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August 18, 2006:

WENT THE DAY WELL

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, it’s the end of the week already. In other words, already it’s the end of the week. Where in tarnation did this week go? It just flew by like a gazelle tap dancing on the wing of a bi-plane. The good news is, of course, that it is now the weekend, and the weekend means some of us get to sit on our collective couches like so much collective fish. Oh, I have work that must be done this fine weekend and do it I shall, but I shall also watch a DVD or five, attend an opening of some Mexican ballet troupe on Saturday night, and perhaps have at least one nice meal. Speaking of one nice meal, I’d intended to have one last night, only that didn’t happen because my meal partner crapped out on me due to illness. When next I see said meal partner I shall bitch-slap said meal partner from here to eternity and hell and back without mercy. Yesterday was quite an interesting day. It started off in very annoying fashion (pleated yellow pants and an azure blue shirt with fringe) with my not being able to fit the Kevin Spirtas DVDs into the pre-addressed envelopes I’d slaved over the day before. Said envelopes were exactly the same size as the envelopes in which I shipped the Deceit DVDs but not even a Deceit DVD would fit in this batch, which clearly means the size of these envelopes must vary, which is clearly bad news. So, I had to go buy slightly bigger envelopes, then I had to re-address every single one as well as fill out delivery confirmation slips for every single one. I got it done, however, and then I took the big baggie filled with them over to the postal office and they are all on their merry way. Directly after that, I went over to Grant Geissman’s house and we began to try to figure out what the cover is going to be for my new book of short stories. Grant had a notion for something, so I let him run with it – I brought over some stuff, image-wise, and he had some stuff, image-wise. He found something we both liked and then he began to futz with it in Quark Express or whatever program he uses. And two hours later he’d come up with an incredibly incredible cover that we both were batty over. I’d say he was touched with genius on this one and I couldn’t be happier. He’s working on the back cover now and it’s really fun, too. I’m hoping to have one or two nice blurbs for the back cover. In any case, he’s e-mailing me the image this morning and I’m also going to pick up a printout of it after a breakfast meeting with our very own Alet Taylor, for whom I’ll be creating and directing a one-person show. So, all in all, went the day well.

Last night, I watched two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Klatretosen (Climber Girl), a Danish film that turned out to be hugely successful blockbuster – so much so that it was naturally purchased by a US company who promptly remade it one year later under the title Catch That Kid. I’m going to watch the American version, but from what I already can glean, they messed it up, made it PC, and made it more crass and more gooey. The marvelous thing about the Danish film is that it is very un-PC, and given it’s high-concept, it’s also fairly down to earth and not overdone. You just know that the American version is hyped up and over the top and therefore bad. It’s interesting that a Danish screenwriter and director came up with a peculiarly American high concept – a young girl who appears to be about fourteen loves to climb but her parents frown on it because her father took a fall from Mount Everest and sustained some bad injuries. Said injuries come back to haunt him and he collapses. He’s told he needs a 1.5 million kroner operation in the United States. The mother tries everything she can but cannot raise the dough. So, the daughter decides she’s going to rob a new high-security bank that’s just opened – a bank for which her mother designed the alarm systems. She enlists the aid of two friends, both of whom want to be her boyfriend. The director plays it straight (there’s a lot of comedy, but it’s all believable), doesn’t overdo the pathos, let’s the sometimes un-PC comedy go where it wants to, and then doesn’t tart up the robbery sequence. Hence, it’s a thoroughly entertaining film from start to finish – running a brisk eighty-five minutes. The DVD is from Denmark, but has English subtitles. I took a chance on it because it sounded like fun and it was a lot of fun. Very much recommended if you have a multi-region player, and if anyone is interested I can give a link to the site that has it right here in the States (a site that gets wonderful imports from all over the world).

Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below and I’ll tell you about DVD number two in the next section, because I have a busy day today and I hope at the end of it I can say as I did yesterday – went the day well.

I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Scandal, a film of Akira Kurosawa from 1950. Scandal was made after one of my favorite early Kurosawa films, Stray Dog. I didn’t find Scandal quite as good, but it’s a compelling film that still has a LOT of relevance to the world in which we live today. In fact, nothing’s really changed. The film is about an artist who gives a ride to a singing star. A magazine photographer takes their picture; the magazine prints it, and trumps up a story that the two of them are having an affair. The man is so enraged by it that he and the girl sue the magazine. Unfortunately, he hires a lawyer who’s not great, and who is weak – the lawyer accepts a bribe from the magazine to play both sides. I won’t give away more, but suffice it to say that rags like the National Enquirer or Star are still up to the same thing every week. It’s interesting to compare these early Kurosawa films to the film of Ozu from that same period. They couldn’t be further apart in style – Ozu puts his camera down and just shoots the story with as little style as possible (of course it’s style – just not style that calls attention to itself). His actors are extremely naturalistic. Whereas the films of Kurosawa have lots of visual style and he seems to encourage his actors more towards melodrama that being naturalistic. Both approaches work for their directors, but I find the differences fascinating.

Today, I shall be having a breakfast meeting, then picking up a printout of the book cover, then coming home and finishing entering corrections for the last four short stories. Then the corrected version will go to one proofreader for final comments. I should have those back in four or five days, I’ll enter those, and then we’ll put it all together and send it off to the publishing house. I still haven’t gotten the two new scenes that Mr. David Wechter is supposed to do, so I may take them on myself, because David’s mind is elsewhere and he simply may not be able to do it. I hope he can, frankly, because we bring slightly different things to the table, writing-wise, and I’d like to see what he does. But, I need to get a completed new script printed for our auditions, so I can’t let it drag on too much longer.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, breakfast, meet, enter corrections, and then have a light supper, after which I shall watch another DVD or two. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, Never So Few, the marvelous soundtrack recording of marvelous music by marvelous Hugo Friedhofer. DVD, next up is either Kurosawa’s The Idiot or Minnelli’s The Four Horsemen Of The Apocolypse. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and let’s all have such a nice day that we can all say in unison – went the day well.

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