Alex aka Muscato
@cafemuscato.bsky.social
Retired diplomat, but not particularly retiring; working on aging disgracefully. I split my time between deserts: Palm Springs and Cairo. Always up for champagne, good music, or gossip about the Lunts. Parlor pink; lapsed Presbyterian. He/Him.
There's an Egyptian picture from the '60s in which the great Shadia plays a movie-mad housewife who imagines herself as various heroines—the sequence in which she transforms into Irma la D. manages to be better in 20 minutes than the whole of the original.
November 14, 2025 at 2:49 AM
There's an Egyptian picture from the '60s in which the great Shadia plays a movie-mad housewife who imagines herself as various heroines—the sequence in which she transforms into Irma la D. manages to be better in 20 minutes than the whole of the original.
I’m glad they didn’t include the saddest photo of all: Josephine, on the morning her château was repossessed, huddled on the kitchen steps in her housecoat, absolutely broken.
I have a thought or two about Princess Grace, but there’s no question that she saved her life.
I have a thought or two about Princess Grace, but there’s no question that she saved her life.
November 13, 2025 at 11:34 PM
I’m glad they didn’t include the saddest photo of all: Josephine, on the morning her château was repossessed, huddled on the kitchen steps in her housecoat, absolutely broken.
I have a thought or two about Princess Grace, but there’s no question that she saved her life.
I have a thought or two about Princess Grace, but there’s no question that she saved her life.
While I was away, The Mister went on a Costco-fueled keto binge; as a result, we are sitting on enough lightly salted rice cakes to see us through to Armageddon.
Turns out they are terrific when thickly spread with smoked-whitefish salad, sliced hard-boiled eggs, and sriracha.
Turns out they are terrific when thickly spread with smoked-whitefish salad, sliced hard-boiled eggs, and sriracha.
November 13, 2025 at 1:54 AM
While I was away, The Mister went on a Costco-fueled keto binge; as a result, we are sitting on enough lightly salted rice cakes to see us through to Armageddon.
Turns out they are terrific when thickly spread with smoked-whitefish salad, sliced hard-boiled eggs, and sriracha.
Turns out they are terrific when thickly spread with smoked-whitefish salad, sliced hard-boiled eggs, and sriracha.
The little consolations of obscurity…
November 11, 2025 at 4:26 AM
The little consolations of obscurity…
It must be all the worse to be a star d’un certain âge, having gone all in for the project, knowing this might well be, to an extent, a last hurrah.
Does it feel worse if it gets a bit of a run, having to do it over and over again, or if it turns off the lights one night this week?
Does it feel worse if it gets a bit of a run, having to do it over and over again, or if it turns off the lights one night this week?
November 11, 2025 at 4:02 AM
It must be all the worse to be a star d’un certain âge, having gone all in for the project, knowing this might well be, to an extent, a last hurrah.
Does it feel worse if it gets a bit of a run, having to do it over and over again, or if it turns off the lights one night this week?
Does it feel worse if it gets a bit of a run, having to do it over and over again, or if it turns off the lights one night this week?
…but they were the lowest of stakes, short runs, noble failures, or all three.
I did get to be part of the remounting of a legendary ultraflop, but we went into it with a kind of forensic spirit, to see what if anything could be salvaged (the answer: one song, part of the score, and not much else).
I did get to be part of the remounting of a legendary ultraflop, but we went into it with a kind of forensic spirit, to see what if anything could be salvaged (the answer: one song, part of the score, and not much else).
November 11, 2025 at 4:02 AM
…but they were the lowest of stakes, short runs, noble failures, or all three.
I did get to be part of the remounting of a legendary ultraflop, but we went into it with a kind of forensic spirit, to see what if anything could be salvaged (the answer: one song, part of the score, and not much else).
I did get to be part of the remounting of a legendary ultraflop, but we went into it with a kind of forensic spirit, to see what if anything could be salvaged (the answer: one song, part of the score, and not much else).
And yet it took the equal eponymous dessert!
