Well, dear readers, for some reason the power is out in the second bathroom and along one wall of the den. I’ve thrown every breaker and that hasn’t helped. I had a similar problem in the living room, and Mr. Handy Man came and figured it out (he just pushed the red reset button on one of the wall plugs and that did the trick). As far as I can tell, there’s only one reset button in that whole area, on the bathroom wall plug – and I pushed it mercilessly (it’s not red, though) and it didn’t help. So, the lights don’t work in the bathroom, the yard lights right next to the doors that lead outside, and the main den lights – everything else is fine – all other switches, lights, the TV and all equipment and everything in every other room. I shall investigate further today, but I’m sure Mr. Handy Man will have to come back and figure it out. Or, maybe I’ll find another plug I’m not seeing at the moment. Otherwise, I’m at a loss as to what the problem might be. Speaking of what the problem might be, yesterday was a pleasantly pleasant day – didn’t really do anything to speak of, other than shipping a few packages, eating some lunch, and driving about in my motor car. I did absolutely no work, and that was a nice and needed change of pace, since these next weeks are going to be very busy indeed. I did donate some Kritzerland CDs to the LA Drama Critics Association for their awards show silent auction. Finally, I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I watched two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture was entitled The Amateurs, starring Mr. Jeff Bridges and a lot of other people. The film was made in 2005 and shown in a couple of film festivals. Then it sat on the shelf for two years (I gather it had some sort of DVD release overseas in 2006), then it ended up playing a week at the end of 2007. It is clear that the film must have been re-cut since those first screenings – there is now wall-to-wall narration by Mr. Bridges and it’s horrible, basically telling us everything we’re seeing on the screen as if we were a bunch of idiots. I will admit that I did not make it past the fifty-minute mark – it was so bad, so unfunny, so poorly directed and edited and scored that I could take no more. The film is about a lovable loser (Bridges) who comes up with wacky schemes. His latest is that he and his cronies will shoot an amateur porn film in his small town so that they can make some serious dough. The few filming of the porn stuff is so coy and silly, but obviously bears certain resemblances to another film about the shooting of a porn film that came out in the mid-70s. The Amateurs (originally titled The Moguls) has not one iota of nudity or raunch and so what’s the point? If you’re gonna do it, you gotta do it. After that, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, this the first of the three remakes (the second being Abel Ferrara’s totally forgotten remake, Body Snatchers from the 90s, and the third being the horrid The Invasion, starring Nicole Kidman, finally released in 2007 after several years on the shelf and half the movie being rewritten and reshot). The original film by Don Siegel was terrific – short, wonderfully paced, evocative, and sporting a great company of players. This remake at least has some interesting things in it and is very well done, and it’s different enough to hold up on its own. In fact, I’d say that since its release in 1978 it’s aged quite well. Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams lead a wonderful cast that includes Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright, and Leonard Nimoy (as well as a blink and you’ll miss it cameo from Robert Duvall). There are some really chilling moments, none more so than its famous final shot. The actors all do well, and there is a strange but effective score from Denny Zeitlin. The photography by Michael Chapman is a huge plus and the whole thing is well directed by Philip Kauffman. The transfer is excellent, as is the sound. There is a second disc of extras, but despite the involvement of some cast members and the director, it’s the usual bore fest.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I have a long day ahead of me and I need my beauty rest.
Today, I shall investigate this strange power problem of one zone and see if I can come up with any answers. It is a puzzlement, as the King of Siam was wont to say.
Other than that, I shall definitely do some work at the piano, and then this evening I shall be seeing a musical entitled All Shook Up, in which my friend Mr. Barry Pearl is appearing. I think it’s a bit of a drive (Long Beach or thereabouts – I don’t really know), so I’ll have to do a Google maps thing. I’m looking forward to seeing the show.
Tomorrow, I have many errands to do, some very important, some less so, and I must keep trying to get some people down for our next audition on Tuesday evening. I did call several people today to tell them they’d been cast, and everyone seemed very happy indeed.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, work at the piano and try to make some more headway or, at the very least, some more footway on the latest lyric redo, I must do an errand or two, and then I must see a musical comedy. 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, whilet I attempt to restore power to the zone that needs it – is a puzzlement.