Showing posts with label Gilda Radnor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gilda Radnor. Show all posts

Monday, June 3, 2013

Good Riddance to Evil Appliances

Keep Away from Belladonna and Baby's Blood
My house is Mid-Century Cookie Cutter. Of course, some unusual renovations to the interior by the original owners have left me with some very limited choices when it comes to where and how things fit, particularly in my already small kitchen. Eight years ago, my 25-year-old refrigerator gave up the ghost. Of course, like an aging pet or an elderly relative, the older it got, the more I prepared myself for its eminent demise. When I went to replace it, finding one to fit the space I had wasn't easy and I ended up with a Kenmore which I quickly grew to despise.

The non-adjustable shelves were in a very odd configuration, leaving little space for tall things like pitchers and bottles. The freezer had one wire-rack shelf with too much space between the rungs, making it almost impossible to have a level stack of packages, let alone a stable place for ice cube trays. Within a week of running out of warranty, one of the vegetable crisper drawers partially disintegrated in my hand, rendering it practically useless. The exterior was some kind of textured vinyl, making it almost impossible to keep clean and while the freezer door refused to not swing all the open, the fridge door had to be tapped with a knee to close tightly. 

Still, I expected the Effer to last longer than 8 years. Yes, after a slow but steady decline that started with milk-shake-like ice cream two weeks ago ended tonight with me unloading and purging the whole damned thing, filling both my big trash can and my recycling bin to the brim. The thought of lugging them to the curb tomorrow night, along with the yard stuff I managed to get done yesterday, makes me cranky, like a baby with a saggy diaper that leaks. I was able, thanks to a giant cooler and bagged ice, save a lot of the newer produce and dairy. And the chest freezer on the back porch is full, so no one's going hungry anytime, soon. Seems like I just did this last Fall...  

A replacement is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. When I finish this post, I will take my vodka out of the freezer and unplug the hellspawn forever. Of course, I fear that when they take it away, they'll forget to take off one of the doors at the dump and a diseased rat will be trapped in it and die. And then a small dog or a raccoon, followed by some form of Belladonna and some baby's blood and it will become an unstoppable demonic machine, devouring anyone in it's path and growing larger and larger with the ingestion of each victim.

Well, that's just silly, isn't it? No sillier than the nonsense that's been going on around Uncle P's house, lately. I have to check with my electric company (PECO here in southeastern PA) because I may get an energy credit for the new one (the commercial for which is where that goofy monster fridge image comes from).

To quote the great Gilda Radner (look her up!):
"It's always something. If it's not one thing, it's another. Either you smoke or you have a sweatball hanging off of your nose." Seriously, if you don't know this, look it up. Gilda was a comedy genius. Anyway, as much I hate the rigamarole and extra work the Kenmore's death has caused me, I will be very happy to have a brand-new fridge when I get home from the Day Job, tomorrow. I know there is a Robot Hell, but is there an Appliance Hell? I hope so. And I hope that horrible old Kenmore fridge rots there, writhing in imaginary anthropomorphized pain for all eternity. That is of course, until that first rat...



Sorry. I'm in a mood. What are you trying to do, make me sick? Goodnight my little Roseanne Rosannadannas! I hope you clicked those links!

More, anon.
Prospero

Friday, January 15, 2010

Forgotten Gems: "Gilda Live"


Yesterday's post asked something about bringing a celebrity back to life and who you would choose. I chose Gilda Radner and said "The world needs more Gildas." And I meant that. I can count the number of celebrity deaths that actually made me sad on one hand. News of Gilda's death from ovarian cancer, delivered live by Steve Martin on SNL, is probably the one that made me the saddest of all.

As an original cast member of Saturday Night Live's "Not Ready for Prime-Time Players," Gilda quickly became known for a series of hilarious characters, many of them based on family and friends she'd grown up with, as well as celebrity parodies no one else was doing (or could do). Whether it was playing advice columnist Rosanne Rosannadanna (pictured); hearing impaired substitute teacher Emily Litella; nerdy Lisa Lupner; hyper-active Brownie Judy Miller or drug-addled rocker Patti Smith, Gilda's total abandon into silliness, just to make an audience laugh was without par.

In 1979, Gilda got her own Broadway show and director Mike Nichols filmed it, preserving forever some of the funniest work from one the funniest women who ever lived. The film also features a hilarious performance from Don Novello as Father Guido Sarducci, possibly the most politically incorrect Italian character ever...





Yes, that's Paul Schaffer as Candy's drummer.




And just because I loved her so, here's some more of Gilda's brilliance:



Sadly, from what should have been a nonsensical marriage of epic proportions, the films made with her husband Gene Wilder are just terrible. Yes, even The Woman in Red, though Haunted Honeymoon is undoubtedly the worst of them (and sadly, Gilda's last). Her legacy lives on through Gilda's Club, a non-profit organization providing support for cancer patients and their families. Who knows what heights of silliness Gilda might have achieved? I'm just glad we have records of some of her best.

If you've never seen it, put Gilda Live in your Netflix queue; even if you don't get the late '70's topical references, there's enough character-driven humor to make you laugh a whole lot. If, like Uncle Prospero, you saw all those great SNL moments and haven't seen Gilda Live in a while, funny is always funny, especially if you haven't seen it in a while. "Oh! My cheechnos!"


More, on Sunday.
Prospero