One of the high-ranking executives of the company said when that happened, "I just wanted to get into bed, pull up the covers, and watch Golden Girls."
I could see that.
The reason they named the company "Ashley Madison" was because 'Ashley' and 'Madison' were the two most popular names for girls.
That would be like if you had a company to tempt women to look for men, you would name it "Logan Dylan."
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On You Tube, watch the video with this title:
Here's Lucy - Lucy Meets the Burtons - Episode aired 14 September 1970 - Clip
uploader / channel -- Russ McClay
It's 2 minutes and 26 seconds: in that brief space we get some Shakespeare, some slapstick, gold-standard television comedy writing.
four viewer comments -
~ Just a couple of icons!
~ Richard Harris recited some of this speech as part of the eulogy for Burton.
~ The voice from the valleys that travelled around the world leaving us intoxicated
~ Richard Burton was touched by the hand of God.
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When I read Comments on You Tube, I keep seeing
would of
could of
should of
must of
... [long extended scream]
"Would of," "could of," "should of," and "must of" are NOT PHRASES.
The phrases are
would have
could have
should have
and
must have.
SO MANY people use "of" instead of "have." It drives me.... Well - they probably don't read, and they hear the words, and in conversation when you're just hearing it and not seeing the words, "would have" can totally sound like "would of."
Some people might characterize this as a "non-problem." However, I do see preserving the integrity of our language as a worthy priority.
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Right now on Netflix there's a documentary - title:
Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind
An interviewer asks him how many songs he has written - he tries to think, and gives up trying to count in his mind, and just says, "Well, I've recorded 'bout - nine zillion songs.
Jerry Lee Lewis has the magnetism and personality of an entertainer, as well as the voice, and songwriting, and piano-playing.
He says his parents mortgaged their house to buy him a piano when he was eight years old.
He tells about when he was playing the piano at home and his mother said to his dad, "He's going to be a pianist." And Dad answered her: "Yes, he may be a piano player."
Jerry Lee chuckles fondly as he tells this - you can sense that it's an old family story, or family joke. "Difference between a pianist and a piano player..." He looks up, with a sentimental grin - "We're still workin' on that one..."
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When I watch "The Crown" I sometimes see objects in the palace rooms that I can't identify. I don't know what they are.
In the "Gloriana" episode in Season 1, there's a scene where Princess Margaret is listening to the radio as her first love, Peter Townsend, speaks to the press and announces that, "mindful of the church's teaching that Christian marriage is indissoluble," they will not be getting married. (Because he's a Divorced Person.)
In the room where Margaret is sitting, alone, there's a big fireplace, and on either side of it there's a thing. (I don't know what they are! Things! ...Thing One and Thing Two...?)
They stand on the floor, and it's a wooden pole going straight up - taller than the mantelpiece. On each of the poles is a rectangular picture-frame type of Thing, with curly, scalloped edges. Inside of the frame is an egg-shaped picture, of - greenery, or leaves, or something. The egg-leaf picture is in the center, and around it, before you get to the curly frame, is blank matte.
The frame is the same dark brown as the pole.
The two things are identical.
I was wondering if these things might have some use - like if there was space in it, or on it, for keeping items, like documents or something, but it doesn't look like there is anything like that - the two identical Things are just for decoration. To help make the room grand.
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I want to recommend a nice video I saw, but it's a Tik Tok, and I'm not sure how to identify those for people.
Like, with You Tube you can just type the video's title... Anyway anyway, I'm just going to try:
I got to this video by being on You Tube; I don't know how to go on Tik Tok; but some of their videos are on You Tube... See I can't even describe this, frustrating, it's like trying to speak Chinese when no one taught you how...
OK, I got this video on You Tube.
It's a Tik Tok "short."
The name of their channel is @benandzara
And there's a sentence - maybe that is the short's title:
I taught her how to walk, she taught me how to jive.
I had almost forgotten how sweet the rhythm and drama of that song is:
...I should have known it from the very start
This girl will leave me with a broken heart
Now listen people, what I'm telling you
A-keep away from-a Runaround Sue
I miss her lips and the smile on her face
The touch of her hair and this girl's warm embrace
So if you don't wanna cry like I do
A-keep away from-a Runaround Sue
She likes to travel around
She'll love you but she'll put you down
Now people let me put you wise
Sue goes out with other guys
Here's the moral and the story from the guy who knows
I fell in love and my love still grows
Ask any fool that she ever knew
They'll say keep away from-a Runaround Sue...
{"Runaround Sue." written by Dion DiMucci and Ernie Maresca. producer: Gene Schwartz. record label: Laurie. recorded at Bell Sound in New York City. released September 1961.}
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Romance scams over the Internet: a major trend, into which a lot of money disappears. Many videos on You Tube tell us about these.
