Well, dear readers, in the words of the great Herman Steinmetz Waffle, today is Monday. And in the words of the great Friedrich Strasse Bonmot, today may be Monday but it could also be Monday. Waffle and Bonmot were often contradictory and yet the same. One could also say they were the same yet contradictory. All this by way of saying what the HELL am I talking about? Today’s notes are already like a gazelle dropping acid. Speaking of dropping acid, yesterday was an interesting day for reasons I no longer remember. Let me see if I can reconstruct things. I got up. That was interesting. I then finished the chapter I was on, did a little smoothing out, then printed out the pages, had them Xeroxed and then drove them over to my muse Margaret for her mental delectation. Despite her telling me she’d get to them yesterday, I didn’t hear back, so she either didn’t get to them, or perhaps didn’t care for this batch and is formulating her thoughts. Obviously I’d prefer the former rather than the latter scenario, but I suppose I’ll just have to wait and see. After that, I did some things that needed doing and then I sat on my couch like so much fish until it was time to go to Miss Barbara Deutsch’s birthday bash.
And what a bash it was. It was held at Sterling’s Upstairs At Vitello’s, the same club I was at last night. The guests arrived at six for cocktails and little pizza slices. We mingled, oh, yes, we mingled. It was a lovelier than lovely bunch of her friends in attendance, and I hung out with Mr. Kevin Spirtas and his friend Mark, and also my old school chum Mr. Bill Ewing and his lovelier than lovely wife, and their talented son, Blake. Blake was the boy in the LA company of Ragtime. Barbara’s son Sam Lembeck and his ever-lovin’ Natalie were working the room, and I mingled with Helaine Lembeck (Michael’s sister, who I knew when she was but a wee girl) and Carol Lembeck (Michael’s mother, who I hadn’t seen in ages and ages). We all grabbed our seats at the various tables. I was at a table with Kevin and Mark and also vocal coach Bob Garrett. Mark Allen and his ever-lovin’ Buffy (the creators of The Party Animals) were there, and we’re going to try to do the show again at the end of April. Dinner was served buffet style, and the food was better than it was the night before. And then the entertainment portion of the show began with Mr. Kevin Spirtas performing Miss Deutsch’s favorite musical number, One, from A Chorus Line, which he did with full choreography and his original top hat from when he toured with the show. He spoke a little and then did his patented back flip, which was pretty amazing on that tiny stage. Sam spoke, and then I was up. I went to the piano and Kevin held a mic for me, since there was no boom stand. I told everyone that I had intended to do One but that Kevin beat me to the punch. I then explained what I was going to be singing, which was basically an e-mail list of Barbara things that her friend Alison had sent me and that I’d set to music. I’m happy to say I remembered everything and it got lots of laughs and went over very well. I don’t remember the names of all the other singers, but they all did beautifully. The penultimate act was Bob Garrett and his friend doing And I Am Telling You I Am Not Going, but changing “Going” to “Twenty” then “Thirty” then “Forty” then “Fifty”. It was very, very funny. Then Barbara got up and spoke and sang two songs, Not While I’m Around, and All The Good Men Are Gay, and a chorus of Day By Day, a song she did in the first national company of Godspell. Then we had cake and that was that. It was truly splendid, and you could feel the love for Miss Deutsch emanating from every table. Since Miss Deutsch turned sixty, and since I’ll be turning the same age later this year, I wonder if anyone will give ME such a birthday bash. More importantly, I wonder if I WANT such a birthday bash.
Well, in the words of the great Millard Quisling Grock, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below. Mr. Grock was the first to ever suggest doing such a thing, and we are eternally grateful to him for doing so.
Yesterday, I managed to watch two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Color Me Kubrick, a curious film made in 2005 but only now seeing the light of day on DVD. It’s a quirky and occasionally very amusing film about Alan Conway, a man who for several years in the 90s went around impersonating Stanley Kubrick, despite the fact that he looked nothing like him. And there were scores of people who believed him. John Malkovich has a field day playing Conway, but the supporting cast is equally strong. The writer and director both worked for Mr. Kubrick, and their film is filled with Kubrickian touches, especially in the music choices. The film runs a brisk eighty-three minutes and while it didn’t quite achieve greatness, it was entertainingly entertaining. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Bobby, the story about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Only it wasn’t really that story at all. What it really was a look at that particular day in the life of employees and guests at the Ambassador Hotel. As such, I found it fairly annoying and trivial. The final fifteen minutes, which finally do deal with the assassination, are, in fact, moving, but I found it slow going up until then. The film is filled with (according to the box) the greatest cast ever assembled. I think not. Demi Moore is terrible playing, well, I don’t know who she’s supposed to be playing – some drunken entertainer of the era. And one of the endless subplots is two teenagers covering the convention who instead go out and take LSD. That entire sequence is mind-bogglingly awful. The fact that this film got a Golden Globe nod for Best Picture shows just how bankrupt that organization really is. The film wants to be like Crash (which I didn’t love), but it’s mostly a bore. Competently directed by Emilio Estevez, but his script is not that competent. Martin Sheen does a nice job, but Helen Hunt doesn’t even look like Helen Hunt anymore. What gives with her? From all the raves I’d read, I was expecting more. For me, a disappointment.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Today, I shall hopefully be shipping Shire CDs by noon. Knowing my pressing plant lady as I do, it will probably be more like late afternoon before they arrive, which means they’ll go out first thing Tuesday. And I do hope I hear from my muse about the new pages, so send some excellent vibes and xylophones that she’ll at least like them. Tonight, I’ll be supping with Mr. Cason Murphy and his ever-lovin’ Heather at Genghis Cohen. I will, of course, have a full report and perhaps a photograph or three.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, write (although I may not until I’ve heard from Margaret), ship, and sup. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite motion pictures with a political theme? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and in the words of the great Leopold Ingebold Artemold, let’s get crackin’.