Another low-posting day, I'm afraid. But before I abandon the freedom of blogging for the hell of paying work, I have a few matters to cover…
Several of you wrote concerning my problem of not being able to run an old program, W.Bloggar, under Windows 10. Thanks but I know all about Compatibility Modes and that's not an answer to the problem. Wish it was. W.Bloggar won't run unless it recognizes Internet Explorer installed and it now doesn't recognize any version installed even though it is, as well as Microsoft Edge. And yes, I tried running it under Windows 98 compatibility and Windows 6 compatibility and all the others. I think this one's a lost cause.
Some of you took note of my joke about Louis C.K. maybe being the next Bill Cosby since they were both stand-ups who got their own shows. Apparently — and I was unaware of them — there have been some Cosby-like allegations about Mr. C.K. — and no, I won't link to them. You can Google away if you like. I have no idea if there's any truth there and I was not alluding to them.
Also, I said, in reference to Jerry Lewis: "Apart from Doris Day, I can't think of anyone else who was a major motion picture star of the fifties who's still alive…and she hasn't appeared anywhere for decades. Jerry is still around, still appearing in front of audiences, still visible." Some of you took that as a challenge to name others and suggested Kirk Douglas, Debbie Reynolds, Max von Sydow, Shirley MacLaine, Olivia de Haviland, Shirley Jones, Sophia Loren, Joanne Woodward, Pat Boone, Brigitte Bardot and Eva Marie Saint. I think some of my correspondents have a different definition of this term, "major star" and what it means to still be appearing a lot.
Just going over the Quigley's Top Ten Box-Office Champions for 1950-1959, I only find — of those suggested — Debbie Reynolds in one year and none of the others. Doris made the Top Ten three times that decade. Jerry, solo or with Dean, was on it nine times, including one first place finish and two second place spots. Kirk Douglas never made it, though I think he did enough popular films that I guess he comes close. The others weren't anywhere near as big as Jerry then and aren't as visible as him now. We see Sophia Loren and Olivia de Haviland about as often as we see Doris Day…or Halley's Comet. But hey, if you want to count them, fine. My point was just that Mr. Lewis has had an amazing longevity as a big star, not just that he was in a lot of movies.
In other news: Donald Trump demands that those who volunteer to work on his campaign sign a contract that they will never disparage him or his name, nor will they work for any other candidate. Yeah, that's real nice.
I won't be posting an obit here for Frank Sinatra Jr. since I never met the man. I did see him perform once in Vegas, singing and fronting a real good big band. He was very good and I couldn't help but think what a shame it was that despite his being real good, people would still walk out saying, "Not as good as his father."
I'll try to get back here later but no promises.