bostonman

Speaking of French terms: I'm 1/2 American, 1/2 French, fully fluent in both languages. I go nuts when I hear Americans say croissANT for the pastry or biDAY for a bidet, the great ass cleaning bathroom appliance. In French, the accents are on the first syllables, so a croissANT is a CROISSant and a biDAY (bidet) is a BEEday. And it's not a coup de gras, it's a coup de grace. (Grace shot.) A coup de gras could be loosely translated as a shot of grease. A coup de grace is what it says: a grace shot.

 

I could go on and on but every time I hear someone in line in front of me at Starbucks ask for a croissANT, I want to yell.

My knowledge of French is more academic than practical, but isn't it really the case that there should be NO stresses in French? Except of course for expressive emphasis in a sentence - and particularly at the end of a sentence? So that technically it's neither croissANT nor CROISsant, but croissant?

English has very defined stresses, so yes, countering the usual stress (i.e. going more for CROISsant) would be an effective "correction," but wouldn't that really be just as wrong in true French?

"on point"

Except when used as a variant of "en pointe" in ballet, which is a legit term that would be hard to get around, lol.

Well I was doing some homework on other escorts on Rentmen. Wanted to see what people were saying and really felt like I've had a great experience with him and thought I would share since it seemed like a lot of people were dragging him.

 

But as you can see I'm not Collin. I have a profile with an image on Rentmen. I even mentioned I have written three or four reviews on him.

lol...it's ok. And welcome to the site.

I can actually say I've hired Collin five or six times now. You can see my reviews on rentmen. He's a great guy. I did ask about the collegestudchris situation and he said they have worked together in the past but there is no relationship there. At all. One lives in Rhode Island and the other in Shrewsbury. So that's the poop on that situation. BTW, Collin is now residing west of Boston in the burbs.

 

As far as not feeling safe or there is something odd going on, he's NEVER mixed me up with anyone, is quite articulate, has a great smile, he's intelligent and we've gone to dinner twice and he's quite at home in a nice restaurant. We recently went to Mistral in Boston and this guy knew his way around the wine menu.

 

So in closing, instead of all gossiping about what he is, what he's like, who he's dating or his 80's decor in some home, why not just email him and talk to him? He's truly a very nice guy and quite sincere.

 

To me, Collin is a rare find on a site like rentmen.

 

I could tell you what I don't like about quite a few escorts on Rentmen but I'll save that for my next post. HA!

 

Peace out!

Interesting post, especially as it comes only mere hours after he got back in touch with me today...??? We did make an attempt to smooth things over, and we are planning a potential meeting again. But still, intriguing that this is your very first post here. Hmm.

Unexpectedly, because he had a soft high tenor or alto voice.... Ive heard many directors opine that for pitch, timing, purity, etc.... he was one of the very best singers of the era.

Sorry to intrude, lol. Astaire was a light baritone. He didn't have (or at least didn't use) high tenor notes.

I would say that yes, he had a very pure, accurate voice - unfortunately that also translates to a voice that I don't always find particularly exciting to listen to - but I do admit his simplicity has a definite appeal nevertheless. And as an all-around performer, his appeal is undeniable.

You know who probably still might do a great "Don't Rain On My Parade" (though she'd be long in the tooth to play Brice at this point)? Debra Messing. She went to my alma mater (Brandeis), starting the fall after I graduated, but I was staying on to work in the theatre department, and I got to work with her a number of times. "Parade" used to be her go-to audition song, and she was fierce with it. It's a shame in some ways that she hasn't done more singing in her career - but I'm not about to complain either - she's done pretty damn well for herself!

Funny, since we were just talking about Brightman - of course, Ms. Eder was sleeping with her composer too lol - but I agree - she's got much more going than that.

Ah, Laurie Beechman. I never had the pleasure of seeing her live, but her YouTube videos are awesome. She had a BELT.

