A New Sybil's "WHO'Z DAT?"... CHARLES LANE (January 26, 1905 – July 9, 2007)

Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular, special entry called SYBIL'S "WHO'Z DAT??"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships"......I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think??? Here’s a face that everyone has seen literally hundreds of times… and for nearly a century!! In fact, not only did his career last a record amount of time, but he lived to be 102…. Happy Birthday to Mr. Charles Lane (January 26, 1905 – July 9, 2007).

Born Charles Gerstle Levison in San Francisco, California, to Alice G. and Jacob B. Levison, he was, prior to his death, one of the last remaining survivors of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Lane turned in his last performance at the age of 90. Lane appeared in many Frank Capra films, including YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938), MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939), ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944) and IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946). His first film of more than 250 movies was as a hotel clerk in SMART MONEY (1931) starring Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney. Lane spent a short time as an insurance salesman before taking to the stage at the Pasadena Playhouse. Actor/director Irving Pichel first suggested that Lane go into acting in 1929, and four years later Lane was a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild, which he considered to be one of his most extraordinary achievements.

He became a favorite of director Frank Capra, who used him in several films; in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, Lane played a seemingly hard nosed rent collector for the miserly Henry Potter (Lionel Barrymore), who tried to explain to his employer that many of his tenants were moving out, taking advantage of affordable mortgages provided by the film's protagonist, George Bailey (James Stewart). Lane also appeared in the 1949 film Mighty Joe Young, as one of the reporters cajoling Max O'Hara (Robert Armstrong) for information about the identity of "Mr. Joseph Young", the persona given featured billing on the front of the building, on opening night.

Although Lane appeared regularly on dozens of TV shows, he is most widely remembered for his portrayal of J. Homer Bedloe on the television situation comedy Petticoat Junction. Bedloe was a mean-spirited railroad executive who periodically visited the Shady Rest Hotel while seeking justification to end train service of the Hooterville Cannonball, but he never succeeded in that objective.

He was a good friend of Lucille Ball, and his specialty in playing scowling, beady-eyed, short tempered, no-nonsense professionals provided the perfect comic foil for Lucy's scatterbrained television character. He played several guest roles on I Love Lucy, most notably in the episode "Lucy Goes To the Hospital", where he is seated in the waiting room with Ricky while Lucy gives birth to their son. He also played the title role in the episode "The Business Manager", the casting director in "Lucy Tells The Truth. He also played the passport clerk in "Staten Island Ferry." Lane appeared twice in The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. He later had recurring roles as shopkeeper Mr. Finch on Dennis the Menace and during the first season (1962–63) of Ball's The Lucy Show, playing banker Mr. Barnsdahl. According to The Lucy Book by Geoffrey Fidelman, Lane was turfed because he had trouble reciting his lines correctly. However, Lane was in reality a placeholder for Lucy's original choice, Gale Gordon, who joined the program in 1963 as Mr. Mooney after he was free from other contractual obligations.

In 1963, Lane appeared in the mega-comedy IT’S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD, playing the airport manager. His final acting role was at the age of 101 in 2006's The Night Before Christmas. His last television appearance was at the age of 90, when he appeared in the 1995 Disney TV remake of its 1970 teen comedy The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes with Kirk Cameron. In 2005, the TV Land Awards paid tribute to Lane by celebrating his 100th birthday. Seated in a wheelchair in the audience, which had sung “Happy Birthday” to him, Lane was presented with his award by Haley Joel Osment and then announced "If you're interested, I'm still available [for work]!" The audience gave him a standing ovation.

All told, Lane appeared in more than 250 films and hundreds of television shows. On his busiest days, Lane said he sometimes played more than one role, getting into costume and filming his two or three lines, then hurrying off to another set for a different costume and a different role. As for being typecast, Lane described it as "... a pain in the ass. You did something that was pretty good, and the picture was pretty good. But that pedigreed you into that type of part, which I thought was stupid and unfair, too. It didn't give me a chance, but it made the casting easier for the studio."