It's a sad and interesting phenomenon. The person who is being tricked - the "mark" - tricks herself, along with the scammer tricking them. Looking at this one video where Dr. Phil is trying to help a lady sort of get disengaged with the fantasy and see the reality: Dr. Phil works at it, man, he's trying!
Listening to the lady tell the story of her "relationship" with this online man, it struck me how invested she was in the story, she was as "in love" with the story as she was with the man. It was a love story she could get interested in, and also be in, at least in her own mind.
Human beings need stories. That's why we have the arts, and also, I'm now thinking, sports.
Sports is a story: a person cheering for a team knows each player and what their strengths are and loves to predict how well the team is going to do in their next game, based on what he knows about the talents and power of each player and also what he knows about the opposing team.
Story.
One of the things the scammers do is send a picture of themselves to the lady they are trying to scam. 'Here's a picture. This is me, this is what I look like.' And they'll send a picture of someone else - Who? Oh, just any picture they can get off the Internet, in some cases.
Dr. Phil just brought on "John" - caption: "His photo was used without his knowledge by an online imposter."
I had a surprise about a year or so ago, I had played some of these videos and the point came up on one, about people's photographs being used in this way, and, similar to Dr. Phil's video, they got the real guy on there, and it was somebody I knew!
In 1990 when I started working as a lobbyist, going to the State Legislature on behalf of a school association, there was a lobbyist who was my age named Jeff; he worked for six or seven different clients; he came from the largest city in our state.
In the afternoon while we (all the lobbyists) waited for Senate and House to start, Jeff would do a crossword puzzle from a newspaper.
I remember he had the book Barbarians At The Gate, which had just been published, I think...
Michael Cohen
------------------ [excerpt from Revenge, by Michael Cohen] ----------------
Let me tell you exactly who the real liar is here. Allen Weisselberg lied to SDNY prosecutors about the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels and they then used that testimony to charge me and granted him immunity.
Don't take my word for it - a CNN story reported that the Feds had indeed given Weisselberg immunity, but "came to suspect he had lied to them" about how the company reimbursed me.
Like the old Ginsu knife commercial would say - but wait there's more.
I had no idea I was so powerful. After all, it was the Trump Organization; a small boutique family company with too much clout and not enough common sense run by one man - Donald Trump - not Michael Cohen or anyone else who worked there.
Everything, and I mean everything, was the responsibility of, and all actions were conducted at the direction of, Donald Trump, for his benefit. You cannot separate the man from the company any more than you can split yourself in half.
That's the essence of what I told Congress and many prosecutors. Now, if you think that in some way I overstated my importance, then you are welcome to your opinion. But give me this: 1) It is a fact that Donald Trump rarely, if ever, does anything for anyone but himself. 2) Donald Trump will do anything to protect his own ass so he can continue following rule number one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
---------------------- [excerpt from Fear And Loathing: On The Campaign Trail '72, by Hunter Thompson] -------------------
In other words, the weight of the the evidence filtering down from the high brain-rooms of both the New York Times and the Washington Post seems to say we're all fucked. Muskie is a bonehead who steals his best lines from old Nixon speeches.
McGovern is doomed because everybody who knows him has so much respect for the man that they can't bring themselves to degrade the poor bastard by making him run for President . . . John Lindsay is a dunce, Gene McCarthy is crazy, Humphrey is doomed and useless, Jackson should have stayed in bed . . . and, well, that just about wraps up the trip, right?
Not entirely, but I feel The Fear coming on...
As for politics, I think Art Buchwald said it all last month in his "Fan letter to Nixon."
"I always wanted to get into politics, but I was never light enough to make the team."
_____________________
{Thompson - Copyright 1973. Warner Books.
Cohen - Copyright 2022. Melville House Publishing.}
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The British Monarchy has these weird-sounding titles:
Knight of the Thistle
Silver-Stick-In-Waiting...
Probably back in ancient times when those titles were invented, they made more sense.
"Ancient" is kind of the name of the game with that organization. Yet at the same time, the Monarchy has to evolve and move forward. If they get to be seen by the people to be "out of step" with the realities of life and society, they might get thrown out, as Prince Philip's family were, from Greece.
As The Crown shows it, there's a push-pull / conflict / compromise / searching for a "way forward" that will keep the Monarchy and Royal Family in the good graces of the people. Preserving tradition, and modernizing where necessary.
On You Tube there's a video titled:
A Closer Look: Jackie Kennedy's Hyannis Port Home | Cultured Elegance
uploader / channel - Cultured Elegance With Faith
(The word "faith" in the channel's title gave me pause, at first, but there's no yelling about religion in the video.)
