A Right Royal Evening

Will, Jim, Ian, Regina, Bill, Lynne, Edgar, Bobb, Barbara, Ray, Steve L, Jeanette
Nov 24

Royal succession: how it works and why. A rather grand theme, you might think, for the humble surroundings of Conrads, but it happened like this.
Will is putting together a bit of business for his next show at the Steve Allen Theater on Dec. 8, involving Lynne as a very English royal expert challenging Will's right to be called King of the Cowboys.
Trouble is, very few people who live outside monarchies such as Britain - and quite a few who do live in them - don't understand the exact rules, and why should they care?
It seems logical that elder brother succeeds as King. But if he dies before becoming King, shouldn't his brother or sister take over? Not if dead brother has any children of his own, because they take precedence. Bit of a yawn, really, but you wouldn't believe how obsessed some people get by all this in England (the Scots and Welsh hate the English all the more because of it).
Regina raised the fascinating question of how the means of expressing ourselves affects and influences the content of what we express. Every typist knows that typing prpduces a more staccato prose style than writing by hand. I knew a journalist on the Daily Mail who always wrote his columns in long hand and gave them to his secretary to type for the printers (who never accepted anything but typescript in those pre-computer days).
But it goes further than that. Typing on a typewriter produces different results from using a computer keyboard, which flows better and involves less physical effort. Writing with a pencil is different from using a ballpoint pen, which differs again from using a really expensive fountain pen. Speaking is different from writing, whispering from shouting and so on. The medium really is the message, as Marshall McLuhan put it.
Lynne's OCD tendencies came out, largely as a result of tales of moving house and putting things on shelves in the right order. But Lynne claimed that, compared with some people, she was only a little bit OCD. Isn't that like being a little bit pregnant? Either you are or you aren't, though some people do take it to clinical extremes. Howard Hughes, for example.
Wicked! the musical is coming off at the Pantages in January - a particularly suitable theater for it, according to Will. That set off reminiscences about The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Frank Baum's 1900 book, which spawned a stage version only two years later, and of course the classic 1939 film starring Judy Garland.
Ian said Baum wrote the story as a deliberate (and successful) attempt to produce an American children's fairytale to rival the many European ones. Motivation is a strange thing, but at least it gets things done.
A tawdry postscript to the epic presidential election contest: the National Inquirer says McCain's wife has been having a long-running affair with Dino, a used car dealer. It was all kept quiet during the campaign, which must have been quite an achievement, probably helped by the liberal use of bribes and hush money.

CAUGHT ON THE BREEZE
I didn't realize you had such a curved thumb: it's a sign of intelligence, my father always said.
I'm just scratching my nose to think
No iPhone, no answers
You can probably find him - he'll be under the table
It's not a play, it's a coincidence
Singing is honest labour
My sister is very beautiful - in Morocco
I don't sleep - I snore

When is a fake not a fake?

Jim, Edgar, Will, Bill, Lynne, Bobb, Barbara, Ian, Bob, Steve L, Jeanette
Nov 17

Edgar brought free copies for everyone of the Gene Autry Fake Book of Golden Hits, a comprehensive book of musical scores, by no means all about cowboy themes - indeed Autry wrote several Christmas songs, including the Hollywood Christmas Parade anthem, Here Comes Santa Claus.
The puzzle, for those of us who have not been professionally involved in commerical music, was: Why 'Fake'? It turned out, according to Will and Ian, the accepted authorities on this branch of the arts, was that the scores were simplified for working musicians to fake the music. It still seems a fine distinction, but enough to send these copies flying off the shelves, once upon a time.
Bill and Lynne had just come from a hospital visit to see how Rollo was coping with his mystery illness. Answer: with difficulty, walking very stiffly, unable to sit, couldn't walk backwards (something he needs to do from time to time). It all sounds very familiar, but he was looking very sorry for himself.
We left Ian taking Rollo for a walk, as his bladder is not as strong as it was (another ailment that resonated). But by the time he reached Conrads he had heard from the lawyers acting for the promoter of An Evening with Kenneth Anger at REDCAT, all of a lather over Ian's rights to songs appearing in one of the films. The upshot was that Ian left early to go to the Disney Center to sign a legal waiver for that evening only.
'Anger has just been ripping me off for years,' said Ian, 'and he knows it.'
The dispute, if it can be called that, surrounds the loophole that films shows in a Festival - as opposed to commercially - don't usually trigger royalties. But when should a composer like Ian insist on royalties? Easy to see how this loophole can be exploited.
The aftermath of the Obama election still echoed round the table, along with the looming recession. Obama good, recession bad, was the verdict - and not much the new President will be able to do about it, except show he is doing something about it.

CAUGHT ON THE BREEZE
It is unnatural to cut spaghetti
I said, of course you can show that film - as long as you pay me
The question is, is this going to be a V recession or an L recession?