Posted by Ben on February 28, 2002 at 06:51:42:
In Reply to: Our moving day is... posted by Midnite on February 27, 2002 at 17:27:26:

MB and I hope to have EVERYTHING DS-related that has been posted here to be residing at our new home by tomorrow afternoon, with this board remaining to direct everyone to it.

Our new board is going to blow you away!!!

Yay, Midnite! Then I hope Ringo might find the note I left for him last week asking if he noticed the magical player-piano in the 1967 drawing room doing "London Bridge" with one self-correcting key (playing a B-natural that comes out B-flat). If Julia were a music scholar, I'm sure that would have sent her over the edge right then and there, and we wouldn't have been treated to her brilliant histrionics later on, upstairs in her room.

Ben
(who would have tried to rewrite that post here, but after spending a late night taking in a live show at Chicago's legendary Green Mill jazz club -- perhaps the oldest in the U.S. -- can remember only the cool sounds I heard there, including a surprisingly credible torch rendition of "And I Love Her" by a female singer (singing it as "And he loves her"), backed by piano, bass, and drums)

Posted by Ben on February 27, 2002 at 17:51:31:
In Reply to: Barnabas, Vicki and Culture Shock posted by Gerard on February 27, 2002 at 12:31:58:

Everything from history and events from 1795 to 1967, understanding fashion, which end of the telephone receiver to hold to the ear, not freaking out when a blender is turned on, etc. I always thought he presented himself way too early after his resurrection; it would've taken much more time for Willie to fill him in on the nuances of the 20th century.

Imagine it, Gerard ... having Willie as your tutor to bring you current on 175 years of history and culture? PLUS all the nuances? It's a wonder Barnabas was able to present himself as credibly as he did.

Still, I wonder how those tutorials went. I can't picture Barnabas as the docile student or Willie as the erudite schoolmaster:

WILLIE: Okay, Barnabas, uh, today we will learn about the early 1900s, when airplanes enabled man to fly in the sky ... like a bird.

BARNABAS: But Willie, you know I already know how to fly ... like a bat.

WILLIE: Well, then how about this gizmo called the telephone? Yeah, the telephone! Now looky-here, Barnabas, i-i-i-f you want someone at Collinwood to come here to the Old House, you just pick up this here receiver and start dialing these four numbers, like this ...

BARNABAS: But all I have to do is go to the front window, hold a candle so that my face is lit from below, and then repeat quietly, "Come to me, you will come to me."

Ben

Originally posted by Ben on February 22, 2002 at 20:11:10:

How true, Bob. What a cruel thing to do to someone so sweet and clueless! No wonder her mantra became, "I don't understand!"

Ben

Originally posted by Ben on February 19, 2002 at 16:10:10:

Steve's

I'm certain that Sam and Grayson concocted a lot of this out of Jean Cocteau's one woman play, The Human Voice, in which Grayson won rave reviews when she performed it at the Hedgerow Theatre (near Philadelphia) in 1961.

Hi, Steve! I didn't know that "The Human Voice" might possibly have inspired Grayson's brilliant portrayal of Julia losing it. I can almost hear the applause and whistles from the cast and crew for her at the end of that day's taping.

As I mentioned in a recent post ("All Julia, All the Time"), this "home alone" ep has got to be one of my favorites. I am so glad Grayson got to carry this one practically solo. Few other actors on DS were accorded this privilege and honor. I remember how when the principal cast was out shooting HODS, some of the episodes had gotten a little thin with the second-stringers. I mean, could we stand Amanda Harris whining throughout an entire ep (or did it just seem like it)??

Ben
(heading over to the Blue Whale to toast Grayson's fine performance today with a little brandy, sherry, and maybe even a hot toddy!)

Originally posted by Ben on the Dark Shadows: general Discussion Forum on February 16, 2002 at 06:02:37:

Since I finished taping the entire run of DS a couple of months ago, I don't always know exactly what ep was shown on a given day. But the daily montages give me a good idea where we are.

Looks like we're nearing the height of, as Julia99 fondly puts it, "the great Julia freakout," and I am loving every minute of it! It is wonderful that Grayson is able to dominate these episodes and even carry one completely -- I'm thinking of the brilliant one [spoiler]where she's home alone.[/spoiler]

Few other actors were able to pull off carrying an entire episode. It reminds me of how, later in the series, particularly when HODS was being made, the stronger leads were away filming the movie, and the show was left to "stretch" with second stringers.

I mean, didn't we have to endure entire episodes of Amanda Harris' whining??! Or did it just seem like it?

You go, Grayson!

Ben

Originally posted by Ben on February 15, 2002 at 19:20:20:

25. When you are awaiting the arrival of a new addition to your household staff (such as a governess), saunter about the house in full evening formalwear and your finest jewelry.

26. Don't forget to freshen up your mascara before going to bed for the night or retiring to your coffin for the day.

27. Whenever Collinsport is swarming with reports of lone women getting attacked in the woods at night by vampires, werewolves, and who-knows-what-else, BE SURE TO GO FOR A WALK IN THE WOODS ALONE AT NIGHT.

28. If a creepy but courtly man, who looks eerily like the portrait of his "ancestor" who died 175 years ago, appears only at night and never during daylight, think nothing of it.

29. If a creepy but courtly man, who looks eerily like the portrait of his "ancestor" who died 175 years ago, wears a suit and tie at all hours of the night, even if you drop in on him at 4 a.m., think nothing of it.

30. If a creepy but courtly man, who looks eerily like the portrait of his "ancestor" who died 175 years ago, presents you with an antique music box, know that you are the only one he has ever favored with such a one-of-a-kind gift.

31. In our 40-room mansion, there is no need for a doorbell or intercom. No matter where you are in the house, you will magically hear someone lightly tapping at the front door.

A N D . . .

Ben

Posted by Ben on February 15, 2002 at 07:06:42:
In Reply to: For Ben [and those under 40!] - Send No Money!! posted by RingoCollins on February 14, 2002 at 18:27:16:

Wow, Ringo, what an archive you have! The numbers tell another story: "$2.98" (especially the "98") and the "3" as the shorthand, one-digit zip, which was all you needed back then for your letter to find its way around the Big Apple.

Ben
(grateful to have avoided developing a David Collins complex, had no one believed me about those color converters -- I really did see them, Dr. Woodard, I did, I did, and Ringo proved I'm not crazy!)