Sunday, June 29, 2003

Where Super-Geniuses Shop

Wile E. Coyote gets all his equipment from them. Why not order something from The Illustrated Catalog of ACME Products?

• Posted at 11:42 PM · LINK

Support Our Troops...

...but for God's sake, don't give them decent pay or benefits. Here's an editorial on how the White House is fighting several current attempts to boost compensation to servicemen and even to the families of those who die in battle.

• Posted at 6:21 PM · LINK

Flaunt It, Baby!

Watch for an announcement — later this week or next — that Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick have been signed to star in the motion picture version of The Producers, based on the Broadway show which in turn was based on the motion picture of The Producers.

• Posted at 5:36 PM · LINK

Kate

The story I always loved about Katharine Hepburn went roughly like this: She was starring in the musical Coco at the Mark Hellinger Theater. This was in late 1969. The show was not great — a far cry from the same librettist's My Fair Lady at the same theater — but audiences flocked to see it. Because it was Hepburn, and how often did you get to see Hepburn? I wish I had, but the closest I got was nodding to her in recognition as we crossed paths one day on Central Park South, right in front of the St. Moritz.

Evening performances of Coco were joyous but for a time, the matinees were a little rough. Next door was a construction site and a big, noisy building was being erected. After several afternoon performances were marred by the sounds of jack-hammers and rivet guns, the producers of Coco appealed to the construction company. It was only a matter of a few hours every Wednesday afternoon but the construction company said no; they had a building to build.

So Ms. Hepburn took matters into her own hands. She donned a hard hat, went next door and joined the construction workers for one of their coffee breaks. She told them the problem, passed out a few free tickets and asked them — pretty please — could they find quieter tasks to do during her Wednesday matinees? The workers were charmed by this tough but regal lady and agreed. For the rest of the run of Coco, a whistle would be blown just before curtain on matinee day. Airguns and heavy machinery would go silent and other, gentler work would be done until the workers saw the audience leaving the theater. Burly construction guys, it was said, actually tip-toed. And if someone raised his voice, everyone would tell him to shush and they'd point to Hepburn's picture on the marquee.

That's how I always heard the story, which is not to say I believed it. Something about it struck me as just too "public relations office" to be completely credible.

Then a few years ago, I was with my friend Sergio and his wife, Charlene. Charlene was one of the dancer-actresses in Coco, and somehow the name of Katharine Hepburn came up. Before I could ask about the construction site story, Charlene said, "She was wonderful. Everyone thought so...even the construction workers next door." And she told the story about Hepburn putting on the hard hat and going over to ask them to hold it down.

I love it when one of those stories turns out to be true.

• Posted at 4:23 PM · LINK

Hulk Not Smash!

Box office grosses for the movie of The Hulk seem to be plunging this weekend. I've written up some thoughts about this and posted 'em over in NOTES from me.

• Posted at 3:32 PM · LINK

Spam, Spam, Baked Beans and Spam

Is your spam getting chummier? I mean those unsolicited ads that turn up like cyber-cockroaches in your e-mailbox. Mine used to have subject lines like, "Get rich quick" and "Hot babes waiting for you." Those weren't quite as annoying because you could delete them without even opening them. So now the Spammers are doing their best to trick you into thinking they're sending you a normal e-mail exchange. They enter a subject line that says, "Here's the info you requested" or "As we were discussing" or "You're right about that."

Another fairly recent trick is the intentionally misdirected message — the one that looks like you accidentally got someone else's e-mail. You get a message intended for "Steve" that says, "Here's the password to that great secret X-rated website I told you about. Use it but don't let anyone else know." Someone has been recently been sending me a bevy of stock tips that were intended for "George" and which say they're based on top-secret insider info. It's like I'm getting spammed by Martha Stewart.

Spammers are annoying but sometimes they're creative. I just got one with the subject line, "Are you hard at work?" I guessed what it was but couldn't resist actually opening the e-mail to check. Sure enough: An ad for Viagra.

• Posted at 12:48 PM · LINK

Public Appeal

Does anyone out there have copies of scripts from the old Jay Ward "Fractured Fairy Tales" cartoons? If so, could you drop me a line? Thanks.

• Posted at 9:56 AM · LINK

Bounce Bounces Along

Here's what's up with the new show by Harold Prince, John Weidman and Stephen Sondheim.