Lane's persona has been referenced in The Simpsons: on the audio commentary to the episode "Marge in Chains”, its director Jim Reardon states that Lane's performance in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE inspired the character of the snide, humorless Blue-Haired Lawyer who appears in that and other episodes in the series. In 1931, Lane married Ruth Covell and they remained together for 70 years until her death in 2002. They had a son named Tom and a daughter named Alice. Despite his stern, hard-hearted demeanor in films and television, friends and acquaintances seem to unanimously describe Lane as a warm, funny and kind person. On January 26, 2007, Lane celebrated his 102nd birthday. He continued to live in the Brentwood home he bought with Ruth (for $46,000 in 1964) until his death. In the end, his son Tom Lane, said he was talking with his father at 9 p.m. on the evening of Monday, July 9, 2007 when he passed away. Charles Lane was 102. Lane was not the only person in his family to have a long life - his mother Alice died in her San Francisco home in 1973 aged 100.

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A New Sybil's "WHO'Z DAT?"... OLIVER HARDY (January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957)

   Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular, special entry called SYBIL'S "WHO'Z DAT??"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships"......I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think??? Interestingly, this particular face might be one that you can place fairly easily, because it’s so iconically linked to another face. But our subject today is Oliver Hardy (January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957). Born Norvell Hardy in Harlem, Georgia,  his father, Oliver, was a Confederate veteran who was wounded at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862. After his demobilization as a recruiting officer for Company K, 16th Georgia Regiment, the elder Oliver Hardy assisted his father in running the vestiges of the family cotton plantation. He bought a share in a retail business and was elected full-time Tax Collector for Columbia County, Georgia. Norvell's mother Emily was descended from a long line of Virginians dating back to the 1600s. The family moved to Madison in 1891, before Norvell’s birth. His father died less than a year after his birth. Hardy was the youngest of five children. His older brother Sam Hardy died in a drowning accident in the Oconee River. Hardy pulled his brother from the river but was unable to resuscitate him. As a child, Hardy was considered sometimes difficult. He was sent to a Georgia military academy in Milledgeville as a youngster. Hardy had little interest in formal education, although he acquired an early interest in music and theater, possibly from traveling actor tenants that stayed in a boarding house that his mother owned. He joined a theatrical group, and later ran away from school near to sing with the group. His mother recognized his talent for singing, and sent him to Atlanta to study music and voice with singing teacher Adolf Dahm-Petersen. Hardy skipped some of his lessons to sing in the Alcazar Theater, a cinema, for $3.50 a week. He subsequently decided to go back to Milledgeville. Sometime prior to 1910, Hardy began styling himself "Oliver Norvell Hardy", adding the first name “Oliver” as a tribute to his father. When a movie theater opened in Hardy’s home town of Milledgeville, he became the projectionist, ticket taker, janitor and manager. He soon became obsessed with the new motion picture industry, and was convinced that he could do a better job than the actors he saw. A friend suggested that he move to Jacksonville, Florida, where some films were being made. In 1913, Hardy did that, working in Jacksonville as a cabaret and vaudeville singer at night, and at a desk job at the Lubin Manufacturing Company, a new film studio, during the day. At this time he met and married his first wife Madelyn Saloshin, a pianist for the theatre. The next year he made his first movie, OUTWITTING DAD (1914), for the Lubin studio. He was billed as O. N. Hardy. In his personal life, he was known as “Babe” Hardy, a nickname that he was given by his Italian barber who would apply talcum powder to Oliver’s cheeks and say, “nice-a-bab-y.” In many of his later films at Lubin, he was billed as “Babe Hardy.” Hardy was a big man at 6'1" tall and weighing up to 300 pounds. His size placed limitations on the roles he could play. He was most often cast as “the heavy” or the villain. He also frequently had roles in comedy shorts, his size complementing the character. By 1915, Hardy had made 50 short one-reeler films at Lubin. He later moved to New York and made films for the Pathé, Casino, and Edison Studios. After returning to Jacksonville, he made films for the Vim Comedy Company. That studio closed after Hardy discovered the owners were stealing from the payroll and continued on with the King Bee studio, which bought Vim. He worked with various early silent actors including Billy Ruge, Billy West (a Charlie Chaplin imitator), and comedic actress Ethel Burton Palmer during this time, still as the “heavy”. In 1917, Oliver Hardy moved to Los Angeles, working freelance for several Hollywood studios, and later appeared in the movie THE LUCKY DOG (1917) produced by G.M. (“Broncho Billy”) Anderson and starring a young British comedian named Stan Laurel. Oliver Hardy played the part of a robber, trying to stick up Stan’s character. They did not work together again for several years. Between 1918 and 1923, Hardy made more than 40 films for Vitagraph, mostly playing the “heavy” for Larry Semon. In 1919, he separated from his wife, ending with a divorce in 1920, allegedly due to Hardy’s infidelity. The next year on November 24, 1921, Hardy married again, to actress Myrtle Reeves. This marriage was also unhappy. Reeves was said to have become alcoholic. 
