Well, dear readers, here we are on the final day of July. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, today is the final day of July or, in other words, July’s final day. Why, that means that tomorrow is the beginning of August. I, for one, am looking forward to August, but I hope August takes its sweet time and that each day is full and long and that the days and weeks don’t rush by. August is a time to stop and smell the roses and the coffee and the eucalyptus. That’s an odd-looking word, isn’t it? Eucalyptus. That word just sits there like so much fish, doesn’t it? Of course, eucalyptus is sutpylacue backwards, and I feel that sutpylacue is a much finer word than eucalyptus. Where was I? Oh, yes, it’s the last day of July and August is almost upon us. As those who’ve been diligent and read all the postings know, yesterday I attended the Hollywood Collector’s Show with pals Redman and Pogue. We had fun, but the show seems very tired, and we all think unless Mr. Courts figures out a way to breathe some life into the beast, that it may be on its last legs. After I came back from the show, I then had to hie myself to the Wood of Holly to check out a potential theater for the new play. I gather that the mainstage theater in the complex is quite popular with companies, but this secondary theater, while just fine, didn’t really seem to me that it would work for our piece. So, we’re going to meet with the Hudson on Tuesday to discuss they’re availability, and we may choose to open three weeks later than we’d planned if the timing seems good. Otherwise, we shall continue the hunt for a decent theater. After that, I came home, attended to some errands, and then relaxed. Oh, and I had a perfectly perfect massage from my perfectly perfect Russian masseuse.
Yesterday, I watched two count them two motion pictures on DVD, both from Japan. Yes, Virginia, I watched two count them two Japanese motion pictures. The first Japanese motion picture I watched on DVD was entitled Varan the Unbelievable. I’d somehow never seen it, even though it was made by the team responsible for Godzilla. I’m afraid it’s just a tired rehash of the big G, with not much to recommend it. The black-and-white scope transfer is soft throughout, but acceptable. I then watched the second Japanese motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Crazy Fruit. No, Virginia, it was not about psychotic peaches or lunatic grapes, it was about disaffected youth in 50s post-war Japan. It’s quite and interesting film, and apparently was very controversial and popular. The main thrust of the story is a married girl who is having affairs with two brothers. It’s very well directed and acted, and it’s fascinating to see that the youth of the 50s in Japan was just as selfish and concerned with only themselves as the youth in the U.S. of A is today. Some things never change.
Transfer from Criterion is fine, although not as good as their best.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because this is a working Sunday for me.
In just a short while I shall be on my way to Mr. Grant Geissman’s to clean up the mix I’m not happy with on Opposites. Then I shall be on my way to Vinnie’s to put the finishing touches on Stages/Together Again, so that it can go off to mastering along with the Harvey Schmidt CD, which we’re doing a little reEQing on, making it sound a little smoother, sound and level-wise. I’m hoping I’ll be done with all that by two or two-thirty, so that I can come back to the home environment to relax and gird my loins for what I assume will be a very busy August. I also want to get back to my short story, which has had to be on the back burner this whole last week, what with the play reading and all the other stuff that went on. I’m only about eight to ten pages from finishing it.
Gird my loins. That’s one for the books, isn’t it? That is just one for the books. Gird my loins. My loins is bad enough, but when you add “gird” into the mix, the whole thing takes on a slightly nauseating quality.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, gird my loins and I must also loin my girds, just for the halibut. What is it, fish? I must do a remix, I must finish Stages/Together Again, I must write, and I must relax and enjoy the final day of July. Today’s topic of discussion: Pogue and I were enjoying looking at movie posters yesterday at the Collector’s show. So, what are your all-time favorite movie posters, both design-wise, art-wise, and just plain looks-wise, both American and foreign posters. For example, Hamlet with Laurence Olivier had awful posters in the UK and US. But, yesterday we saw the large Italian poster for it, by the great Ballester, and it was so stunning it took your breath away. We inquired after the price – $2500, and worth every penny of it (it was beautifully linen-backed). And, in fact, between the time we looked at it, and the time we returned from lunch forty-five minutes later, it had indeed sold. Some of my favorite posters are Sullivan’s Travels (a divoon image of Miss Veronica Lake), Chinatown, The Postman Always Rings Twice (Lana Turner version), the original French poster for Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast (stunning), the large Italian poster for Fellini’s The White Sheik and La Dolce Vita, Saul Bass’s West Side Story poster (roadshow version), the large French poster on Lolita (faboo), and many, many others. The nice thing is that I have owned all the titles I listed above, along with about five hundred others. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, as we gird our collective loins and get ready to welcome in a brand spanking new and excellent month – August.