Well, dear readers, it’s a new day with new things to do, some of them good, some of them necessary. And by gum and by golly and buy bonds I shall do them. If that isn’t enigmatic enough for you, how about this: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. And I’m not touching that with a ten foot pole or a five foot czech. Yes, I feel today’s notes will be enigmatic. In fact, we’ll call them the Enigma Variations. Yesterday, which was not enigmatic, was a really weird day that I really didn’t care for – hence, having to make some decisions and to do a few things that need to be done. Oops (spoo, spelled backwards), we’re back to the Enigma Variations, aren’t we? The workers were working on Saturday and therefore I woke up earlier than I really wanted to. Then I found out that the book design work session had been cancelled. I printed out some orders and did some things around the house and by the time I finished it was too late to really do the long jog since it was so hot out. I needed a break anyway, as I’d just done five or six days in a row. I took a long drive, I did some errands and whatnot, I picked up one of the errant and truant packages, all the while trying to fight the odd feeling I was having. I never did succeed in fighting it much. I then came home and sat on my couch like so much enigmatic fish.
Last night, I watched a Barbra Streisand concert on Blu and Ray. This concert was from a couple of years ago. I didn’t know what to expect really, but what I didn’t expect was the strange direction of the video. I’ll get to Barbra in a minute, performance-wise, but this thing was really too weird for me. There are so many stupid cutaways to the audience and Barbra’s pals – endless – ridiculous, and totally taking us away from the song and Barbra. And interrupting the brilliant overture to Funny Girl to have interviews with people coming in to see the show. I thought to myself, myself how could Barbra have allowed this stuff – and then the end credits came on and she is credited as co-director of the video, so it’s all her doing. I found it completely off-putting as a viewing experience. As to the concert, Barbra’s voice isn’t what it was, but she does deliver the goods most of the time and it’s a thrill to hear and see her do her signature songs. But I didn’t think it was a well put together show – too many ballads, no real thought to the structure of the show, and too lackadaisical in its pacing. Plus, I didn’t really care about or need to see Il Divo, a group of four pleasant men who bring nothing to the show – in fact, they are a distraction. The orchestra under the baton of William Ross, sounds great. The stage setting is gargantuan and one never gets a real sense of the geography of it. Sometimes simpler is better. There’s a lot of Funny Girl, a few movie songs, no Yentl or On A Clear Day or Hello, Dolly. The Blu-Ray looks and sounds swell. I then watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Field Of Dreams. I’d only seen it once when it was first released and I remembered very little about it other than I thought it was okay. But the film has aged very well, and watching it was a very emotional experience – it touches some very deep places and it’s beautifully done. Kevin Costner gives his best performance in this – simple and direct and Amy Madigan is wonderful as his wife. But the film belongs to Ray Liotta, Burt Lancaster, and James Earl Jones, who all turn in fantastic performances. Mr. Lancaster and Mr. Jones are especially touching. Once James Horner stops with the annoying Indian flutes, his score works really well, although it’s got a healthy dollop of Copland near-quotes. The Blu-Ray is fine – not stellar, but perfectly fine.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because frankly this whole section is just too enigmatic.
Today, I shall be going to Mr. Geissman’s at noon and we shall work on the book design for a few hours. My other work session got pushed to Monday or Tuesday, which is much better for me. So, that will be most of the day, and then I shall figure out what I’m doing and what path I shall take on certain issues.
This week should be nice and busy, with lots to do – meetings, meals, work sessions and catching up. And, believe it or not, getting the next Kritzerland release ready. Even though generating the master on the next title will be very easy, I’ve got to write the liner notes and get it all prepped, which always takes longer than I think. I also have to get all the Topkapi packages addressed and postage attached.
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 Frug, for today is the birthday of our very own Cillaliz. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to our very own Cillaliz. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO OUR VERY OWN CILLALIZ!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, have a long book design session, eat something amusing, and then make some hard choices – oh, I’m being enigmatic again, aren’t I? Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, and let’s not make them too too enigmatic.