In 1924, Hardy began working at Hal Roach Studios working with the “Our Gang” films and Charley Chase. In 1925, he starred as the Tin Man in THE WIZARD OF OZ. Also that year he was in the film, YES, YES NANETTE! (1926), starring Jimmy Finlayson and directed by Stan Laurel. (In later years Finlayson frequently was a supporting actor in the Laurel and Hardy film series.) He also continued playing supporting roles in films featuring Clyde Cooke and Bobby Ray.
In 1926, Hardy was scheduled to appear in GET ‘EM YOUNG (1926). He was unexpectedly hospitalized after being burned in a kitchen accident by by a hot leg of lamb. Laurel, who had been working as a gag man and director at Roach Studios, was recruited to fill in. Laurel continued to act and, later that year, appeared in the same movie as Hardy, 45 MINUTES FROM BROADWAY (1926), although they did not share any scenes together. In 1927, Laurel and Hardy began sharing screen time together in SLIPPING WIVES, DUCK SOUP (no relation to the 1933 Marx Brothers’ film of the same name) and WITH LOVE AND HISSES. Roach Studios’ supervising director Leo McCarey, realizing the audience reaction to the two, began intentionally teaming them together, leading to the start of a Laurel and Hardy series later that year. With this pairing, he created arguably the most famous double act in movie history. They began producing a huge body of short movies, including THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY (1927) (with one of the largest pie fights ever filmed, UNACCUSTOMED AS WE ARE (1929), marking their transition to talkies, BRATS (1930) (with Stan and Ollie portraying themselves, as well as their own "sons," using oversized furniture sets for the ‘young’ Laurel and Hardy), ANOTHER FINE MESS (1930), and many others. They also had started making full feature films, including BABES IN TOYLAND (1934) one of their most memorable films, and THE MUSIC BOX (1932) a short which won them an Academy Award for Best Short Film — their only such award. In 1936, Hardy and Myrtle Reeves divorced. While waiting for a contractual issue between Laurel and Hal Roach to be resolved, Hardy made ZENOBIA with Harry Langdon. Eventually, however, new contracts were agreed upon and the team was loaned out to producer Boris Morros at General Service Studios to make THE FLYING DEUCES (1939). While on the lot, Hardy fell in love with Virginia Lucille Jones, a script girl, whom he married the next year. They enjoyed a happy marriage until his death. In 1939, Laurel and Hardy made A CHUMP AT OXFORD (1940) (which features a moment of role reversal, with Oliver becoming a subordinate to a temporarily concussed Stan) and SAPS AT SEA (1940) before leaving Roach Studios. They began performing for the USO, supporting the Allied troops during World War II. They teamed up to make films for 20th Century Fox and later Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Although they made more money at the bigger studios, they had very little artistic control; critics say that these films lack the very qualities that had made Laurel and Hardy worldwide names. Their last Fox feature was THE BULLFIGHTERS (1945), after which they declined to extend their contract with the studio.
In 1947, Laurel and Hardy went on a six-week tour of the United Kingdom. Initially unsure of how they would be received, they were mobbed wherever they went. The tour was lengthened to include engagements in Scandinavia, Belgium, France, as well as a Royal Command Performance for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. In 1949, Hardy’s friend, John Wayne, asked him to play a supporting role in The Fighting Kentuckian. Hardy had previously worked with Wayne and John Ford in a charity production of the play WHAT PRICE GLORY? while Laurel began treatment for his diabetes a few years previously. Initially hesitant, Hardy accepted the role at the insistence of his comedy partner. Frank Capra later invited Hardy to play a cameo role in RIDING HIGH (1950) with Bing Crosby. During 1950–51, Laurel and Hardy made their final film. ATOLL K (also known as Utopia) was a simple concept; Laurel inherits an island, and the boys set out to sea, where they encounter a storm and discover a brand new island, rich in uranium, making them powerful and wealthy. However, it was produced by a consortium of European interests, with an international cast and crew that could not speak to each other. In addition, the script needed to be rewritten by Laurel to make it fit the comedy team’s style, and both suffered serious physical illness during the filming.

