Well, dear readers, I must now ask a serious question, oh, yes, I must now ask a serious question (I’ve asked it before, but I guess it wasn’t serious since no one had much to say about it). And the question is: When did the barbershop become hip again? On what TV show have they been using barbershops? Thing don’t become hip again out of the blue, and something had to start this long dormant barbershop thing from becoming trendy again. I’ve seen about five of them scattered throughout the city, and I don’t mean barbershops from days of old, but brand spanking new barbershops. There’s one just a few blocks from the home environment, called Floyd’s Barbershop. I drove by there on my way home from an early dinner and it was jammed with people. Say what? And there’s one near Genghis Cohen that’s always jammed with people. These are not hair salons, but old-fashioned but gussied up traditional barbershops. I wish to get to the bottom of this mystery of how and when this became hip again, so don’t dawdle Amaryllis and let’s get the lowdown and the skinny on it or, at the very least, the highup and the fat. And let me tell you how I would never walk into a place called Floyd’s Barbershop. When was the last time a parent named their child Floyd? Or has that become hip and trendy to? What name is coming back next? What the HELL am I talking about? Floyd’s Barbershop. I gotta tell you. Where was I? Oh, yes, I’m supposed to be writing these here notes and instead I went off on a barbershop tangent. Next I shall go off on a barbershop quartet. Yes, Virginia, the next time I see a barbershop quartet I shall go off on them and say something like, “Hey, barbershop quartet, shut the HELL up.” Speaking of Floyd’s Barbershop, yesterday was a strange and weird day for reasons I can no longer remember. For example, I woke up. That was strange and weird. I then had to do errands and work at the piano. The day just went by really quickly and then suddenly I found myself at the Kansas City Barbecue stuffing my facial orifice with a brisket of beef sandwich, fries, and pounds of their yummilicious sauce. My Facial Orifice – that’s the title of my next novel. I then came home (after passing Floyd’s Barbershop) and sat on my couch like so much fish, after having a long telephonic conversation with my choreographer, Adam Cates.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled, The Train, a film of John Frankenheimer, starring Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, and Jeanne Moreau. I think it’s the only 60s Frankenheimer I’d never seen (with the exception of The Extraordinary Seaman, which is pretty impossible to find). I don’t really know why I hadn’t seen it, given that, for me, Frankenheimer was one of the greatest directors working in that era. I’ll first say that it’s not top-tier Frankenheimer for me – I like almost all his other 60s films better. Still, it’s a film with very compelling sequences and performances and I enjoyed it a lot. I always forget how wonderful an actress Jeanne Moreau is – she has a very small part, but boy does she make the most of it. There are quite a few familiar French actors in the film and all of them, save for one, are dubbed by other actors. This is part of the new Frankenheimer box set, but shockingly they just ported over the same lousy non-anamorphic transfer from the previous DVD. Shame on them. In fact, with the exception of the new to DVD The Young Savages, the rest of the set are all older transfers.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get my beauty sleep and I shall probably be dreaming of Floyd’s Barbershop.
Today, I shall try to get a little further on the lyric redo – I still haven’t quite got a handle on it. I shall also do several errands and then I shall watch a DVD or three.
Tomorrow, I may be going to see a musical entitled All Shook Up, in which our very own Mr. Barry Pearl appears. He’s trying to arrange tickets and I’m just awaiting word on which show it will be – matinee or evening.
Next week is quite busy and I’m hoping we can finish casting The Brain on Tuesday evening. We’re really just two roles away from being cast and I’ve put the word out, so we’ll see what the word bringeth fortheth.
I do have some very exciting news so hold on to your hats. Does anyone still wear a hat? And the important news is that it is March. Yes, Virginia, we’re already into the third month of 2008 – it does boggle the mind. So, here’s hoping we all have a perfectly perfect March – in fact, we’ll March to the beat of a new drummer.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, not pay a visit to Floyd’s Barbershop, I must do errands, I must work on a lyric, and I must watch DVDs. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite Burt Lancaster films? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and I really want to know why the trendy resurgence of the barbershop has happened, so someone get to work and find out.