Ragtime or Rocky?

Many of us begin thinking about the upcoming weekend on Monday.  Sometimes you have to.  Today I am thinking about Saturday night, because I had plans but got another offer.

My plan was to participate in Ritz and Ragtime at Rutger Park, a fundraiser for the Landmarks Society of Greater Utica. I will join other members of LiFT, Little Falls’ community theatre, dressing in 1920’s costumes and interacting with guests in a Prohibition Era setting. There will be music and drinks in a magnificent setting.  I have participated in this event before; it’s great.

Then I found out that the Capitol Theatre in Rome, NY is showing The Rocky Horror Picture Show!   An interactive screening in a magnificent setting!   I have only seen Rocky Horror on home video and, more recently DVD.  Friends have told me about the audience participation, but I have never witnessed it.  Additionally,  a couple of long time friends (no, they are not old!) are going.

I still plan to go to the fundraiser.  I think people are counting on me.  Full disclosure: I also have a fabulous new dress I am dying to wear.  However, if things were to change unexpectedly,  it’s nice to know I have options.  Also, if I really want to see Rocky Horror,  there will be another showing Oct. 13.  I would just have to find different friends to go with.

At any rate, if anybody says there is nothing to do around here, I fear they are just not paying attention.  Here are two great pieces of entertainment for one Saturday night!

Ritz and Ragtime at Rutger Park runs from 7 to 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 available through Eventbrite.  Rocky Horror Picture Show will be playing at the Capitol Theatre, 230 W. Dominick St., Rome, NY, at 10:30 p.m.   Tickets are available through romecapitol.com.

And for anybody who looked at the times of the events and is about to suggest I fly from Utica to Rome and take in both… Well, let’s just say that is probably not going to happen.

 

Market, Motors and Memory

I went to the Clinton Farmer’s Market today.  What a crowd scene!  I brought my Tablet to take some pictures, but the only real photo op was a display of some vintage cars. The cars reminded me of a previous experience,  so this may turn into a Throw Back Thursday post.

My companions at the market included my sister Cheryl and great-nephew Sheppie.  We were the three who walked across the street to see the cars.  I love classic cars.

I would love to tool down the road in this!

A fellow there showed us the engines of a couple of the cars and explained some of the mechanics involved.  These were Franklin cars, which were apparently the best made at the time.

Cheryl and Sheppie.

The cars reminded me of a time I dressed in 1920’s garb and posed near an old automobile.

This is not exactly like the car in my memory.

I was unable to show my pictures of the other car at the time, but I can show them to my readers now.

Hmmm… not really like it at all.

Here is the car I remembered.   It was parked in front of one of the Rutger Mansions in Utica, NY, for a fundraiser for the Landmarks Society of Greater Utica.  But that isn’t the picture I really wanted to show.

I rarely ignore a chance to flash a little leg.

Yes, this is me, impersonating a society lush from the 1920’s.

My husband Steven and friends Kim and Wayne.

This picture was actually taken a year later than the previous one, but it us the same car.

I guess this also can count as a Non-Sequitur Thursday post,  since I veered from farmers market to memories.  Who says I can’t multitask?

 

But Where Was Bela Lugosi?

The bad blogging week continues with a blogger’s sick day.  I have had a dreadful headache all day.  At least, sometimes it was dreadful, sometimes it was just a common or garden headache, sometimes I was merely light- and heavy-headed at the same time (I just realized what a contradiction that is, yet that is how I felt).  But I must not go on about my ills. For one reason, they can’t have been that bad: I made it through a 10-hour work day and cracked a few jokes along the way.  Sometimes I become quite self-dramatizing about my stupid head.

Be all that as it may, regular readers know I can’t just say “blogger’s sick day” and leave it at that.  I have to chatter on for at least 200 words (I don’t know how I came up with that number, but that is how it has always been).  I know what, I’ll pep things up with a picture.  Perhaps it can also be a Throw-back Thursday, veering into my favorite, Non-Sequitur Thursday.

We’re not plotting anything nefarious.

Here is a throwback to 2017 and the 1920’s, and the Ritz and Ragtime at Rutger’s Park fundraiser for the Landmarks Society of Greater Utica.  I wore a different 1920’s outfit to the 2018 event but did not get a picture.

