Well, dear readers, I have it on good authority that Mercury is out of retrograde as of today. I have it on good authority that Mercury being in retrograde has been the cause of this absolutely wacko first half of the month. Now, I don’t know about you, dear readers, but it seems to me that Mercury has been in retrograde for way too much of this year. So, let me say plainly and clearly and also clearly and plainly to Mercury: STAY THE HELL OUT OF RETROGRADE FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR. I don’t know what any of that means, of course, not being astrology-minded, but we’ve got to blame these wacky things that are going on on something and it may as well be Mercury in retrograde. We must align the planets in a pleasing formation and let’s just keep Mercury out of Uranus because Mercury has, frankly, been a pain in Uranus and mine, too. What the HELL am I talking about? Don’t I have notes to write? I do, and I shall, not necessarily in that order. Speaking of that order, yesterday was a pretty okay day. I got up, did the long jog, did some stuff on the computer, then had to attend a two-hour work session with the singer I’m working with. We just worked on the songs, and mood and interpretation, and it was a good solid session. I felt a bit better yesterday – still a little foggy and congested, but my nose has stopped running and I think I’m on the mend now. My voice was still pretty shot, but it should be coming back to full strength in the next few days, and then I’ll rebook the demo session that we had to cancel. After the work session, I came back to the Valley, got my mail, got a foot-long Subway turkey sandwich, and came home. I had a few e-mails to respond to, and a few telephonic calls to return, although I am only returning absolutely necessary calls until my voice is better – the conversations were less than one minute. I forgot to mention that when I awoke, we put the sold out sign on our new Kritzerland release, the fastest sellout we’ve had on any limited edition. I’m hoping our next will sell out equally fast – I’ll be announcing it in about two-and-a-half weeks, but will, as always give the first head’s up right here on our discussion board. I finally sat on my couch like so much fish and ate my sandwich, a few Quakes, and then some Ben and Jerry’s frozen yogurt Cherry Garcia.
Last night, I watched two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Charlie Chan in Panama, starring Sidney Toler. I’m quite fond of the Toler Chan films, and this one was fun and very well directed by Norman Foster, who was the best director the series had. The story was fun, the actors were good and these things really move along at a good pace (sixty-six minutes). And the ending really had a surprising twist – I saw it coming just before it came, but it was a good one. There was a disclaimer before the film saying that this was transferred from the best surviving elements – I don’t know why that’s necessary when the source material is as good as this was. It’s a terrific transfer – sharp, good detail and contrast, and looking better than a lot of Fox films that don’t get the disclaimer treatment. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Dragonwyck, starring Miss Gene Tierney, Mr. Walter Huston, and Mr. Vincent Price, and a very young and very good Jessica Tandy. This film is included in the new Fox Horror box. Why is anyone’s guess – if this film is a horror film so is Singin’ In The Rain. What this film is is a gothic romance suspense picture, much like Rebecca. It’s very well done, beautifully photographed by Arthur Miller, but it really didn’t do anything for me. I did like the actors very much and it’s not too long, but I just got bored with it about halfway through. It does have a strong score by Alfred Newman, which has an isolated track. There’s the usual awful featurette in which a bunch of people try to tell us it’s a horror film, and, of course, the ubiquitous and ever-present Dr. Drew Casper is there to irritate and make with his feeble pronouncements, saying, as always, absolutely nothing. The transfer is nice.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because Mercury is out of retrograde and I say bring on the good times, baby.
Today, I shall not exert myself and other than doing some errands and whatnot and doing some writing and planning, I’m thinking I’m going to rest and relax and really let myself get all better before diving back into things full force. I do have things to do, but most of them can be done from the home environment. I will, of course, do the long jog, and I will, of course, find something fun to eat. I know what I’m craving, but I don’t know if I’ll be satisfying that craving this week. What I’m craving is a hot, lean pastrami sandwich with cole slaw and Russian dressing from either Langer’s or Nate ‘n Al’s.
If I’m completely better, then tomorrow I’ll catch up on a whole slew of errands, plus I have to start entering changes into the Nudie Musical script. David has done his little changes on the first twenty-five pages and they’re really good – I have to enter them into the script, and also write one little new musical section in a number. I also have to start writing the notes for our new CD. I think something is happening on Friday night, but I can’t remember what. I know we’re having a short LACCTAA meeting in the afternoon.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, write, relax, do some minor errands and whatnot, and eat. 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 postings, shall we, and let’s do the Mercury is out of retrograde dance.