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September 5, 2005:

SOPHISTICATED ME

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I am so relaxed I’m like a gazelle wearing a feathered pink robe lounging on a divan. I simply am too too relaxed. I am so relaxed that I can barely lift myself off the couch, where I have been sitting like so much fish for the last two days. I love lounging on a divan like a gazelle wearing a feathered pink robe, don’t you? It’s so sophisticated, and we all know what a sophisticate I am. I am so sophisticated that when I walk down the street people say things like, “Hello, jolly nice day for a walk” and “Let’s meet for drinks at the club” and “We really must play polo soon.” Yesterday, I was quite sophisticated. I woke up at ten-thirty, I had a frosted Diet Coke, I played Gershwin on the piano (I’m very good as Gershwin whilst sitting on the piano – I have a putty nose and everything), and then I went for a lovely drive in my sophisticated motor car. I went to Aron’s Records, where I purchased 0 items. I went to Amoeba (jammed, as always), where I purchased 0 items. I drove up to Hollywood Boulevard and found the name of a street I’ve been trying to remember for the short story I’m writing (Whitley was the street), and then I came back to the home environment, where I ate two sophisticated cheeseburgers and two sophisticated ears of corn. Later, we had an impromptu live chat in our impromptu live chat room. It was quite sophisticated, as well as lively and sparkling. I think we shall start doing that more often, as we used to – regularly scheduled live chats, perhaps once every two weeks. I consciously had very few telephonic conversations, and other than that, I did write a page or two, said pages that were quite sophisticated.

Last night I watched one motion picture on DVD entitled The Barkleys of Broadway. I had never seen it before, and, after having viewed it, I won’t be seeing it again. It’s the weakest of all the Astaire/Rogers films – forced, unfunny (despite a script by Comden and Green), and too long. Still, when Fred and Ginger dance, even at thirty-eight (Ginger) and fifty (Fred), it’s magic, which is more than I can say for the shockingly substandard songs of Harry Warren and Ira Gershwin. The best song in the film isn’t even from the film – it’s They Can’t Take That Away From Me. The transfer is also sub-par – very dark, soft and nowhere near the quality of the other MGM musicals transfers. Of course, it’s Warner Bros. so everyone cuts them some slack. If any other studio had put out this transfer people would have been all over them, castigating them and bitching and moaning. I’m now watching Swing Time, and that is not a wonderful transfer either, with much damage and softness. So, listen up – Warner Bros. does not deserve accolades when they serve up lukewarm product, no matter how great it is to have the films. I watched the little documentary on The Barkleys of Broadway, just to see if I could glean any interesting factoids. No, I did not glean any interesting factoids. I gleaned Leonard Maltin’s puss, blathering away yet more inanities that he’s read elsewhere. And what is with these interviews with Noah Racey, Jeff Denmen, and the two Broadway gals. Mr. Racey and Nancy someone, who were the stars of Never Gonna Dance, are in all these featurettes, which would lead one to believe they were shot over two years ago. I wonder what the Warner Bros. justification is for sitting on product like this for over two years? And Jeffrey Denmen? Please. I also watched a DVD entitled Smothered, a documentary about the censorship war between CBS and the Smothers Brothers. It’s quite interesting, and a little sad. There are some great clips, and it just made me yearn to have all three seasons on DVD.

Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must soon don my evening attire to attend a little Labor Day weekend partay, which I’m sure will be quite sophisticated.

I think that until the party I shall simply wear my feathered pink robe and lounge about on my divan. Has anyone been watching The Jerry Lewis Telethon? I don’t even know what channel it’s on. There, I just found it – Channel Nine in Los Angeles. I must try to watch some of it.

It’s a good thing I’ve been relaxing so much, because come tomorrow and I’ve got non-stop stuff to do all week. Tomorrow will especially be hellish, as I have to get the Harvey Schmidt CDs and then package everything up and get everything shipped. But, I’m also having a lunch and a dinner, so it’s going to be everything I can do to get it all done. But, do it I shall. The rest of the week will be filled with meetings, telephonic calls, dinners, and then a big grammar school class reunion on Saturday, followed by our big CD launch party on Saturday night. That will be a complicated day, because I’ve got to preorder the food platters and then find time to pick them up. I also have a friend coming in on Friday from Denver – they’ll be staying at the home environment in the guest room.

Later today I shall be attending the Labor Day party of Tony Slide and Bob Gitt, and I shall have a full report for you later, as I’m sure it will be filled with interesting and sophisticated people.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, in fact, do nothing but relax and lounge about on my divan, watch a DVD or three, and try not to eat anything prior to the party. I shall, of course, also try to write, as I’m having a splendidly splendid time with this little story – I’m twenty-two pages in already. Today’s topic of discussion: Since we’re all relaxing on this Labor Day, what is the most difficult job you’ve ever had – the one that had the most labor, and the one that kept you going and going with never a moment’s rest.

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