#ROW80 3RD QTR 2014, SUNDAY CHECK-IN – POST 3 – BUT IS IT ART?

I've gone back and finished “Under the Dome” by Stephen King, and I cannot say that it was my favorite King book ever, or even up there in the 50 percentile. I don't really know why this is, but as time has passed and books like “The Stand”, “Salem's Lot”, “Dead Zone” and even “The Shining” come up on their 30^th plus years' anniversaries, they look more like books written by someone who was truly serious about literature in general and in horror specifically. One of his finest books, “Different Seasons” produced three exemplary novellas; an extremely difficult form to master, and they were rich in language and satisfying, even in their brevity. “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”, “Apt Pupil”, and “The Body” each left behind the supernatural and horror genres King was famous for at the time and they were resoundingly wonderful to read.

courtesy: firewireblog.com

There is a television show of the same name. I got through about 14 minutes of it and had to turn off the tee vee. I understand it's been renewed.

But, it seemed to me, that after the publishing of “It”, King had hit a wall, or gotten into a rut. I'm not saying his writing became formulaic, although, after so many books, some of the characters do take on a sameness. What bothers me specifically is that his writing voice has become artificial. It becomes harder and harder, with exceptions to buy into whatever his characters' scrapes, situations, life-and-death perils and choices are about and I find myself dwelling more and more on the voice that is telling the tale, and to me it is not ringing true.

Maybe all wildly successful authors go through this; they hit their stride and they find just the right note with an audience, and subconsciously, they begin writing TO that audience, rather than just spinning out their tales. One of my favorite authors, Aldrea Alien, says in her bio “Since discovering the love of writing at the age of twelve, she hasn't found an ounce of peace from the characters plaguing her mind.” I love that; she puts her stories out there and they are hum-dingers. She's writing currently about a race of lizard-people and there are all sorts of things afoot. Being totally rational, and given to reading history books, I was a bit skeptical at first, but she makes it so damned REAL, that her world is easy to buy into. Her worlds are spectacular and her plots are action-filled. Lizard-people, huh. Who'da thunk it? Her characters are fully-fleshed and their actions spring organically, from their previous experiences and lives.

courtesy: thardrandria.blogspot.com                                       

 

"The Rogue King" Available on Amazon.com. Again, as one who reads crime fiction, or history books, I became instantly captivated with Aldrea's Koral and his struggles and the world he lives in.

 

Back to the “Dome”, and King's writing; a quick synopsis can be found here. Some of King's characters make this kind of organic sense, most notably, Dale Barbara, the protagonist of the book. As a veteran of Dubya's mis-informed incursion into Iraq, Barbara is familiar with the techniques of torture and humiliation that were de rigueur as a part of an occupying unit in the Army, but that was not who he was, and ultimately, his decency and humanity win out. After a brief stint in Chester Mill's jail, which sees his life threatened by Junior Rennie, who conveniently has a brain tumor, which is causing him to be not just evil like his father, but overtly batshit, Barbara is freed, to lead the good faction, that eventually wins out.

courtesy: schmoesknow.com

"Big" Jim Rennie, as portrayed by the awesome Dean Norris, late of "Breaking Bad". This man can do good and evil equally well, and it's too bad King didn't have him for a template in the book. As it is, he is infinitely creepier in the show (so I've heard and can believe) than what King originally wrote.

The problem for me is the antagonist, Big Jim Rennie, used car salesman and 2^nd town Selectman, who is just pure evil, through and through and of such a cartoonish quality, I find it hard to buy into ANYTHING he is selling, whether it be a car, or his own home-spun philosophy, regarding who should run the town after the Dome has fallen. No reason is given, as to his badness; did he wet the bed as a kid? Were his parents dysfunctional? Who the hell knows and I really was well-nigh fed up with him and his stupid dialogue.

courtesy: fanpop.com

Dale Barbara is played by actor Mike Vogel in the series; he seems to have made little impression on me, as I registered him as a cipher. He also seems to be a bit younger than your average Iraqi war vet, but hey, that's tee vee!

