Well, dear readers, there are times when I sit and ponder the fact that I began writing these here daily notes back in November of 2001 and that I have never missed a day of writing them since. That is a lot of words. I think if we added up all those pages of notes that it would probably make three or four very long books. You see, this is clearly one of those times when I’m pondering. It always feels a bit ponderous when I’m pondering, and yet it never feel wanderous when I’m wandering. It does occasionally feel wondrous when I’m wondering. I’m now pondering what the HELL I’m talking about because frankly I don’t have a clew. I ponder as I wander and I wonder while I ponder and wander. I think I had a point when I began this paragraph, but I have no clew as to what it might have been, because I got sidetracked by words. Oh, yes – I’ve written a lot of words in these last five plus years. I have written over 1460 notes. I could make a few symphonies out of all those notes. I think that’s a splendid idea, don’t you? We could call it The Symphonic Notes and elmore could orchestrate it for full symphony orchestra and xylophone solo. I could get Andre Previn to conduct it and everyone will come, and they’ll be dressed to the nines and some people will even be dressed to the tens. We’ll premiere it at Disney Hall and we’ll have seven dwarves as ushers. The first movement will be entitled Well, Dear Readers (allegro non troppo). The second movement will be entitled Coprophilia, and it will have a narrator doing our favorite Coprophiliac jokes in counterpoint to the limpid lines played by the xylophone. The third movement will be called Bitch-Slap (andante), and the final movement will be entitled Frenzy (scherzo). I’m very excited about The Symphonic Notes and I hope you will all be attending its premiere. I must now end this paragraph because I don’t know what the HELL I’m going on about.
Speaking of The Symphonic Notes, yesterday was quite a nice little day. I got up, shipped a few packages, then toddled off to see a French motion picture entertainment at the DGA. After the film, I came home and played the piano, proofed, and then made some Wacky Noodles and sat on my couch like so much fish.
The French motion picture entertainment was entitled Change of Address. As you know, while I’ve enjoyed the films I’ve seen, I have felt a bit disappointed, as there were no real standouts or gems. Well, we finally got the gem and the standout with Change Of Address, an utterly charming and funny motion picture. First of all, the running time is eighty-five minutes, and that was a real breath of fresh air. The performances by the three leads were just wonderful. The film has many laugh out loud moments, and it’s very simply directed. It’s quirky, excellently paced, with nice music throughout. SPOILERS AHEAD: It’s about a French horn player fellow who meets a girl who’s looking for a roommate. He moves in with her, and quickly falls for her, but she’s given her heart to another, even though she’s never really met the person she’s given her heart to (he does copying in her copying place). Meanwhile, the horn player gets a job teaching a nineteen-year-old – he falls for her immediately, but she seems to not have feelings for him, other than thinking he’s nice. The horn player and his roommate each talk about their romances, and even sleep together (both professing to be thinking of their respective loves). The horn player and the nineteen-year-old then spend a weekend together, where they meet another man, and the nineteen-year-old falls for him. The other man then goes away and the girl never hears from him again. So, she and the horn player end up finally having a romance. Meanwhile, his roommate has met and slept with her copying fellow (we never see him), and he’s left, too. The horn player moves out and in with the nineteen-year-old. Three months later, the horn player runs into the man the nineteen-year-old had fallen for – it turns out he never called because she gave him the wrong number. Naturally, the horn player doesn’t want him to see his girlfriend, but the man is relentless. A meeting is finally arranged – just five minutes. As you can imagine, the girl goes off with him, and the horn player goes back to say goodbye to his former roommate, who’s moving away. They end up together again. It’s just very sweet and silly and I really, really liked it a lot.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I think this section has gone on quite long enough, don’t you?
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled Twelve Angry Men – I thought it would be fun to watch it, having just seen the play at the Ahmanson. What a terrific and taut little film it is – it just flies by, running in real time (just over ninety minutes), and with a cast of actors the likes of which we’ll never see again. It makes you realize just how pathetic today’s crop of actors are, when you see in one room the likes of Henry Fonda, Ed Begley, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns. Jack Warden, Joseph Sweeney, George Voskovec, Martin Balsam, Lee J. Cobb, John Fiedler, Robert Webber, and E.G. Marshall. The film is simply and beautifully directed by Sidney Lumet, with understated black-and-white photography by Boris Kaufman. There is a sparse but effective score by Kenyon Hopkins. The writing by Reginald Rose is great. The transfer, while non-anamorphic, is decent.
Today I shall be seeing the final French motion picture entertainment, and there’s a little party in the lobby afterwards, and then a screening of whatever the audience favorite is (they’ve been taking votes all week). After that, I shall return and proof for the rest of the day.
Wait! We must put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, we must break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, we must dance the Hora or the Monkey, for today is the actual birthday of our actual beloved dear reader Sandra. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to our actual beloved dear reader Sandra. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO OUR ACTUAL BELOVED DEAR READER SANDRA!!! Floop and Cherry Coke for all!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, attend a French film festival and reception, proof, do an errand or two, and have something fun to eat. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, as we get ready for the world premiere of The Symphonic Notes.