Well, dear readers, I am being driven mad trying to finish the parody lyric for the LACC show. And for that we can blame my close personal friend, Mr. Stephen Sondheim, whose rhyme scheme and odd scans for Everybody Ought To Have A Maid are maddening. I’m a stickler for not cheating and adding beats where there are none, or adding syllables or mis-emphasizing a word. So, not only do you have to be exactly and precisely true to the rhyme scheme, you also have to be funny and clever at the same time. I’ve been working on this for five days straight and am finally into the second built-in encore. Once I finish, then I’ll go back and see what I can improve, but I get stuck and slave over mostly every line in the song (except the first line of each verse – that’s easy). Well, at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can also see the tunnel at the end of the light. I shall try to finish it this morning, before I toddle off to the recording session I’m doing this afternoon. Speaking of the light at the end of the tunnel, just who put the light at the end of the tunnel? And why didn’t someone put a light in the middle of the tunnel? It’s very difficult to actually get to the light at the end of the tunnel, because there is no fershluganah light in the middle of the tunnel, and one keeps bumping into the walls and getting bruised beyond all recognition. Where was I? Well, yesterday I was at home most of the day. I did go over to the City of Studio Farmer’s Market for a stroll (and bought some corn), but otherwise I just sat on my couch like so much fish, watching DVDs, snoozing, and trying to slog through the parody lyric. I ate two chicken breasts for luncheon, and a catfish sandwich for dinnereon, and a few Halloween candies for desserteon. All in all, a very relaxing day, which I really needed.
Yesterday, I managed to watch three count them three motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Kuroneko, a Japanese horror/ghost/love story from the director of the very strange film, Onibaba. Kuroneko is equally strange, very poetic, and very enjoyable. It’s a region 2 DVD, so most here will not be able to watch it even if they wanted to. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled The War of the Worlds, the original version produced by Mr. George Pal, and directed by Mr. Byron Haskin. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for this film, and I must say, I found this new special edition DVD quite lovely. I no longer have the first DVD to compare it to, but if I’m remembering the old transfer correctly, this new transfer is miles ahead – it’s really sharp, the colors look very accurate and saturated, and this time they’ve included the stereo mix that the old laserdisc had. I love the whole design of the film, and I had a fine time watching it again. I then watched the third motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Kill. Kill is a samurai film from 1968 – part comedy, part adventure, part send-up, it’s a crackling good film. With some of these samurai pictures, you don’t really know what’s going on for the first third of the film, but if you’re patient, suddenly all the motives of the characters become clear, and the plotting all makes sense. This film has some really amusing bits and “homages” to other samurai classics. The score by Masaru Satoh is excellent, as is everything else about the film, from the direction and photography to the splendid performances. The DVD from Criterion looks swell.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Don’t I have a tunnel to go through, so I can get to the light? Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below, because I’ve got plenty to do before doing a recording session.
As I’ve mentioned, today I must do a little recording session for the new musical opening next week at the Ahmanson Theater. We’ll be recording the overture, and then making it sound like an old 78rpm record. Hopefully, the session will go quickly and smoothly, so send all your excellent vibes and xylophones (both of which we’ll have at the session) this afternoon. Prior to the session, I’ve got to ship out a few more orders, and make some telephonic calls to various and sundried peoples of this nation. After the session, I may have to have a meeting, but I am not sure yet.
In this particular paragraph I have nothing to say. But I didn’t just want to go to the last paragraph, as I believe everything good comes in threes. So, this particular paragraph will be about nothing whatsoever. I always find it comforting to suddenly come upon a paragraph that is about nothing whatsoever, rather like a gazelle after a lobotomy.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a recording session, I must try to finish the parody lyric, I must do a little this’a and a little that’a, with an emphasis on the latter. Today’s topic of discussion: We hear a lot about girl groups, but what are your favorite boy groups and songs? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we all make our way to the light at the end of the tunnel.