Well, dear readers, it’s Friday already. Yes, Virginia, it’s Friday already and I, for one, am happy the weekend is upon us. Did anyone notice that last night we had one of those damnable “too many connections” problems. This time, no one can blame it on the site, since we made all the changes that were requested of us. That only leaves a problem with the server, and unfortunately, when that happens after business hours, it does take time for someone to realize there’s a problem and then deal with it. I reckon we were down for over an hour. Since I never get any response, I have no idea what the real problem was. If I never see “too many connections” again it will be too soon. Speaking of too soon, yesterday ended up being quite a busy little day. I got up very early, went jogging very early, and then went to LACC to see the design for our upcoming cabaret series. It’s going to be very elegant from what I can tell. After that, I went home and met up with Mr. Kevin Spirtas. We went over to the California Pizza Kitchen to lunch and ran into Miss Joan Ryan and company. I have one question: When did a slightly upscale jernt like CPK become a children’s restaurant. I swear, at twelve-thirty the place was filled with kids ranging in ages from one year to about sixteen. Several tables of teens eating large lunches, undoubtedly on their parents’ credit cards. I just don’t get it. Is CPK the new Bob’s Big Boy? This is not a cheap restaurant. In any case, we had a lovelier than lovely lunch, we did a cut-down of Kevin’s show so he could perform a one-act version in smaller venues. After that, I had to go do quite a few errands, and then I had a friend come over in the evening to watch some TV. I also had to make way too many damnable telephonic calls, and I’m getting a little sick of the telephonic device, frankly.
Last night, I watched two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Charlie Chan In Shanghai. It wasn’t the best Chan I’ve seen, but it was still most enjoyable, and Warner Oland even sang in this one. Certainly, it was the best-looking of the four Chans in this new box set. And there’s a very nice extra on the DVD – the Mexican version of Charlie Chan Carries On, which was the first film in the Oland series. The American version is lost and there are no surviving prints or negatives. The Mexican version was shot concurrent to the American, albeit with Mexican actors, but on the same sets with the same script (translated, of course). The print is actually really good and subtitled, and it’s quite nice to have it. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Track Down. At least that’s the title on the DVD box – the film is actually entitled Takedown. I picked it up (I should have known better) because it looked interesting – the story of computer hacker Kevin Mitnick. In the hands of an Alan J. Pakula, this could have been a terrific film. In the hands of film hack Joe Chappelle it’s merely one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen – an encyclopedia of every “mod” with it film cliché of the last six years (the film was released in 2000 and was a bomb). It’s the kind of bad movie where you actually start screaming at the TV, which I did. You basically want to throw something at the characters, the actors, and the director. Someone named Skeet Ulrich plays Mitnick, and as played by Mr. Ulrich, Mitnick is one of the biggest jerks who ever walked the face of this earth. I understand that he’s some sort of “hero” to young people, but he’s a creep in this film and I have no doubt he’s a creep in real life. The actors are all grade C, and the music is enough to make you want to kill yourself. Mr. Chappelle’s idea of direction is to shake the camera mercilessly, to skew angles, and to add loud whooshing noises every time there’s a cut, a pan, or even when people look at each other. Whoosh – so loud it sounds like someone is being done in by a shotgun. It’s reprehensible filmmaking and whoever hired this guy should be ashamed of himself. And, if somehow Mr. Chappelle finds this little critique, he should be ashamed of himself, too, and he should give back his DGA card. When the film was finally over, I had an urge to stomp the DVD into bits, but I didn’t so I can take it back from whence it came.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below and let’s hope we don’t have too many connections or too many mornings or too many tomorrows.
This morning I’m breakfasting with our very own Alet Taylor. It will be fun to have some time to catch up and also to ketchup. I shall try to eat a reasonable meal, and then I shall jog. Deceit is on its way to the pressing plant, so we’re right on schedule. I must also finish the song that I’ve been working on – it’s taken much longer than it should – but I went through six tunes before finding the one I liked.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, eat, jog, do errands, buy a new wallet now that I have most of my cards replaced, and perhaps buy some new jogging shoes. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player, and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, I’ve been on a Jerry Goldsmith kick – well, early Jerry anyway, so I’ve been playing a lot of his sixties and seventies soundtracks – currently Ace Eli and Roger of the Skies or whatever the HELL it’s called. DVD, Frankenheimer’s I Walk The Line, the one Frankenheimer that I haven’t seen (save for his work on cable TV). Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and let us not have to endure too many connections today or ever again.