Biographer John McCabe said they continued to make live appearances in the United Kingdom and France for the next several years, until 1954, often using new sketches and material that Laurel had written for them. In 1955, the pair had contracted with Hal Roach, Jr., to produce a series of TV shows based on the Mother Goose fables. They were to be filmed in color for NBC. But, Laurel suffered a stroke and required a lengthy convalescence. Coincidentally, Hardy himself had a heart attack and stroke later that year, from which he never physically recovered.
During 1956, Hardy began looking after his health for the first time in his life. He lost more than 150 pounds in a few months, which completely changed his appearance. Letters written by Laurel refer to Hardy's having terminal cancer. Some readers have thought this was the real reason for Hardy’s rapid weight loss. Both men were heavy smokers. Hal Roach said they were a couple of "freight train smoke stacks".

Hardy suffered a major stroke on September 14, 1956, which left him confined to bed and unable to speak for several months. He remained at home, in the care of his beloved Lucille. He suffered two more strokes in early August 1957, and slipped into a coma from which he never recovered. Oliver Hardy died from cerebral thrombosis on August 7, 1957, at the age of 65. His remains are located in the Masonic Garden of Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood.
Stan Laurel was too ill to go to the funeral of his friend and film partner. He stated, "Babe would understand." People who knew Laurel said he was devastated by Hardy's death and never fully recovered from it. He refused to perform on stage, or act in another film ever again without his good friend. Stan Laurel died in 1965.

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A story very well worth reading....

A story very well worth reading!!! Please join me in celebrating the arrival of a book about Ellie Laks and her contribution to a cause that is at the heart of what humans and animals mean to each other.... hear what she has to say:

The Gentle Barn was my dream since I was 7 years old, and it took a lot to finally found it in 1999. The story of how it started and how it came to be is in my book "My Gentle Barn" coming out in March wherever books are sold. But if there are a lot of pre-orders it will be a best seller from the start. If it is a best seller, it will gain a lot of attention for The Gentle Barn, and that attention will allow us to save more animals who have no where else to go. Will you help me make my book a success and save more animals by pre-ordering the book and sharing it with your friends. To order it now go to: http://www.gentlebarn.org/my-gentle-barn.html
I am so grateful! -Ellie Laks

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Mummie Makes A Holiday!!....

MUMMIE MAKES A HOLIDAY!!!... okay, so we're all trying to come up with ideas to make this rather specific Winter a little more fun and friendly, right?? ...and I just KNOW that many of you read my suggestions in my blog of rekindling and working at your friendships, going to theatre, museums, cafes with friends, taking up a hobby, making your home more cheery, doing your Spring cleaning NOW to invite new energy and perspective into your life, and definitely, DEFINITELY GETTING OUT OF THE HOUSE! Do NOT be a shut-in in the cold weather!!

Well, now I've decided that we need something even more powerful and exciting to help doom the gloom! I pulled down the old Sunoco station calendar and did some math!! If the first day of Winter is around December 21st, and the first day of Spring is around March 20th, that gives us 90 days between the two... yes, the days are getting longer and the nights are shorter starting on the Winter solstice, but that definitely is not enough to sustain all of us shivering masses yearning to breathe free! SO!... if we divide 90 by two, we have 45 days, and we count forward from December 21st, I believe that gives us February 3rd... am I right?? Okay, here's my proposal! We need another Holiday or festival to look forward to... sort of a Mid-Winter's Night Dream, if you will. A date when we know that (even though February is boring and seemingly endless despite its shortened stature!) we can feel that we are technically "over the hump" of Winter.

And let's not stop there! Let's make it a progressive festival like Hanukkah!... maybe a whole week or so. How about 11 days?? But unlike Hanukkah, we don't make the FIRST night the important one! We make the last night the culmination of a celebration of life, light, laughter, and love!! Why look at that!! That means Valentine’s Day would be the end of it all, and finally have some “oomph” behind it as opposed to that anemic semi-holiday of Cupid, arrows, cheap perfume, and those stupid red-hots and flavorless candy hearts with dumb slogans written on them! (“Be MINE”, indeed!!!)

