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September 9, 2008:

THE LONG AND WINDING NOTES

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, what a long and winding day it’s been, so therefore I shall write long and winding notes. They shall run the gamut from A to B and then back from B to A. I run the gamut everyday, four miles’ worth. Yes, I’ve run the gamut, A to B, three cheers and dammit, c’est la vie, I ran some miles, I ran four – and I’m sore. What am I, Yvonne de Carlo all of a sudden? Don’t I have long and winding notes to write? I do, and I shall, not necessarily in that order. Speaking of that order, yesterday was a long and winding day, as stated above. I got up really early and was on the road jogging by seven-thirty. As long jogs go, it wasn’t too bad. I then toddled over to Du-Par’s for a breakfast meeting. I had two poached eggs on one piece of toast, and the meeting lasted about ninety minutes. Eating the two poached eggs on one piece of toast lasted about two minutes. I then did an errand and then I came home and began sending out long e-mails to various and sundried folks. There were a lot to send, and after I finished, I had a one-hour telephonic call with our musical director for the Bacharach benefit. We discussed all manner of things – performers, songs, structure, and I think we’re on the same page. After that it was already two and time for more errands. After the errands I picked up two big boxes of Murder At The Grove, and got a Subway turkey sandwich, which I knew was a good low-cal low-fat thing to eat. I came home, ate it all up, had a few sour cream and onion Quakes, and wrote more long e-mails. I then had another one-hour telephonic conversation with choreographer Adam Cates, discussing Nudie Musical and his thoughts about numbers and montages and transitions. He had some very good ideas, too. After that, I sent yet more e-mails. It’s always amusing to me to see who responds quickly and who takes days to respond. I don’t really care for when people take days – I know people get busy but really, how long does it take to type up a short response that one is busy and will get back to you shortly. After all that, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.

Last night, I watched two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Blues In The Night, starring Miss Priscilla Lane, Mr. Jack Carson, and Miss Betty Field. I’d heard it was a fun musical. It certainly wasn’t a fun anything and it certainly wasn’t a musical, although it did have several Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer songs, including the classic title song. What it was, in fact, was a film nourish sort of thing, well directed by Anatole Litvak. It’s a very interesting film, which isn’t totally successful. But the most fascinating thing about it is the number of people in front of and behind the scenes who would become film directors, a couple of them major film directors. The leading man is Richard Whorf, who just six years later would be helming MGM’s Till The Clouds Roll By. Mr. Whorf made only a handful of pictures as a director, but he was a prolific episodic TV director. The writer of the screenplay was Robert Rossen, who would go on to write and direct The Hustler and Lilith, among others. Also in the cast was a young man named Elia Kazan, who was actually quite good. Just a couple of years later and that young man would be helming A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, and from there he would direct Broadway’s A Streetcar Named Desire, and many classic films. And the film’s many montage sequences were all created by a young man named Don Siegel, who a decade later would be directing gritty crime films, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, and then a fine series of films including The Killers, The Beguiled, Madigan, and, most importantly, Dirty Harry. Isn’t that fascinating – all those people involved with one little B-picture? The transfer was quite nice. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Saddle The Wind, a very good low-budget oater starring Robert Taylor, John Cassavetes, Donald Crisp, Charles McGraw, Ray Teal and a lot of other good actors. It was very well directed by Robert Parrish, and it has a very good Elmer Bernstein score. The film is very taut and runs a brisk eighty-four minutes – it also has an excellent screenplay by Rod Serling. The actors are terrific, especially Cassavetes, who has a field day with his part. Julie London is as pretty as the outdoor scenery (and she sings the title song by Livingston and Evans), and special mention should go to Royal Dano, an actor I run hot and cold on, but here he gives one of his best performances. The transfer was very good indeed with pretty accurate color. I also had a nice but low-cal snack of prosciutto and melon.

What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below so I can continue the long and winding notes in the next section.

Today, I have many things I must do. I must do the long jog, I must package up a few orders and other things that need mailing and I must take them to the postal office so they can be on their merry way. I have several other errands to do, and then I’m going to spend a few hours typing up Nudie Musical notes, and I also have to send yet more e-mails and have yet more telephonic calls. Then I’ll be supping with our very own Miss Barbara Deutsch at Jinky’s Studio City CafĂ©.

I’m waiting to hear about a meeting and a meal for tomorrow, same for Thursday. I’ll also try to book a much needed haircut for the end of the week. I also have to drive out to Mystery and Imagination books to deliver their supply of Murder At The Grove.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, package and ship orders and other things that need packaging and shipping, do errands and whatnot, type up notes, and do more e-mails and telephonic calls. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite snacks to eat – those things you like to nibble on when you’re reading or working at the computer or watching TV – both low-cal and high-cal. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we whilst I put these long and winding notes to bed.

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