Well, dear readers, October is flying by, like a gazelle eating a kumquat. Does anyone still eat a kumquat? And what exactly IS a kumquat? And who exactly gave it its name? Well, I have the answer for you. It was back in olden times when a farmer named Willhelm Ernst Kumquat found an odd-looking thing growing in his garden. He looked at it and said to himself, “What an odd-looking thing growing in the garden. I have no idea what this odd-looking thing growing in the garden is, but just for grins I think I’ll name it after myself – I’ll call it a kumquat and I will become famous throughout history and people will say my name long after I’m gone. Unfortunately, as he was saying this to himself, he took a bite of the kumquat and promptly died. Isn’t that an interesting story of the kumquat? In any case, the first day of October was quite pleasantly pleasant. I actually managed to sleep until nine, which was nice. I answered some e-mails and then off I went on the long jog, which wasn’t all that easy, but it was an absolutely gorgeous morning, so I enjoyed it. When I got home, I packaged up a few things, then began writing the liner notes for our next release. I got about halfway through and then went to the mail place and picked up a package, which contained a home-grown DVD I’d purchased on eBay of a film I had to watch that we’re doing the soundtrack for on the two-fer I’ve mentioned. I’d never seen the film, and it’s certainly not an easy film to find – it’s never had an official DVD release, and I no longer have a way to run VHS tapes. This seller was amazing – not only did the package contain the movie I ordered, but it also contained a bonus movie, Sam Fuller’s The Crimson Kimono. Opening the two cases there were six more bonus DVDs, several of which contained three movies on one DVD. So, all in all for my twenty bucks I got about twenty-five movies, some of which I’ll actually watch, including The First Traveling Saleslady, starring Ginger Rogers and Carol Channing circa the mid-1950s. From there I headed over to Jerry’s Deli, where I had a small pastrami sandwich and fries. Then I came home, wrote some more liner notes, wrote the composer of one of the films on the CD and asked him a couple of questions. He responded right away, and I used the information in the notes. I then sat on my couch like so much fish and started watching the movie on DVD, but ten minutes in I fell asleep for ninety minutes, which is really unusual for me. I did wake occasionally, but mostly I was out. I did see enough of the film to know that the music is spectacularly beautiful, and what I saw of the film looked very interesting, so I’ll go back and watch the whole thing over the weekend. I then finished the draft of the liner notes, and then went back and sat on my couch like so much fish again.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Silverado. I’d only seen the film once when it first came out, and I have to say I didn’t love it back then – oh, I enjoyed it okay, but it just didn’t quite work for me. But time has been very good to Silverado and watching it last night was extremely enjoyable. How things have changed since this film was made. Lawrence Kasdan and his brother wrote an excellent script, and Kasdan did a good job directing a terrific cast, including Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Kevin Costner, Rosanna Arquette, Linda Hunt, Brian Dennehy, and a bunch of excellent character actors. Kasdan was attempting to do for shoot-’em-ups what he did for Saturday matinee serials with Raiders Of The Lost Ark, and what he did for film noir with Body Heat. To make a western that didn’t feel old-fashioned. But the joke is, watching it now it does feel like an old-fashioned western, and that is its charm. The transfer from Columbia is absolutely fantastic. The word that most came to mind was kumquat, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. It’s a beauty of a Blu-Ray and highly recommended by the likes of me.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because it’s after midnight and I need my beauty sleep.
Today, I have not a lot planned and I’m hoping to keep it that way. I’ll reread my liner notes and make adjustments and changes to them and then send them to the designer. Then I have to sit with the DVDs of each film and title the tracks – that will probably take a couple of hours. I intend to jog and I intend to eat and I intend to watch at least one motion picture.
Tomorrow and Sunday are, at this point in time, completely free, and I’m jiggy with that, I’m down with that, I’m happening with that. I’m sure a little of this and that and also that and this will come up, but I’m hoping to really catch up on my rest this weekend, for next weekend will be a very busy week.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, I must revise and lock my liner notes and send them off, I must title tracks, I must eat, and I must watch a motion picture. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, the new Streisand CD and two new soundtracks by Alexandre Desplat. Blu-Ray, next up will be Die Hard, which I haven’t seen since it came out. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we all think about the kumquat.