People forget that she was one of the driving forces of the ensemble in the original Annie. The original "Star To Be" among other featured roles - but my personal favorite is during "We'd Like To Thank You, Herbert Hoover" when she belts the line "who know I could steal?"

I did like some of the newer arrangements of Joseph in the last few West End revivals. It allowed whomever played Joseph to show off a nice pop-leaning tenor and kept things a little more exciting.

The moment at the end of "Close Ev'ry Door" where it goes a capella, and Joseph goes for a high note on "for we know we shall find..." - yup - goosebumps.

Grease? Can't say much in favor of any version of that horrid show, lol. (Hey - I have to hate something...lol.) I agree about Harris and Porter - but I'd rather hear them in other music. (I do have a fondness for "There Are Worse Things I Can Do" and a few others - but mostly - yuck. And the worst thing is the message at the end - Sandy learns how to act like a slut just to get her guy. Ick.)

And, I did see a local rendition where the brothers wore leather and rode motorcycles (instead of camels).

And actually, I would think that would work really well. At least in the sense that the brothers think they're tough guys.

. And speaking of ALW, don't throw something at me, but I've been hankering for a Joseph revival. Would love to see it modernized and cleaned up a bit. I think it's one of those ridiculously inoffensive musicals that would do well with today's Broadway ticket buyer.

I like Joseph. I should say that I like it the way it used to be, before they started adding endless reprises, repeats, and other padding to make it overlong. (The Broadway production that starred the amazing, late Laurie Beechman as the Narrator is a pretty decent guide to the way I think the show should flow. Though I do like some of the arrangements from later versions - just not all the excessive padding.)

Though there are some people that still get a bit rankled by what they think the show represents. I once suggested the show to a producer who was looking for a family-friendly musical that would really sell - aside from The Sound Of Music and Annie, lol. When I mentioned Joseph - which does seem to be one of those shows that people always want to see - she actually gasped and said, "but that's a BIBLE story." The fact is, it's not, really - in the sense that religion is not the theme of the show at all - and I know that religion was the thing that caused her reaction, lol.

Same goes for Brightman: She breathily warbled her way through the show and there have been a number of better-sung, more technically proficient vocalists tackle Christine.

Ah yes - but wasn't she "uniquely qualified" to bring the role to Broadway?? (Though we all knew that was really only code for "sleeping with thc composer" lol.)

with a respectful nod to Lucille Ball.

Ah, yes - the star of that legendary film version of Maimed.

(Poor Lucy - who was so damned amazing at what she was truly good at...but boy, did she have some "splainin" to do about that film...)

Love to see Streisand take over from Bette in Jan....maybe give her an offer she cannot refuse like lots of $$$ and 5 perfs a week

I don't know, but I tend to think that Streisand is not about to take on a gig like that at this point in her career.

I will say that if she did, even I would consider running to see it lol (and I really don't like her in the film at all). But I doubt it would ever happen.

(Is the Gypsy film ever going to happen either, lol?)

Her Fosca was fantastic. Murphy had that blend of melancholy, awkwardness and bitter self-concern that made her magnetic to watch.

 

Trivia: The part was actually originally offered to Patti LuPone, but she turned it down for Sunset Blvd in London.

I saw the original Passion twice. I would recommend the filmed version (the original production filmed on the set with all the original cast, but not with an audience) for anyone who did not get to see it live. But one thing the cameras don't capture well enough on the video is Murphy's first entrance down the staircase, when she first introduces herself to Giorgio. In the theatre, you couldn't take your eyes off this odd creature who was making her way down those stairs. Hard to describe why it was so unique, but it was.

LuPone did later get to play the role in one of those over-concepted Lonny Price concert thingies (which was also filmed and televised on PBS). Not bad, but not nearly as nuanced or well-sung as Murphy. Murphy really LIVED that role.