This is another thing about King that drives me batshit. In “The Stand”, people, including Randall Flagg, acted and talked like normal people; you could buy into Flagg's brand of Evil, because it was so subtle; so seductive. But with Big Jim, I find it hard to believe that he could hoodwink an entire town and run a successful methamphetamine lab out of the Christers' radio station WCIK and people NOT know about it; the guy is as subtle as a lead balloon. The kind of lead balloon that has a gondola and people would ride in, not a kid's balloon; he's that obvious and non-creepy. Everyone's a "cotton-picker" and/or a "Son of a Buck" which wears thin, and that falsity of his language piles onto the falseness of his character. If we're meant to believe that he is a Town Selectman (one out of three, who all seem reasonably sane, although one of them has a drug addiction, which she manages to kick, 40 seconds before her gruesome death at a town gathering; very King-esque) then, we must assume the rest of the town doesn't give two hoots and a holler, or they're all on meth, which turns out not to be the case.

courtesy: collider.com

Julia Shumway, played by Rachelle Lefevre, on the show "Under the Dome". In the book, Julia is the town's sole editor of the newspaper and is several years older than Dale Barbara, but that doesn't usually play well in tee vee land. In the book, Julia goes to the Space Kids and makes a lone plea for mercy to be let free. It works, but the ending feels tacked on, rushed and there's no sense of resolution.

The ending didn't work for me either; it was more Star Trek (to quote Wikipedia) in the “Can't we all just get along” school of reasoning by Julia Shumway, than anything else. The idea that Space Kids were looking at these people under a Dome from a jillion miles and observing their goings-on, much in the way kids have looked at ant farms is not a new one, nor is the idea of sequestering a bunch of individuals – people, pigs, cows, whatever – as in “Lord of the Flies” to see what they do in the absence of authority. But most certainly, Julia's little heart-felt plea at the very end of the book, resulting in the presto! change-o! lifting of the Dome, to sweet, sweet fresh air and then, bam! The End. Well, it just all seemed rather hastily written to me, and didn't resonate as a satisfying ending.

In reading over some other critiques before writing this, I do admire King's antipathy for the Bush-Cheney administration and understand why he chose Dale Barbara as a vet of the War in Iraq, as his protagonist, and why he touches so often on the idea of wanton and casual torture; not as a means to an end, or because people are callous and cruel necessarily. It can be as simple as something to ease boredom, which is a hugely frightening thought. 

This is an un-retouched, un-Photo-Shopped picture. You can just see the evil dripping off this man. I have a short, short list of people I would dearly love to see underground; he's on it. I make no excuse for my lack of acceptance, tolerance, or forgiveness for those particular individuals, nor do I think that how I feel is a bad thing; at least I'm honest.

The metaphor and/or idea of raging little kids not being able to do anything but lash out at an unseen enemy when it was demonstrably clear that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 would seem preposterous, were it not for the fact that the Bush Administration proceeded to go ahead and do just that: invade Iraq, after the invasion of Afghanistan, and months of gleeful trumpeting about hidden WMDs in Iraq, which never existed, nor could they. Anyone paying two minutes of attention to current affairs in the 80s, 90s and 00s would know this; Iraq had not the infrastructure, nor the will after having their asses kicked in the Iran-Iraq conflict that was only ended, when a brokered peace eight years into the war, brought about a re-establishment of the pre-war borders. Iraq then went on to fail miserably in the invasion of Kuwait and subsequent ass-kicking from the U.S., so they were not really inclined to start up a new conflict. We saw a weakened country; a corrupt and teetering tyranny and took full advantage of it. But, I digress.

I was agreeing with King's assessment of the Bush-Cheney administration, although, King saw Cheney as Jim Rennie and Bush as Andy Sanders, the do-nothing selectman, who discovers the joys of becoming a tweaker. That part may be true; I've always had my suspicions about Bush. But, Cheney? Rennie is no where near as evil as that man. Enough said. Also let me add this; parts of the book were written a long time ago, and parts are new. Much of it is allegorical and I have to be honest. I have seldom read an allegorical book that worked, with the sole exception being C. S. Lewis and his “Chronicles of Narnia”. It's just always so painfully obvious to me, what the writer is trying to convey and it usually falls flat.

courtesy: narnia.wikia.com

Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis

Anyway, I had to force myself to finish the book, which is something unusual for me. I would love to read King's “November 22, 1963”, and see if that doesn't have a more adult tone about it. I didn't post earlier this week, as I just started a Clinical Trial, was gone all day, and stupidly didn't have a post ready for Wednesday. I will be hosting a cover reveal for a friend tomorrow, and can't wait! Anyway, happy rowing, fellow ROWers and more to come!

