Well, dear readers, I’m juggling. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, am juggling. Since I have no motor skills whatsoever, juggling is very difficult, and yet here I am, a Juggling Jew. I am having to be very organized because otherwise there are so many things I’m working on that I forget what is when and where and also when is where and what. Between seriously starting to stage Miss Joan Ryan’s show, and seriously mixing Miss Susan Egan’s live CD, and seriously prepping some Kritzerland releases, proofing booklets, sending masters to our mastering engineer, and seriously trying to just get through the fershluganah day without hitting a wall, well, it’s a juggling act all the way. And not just those things, but also trying to choose material and book new people for our November fundraiser (our latest addition is the lovely and wonderful Miss Emily Skinner), hire a musical director for it, plan our upcoming alumni association meeting, and also having meetings and meals galore. It is enough to make a Juggling Jew plotz. Speaking of plotz, yesterday was chockfull of merriment and mirth and laughter and legs. I got up, had a little breakfast powwow, then had to have a long four-hour rehearsal with Joan Ryan and the lovely John Boswell. We had to make a rehearsal CD, and since I’d made some cuts to numbers, we had to fix up those four or five things, then record the four songs we hadn’t put down at all. But, I’d say the bulk of the rehearsal was me doing a good deal of rewriting of a piece of special material that the great Kirby Tepper had written for Joan. It was just proving too unwieldy and it needed tightening and focusing, and so I rewrote about sixty percent of its lyrics and cut about a minute out of it. It’s now very funny and moves right along, and now the music finally is locked to the lyric with all the breaks perfectly timed out (it’s a parody lyric to Putting It Together about Joan’s ongoing career as a busy looping artist – it’s called Putting In The Voices). After rehearsal, I came back home, got a sandwich, and caught up on telephonic calls and e-mails, not necessarily in that order. After than, I finally sat on the couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched one count them one motion picture on DVD entitled The Moustache, a film from France. It was, I must say, a mighty strange little film. In the first scene, a man asks his wife or girlfriend (I wasn’t sure which) what she’d think if he shaved off his moustache. She says that she doesn’t think it’s a good idea since she’s never really known him without it. He does anyway, and so begins a completely surreal and Kafkaesque tale. Very little of it makes logical sense, but somehow it kept me riveted. By the end of it, I was reminded of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, and I think that finally, in the end, this film’s mysteries are similar to that film’s. In any case, I found it a good viewing experience, but I think it probably would infuriate most moviegoers who like things spelled out. Normally, I’m like that, too, but I really like Mulholland Drive and I really enjoyed The Moustache. The actors are terrific, and the score is made up of Philip Glass’s Violin Concerto. The director shoots things in classical movie language with no sops to current trends, which I appreciated, frankly. The transfer is fine.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’m sure that there will be more to juggle in the next section.
Today, I shall be going to Vinnie’s to hear the rough mixes. I’ll finesse as quickly as I can, and I hope to begin editing the patter and making it all smooth, plus putting in little fixes that Susan and I have discussed. I may or may not have a dinner, as well.
Tomorrow we begin staging Miss Ryan’s show, and we’ll hopefully be working Thursday and Friday as well. I have several meetings, too, and so I will be a Juggling Jew the whole week long.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do errands, ship a few packages, mix, and perhaps have a dinner. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite surreal films, plays, and books – the ones that are completely baffling yet mesmerizing and/or thought-provoking but that provide no easy answers? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst The Juggling Jew continues to juggle and hopefully keep all his balls in the air, if you get my meaning.