Well, dear readers, has anyone realized that we’re in the final week of August? I know we say this every month, but how in tarnation did THAT happen? And what a month it’s been – filled with the good, the bad, and the ugly, not necessarily in that order. Well, I hope that September brings us all nice things. But, I’m getting ahead of myself, which is, after all, better than getting aknee of myself. Speaking of myself, yesterday was a peculiar little day – not bad, not great, just sort of there. For example, I got up. That was peculiar. I then did the long jog. I then did a few errands and whatnot, came back and did some work on the computer, had a couple of telephonic calls and then did some more errands. At some point, I came back to the computer and couldn’t get online. The modem seemed to be working, but I was obviously getting no signal. I called Time Warner, and told them what was happening. Obviously, at some point while I was doing other things, there was a hiccup and the modem lost signal. So, they reset the signal, but still nothing worked, including my wireless. Nor did it work when I plugged directly into the computer. They got me to a different department, they reset the signal again, and that did the trick and I was on. But, I didn’t want to take the chance of re-plugging into the wireless device, which I’ll do after I post these here notes. Hopefully, the wireless will then work properly, but the last time this happened, Apple had to change the location address and a few other things – not sure why, and I’m hoping I don’t have to go through THAT in the morning. After being on the phone with Time Warner for thirty minutes, I was ready to sit on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched one and a half motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Recount, the story of the 2000 election and all that went on down in Florida. It was a fascinating film, because even though one knows the outcome, one sits riveted and in suspense throughout the entire film, rather like All The President’s Men. Having a first-rate cast really helps – Kevin Spacey, Tom Sizemore, Laura Dern, Bob Balaban, Ed Begley, Jr. and a host of other good actors are terrific in their roles. The script is excellent, too. I didn’t care for the direction, style-wise, but it wasn’t a hindrance to my enjoying the film. What went on in Florida was shameful, no matter what party you may be rooting for. One wonders what the last eight years would have been like under Al Gore rather than Bush. In any case, the film is compelling, funny, and there are times when you just want to scream at the TV, especially the machinations of Bush’s people and the bogus demonstrators who were sent to disrupt things. And the cherry on the sundae is that the producers and director were smart enough to hire the great Dave Grusin to score it, and it’s a really good score. After that, I watched the first half (90 minutes) of the A&E remake of The Andromeda Strain. I’d heard it was pretty bad. I heard wrong. It was not pretty bad, it was REALLY bad, REALLY really bad, inept bad, stupid bad, annoying bad, beyond belief bad. People get paid large money to make these sorts of films and the work they turn in is pathetic. Michael Crichton’s very ahead of its time novel was an exciting thriller that you simply could not put down. Robert Wise directed the film version and while it didn’t live up to the book, it was pretty good and reasonably suspenseful. This new version adds whole new plot elements and retains only fragments of Mr. Crichton’s excellent yarn. These new plot elements are exactly what you’d expect from these people who learned their craft from a book or a class – every Syd Field and Robert McKee cliché in the book, with dialogue as bad as it gets, all spoken by bad TV actors in their droning voices, and directed like an episode of CSI. The action scenes, larded up with terrible CGI, are beyond inept. The attempts to be hip with the computers and the science are laughable and ridiculous and none of that was in the book or the original film. Note to screenwriter: Mr. Crichton didn’t need your help. And the music – especially after hearing a real score by a real composer like Grusin – was so bad it was actually amusing and made me laugh. There were in the first ninety minutes, about three minutes that were allowed to play without thumping, banal, droning, awful “music.” I suppose I’ll watch the final ninety minutes, just to see how much stupider they’re going to get, and I shall report on it in tomorrow’s notes. Shame on everyone involved and one can only hope it totally tanked in the ratings.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below, because it’s almost time to post these here notes, and I’m very curious if the wireless is going to work or if I’m going to have to get up early and call Apple.
Today, I shall be working on the computer, jogging, finalizing some Nudie Musical stuff, script-wise, going to Staples to print out the script, doing errands and whatnot, and I may or may not be going out to dine.
Tomorrow, I’m having lunch at the best deli in LA – Langer’s. I’m looking forward to it, but I’m not sure if I’ll have the pastrami because of the high salt content. The best part is I don’t have to drive down there.
Thursday, as I’ve mentioned, I’m meeting with the LA Festival of New Musicals people, which I’m looking forward to. And then Friday, it’s opening night of Vanities. And then, it’s going to be September, which should be a nice, busy month.
Now wait just a darned minute – let’s all put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, let’s all break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, let’s all dance the Hora or the cha-cha-cha, because we have us two count them two birthdays to celebrate. The first birthday to celebrate belongs to dear reader and pianist extraordinaire, Jose. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to dear reader and pianist extraordinaire, Jose. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO DEAR READER AND PIANIST EXTRAORDINAIRE, JOSE!!! Our second birthday to celebrate belongs to our very own dear reader Jrand. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to our very own dear reader Jrand. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO OUR VERY OWN DEAR READER, JRAND!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, write, do errands and whatnot, print a script, and perhaps dine out. Today’s topic of discussion: I know this has the potential to be a heated discussion, but let’s not have it be a heated discussion – just state your points and your thoughts and I’d prefer nobody argue with anyone else: What if there had been an actual bona fide recount in Florida and what if Mr. Gore had become President? What do you think would be the differences for the last eight years? Would we be where we are now? Would things be better? Worse? I’m interested to hear your thoughts. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we get ready for the coming of September.