Well, dear readers, I am in that funny place that I’m always in when I’m doing the first few chapters of a book. I start to question everything I’m doing and start to worry about every little thing. And I realize this always happens with the Hofstetter books because of the way I write them, which is I only have the basic idea of the book when I start. What the plot is, what the murder is, and who some of the characters will be. And then I’m just like Adriana – I discover things as she discovers them and I get antsy when she gets antsy and I get frustrated when she gets frustrated. Also, I brought the first sixty pages to Muse Margaret. She wasn’t home, so I left them outside her front door. She’d told me she was going to read them at night, but I never heard back from her. I called at nine, just to make sure she got them, but the phone just rang and there was no answering machine (sometimes it’s on, sometimes it’s not). So, I immediately think she’s not calling because she hated everything. What it usually turns out to be is that she got busy and didn’t have a chance to read the pages. I’m hoping she does this morning because I don’t really want to write more until I know she’s okay with everything up to this point. If I haven’t heard or if she won’t be able to get to it until the evening, I’ll probably mush on. I was in one of my frustrated moods yesterday but then I went and had some bacon and eggs and home fries and made some notes – thinking some things out, just as Adriana would, gave me exactly the answers I needed and a couple of good ideas for upcoming chapters. I wrote nine-plus pages all told. Other than that, it was a nice day. I answered e-mails, picked up no mail and no packages, had a couple of telephonic calls, approved the cover for our new release, and listened to the transfers that were made – these were what I feared – the music as heard in the film, with volume dips and fades – some of it’s usable if we need it, but it’s the next transfers, the master mixes, that we’ll obviously be using – and I’m hoping that a couple of the cues that are obviously abbreviated in the film will be longer on the master mix tape. I’ll have those CDRs later today. I did some errands and whatnot and was happy to see comments appearing about Casino Royale – all very favorable, with people calling it a revelation. After that, I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled Strange Behavior. You might remember that I recently watched a motion picture entitled Strange Invaders, directed by Michael Laughlin and written by Bill Condon. Strange Behavior was the first film they did together and it’s just as strange as their second film. It’s very quirky, features excellent performances (with many folks who would go on to appear in Strange Invaders), with a moody synth score by Tangerine Dream. It’s pretty out there, but oddly likable and entertaining in its own way and includes one sort of classic scene – a teen party where everyone breaks out into a choreographed dance to Lou Christie’s great song Lightning Strikes. I had to watch it a couple of times because it was so delightful. The transfer was nice and there were a couple of short, pointless deleted scenes included.
We never heard any updates on the helper, so keep those excellent vibes and xylophones coming.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I am quite tired and have quite a long day and evening ahead of me and just like Adriana, I must connect the dots.
Today, I shall be up by nine and hoping to hear from Muse Margaret. If not, I’ll continue writing but may only do three or four pages, maybe five. We shall see. Then I think Gregory Harrison is coming by at two-thirty to run some songs. At three-thirty Millicent Martin will be here to run her one song. At four the Nightmare Trio arrives to run their one number. And then each of our five cast members comes on the half-hour to run their material. If we stay on schedule, we should be done by seven. I then have to hie myself over to the Gardenia to sup and see my pal Linden Waddell’s new show.
Tomorrow, at ten the helper’s boyfriend and the helper’s best friend and I will convene and we’ll begin to get the helper’s best friend up to speed on how everything works so that she can be an interim helper until we know what’s going on. If the boyfriend wants to continue helping, that would be good, too. I have to write liner notes and figure out the road map for our new release (that should be easy as we’re just going in film order – the only decision is what shorter cues to combine into longer cues). Sunday should be a day in which I can get a lot of writing done at my leisure.
Next week is very busy, with rehearsals, a friend coming into town from New Jersey, working a little with David Wechter, the Gardenia show, and several other things.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, hopefully hear from Muse Margaret, write, rehearse, hopefully pick up an important envelope, and see a show at the Gardenia. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, various and sundried Kritzerland projects. Blu and Ray, catching up on The Seven Samurai and The Magician and a few other titles. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland and, just like Adriana, begin to connect the dots.