Well, dear readers, I must write these here notes in a hurry, get them posted, and get to bed because I’ve got to be up at six in the morning to announce the new Kritzerland title. I’ll just say right off the bat that I had exactly the kind of Sunday I wanted to have, even though I don’t have a bat. I had eight hours of sleep with some weird but fun dreams, then I had a brief visit with our very own Mr. Donald Feltham, after which, I did some work on the computer, approved the release page on the Kritzerland site, and then moseyed on over to Mr. Grant Geissman’s to enter the fixes. It took about ninety minutes, but we got everything done, and even caught one error that I’d missed. I’ll now go through it all one final time and then it’s off to the publisher. Then we put in the rest of the photographs in the little photo album that follows the end of the book – I think they add a very nice touch. Then I went to Hugo’s and had a small Caesar salad and pasta papa, both dishes were extremely yummilicious. Then I came home and was thrilled to find the second blurb for the new book, so here it is:
Hooray! Kimmel’s charmingly eccentric young sleuth Adriana Hofstetter is back for a new walking (and bus-riding) Hollywood murder tour. This time she’s celebrating her sixteenth birthday by shaking the dust off of the decades-old unsolved homicide of a venomous acting coach. A funny, fast-paced, neatly-plotted whodunit.
Dick Lochte,
Co-author (with Al Roker) of The Midnight Show Murders
Isn’t that a lovely second blurb? So, Grant can now finish the back cover and that will be that. Then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish and watched the special features on the Taxi Driver Blu and Ray. The only one of real interest to me was a feature doing then and now with the film’s locations. I love that sort of thing. The other stuff is fine – I couldn’t remember if they’re all things that were on the special edition DVD.
I then watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled And Justice For All, starring Mr. Al Pacino, Mr. Jack Warden, Miss Christine Lahti, and Mr. John Forsythe. It’s a movie I enjoyed very much when it came out in 1979, and it’s still very enjoyable, mostly due to the performance of Mr. Pacino. The film is not wholly successful – in fact, I don’t find many of Mr. Norman Jewison’s films wholly successful. The writing here is erratic – it wants to be like Paddy Chayefsky but it’s a little too smart-ass for its own good occasionally. But the joy of watching it is the performances – even small roles have terrific actors and its fun to see someone like Dominic Chianese long before The Sopranos. Mr. Warden is always great, but his character is just too silly to take seriously. John Forsythe is truly creepy as a reprehensible judge. And Miss Lahti is wonderful. The transfer perfectly replicates the look of the film as shot by Victor Kemper, which means it’s occasionally murky and grainy – that’s what Mr. Kemper did, similar to Owen Roizman and other New York cameramen.
After the movie, I did some work on the computer, worked at the piano, and ate some red licorice bits. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because six in the morning will be here all too soon and I must get some semblance of sleep.
Today, I shall be up at six in the morning to announce our new title. Normally, I would then go back to bed for a while, but since CDs and helper will be here by nine, I really can’t. So, hopefully I’ll be merrily printing out a LOT of orders. Then we have to ship out as many Pirates CDs as we have boxes for, plus all the dealer orders. Then the rest of the Pirates CDs go out tomorrow. Then I have to hie myself to the West Hollywood Hugo’s to meet my pal Lauren Rubin for an early luncheon. After that, I will hopefully be printing out more orders (I really suspect this will be sold out by evening tomorrow – I’d be quite surprised if it wasn’t, and could conceivably sell out even sooner), and hopefully picking up a package or three, after which The Singer and I will do a little rehearsing with Mr. Ron Abel, just trying to get him up to speed with her show. After that, I shall come home and relax and I’m quite sure I’ll be in need of sleep.
Tomorrow, we complete the shipping of Pirates, then I have a luncheon with my favorite choreographer Adam Cates. Wednesday I have a lunch with a singer I’ve worked with several times, Thursday I have a lunch with dear reader Jeanne and Friday, whatever happens, I am NOT having a lunch with anyone. There will also be meetings, I will also finish casting the next Gardenia show and pulling the charts, making CDs and Xeroxing the music and having a work session. So, a very busy week, but I’m hoping the weekend will hold some relaxation.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, get up at six, announce, print orders, ship CDs, print orders, have lunch, print orders, have a work session with The Singer, and then relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite performances of Al Pacino, some of which I find amazing and amongst the best screen performances of all time, and some of which I don’t. So, let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland and then announce Black Sunday on a Monday.