What's making you happy today?
22nd wedding anniversary.

WTG Crimson!

Nice run dude!

Good for you, and Mrs Ghost.

Congrats CG. Many more!

Mum's had the all-clear.
Okay, it's only the all-clear for now, because we know cancer is sneaky. But they're happy they cut out what was there, and she's going to have radiotherapy, not chemo.

Slightly less good news re Otis (my rat) who is in the vets for the weekend.
But it has to be the best place for him.
So scared he'll die away from Duncan and me, because of what happened to Diz. But that's no excuse to refuse treatment.

Good news for your mom, Sundae!

Great news! Hells yeah!

This is awesome.

Great news about your mum, Sundae xxx
As you say, Otis is in the best place for his care. You've made the right decision for him. Fingers' crossed on that front.


Sent by thought transference

Great news Sundae.

Great news Sundae. Getting the tumor out is the big thing now; radiotherapy will mop up the sneaky stuff. And, glad Otis is getting the care he needs, as Limey says. It takes courage on your part but you're doing the right thing.

Usually...:lol:

Thank you.
After the year went all pear-shaped on us, we just spent the day watching movies.
She enjoyed it, that's all that mattered.

Congrats CG...
& yay for mum Sundae!

Thanks.

Congrats Ghost and Mrs Ghost!

Sundae: that's brilliant news.

Thank you.

I'm acting as power of attorney for my elderly cousin. He was an out of state landlord for a house up in Wayne County PA. (His childhood home.) As his dementia got worse, he did less and less to ensure he had good tenants and he did less and less to maintain the property.

The last tenant lived there with his father, who was a good tenant, but the father died, and the son stayed on as a terrible tenant. Stopped paying rent and had a bunch of dogs who neighbors said never went outside. The animal excrement everywhere ruined all the floors and the house got a severe flea infestation. My elderly cousin, at my urging, evicted this tenant after 9 months of unpaid rent. I've never set foot in the house, but I've spoken to no less than four different people who said you have the urge to vomit as soon as you cross the threshold. It smells that bad.

Anyway, once I was given power of attorney two months ago, my first goal was to sell this vacant property. And I have in front of me the draft of the closing papers! The place has a tax assessment of $80K and I accepted an offer for only $35.5K. Sounds bad, but my real estate agent tells me we were lucky to get over $30k for it. The buyer is a small time builder who winters in Florida. He's going to gut the place and open the windows all winter to let it air out. Then renovate it next summer when he comes back to NEPA.

So I'm very happy that I don't have an abandoned slum property in PA to worry about over the winter when there is no heat to keep the water pipes from freezing. Hope I'm not jinxing it by talking about it before the papers are signed.

Good for the buyer, good for the seller. I love those situations. Here's hoping it goes through.

who inherits when your cousin dies?

That's something that I'm a little annoyed about and try not to think about because it's a decision he made when he was lucid and before I became a much bigger part of his life. He is leaving about 95% of his estate to his childhood church (which is very different today than his nostalgic childhood memory of it) and to his alma mater. And he's leaving small amounts of money to various cousins, including me. He never had siblings, and never got married or had kids. He's been alone his entire life and never formed close bonds with anyone. So he's giving his money to strangers instead of the guy who is helping him these days.

You're not doing what you're doing for money. You're doing it because the man needed some help, and you were able to help him.

And because you're one of the good guys.

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Thank you. It's true.

But damnit, if the guy has money, why can't he spread the wealth a little closer to home?

It's been fun going through his stuff now that he's in a nursing home and categorizing it into sell-able valuable stuff and junk. I mean, it's a huge chore, but I keep coming across old stuff, like this kind of ice cube tray we had when I was a kid. I brought the tray home to try out with the kids. I hadn't used one in 40 years. It sucked as much as I remember them sucking. But the kids had fun with it.

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Oh man, and your finger skin would stick to the metal... Yay plastic.

Suck is harder sufficient to describe those fuckers. :mad:

yebbut the church probably won't be ungrateful for your decision to sell (at that price)

True. They won't even have any idea by the time they get around to receiving a big fat check.

exactly. close relatives can have a horrible knack of suddenly deciding they "care" too late, specially if they feel they're losing out financially. because people...

Good call, well rid, I say.

And you may not remember this, but the water sloshes around like crazy in the larger tub with the curved corners so you have to walk super slow and be really careful putting it in the freezer.