#A-TO-Z CHALLENGE – LETTER “M” – MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS

MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS

Monty Python's Flying Circus was a British sketch comedy troupe and their show aired originally on the BBC from 1969 to 1974 and in the USA, the first segments of the show were aired during NBC's summer replacement series, Dean Martin's Comedyworld. The shows were made up of surreal sight-gags, risqué or innuendo-laden humor and observational sketches with no punchlines. The show also features animations by it's one American comedian, Terry Gilliam, and these were often sequenced or mixed with live action. The Flying Circus flew from 5 October 1969 on BBC One, with 45 episodes airing from 1969 to 1974, plus two episodes for German Tee Vee.

Monty Python's Flying Circus Logo; I can never play the "Liberty Bell March" by John Philip Souza without seeing that damned foot!

Again, with the grounding of Gilbert & Sullivan and with a heaping helping of Spike Milligan's style based upon his ground-breaking series Q5 (which became Q6, Q7, Q8. . .Q10, and then just There's A Lot of It About), the Pythons' show was not in the traditional sketch format and often targeted the idiosyncrasies of British life, especially that of professionals, and is at times politically charged. The member of Monty Python were highly educated; Terry Jones and Michael Palin were Oxford University graduates; Eric Idle, John Cleese, and Graham Chapman attended Cambridge University; and American-born member Terry Gilliam graduated from Occidental College. The team intended their humor to be nigh impossible to categorize and were so successful, that the adjective, “Pythonesque,” was invented to define it, and later, similar material.

Jones as Mandy, Brian's mother in The Life of Brian. Just hearing "her" talk prompts hysteria!

The Pythons play the majority of the characters themselves, including the majority of female characters (Terry Jones is undeniably the best and screechiest, at this) but would occasionally cast an extra actor. Regular supporting cast member include Carol Cleveland (referred to by the team as the unofficial “Seventh Python”), Connie Booth (Cleese's first wife, and regular on the amazing Fawlty Towers) series Producer Ian MacNaughton, Ian Davidson, Neil Innes and the Fred Tomlinson Singers for the musical numbers.

The John Philip Souza March, The Liberty Bell was used as the opening music, because it was in the public domain and could be used for free. I've played this many a time, and I can never play the thing without seeing giant feet coming down and squashing things.

Monty Python's Flying Circus Opening Montage

The title Monty Python's Flying Circus was partly the result of the group's reputation at the BBC. Michael Mills, the BBC's Head of Comedy, wanted their name to include the word “circus” because the BBC referred to the six members wandering around the building as a circus, in particular “Baron von Took's Flying Circus”, after Barry Took, who had brought them to the BBC. The group added “flying” to make it sound less like an ACTUAL circus and more like something from World War I. They were coming up with their name at a time when the 1966 Royal Guardsmen song Snoopy vs. The Red Baron had been at a peak. Manfred von Richtofen, the WWI German flying ace known as the Red Baron commanded a squadron of planes known as “The Flying Circus.” The words “Monty Python” were added because the group clamed it sounded like a really bad theatrical agent; the sort of person who would have brought them together. They chose “Monty” because the name “Monty” made them laugh, as in “Lord Montgomery” the great general of Second World War.

Each of the Python members had recurring characters that they specialized and honed. Among the afore-mentioned Jones' screechy, loud and disheveled “Rat-Bag woman”, the best in the business, were Terry Gilliam's “Cardinal Fang” as a member of the Spanish Inquisition, which would pop up from time to time in some completely unrelated sketch. John Cleese, played ridiculous authority figures (a role he was to re-create in Fawlty Towers) and intimidating maniacs. Terry Gilliam claims that Cleese was one of the funniest Pythons in drag (a staple of their humor) as he barely needed to be dressed up to look hilarious, with his square chin, 6' 5'' frame and one of Cleese's most memorable, Mr. Praline, the put-upon consumer, is featured in some of the most famous sketches, most notable “Dead Parrot” (voted by TV Guide as the second-funniest sketch of all time).

TerryGilliam was responsible for the off-the-wall animation that would go off on bizarre, imaginative tangents. Some running gags culled from these animations were a giant hedgehog named Spiny Norman, who appeared over the tops of buildings showing, “Dinsdale!” The foot is appropriated from the figure of Cupid in Agnolo Bronzino's “Venus,Cupid, Folly and Time”. Gilliam was hired mainly as animator, and didn't even think of himself as an on-screen performer at first, but the others felt they owed him something, so he occasionally appeared before camera, usually in skits that no one else wanted to play, generally because they involved a lot of make-up or uncomfortable costumes. His most recurrent character was The-Knight-Who-Hits-People-With-A-Chicken, a knight in armour who would walk on-set and hit another character on the head with a plucked chicken when they said something really corny.

