Well, dear readers, I think I actually succeeded in doing almost no work yesterday. I managed to sleep until nine, then got up and did the long jog. That was work of a sort, but good work. I then did some more organizing, moving more books and DVDs to the new shelves in the garage. The home environment is looking much neater now, without unseemly stacks of things everywhere. I then decided I should eat a sandwich, so I drove over to Jerry’s. I got to Whitsett and could not believe my eyes – an unending stream of cars from both directions looking like an absolute madhouse. As it transpired, a water main or something had broken at Coldwater Canyon south of Ventura Blvd., and they’d closed off Ventura from Whitsett to Coldwater. Of course, people can’t deal with three blocks being closed off, and panic set in, and it was insane. I managed to turn left and take the little back street that goes to Jerry’s’ parking lot. I got a booth, got some pickles, had my sandwich and hung out for ninety minutes. By the time I left, the streets were open and all was well and well was all. When I got home, I did the one bit of work I did all day – I was sent a new lyric by the lyricist of the long musical and I made two little suggestions and she addressed them very well and that was that. I then sat in the Jacuzzi for about fifteen minutes because my legs were quite sore from the long jog. After that, I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I watched the first of the Nikkatsu noirs in the new box set from Criterion. The motion picture was entitled I Am Waiting, and while I don’t know that it has anything to do with noir, it was quite a good little B film, very well acted, written, and directed, with a terrific score by one of my favorite film composers, Masaru Sato. The transfer was nothing to write home about and yet I wrote home anyway because, frankly, home was feeling a little neglected and appreciated that I wrote. I then began watching the second of the Nikkatsu noirs, this one entitled Rusty Knife. I dozed off several times, and I went back and tried to watch and be interested, but this one just didn’t grab me and I gave up after an hour. I’ll finish it at some point.
I then thought I’d watch a motion picture I DVR’d, so I went into my list of hi-def movies I’ve been recording and was delighted to see that this very day I’d recorded Breakfast At Tiffany’s and Barefoot In The Park. So, I began Tiffany’s just to see what the hi-def transfer looked like, and it was so good and so sharp and better than the DVD that I just watched the whole damn thing. While repeated viewings of certain sections of the film wear thin with me these days, the movie has such magic and such incandescence and such brilliant moments, that one can’t help but be entranced. Of course, Miss Audrey Hepburn is sublime, and I like Mr. George Peppard very much. But everyone is great, and I even forgive Mr. Blake Edwards and Mr. Mickey Rooney for Mr. Yunioshi. There are two moments in Breakfast At Tiffany’s that never fail to captivate and move me – moment one is the entire Buddy Ebsen sequence. Mr. Ebsen is just fantastic – subtle and touching, and Mr. Edwards’ direction of that whole sequence is masterful, as is George Axelrod’s script. The other, of course, is the ending of the film, which is a perfect amalgam of story, direction, acting, and, most especially, music. One cannot say enough about Mr. Henry Mancini’s music – it’s breathtaking, and Moon River is one of the greatest movie themes ever. The colors seem a lot more accurate than the DVD, although I still wish for a little more blue – but my memory of the DVD was that it was a colorless, brown mess. I actually went to put it on to compare and could not find it, which leads me to believe it got moved to the garage shelves, and since the DVDs are in three rows and one can’t easily see the back or second row, I’ll have to really hunt to find it. I also watched the first few minutes of Barefoot In The Park, and that hi-def transfer is so far above the DVD version it’s not even funny. It was an early DVD from Paramount and they simply used their laserdisc and VHS transfer, which was ugly and yellow. This new HD transfer is perfect and one scratches one’s head in bewilderment that Paramount hasn’t put this stuff on Blu-Ray yet.
I then went in the book room and leafed through an interestingly morbid book called Cut, which is a compendium of celebrity deaths – by natural causes, by illness, by overdose, by murder, and by various other forms of suicide. What’s most amazing is that the majority of these celebrities, from silent film stars, to icons of every decade, died under sixty years of age, sometimes considerably under. On that happy note (Bb) it was time to begin these here notes and begin them I did.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I want to get another good night’s sleep before the work begins in earnest tomorrow.
Today, before the work begins in earnest, I am having a breakfast with our very own Alet Taylor, and then I’m relaxing, and then I’m attending a partay at neighbor Tony Slide and Bob Gitt’s home environment. I will, of course, have a full report.
Tomorrow, work begins in earnest, and I think we all know the importance of being earnest. I have a lot to do, including girding my loins for my first studio recording session of a solo album in, what, eight years? But we’ve got good musicians, it’s Brent Barrett and this is our third album together, and it should all go well, I should think.
We do the actual recording on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and we have a hold on Saturday, should we need to do any finishing touches on the vocals. I’m hoping we’re all done by Friday, actually. And that is my week.
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 and the old-fashioned waltz, for today is the birthday of dear reader William E. Lurie, who used to frequent these here parts with much more frequency than he does now. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to dear reader William E. Lurie. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO DEAR READER WILLIAM E. LURIE!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, have breakfast with Alet, relax, attend a partay, and then watch a motion picture or two. Today’s topic of discussion: I know I’m probably opening a can of worms, but what the HELL – if you could change one thing about the way this country is run, what would it be, how would you suggest it change, and why do you make the choice you make? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and do remember the importance of being earnest.