Well, dear readers, the sun is back and it is a beautiful day. On such a beautiful day we must have short notes so I can put on short pants and go out for a short walk and then do a spot of writing. There is a very annoying bird outside (not the singing bird of course – the singing bird is also outside and is crooning a very nice version of Sealed With a Kiss) – this bird just caws the same three notes (Ab) over and over and over – it’s a very braying sound. I suppose the braying bird finds this amusing or interesting, but I do not. It’s sort of like Philip Glass’s music in its way, without the orchestral colors which, by the way (BTW, in Internet lingo) are green and yellow. What the hell am I talking about?
Yesterday I caught up on some DVD viewing and here is my full report. It is so hard to think with that bird braying like that – at least it could change the note every now and then. It’s especially annoying because the singing bird is doing Sealed with a Kiss in the key of D, and let me tell you, three Ab notes in a row have no place in Sealed with a Kiss in the key of D. Where was I? Oh, yes, catching up on some DVDs. First, I finished watching The Shop Around the Corner, which I profess I’ve never seen before. What a total delight this film is. Beautifully and subtly directed and played, full of charm and warmth and even a pit of pathos. The main title music is a lovely theme by a composer whose name I’ve never even seen before – and I’ve been walking around humming it all the live-long day. James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan are lovely together, and Frank Morgan is as good as I’ve ever seen him. The only weird thing is that all the names (except Ilona, I think) are different than they are in She Loves Me. After that, I ran the Special Edition version of Beauty and the Beast. Now, I know you will find this hard to believe, but the only time I’ve seen Beauty and the Beast heretofore, was at a special showing in 1991 of the Work in Progress version, prior to the film’s release. I adored it, of course, even in that version. I bought the laser disc of the finished version (which I still have) but never got around to viewing the whole thing. What a wonderful film, and everything that’s followed in its wake from Disney has, in my opinion (IMO, in Internet lingo) been less strong. I’m not saying there haven’t been a few wonderful animated films, but none, at least for me (ALFM, in Internet lingo) has had the emotional resonance of Beauty and the Beast (not to mention, none of them has had a score equal to this film). It just all works and the Special Edition adds a number, Human Again, that is just terrific and it is so seamlessly inserted that you’ll think it was always there. I haven’t even begun to check out all the special features, but I can tell you that this transfer is spectacular, as is the sound, and it’s a must-have and that’s all there is to it. I then watched the new DVD of Saturday Night Fever, a film I have a love-hate affair with. I love the dancing and the music and even Karen Lynn Gorney, who is strange but good in the film. And, I think Travolta and all the actors do a nice job. I don’t like all the angst and sturm und drang (or is it sturm and drung?) on the bridge and all the Donna Pescow stuff, which I find dreary and clichéd. There’s a nice VHS1 special included on the disc, which has lots of interesting backstage stories about the making of the film. Some people on those idiotic newsgroups have already complained about the transfer, but they (as usual) have never seen the film before theatrically, and have no idea what it should look like. It’s a perfect transfer – Ralf Bode used lots of filters and it has that late 70s gritty look to it, too (like Rocky).
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? I am about to go outside to have a little conversation with the braying bird. Besides, aren’t these supposed to be short notes? Another question (and I’ll know the answer if no one answers it) – does anyone actually read these here notes on the weekend, or does everyone just skip to the topic o’ the day? Just curious.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button to see if these here notes end up short or long?
Well, the braying bird has apparently taken a union break, because suddenly there is blessed quiet outside. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, the braying bird is on a union break (yes, Virginia, birds have unions, too – in this case it’s the BBoLA, Chapter 43 – Braying Birds of Los Angeles).
I ate two lovely Eileen and Chet Atkins meals yesterday and I’m feeling quite trim already, or at least trimmer than a few days ago when I could barely button my trousers. Now I can button them, so it must be working. Tomorrow morning I shall weigh myself and weigh in with how many pounds I have or haven’t lost.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must sit on my couch like so much fish, I must read your posts, I must do something I’ve been wanting to do (which, if I do it, I’ll talk about tomorrow), I must, in other words, get cracking, as the chiropractor said to the patient. Today’s topic of discussion: As Cole Porter once wrote – Anything Goes, it’s free-for-all day and you can blather on about any old or young thing you want to. So, post away, my pretties.