+ I learned what a cutting garden is - although the video just mentions the words, I Googled it...
+ In the evenings Jackie would go for a brisk walk and then sit down, on the same bench every time, and smoke a cigarette.
+ When they had guests for dinner, each place setting had its own salt and pepper shakers.
+ In 1979 Jackie left the Hyannis Port house for the last time, and left all the contents there - furniture, pictures, etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That last one, I found a little hard to believe. On the other hand, there could be reasons for that. Trying to move forward after trauma.
Memories of her husband: treasured? or painful?
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Footballer Tom Brady and model Giselle Bundchen, who used to be married, kind of look alike. I notice that sometimes, with famous people - they marry someone who sort of looks like them. See:
Mick Jagger and Bianca
Elvis Presley and Priscilla...
In You Tube videos titled "Beneath The Crown" where they analyze both the show and the real-life occurrences, people in the Comments offer their ideas. Two Comments:
~ "Love is overrated. Respect is much more important."
~ "The royal family did not encourage Diana, or consider any of her successes their own. Treating her as an outsider all the time."
To me, that's indicative of people who would rather bicker than accomplish something. Maybe not consciously. It's just where they're at, maturity-wise.
In Season 3 of "The Crown" they show the "Jubilee" - that means the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's reign. 1952 - 1977. Under the "Beneath The Crown" video about that episode, was this Comment:
~ I did my post graduate studies at the University of Edinburgh from 1973 to 1977. I was there for the Jubilee celebrations.
I attended the Investiture of Prince Charles as a Knight of the Thistle and that night was one of the waiters at the banquet in the Armory at Edinburgh Castle. I was close to all of them and the Queen noticed me. I have a silver teaspoon hallmarked with the Silver Jubilee insignia.
..."Knight of the Thistle" - ?? ...
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Recently there was a "roast" shown on Netflix, of Tom Brady, the football quarterback who is very much admired by football fans.
Tom Brady's ex-wife, Giselle Bundchen, was angry about some of the stuff that was said. She made a public statement on social media, that she was disappointed, etc.
I listened to several videos discussing the situation, and read comments -- one comment was made several times by different people, sprinkled through the rest of the comments, it said Giselle was mad because the statements were "offensive" and the Commenters insisted, "It's a roast! It's SUPPOSED to be offensive!"
After two of the Comments that said that, I typed an answer:
"No, it's not supposed to be offensive.
It's supposed to be funny."
(You dumb-ass.) But no - I did not add that.
But - I was thinkin' it.
When did people start getting "funny" mixed up with "offensive" - ?
To one of those Reply-Comments, I added, "Look up roasts with Don Rickles and Dean Martin."
[Hello??!! Do we have to teach these people Everything??]
~ Diana inspired me to venture outside of myself, to become a better person - to help others
-------------------------------------------
All these royal family dramas kind of went down in the '90s: I was busy being a lobbyist for small schools, going to the state capital during the legislative session every year. What time did I have for the royal family drama? None, really. But I did notice it.
Diana's book (written by Andrew Morton) came out in 1992, saying Charles never loved her but used her to have heirs anyway, and that hurt her feelings very much. (Uh, yeah?! Hello?!) I could hardly imagine.
And in 1994 (I think) then-Prince Charles did a TV interview where he said he never loved Diana. (William and Harry: "Thanks, Dad!")
He named Andrew Parker Bowles' wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, as his real love, and then the public was like, "What is the matter with this guy?! He lies to this young girl, saying 'Let's get married, I LLUUVVV YOOOOO!' just to get an 'heir and a spare' to carry on the royal yada-yada...?"
Then, according to the You Tube videos I see (and magazines at the time) three days after Charles' TV statement, Andrew Parker Bowles put a divorce into the works, and Camilla was left alone in her "English Country House" with journalists outside trying to take her picture, and when she went to the local store to buy some groceries, other ladies who were shopping threw "bread-rolls" at her.
[I'm trying to picture that.]
At any rate, the bread-rolls were not fatal, because Camilla is still alive, and is - amazingly - the "Queen Of England."
How seriously can people take this? LOL
If you like stories or documentaries about Diana Princess of Wales, a good one to watch is this one, on You Tube:
The Real Story Behind Princess Diana's Incredible Life
uploader / channel: Real Royalty
This video has people in it whose Diana stories I have never heard - Ruth Rudge, the headmistress at West Heath boarding school where Diana went; Mary Robertson, the American woman whose baby son Diana took care of when Mrs. Robertson went to work.
I enjoyed hearing from these people.
