Well, dear readers, here it is, Friday, the end of another work week or, at the very least, the end of another week work. I have worked this week, dear readers, oh, yes, I have worked. I have written a goodly number of pages, almost double what I normally write in a week. That has been the pattern with this book – it just seems to want to write itself in a frenzy. It really doesn’t seem like I’m writing any faster than I normally do, but the page count says differently. I’ll be giving my friend Margaret another big batch of pages a week from tomorrow. Yesterday, I wrote early in the day, then went off to see Teddy, who gave me a new do, with lots of blonde highlights. When I took a look at my hair after he blow dried it, all I could think of was “surf’s up”. He wants me to come back next Tuesday so he can do a few more highlights in the back and on the sides. I hadn’t seen Teddy for two years, and I must say it was grand to be in his hands again. He is the best there is, and I’ve been going to him for thirty-four years. The salon he’s currently in is the hippest salon in Los Angeles. He’s now doing Sharon Stone, Nicole Kidman, and a whole slew of other famouse celebs. Has anyone noticed that I just typed “famouse” instead of “famous”? What are famouse celebs, celebs with antlers? In any case, I know have a new do, and my hair is once again youthful and full of joie de vivre. I’m a surfer dude now. I like it. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?
Last night I watched a motion picture entertainment on DVD entitled Charly. I hadn’t seen it since it first came out. I must say that some of it hasn’t held up too well, but other parts are just as affecting as I remember. Ralph Nelson, a director I very much like (Requiem for a Heavyweight, Lilies of the Field), here yielded to calling attention to his “cinematic” devices – unnecessary split screen and a few other annoying clichés. When he just tells the story simply, then the film works fine. The hippie montage is especially egregious. Cliff Robertson is wonderful in the title role, and Claire Bloom is her always beautiful self. The one area where Charly totally fails is Ravi Shankar’s very strange score, which simply never marries itself to the images on the screen. If Mr. Nelson had not tried to be “with it” and had used either of the two composers he’d just worked with, Laurence Rosenthal or Jerry Goldsmith, Charly would be a very different film and a better one. Either of those composers would have gotten inside the drama and the characters, instead of just providing accompaniment. Shankar’s music isn’t bad, mind you, it just doesn’t belong in this particular film. The transfer is superb – sharp, great color, and enhanced for widescreen TVs (scope ratio).
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because, frankly, surf’s up.
I must hurry and finish these here notes, because I must do as much writing as possible in the morning. At eleven-thirty, our very own Mr. Nick Redman will be arriving, and we’ll be heading over to the Ray Courts Hollywood Showcase to take a gander at the goings-on. I will, of course, have a full report. I shall have my cell phone camera with me, and may take a few photographs. Then I shall return to the home environment, write a bit more, and then head off to dinner at Crustacean. I love the food there and am really looking forward to my dining adventure. I’ve been very good this whole week and have lost some weight. Crustacean is not exactly low-cal, but it will be my only meal of the day and most of it is just seafood in a garlic sauce. No bread, no extra butter, no dessert, just crab and noodles. Hopefully, I won’t gain any of my weight back. Hopefully, I will maintain. And then tomorrow it’s back on the diet.
I’ll be attending the Ray Courts show tomorrow as well, and then I’ve got a few DVDs to catch up on. I don’t write all that much on the weekend, but I have been doing a few pages each day because it feels weird not to.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must write, I must be a surfer dude, I must see celebrities, and I must eat a fine meal. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player, and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, house, the new Herb Alpert rarities collection, which is marvelously marvelous. CD, car, a variety of new things I’ve recently gotten, all by Philippe Sarde and Joe Hisaishi. DVD, next up will be The Motorcycle Diaries, which I just picked up and which everyone seems to like. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we? And remember: Surf’s up!