Well, dear readers, it will soon be the night of the living Do. Of course, today is the day of the Do, too, and, as Cole Porter so aptly put it, Night and Day, Do are the one. I, for one, am very excited for this evening’s Do, just as I have been very excited for the past 21 years, as this will be our 22nd Annual Christmas Eve Do. I must say, I am ahead of the game for tonight’s Do. That is because I began prepping the Do last night. I made the famous Tuna Pasta salad, I got the table ready (festive napkins, festive cutlery, festive white paper plates, and various and sundried other accoutrements. It was the culmination of a very nice day. I didn’t have much to do but what I did was cherce. For example, I got up. That was cherce. I did some work on the computer for an upcoming Kritzerland release, and then I took care of the few piles o’ stuff that were left to take care of. Everything is in order now and the home environment looks very nice indeed. It was a day sans rain, so that was a pleasant change of pace. I had a couple of telephonic conversations, and then I went out and did some errands and whatnot, including picking up no mail and no packages (a package did arrive around four, but by that time I was too busy to go back and fetch it). I had a tuna sandwich and some low-fat wheat thins for lunch, along with a couple of pieces of cashew brittle. Then I got word that my stuff was ready at the framers, so I went over there and got it. Then I came home, and after a while Mr. Grant Geissman came over to hang pictures. He has an unerring eye, and we ended up moving some stuff around and found the perfect places for everything, so all pictures are up in time for our Do. After he left, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched the third Borzage silent movie without talking, Lucky Star. Actually, this release apparently did have a synchronized score of some sort and some occasional dialogue, but the soundtrack is lost to time, and only a completely silent version was unearthed in some faraway land. Once again, we have the magical team of Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor, and they are, once again, magical. I think I enjoyed Lucky Star as much as Seventh Heaven – it’s just an entrancing film, made even more entrancing by actually having source material that looks like what it should and not a tenth generation dupe. This is the best looking of the three films I watched and by quite a hefty margin. A Hefty Margin – that’s the title of my next novel. In any case, it’s a lovely film and a lovely transfer and the only thing I cannot give high marks to is the original score that our own Mr. Nick Redman had commissioned by composer Christopher Calliendo. Mr. Calliendo was hired to do several of the silent films in the John Ford box. He also re-scored Sam Peckinpah’s Major Dundee – that effort was okay, but his score for Lucky Star, while containing some nice moments (mostly for the scenes between Farrell and Gaynor), it has way too much mickey-mousing for my taste, and also some music that sounds more suited to Rashomon than an American film from the silent era. If only someone like Laurence Rosenthal had done this – that’s what this film cries out for. I don’t mean to be too hard on Mr. Calliendo, who is clearly talented, but left to his own devices without any real direction, the score works at cross-purposes to the film too many times. But the film is highly recommended by the likes of me.
After that, I made the Tuna Pasta salad and did all my getting ready things – all the while listening to CDs, trying to make a dent in the huge pile that is waiting to be played. I also noticed that one of our GUESTS was looking at the posts from Christmas Eve 2004 and it was with some melancholy that I looked at our family of posters, way too many of whom have left us, either permanently or who only show up sporadically. MattH, Tomovoz, Dan-in-Toronto, Jay, Francois – all gone. And then Ann, Lulu, S. Woody White, and der Brucer, not to mention William F. Orr and William E. Lurie. Some left because they got offended at something or for other reasons, and my point is always that all families occasionally have disagreements, all families occasionally offend, but the strong families get over that stuff because it’s not what’s important. The fact that so many people have left others here who were very good to them and very supportive is always astonishing to me – maybe it shouldn’t be, but it is. I wish I could wave a magic wand and get everyone back, and that is my Christmas wish on this Christmas Eve. But when people don’t even come back to acknowledge their birthday wishes, then I hold little hope that it can happen. But I wish it would, as I miss those people very much, and I know other dear readers do, as well.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I have said my piece and tried to make peace and now I must get a good night’s beauty sleep so I’m ready for the night of the living Do. And guess what – I should sleep very well because not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse. I’ll be stirring soon enough – the spaghetti sauce.
Today, I will be slaving over a hot stove. I’ll try to sleep late, and then I shall arise, do my morning ablutions, and then begin the cooking. I will dice the onions and onions the dice, I shall mince the garlic – garlic is always mincing and very fey), I shall slice the mushrooms, and I shall prepare the magic ingredients for the sauce. Then I throw the garlic, mushrooms, and onions in the pot with a LOT of butter and let those cook to a fare-thee-well. Then I do the sauce part and then the whole thing simmers all the livelong day. Whilst it simmers, I shall listen to festive music, I shall maybe even watch a motion picture, and I shall shower and shave and make myself presentable. This may be the first Christmas Eve Do where I haven’t forgotten anything, which is very nice. The only time I’ll go out is to pick up the package that came yesterday afternoon. And then at six people will start to arrive – at least that’s the hope. I’m not waiting for anyone – I’m eating everything in sight starting at six-fifteen. I’m hoping for a nice group of people and I’ll have a full report for you dear readers, and constant updates, and photographs.
Tomorrow is, of course, Christmas. The darling daughter and husband decided not to travel because of the weather, so I won’t be seeing them, which will be strange. I normally go to Cissy Wechter’s Christmas partay, but we’ll see if I’m up for it or not. It’s a trek and it really depends on the weather. Then on Sunday, I have to figure out our rehearsal schedule for the January Gardenia show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, slave over a hot stove, I must dice, slice, and mince, not necessarily in that order, I must pick up a package, I must simmer sauce, I must prepare for a partay and then I must have the 22nd Annual Christmas Do. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player, and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, many soundtracks. Blu and Ray, the Alien box set, THX 1138 and others – although my instinct is that I’ll watch Scrooge on DVD. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland and then prepare for the night of the living Do.