Graham Chapman often portrayed the straight man, of any age or class, frequently a military officer, policeman, or doctor. He could, at any moment, though, break character, launch in “Pythonesque” maniacal behavior and then just as quickly, revert back to his former calm self. 
 

Eric Idle was most known for his roles as a cheeky, suggestive playboy “Nudge, Nudge,” or as a crafty, slick salesman (“Door-to-Door Joke Salesman”) and the merchant who loves to haggle in Monty Python's Life of Brian, and the master of the one-liner. He was also the best singer/songwriter of the of the group; for example, he wrote and performed “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” from The Life of Brian.

Camelot (Knights of the Round Table) "Monty Python and the Holy Grail

This was prior to "Life of Brian" which faced charges of being

sacrilegious to Christians! I'm a Catholic and we find this hilarious, because Catholicism isn't for wimps. If you've ever seen an ex-communication, you'll understand; that's how we roll. Look at the Spanish Inquisition. Ain't nothin' Christian about that!

Michael Palin was regarded by the other members of the troupe as the one with the widest range, equally adept as a straight man or wildly over the top character. He portrayed many working-class characters and in contrast, also played, weak-willed, put-upon men, such as the husband in the “Marriage Counsellor” sketch, or the boring accountant in the “Vocational Guidance Counsellor”. He was equally good as the indefatigable Cardinal Ximinez of Spain the “The Spanish Inquisition”. One of his best and most famous creations was the shopkeeper who attempted to sell useless goods by very weak and ineffectual attempts at being sly and crafty, which are always spotted by the customer (often played by John Cleese), as in the “Dead Parrot”. Palin is also well known for his leading role in “The Lumberjack Song”.

 The Lumberjack Song

For a short-lived troupe and show, their influence on comedy has been monumental. At the end of their BBC run, the show earned enough money and interest to allow it to be picked up in its entirety by PBS, although bits and pieces of it had run on American television for years. The Flying Circus went one to create and produce, “Monty Python's Meaning of Life”, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”, and “Monty Python's Life of Brian” among others. There have been stage shows and SNL's Lorne Michaels counts the show as a major influence on Saturday Night Live sketches. In computing, the terms spam and the Python programming language are both derived from the series. None other than Douglas Adams, the writer of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and a sometimes writer on the show, wished to audition for the part of John Cleese, and was saddened when he found the "part was already taken". Probably the highest accolade however is this: as of 2013, questions concerning the Pythons' most famous sketches have been incorporated into the examinations required of those seeking to become British citizens. Quite an honor, for a surrealistic comedy troupe!

BOOK RELEASE ANNOUNCEMENT AND RAFFLE-COPTER!!!

Title: Golden Dawn

Author: Aldrea Alien

Genre: Paranormal

Release date: April 18^th, 2014

From now until April 18th, I will be show-casing Aldrea Alien's newest release, Golden Dawn. This will include an raffle-copter (be sure and enter!) and well. . . I'll let her take it from here!

 Family and blood.

After 1100 years, these simple words mean everything to Herald. His life has been ruled by keeping his siblings safe, keeping them from becoming prey whilst feeding on the weaker. His failures have been many and measured by those he has lost. People like his twin brother.

There has always been an enemy to push back or defeat.

Just who the enemy is comes into question when Herald meets the dangerous, angelic creature he is to guard. Wondering where his true loyalties lie is a dangerous thought. No matter whether he chooses family over the heart, it will mean death.

Only the right choice will ensure the life taken is not his.

Buy Links:

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/411514

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/golden-dawn/id828141989

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/golden-dawn-aldrea-alien/1118739415

MuseitUpPublishing: https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/coming-soon/april-2014/golden-dawn-detail

Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/golden-dawn

Omnilit: https://www.omnilit.com/product-goldendawn-1429463-234.html

CoffeetimeRomance: http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookStore/pubs_product_book_info/museitup-publishing-c-98/golden-dawn-p-11898

Andrea Alien

Author Bio:

Born and raised in New Zealand, Aldrea Alien lives on a small farm with her family, including a menagerie of animals. Since discovering a love of writing at the age of twelve, she hasn't found an ounce of peace from the characters plaguing her mind.

