Haines Logo Text
Column Archive
November 28, 2005:

EAR READERS

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, the long gloriously glorious weekend is over and today I start the five-day countdown to the LACC show. I will be working morning, noon, and night and all stops in between. Not only rehearsing, mind you, but finishing up the intros and patter that I’m writing (I’m writing everything except three tribute intros). Happily, I did the big one this weekend, the Cindy Williams introduction to the show. I think she’ll like it – it’s pretty funny, has interesting historical facts, plus two slugs for her to tell short anecdotes about her time at the school. Other than writing that, and going to storage, and having a one-hour meeting yesterday, that is the only work I did for the last four days, and I’m feeling rested and rarin’ to go. For those who were errant and truant all weekend (and there were plenty of you), do catch up on the notes and posts, as there were lots of interesting things going on here in your bitch-slap-worthy absence. One of the best things about the long weekend was watching the huge stack of DVDs on my coffee table dwindle down to a much more reasonable short stack. Oh, ear, I had to go and mention a short stack, didn’t I? Oh, ear??? Oh, ear??? Leave a little ol’ “d” off a word and suddenly one is talking to one’s ear. I mustn’t succumb to a short stack, for I am doing splendidly on my crash diet. I was quite a good little eater yesterday – had a Subway Club and a matzoh and that’s it. Under 1000 calories, which means I lost weight. Which reminds me – I have to decide what I am wearing for the LACC show. If I felt like it, I could wear my new Armani tux, but I’d have to buy a shirt and studs and cuff links for it, and I’m not sure I’ll have time. Or, I could wear my nice blue sport coat, my nice gray slacks, and a nice shirt, or shirt with nice sweater, or shirt with tie. I’m also going to try to get in to see Teddy, for a quick trim. We’ll see if he has time open one of these mornings.

Yesterday, I watched two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled The Son of Kong, the sequel to King Kong. Since my King Kong tin is on its way, I haven’t seen daddy’s film yet. The Son of Kong is a very odd film – more of a comedy during the Kong sections, with the son of Kong cute as a button and friendly (except to some pesky animal interlopers). The film runs a brisk 69 minutes and the son does not appear until the 45 minute mark. Slight, but entertaining if you’re not expecting much. The transfer is superb – too bad Warners’ other RKO transfers don’t look anywhere near this good – why that is is anyone’s guess. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Mighty Joe Young. I haven’t really seen Mr. Joseph Young since I was a teen. Even though I owned the laserdisc, I never got around to watching it. I remembered very little, and I must say I found it terrifically entertaining or, more aptly, mightily entertaining. Terry Moore is cute-as-a-button, Ben Johnson is manly, and Robert Armstrong is always fun. It’s very well-directed, and the stop-motion animation is great. But, the film succeeds or fails with Mr. Joseph Young, and he is perfection – beautifully rendered, with a lot of humor and emotion. Whenever I see films this good, I’m just like a kid – I completely get caught up in the storytelling and the characters. The transfer, like The Son of Kong, is superb. That’s two superb RKO transfers from Warners – so why do the Astaire/Rogers films not look this good?

What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button, ear readers, for soon I must be on my way to do a lot of work on our LACC show.

I like the idea of ear readers, don’t you? It’s so Philip K. Dick. So, what will my day be like today? Well, I’ll tell you what my day will be like today, for why should I keep such things from the likes of you ear readers? This morning I must finish writing the act two intros and patter (shouldn’t take me more than an hour or two). Then I must ship a couple of packages and make a few telephonic calls. It looks like I will be journeying to San Francisco, California, USA the day after the LACC show, where I will be attending the Simply Sondheim benefit show, at the behest of my close personal friend, Mr. Guy Haines, who may or may not be taking part in the show. So, I must make a few arrangements for the trip, as I won’t have time to deal with it later in the week. Then I will be on my way to LACC, probably at two-thirty. I don’t have rehearsal until five, but there are many things to attend to, most importantly scheduling everyone for the Friday night band run-through and the Saturday sound check. My assistant Svetlana will be making the calls, but we have to go over everything before she does so. Then at five I work with the faculty number, then at six we run the two big numbers, and then at seven-thirty we learn the finale, Our Time, which I will then stage (just a big group of people – should take all of five minutes). At some point, I shall eat reasonable foodstuffs.

Well, ear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, try leaving off the first letter of other words – if I did that, the last sentence would read “I ust, or xample, ry eaving ff he irst etter f ther ords” – I rather like that, don’t you? It looks like the byproduct of a Dutch and German language splice. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite snack foods – the ones you love to eat whilst watching movies or reading? Let’s hear about them in detail, so that we can all discover new and exciting treats. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, ear readers?

Search BK's Notes Archive:
 
© 2001 - 2024 by Bruce Kimmel. All Rights Reserved