Well, dear readers, I really must get some sleep. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I really must get sleep because I am very tired and not sleeping – no, no, no (that is three nos, which equal one nose or six knows) – that is a very boring way to start off the notes. We’ve used the must get some sleep line way too many time. It’s old news. It’s yesterday’s mashed potatoes, and today’s onion rings. That said, I really am itred. See? Tired, although I’m also itred. Frankly, I will be very happy when I’ve got all the little first pass fixes in the book and have condensed the final chapter’s twenty-nine pages to a much more manageable twelve to fourteen. Many of the fixes are simple little word changes, or moving something around, but there are also some where I have to rewrite a little or add something completely new, so that’s all time consuming. And the big stuff is all coming up and I’ll probably get to most of it today. I’m hoping I’m done by Friday and that muse Margaret gives me any musings she may have by the end of the weekend. Then I’ll give the book to my merry proofers and they’ll get me their suggestions and I’ll implement those. But I’m hoping that the major part of the work will be done by Friday. I spent most of yesterday working on the fixes, additions, and corrections and by the time I had to leave for my early dinner I was totally zonked and could barely think straight. I moseyed on over the hill to Nate ‘n’ Al’s, got there early (no traffic at all), and had an order of kishka whilst waiting for my book dealer pal and his lovely wife. They arrived, we ordered, and had a lovelier than lovely early dinner. Of course, I had a pastrami with cole slaw and Russian dressing, which was yummilicious in the extreme. After that, I girded my loins for the traffic coming home. Thankfully, there was no traffic at all, I guess because of President’s Day. I came home, did more work on the book and finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I checked out a little of the new Blu and Ray of the Ealing Films classic, The Ladykillers. I wish the news was good, but I’m afraid the transfer is printed with much too bright a contrast, which washes out the entire image. I compared it to the DVD, which has much better contrast – it’s the same source material, with the same registration problems (causing softness), but why they’d transfer it this light, which blows out all detail and nuance from the lighting, is anyone’s guess. I’ll watch the whole thing on the weekend. I then began watching the Blu and Ray of Ophuls’ Lola Montes. It’s quite a nice-looking transfer, which, of course, I already owned on an import DVD. Criterion sometimes likes to make it seem as if this transfer is new and unique to them – it’s not. I’ve had the DVD for over a year now and it’s the same exact source material, only it looks much sharper and more detailed on the Blu-Ray. I have never seen this movie past the first twenty minutes because every time I sit and watch it I fall asleep and miss thirty or forty minutes of it. But I WILL get through it this week. I’ve also been watching the Blu and Ray of Kurosawa’s Ran in my bedroom player. It’s an odd transfer, some of which looks very good and some of which doesn’t. However, it really does blow any of the many DVD versions right out of the water.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because tonight I shall be going directly to the bedroom environment after posting these here notes, which hopefully aren’t like yesterday’s mashed potatoes.
Today, I shall try to finish all the fixes prior to the big editing I have to do to the final chapter. If I get that far, then I’ll begin the big job and just go very slowly and methodically through that section – of course, I’ve already mapped out all the cuts, so I’m hoping it won’t be all that difficult. There’s one other section that I’m just coming up to that is tricky – I got a timeline wrong by three months and I have to cut and paste that section into the proper place and it’s just a little complicated and will require a little new writing. Other than that, I have a couple of errands and whatnot to do and I shall eat something light and amusing.
Tomorrow, I have a lunch with the mystery girl who is no longer a mystery. I now pretty much remember everything about where we met, so at least I won’t seem like an utter imbecile. The rest of the week is book stuff, errands and whatnot, meetings, and on Saturday night I’m seeing a play by the Kritzerland designer, Doug Haverty.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, enter fixes, corrections, move stuff around, write a few little things, and then eat something amusing and perhaps watch a motion picture. Today’s topic of discussion: What films do you think best capture relationships between loved ones honestly, with truth, humor, subtlety, and which really show love as you know it to be? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland and hopefully get a wonderful night’s sleep whilst dreaming of yesterday’s mashed potatoes.