Well, dear readers, thought it may be a holiday day for some, I must shortly be on my way to mix the After the Ball CD with our very own Vinnie. I’m hoping not to work too too late, but we’ll see how far we get. Meanwhile, I had quite a lovely day yesterday, doing not much of anything but eating poorly. By poorly I mean not that healthy, and too much. I had bagels, lox, and cream cheese, I had several low-cal, low-fat ice cream bars, I had a half of a salmon sandwich some nice person bright me, and I had a few other sordid items as well. I wasn’t going to eat much of anything, but, as the day went by, I just kept eating more food. Thankfully, none of it was very fattening. I paid a visit to a local bookstore where, as fate would have it, I located another complete set of Theatre World books, this set in much better condition than mine own. The owner of the shop will be in on Tuesday and I’m going to see if he’ll take less than he’s asking. What he’s asking is very fair, and less than what I paid for mine, but there’s no real reason to upgrade unless I get a great deal – at which point I’ll offer my set on eBay or to any interested party. Other than that, I just drove about aimlessly for a little while, and then just puttered around the house. I decided not to do any work at all today, other than going over the AFTRA paperwork for After the Ball. Today, not only shall I mix, but I shall also do a spot of writing as well, as well as a spot of eating, and I do mean a spot, because I’ve got to lose a few pounds so that I can once again be buff and toned with abs and buns of steal.
Yesterday, I watched two count them two motion pictures on DVD (I’d hoped to watch three, but instead watched some of the extras on one of the movies I viewed). The first motion picture on DVD was entitled F is For Fake, a film “essay” by Orson Welles. It’s about a famous art forger, and his biographer, Clifford Irving, and then about Clifford Irving’s big con with his Howard Huges autobiography. The first fifty minutes are quite entertaining, but it peters out by the end. I’m a big fan of Mr. Welles, but this is minor league stuff. It does feature a spare but fun score by Michel Legrand. The DVD is from Criterion and the transfer (from a variety of sources, some of which look fine, and some of which are 16mm and blown up) is fine.
I then watched a movie that’s been sitting on my table like so much fish, for about two weeks. Even though I’d been told I’d enjoy it, I just couldn’t get up the energy because I enjoy so few current films. Well, I shouldn’t have waited – it’s a great movie, completely enjoyable, wonderfully directed and acted, with a terrific score. Naturally, it was made in France, because they simply do not know how to make this sort of film in the US anymore. Had they, it would have been unbearable, filled with a bloated, treacly score, overblown direction and editing, and “star” casting which would have sunk the film. It’s so heartening to see a current film which does not have hyperactive, show-off direction and editing, which doesn’t have a score that beats you over the head in telling you how you should feel, and that doesn’t play by Screenwriting 101 rules. The leading actor not only should have been up for an Oscar, he should have won. The film should have won Best Foreign Film, but then, the Academy is so bankrupt it wouldn’t know a best film if it hit them in the face. The film has great charm, it’s very touching and elicits tears the right way – subtly and without force, and it is blessedly short and to the point. If you haven’t seen it, rent or buy the DVD immediately. Oh, it’s called Les Choristes. And get the soundtrack while you’re at it.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below whilst we imagine ourselves in a black frock coat playing the tuba.
Imagine ourselves in a black frock coat playing a tuba? My goodness, sometimes the strangest things doth pop out, dothen’t they? Of course, with young girls, sometimes the strangest thongs doth pop out, dothen’t they? It seems to me the way I’ve written the first sentence of this here paragraph would imply that the black frock coat was playing the tuba. That’s just plum loco, if you ask me, or, at the very least, it’s peach loco, if you ask me.
Don’t forget, you have until midnight tonight to get in your Unseemly Trivia guesses. You cannot win unless you try.
I never did make my tuna pasta salad yesterday, so perhaps I’ll make it when I get home from the mix, or perhaps before I go to the mix, so that it’s ready when I get home. Perhaps whilst I’m making it I’ll wear a black frock coat and play a tuba. Perhaps not.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, mix an album, I must write a page or two, I must do an errand or two, and I must really try and watch a DVD or three. Today’s topic of discussion: When you were a child, did you study an instrument, singing, or dancing. If so, what type of instrument, song, or dance. And, if not, is there anything you wish you had learned or would like to learn now, instrument, singing, or dance-wise? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we all don our black frock coats and play our collective tubae.