SO!... let's set our calendars to February 3rd! I'm taking suggestions for traditions that we need to observe, celebrate and manifest in our newly fashioned Holiday. And we need a name for it... and a decorative theme from the crafts and interior design crowds!! Are there any songwriters out there?? Mel Tormé, Irving Berlin, Franz Gruber, and Henry VIII are all dead so let's come up with some new songs that will become "standards"... And we need traditional recipes from the foodies, nightly gift suggestions from the compulsively acquisitive, newly fabricated "ancient tales and poems" from the ingeniously literary (and drunk!), and a spirit of "play" from the young at heart. The cynics and so-called "grown-ups" can remain huddled over by the sad little sputtering fire that keeps them company in their nattering... The rest of us can keep each other cozy the way children do when they have only a cardboard box, a blanket, some crayons and their imaginations...

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An Epiphany...for "Epiphany"... January 6th, 2014...

Tonight's sunset over Greenwich Village....... it's said that the first Monday after New Years may be the most depressing day for a great many people every post-Holiday season. The Winter stretches out in front of us, bills must be paid, there are no Holidays of any note coming in the calendar before Spring arrives... If you find yourself one of those folks who feels seriously "blue" at this time of year, do the following; rekindle and work at your friendships, go to theatre, museums, cafes with friends, take up a hobby, make your home more cheery, do your Spring cleaning NOW to invite new energy and perspective into your life, and definitely, DEFINITELY GET OUT OF THE HOUSE! Do NOT be a shut-in in the cold weather.... Apropos of that, here's the sunset I walked in tonight!!! Sybil Sez!

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Darling! An ounce of prevention.....

   Dear Sybil, I am writing to you about my New Years Eve celebrating…..I may overdo it!! Is there really any tried and true cure or prevention for hangovers??? Sincerely yours, Blowing Chunks.

   Dear B.C., There IS a series of things you can do that I have collected from some of my very favorite (and most notorious!) drunks…do the names John Barrymore, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Jackson Pollock mean anything to you??? First of all, eat before you party…LOTS!!! And don’t be afraid of dairy!!! Milk, yogurt, cheese, ice cream. LOTS!!….this will accomplish two things: 1) It will coat your stomach and slow down the absorption of the alcohol….and, 2) IT WILL FILL YOU UP…PERIOD!!! You won’t be drinking on an empty stomach and using the booze as an actual NEW YEARS “food group”, (as if the F.D.A. would ever recommend alcohol as a food group to anyone other than W.C. Fields!...did you ever meet him? Oh, that nose!) Then, later when you have finished “partying” and are back home, you can do a couple of things right away….some folks opt to “purge” right on the spot, even if they’re not feeling queasy! It IS a Roman approach to overdoing it, isn’t it? But it DOES clean out everything before it’s absorbed and processed by your poor body! Far less strain on your brain, stomach, liver, kidneys…oh HELL..EVERYTHING!! BUT, if you’d rather not voluntarily throw up, (or even if you do!), take two or even three aspirin with lots of H2O!! LOTS!!!...this will get a head start on any headache you may have, and I’ve been told that it starts to counter-act all the awful toxins that the booze turns into in your body as it’s being eliminated…have you ever smelled formaldehyde???…yuk!!! Lastly!! Whatever you do, DO NOT subscribe to the “hair-of-the-dog” cure….Your dear, sweet body ( the ONLY one you’re getting, Stupid!) is doing everything it can to save you, and itself, from your lack of judgement! Do NOT put more booze back into your system! Imagine that you’ve gotten a terrible sunburn!! JUST AWFUL!!! And someone suggests that you go back out in the sun for two more days, and then sends you to a steamroom! You’d shoot them, wouldn’t you??? Well, the next time that some old sorority sister or a dumb brewsky-boy says to have another beer on your hangover, KILL THEM!!! The courts will find you innocent. XOX!

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YUM!!!... A little Christmas treat for myself....

