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June 20, 2003:

DOING MARIA OUSPENSKAYA

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, last night I recorded the Sharon McNight track for the new CD and I must say I truly adore her voice. She sang the title song of the album, the classic Jeepers Creepers. Grant and I came up with a really nice take on the song, not the usual bright and perky was it’s done. Sharon, for some reason, knowing that the album was songs from horror films, thought we wanted to have a funny vocal and she was going to do Maria Ouspenskaya or Bela Lugosi doing Jeepers Creepers. I told her what I had in mind in terms of the arrangement, then I said one simple sentence to her, she got it immediately, and went in and knocked out a few superb takes, all right on the money, and we were done. Sharon is off to New York, New York come Saturday to do her show at the Lucille Lortel. I’m not sure of the dates, but do check her out if you have a chance. Today we record Miss Tami Tappan doing the great Who Killed Teddy Bear song.

I’ve finally locked in the selections I’ll be reading at Bookfellows tomorrow. That is always a surprisingly hard thing to do, but I think I chose fun stuff. I’ve probably chosen too much, but it’s easy to leave something out rather than the other way around.

The other day I mentioned a big event that was coming. Well, the big event is almost with us, and those who are normally errant and truant on the weekend won’t want to, especially on Sunday when the big event will be revealed in all its glory. That is all I shall say, oh, yes, that is all I shall say at this time. I shall say more at another time.

Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below and whilst doing so let us all do our Maria Ouspenskaya impressions.

Last night I watched a motion picture entertainment on DVD. Somehow, I’d always managed to miss this motion picture over the years. I do think I saw it when I was a kid, but I had no real memory of it. I owned the laserdisc but had never gotten around to watching it, and then I bought the DVD when it came out and also never got around to watching it. It’s called The Big Country, and it stars the recently late Gregory Peck, along with Mr. Charlton Heston, Mr. Burl Ives, Miss Carroll Baker, Miss Jean Simmons, Mr. Chuck Conners and Mr. Charles Bickford. The whole affair was directed by Mr. William Wyler in glorious Technicolor and Technirama. Well, color me surprised, but what a thoroughly entertaining motion picture entertainment it is. I think one of the reasons I’d never settled down to watch was its very long length – two hours and forty-seven minutes. But, like most movies that work, the time doesn’t seem long at all. The pace of the film is very leisurely but it just ambles along and it’s so delightful that you just give yourself over to it. Mr. William Wyler was a great director, I think, and in just about every genre. The cast, as you might imagine, is superb. Mr. Ives won an Oscar for his turn, and Mr. Peck is just wonderful as the stoic leading man. Carroll Baker is feisty and she does feisty very well. Jean Simmons is lovely and terrific, as always. I wish I could say I was as thrilled with the transfer as with the film, but I’m afraid it’s not top-notch, despite having great color and being enhanced for widescreen televisions. The whole transfer is slightly soft, and there are weird artifacts and shimmering, which are very strange for an enhanced transfer. It leads me to believe that they did not do a new transfer but merely enhanced an existing one. Still, it could be worse. By the way, when I see lists of the great film scores this film, which used to always be on said lists, has somehow been forgotten. It’s one of the greats, by the great Jerome Moross.

What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? In any case, if you haven’t seen the thing, do so.

I’m very angry with amazon.com right now – at least five dear readers have submitted reviews (in addition to the four that are currently up) and none of those reviews have yet shown up. It normally takes a few days for them to appear, but this has gone beyond that. I’ve also been told by someone that they’d sent quite a few people to amazon to purchase the book, and yet the sales figures never change by even one number. I know how they do their sales figures and it should have changed the sales rank immediately and yet the sales rank has been exactly the same for two weeks. I’ve written them twice about it, and even though their form says you’ll definitely get a response within twenty-four hours, I have had no response, which I find rude and reprehensible. I recommend that anyone who has submitted a review that hasn’t shown up write them and write them often. Be sure to use the e-mail form that says you’ll get a response in twenty-four hours (it’s quite confusing trying to e-mail them and they apparently do everything they can to not respond by first giving you a form that they don’t have to respond to).

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must go hither and thither and seek out the question as to who killed teddy bear. Don’t forget, you won’t want to miss the announcement of the big event so do try to show up on the weekend. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, a lovely homemade CD of John Scott film and concert music that Mr. Scott made me, which includes his marvelous piece for narrator and chamber group, A Tale of Carcosa. I’m the narrator, by the way (BTW, in Internet lingo). Also, the marvelous Dave Brubeck ballet, Points on Jazz, courtesy of William E. Lurie, which I’ve already listened to four times. DVD, upcoming The Unforgiven, with Burt and Audrey. Your turn.

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