A Movie Scene Quiz

Good morning, good luck, and please remember not to throw anything "personal" away.

I hate to admit it, but today's office-cleaning exercise might not have been the complete waste of time I thought it was going to be: at any rate, I have a greater sense of accomplishment than I usually have after a day at the office. Of course, my general sense of well-being may be due to the fact that I've had two glasses of wine in the last couple of hours. To reward people for spending the day doing such an onerous job, the company threw a late-afternoon party on the roof of the building (fortunately, it's only a 10-story building, or I wouldn't have been able to handle the height). I played miniature golf for the first time in about 40 years -- it comes back, like riding a bicycle - had some wine, and am now sitting in my office, hoping I sober up in time for my piano lesson at 7 p.m.

hmmm. Wine sounds good, but miniature golf on the roof?

Could it be that you have a greater sense of accomplishment because you tossed all the work in the trash? You better take a look at that basket before you head for home. (lol)

Actually, I did toss my entire backlog in the trash, but only because it's all available on our online product, so there's no need for me to keep paper copies. So, in the unlikely event that anyone ever says, "Why haven't you written up that ruling the IRS issued in 2001?", I can go online and get a copy of the ruling, without having to fish it out of the bottom of a stack of paper on my desk.

Of course, my goal is to make it to retirement without anyone ever noticing all the things I haven't done; as a co-worker of mine says, it won't bother him in the least if people say of him after he's gone, "He retired with a backlog."

Now, the other question, please. Where did you play miniature golf? In the office, in a park, or on the roof?

Miniature golf (only four holes) was on the roof. Since the building is in Greenwich Village, which is zoned for low-rise buildings, we had a great view out over the Village, all the way up to midtown and the Chrysler Building.

What a view! Sounds to me like a great party - you folks will have to clean-up more often. I think it would take more than two glasses of wine though to persuade me to play miniature golf ten flights off the ground. (lol)

I watched the 1989 movie Crimes and Misdemeanors yesterday and this quote has been on my mind:

Woody Allen: (advising Mia Farrow not to meet Alan Alda in his apartment) -
He'll get you in his room and read you your Miranda Rights and then tear your clothes off.

Farrow: Dont be ridiculous - he's interested in producing something of mine.

Allen: Yeh. Your first child.

Farrow: Ridiculous. I've never been seduced by a man who wears loafers and no socks, much less one who says "nucular".

Allen: And he also says "foilage".


Although I don't watch The Simpsons, I remembered hearing about "nucular" being in in one of their episodes and googled?

Marge: Next to Spring and Winter, Fall is my absolute favorite season. Just look at all this beautiful foilage.

Lisa: It's not "foilage," mom, it's "foliage." Foo-liage.

Marge: That's what I said, foilage. It doesn't take a "nucular" scientist to pronounce foilage.
Lisa: [growls]

Inasmuch as The Simpsons debuted in 1989, I'm curious as to whether Woody Allen was quoting The Simpsons, or vice versa.

Did anyone see that particular Simpsons episode? Please!

Sorry, I'm not much of a Simpsons watcher.

Seems like "nucular" is one of W's mispronunciations that's had a lot of press, but that's definitely post-1989.

Interesting connection you've found there, oh keen pop culture sleuth! I don't know who (if anyone) was quoting whom, but consider this: before the Simpsons had their own show, they were featured on the Tracey Ullman show (see The Simpsons and the Tracey Ullman Show), and Tracey Ullman has appeared in a Woody Allen movie (Small Time Crooks). So at least we know that the Simpsons can be connected to Woody Allen through Tracey Ullman, which proves - well, actually, it doesn't prove anything, does it?

To add to the connection, Julie Kavner (who does the voice of Marge) has been in half a dozen Woody Allen movies.

Well, it looks like Woody said it first. I found the Simpsons episode that has the exact quote.

Burns, Baby Burns, Written by Ian Maxtone-Graham, Directed by Jim Reardon
Production code: 4F05 , Original airdate in U.S.: 17-Nov-96
Capsule revision A, 5-Jul-97, Original Airdate in Canada: 16-Nov-96
This link contains the complete episode.
http://www.snpp.com/episodes/4F05.html (Too long to read, but offers some proof)

So, I wonder why the Simpsons writers never acknowledged that
Woody Allen was the originator. I find that very odd.

Oh, I just noticed:

"This episode capsule is Copyright 1996 Frederic Briere. It is not to be
redistributed in a public forum without consent from its author or current
maintainer ([email protected]). All quoted material, episode summaries and
hunt for copyright infringements on the web remain property of The
Simpsons, Copyright of Twentieth Century Fox. The transcript itself is
Copyright 1996 Ondre Lombard."

(What does that mean? Did I do something bad? It was purely unintentional. )

Nah, I think your post falls under the "fair use" rule (see When Copying Is Okay: The "Fair Use" Rule).

Thank you for the link, Bree. Thank goodness. I'm in the clear.

However,

"There is no more commonsensical definition of fair use than the golden rule: Take from someone else only what you wouldn't mind someone taking from you."

A bit one-sided, wouldn't you say?

I'll think about a new question unless you have one ready.

I don't have a new question ready, so if you don't mind, by all means go ahead and post one.

OK.
As soon as A Bronx Tale concludes.

"Bronx Tale" is recording.

Same theme:

Julie Andrews (title)

Rossano Brazzi (title)

Lauren Bacall (title)

Debbie Reynolds (title)

Robert Preston (three words from title)

I'm just popping in to say that today is one of those days when my office is having bandwidth problems, and they've sent out a message reminding us all not to use the Internet for anything other than business purposes. I'll look at this question when I'm at home tonight.

I'm stumped on Lauren Bacall, but I've found at least one Sammy Cahn song for everyone else. (You couldn't have made it easy by throwing in John Candy or Malcolm McDowell, could you?) Here's what I've got:

Star (Julie Andrews)

Three Coins in the Fountain (Rossano Brazzi)

The Tender Trap and The Second Time Around (Debbie Reynolds)

All the Way Home (Robert Preston)

You got it (Sammy Cahn) and some extras, too. "Star" never entered my mind - nor did "The Second Time Around". (lol)

I thought of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" for Julie Andrews
and "Tender Trap" for Debbie.

Lauren Bacall - Written on the Wind (music, Victor Young)- Big hit for The Four Aces way back in 1956. Nominated for an Oscar. Victor Young was awarded an Oscar posthumously that same year for the Best Music Score for "Around the World in 80 Days."

I thought of "Only the Lonely", but since I am only familiar with the Roy Orbison song, I passed on that one.

I forgot all about "Time After Time" . I've seen that movie twice and can never remember it's title.

I was going to use Bette Davis. (Sinatra introduced the Cahn/Van Heusen song on the soundtrack of her movie and also had a hit recording.)