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April 14, 2007:

DRAWING THE LINE

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, it is the weekend. I ask you, where else on all the Internet can you find such information? Nowhere, that’s where. You probably noticed that yesterday I was very careful never to mention the words Friday the 13th. I thought that by being careful to never mention the words Friday the 13th that we’d thereby avoid any bad luck or mishaps (spahsim, spelled backwards). Well, we mostly did, except for the cost of having my car’s major servicing plus having to replace the front and rear brake pads. That was certainly an expense I didn’t need – and there are still two things I’ll need to attend to in the coming weeks, but I just drew the line yesterday. The man at the car service place was fascinated with the line I drew, and he then asked me to draw a circle and a triangle. I obliged him – in fact, I drew the Bermuda Triangle, perhaps the finest rendition of the Bermuda Triangle that has ever been drawn. You know, if anyone has a clew as to what the HELL I’m talking about, do drop us an e-mail. Speaking of drawing the line, yesterday was Friday the 13th. I woke up at six-twenty in the morning, and drove my car in for its major servicing. They gave me a loaner and I promptly drove back home, but I could not go back to sleep. So, instead, I entered all my little typo and grammar fixes into the master book document. I then toddled off to rehearsal, our final rehearsal before show time this evening. We began by running every number and getting our pianist locked in to everything we needed. He made lots of notes and we all felt better after that work through. Merissa was taking it easy vocally, which I encouraged her to do. We then ran the show, and the patter was excellent, her energy was more focused, and I took very few notes. It was a little rushed – in fact, it was five minutes faster than the previous night’s rehearsal. I gave the notes, we ran a couple of things, and then I picked my car up, after which I came home, went out, printed up some new copies of the corrected manuscript, supped, and then came home and sat on my couch like so much fish.

Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled The Scarface Mob. Well, it was a motion picture in the sense that the two halves of the original The Untouchables pilot were put together to form a motion picture. The pilot originally aired in two parts on the Desilu Playhouse. The most interesting thing you notice right away is that the famous main title musical theme hadn’t been written yet. I really like The Untouchables, and the series was one I never missed. It just did everything right, especially the brilliant decision to have Walter Winchell narrate. The show would find itself during the first season, so the pilot is a bit strange in certain ways. Robert Stack as Eliot Ness is the part he was born to play. The Eyetalian accents are eye-rollingly high schoolish – I think they stopped doing that when it went to series. The always underrated Phil Karlson directed, and I must say the pilot had amazing production values. The transfer couldn’t be better – rich black-and-white, great contrast, and sharp as a tack. I then watched an actual motion picture on DVD entitled Bugsy Malone, a new Special Edition DVD from the UK. I’ve written about the film before – it’s one of the strangest movies ever, a real head scratcher, and a perfect “what were they thinking” film. It does have its charms, chief amongst them a winning performance by a very young Jodie Foster. But, if you’re going to do this sort of thing you have to go all the way, and they do save for one thing – it’s a musical, yet 90% of the vocals are all performed by the film’s composer/lyricist, Paul Williams. It’s a disastrous decision and it kills the movie, at least for me it does. If the actors couldn’t sing it, they should have at least gotten kid singers to dub them. The new anamorphic transfer looks swell, and there are several extras, which I’ll watch some time today.

Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because frankly I’m drawing the line right here and now. Here it is:

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Have you ever drawn the line? If so, perhaps you’ll share your artwork with us today. Speaking of today, I shall try to sleep in, then do a few errands, including shipping a couple of boxes. Then we have a sound check at one, then I’ll have the rest of the afternoon to myself, then I toddle off to Vitello’s to sup and see the debut of Miss Merissa Haddad. Send all excellent vibes and xylophones if you can.

Tomorrow, I think we’re going to try to have a mini LA hainsies/kimlets get together with dear readers Laura and Adriana Patti. We’ll try to get into Du-Par’s.

This coming week will be a fun one, I hope. I have a couple of work sessions with Joan Ryan, and some things to attend to, but it’s kind of my week to recuperate from the extreme writing jag I’ve been on for the past few weeks. Plus, I’m attending quite a few films being shown in a French film festival at the DGA.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, sleep in, attend a sound check, relax, and attend a cabaret show. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite “what were they thinking” films and plays and musicals? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and while we’re at it, let’s all draw the line.

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