The three words that best describe me are as follows, and I quote…

To make this a Non-Sequitur Thursday (who says I can’t multi-task?), here is Steven’s and my newest Christmas decoration, purchased at Honey Brook Hobbies in Ilion, NY (ooh, I even threw in a plug to a local business).

I am over 250 words now, and my headache is no better, but I am kind of liking this blog post.  I think I will close with a picture of a monster, just because.

“Is this where the karaoke party is?”

I loves me a little Nosferatu.

 

The Mystery of the Missing Boa

Who loses a red feather boa?  I just now posted that as my Facebook status after repeating it in my head 7,348 times (approximately) while looking in all the likely spots and several unlikely spots not once but several times.  I found two padfolios (isn’t that a word?), several headbands, countless dust bunnies (don’t judge me, but you may judge my housekeeping) and, most usefully for tonight, my yellow beaded bag.  But no red feather boa. I HATE it when that happens!

We felt fine, yes.

It was in 2017 when I last wore the thing.  This is me and my friend, Kim, at a Prohibition Party at Gerber’s 1933 Tavern in Utica, NY.  Fun times.  The ironic thing (as if I don’t get enough irony in my diet!) is that I spent all day wishing I had some other color of boa than red.  Now I would be SO thankful to find the red one!  There’s a lesson here somewhere, but one is generally not receptive to lessons when one has been stomping around the entire house looking for an elusive costume piece.

So I guess this is a Wrist to Forehead Saturday post.  I have paused in my searching to drink some water (one can withstand most things, even frustration and self-loathing, if one remains hydrated) and make my blog post.  Eventually I must begin getting ready for Ritz and Ragtime at Rutger Park.  I think I have an outfit I can stand wearing.  I can even bear to go without the boa.  I didn’t wear a boa when I dressed as Ruby in Rubbed Out at Ruby’s.  At least I know where my long holder and fake cigarette are.  And one must not discount the self-confidence-enhancing benefits of a yellow beaded bag.

 

Tie It With a Clara Bow

The title is, in case you did not notice, and I feel sure you did, a reference to yesterday’s title.  Clara Bow was a personality in the 1920’s, wasn’t she?  I suppose I should Google it, but it is Friday, Lame Post Friday to be exact, and I only want to type in 200 or so words and get back to Friday evening activities.  I pride myself that I am posting on actual Friday and not early Saturday morning. Who does that?  Never mind.

We just got back from the Waterfront Grille in Herkimer, NY (where we live).  We were hoping to meet some friends there but apparently misunderstood the plan (if there was one).  I had originally thought I was going to rush home from work, shower, change, go.  That did not happen.  Instead I was able to take some time with a costume piece I thought would work for my 1920’s event tomorrow, which I talked about in yesterday’s post.  Yesterday I said the velvet gown I had found in Ilion Little Theatre’s costume collection would work. I woke up at two this morning with the realization that it would not.

I have in my possession a filmy almost dress I think I could put over a sheath dress to look kind of sort of 1920-ish.  However, it is very wrinkly and has a few stains.  I didn’t even know if it would fit.  I tried it on. Then I tried to iron it.  It was so filmy, I was worried it was too thin to iron, so I used a press cloth, by which I mean a handkerchief.  Only at first I could not find a clean handkerchief.  When I finally found one, I found what I have found every time I have attempted to use a press cloth:  it doesn’t work!  No doubt I do it wrong.  However, I managed to iron the thing without mishap.

I put it on over my black sheath dress (which no longer fits so good since I have put on weight), and showed Steven, saying, “I guess this isn’t going to work.”

He said, “I was about to say, ‘Add some beads and accessories, and that’s good.  But you have to get rid of those stains.”

Long story short (too late!), I have it soaking but am not hopeful.  I still have tomorrow morning and afternoon to make this work or find something else!

In the meantime, it is Lame Post Friday, and I find this post (as well as my costume for tomorrow) lame.  Happy Start to Your Weekend, everyone.

And I am over 400 words.  Go figure.

 

What Would Clara Bow Have Done?

I was about to title this one Post Rehearsal Post, but then I thought it might be a Non-Sequitur Thursday, in which case, the title ought not directly reflect the content of the post.  Oh the conundrums of the daily blogger!

