Well, dear readers, I must write these notes in a hurry because a) she of the Evil Eye will be here bright and early, b) I must get up by seven in the morning and be jogging by seven-thirty, and c) because our first LACCTAA event begins at eleven and I must arrive by ten. Therefore, I need to get as much beauty sleep as I can, so I shall write with a fervor (rovref, spelled backwards). Have you ever written with a fervor? I’ve written with David Wechter but not with A. Fervor, so we’ll see how it works out. What the HELL am I going on about? Don’t I have to write with A. Fervor? I do, I shall, and I must. Speaking of A. Fervor, yesterday was a pleasant little day. For example, I woke up. That was pleasant. I then did the long jog, which was also surprisingly pleasant. I did a few errands and worked on Ye Olde Laptop, had a couple of telephonic calls, attended to some things regarding today’s event and did more errands. Then it was time to be on my way to sup with the Jones’s.
I arrived at six-thirty. The Jones’s son Ben has graduated from UCLA and since he detests LA and most of its denizens (and who can blame him), he’s moving to Montana next week. I had a grand time – lots o’ laughs and the company was, as always, delightfully delightful. The food began with an appetizer of prosciutto and melon. Dinner was perfection – I was concerned that it would all be very fattening, but in fact it was the opposite. We had a small salad with very light dressing, a nice piece of steak (but not too large) smothered in sautéed onions and mushrooms, some green beans, and some red potatoes, which were baked in the oven with just a hint of olive oil on them. I had no seconds, there were no rolls and butter (my biggest fear), and it was just wonderful food and just right for Ye Olde Diet. In fact, the only really fattening thing was the dessert, and even that wasn’t too bad – Margaret usually bakes something – a cake or brownies, or makes a pie. Instead she made us root beer floats – one scoop of vanilla ice cream floating in a sea of root beer. Not nearly as harmful as cake or pie, and I didn’t finish the root beer itself, plus I did jog the long jog. After dinner, Ben showed me the yearbook from UCLA. Let’s just say that they spared no expense with this hardcover book of over 500 pages, all in full color. It was quite a heavy tome, and it was amazing to see the cultural diversity at that college, and I do mean cultural diversity – it would seem the Americans are very much in the minority at UCLA. In any case, it was a lovelier than lovely evening, and I then toddled home and sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I began watching a motion picture on DVD entitled The Man With Bogart’s Face – I’ve had this DVD for years but have never watched it. It’s a pretty bad movie, but there are nice late 1970s location shots, and the leading actor, Robert Sacchi, is someone I’ve met several times (he’s seen a couple of my musicals), and he’s a very nice guy. I’ll have more to say when I’m finished with it.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I am writing with A. Fervor and I cannot stop.
Today, I shall be attending the very first of what will hopefully be a full year of LACCTAA events. We have a fairly big crowd coming and I’m really looking forward to seeing our very own Miss Barbara Deutsch in action – for as many years as she’s been doing this, I’ve never actually attended one of her seminars or sessions. Our board will be there, including Mr. Cason Murphy, Miss Joanna Erdos, and Miss Adriana Patti, to help things go smoothly. It’s a long seminar, which goes from eleven to three-thirty, with a half-hour break at the ninety-minute point.
I’m not sure what I’m doing after the event – maybe I’ll sup somewhere, or maybe I’ll just go home and sit on my couch like so much fish and watch DVDs. We shall see.
Tomorrow, I have to have a three-way telephonic conversation with Kevin, the musical director of the Bacharach show, and me – that will happen in the evening hours New York time. Other than that, I will probably stop by the book fair at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. This particular fair is normally pretty dreary, but I like to visit with my dealer chums.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, get up extremely early, do the long jog (if for some reason I don’t get up early enough, I’ll jog after the event), shave and shower, and then attend our first LACCTAA event. Today’s topic of discussion: Since I’m watching The Man With Bogart’s Face, what are your all-time favorite Bogart performances, and while we’re at it, your favorite performances of other tough guys, Edward G. Robinson, George Raft (who has a small role in The Man With Bogart’s Face), and James Cagney. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and I think my writing with A. Fervor worked out very well indeed.