Website: http://www.aldreaalien.com

Blog: http://thardrandia.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aldrea-Alien/262519090516776

Twitter: https://twitter.com/@AldreaAlien

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7328363.Aldrea_Alien

a Rafflecopter giveaway!!

#A-TO-Z CHALLENGE – LETTER “L” – LAUGHTER

LAUGHTER

When I first planned out my theme, I had planned to write about a good blogging buddy, Cary McNeal, who helms, wrangles and writes LOTD (List of The Day). However, he is hard to quantify and he deserves more than just a quick post; a book would probably do him justice. Kind to a fault, and tirelessly combing the internet for oddities, marvels, random craziness and things that defy description, he would be better served with a longer post. Besides, I still owe him for lurking around his site for years, before I ever started to engage with the innerwebz, or blog myself. He thanked me for coming in from the cold, when I took that brave step.

My fellow minion on #teamDamyanti, Guilie Castillo Oriard, who writes and blogs at "Quiet Laughter" and puppy. Who doesn't laugh like this holding a puppy?

So, I looked to the wellspring and inspiration for my Theme: Humor and Humorists and landed on Laughter, and I found out some very interesting things about laughter and laughing. There are certainly physical cues and psychological ones as well, and some of the things that make people laugh are universal to everyone and every culture. But, what I found interesting is that there are schools of thought regarding laughter and what triggers it and if it is organized or unorganized. Geeze! I would never have thought it was that complicated, but then, I know from experience that laughing is good medicine. I have essential tremor, or familial tremor, and before I received Medicare and was able to find a good neurologist and get treatment, the only thing that relieved the tremendous pain associated with this condition would be a hearty laugh. Bring on Cary with LOTD and the folks at Cracked.com! I would laugh myself practically into the “Red Zone” of laughter (apoplexy and hernias – my term) and it would relieve the pain. Noel Coward was right.

For me, a post about laughing, must feature a cat. A laughing cat is even better!

But I did not know that laughter is also sequentially-organized and precisely placed relative to surrounding talk. This places it beyond the category of a mere response to humor and in the category of a tool of diplomacy, as it were. More than a simple external behavior caused by an “inner” state, it is highly communicative and helps to found relationships and accomplish actions. Who knew, when Kissinger was yucking it up with U Thant at the U. N.? Or when Boris Yeltsin was telling Little Ivan jokes to Bill Clinton? Da!

Boris: "How does every Russian joke start?" Bill: "Dunno, Boris." Boris: "By looking over your shoulder." Bill: "Ha ha!" Boris: "Is no joke! Is pravda! Just keeding!"

As mystifying as I found this to be, I also found out that animals laugh. Well, that's probably not a big secret. I think they're laughing at us humans all the time, but that's just a philosophy of mine. There have been studies done with primates, rats and dogs. All have some type of laughing behavior, but what I found most interesting, was the study done with the rats. The rats apparently have a type of “tickle skin” that they like to have rubbed, or tickled. When this was done with a rat subject, the rat would display a positive emotion, or would bond with the human “tickler”. Rats are pretty smart and they are sensitive emotionally; my aunt had one named Snoopy that rode around on her shoulder for years. It was to have been her sons', but the rat took to my aunt and stayed with her almost constantly.

The look on the kitten's face is priceless. I'm not sure if the cat even care that the dog is got practically his whole head in his mouth, but by the expression on the cat's face, something tells me this is not an unusual tableau at the breakfast table!

This is just scratching the surface regarding the role of Laughter in our lives and in the lives of the other creatures on this planet. Just as we have the ability to feel deep sorrow and loss, these are tempered by the wonderful gifts of laughter, joy and most importantly, love!

BOOK RELEASE ANNOUNCEMENT AND RAFFLE-COPTER!!!

Title: Golden Dawn

Author: Aldrea Alien

Genre: Paranormal

Release date: April 18^th, 2014

From now until April 18th, I will be show-casing Aldrea Alien's newest release, Golden Dawn. This will include an raffle-copter (be sure and enter!) and well. . . I'll let her take it from here!

 Family and blood.

After 1100 years, these simple words mean everything to Herald. His life has been ruled by keeping his siblings safe, keeping them from becoming prey whilst feeding on the weaker. His failures have been many and measured by those he has lost. People like his twin brother.

