Well, dear readers, it’s gonna be another hot day. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, it’s gonna be another hot day and that hot day is also the final day of June. As I sit here writing these here notes it must be eighty-five degrees in my home. Why is that, you might ask, and I might tell you for why should I withhold such information from you dear readers. It is eighty-five degrees in my home because the air conditioning fan decided to not work yesterday. It has been working just fine, but on the hottest day of the year, it stops working. The Handy Man came out and determined that it was the fan, but he could not fix it, so I must wait for the Air Conditioning Man to come today and hopefully it will be sooner than later because it is unbearably unbearable. Opening the window didn’t help, since it was also about eight-five degrees outside last night. Normally, if I use the air conditioner in the evening for an hour (which I did the night before), then the house stays cool for most of the next day. But, after that it becomes a hothouse. Oh, well, at some point today it will be fixed and then I’ll cool off the jernt. Yesterday turned out to be a long, involved day, starting with my luncheon with the head of the theatre academy of LACC to go over cabaret details. That was a very nice meeting. I then had to pick up the Kevin Spirtas DVD (hopefully it will be perfect and we’ll be done with this phase), then I had to do a bunch of errands, then I finally came home. I fixed some stuff on what I wrote yesterday and then wrote a little more. Mostly what I did was have telephonic conversations, one after the other, about a whole variety and also Hollywood Reporter of things. Finally, I checked the check disc of Deceit, all was well, and I gave the go-ahead to replicate. We should start shipping on Wednesday if all goes according to Hoyle. Then I sat on my couch like so much hot fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled Tora Tora Tora. It’s a remake of a Jewish film about Moses called Torah Torah Torah. Very few people know that. In any case, I watched Tora Tora Tora, which I’d never seen before. I must say, I know the film was not a critical or box-office success, but I rather enjoyed it. It was very interesting to see both sides of the story of Pearl Harbor, which was, of course, the sequel to both sides of the story of Pearl Buck. The cast is quite good with many reliable character actors such as Wesley Addy, George Macready, E.G. Marshall, Richard Anderson, Edward Andrews, Joseph Cotton, and Mr. Martin Balsam as Husband E. Kimmel, no relation to BK or Jimmy or Adam or Joel. The direction is solid (Richard Flesischer and two Japanese directors), and the score by Jerry Goldsmith is terrific. It’s amazing to watch the complacency and ineptitude of several senior officers and politicians, blithely ignoring the facts presented to them (that the attack was on its way), and that includes the film’s implication that even Roosevelt reacted slowly and rather ineptly. It would have been nice to have had a little post December 7th history about the officers and politicos who could have done something but didn’t? But, the film just ends rather bluntly. I then watched episode one of Perry Mason. I’ve always had a soft spot for Perry Mason and it was fun to see the very first episode. Raymond Burr was already inhabiting the character completely, and the same can be said for Barbara Hale, William Hopper, William Talman, and Ray Collins. The guest stars weren’t really high-caliber at this point (the biggest of them was Whitney Blake, who was not so good). I’m looking forward to the rest of the season one episodes.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because it’s gonna be another hot day and I’ll be sitting here broiling until Mr. Air Conditioning Man shows up.
As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been talking to my new/old friend Jeannie, since she found me and we reconnected after forty years. As I’ve also mentioned, the character of Jeanne in Kritzer Time is based on her and dear reader Jane. I mention this only because their voices are incredibly similar on the phone – isn’t that funny?
Today I shall be waiting for the air conditioning to be fixed, and then I have many things to do including having an early dinner with our very own Mr. Nick Redman – we’ll be going to Genghis Cohen. We’ll be joined briefly by our very own Mr. Jason Graae, who has to sign his LACC contract before he leaves town. Oh, and in other breaking news, we’ve added a bonus show to our final weekend – what a great batch of shows that will be – we’ve added Mr. Kevin Spirtas to Thursday, August 3rd. He’ll be followed by Jason and then Linda Purl. Kevin will sell out fairly quickly, so I’d make reservations asap if you’re interested in seeing him.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, write, eat, meet, and have air conditioning fixed. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, the San Francisco Sondheim benefit, which I’m proofing, plus Ennio Morricone’s soundtrack to Whatever Happened to Solange. DVD, Perry Mason. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we bid a fond farewell to the wacky month that has been June. Let us welcome July with open arms, shall we?