Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, and writing the first sentence of these here notes. There, that was a good way to get the first sentence of these here notes out of the way quickly. Sometimes one must simply DO that. And now I can continue on and let my fingers go where they may. Fethiernekk leity ebtkelj tkel. See, that’s what happens when I let my fingers go where they may. What’s interesting is that I inadvertently typed a sentence in the language of the Eskimos. Roughly translated it reads, Feathers are light and balls are not. I don’t know what it means, but I LIKE it. Those darn Eskimos. Those Darn Eskimos – that’s the title of my next novel. Disney has already optioned it as a property for Miley Cyrus. Speaking of Those Darn Eskimos, yesterday was a perfectly pleasant day filled with perfectly pleasant pleasantries. For example, I woke up. That was perfectly pleasant. I then decided I didn’t have enough time to do the long jog, and I’m glad I made that decision since it began to rain when I would have been halfway through it. The rain lasted a whopping six minutes, and then the sun came out and the temperatures were in the mid-70s. At ten-thirty I gathered up a friend and we went to Costco, where I bought two cases of waters (sixty-eight bottles in all), and a large thing of Diet Dr. Pepper (since I’m no longer a Diet Coke addict, I thought I’d switch it up a little). I picked up some gummy fruit snacks, some 100 calorie cookie and Cheez-It snack packets, a nice pair of pants for fifteen bucks (yes, size 32 and they fit quite nicely), cans of fruit cocktail (I remembered that I quite enjoy a can of fruit cocktail – I’d forgotten that fact for the last forty years). But the best deal was nine pairs of really nice sweat socks for twelve bucks. I really needed them for my jogging and I couldn’t believe how inexpensive they were. I think I picked up a couple of other things, but I can’t remember what. After that, I came home and put all that stuff away, then headed over to In N Out Burger for a meeting with the chairman of the Theater Academy at LACC. We discussed various and sundried things regarding LACCTAA and our events for next year, a LACCTAA Christmas Do for next Wednesday, and a few other important topics. It was all very positive and I had the added bonus of eating a yummilicious cheeseburger (480 calories). I then came home, did a few things around the house, then did a few errands and whatnot, after which I came home and spent about an hour on the phone with Apple Care trying to troubleshoot a problem, which we seem to have fixed. After that, I made some eggs and toast for dinner (about 400 calories all told), and then sat on my couch like so much fish and ate.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled L’Equipier, a French film from France, starring the incredibly beautiful and talented Sandrine Bonnaire. I found the region 2 DVD at Amoeba on one of my visits there and took a chance on it using credit because I do tend to like French films. This film was from 2005 and was apparently nominated for a few Cesar Awards. Well, sometimes taking a chance pays off and this one paid off handsomely. L’Equipier is a wonderful film about an island town where a lighthouse is. A fellow from elsewhere comes to work at the lighthouse, and the bigots in the town (all Bretons) don’t like strangers and non-Bretons, and they do their best to make his life miserable. But the stranger wins over one of the men, and also has an attraction to that man’s wife. It’s a beautiful story beautifully told and expertly filmed and written. The performances of the three leads are as good as it gets – Miss Bonnaire is a breathtakingly beautiful woman, and her acting is superb – every look, glance, line reading is perfection. Her husband is played by Philippe Torreton who I’d seen and liked in Patrice Leconte’s Felix et Lola. His performance is just wonderful. And Gregori Derangere is terrific as the stranger who ends up writing a book about his brief stay in the town (the film begins with the daughter of Bonnaire’s character selling the house on the island – her mother has passed away, and a book comes in the post – as she reads it we flashback to the story – it’s a good device that works very well). The film has a gorgeous score by Nicola Piovani, and happily it was issued on CD and a copy is winging its way to me. A beautiful film.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? May I just say once again, Fethiernekk leity ebtkelj tkel. I gotta tell you. Those Dar Eskimos. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below just because we can.
Today, I am doing not much of anything. Oh, I’m getting up and I’ll do the long jog, and I’ll polish my liner notes and send them off to the booklet designer, and I’ll stop by a Christmas party for an hour or so, but mostly I shall listen to CDs and watch DVDs and eat amusing foodstuffs.
Tomorrow will be more of the same, plus maybe attending a reading of a new musical – not quite sure about the latter – we’ll have to see how I feel.
Next week, should be a nice busy little week, with a couple of meetings, a LACCTAA Christmas party, and shooting the Dr. Learly bit. And after next Friday, other than a short meeting or two, I am off until the New Year begins.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, polish liner notes and send them, attend a Christmas party ever so briefly, and then watch DVDs and listen to CDs, not necessarily in that order. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite French films? And what was the first foreign film you ever saw? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and do remember that if you’re feeling low just say, Fethiernekk leity ebtkelj tkel. Those Darn Eskimos.