Well, dear readers, I was going to write about how I was in the mood to do the dance of the seven veils, but wouldn’t you know I’ve already written about the dance of the seven veils? In fact, after doing these here notes every day for over six years, I’m always amazed there are still things I haven’t written about. Actually, I don’t think I’ve written about the musical Cats, but then, what is there to say, really? I haven’t written about asphalt or the effect of gamma rays on man in the moon marigolds or shav or plucking one’s eyebrows, so I guess there are still things to write about, although none of those topics appeals to me at this particular moment. Oh, I suppose I could write about shav, since I can pretty much tell you that no one else on all the Internet is writing about shav. How many people here know what shav is? And I don’t mean shav and a haircut, two bits, either. And for those who do know what shav is, how many people have actually partaken of it? I, for one, know what shav is but have never partaken of it. Why the HELL am I writing about shav? I’ll tell you why – because I can’t write about the dance of the seven veils, that’s why. So, the next best thing is shav. Shav is like borscht, only green. It looks bilious and like Elphaba in Wicked, and, as we all know, it’s not easy being green. I don’t even think my very Jewish grandparents ate shav. I believe they drew the line at shav. Borscht they ate, shav they spurned. Next time you’re in the market, go to the Jewish foods section and see if they have shav. And if you end up buying some, tell them Bruce-O sent you. Speaking of Bruce-O, yesterday was a very nice day. For example, I got up. That was very nice. I then had a work session on the musical I’m mentoring, and it was a good one – a few cuts, a few discussions about focus, and I played the new end of act one musical number. After that, I went to Hollywood High School, where I was met by Miss Adriana Patti, who arranged for me to be a judge for the performing arts oral presentations of the senior projects. All the judges (and there were a lot of them), gathered in a big room, where lunch was fed to them (I did not eat). After lunch, we were shown a video about the senior projects, and then we were given our instructions. Then it was time to go to our various and sundried classrooms to judge about eight students. In my classroom, we were supposed to have four judges, but one of them was not in evidence, so we had three. I do enjoy watching young people, and while some were more prepared than others, I felt that they all deserved decent marks for their effort, so I gave no real bad marks. At the end of each presentation, the student would ask if we judges had any questions, and they were graded on their ability to respond. I had very few, but my neighboring judge had plenty to say. I posted my thoughts about this gentleman in yesterday’s posts, and I won’t repeat them here other than to say his responses were more about him than about the students, and most of the information he was spouting was incorrect. In any case, the whole affair lasted under two hours, I turned in my grading sheets and toddled off to eat at Sizzler. I haven’t been inside a Sizzler in over twenty years, and I remembered liking their salad bar, so I decided to pop by and give it a whirl. I wish I hadn’t. The fact is, I just don’t like salad bars because one ends up eating about five times the amount of food than you would if you just ordered a meal. I mean, it’s not only all the salad stuff, but the tacos and wings and guacamole and chips and jello and heaven knows what else. I felt disgusting after I finished, so I shall not be returning to Sizzler for at least another twenty years, perhaps just before I turn eighty. Did I just say that? Holy moley on rye, I have to go to another paragraph right now.
Last night, I managed to watch one count them one motion picture on DVD, which was entitled The Magic Box, a British film from 1951 about motion picture pioneer and inventor William Friese-Greene, who, along with Edison and the Lumiere Brothers, helped invent motion pictures. The story was fascinating, and the film very enjoyable indeed. And what a cast – Robert Donat as Friese-Greene is magnificent, playing the character from his twenties to his seventies. And the film is a who’s who of British cinema at the time with guest shots and cameos by the likes of Michael Redgrave, Glynis Johns, Mervyn Johns (one of the stars of Dead of Night, and, unbeknownst to me, the father of Glynis), Peter Ustinov, Dennis Price, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Greenfell, Eric Portman, Richard Attenborough, John Howard Davies (the boy from The Rocking Horse Winner), Marius Goring, Miles Malleson, Muir Mathieson (the conductor, playing composer Arthur Sullivan), Cecil Parker, Margaret Rutherford (wonderfully funny), Sybil Thorndyke, David Tomlinson, and a number of other well-known Brit actors. But the best of the guest stars is Laurence Olivier as a bobby who Mr. Donat grabs to be the first to see his successful projection of a motion picture. That scene is the finest in the film and very moving, and Olivier’s performance is a textbook example of great screen acting. This is a region 2 DVD, but if you have a multi-region player, it’s worth seeking out. The transfer is a bit problematic. The great color cameraman Jack Cardiff shot the film in Technicolor. There are shots that look gorgeous, but the color is inconsistent from shot to shot, and someday perhaps they’ll do a proper restoration, because the photography looks amazing and it would be wonderful to have a perfectly rendered transfer.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below whilst we all collectively think of shav.
If shav had become more popular, perhaps the famous Jewish song would be Shav-a Nagila. Today, I shall not be having shav. I will, however, be meeting Miss Lauren Rubin for a late breakfast, either at Hugo’s or the Farmer’s Market Du-Par’s. I haven’t seen her since before leaving for New York to do The Brain From Planet X, so it will be fun to catch up or, at the very least, to ketchup.
After that, I have a few errands to do, then I have to do some work restructuring a lyric from the show I’m mentoring. We actually may try to do a private read-through of the first act before the end of the year.
I still haven’t chosen my selections to read from Murder At Hollywood High, so today is definitely the day that’s happening.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a late breakfast, do errands and whatnot, and choose selections, and hopefully pick up a package or three. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you dear readers get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, whilst we all go to the market to check out the shav.