at all

And though my lack of education hasn't hurt  me none

I can read the writing on the wall

Kodachrome

They give us those nice bright colors

Give us the greens of summers

Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah

I got a Nikon camera

I love to take a photograph

So mama, don't take my Kodachrome away

If you took all the girls I knew when I was single

And brought 'em all together for one night

I know they'd never match my sweet imagination

Everything looks worse in black and white

Kodachrome

They give us those nice bright colors

They give us the greens of summers

Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah

I got a Nikon camera

I love to take a photograph

So mama, don't take my Kodachrome away

Mama don't take my Kodachrome away

Mama, don't take my Kodachrome away

Mama don't take my Kodachrome away

Mama don't take my Kodachrome

Mama don't take my Kodachrome

Mama don't take my Kodachrome away

Mama don't take my Kodachrome

Leave your boy so far from home

Mama don't take my Kodachrome away

Mama don't take my Kodachrome, mmmh

Mama don't take my Kodachrome away

Okay

________________________________

{"Kodachrome" - by Paul Simon}

-30-

don't you know that you're toxic

 

        In Diana: The Musical, Prince Charles tells Camilla in bemused tones that young Diana's favorite music group is 

Duran Duran Duran.

Camilla has to help him with the correct name....

-------------------------------------------------------------

        Also on Netflix now is Britney vs. Spears, a documentary chronicling the infamous conservatorship whose most recently revealed feature was a listening device in her bedroom.

        Asked why people were going along with this crazy s--t, one of the music-business people said, Well, Mr. Spears is "very intimidating."

        Sounds like he just bulled his way through to basically enslave and traffic his daughter and cut himself in on her money.  Why do people allow this stuff?  Well -- it isn't hurting them, and they think it will hurt worse to fight it.  But somewhere you gotta have some ethics, and a conscience.  Jesus.

        One lawyer they have on there, sitting in a chair, his blue eyes confident in the sunlight, making a little word-salad -- what a prevaricator!  I thought my android tablet was going to explode into flames.

Someone quotes Britney as saying in the early years of her stardom, that she's afraid "any minute, her family is going to burst in and take everything."

        It seems like her worries were prescient.

-30-

I miss you most on Sundays

 

When I watch / listen to the Prince Charles-Princess Diana relationship, in The Crown and in Diana: The Musical (both on Netflix) I involuntarily arrive at a theory that the best way to exist in a marriage to someone like Charles would be to never show true feelings.

...Which is what they say they're supposed to do anyway, as royalty, according to The Crown and Tina Brown's The Diana Chronicles and other reading.  Don't show true feelings.  Don't express them in words.  Don't show your true self, don't be "individualistic" -- (Winston Churchill's favorite word with which to bombard his various and sundry targets in The Crown).

        Inexplicable side note:  somehow the actress portraying Camilla in the Diana-musical kind of resembles Tina Brown....

___________________________________

When I was re-watching The French Lieutenant's Woman recently, it kept comparing to The Crown -- the traditional and beautiful interior décor.  The tea.

The décor being so similar is interesting, because French Lieutenant's Woman is set in the mid-1800s; The Crown is set in the mid-1900s.

        One hundred years apart, and yet the furnishings and decorations in homes and offices are the same, at least to my eye....

        This is partly because in The Crown we're seeing where royalty lives, and they keep tradition.  Tina Brown wrote in The Diana Chronicles that royalty are the last bastion of tradition.  While society changes around them, they are the last to change.

Also -- the tea.  Charles Smithson in The French Lieutenant wakes up in the morning and asks his servant to bring him tea.  In The Crown they are often having tea.

        They press a button and ring for tea.

___________________________

___________________________

------------------------- I've noticed that the word "tea" can mean different things...

In The Crown it's a beverage.

On You Tube, young people type in, "Spill the tea!" and what they mean is, 'give us the gossip' -- 'tell us the lowdown'....

In Raymond Chandler novels of the 1940s, tea is a word for marijuana.

__________________________________

All reviews of Diana: The Musical are -- like -- just attacking it like mad!

        I watch it and see a very good musical play.

        Then I look at reviews and it's this ubiquitous and savage wall of hate.

        (Am beginning to wonder if Buckingham Palace has planted all this hectically negative verbiage....)

-------------- You know, my courtiers, if you didn't want to see Prince Charles being a jerk in the Musical and an ass in The Crown, then maybe Charles shouldn't have been so

false 

and jealous 

and mean 

in the first place.

(On the other hand, Charles is shown, in more than fair fashion in my view, to have his own humanity and exotic pressures placed on him, in both Crown and Diana-Musical.  The audience can see his stress and no-win situations, too.)

        And I had to say, Diana: The Musical is great because it even had me sympathizing somewhat with Camilla Parker Bowles, and I've always seen her as a villain.

        "I Miss You Most on Sundays"...

-30-