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August 12, 2007:

OVERTIRED

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I am still overtired. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, am still overtired and by gum and by golly and buy bonds I’m going to get a good night’s sleep tonight come hell or high or even low water. I do not like being overtired. For that matter, I do not like being undertired. Frankly, even as I write these here notes, the bedroom is calling me. How the bedroom got my telephonic number I have no idea – I’m just letting it go to voicemail, frankly or even georgely. What the HELL am I talking about? I’m sure I had a point at one time, but that was once upon a time many years ago. What am I, Strouse and Adams all of a sudden? Speaking of all of a sudden, yesterday was a very nice day for most of its dayness. For example, I got up. That was very nice, although I wanted to sleep in, but when she of the Evil Eye arrives, one must simply get up. I then did a couple of errands, had a quick breakfast, then visited Amoeba to kill some time. I got a great CD whilst there, which I posted about yesterday – a Brazilian group called BR6. It’s an album of Jobim and Gershwin songs by a six-person accapella group and they’re just amazing, not just singing brilliantly with amazing harmonies, but you’d swear you’re hearing bass and drums and percussion and it’s all them, just they’re natural voices. The arrangements are terrific and I can’t recommend the CD highly enough. After that, I came home, made a few telephonic calls and wrote a couple of e-mails to a couple of people who are behaving like little children and playing that game of not responding or calling back. I just never understand behavior like that – I find it baffling, as I never do that. I just call and if there’s a problem, hash it out like a fershluganah adult. In any case, I then was so overtired I sat on my couch like so much fish and immediately fell asleep for a short time. I did some other stuff, marveled again at the set designer’s cleverness (I don’t want to oversell what she’s done, but given the constraints we face, it REALLY is clever), and then ate some dinner at Zach’s Eyetalian CafĂ©. Prior to going to Zach’s, however, I’d gone to Jerry’s Famous Deli. I have a like/hate relationship with Jerry’s – I’ve had food poisoning there, I’ve had mediocre food there, but I do love their fries and ranch dressing and some of their soups. But the staff, especially of late, is cocky, bad, rude and ineffectual, not necessarily in that order. Last night, I arrived at about six-ten and let me tell you, the jernt was not exactly jumping. In the front half of the restaurant there were at least fifteen empty booths. Instead, I was taken to the furthest booth all the way in the back, and the kind of booth I don’t like – I like the kind where you sit directly across from people. I asked to be seated at one of those types of booths and the hostess did so with great apathy, still keeping me in the furthest corner of the restaurant. I then sat there for twelve minutes with no one even acknowledging my presence. There were people at the booth directly next to mine (and on the same side) and they had someone serving and waiting on them. About eight minutes in, another group of people arrived and they were seated in a nearby booth. The waiter who was taking care of the table next to mine, took their order. He must have walked by my booth ten times without even glancing my way. After he took their order, he once again walked by my table without glancing my way. That was it for me – I spoke up loudly and said, “You – come here.” He turned to me and glared. I said, “Are you my waiter?” He said, “No, and don’t talk to me like that. You’re rude.” I immediately took my stuff, got up and went to the front of the restaurant and demanded to see the manager. The manager came ambling out about six minutes later. I told him how disgusted I was and how Jerry’s has been going to hell for many years. He listened, he apologized, asked who the waiter was (I simply pointed out where we were sitting and left it for him to figure out), apologized again after I told him I’d be contacting the corporate offices, and then said goodbye as I left. As those who’ve read the Kritzer books know, I had a father who was in the restaurant business, and I spent my childhood watching him and my Uncle Charlie take care of their loyal customers, doing whatever it took to make sure they were happy and comfortable – they did it because they knew the value of loyalty, and there were no corporate offices, just people who took pride in their restaurant and ran it on a very personal level. When I got home after dinner I did indeed write the corporate offices a scathing e-mail.

Last night, I managed to watch two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Where Danger Lives, a nightmarish film noir from RKO and director John Farrow (Mia’s daddy, and husband to Maureen O’Sullivan, who appears in the film). The film stars Robert Mitchum and Faith Domergue, and it is quite entertaining, if a little preposterous at times. Miss Domergue has never been better than this film, and Mitchum does very well. However, the performance of the film comes from the always-great Claude Rains. His one scene in the film is a textbook in great film acting – subtle, filled with wonderful touches that no one but Mr. Rains would do. A fine score by Roy Webb, too, and great cinematography. The transfer is excellent. I then watched Le Silence de la Mer, the first film of director Jean Pierre Melville. It’s a very literary film, which is mostly made up of its leading character narrating the action we see (he actually doesn’t speak more than three lines in the entire film) and a series of monologues by a German officer who occupies his home, but seems to be a decent sort and who doesn’t like what the Nazis are doing in occupied France. Although the film only runs eighty-four minutes, it seems an eternity. It’s one of the slowest-moving films I’ve ever seen, but there’s something fascinating about it, and it’s beautifully shot by one of my favorite cameramen, Henri Decae. The film is based on a novel, and was, in fact, shot in the novelist’s house (the events happened to him), and the literary quality of the film (the endless narration and long speeches) is apparently the fault of the novelist, who insisted his book be filmed as he, rather than Melville, wanted it. It’s not a film I’ll be revisiting, but I enjoyed seeing the roots of Melville, a director I like very much. The region 2 DVD transfer is rough but acceptable.

What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’m so overtired I fell asleep three times whilst writing this section.

Today shall be another day of rest and relaxation, for tomorrow begins a non-stop week-and-a-half of long and involved days and nights. Therefore, I shall do nothing but watch DVDs, sleep as late as possible, and perhaps have dinner with our very own Miss Jessica Rush, who is in town briefly before starting her next show (she was recently the standby for Laura Benanti in Gypsy, and now she’s gotten one of the leads in a new musical of A Tale Of Two Cities, which happens to have settings by Mr. Tony Walton).

I still have a couple of lines to write for The Brain – David and I know the gist of them and I just have to find the places to put them – it’s literally just two short lines, but it will help his character.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do whatever I feel like doing and perhaps have dinner with Miss Rush. Other than that, you can find me sitting on my couch like so much fish. 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, shall we, and I shall now get my beauty sleep so that I can rid myself of being overtired.

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