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May 1, 2005:

THE LUSTY MONTH OF MAY

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, it’s May, it’s May, the lusty month of May. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I say it’s May and May I say it is this day. I feel lusty, I tell you, for it is May, a time of lustiness. I have never felt so lusty, frankly or even stevely. I have lusty written all over me. Have you ever had lusty written all over you? All that writing is very hard to wash it off, isn’t it? In any case, I am lusty beyond compare, so watch out. But before we get to the lusty month of May, yesterday I bid farewell to April with a most excellent day in which I did mostly nothing. Well, that’s not exactly true. First, I overslept. Then, I had to get ready in a hurry and hie myself to the Oaks of Sherman to attend our horn session. Luckily, I arrived in time to hear the first track get done. It was quite lovely, the horn session, and the tracks that have horns sound especially wonderful now. It always helps to have our excellent Los Angeles, California, USA horn players, who are the best in the business. Mr. Grant Geissman wrote some lovely orchestrations for them to play, and I couldn’t be more pleased by the outcome. After the session, Mr. Geissman and his engineer friend and I went to Mel’s Diner for lunch. Annoyingly, they had the air-conditioning blasting – it couldn’t have been more than forty degrees in there. I complained, but they don’t care. So, I buttoned up my shirt and we ate quickly and I got the hell out of there before any damage could be done. I then did a few errands and went back to the home environment. On the way home, I sang along with a couple of Guy’s tracks and sounded pretty decent. I think one more day of complete rest and relaxation ought to do it – I have banished all voice box problems from my head, but do keep your excellent vibes and xylophones coming through the end of Tuesday. I ate some chicken noodle soup from Jerry’s, a little later in the evening. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?

Yesterday, I also managed to watch three count them three motion pictures on DVD – fortunately, two of them were very short. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Advise and Consent, a film by Mr. Otto Preminger. As people around these here parts know, I am a big fan of Mr. Otto Preminger, and Advise and Consent is one of his best. Beautifully directed in black & white Panavision, the film features an absolutely pitch-perfect and remarkable cast, and yes, I’ll say it again, the likes of which we will never see again. Mr. Henry Fonda, Burgess Meredith, Walter Pidgeon, George Grizzard, Don Murray, Gene Tierney, Charles Laughton, Lew Ayres, Franchot Tone, Will Geer, Paul Ford, Edward Andrews and on and on. The film, despite its 138 minute length, moves along at quite a clip, and it’s just so watchable and entertaining in a way that movies simply aren’t anymore. The “controversial” business about Don Murray’s character’s deep secret seems a bit amusing today, but back then boy did it pack a wallop, especially the brief look inside the 602 Club. The transfer is spectacular, and the mono sound is fine. Another big plus is Jerry Fielding’s lovely score. Mr. Preminger had incredibly brilliant taste in composers, and he gave several their starts or used them to their best advantage – David Raksin on Laura, Ernest Gold on Exodus, Jerome Moross on The Cardinal, Jerry Goldsmith on In Harm’s Way, Georges Auric on Bonjour Tristesse, Mischa Spoliansky on Saint Joan, Paul Glass on Bunny Lake is Missing – the guy had an ear for music. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, Bad Day at Black Rock, an excellent motion picture entertainment directed by Mr. John Sturges. The film runs a scant eighty-two minutes, but those minutes are jam-packed with good dialogue and excellent performances. Again, what a cast – Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, Anne Francis, Lee Marvin, Walter Brennan – it doesn’t get much better than that. The story of the town with a dark secret still packs a punch, as does the excellent score by Mr. Andre Previn. Again, I’m happy to report that the transfer (color and Cinemascope) is fantastic – incredibly sharp and the color hasn’t looked this good since the day the film opened. The stereo sound is also quite breathtaking – they really did stereo well back then. I then watched the third motion picture on DVD entitled Panic in Year Zero, directed by and starring Mr. Ray Milland. I’m afraid this nuclear holocaust potboiler isn’t in the league of the other two films. It’s all rather amateurish, but I really enjoy this little mini-genre. Mr. Milland is good as always, and we also get Jean Hagen as his wife, Frankie Avalon as his son, and the gorgeous Mary Mitchel as his daughter. Shot in scope and black & white, the transfer is sometimes so soft it almost is completely out-of-focus. Other parts look fine. This is one of those MGM/UA double feature discs – the other feature being The Last Man on Earth, starring Mr. Vincent Price. I’m looking forward to that one, for it is based on Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend, which also served as the basis for The Omega Man.

What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below for it’s May, it’s May, the lusty month of May and more lustiness awaits.

My goodness, I’m feeling lusty, aren’t you? Bring me a goblet and some venison, do you hear? Play me some songs on the lute and the lyre, do you hear? Bring me some bawdy wenches and some men in tights. Yes, I’m feeling ever so lusty and all because it’s May and I may.

Don’t forget, Donald should have a brand spanking new radio show up for your listening pleasure at some point this afternoon.

I’m quite excited to be going back into the studio again to do an entire album. What fun we shall have. I shall have a full report with photographs, of that you can be sure.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must write, I must relax and take it easy on the voice box, I must do a couple of errands and I must watch a DVD or three whilst eating something interesting. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to choose the topics and we all get to pontificate on them. So, let’s really have some topics this day, and let’s have loads of lovely posts about them, shall we, as we dive into the lusty month of May with esprit and élan, not necessarily in that order.

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