Well, dear readers, it’s Labor Day weekend, a weekend in which there should be little labor, and much merriment and mirth and laughter and legs. I, for one, intend to sit around the home environment like so much fish, doing only what I wish to do, not necessarily in that order. Actually, yesterday was supposed to have no labor, and yet it had plenty of labor. I got up early and did a three-mile jog – that felt quite nice and the air was much better than it’s been. Then I had to deal with a flurry of e-mails about the long musical. Then I had to package up some orders, then I went and had a sandwich and fries, whilst going through the Nudie Musical script so that I’d be prepared for my dinner meeting with Mr. David Wechter. Then I went to the mail place, where there was a whole slew of packages waiting for me, as the new novel was delivered (in six very heavy boxes). I lugged all those to the car, along with a few smaller packages. I then came home, where I had to attend to yet more things. Finally, in the late afternoon I sat on my couch like so much fish and watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Duplicity. I was very much looking forward to seeing this film, because I really liked Michael Clayton, which was written and directed by the fellow who did this one, Tony Gilroy. Well, I suppose they can’t all be winners, but this one is really quite bad – unnecessarily confusing, poorly structured, flabby writing and pace, and little chemistry between Miss Julia Roberts and Mr. Clive Owen. The supporting cast is fine, but it’s all much ado about nothing – it tries for the tone of a 60s film and misses by a country mile. I really wanted to like it, but for me a complete miss (and audiences pretty much felt the same way, since they stayed away in droves). The good news is that the Blu-Ray looks and sounds great. For the last week I’ve been watching standard-def DVDs, so putting on a Blu-Ray and seeing that amazing quality was, well, amazing. Also, the night before, I finished my bedroom movie, a wild and wacky Japanese crime film called Detective Bureau 2-3: Go To Hell Bastards, directed by the wild and wacky Seijun Suzuki. The weirdness of this film is quite refreshing, and it’s paced like gangbusters, and even has a musical number in the middle of the film that’s delightfully delightful. The color is amazing, the transfer is pristine, and it looks as good as any standard-def DVD I’ve seen, especially upconverted.
After that, I met David Wechter for dinner, and we went over all the adjustments I want to make to Nudie Musical. He’s going to try and think of some solutions to a couple of problem areas, which will be very helpful. But I completely restructured one long sequence, which should now play much, much better, and I moved around a couple of scenes. David likes the new Eunice song much better, as do I, as does Adam Cates. We had a lovely chat, caught up, and he got the new novel and some of the latest Kritzerland releases.
Then I just put on some music and played on the Internet until it was time to start writing these here notes. And that was my day, and that was my evening, and I’m now quite tired and must soon try to get my beauty sleep.
Today, Mr. Handy Man will be here at ten to put up the last of the shelves, and then the garage will be perfectly perfect with everything in its place and easy to find. Then I’ll be going to see some dealer friends at Cinecon in Hollywood, but just for an hour or so, and then I’ll come home and find something amusing to eat, and then I’ll watch many motion pictures on Blu and Ray and DVD. Not sure what’s happening in the evening.
Tomorrow, other than doing the long jog, I don’t have any plans other than to begin writing the liner notes for the next Kritzerland release. Then Monday I attend the little Labor Day partay down the street. I’ll be bringing the new novel with me, since I sort of based part of one character on one of the hosts. And then Tuesday it’s back to work, and Wednesday we begin recording the new Brent Barrett Christmas CD, which I’m very much looking forward to.
It’s also about this time of year when I begin thinking about what I want to write for my next novel. It definitely won’t be a Hofstetter book, as I want to do something totally new that I’ve never done before. I still have the story I almost wrote this year, and I may think about that one, but I’ve also got a couple of other things I’m thinking about. So, I shall ponder.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do some sort of jog, have the last of the shelves installed, visit dealer friends at Cinecon, and watch motion pictures and eat food. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite amusement park rides? What was the first amusement park ride you ever went on, and what was the most recent? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we have a lovelier than lovely long weekend sans labor.