There has always been an enemy to push back or defeat.

Just who the enemy is comes into question when Herald meets the dangerous, angelic creature he is to guard. Wondering where his true loyalties lie is a dangerous thought. No matter whether he chooses family over the heart, it will mean death.

Only the right choice will ensure the life taken is not his.

Buy Links:

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/411514

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/golden-dawn/id828141989

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/golden-dawn-aldrea-alien/1118739415

MuseitUpPublishing: https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/coming-soon/april-2014/golden-dawn-detail

Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/golden-dawn

Omnilit: https://www.omnilit.com/product-goldendawn-1429463-234.html

CoffeetimeRomance: http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookStore/pubs_product_book_info/museitup-publishing-c-98/golden-dawn-p-11898

Andrea Alien

Author Bio:

Born and raised in New Zealand, Aldrea Alien lives on a small farm with her family, including a menagerie of animals. Since discovering a love of writing at the age of twelve, she hasn't found an ounce of peace from the characters plaguing her mind.

Website: http://www.aldreaalien.com

Blog: http://thardrandia.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aldrea-Alien/262519090516776

Twitter: https://twitter.com/@AldreaAlien

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7328363.Aldrea_Alien

a Rafflecopter giveaway!!

#A-TO-Z CHALLENGE – LETTER “K” – KEYSTONE KOPS AND BUMBLING BOBBIES

KEYSTONE KOPS AND BUMBLING BOBBIES

The idea of troops and troupes of bumbling cops must be somewhat universal. What started to be a column on Garrison Keillor, American Humorist and constant on NPR for decades, and would have been another puzzlement to anyone outside the United Stated, Canada and possibly, Great Britain, where he has been a contributor, was scrapped for a concept, instead. The idea of bumbling lawmen in our midst. Admittedly, the examples I have to offer are few, but they span “the pond” beginning with the “The Pirates of Penzance” Bobbies of Gilbert and Sullivan fame, and bracketing this with Mack Sennett's “Keystone Kops”.

Keystone Kops with Buster Keaton and a Ladder! Pure comedy gold!

I played for many touring seasons with the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players and am particularly familiar with the skewering that G&S ladled onto everyone and everything; no exceptions. “Pirates” leaves no stone unhurled as it makes pretty much everyone look rather dim-mish, although all are kind-hearted in the end. That is what made playing G&S so much fun; that and Albert Bergeret was a wonderful director and musician and his touring productions, as well as his productions in New York were first-rate.

Although the group is based in NYC, they tour the country several times a year. I was a part of the touring group for 12 seasons.

I think what makes the Keystone Kops and the Policemen of Pirates so funny (and endearing) is the idea of authority gone hopelessly incompetent. The authority figures as presented by both Gilbert and Sullivan and Mack Sennett seem barely able to walk and chew gum. In G&S's case, everyone got a shellacking, from the Major General (“I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major General” is one of the GREAT putdowns of stuffy British Military figures of the era) on down to the Pirates who were so kind-hearted, all anyone had to do was declare themselves and orphan, and they were instantly released!

"A Policeman's Lot is Not a Happy One"

The Keystone Kops fare little better; they can't even sit in a chair without a major catastrophe occurring. One of their other wonderful comedic tools in their bag of tricks was “the chase” which usually involved packs of them running after some miscreant. This occurred on streets, on top of trains and involved many near-misses (mostly) with stationary objects. This device would be used decades later for years, by Benny Hill and his crew. It is physical comedy (and singing, in the case of G&S) at it's finest!

BOOK RELEASE ANNOUNCEMENT AND RAFFLE-COPTER!!!

Title: Golden Dawn

Author: Aldrea Alien

Genre: Paranormal

Release date: April 18^th, 2014

From now until April 18th, I will be show-casing Aldrea Alien's newest release, Golden Dawn. This will include an raffle-copter (be sure and enter!) and well. . . I'll let her take it from here!

 Family and blood.

After 1100 years, these simple words mean everything to Herald. His life has been ruled by keeping his siblings safe, keeping them from becoming prey whilst feeding on the weaker. His failures have been many and measured by those he has lost. People like his twin brother.

There has always been an enemy to push back or defeat.

Just who the enemy is comes into question when Herald meets the dangerous, angelic creature he is to guard. Wondering where his true loyalties lie is a dangerous thought. No matter whether he chooses family over the heart, it will mean death.