One of the commentators from West Heath talked about how Diana liked to be doing things, to be busy, to help. She would help the gardener outside, and the domestic staff indoors. "She didn't mind what it was, as long as she felt she was helping."
(I can relate to that - I like to help, too, though I didn't really think of it that way, consciously.)
Diana even received a prize at West Heath, for "helpfulness."
Mrs. Robertson said after it became public knowledge that Prince Charles was dating Lady Diana Spencer, Diana still came to work most days when she was scheduled, but a few times she had to call and say she couldn't come because her apartment building and surrounding streets and neighborhood were swamped with members of the press.
Then Mrs. Robertson had to call in to her work because she had no child care. She said her work didn't mind because people there thought it was so exciting that her babysitter was "dating their future king."
-----------------------------------------------
When I was growing up, in the 1960s and early '70s, there was an emphasis on contributing to society, on social conscience, on trying to "make the world a better place," if that isn't too 'corny.'
After I graduated from college I became very focused on making money, having a good job, and I kind of set aside thoughts of trying to make things better. After a few years in the workforce, I got reminded of the idea that besides helping yourself, you should make a positive social contribution as well.
The reminder was a news story which I probably read about in People magazine where Princess Diana had visited AIDS patients - and she shook hands with them, without gloves. It was a big deal because there was a lot of stigma and fear around the idea of a person who had AIDS - many people were afraid to be around them or shake their hand or whatever, because they didn't want to get sick too.
It was the Eighties.
And I thought how Diana made a difference, or a point, with a simple handshake, and friendly, outgoing, personal attention. That made an impact on me.
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I like the Taylor Swift song called "Getaway Car."
Also the song titled "Mean."
"But you don't know what you don't know..."
Also, there's a video on You Tube of Taylor Swift and Mick Jagger performing a Rolling Stones song together.
I can't get - no - Satisfaction
I can't get - no - Satisfaction...
I say Yes to this.
I read that some music reviewers also compared Taylor Swift's songwriting etc. to that of Bob Dylan. So it's no wonder I like her....
Baby, better come back,
Maybe next week,
Can't you see I'm on
A losin' streak...
What must it be like, to be born with talent like that...
Don't pretend it's such a mystery...
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When you watch (listen to) The Crown, you have the opportunity to contemplate what gives meaning to our lives, both as individuals, & as members of the human community.
In England, they have all these ceremonies, built on tradition and accented with pageantry.
All countries, communities, and cultures have these things, I guess: ceremony and pageantry. It's meant to celebrate, and emphasize, the fact that we're here, and we're trying to - be good, and do good, and make things good, if we can.
Personally, I totally relate to the idea of trying to do good and make things good if we can - however, the pageantry and traditional ceremonies are not as much "for" me - I'm not against them for other people, they're good, but I spent my childhood sitting through things: church; school; eeeehhhh....
Nowadays, as an older person who still feels young and reasonably energetic, I just don't want to go someplace where you have to sit until it's over. And that's not to be critical, or mean, at all. It's just not for me. Been there, done that.
I didn't watch the Coronation of King Charles. (In my imagination, bitch-slapping him for being mean to Princess Diana...) But I read comments on the Internet from people who watched it and were really moved by the whole process - the pageantry, the music, etc. And - more power to them, if that gives them meaning and a sense of order and organization, and "Everything is going to be OK."
In Season 3 of The Crown, there's an episode where Prince Philip is all excited about meeting the American astronauts who landed on the moon. And when he gets to meet them, they don't have any great, overall pronouncements to give him - they're just tired, and all have colds.
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Well, since my baby left me
Well, I found a new place to dwell
Well, it's down at the end of Lonely Street
At Heartbreak Hotel
Where I'll be, I'll be so lonely, baby
Well, I'm so lonely
I'll be so lonely, I could die
Although it's always crowded
You still can find some room
For broken hearted lovers
To cry there in their gloom,
Be so, they'll be so lonely, baby
They get so lonely
They're so lonely they could die
Now, the bellhop's tears keep flowin'
And the desk clerk's dressed in black
Well, they've been so long on Lonely Street
Well, they'll never, they'll never look back
And they get so, they get so lonely, baby
Well, they are so lonely
They're so lonely, they could die
Well, now, if your baby leaves you
And you got a tale to tell
Well, just take walk down Lonely Street
To Heartbreak Hotel
Where you will be, you will be lonely, baby
Well, you will be lonely
You'll be so lonely, you could die
[instrumental interlude]
Although it's always crowded
But you still can find some room
For broken hearted lovers
To cry there in their gloom
Where they get so, they get so lonely, baby
Well, they're so lonely
They'll be so lonely, they could die
