must be like the brick house

"What's that?"

This far south and east. It must be like the brick house of the three little pigs.

"Strange analogy, but I'll go for it. Got a wolf at the door?"

No, just Old Man Winter. Paul had hit me up for a chat tonight and when I called, he warned me that some serious cold weather was forthcoming... only it isn't going to make it here. Winter is going to huff and puff, but the chill winds are stopping at Atlanta.

"Hooray! Guess the Gulf Stream is hot enough air to ward off that death blow."

I'm not sure it's blowing quite warm yet, but maybe!

"What else was new in California?"

He's looking to retire in another two years, so we talked about his efforts at getting that paperwork all straightened out. Paperwork, man, it's a great energy vampire. The only way to get it under control is to spend hours on the phone or hours in person at someone's office. He'll get it done, though, I know.

"Did you talk about your recent paperwork battle?"

No, just the weather! 

"Seriously?"

Well, I did couch it in terms of what my warm heart needs to be happy. He and Cathy were both on with me, so they wanted to check on my A-fib thing, see what was up with that. I told them I have a visit with the cardio heart throb in another couple of weeks and I'm going to make sure he knows what's what.

"Yeah, you're going to have to tell him about that issue with TEVA USA's version of Sotalol."

For sure. He needs that information for any of his patients who are also lactose-intolerant.

"And what else did y'all talk about? I know these phone 'chats', they usually go on for an hour or more!"

Well, I told them I've already been to two plays this year and that more are due next month! Then I spoke of the Fathom event on Monday, which was a filmed live play called "The Confession"! Once I mentioned that it took place in an Amish community, Cathy lit up! I wish she and I could go to a play some time!! That would be a blast!

"Well, the next time you head to the West Coast, y'all should plan to do something like that."

For sure! Not sure just when that will be, though. I'm thinking I'll go there next year. I should have my finances under control by then. But that's a topic for another day!

"For real. So, tell me more about this play on film."

Well, did I mention it was a musical??? It was! Honestly, that was the deciding factor for me to take a chance on this one-day-only event. I mean, the fact that it had John Schneider in it certainly helped... but, what turned it into a "must" was that it was a musical!!!

"You saw him sing years ago, right?"

Yeah, like four decades ago! It was while I was in San Diego, so that meant 1983 or '84. He was the famous draw for some special event in Calico. Maybe a salute to gold-mining days in that ghost town cum tourist spot. Dave Eschedor and I just wanted to do something different, so we'd gone out there. What was cool was watching Schneider do his stunt from "The Dukes of Hazard", a popular redneck show on TV.

"I didn't think you watched that show..."

I didn't, but I did know of it. I saw the 'mercials for it! And in those, he'd get into the side seat of the vehicle by jumping through the passenger window. Neat trick! And after the parade through Calico, he did that trick, then he sang a few songs. I don't remember what tunes, but he did have a nice voice. They may have been patriotic songs... and there may have been fireworks that night... and I do remember panning for gold and riding through a mine in a cart. Good times!

"So, what was he doing in "The Confession Musical"?"

He was the husband of a rich, but dying, woman, who had decided to leave her fortune to her long-lost daughter, not him. That prompted him to hire a city girl to portray her daughter. And what was the problem with that plan? I'll tell you! The daughter, Katie, had been raised Amish in the small Hickory Hollow community, something that slick city gal knew utterly nothing about! But, as happenstance would have it, she had just found out she was adopted and wanted to find her birth mother. The whole thing was told from the vantage point of her best friend, Mary. Very cool!

"Oh, that sounds like a pretty funny story line!"

It was, and I found myself laughing out loud several times. I wish it had more song and dance moments, though. Still, there was one of those that really stood out. It was centered on a barn-raising and was reminiscent of STOMP's ability to make music with everyday implements... so you know I loved that!

"I know you did! That live show that STOMP did in Savannah was totally awesome!"

For real! And you know what I liked about the character Katie?

"No, what did you like about Katie?"

The fact that she was smart and kept her clothes on! LOL!

"Well... of course she did. She was Amish. Why would she be naked on stage?"

The other Katie was nekkid all throughout the movie on Sunday night!

"What are you talking about? I thought this play was shown Monday??"

That's correct, it was. But "Ghosts Can't Do It", with Bo Derek as a very different Katie, was the flick I watched on Epix the night before. let me tell you, her real-life husband, who was the director of that movie, must really love showing her off to the world. This was a decade after her break-out role, so she was 33 here. And still playing the pin-up girl: naked in the pool, naked in the shower, naked here, naked there, naked everywhere! LOL! I guess they felt the need to give folks something to distract them from the small amount of dialogue she had.

"Whoa! Was it in German??" 

No, it was in English. I just liked this poster. They translated the title to "My Mind only wants One Thing"... no doubt because this Katie was fixated on wanting sex with her husband (74-yo Anthony Quinn) even though he had killed himself rather than become an invalid. So, he guides her through the process of finding a suitable body for his spirit to inhabit and that young stud on the cover becomes the target. There's just one problem: the young one has to die is the old ghost is to move in. Really rather funny! And Anthony Quinn is just a hoot in this! But the dark-haired hottie with the Italian eyes... ooh la la!

"And who was he? Spill the beans!!!"

Funny that you should mention foodstuff. When I couldn't find anything much on Leo Damian after a flurry of activity in 1989, I wondered if he had died. Nope! He's on youTube with his own cooking show! For real!

"Hmm. Interesting. But he's only done that for less than a decade. What'd he do in those intervening years?"

I don't know. He just stepped out of the public eye, then re-emerged. Okay, enough about all this. Those Harper boys will be coming on soon and I need to brush my teeth.

"Alrighty, then I'll take my leave."

Thanks... later!!!