Okay, Darlings! Many of you know that one of my favorite things to do is grab a nice little brunch or lunch in a cozy place with the latest issue of my beloved New Yorker magazine as my only companion. It's the height of luxury to me to sit in the window of a charming establishment glancing out the window as the world rushes by, and eat delicious food while Adam, Henrik, Rebecca, Peter, Alex, Joan, Hilton, Jill, Nicholas, Anthony, Emily, Ian, and a host of other fascinating folk all harangue, seduce, or beguile me... Well, after shopping for presents for my staff and the assorted eccentrics that are the mainstay of my life, I decided to go to my favorite little restaurant in Greenwich Village, and it happens to be a block from where I live; The Quarter, 522 Hudson Street on the corner of West 10th. I've decided that whenever I go there, I just tell my friend and chef extraordinaire Jason Avery to make me whatever he wants to...and it is a wise decision. Today, he surprised me with an "apéritif suprême"!! On a large bed of cracked ice and seaweed, he served up the most succulent blue-point oysters in the shell with crudo of fresh salmon topped with a ginger emulsion of corn, cilantro, and lime. The lady sitting next to me stared in amazement and asked if they were raw oysters...I said Yes, of course. She claimed she'd never eaten a raw oyster and thought they might be awful... I offered her one, and, like Auntie Mame who I am always being mistaken for, I encouraged her "to try something new!". Well, she did... and was absolutely converted! Jason's version of the dish is so rich and yet refreshing, that I'll bet not even a die-hard shell-fish-sissy can resist them! Today, they were like dessert!....BEFORE the entrée!... And as to the entrée, Jason made one of his very favorite dishes dating back to his days at Johnson & Wales in Rhode Island... An elegant but still generous N.Y. strip steak, very rare, served with a sumptuous au poivre sauce that was then topped by the best and brightest sauce béarnaise I've ever tasted. Béarnaise is a "daughter" of Hollandise, one of the proverbial "5 mother sauces'' that chefs have revered since the 19th century, and Avery does Collinet, its creator, proud!!  The luscious brown heft of the au poivre was lifted right up into the air by the light creamy smoothness of his shallots, chervil, and taragon! And on the side was an order of the extra crispy "house-cut" fries, and an order of the whipped-into-a-cloud sweet potatoes marbled with NY State goat cheese! Really!! Should a meal be one "dessert treat" after another? Let Jason work his culinary magic on broccoli, spinach, and other child-offending vegetables, and I swear we'll have a whole generation of children addicted to eating healthy!!! Are Bill de Blasio and the Board of Ed. listening?? I would have called for a stretcher to wheel me out, but Jason and his partner TJ insisted on finishing my pancreas off once and for all......  so, dessert ( yes! The ACTUAL DESSERT, thank you!) was Jason's famous Chocolate Crème Brûlée. No!...there's nothing to say. You can just imagine how fabulous it was! ..or you can go to The Quarter yourself, and see!! And then you can thank me with fine jewelry!...Sybil Sez! http://thequarternyc.com/ 

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In Passing...... December 15, 2013.

In passing..... Joan Fontaine (October 22, 1917- December 15, 2013).........and Peter O'Toole (August 2, 1932- December 14, 2013). We can't really be surprised of course, with either of them. Fontaine had a wonderfully long and accomplished life. 96 years old? ..and with that wonderful work behind her. And as for O'Toole, by his own admission, he was surprised after all his drinking, smoking, and heavy carousing to be living on and on, year after year.

So many people die long before they're 81, taking very good care of themselves. I often wonder how some people live such long lives. It's genetic of course (partly!), and "environment" and how people take care of themselves, but I think sometimes it's something else.... I think some folks live a long life in spite of all sorts of abuse, self-abuse, and even despair and loss. I think people live a long time who burn for life. Literally burn for it. They may be disappointed and even heartbroken, but they love the journey. And even on the worse days, they find something to love in the world. A tune they hum, the taste of warm bread and butter, the sound of rain on leaves, a cat purring, a dog smiling, any and every sunset.... those are some of mine.

Jack London once wrote,
“I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.”

London died at 40 as it turns out, truly burning up like a brilliant spark. But I think he was on to something. Life force is a kind of fuel. One could use it all up very fast I suppose. But I often wonder if Van Gogh hadn't committed suicide, would his passion and vision and thirst to see and make beauty have kept that wonderful heart beating for a century. Picasso's nearly did. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Newton, Galileo, Einstein, various artists, actors, writers, the list goes on of people lived much longer than their contemporaries and the “average life span”. And in our own circles, family members or friends that have lived long lives....mine have always been intensely present to everything. "Mindful".... Maybe that's it.... mindful; present to all of life in all its aspects, almost minute to minute. And burning their fuel gladly, knowing that as it is used, so shall it be replaced. I think Life is meant to be used… and with passion.