Only the right choice will ensure the life taken is not his.

Buy Links:

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/411514

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/golden-dawn/id828141989

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/golden-dawn-aldrea-alien/1118739415

MuseitUpPublishing: https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/coming-soon/april-2014/golden-dawn-detail

Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/golden-dawn

Omnilit: https://www.omnilit.com/product-goldendawn-1429463-234.html

CoffeetimeRomance: http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookStore/pubs_product_book_info/museitup-publishing-c-98/golden-dawn-p-11898

Andrea Alien

Author Bio:

Born and raised in New Zealand, Aldrea Alien lives on a small farm with her family, including a menagerie of animals. Since discovering a love of writing at the age of twelve, she hasn't found an ounce of peace from the characters plaguing her mind.

Website: http://www.aldreaalien.com

Blog: http://thardrandia.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aldrea-Alien/262519090516776

Twitter: https://twitter.com/@AldreaAlien

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7328363.Aldrea_Alien

a Rafflecopter giveaway!!

#A-TO-Z CHALLENGE – LETTER “J” – JACK BENNY, AMERICAN COMEDIAN

JACK BENNY

Every classically-trained string player in the history of the world has played this. We're still playing it; after 47 years and counting, I'M STILL playing these bitches. Kreutzer Etudes. No wonder Jack Benny hated to practice, but the first 2 measures of the Allegro Moderato were his signature "practice piece" on his show, when interrupted by Rochester, or others. He played them at a very slow tempo, and in a particularly screechy, raucous style. It takes a really good player, to play that badly!

Benny, with his violin, as part of the Waukegon High School Band (the violin technically makes it an orchestra, but I nit-pick. I once was the only "string" in a summer-school band in Los Angeles, at age 12) in 1909.

JackBenny. Born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894. Died December 26, 1974. An American comedian, vaudevillian, radio, television and film actor and violinist. 

He was recognized as a leading American entertainer of the 20^th century. Jack's hallmark deadpan reactions to the characters around him, included his stingy, miserly ways, playing his violin badly, and relying on his comic timing, to create laughter with a pregnant pause, or a single expression, such as his exasperated “Well!” His radio and television programs, popular from the 1930s to the 1960s, exerted a tremendous influence on the sitcom genre.

I have played in some ridiculous outfits and some ridiculous music, but nothing quite like this. It looks kind of like "Baroque meets Barney Flinstone".

This is another case of “I knew I would write about him, when I picked this theme” solely due to his musical career. When I was a kid, and my folks were suffering through long bouts of Kreutzer Etudes (see above) and my bad playing along, with the stereo cranked up, before banishment to the garage finally, I had only known Benny as what I assumed was a pretty horrible violinist from the few times I had seen his television show.

I had no freakin' idea this was floating around. Here, Benny plays the Bach Double (Violin Concerto) with Isaac Stern, who was one of the giants of the 20^th

century, as a violinist. I, of course, doubled up with laughter, because there are so many musicians' "in-jokes" here, it's uncanny, but it's a fun ride, even if  you haven't played in a good orchestra with people who love to communicate via "hairy eye-ball". 

I discovered later on, that he was a very, very good violinist when he performed with the San Jose Symphony, playing Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor. This was a few years before he died, in 1974. I was still in high school, and I had some other obligation, because I would have been there. I went to see Victor Borge once, and he was hilarious, as well as a wonderful musician, and I will have a later post on P. D. Q. Bach, who is iconic for his hilarious musical send-ups.

                                                                                                                           courtesy: maggin1

A couple of things here. That poor Strad, ha ha, and the cost of Stradivari violins has increased considerably since Benny's heyday. They range in price from several hundred thousands of dollars to millions. Stradivarius made violas as well, but they are not remarkable and there are only 12 in existence. My viola is worth considerably more than what Benny's Strad was worth then, but his estate donated the instrument to the L. A. Philharmonic and I know it's worth much more than my viola. The prices for non-fretted string instruments are astronomical, particularly Italian fiddles, whether Cremonese, or Bolognese or from another school of violin, viola and cello-making. Factoid: String basses are made by cabinet-makers.

Again, rather than rely on a c. v. of everything Benny did throughout his life, including having to change his name twice due to the fact that he did not want to confuse better known violinist, Jan Kubelik, and a play-and-patter violinist, named Ben Bernie, when Benny was “Ben K. Bennie: Fiddle Funologist” at the start of his career and finally landed on Jack Benny, I decided that I would focus on his musical side, which is lesser known.