November 10, 2025 at 4:43 PM
And yet it took the equal eponymous dessert!
And yes—YOUR. Ugh.
November 9, 2025 at 3:02 PM
And yes—YOUR. Ugh.
I can’t think of a bad or ineffective performance from her, but she truly outdoes herself in Tale of Two Cities—“I am an English woman—I’m you’re match!”
(And I got it wrong—she’s saving her ladybird, not her lamb…)
youtu.be/KxuzR3Km11Q?...
(And I got it wrong—she’s saving her ladybird, not her lamb…)
youtu.be/KxuzR3Km11Q?...
A Tale Of Two Cities (1935) - Miss Pross kills Madame Defarge
YouTube video by Movie Clips Classics
youtu.be
November 9, 2025 at 2:01 PM
I can’t think of a bad or ineffective performance from her, but she truly outdoes herself in Tale of Two Cities—“I am an English woman—I’m you’re match!”
(And I got it wrong—she’s saving her ladybird, not her lamb…)
youtu.be/KxuzR3Km11Q?...
(And I got it wrong—she’s saving her ladybird, not her lamb…)
youtu.be/KxuzR3Km11Q?...
Fearfully accurate on the last two; immobility was not their long suit. To them, I’d add Tallulah.
Lady Peel would likely have been unable to resist camping it up, a fatal error.
Dressler, though; goodness. Opposite Bert Lahr?
Lady Peel would likely have been unable to resist camping it up, a fatal error.
Dressler, though; goodness. Opposite Bert Lahr?
November 9, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Fearfully accurate on the last two; immobility was not their long suit. To them, I’d add Tallulah.
Lady Peel would likely have been unable to resist camping it up, a fatal error.
Dressler, though; goodness. Opposite Bert Lahr?
Lady Peel would likely have been unable to resist camping it up, a fatal error.
Dressler, though; goodness. Opposite Bert Lahr?
The only way she’d behave over a run would be if Yul played Willie.
And she’d want intro and outro cues by Burt B.
And she’d want intro and outro cues by Burt B.
November 9, 2025 at 12:50 AM
The only way she’d behave over a run would be if Yul played Willie.
And she’d want intro and outro cues by Burt B.
And she’d want intro and outro cues by Burt B.
My list would have to include Pearl Bailey, Shelley Winters, and Olivia de H (who was bad enough while immobilized in a Small Private Elevator).
November 9, 2025 at 12:44 AM
My list would have to include Pearl Bailey, Shelley Winters, and Olivia de H (who was bad enough while immobilized in a Small Private Elevator).
I’m thinking Kitty Carlisle and Cesar Romero for a special gala one-nighter in Palm Beach.
November 9, 2025 at 12:38 AM
I’m thinking Kitty Carlisle and Cesar Romero for a special gala one-nighter in Palm Beach.
Betty White and Allen Ludden can take the West Coast.
November 9, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Betty White and Allen Ludden can take the West Coast.
Lillian Gish as Winnie; Buddy Rogers as Willie.
November 9, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Lillian Gish as Winnie; Buddy Rogers as Willie.
What the hell is going on in this picture? Is every in that curséd office just a nonstop circus/shitshow at this point? And why is that one woman wearing a fetish version of a See’s Candy uniform?
November 8, 2025 at 10:35 PM
What the hell is going on in this picture? Is every in that curséd office just a nonstop circus/shitshow at this point? And why is that one woman wearing a fetish version of a See’s Candy uniform?
Got my first (and mani!) this past summer. Life changing; once you start, it becomes a necessity.
November 8, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Got my first (and mani!) this past summer. Life changing; once you start, it becomes a necessity.
I’m a little surprised Martin went with that hair, especially that early on…
November 8, 2025 at 7:50 PM
I’m a little surprised Martin went with that hair, especially that early on…
Lungs like a steam engine and sinuses the size of cathedrals.
November 8, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Lungs like a steam engine and sinuses the size of cathedrals.