TIDDLYWINKYDINKS: BUTT SERIOUSLY, FOLKS!

Property Genie is the largest property portal in South Africa and this ad, called "Trimming The Hedge", is how their kicking off their campaign to get more hits on their site:
There's something you don't see in America... and a good thing too!

BCnU!
Toby OB

MUST EAT BRAAIIIIINNNNSSS......

Here's a classic example of talking food in Toobworld, just begging for you to eat it.

The Tootsie Pops, shown here in an embedded blipvert during 'Howdy Doody', couldn't be happier if you suddenly decided to bite their heads off.
I think if I was given a lollipop that had eyes and a mouth and could speak, I'd probably have sworn off candy far sooner than I had to! As usual I over-think these things - if they have the power of speech, then they must have brains. And that must be what the Tootsie Roll center really is!

BCnU!
Toby OB

PLAYING WITH MARPLES

Geraldine McEwan announced that she would be retiring from the role of Miss Jane Marple, whom she has portrayed on ITV since 2003 in 12 TV movies. The network and Chorion (which owns the rights to the character created by Agatha Christie) will now look for a new actress to carry on the role.

Ms. McEwan was not the first actress to play the role on Television; that honor would go to Gracie Fields in a 1951 episode of 'The Goodyear Playhouse'. As "A Murder Is Announced" was a one-shot, I'm making the judgement call that it should be relegated to some alternate TV dimension, even though it was the first version of the character.
The Miss Marple for the main Toobworld should be that of Joan Hickson, who did a series of adaptations beginning in the 1980s. Many consider her version to be the definitive portrayal, and Dame Agatha herself once expressed hope that Ms. Hickson would one day play her "dear Miss Marple".

In the 1980s, Helen Hayes also portrayed Miss Marple in two TV movies. I'm thinking that these would fit in nicely in the alternate dimension of Earth Prime-Time/MOTW. That's the universe of the Movies of the Week which have a different line of succession for the President of the United States than is generally accepted in the many Toobworlds.

Ms. McEwan's performances as Miss Marple (which seem to number the same as Ms. Hickson's - a dozen in all) can take their place in the mirror universe which is sometime called the Evil Toobworld. Nothing says that the counterparts to established characters had to be evil themselves, merely the world in which they lived.

As for Gracie Fields' single outing as Miss Marple, I always have a soft spot for populating the alternate dimension of 'The West Wing' with other shows, so I may as well keep that tradition going.....

Whoever lands the role of Miss Jane Marple for the next series of mysteries on ITV, they will be inhabiting still another alternate dimension of Toobworld.

BCnU!
Toby OB

FLYING THAI FIGHTERS

AOL's "Videologist" pointed out a blossoming news story from Thailand dealing with the clash between the real world and Toobworld. According to a report in "The Guardian":

Trade unions representing flight attendants from the national carrier, Thai Airways International, and the private operator Bangkok Airlines are to make a formal complaint to the culture ministry about the show 'The Air Hostess Wars', the broadcast of which began last week.

The programme shows flight attendants scheming for the affections of a suave married airline captain, who embarks on an affair with one of them.

What the show needs is a special guest appearance by Patrick Stewart as himself, in which he's a passenger on a flight from Thailand. During the flight, he uses his mental powers to make the flight attendant's clothes fall off. She tries to cover it up, but it's too late: he's seen everything.

Noppadol Thaungthong is a flight attendant who is acting as a spokesperson for their union. And she said, "This soap opera is insulting and damaging to the reputation of flight attendants. It's all about sex and air hostesses beating each other up in the cabin because of love and jealousy. This kind of thing never happens."

I know I come off as the Ugly American here, but I don't think it helps the cause when your spokesperson has the last name of "Thaungthong".

She also claims that the series will dissuade people from flying or from entering into the profession. Both assertions don't seem likely to my way of thinking, but then I'm an optimist - I'm always hoping to see a good cat-fight while airborne.

