So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[LizzieMaine]

It's impossible to sound sincere if you've shot the scene fifty times to make sure they'll have all the angles they want. It's like trying to sound spontaneous when you're overrehearsed.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^
Are you suggesting reality TV isn’t spontaneous?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Why, perish forbid. Everybody knows those roving camera crews catch the guests by absolute surprise.

My favorite example is when I did an educational-type show and they flew me down to Long Island and set me up in a recording studio they'd rented for the occasion and they wanted me to pretend it was mine. I gently advised them that I wasn't going to do this, that in fact the owner of the studio was a respected colleague and I wasn't going to freeze him out just for effect, and that was that. They agreed, in the end, to do it my way, but I sensed they weren't happy about it.

 

[Trenchfriend]

The smell of old popcorn in a garbage can after a show makes me vomit. Literally. I have to wear a respirator.

But that said, popcorn is, along with fountain soda, the biggest source of revenue for any theatre. Theatre operators figured that out during the Depression, and it's been true ever since.

Idea for your theatre, for a "noisy register".

Cheesecake Burritos!!

I tried it for breakfast, today.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Tell me. Is the "Napoli"-sauce in the US that strong herbal like in Europe, too?

I'm trying again from time to time, but it will probably never be my favorite.

 

[Trenchfriend]

There's another very curious thing, I didn't mention here, before.

One year ago, I was in hospital, four-bed room. At night, I was again remembered, that I'm one of the last classic Germans, sleeping in real nightwear (in this case usual pyjama/shorty pyjama). The others in their underwear.

And this curious trend is going on for some years, here. In my generation (1984/85) and of course the younger, real nightwear is disappearing.
But why? What's the sense on going to bed, leaving your underwear on? It's uncomfortable, it's bad for your skin.
I mean, either naked or with nightwear.

So, when did this curious trend start? And why?? I mean, nightwear is so well-priced on storebrands with fine quality. Everyone can afford it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It was common in the Era in the US for working-class men to sleep in their underwear, so much so that pajamas were seen by many to be a dandyish affectation. When you see a fop-type character in the movies, and there's a bedroom scene, you can count on silk pajamas with a monogram. Or if you see an old-man character, a rural character, or a comedian, he's wearing a long cotton nightshirt. But Joe McDinnerpail wore his drawers to bed.

 

[tonyb]

It’s long been my habit to sleep in my birthday suit, but I do have a couple pairs of pajamas — not for sleeping, but for wearing around the house on those days when I don’t expect to leave, such as when we’re snowed- in.

 

[Tiki Tom]

None of your business! But thanks for asking.

 

[Trenchfriend]

^^^^^
Didn't Hitler do the dubbing for Gny. Sgt. Hartman ?

The best scene, in my opinion:

 

[Trenchfriend]

Interesting situation, yesterday in regional express-train.

I stood in the roomy bicycle section, I like very and a young girl, staying there, looked very "pallid", weak, exhausted. In the 14/15 minutes, we travelled, I observed her in the fear, that she could fall down every moment, what would be bad in a partly shaking train. Herr weakness was good to see. When the train was shaking stronger, she needed to hold on the metal rod with her two hands. When we arrived, she was the first at the door and tried to open, but was too weak, to press the green button strong enough. I said: "stronger." and the second try worked.
That made me thoughtful, because in our 15 minute travel, I permanently thought about asking her: "Is everything okay?" But I didn't. Next time, I would.

Would you?

 

[Trenchfriend]

When you got fruit-filled dumplings, pay attention, that while eating not a little fountain of filling squeezes out over your table, your knee and the floor.

I got no carpet, thank god.

 

[Trenchfriend]

A good thing!

In the last days, I discovered herbs lotion spray for your feet. And my feet really like it, I tell you!! In this case, it's with Eucalyptus, Rosemary, Lavender, Pine, Lemon. And my feet now stay really soft, especially on the heels!

But the funny thing is, that the ingredients are not different from usual after shave! So, I could just put cheaper herbal after shave in a sprayer and my feet would like it, the same way!

 

[Paisley]

When Youtube thinks you want to hear one version after another of the theme to Howell's Moving Castle. And some of those versions, lacking practice or straining the artist, bring back visceral memories of suffering through piano lessons.

 

[LizzieMaine]

When your cat kneads her feet on your pillowcase and makes all sorts of little cigarette-burn type holes in the cloth, and then you run that pillowcase thru the wringer when it's full of water, the water will squirt out those little holes under high pressure and hit you in the face. I bet a lot of people don't know this.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

I bet a lot of people don't know this.

Nope I didn't know.

 

[tonyb]

When your cat kneads her feet on your pillowcase and makes all sorts of little cigarette-burn type holes in the cloth, and then you run that pillowcase thru the wringer when it's full of water, the water will squirt out those little holes under high pressure and hit you in the face. I bet a lot of people don't know this.

Wringer washers were still a fairly common sight in my early years, but even then (and I’m older than you) they were commonly regarded as old-fashioned.

FWIW, a friend who is just terrible with money (worse than me, even) came into a once-in-a-lifetime windfall, a matter of pure luck, with which he and his lovely missus made a down payment on a house (a wise move) and a brand-spankin’-new washer and dryer — high-end units, which cost something like a couple G’s by the time all was said and done.

I don’t doubt the appliances are nice. But perfectly serviceable washers and dryers can be had for very little money — free, even, if you look around and have access to a van or a pickup. And these friends, even post-windfall, really aren’t well positioned to spend two grand unnecessarily.

As to cigarette burns ...

The Old Man was a heavy smoker when I was in my early childhood. He would commonly fall asleep in his vinyl recliner. We’d watch the ash on the cigarette stuck to his lower lip grow longer and longer until it fell off. It was common for him to burn holes in upholstery and his clothing. He’d place burning smokes on the edge of tables and forget he left them there. Hence, our furniture had burns on the edges. He smoked in bed, which had entirely predictable effects on the mattress and bedding. Fire retardants may well have saved his life, and Mom’s, and mine.

It’s a wonder he didn’t burn the house down.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It used to be very common to see cigarette burns on people's coats. It was one of those things that got you so where you didn't even notice them, they were just such a common part of life. I'm glad not to see them much anymore.

My wringer machine was given to me more than thirty years ago by a friend who found it in the house they'd just bought and didn't want it. Other than replacing the rollers several years ago, it's never had any service beyond pouring a pint of 90-wieght gear oil down the fill pipe once a decade. I am very fond of this machine, and it does an excellent job. And I've never gotten any body part caught in it.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Wringer washers remind me of my childhood. And of the carpet beater that mom would occasionally apply to our rears. Free association there, folks, no particular connection between those two items.

 

[tonyb]

Younger people probably wouldn’t understand the expression “he got his richard in a wringer.” That’s mostly because they’re unfamiliar, most of them, with wringers. And it might not occur to them to abbreviate “richard.”