Well, dear readers, this year is already flying by, like a gazelle in Hebrew school. This is the final day of my mini-time off, for tomorrow it is back to work, work, work (that is three works). I’m feeling very rested and recharged and I’m rarin’ to go, oh, yes, I’m rarin’ to go. Speaking of rarin’ to go, I had a perfectly perfect first day of the year yesterday. For example, I woke up. That was a perfectly perfect thing to do. I then jogged a brisk jog, and then I did a completely unexpected thing. I began work on what I hope will be my new novel. As some of you may remember, I began this book last year, but despite a good idea and a good leading character, I got the tone of the beginning completely wrong – my muse Margaret felt strongly about it (she loves the idea of the book and the character) and we discussed it at length and then she suggested I not begin it until the New Year, which was the best advice she could have given. So, I’ve been thinking about it off and on, and even planned a new beginning of the book, which I ran by Margaret months ago and which she liked a lot. I’ve been making lots of notes, and I just felt like starting today, so I began anew, and wrote about five pages. I get to keep a few things from the previous version, but the entire first chapter is brand new and I’m having a really good time reworking it. I must say, in rereading what I’d done (basically I skimmed it just to see which small bits I can keep), I was amazed to see how wrongheaded some of it was. I do think I’m now on the right path and, as always, when one is on the right path then things flow easily and it’s ever so much fun. And so, sooner than I expected, I’m back in business writing a new novel. After that, Mr. Nick Redman came over, we exchanged Christmas gifts, and then we toddled off to Mr. Tony Slide and Mr. Bob Gitt’s annual New Year’s Day Do. Most of the usual suspects were there, including many of our neighbors, the delightful Sue Slutzky, Norman Lloyd, Marsha Hunt, Samantha Eggar, cousin Alan (cousin Dee Dee is sick and wasn’t in attendance), and many others, with Tony and Bob perfectly perfect hosts. We stayed about two hours, and it was lots of fun. Nick and I then went to Marie Callendar’s because I had a hankerin’ for a good burger. I finally got home around nine-thirty and immediately sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I managed to watch two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled The Awakening, a film from 1980 starring Mr. Charlton Heston, Miss Susannah York, and Miss Stephanie Zimbalist. The film is a piece of overripe cheese, but does have beautiful photography by the brilliant Jack Cardiff. It begins with a thirty minute prologue (maybe the longest prologue ever) and then we get one muddled scene after another, with Mr. Heston vainly trying to be English (with a fake beard), and Miss Zimbalist laboring mightily to convince that she’s been possessed by the spirit of Kara, an unearthed mummy from ancient Egypt. None of it makes one whit of sense, and even at 101 minutes the film seems endless. The musical score is quite nice – Claude Bolling – but I’m afraid the film is a complete bust. The transfer is okay on this region 2 disc. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Man Bait here in the US, but called The Last Page in the UK. It’s one of those low-budget Hammer noirs, but this one is interesting on a number of levels. First of all, it’s the film that introduced the world to the charms of Miss Diana Dors. The slumming American leading man is George Brent. The film is directed by Terence Fisher, who would later go on to bring Hammer Films the glory of The Curse Of Frankenstein and Horror of Dracula. Most interestingly, the script (adapted from a novel by James Hadley Chase) is by Frederick Knott, who just a year later would pen his classic mystery play, Dial M For Murder. I haven’t thought much of the other two Hammer noirs, but I quite liked this one.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because the hour is late and I must get my beauty sleep because if I don’t dogs will shy away from me in the street.
Today, I do have things I must do, like take my clothes to the dry cleaners, book a haircut (my hair is most unkempt), perhaps write a few more pages of a new book, and package up a few new orders (although we cannot ship them today thanks to a whopping three days of the post office being closed) – I don’t think I’ll have time to ship them tomorrow either, but we’ll see. I also have to make a schedule for the rest of the month, so I can see where I have time for meetings and such.
Tomorrow, of course, we begin rehearsals for the kids show, but the first two days will, most likely, be used by the choreographer. I should think I’ll begin blocking on the 5th, Friday. In the meantime, I’ll be recording the Brain vocals tomorrow at two, and I’ll hear the mixes that have been done and finesse them. Mr. Booklet Designer, Doug Haverty, is hard at work designing the booklet. My plan is to put it up for preorder around the 15th of January, along with our reissue of the Joan Ryan CD that I produced a few years ago – few people know I did that CD, and it’s quite good.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, write, do errands, and prepare for the first day of rehearsals on the kids show. Today’s topic of discussion: I know little of computer games and video games – what are your all time favorite computer and video games, and describe them and tell us what you find appealing about them. I’ll start – computer, Free Cell, to which I was addicted for years (pre PowerBook). I simply couldn’t go a day without playing a few games – I’m glad to have quite cold turkey because it was really taking a lot of my time. Video game – the only one I ever played in my entire life was Frogger, which I liked very much. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we? We shall.