by jphilo | Jun 20, 2009 | Family
This is the last blog about last week’s writing conference. I promise. But before I close the book on the subject, please scrutinize the photo above and notice my presence on a conference panel of real, live, published, legitimate authors. As you can see, they even let me hold the mike and talk.
Of course, there’s a reason why everyone’s laughing. Before I answered the first question, I stopped the proceedings and asked a member of the audience to take a picture of the panel. I needed proof for my sibs that I was not telling tales again.
See, when we were kids, I lived in my own little world. My mother indulgently called my propensity for story telling “an active imagination.” My dad rolled his eyes. My creativity-impaired sibs, called it lying. Boy am I glad they weren’t in kindergarten with me. They might not have appreciated the stories I invented and told about them during show-and-tell. I thought of it as my personal comedy gig which grew more inventive and outrageous as the weeks rolled by.
So maybe they do have a reason to doubt my recent speaking and writing claims. And maybe I do have a reason to gather evidence to dispel their doubts. Anyway, I’m thankful that Shelly Beach humored my request instead of kicking me off the panel. Of course, after pulling a stunt like that, she may never invite me back, which is another reason I’m tickled to have this picture. It my most shiningest moment of fame since kindergarten – and it may be my last.
by jphilo | Jun 2, 2008 | Current Events
A few days ago my favorite comedian, Harvey Korman, died. What do you say when someone who impacted your formative years leaves? I think my sister, who asked if she could guest blog about this man who made us smile, says it perfectly.
Dear Harvey and Carol,
Thursday, May 29 was my fifteenth wedding anniversary. On my drive home from work while I was thinking about my lovely husband, I heard a distressing news clip: Harvey Korman of the Carol Burnett Show had passed away from an aortic aneurism at the age of 81. It was a difficult week. First our Uncle Bud on Sunday, and then you, one of my favorite entertainers.
Several Christmases ago my son Ben got me one of the best gifts I have ever received: two DVD’s of old Carol Burnett shows, including Went with the Wind, the movie parody of Gone with the Wind including the funniest sight gag I’ve ever seen. (I take these DVD’s with me to parties by request of friends). This skit left us weak with laughter.
Ben gave me these DVD’s remembering an incident from his slacker teen days when he nearly got in trouble with me for watching TV instead of doing a required chore. I came charging up the stairs ready to skewer him only to find him doubled over in laughter in front of the TV. He was watching a clip of Went with the Wind. I was helpless–we laughed together. He was off the hook and I told him about the role of The Carol Burnett Show and you, Harvey Korman, in our family.
Your show provided blessed comic relief once a week for our family. The chemistry among the cast—you, Vicki Lawrence, Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Lyle Waggoner–was exquisite, the sketch writing cutting and witty. We would watch you and Carol in Mama’s Family, you and Carol on an executive date, Tim Conway and you alone on an island executing a military parade, Tim cutting up and making you laugh. My sister Jolene, my brother John, and I would spend the week acting out some of the skits, repeating the punch lines, waiting for the next show.
I heard you say once that no one was as unselfish on a show with time and the spotlight as Carol Burnett. She seemed to know that when those around her were at their best and had a chance to demonstrate that, she was at her best, too. There is nothing like it on TV now. Only Garrison Keillor’s skit writing and performance on the radio show Prairie Home Companion comes close to what you did.
Thanks, Man. You made me laugh when I needed a laugh so much. Thanks for your wonderful show, Carol Burnett! I hope I do my job as well as you guys did yours.
Much Love,
Jolene’s Sis
by jphilo | Apr 18, 2008 | Out and About
In Atlanta, the azaleas are in full bloom. So are the daffodils. And the trees are a new leaf, light green, a feast for three spring hungry midwesterners. Our drive from Atlanta to Savannah, through green and flowering countryside, was worth every penny of $3.00+ gas in our rental car.
At lunchtime, we stopped at a state park to eat the lunch we’d packed. I moseyed over to a flowering hedge to take a few pictures – four or five bushes with pink, white or orange blooms. I think they’re azaleas, but what does a midwestern woman know about spring in the south?
In Savannah, spring is even further along. The azaleas are past, but the crepe myrtle and the hibiscus are showing off big time. Temperatures top out at 80 degrees with sunny skies and light winds. Yesterday, we went on a tour of the city in an open air bus. My sister and I take walks each morning and evening, savoring every moment of the good weather. Mom goes with us to see the sites in the day, and we all sit together in the sunshine as much as possible.
Beautiful as it all is, I look forward to going home in a few days. Because spring is starting in Iowa. I’ll get to enjoy the flowers and the warmth and the green all over again, minus the azaleas and the southern mansions.
But there will be magnolias and rhubarb and asparagus for warped minds. Who could ask for more?
