Well, dear readers, my one day of semi-relaxation is over, and now it is work, work, work (that is three works), from now until Christmas vacation, and even then I’ll only have a few days off for the holidays. I spent my relaxing day relaxing, which is what I like to do on a relaxing day. I try not to do anything taxing whilst I’m relaxing – oh, I did do some faxing, but that wasn’t too taxing in the midst of my relaxing. I started off my relaxing day by being awakened at eight in the morning by a telephonic call of the wrong number kind. I got up, did some polishing of the new verse and chorus of the parody lyric I’ve been slaving over, and then got dressed. I headed up to Mystery and Imagination in Glendale, where I brought them fifteen count them fifteen books for next week’s signing. While I was standing there, someone bought one and I signed it for them. I then came back to the City of Studio and picked up two count them two packages, one of which was the errant and truant ash trays. I’d been told by the seller that they’d been sent on November 1, but the postmark on the package was clearly dated November 9th. Given the perfect feedback of the seller, my guess is that the package just sat at the post office for seven days – the seller had put stamps on the package, which were for the correct amount, and I’d guess they just dropped it off and the USPS did its usual snappy/crappy job, i.e. nothing at all. But, all’s well that ends well and end’s well that alls well, so there you are. The ash trays were grand, especially the one from my father’s restaurant. After that, I came home and immediately sat on my couch like so much fish, doing some non-taxing relaxing.
Yesterday, I managed to watch three count them three motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Long Night of Glass Dolls, another Eyetalian giallo (I love the titles of these movies). This one was interesting – it borrowed from an Alfred Hitchcock Presents, where a seemingly dead man is really alive and the alive/dead man narrates the story as he tries to get people to notice he’s not really dead. It has all the usual giallo elements and another excellent score by Ennio Morricone. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Dogora, un film de Patrice Leconte. Seeing any Leconte film is cause for celebration, and this, his latest, was no exception. Refusing to be pigeonholed into any genre, in this outing Leconte decided to make what he termed “a visual opera.” He went to Cambodia and shot this unusual film with Hi-Def cameras in anamorphic scope. He simply shot the people and the country, and then edited it to a musical composition by Etienne Perruchon – scored for symphony orchestra and children’s choir, and some solo voices, all singing texts in a language basically made up by Mr. Perruchon. Think Koyaanisqatsi, but without the social commentary. Mr. Leconte simply lets the images speak for themselves, and the resultant film is mesmerizing, ravishing to look at, tender, moving, and never boring for any of its eighty minutes. We see poverty and sweatshops, we see dancing, we see life in Cambodia – everyday life captured and edited with extraordinary craft by Mr. Leconte. I’ll be watching this one again, and for anyone with a region 2 player, I recommend it wholeheartedly. The DVD is from France, with no subtitles, which is fine as there is no dialogue in the film – just the music and the made-up language texts. Sound and image are as good as it gets on DVD. I then watched the third motion picture on DVD, another giallo entitled Who Saw Her Die, which I think is a fine title for a motion picture on DVD, especially a giallo. Unfortunately, the film that accompanies the title is one of the worst giallos I’ve seen, even though it was from the same director as Long Night of Glass Dolls. Who Saw Her Die is basically incoherent for all of its running time. It starts off okay, ambles along, and then completely loses focus, so that you don’t know why anything is going on. When the killer is finally revealed, you still don’t know why the killer killed anyone, especially several young children. The cast is somewhat interesting – George Lazenby, Luciana Paluzzi, and Adolfo Celi, but they can’t do a thing to save this mess.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because my relaxing day is over and now my taxing days begin.
Today, for example, there shall be no relaxing. I have to spend most of the day looking at DVD footage and marking the time where the scenes I want to have transferred occur. This is for a celebrity film clip reel, all featuring LACC Theatre Department alums who’ve gone on to have excellent careers. I’ve got about twenty DVDs to go through tomorrow, and that’s not all of it – I have to pick up more DVDs on Monday and do the same thing all day Tuesday. Then, later in the week, David Wechter will be putting it all together in a snazzy way.
Yesterday, I picked up the new Burt Bacharach album. I was scared of it, what with drum and bass loops by Dr. Dre and others of his ilk, but what I’ve heard so far is really quite nice. It harkens back to Burt’s “personal” albums of the 70s – Woman and Futures. There are “lyrics” by Burt and someone I never heard of whose name sounds like a rapper, but they sound like someone just spoke words into a tape recorder and then set them to music – very simplistic stuff about peace and love and where did the world go. The two solely instrumental pieces I’ve heard thus far are really good, one with guest Chris Botti on trumpet. I’m sure I’ll have more to say when I’ve finished it.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, view endless DVD footage, I must perhaps take a half-hour at some point and try to write, I must take a brisk walk, and I must view more DVD footage. Today’s topic of discussion: When in doubt, talk about classical music, even if we’ve done so before. What are your all-time favorite classical works – symphonic, chamber, and opera? I’m always looking for recommendations and I’m always looking to discover composers I may not be aware of. I love most of the 20th Century American composers, like Copland, Roy Harris, Randall Thompson, Samuel Barber, Robert Ward, Walter Piston, Norman Dello Joio, Howard Hanson, and many others of their ilk (the entire Bay Cities classical catalog was made up of 20th Century works by all of the above and more). I’m also very fond of most of the 20th Century Brit composers, such as Malcolm Arnold, Gerard Finzi, William Walton, Ralph Vaughn-Williams, Benjamin Britten, William Alwyn, and a ton of others. I also adore Mahler (especially the 5th and 6th symphonies), Rachmaninov, Khatcaturian, and lots of other Russians, Ravel, Debussy, Georges Auric, Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honneger, and lots of other Frenchies, and on and on. For opera, I’m a bit of a Puccini fan, but I’m very partial to American operas like Robert Ward’s The Crucible, Douglas Moore’s Carrie Nation and The Ballad of Baby Doe, Jack Beeson’s Hello Out There, and several others. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we?