Well, dear readers, the time has arrived for our annual haineshisway.com Oscar Bash. Others may think they’re at Oscar bashes and parties that are hip and happening and even happening and hip, but none of those bashes or parties are as hip or happening as the haineshisway.com Oscar Bash. Our Oscar bashes get wackier with each passing year, and they are filled with merriment and mirth and laughter and legs. Last year, we had an astonishing and record number of posts during our Oscar Bash – over nine hundred of them, if you can believe that. So, this is the place to be on Oscar night, for both dear readers and lurkers. The posts start with the pre-show nonsense and then continue unabated for the show proper. I, myself, will be about a half-hour late to the partay because I’ll be zooming home from a matinee of East West players’ production of Sweeney Todd. I’ll be TIVOing the show, so I’ll be able to catch up during a commercial break, but more importantly I’ll be able to get the lowdown from loads of lovely postings. The festivities begin at four o’clock, but we like to have loads of lovely postings even before then. In any case, be there or be round – it’s the hip and happening place to be for Oscar night. And don’t forget to have plenty of cheese slices and ham chunks and other foodstuffs, and we must hear all about those, as well. In just a few short hours, it will be time for Oscar Bash 2006. Yesterday, as promised, I did almost nothing all the livelong day. Oh, I wrote a page or three, crafted some new lyrics for a new song, did a few errands, and supped. But, other than that, I just sat on my couch like so much fish, legs akimbo, mouth hanging open like a dead whitefish, trying to stay warm and cozy. I nodded off several times, as a matter of fact, not fiction.
Yesterday, I watched one count them one motion picture on DVD entitled A Double Tour, the third film of Mr. Claude Chabrol (1959), and the first of Mr. Chabrol’s “Hitchcockian” films. It’s very stylish with lots of swirling camera moves, but it’s way over the top and the story is very silly ultimately. The transfer is nice – nothing exceptional, but in its proper ratio and enhanced for widescreen TVs. I also watched about half of a Dick Cavett show with Groucho – will finish that today, because the other guest on the show is Truman Capote. Isn’t it amazing that you could have Groucho and Truman Capote on the same talk show? Compare that with today’s talk shows and you know just how low we’ve sunk.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must prepare everything so that I’m ready for our Oscar Bash 2006 as soon as I return from Sweeney Todd.
Today I shall print out the latest three short stories and tomorrow I shall deliver them to my muse, Margaret, so she can be up to date, short story-wise. She’s already read the first four. I’m deciding whether seven will be enough, or if I want to do one or two more. I have one idea that would be interesting to write, in a genre I really haven’t done before. It would also be a fairly succinct story so it wouldn’t take all that long, and, while I think it would be difficult to write in one way (based on a personal fear of mine), it also might be cathartic. So, we shall see. I might just start it and see how it feels.
Today I shall be seeing East West Players’ production of Sweeney Todd. They’re known for their productions of Sondheim’s musicals, and they’re very well thought of. I saw Pacific Overtures there and it was very competently produced and acted, so I’m looking forward to their Sweeney. I will, of course, have a full report for all of you.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, attend our annual haineshisway.com Oscar Bash 2006, I must lunch with friends, I must see Sweeney Todd and I must post and post and post during the Oscarcast. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite Oscar moments – the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’ll start with the Ugly – Rob Lowe and Snow White in that awful Alan Carr-produced Oscarcast – a true Oscar lowlight. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we? And the winner is…