Well, dear readers, I must leave shortly to bake a tape. Yes, Virginia, you heard that right, I must leave shortly to bake a tape. Or, as a famous song put it, “If I knew you were comin’ I’d have baked a tape.” What is BK going on about, you might be asking at this particular moment, and one can’t blame you. After all, I didn’t say bake a cake, I said bake a tape. Now I shall explain: I took two reel-to-reel tapes to be transferred to CD (for reasons I’ll explain after that is done). These tapes are over twenty years old. They were made by Ampex, and therein lies the problem. Ampex tape is notorious for turning bad quickly, and these tapes, as it turned out, were no exception. The fellow began the transfer, and the tapes were like tar and began to stick to the heads of the tape machine. He immediately stopped, called me, and told me the tapes had to be baked. You see, that is the only way to save tapes in that condition – you put them in a convex oven and bake them for six hours. Then they will usually play perfectly one or two times, and you must do the transfer immediately. So, this morning I shall hie myself to the Dale of Glen to have the tapes baked. I will pick them up in the morning tomorrow and take them back to the tape transfer place. I have to do this quite early, because I must then attend an auction in Beverly Hills, which begins at eleven. If it appears that I can’t do it in the time allotted, then I will have someone else pick up the tape and deliver it to the transfer place. But, back to today – once I deliver the tape for baking, then I must hie myself to the Monica of Santa to see a screening of Mr. Nick Redman’s film about The Wild Bunch. After the screening I must then hie myself to the Wood of West for an important meeting, after which I shall hie myself back to the home environment. Should I get home by five, I may even try to pick up the baked tape tonight.
I spent most of yesterday at Mr. Grant Geissman’s home environment, recording the song Opposites. It went very well, and we ended up making quite a lovely sounding track. The singers, Jessica Rush and Caitlin Ary did a great job, and Caitlin impressed us all since she was very nervous and hadn’t really done any recording prior to today – she took to it like a gazelle to fish sticks, and she did a great job. We did a quick mix of the track, which I’m not happy enough with, so I’m hoping to go back in the next day or two to smooth it out a bit. We began working at noon, and I didn’t get home until eight, so it was a very long day, although we did take a break for an early dinner. It’s great to hear the song with a good track and excellent singers, and I’m really happy to include it on the Stages CD.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must shortly be on my way to bake a tape.
Last night I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled La Notti Bianchi (White Nights), a film of Mr. Luchino Visconti. I have never seen La Notti Bianchi, and Mr. Visconti, for me, is a hit and miss director. Well, I’m happy to report that La Notti Bianchi is a wonderful film – beautifully acted by Marcello Mastroianni, beautiful Maria Schell, and Jean Marais, and exquisitely directed by Mr. Visconti, with photography to die for by Giuseppe Rotunno. In fact, the opening ten minutes of this film are some of the best directed minutes you’ll ever see – dreamy, strange, poetic, and atmospheric. There is also a sequence later in the film, in which Mastroianni and Schell join some teens dancing in a club – it is a great scene, and one I had to immediately watch again. The score is by Nino Rota, and is up to his usual high standards. The transfer from Criterion is one of the best black-and-white transfers I’ve ever seen – I can’t imagine a better presentation of the film.
Have I mentioned that I must bake a tape? And then, we shall keep our digits crossed that they can do the transfer and save the contents – that would be the icing on the tape.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, bake a tape, I must see a screening, I must have a meeting, I must pick up a baked tape, and I must try to ship out a few things, so that I don’t get backlogged. Today’s topic of discussion: What was the first amusement park you were ever taken to? When was it, what were your favorite rides, what were you too scared to do, what games did you play, and what foods did you partake of. Let’s have it all, and in loving detail. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we? And let’s not have any that are half-baked – we want baked posts today.