Sure do, got yelled at many times. Plus since the freezer was up high, you have to lift it perfectly level or it will slop over the end. Then the natural reaction is to snap it level quickly, but even if you stop at level the momentum makes it slop over the other end. Like working under the car and bumping your head on the frame, so you snap your head back... right into the ground. :facepalm:

I remember bending the lever on one of grandmadigr's ice trays trying to dislodge those damn ice cubes. And when they finally come loose, half of the cubes stay in the framework thingy with the lever.

Playing in Rocky Horror is a complete joy. Dress rehearsals every night this week.

The songs are all really good - in a lot of musicals the songs just push the plot along and sometimes they can be quite lame. Some of these are better than I remembered. They are all stuck in my head now, since I've been listening to nothing else for the last 3 weeks, learning the material.

They are running the band through the theater's sound system, and it has enough bass to make my contribution very important. The audience will feel my notes. There's a speaker under the seats. The music will work better with me prominent. That's only half bragging - it's the nature of bass.

The cast is very talented and most of them spend the entire show in their skivvies. Now that I'm in my 50s and they are mostly in their 20s, I don't think of them sexually (honest!) so much as just, wow, these are attractive lads and ladies, and I don't mind looking at... the ladies. I'm a straight guy, so watching our Frank-n-Furter, or our Rocky in his gold lamé speedo, I just naturally don't stare.

J and her daughter and friends are seeing it Friday night, 9 people!

Are the songs not the same songs as in the movie?

They are, but they are better in the stage show because of how it all works... the chorus of real singers changes things

I think in the old movie experience, the adrenaline rush carries you from the opening for the first 45 minutes, so the second half of the movie drags. The stage show does a few things better than the movie - the floor show is better. And "I'm Going Home" which Frankie sings before he's killed, is actually a very good song, but by the time we reach it in the movie, it feels like an afterthought.

West side Story without the songs, you'd still know what was happening. Instead of being mood setting background, the songs in Rocky Horror actually tell part of the story, wouldn't make sense without them. Plus they're fun songs, irresistible to not at least hum along.

The music director gave me a huge compliment, said I've been perfect and I have never played a wrong note in all the rehearsals, making her job very easy.

This is not exactly the case, I know where my wrong notes were... mostly, I hid them using musical trickery. But it makes me very happy. I worked really hard in preparation. It pays off.

Opening night in 5 hours!

break a finger!

Time is fleeting...

Awesome. Have a blast tonight!

The biggest trick the Devil ever played, was convincing everyone he never played a wrong note... until he got to Georgia.
No matter Tony, the costumed consumers will love the show, and the music is half of it, so you guys in the pit get half the accolades. Just duck the flying toast. :D

Pics, please? And, maybe audio/video?

Purty please?

And don't forget to have fun!

Hee hee I might photograph the band, and/or get a selfie with our Frank, but no photography is permitted during the presentation!

And you know what, combining threads, is one of my favorite bits of this?

My old Narcissistic Personality Disorder boss was SOOOO homophobic,... I would have hidden this whole thing from him.

Life's too short to work for assholes.

Oh wow, you're doing Rocky Horror? I so wish I could be there! Break a leg, hope it goes with a bang!

Good Luck T!!!!

Dana introduced me to the British hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks.

Our favorite song (meaning the kids and I, Mr. Clod likes his hip-hop less playful and more Busta Rhymes-y) is "Mama Do the Hump."

Imagine our surprise this evening to hear that very song playing in a new Google App ad online. Very happy.

Two shows down, the people loved our Rocky!

Our Frank-n-Furter entrance gets a huge audience reaction. During the break, I talked with Greg, the actor who plays him, and he explained that Desitin is a necessary product to use if you have to wear rubber underwear for hours at a time.

In a nation of 320 million, just how many can say they were chatting with Frank-n-Furter about his underwear? In all the theaters, after all these years, probably less than the number of guys who banged Madonna or Cher. Maybe less than landed on the Moon. You're in a pretty elite group. :thumb:

Well probably not quite that exclusive... Greg seems to like talking about his junk.

Well it is theater, musical theater, so that's not unusual. :haha"

J looks great! And you look pleased as punch. It's a good look for you. :)

Great pic. Really great pic.

Outstanding pic.

Great pic, of great people.

That is so awesome. What a great experience.

love the pic!

Yeah. Excellent pic