I just returned from the first rehearsal for A Trivial Murder, the murder mystery we are putting on to benefit Herkimer County Historical Society.  It will be Saturday, Nov. 3, 6 p.m. (doors open at 5), at the Ilion Moose Lodge.   The cost is $25.00/person. To purchase tickets, stop by the Society, Monday-Friday, 10-4, or send a check in the mail and they’ll send your tickets to you – HCHS, 400 N. Main St., Herkimer, NY 13350. For more information, call 315-866-6413.

I brought my Tablet to take a couple of pictures, but neglected to actually take any.  Instead, I offer a picture of a previous murder mystery for the Historical Society.

That was a fun cast, yes, but this one will be great, too!

Before rehearsal, my friend Kim and I went up to the costume rooms at Ilion Little Theatre (ILT) looking for a 1920’s costume for me for the Ritz and Ragtime at Rutger Park fundraiser on Saturday.  We and a other members of LiFT (Little Falls Theatre Company) are volunteering and must look the part.  I did not want to wear the dress I wore last year (also borrowed from ILT) (and returned); I wanted to wear the dress worn by another character in Rubbed Out at Ruby’s (a murder mystery presented by LiFT last year).

This is what I wore last year; some people thought I looked pretty fine.

 

I was looking for the black dress on the girl sitting next to me who is NOT strangling me.

However, after looking for a while, I just wanted to find ANYTHING that worked.  Eventually I found a black velvet gown that will do. Alas, it does not look like a flapper dress.  Maybe I’m a little too old to be a flapper.  SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!  After rehearsal (which went pretty well), I went home and sought out accessories to make the gown 1920’s ready.

So this is my Non-Sequitur Thursday post.  At least I plugged two upcoming local events, and included a couple of pictures.  I call that respectable.  Happy Thursday, everybody.

Oh crap, I still have to think of a title.

 

Ready for Ritz and Ragtime?

There’s a suspicious-looking bunch, if you like.

I begin with a throw-back photo, but with a purpose.  These are some of the characters from Rubbed Out at Ruby’s the murder mystery presented by LiFT, Little Falls Theatre Company, last year.  We made a reappearance at the Ritz and Ragtime at Rutger Park fundraiser for the Landmarks Society of Greater Utica.  A few of us are making a reappearance next Saturday, Oct. 6, at this year’s event.

Only I don’t have anything to wear.  That is why I was at the Thrift Store (Salvation Armani, as I like to call it) yesterday.  I had no luck.  But that is not the important thing.  The important thing is to make a blog post.  First, a quick plug for the fundraiser:

October 6, from 7 to 10 p.m., the Historic old No. 3 Rutger Park Mansion,  will be transformed back to the 1920’s. There will be food, drinks and music in a beautiful and unusual setting.  Tickets are $25.  Although it is not necessary, period costumes are encouraged (and a lot of fun!).   For more information, you can visit the Facebook event page (which I have linked to on “event” in the first paragraph).

Sexy ladies, no?

I thought I would fill out today’s post with a couple more photos from last year’s event.  You may be asking why I can’t wear the little red number I’m wearing in the pics.  Explanations are tiresome.  But here’s another picture.

It’s not really so easy to carry a flash in your garter like that.

I will no doubt solve my wardrobe dilemma.  I’ll be sure to write a blog post about how I do.

 

Judge If You Want: It’s Wuss-out Wednesday

Sorry, folks, it’s Wuss-out Wednesday.  What little writing I managed at work today was on the next murder mystery.  I went to the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Ilion, NY, after work, looking for something I could modify into a 1920’s dress for an upcoming fundraiser.  I thought I could do a post about the shopping or about the fundraiser.  I could even do a post about the problems I am having writing and casting the murder mystery (one effects the other, you know).  I find I can’t.  I need my time sitting on the couch, knitting, and watching television.

Oh dear, it might have sounded better if I said something like, “I need my time for me” or “I need time to rest, relax and renew.”  Well, judge me if you like;) I know some of you will anyways) (you know who you are) (oh, what do I care if people judge me?  Don’t we all judge each other sometimes?) (Oh, I suppose YOU never do!) (again, you know who you are).

Where was I?  Ah yes, posting quickly so I can pick up my knitting needles, not to mention a glass of wine (again, judge if you are so inclined).  The important points about today:  I worked a little on my murder mystery.  I am having problems gathering a cast.  I shopped at the Thrift Store.  I have a fundraiser coming up with a 1920’s theme.  I hope to expand upon all these topics in future blog posts.

I hope your mid-week is going well.