He started playing at the age of 6, and although his parents had high hopes of him becoming a professional violinist, he “hated to practice”. *Guffaw, snort* His teacher was Otto Graham Sr., a neighbor and father of Otto Graham of NFL fame. At age 14, Benny was playing in dance bands and his high school orchestra. But like other musicians I know, he was a dreamer and received poor grades and was ultimately expelled from high school. He did poorly in business school later and attempts to join his father's business, were likewise unsuccessful.

Benny, rehearsing with the California Junior All-State Orchestra, 1959. I played in this orchestra in 1971, and then moved up to the Senior Orchestra in 1972-1974.

At age 17, he began playing the violin in local vaudeville theaters for $7.50 a week and shortly thereafter, he found himself playing in the same theater as the young Marx Brothers. Minnie, their mother, liked his playing and invited him to come along on the road as part of the act, but Benny's parents refused to let him go at the age of 17. It was however, the beginning of his long friendship with the Marx Brothers, especially Zeppo.

U.S. President Harry S. Truman, played piano and played it quite well. He and Benny were friends and got together for jam sessions.

The violin was a life-long love for Benny, and one I understand well, as much as I joke about playing the violin. (See “Playing the Violinand How To Avoid It") My love is truly for the viola, as it covers both the soprano and tenor range well and has a much more throaty, robust sound. I don't want to get started on violas, because I can rhapsodize for æons over them, and in particular, my own. This is about Jack Benny and the crazy stuff he did on the violin. In researching this article, I found that Benny owned several violins, a Strad, which he bequeathed to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and a fine French violin that sold at Sotheby's for $84,800.00; most likely a Pecatte.

Group photo of Jack Benny during his highly successful radio show. To the far right, is Mel Blanc, the man who voiced Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, Donald Duck and many others for Warner Brothers (I played in their tour orchestra). Don Wilson, to the right of Blanc, was a character who continually exasperated Benny (to Wilson's right) but then everyone on his show did. The one woman, next to Benny, on his right, is Mary Livingstone, his wife. Phil Harris, Dennis Day, and Eddie Anderson (Rochester) round out the group. 

I always have to laugh at violinists for this one thing: every violinist I know has scads of violins. I do not understand the appeal; as you'll note in one of these clips, a violin is a violin. I myself, when playing professionally had 3 or 8 of them lying around the house. They were like “The Invasion of the Body-Snatchers”; they multiplied and kept showing up in closets and under my bed. Horrifying! There are still one or two lying around here somewhere. I have one viola. I have had that viola since I was 19 and next year, will mark 40 years of happiness for us both. I have had “Wolf” (so named by “his” luthier-caretaker and appraiser) longer than any of my 3 marriages put together. But, I do share the fascination of non-fretted string instruments with Jack Benny and I hope you enjoy these clips. They are much better than anything I could write!

BOOK RELEASE ANNOUNCEMENT AND RAFFLE-COPTER!!!

Title: Golden Dawn

Author: Aldrea Alien

Genre: Paranormal

Release date: April 18^th, 2014

From now until April 18th, I will be show-casing Aldrea Alien's newest release, Golden Dawn. This will include an raffle-copter (be sure and enter!) and well. . . I'll let her take it from here!

 Family and blood.

After 1100 years, these simple words mean everything to Herald. His life has been ruled by keeping his siblings safe, keeping them from becoming prey whilst feeding on the weaker. His failures have been many and measured by those he has lost. People like his twin brother.

There has always been an enemy to push back or defeat.

Just who the enemy is comes into question when Herald meets the dangerous, angelic creature he is to guard. Wondering where his true loyalties lie is a dangerous thought. No matter whether he chooses family over the heart, it will mean death.

Only the right choice will ensure the life taken is not his.

Buy Links:

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Coffeetime Romance: http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookStore/pubs_product_book_info/museitup-publishing-c-98/golden-dawn-p-11898

Andrea Alien

Author Bio:

Born and raised in New Zealand, Aldrea Alien lives on a small farm with her family, including a menagerie of animals. Since discovering a love of writing at the age of twelve, she hasn't found an ounce of peace from the characters plaguing her mind.

Website: http://www.aldreaalien.com

Blog: http://thardrandia.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aldrea-Alien/262519090516776

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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7328363.Aldrea_Alien

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