Well, dear readers, I have been pondering the trench coat. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, have been pondering the trench coat. The reason for said pondering of the trench coat is because I watched a motion picture in which the title character was wearing a trench coat for almost the entire film. And I thought to myself, myself, does anyone still wear a hat? Sorry, a trench coat. I had a little Company moment there in case you missed it. For decades characters in crime films and film noir wore trench coats. But at some point the trench coat fell out of favor and it has never come back into favor and frankly I think it’s time for a trench coat comeback, don’t you? I think all hainsies/kimlets should go out and buy trench coats and wear them wherever we go, whatever we do. And because we are leaders not followers, and since everything we do here is immediately ripped off and used by others, soon trench coats will be back in favor and once trench coats are back in favor can it be too long till trench mouths follow suit? I wonder how the trench coat got its name. I wonder how trench mouth got its name. I also wonder who wrote the book of love, but that’s another story for another day. I don’t know about trench mouth, but the trench coat was invented by J. Fytton Trenh, OBC or ABC or CBS or something like that. J. Fytton Trench was an oboe player for the Swindon Symphony of the Air, an outdoor symphony orchestra consisting of only oboe players. Because it was always cold and rainy out, J. Fytton Trench was always wearing his cashmere coat, which, of course, didn’t do well in the cold and rain. So, he had his tailor, Percival Taylor, make him a coat based on a concept of J. Fytton Trench. Percival Taylor christened the coat the Trench coat and the rest is history. Well, I now know what trench mouth is – that was not invented by J. Fytton Trench who, as fate would have it, was run down by a lorry whilst wearing his Trench coat on his way to the trenches. Trench mouth is a severe and painful infection of the gums, such as Wrigley Spearmint and Beeman’s. Will someone please send me a private message and tell me what the HELL I’m talking about, because I don’t have a clew. Yesterday, in addition to pondering the trench coat, I had a perfectly pleasant day. I got up early, CDs arrived at nine, and I began packaging them up. By the time the new helper got here I’d basically finished the packaging of the CDs. We then did the big dealer orders and got everything done by ten-twenty and we were at the post office at ten-thirty. While I dropped stuff on the loading dock, the helper got in line, as we had to ship one large overseas package. Once that was done, we went to the UPS Store and got those packages on their way. Happily, my box of boxes had already arrived, so we came back to the home environment and got the fifty or so Promises, Promises boxes addressed, packaged and added the postage, after which we took those over to the post office. The helper took the big box o’ invoices home and she’ll do that stuff on her own, as well as some other work she can do on her computer. Then she’ll be back here on Friday to begin the process of migrating everything to the computer. She’s really conscientious and a very hard worker, and she’s very nice.
After she left, I was quite famished, but did some work on the computer first. Then I went over to Hugo’s (haven’t been to my Hugo’s in over two weeks) and had my beloved small Caesar salad and my equally beloved pasta papa, both of which were yummilicious. Then I came home, did some more work and then finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled Pushover, starring Mr. Fred MacMurray and introducing Miss Kim Novak. Pushover is one of my favorite film noir programmers. It’s wonderfully written, and well acted, and its director, Richard Quine, at that point in time was a terrific director. There’s a great shot of the Magnolia movie theater in Burbank (which then became Evergreen Studios) – and several other shots in that neighborhood. And Fred MacMurray is the man wearing the trench coat and he looks great in it. Kim is ravishing, and also turning in excellent performances are Phil Carey, Dorothy Malone, and E.G. Marshall. The film has an excellent score credited to Arthur Morton (who was a frequent Jerry Goldsmith orchestrator), although I have to say it sounds like a typical George Duning score of that period. The anamorphic transfer was fine. This is part of a new Columbia noir set that also includes several other terrific films, all of which I’ll be viewing and writing about in the next few days.
I then watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled A Single Man, starring Mr. Colin Firth. I thought Mr. Firth did a great job, and I liked the film fine, but the very fussy direction of Tom Ford almost ruined it for me. Of course, I’m a fan of Christopher Isherwood and I love the time period of the film – so, despite the fussy direction I enjoyed it very much. It was nice to see Don Bachardy’s name as a consultant. The transfer, for me, was less than stellar, with many of the longer shots very soft.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must look online for a good trench coat store and I suggest all of you do the same. Soon we will bring the trench coat back to prominence – you wait and see.
Today will be a writing day – I’ll probably do three hours’ worth overall. I have some errands and whatnot to do, and then I’ll get a little relaxing in as well.
Tomorrow, I have a telephonic interview with Marilyn Beck in the morning, and then I have a lunch with my friend Lauren Rubin at noon in West Hollywood. I’m looking forward to both very much.
I also have to get together with Mr. Barry Pearl to do some work on a project, and then we’ll be meeting with our friends Sam Bobrick and Ron Clark.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, write, do errands and whatnot, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we begin our mission to bring back the trench coat.