'Air Hostess Wars' sounds like a Thai version of 'Mile High', a British series about Fresh! Airlines which ran a few years ago and which was shown here in America on BBC-America last year. I think some enterprising TV exec should get the rights to 'Air Hostess Wars' (That must be a catchier title in the native language!) and broadcast it here.

The best venue? Comedy Central - especially if they tweak it and re-dub it with totally different and outlandish dialogue a la "What's Up, Tiger Lily?"

Just sayin', is all.

(Two Thai sisters I know, Tippimart and Yupai, will probably hunt me down for posting this and do serious damage. One can only hope.....)

BCnU!
Toby OB

PS
My alternate post headings were:
"Mile High Thai"
"Come Thai With Me"
"Fly Thai"

UPDATE - CNN had a story on this topic and they said the translation of the title is "Battle of Angels", which is much better! [01/26/08]

"LIFE ON MARS" - THE FINALE

I watched the series finale of 'Life On Mars' Wednesday morning, once I got home from work....

And I'm still puzzling over it.

I don't want to say too much about it, for those who DVR'd it, but I think it's one of those shows you don't leave lingering too long before watching it. You just HAD to know what was really going on with Sam Tyler.

Personally, I think that ending really could be open to interpretation. I think it all comes down to what was actually said over the car's radio at the end, and whether you're more prone to optimism or pessimism. (Although as seen in Ian Wylie's blog about the show, the creator of the show feels there was a definitive finale for the story, while star John Simm felt differently. Choose your guru wisely.)

The one thing I always wanted from the series was to find out that DCI Gene Hunt had been real, and that he was a definite "living" character in Toobworld. Even that could still be possible, despite how the show ended, but now it will have to wait until the sequel 'Ashes To Ashes' has completed its run before such theories can be bandied about.

Probably said too much there....... Sorry, Guv.

Anyway, I liked the series a lot. And at the same time, I'm glad it ended when it did. Sixteen episodes was enough to complete a fantastic story and not have its impact and wonder frittered away by stretching it out over several more seasons. (Sorry - over several more series!)

I'm going to miss the gang in A Division, and I'm thankful they haunted Toobworld while they could.....

Now somebody get off of their arse and get the DVD released here in the USA!

BCnU!
Toby OB

THE CASE FOR TELEVISED VELVET

My favorite regular character created by Edward D. Hoch was the professional thief Nick Velvet, whom I think would have made a great character for a TV series. (Hey, it worked for Alexander Mundy!)

And I'm not alone in that opinion, I think. Here's what Hoch's obituary in the New York Times had to say about Nick Velvet:

Perhaps Mr. Hoch’s most popular sleuth was Nick Velvet, a professional thief engaged to steal a bewildering array of things for his clients. These included an ashtray, a cobweb, a canceled stamp, a dead houseplant, a used tea bag, a sliver of soap, a ball of twine, a bingo card, an empty paint can, a Thanksgiving turkey, a blue-ribbon pie, a bathroom scale, a bald man’s comb, an ostrich, a skunk, a major-league baseball team and — in perhaps the most blatantly criminal act of all — an overdue library book.

And here's the Wikipedia entry about Nick:

Nick Velvet is a professional thief for hire, with a peculiar specialty: For a flat fee, he steals only objects of negligible apparent value. Since his first appearance in EQMM in September 1966, he has stolen such things as an old spiderweb (which he was then obliged to replace), a day-old newspaper, and a used teabag. His original fee for a theft was $20,000. In 1980 he raised it to $25,000 at the urging of his long-time girlfriend Gloria (who met Nick in 1965 when he was burgling her New York apartment); in the 21st century his fee has risen to $50,000. Unlike many fictional thieves, Nick usually works alone on his thefts—in fact, until 1979 Gloria believed that Nick worked for the U.S. government.

