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Carry on, Hawtrey

The Beatles’ album Let it Be starts with John Lennon introducing I Dig a Pony with, “I dig a pygmy, by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf Aids…”

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I assume “deaf aids” is wordplay on “hearing aids,” but have you ever wondered about the Charles Hawtrey reference? Hawtrey was an English comic actor, and in this video clip, from the movie Carry on, Constable, he’s the cross-dressing cop wearing glasses. At the end of the clip you’ll see Robin Ray, who played the TV studio floor manager in A Hard Day’s Night.

Hawtrey makes the BBC’s Paul O’Grady seem butch! Hawtrey and Kenneth Williams were regulars in the “Carry On” series of low-brow British comedy films. I’d known about the series for a long time, but I had never seen any of the installments until last night, when Turner Classic Movies showed four of them (Carry on, Teacher is particularly good fun). Williams was also gay, as if you couldn’t tell, but he had a more studied style of acting that bore a striking similarity to Jeremy Brett.

A ‘Cul de Sac’ in Hill Valley

Maybe you’ve heard that Marty McFly is auctioning replicas of his famous back-to-the-futuristic Nike sneakers, to benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

Another fundraiser for the MJ Fox Foundation is Team Cul De Sac, named after the delightfully fanciful comic strip by Richard Thompson, who has Parkinson’s. A book is in the works, full of contributions from many different artists, including a painting by Bill Watterson, of the Cul de Sac character Petey.

When the book is published, the original art will be auctioned. Here’s a video preview.

Say Goodnight, Irene

Hurricane Irene promises to cause us a lot of trouble here. I’ve been trying to line up some roof repairs and tree removal, and after this weekend it will probably be months before I can get the work done, because contractors will be busy dealing with the storm’s aftermath. I just hope a tree doesn’t come down on the house.

I have a summer tradition of taking Eric to a Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park, and I have tickets for Sunday afternoon’s game, but because of the storm it’s been moved to 5 tomorrow. With any luck it will be over before Irene arrives.

Update: It’s Saturday, there’s a rain delay for the first game of the day, and from the way it’s coming down I’d be surprised if the second game is played. Even if it is held, I don’t know if I’m going to risk driving to Boston.

Update: I went outside to make sure the storm drain was clear, and there’s no way I’m driving into Boston, because there’s no doubt that Irene is here. I’m listening to the radio to see what Major League Baseball is going to do. If they say play ball, then I’m out 250 bucks.

Rick Perry channels Pat Robertson

Here’s Rick Perry, sounding like a televangelist instead of a Presidential candidate.

“Biblical principles” of money management? It’s been decades since I spent any time studying the Bible, but this is what I remember Jesus saying about money:

Matthew 19:

20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?

21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Get rid of your Xbox 360! Goodbye, PS3! Give up your iPhone and your HDTV, too.

Matthew 21:

12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,

13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Hmmm… what about bingo in church basements?

Matthew 22:

17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?

18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?

19 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.

20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?

21 They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.

So pay your fair share of taxes, rich people!

Perry is praised for the economic success of Texas, and creating jobs, but I think he owes the money flowing into Texas to the oil flowing out of Texas. Right now the Lone Star state is a year into its worst drought ever. Perry’s been praying for rain, but it hasn’t worked. Perry made his famously reckless comment about Ben Bernanke’s management of the Federal Reserved being “almost treasonous…”

… but he doesn’t think the idea of Texas seceding from the United States can be considered treasonous?

And oh, by the way, the unemployment rate here in Massachusetts is lower than in Texas.

Monte Schulz moves into ‘The Big Town’

After the craziness of the Iowa straw poll, where the ostensible winner lost and the GOP front runner didn’t participate, KRUU-FM in Fairfield, IA does something more reasonable and interviews novelist Monte Schulz.

[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/dogratcom/Audio/2011/Aug/monteschulz.mp3|titles=Monte Schulz interviewed on KRUU]

According to Amazon, Monte’s next book, The Big Town, will be out in February. Nice cover!

I’m comfortable having a couple of non-fiction books going at the same time, but novels I prefer to read all the way through to avoid spoiling the mood, and I’m starting Monte’s current novel, The Last Rose of Summer. Monte has a knack for defining distinctive characters, and in the first book of his 1920’s Americana series, This Side of Jordan, Chester is as chilling a cold-blooded killer as any villain you’d never want to meet. The funniest moment in the story for me is Monte’s nod to his father that I wrote about at this link.