Well, dear readers, as the days dwindle down to a precious view our fundraiser looms ever closer. It’s shocking that it’s already Thursday. What happened to Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday? We still have seats to sell and by gum and by golly and buy bonds we are going to sell them or there will be hell toupee. We now have a decent-sized house, but selling another couple hundred tickets would do wonders so I do hope all the complacent LA people and our complacent alums get off their complacent butt cheeks and purchase their tickets. Speaking of complacent butt cheeks, my butt cheeks never stopped yesterday, from morning until late evening. I got up quite early and had many e-mails to answer. I then addressed many priority mail envelopes and came up with a game plan about the special something to be included with each pre-ordered book. That took quite some time. I then picked up eight count them eight boxes o’ books and brought them home. I then unpacked two boxes, signed the pre-ordered copies and then brought them inside. I then took care of the special somethings by tipping them in on the inside front board (affixing them to the inside front board) – so, when you get your book your special something will be on the inside board. I suppose I’ll go ahead and tell you what the special somethings are – I took my hand-written scribblings from every stage of writing the book, cut them into various pieces that would fit on the front board, and pasted them in. So, what you’ve got is basically my working notes that I scribbled whilst laying in bed (and usually in the dark, which is why they’re sometimes difficult to decipher), or whilst sitting at the laptop, or sometimes driving in the car. I’ve never ever let anyone see these (I have hundreds of pages of them for the other six books), but I thought it’s like having something completely original. Then, Mr. David Burnham came over and we rehearsed his song, which sounded amazing. Then it was Bruce Vilanch, and we just had the funniest session. After the musical director left, we reminisced about some favorite out of town tryouts here at the Music Center. After all that, the trick or treaters began arriving. I’ve said it before, but, for whatever reasons, my neighborhood, and specifically my street, is the most popular area for trick or treaters anywhere – people come from all over the city. I went through about fourteen bags of candy, and there were lots of really adorable kids and costumes and I had my usual fun time. After that, I polished Cindy Williams’s opening remarks that I wrote, and sent them off to her. She called me moments later to tell me she loved them and thought them short, sweet, and very funny. I’m sure she’ll put her stamp on them and make them even better, but I was glad she liked them so much. After that, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture I’d TIVOd entitled Damnation Alley. I’ll start out by saying that Fox Movie Classics should be ashamed of themselves for showing pan-and-scan atrocities of their scope films. That said, pan-and-scan or not, Damnation Alley the film is the atrocity. What an absolutely dreadful, laughable film, a film worthy of Ed Wood and Bert I. Gordon but without the fun. It’s hard to know which is more fake-looking – the wretched special effects or George Peppard’s moustache. The film begins with World War Three, then it becomes completely incomprehensible within the next four minutes and stays that way right through to the end. Nothing makes sense, you don’t know anything about any of the “characters” and then it’s over. Some survivors build a big vehicle and go on a journey to Albany, where there may be some other survivors. They drive through Las Vegas, where the only thing left standing is Circus Circus. There they meet Dominique Sanda, who seems to have wandered in from France. Then there’s a great scene with hordes of cockroaches, which contains the finest line of dialogue in the film – “Killer cockroaches!” After that, they go to another town and meet a few citizens from Dogpatch. This scene contains my second favorite line of dialogue – “First there was more of us, now there’s less.” Then they drive some more, and then they arrive in Albany and townspeople come out to greet them. Freeze frame – The End. The fact that LACC alum Paul Winfield has to sully his reputation with this piece of tripe is sad. It’s especially odd that the effects are so ludicrous, since this film was released the same year as Star Wars (from the same studio). Mr. Jerry Goldsmith contributes a knock-off of his Capricorn One score. It’s not his finest hour.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’m extremely tired and I have to be up very early for another very long day and frankly all I’ve got to say is KILLER COCKROACHES!
Today, I have to be at the home of Matt and Christina Ashford at nine-fifteen for a photo-op for some newspaper story. Then I have a two-hour rehearsal for The Party Animals for their next gig. I’m actually hoping I can leave after the first hour. Then I have to proof the program (we were supposed to have it yesterday morning and then yesterday afternoon, but it never showed up), as it has to go to press at some point tomorrow, although I will not be rushed as it’s not MY fault she didn’t get it to us as promised. I also have to ship out all these books and then I have several people coming for rehearsal. I then have to take our show script to get Xeroxed and then I have to do the lighting and sound script and then I have to prepare everyone’s stage diagrams, so they know where they’re entering and exiting. That will take me most of tomorrow evening, but it has to be done by Friday’s band rehearsal.
The madness continues all day Friday, not so much on Saturday (although I’m supposed to go to an event Saturday night, I’ll have to see how I feel), and then the second half of the band rehearsal on Sunday. And then Monday is show time.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, take a photograph, rehearse, proof, rehearse, do a lighting and sound script, do diagrams of entrances and exits, and I’m quite certain there will be other things, too. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite classic photographs – those photos in Life or Look or wherever that just astonished you, made you think, touched you, made you laugh. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and do remember this important information: KILLER COCKROACHES!