The Nick Velvet caper stories generally combine a near-impossible theft with the mystery of why someone would pay $20,000 to have an apparently valueless item stolen. Although Nick often appears as devoid of curiosity as his targets are of value, circumstances usually force him to identify his clients' true motives, making him as much of a detective as Hoch's more conventional characters. Most of the Nick Velvet stories have a light and humorous tone reminiscent of Leslie Charteris' early stories of the Saint. The fundamental immorality of Nick's chosen profession is frequently offset by the larger justice resulting from his detective work.

A Nick Velvet story, "The Theft of the Circus Poster" in May 1973, began Hoch's unbroken string of monthly appearances in EQMM. Another story, "The Theft of the Rusty Bookmark" in January 1998 featured the real-life Mysterious Bookshop of New York City, and its real-life owner (and Edgar-winning publisher and editor), Otto Penzler. "The Theft of Gloria's Greatcoat" (May 1998), which describes the first meeting of Nick and Gloria, is unusual in that it is told in the first person by Gloria; all of the other Nick Velvet stories (and indeed the majority of Hoch's stories) are third-person narratives.

I'm not sure whom I'd cast to play Nick and Gloria, but the stories are timeless and could be set in the modern day, so you wouldn't have to worry about hiring an actor who could play a certain time period (a tricky skill!).

It would be sad if it took Hoch's death to bring Nick Velvet to the attention of some TV producer as a possible TV project, but if that's what it takes......

BCnU and May God Bless.....

Toby OB

THE HAT SQUAD: EDWARD D. HOCH

Edward D. Hoch has passed away at the age of 77. He was a master of the mystery short story, whose work most frequently appeared in the "Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine". A story by him appeared in that digest every month since 1973.

He wrote a few things for Television, not much, but his talent would have best translated for the anthology series and there never was many of those around.

'The Alfred Hitchcock Hour' - "Off Season"

'Night Gallery' - "The Ring With The Red Velvet Ropes"

'Tales Of The Unexpected' - "The Man At The Top" & "The Vorpal Blade"

And a mini-series: "Nick Verlaine ou Comment voler la Tour Eiffel" (which, brilliant genius that I am, I'm guessing was made in France)

There was a period of time back in the 1980s where I read the EQ magazine every month; couldn't get enough of the stories. And it was the stories by Hoch and those by George Baxt which I liked the most.

BCnU, and May God Bless.....

Toby OB

GAME OF THE NAME: KILBRIDGE vs. KILBRIDE

I've stated this several times in the recent past - it doesn't matter what a character's name may be in the credits, it's what is stated within the show that ultimately matters in Toobworld.

For research on a piece I'm writing about 'Journeyman', I re-watched the pilot and several episodes of 'The Adventures Of Brisco County, Jr.'

One of the five "robber barons" who basically held the reins of power from within the Westerfield Club in San Francisco back in 1893 was Francis Kilbridge, who made his fortune in shipping.

As played by Paul Brinegar, I've seen his name listed as "Francis Kilbride" in just about everything except a very nice 'Brisco County' website at "The Oasis".

But Kilbridge himself pronounces it with that "g" sound, as do other characters throughout the series. And that's what matters within the reality of the TV Universe, not some mis-spelled credits or information sites like IMDb.com.

BCnU!
Toby OB

NEW @ TOOBWORLD CENTRAL

Arrived in the mail today:

'BARNEY MILLER'
The complete second season

I gotta say I was surprised when I got word that it was available - I didn't think the first season sold well enough to warrant another release.

But, here it is and I hope it does big business so that we can at least get Season Three out - that's when Steve Landesburg joined the cast as Arthur Dietrich!

BCnU!
Toby OB

By the way..... The cover of the box has this picture - but with Gregory Sierra photoshopped in!

HAWKES KIN

It will be the Toobworld contention that bounty hunter Crystal Hawkes, seen in her eponymous episode of 'The Adventures Of Brisco County, Jr.', is first cousin to Brady Hawkes, the legendary gambler of the Old West (as seen in several movies based on the Kenny Rogers song "The Gambler").

No surprise in the fact that neither one mentioned the other in the time spent with them on screen - how often do any of us mention our relatives in the course of our daily lives?

BCnU!
Toby OB