Well, dear readers, I must say it’s a bit strange not to be going out to the Heim of Ana every day. Every day at three I think, “Well, I should leave now,” and yet, I don’t have to. It’s a good thing, because already I’ve gone from filling up my gas tank at least four times a week, to once a week. And I’ve had time to get some things organized, I’ve done quite a bit of work on various projects, and I’ve even had a little time to play. As you know, I’ve been going through boxes of books – today I took all the remaining books that I listed here the other day and brought them to a local bookshop. None of these places are that interested if you want cash, but if you’re willing to trade you can come out just fine. This gentleman took quite a few things (I brought three full boxes and left with one less-than-full box) and gave me a decent amount of credit and with said credit I was able to get three really terrific items, and I’d rather have three really terrific items that will only appreciate in value than forty books sitting in boxes doing no one any good whatsoever. One of the things I got was an out-of-print and somewhat scarce biography of singer and odd person Tiny Tim. I also got a very nice first edition of The Great Santini by Pat Conroy, a gorgeous first edition of The Hours, and a beautiful copy of Clive Cussler’s third Dirk Pitt book, Vixen 03. The guy who runs the jernt is a very nice guy and he has great prices on his rare stuff, so I came out very well indeed and now have about forty less books. I then pulled out another three boxes, e-mailed a list of the books therein to those who purchased from the last list, and then whatever’s left will be offered first to Mystery and Imagination, and then to this guy. Everything that’s left will go to another store that I don’t really like dealing with, but deal I shall. If anyone would like a copy of the new list, which has about seventy or eighty titles on it, just drop me an e-mail. It really feels good to be getting rid of these and clearing out space in the garage. There are still about ten boxes that are a bit more difficult to get to, but get to them I shall. After that, I did some errands, and previous to that I’d shipped about twenty packages, including several larger ones. I also did some work at the piano, and tomorrow I really start working on the Nudie Musical script, reshaping and fixing things I’m not so happy with. After all that, I got some Popeye’s fried chicken (two breasts) and sat on my couch like so much fish – the chicken was excellent and really hit the spot, although why the chicken would want to hit the spot when the spot never did a damned thing to the chicken is anyone’s guess.
Last night, I watched a motion picture that I’d TIVOd entitled Five. Made in 1951, I think it was probably the first of the “what if the world ended because of an atom bomb and there were only a handful of survivors” genre that became quite popular for a time. The writer and director was Arch Oboler, who’d had quite a success in radio with a show called Lights Out, which was a precursor to The Twilight Zone. Five isn’t a great picture – it’s too talky and preachy, but I enjoyed it nonetheless, because I like the genre. I then watched a motion picture on DVD entitled Gable and Lombard, a Hollywood biopic about Gable and Lombard, hence the title of the film, Gable and Lombard. I first saw Gable and Lombard at a sneak preview at the Chinese Theater and boy did the audience loathe it, as did the critics and the public when it finally came out. It remains a pretty bad movie, although James Brolin is surprisingly okay as Mr. Gable. Miss Jill Clayburgh, however, is nothing like Miss Lombard, and the whole film is just crass and loud and badly written by Barry Sandler. The direction is okay (Sidney Furie) and its photographed by the great Jordan Cronenweth (Blade Runner), although the actors faces are frequently underlit, something he liked to do, but which doesn’t work here. The film does sport a nice musical score by Michel Legrand. The transfer from Universal is excellent. I actually had no idea this was even out until I saw a copy for four dollars and picked it up.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because these here notes were supposed to be up five minutes ago.
Why are there birds singing maniacally at 12:05 in the morning? Don’t these birds know it’s DARK out? Shouldn’t they be fast asleep? But no, there’s two of the out there doing the Boublil and Schonberg songbook and it’s not pretty.
Today, I must do some errands first thing in the morning, then I’ll work on Nudie Musical, then I have a meeting with my friend Barbara Deutsch, then I’ll do more errands, then I have an early evening meeting for the charity event I’m doing. A nice, busy day.
Tomorrow, I will just be working at home and have no plans for the evening, which I’m very happy about. Friday, I think we’re having a LACCTAA meeting in the early afternoon, otherwise I think my day is pretty open, which I’m also happy about.
These birds are out of their collective minds. Perhaps they should form a group – The Birds, and do a CD entitled The Boublil and Schonberg Songbook.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do errands and whatnot, ship a couple of packages, work on Nudie Musical, meet with Barbara Deutsch and attend a meeting for the charity event. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you 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 I continue to be bombarded by the Boublil and Schonberg songbook courtesy of The Birds.