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Facebook Etiquette 101.....

FACEBOOK ETIQUETTE 101: Well, now that we're all being sent all kinds of Facebook holiday postings, comments, announcements, and invitations, it might be a good time to remember some basic courtesies and niceties, even here on the internet. We don't have to worry anymore about beautiful penmanship and lovely stationery, so it's only fair that perhaps we spend our "mental calories" on keeping other aspects of our communicating with our "friends" as gracious as possible. After all, manners are just another way of letting other folks in the community of life know that we acknowledge, respect, and value them and their contribution to our lives. Apropos of all that, here are some FB tips... When you read someone's post as you're scrolling through your newsfeed, if you've taken the time to READ it, take the time to "LIKE" it. The "like" option doesn't necessarily mean that you agree with the person on their political statement (if that's what they've posted!), but it does mean that you've read it and that you're acknowledging that you've done so. If you choose to agree or even disagree, you may "comment" on it, which is even more interactive, but if you don't, at least have the courtesy to let the original poster know that you visited his or her thought. Certainly, if the post has nothing to agree or disagree with (e.g., a photo of a puppy playing in the snow with a name and birthdate underneath it), you can easily "like" it with no compromising of your political standards or affiliations! And if you post something of your OWN, (a promotion at the perfume counter, a successful naked fondue party, a round of applause about your new coloring book, your dog had kittens!!) be sure to acknowledge each and every single comment that comes in wishing you well and congratulating you. Imagine standing on a chair in the corner of a large cocktail party and announcing to the hundreds of guests at the top of your lungs the events of your day, and then when folks actually stop their own conversations, look your way, and say nice things to you, you just keep yelling your stuff out over their heads. We actually have some noted Facebook folks who do that all the time here....they depend on the attention of hundreds of people they call "friends" for gratification, but never acknowledge their acknowledgement. I'd give their initials, but many of you would palm-slap your foreheads and say, "OF COURSE!".... If you are spending the calories posting photos and news about your life on this public "bulletin board" in the "town square" of the Internet Age, you can observe some of the niceties of the 19th century. A tip-of-the-hat to your neighbor who just passed you in that new FB group about "The Propagation of Oblong Vegetables And Their Danger To Unattended Children", the "The Woes Of Under-Appreciated Film Actresses Whose Careers Spanned The Years 1918 to 1923", or "Words That Rhyme With Purple".... when they comment on your brilliant bon mot, give 'em a tip-of-the-hat back.... "like" is "thank you", it's "I see you", it's "I appreciate you as I would like to be appreciated" in FB chatter. It's time for people to get down off the chair in the corner and join the conversation as partners in an adventure...Sybil Sez...

A Girl's Gotta Eat!!! ..... Roast chicken thighs with onions.

Well, Darlings, Mummie just finished making her fabulous roasted chicken thighs with onions.... Salt and pepper four thighs (organic!), and then brown on both sides in a pot with olive oil and butter (leave the skin ON!). Lift them out and remove the skin but throw it back in the sizzling pot with two large onions (chopped but not diced), seven cloves of garlic (chopped but not minced), and 6 heaping table spoons of tomato paste. Sauté them until fragrant, then throw the thighs back in with 2 cups of chicken stock and a large lemon cut in half. Cover it and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 60 minutes. On top of your stove fill a large pot with water and put a handful of sugar and a large lemon cut in half into the water. Bring it to a boil and drop in 4 ears of corn. In five minutes, turn off the heat but leave them in. Check the thighs at 60 minutes to see how they're doing. If the meat is falling off the bone but looking cooked, good! If it's still a little pink but falling away, pull it off with two forks, and cover it with the sauce. Put the pot back in for another 10 minutes... Depending on your oven, it should be done. Don't bake it any more than 80 minutes!! The chicken should be unbelievably moist and flavorful. Carefully cut the corn off the cobs on a generous cutting board, preferably one of those plasti-sheet types that will catch all the kernels and juice. Dump all of the corn and juice into the chicken thighs and sauce, stir thoroughly. Follow with optional sprinkling of chopped scallions and/or parsley. Serves only about one very appreciative woman who's staying home on a cold Winter night....