I truly wish I had been able to see coloratura soprano Natalie Dessay do the role in Paris last year. (Partly because it would have been amazing to see, and partly because the Clara in that production is a friend and colleague of mine from Boston.) They did do a radio broadcast, and I do have to say I was really pleasantly surprised by Dessay's sound. Not the kind of role you'd ever think to hear her do - but she really made a case for it!

But Murphy really sets the extremely high bar for that role, IMO.

i saw donna murphy in "passion" - for those of you know the show, you can probably understand why i have trouble imagining her as ms. levi!

You should have seen her in Wonderful Town, in a purely zany comic role. She's really a very versatile actress. I first saw her as Vera in Pal Joey in Boston - a role that needs equal parts comedy and drama, though the comedy part is certainly on the droll/dark side. (This was just before she did Passion.)

You also might be surprised to learn that she was also one of the original replacement Audreys in the off-Broadway Little Shop Of Horrors. Hard to imagine, huh?

However, Forbidden Broadway did tap into your reservations, doing a marvelous parody of her when she was playing Anna in The King And I just after she did Passion. Called "I Whistle A Sondheim Tune," the idea was that she would be carrying too much of Passion's darkness into the (mostly) "bright and breezy" world of Anna. Very funny.

Any reference, or visual, for that matter, that deals with a "mike drop" (as in microphone) or "drop the mike" etc.

"Speaking truth to power"

Not that I don't agree with the definition - just that the phrase has become a very tired cliche. It's also always sounded rather pretentious to me.

The ironic use of...'Bless his heart', is a gem to be encouraged. At the risk of overgeneralising, Southerners have a knack of saying, 'You're a dick', without saying it.

A good hypothetical example - "Today, trump admitted that there were no tapes, bless his heart."

I don't know what context you are seeing the usage. I've rarely seen it used, but when I have it's been in the context of a very lecherous type statement meant to imply a tone of voice like, " I need to get some a dat azz."

I've been seeing it on the net for years, in personal ads and occasionally an escort ad - and it doesn't seem to have anything to do with ethnicity or lecherousness. I've always assumed that it was being done so that the word "ass" wouldn't appear. But why I don't know.

Steely Dan.

I still remember the first time I heard "Peg" as a kid. Those jazz-inflected harmonies were so fucking cool - and yet this wasn't really jazz. But the sound of it wasn't built on the "basic" rock chords one would expect. As a young musician, the chord progression underneath "then the shutter falls" etc really caught my ear. It still does. Amazing stuff.

Sometimes 'literally' can be used for precision when whatever wording had been used could be taken figuratively.

But, much of the time, it's used instead of "figuratively," and that's the problem. The same happens with the word "veritably" when it's somehow used to describe something in a metaphorical way.

To be contrarian? Provocative? Subversive? Who knows?

...my response to all that is actually one of my favorite internet expressions - Meh.

I don't know that people would use 'azz' because they thought 'ass' was offensive. Offense, I'd have thought, is the last thing that the typical texter would be thinking of!

So, why do they spell it that way, then? I have yet to see a reason for it.

the Australian word is 'arse' (which, incidentally, rhymes with the way I say 'pass'),

Same in British. As in Eliza Doolittle's iconic line "Come on, Dover, move your bloomin' arse!"

And I can be sure I've never seen it written as "move your bloomin' azz."

azz isn't even a short-cut! I wouldn't use ass to start with unless I meant donkey.

I guess I don't see any problem in typing 2 s's instead of the idiocy of substituting 2 z's. I didn't think, and don't think, in this day and age, that "ass" is that offensive anymore. It certainly wasn't one of the infamous George Carlin "7 words you can't say on television" lol.

"Azz" is not a word. To me it rhymes with "jazz" (as opposed to "pass") and is just obnoxious and frankly rather infantile. And even so, I suppose I might say that people that use it are azzholes, or maybe just azzes. (Or is that azzez?)

Some text/computer shortcuts that I despise:

Ur (i.e. your)

Wat/wats (i.e. what/what's)

Tryna/Trynna (i.e. trying to)

Azz (i.e. ass)