Well, dear readers, it’s the beginning of a new week, it’s a beginning of a new notes, it’s the beginning of a new day. That’s a lot of beginnings but I, for one, am a fan of beginnings – positive beginnings, where you face the day and say, “Hello, day, I’m facing you with a smile and a laugh and a potato chip.” That is the way I like to face a day – with a smile and a laugh and a potato chip, not necessarily in that order. I feel positive already, don’t you? If not, immediately face the day with a smile and a laugh and a potato chip and see what happens. I find that sour cream and onion potato chips work best. Your mileage may vary. My mileage never varies. My mileage doesn’t vary because it is contrary. My mileage doesn’t vary because it is not only contrary, it is wary and it finds to vary is scary. If anyone has a clew as to what the HELL I’m going on about, please keep it to yourself. Speaking of mileage, I didn’t rack up any yesterday, except for a brief brunch at Hugo’s with a friend. Otherwise, I stayed home all the livelong day and night. I sat outside and did corrections on one of the short stories, I attended to some other matters, and I did a little grocery shopping, too. I also managed to get a reasonable amount of shut-eye. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?
Has anyone noticed that I have faced the day with a smile and a laugh and a potato chip? And isn’t it nice that the first paragraph isn’t three pages long? I feel that is a step in a more positive direction, don’t you? Shorter paragraphs, that’s the order of the day, with extra cheese. My goodness, “with extra cheese” – that was a little abstruse for even me. “Abstruse.” That’s a nice ten-dollar word, isn’t it?
Yesterday, I watched two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Dressed to Kill. No, not Brian de Palma’s Dressed to Kill, and not Sherlock Holmes’ Dressed to Kill. This Dressed to Kill was a Michael Shayne mystery. Did you know that dear reader Michael Shayne was a shamus? I didn’t until I saw Dressed to Kill. In the movie, Mr. Lloyd Nolan played dear reader Michael Shayne. It’s a strange little film that I found very enjoyable. It’s more comedy than mystery until the end, when it is more mystery than comedy. Some of it is very amusing indeed, more so than you’d expect. Of course, you must take the film with a grain of salt or a pinch of pepper. For example, there is a wonderful scene where dear reader Michael Shayne played by Lloyd Nolan discovers the scene of the crime. He systematically walks around and touches every piece of potential evidence and even eats a piece of celery from the dinner table where the murder has taken place. I wished Mary Beth Hughes had had more to do – she was quite pretty and sassy. William Demarest was, well, William Demarest, and Henry Daniell was excellent. The transfer was surprisingly good for a “B” film of that era. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, a film written and directed by Mr. Preston Sturges. It’s not as perfect as Sullivan’s Travels or The Palm Beach Story, but it has very funny moments and some great sequences. Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton are fine in the leading roles, and William Demarest is, well, William Demarest. The film is filled with Mr. Sturges’ stock company, including cameo appearances by Brian Donleavy and Akim Tamiroff, reprising their characters from The Great McGinty. But the discovery of the film for me was Miss Diana Lynn. I always forget about Diana Lynn until I see her, and then I realize how much I love Miss Diana Lynn. She was a terrific young actress, especially in this film and, two years earlier, in Billy Wilder’s The Major and the Minor. She was sixteen when she did Mr. Wilder’s film, and eighteen when she did Mr. Sturges’ film (playing a fourteen year old). She died way too young – of complications from a stroke at forty-five. Her filmography isn’t huge, but I’m going to make an effort to see the rest of her films. I have the DVD of The Kentuckian, which I’ve never watched – I think she plays Burt Lancaster’s wife or girlfriend. The transfer is lovely, and you can see just how lovely when you see the clips from the film in the extras. Yes, Paramount has actually included two brief little “things” – one on the film, and one on censorship and how Sturges got away with this pretty outrageous film (the film’s heroine is named Trudy Kockenlocker). I must say, I am completely bored by these supplements. I am completely bored of seeing overweight and unattractive “film scholars” pontificate pedantically for minutes at a time. I say down with these ineptly-made extras. It’s one thing to have Eddie Bracken and Mr. Sturges’ widow Sandi. It’s another thing to have the Buddha-like James Ursini and the yokel who wrote some book on Sturges that three people read. Boring and awful, and I shut it off.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Don’t I have a day to greet with a smile and a laugh and a potato chip? Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’m quite certain I shall be much more coherent in the next section.
Nope, I don’t see anything coherent in this section. Why would we suddenly want to be coherent? Wouldn’t that put people into a state of shock? I think that sort of change could, in fact, cause permanent brain damage, and I think we’ve got enough of that as it is.
Today I shall be attending to many, many things. I shall enter all my corrections on the short story I read yesterday. Then I shall print out the latest story and correct that one, and then enter the corrections. I also have to do some other writing, and I have lots of telephonic calls to make during the course of the day, which, by the way (BTW, in Internet lingo), I’ll be greeting with a smile and a laugh and a potato chip. I also have a lunch to go to at our beloved Stanley’s. I shall try to be a good boy and only have a salad and/or a burger.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must do all of the above, I must ship a few packages, I must pick up a few packages, I must drive about in my motor car, and I must do various and sundried other things. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite 11:00 numbers? Those star turns at the end of the show. And, what are your all-time favorite duets from Broadway musicals. That is two topics for the price of one, baby, so let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we all greet the day with a smile and a laugh and a potato chip.