Well, dear readers, how can I be so exhausted when the week has just begun. And has anyone noticed that this is the final week of June? This month has flown by, like a gazelle eating hummus. Soon it won’t be June – try July. That just boggles my already boggled mind. In any case, I am exhausted from not getting enough sleep, having a long session at the lab, moving storage units, and doing other stuff. I got up at six-thirty and was at the lab by eight. We picked up where we’d left off, which was the sequence that begins with the first day on the set that leads into two songs. Each time I return and see what we’ve done I get deliriously happy – in fact, I was so delirious that I had a bagel sans cream cheese. We did some major work on Lesbian, Butch, Dyke. The framing on that number has always been terrible. It was terrible when we shot it, it was terrible in theaters and it was somewhat helped for the DVD. This time we really went in and re-framed almost every shot of the number. Our cameraman was just not quick on the uptake and he never tilted up in time when a move was happening, and in 1.85 when the gal stands up half her head literally exits frame – it’s inept. Luckily the film was shot open matte, so we have a lot of head and foot room to play with. Finally, she is completely in frame when she stands, and all the other shots that were poorly framed are now much better than they’ve ever been. And boy does the color pop in that scene – lots of hot pink. We also spent considerable time trying to make the opticals look as close to the rest of the photography as possible, and while they are still quite obviously opticals, the color and contrast is now much better, as well. Then we got to Dancing Dildos and we spent a lot of time on that one, because it, too, was not always well framed – for that one, it was minor stuff but it made the number look much more of a piece. The same was true for Honey, Whatcha Doin’ Tonight, which now looks as good as it ever has. Every time he adjusts the color suddenly images look exactly as I remember them looking on the stage when shooting. It was a long five hours but when we finished we only had fifteen minutes of the final reel to do.
I left there and immediately had to go to the storage place to meet the helper. Luckily, the unit I was moving out of was only two units away from the one I was moving into. It took two hours to do, but everything got moved. I went through a bunch of the boxes so I could determine whether they’d go all the way in the back of the unit or up front where I could get at them. Frustratingly, I found the fourth box of my memorabilia – I couldn’t find it when I needed it for the photo section of the memoir and I knew it had some programs, one of which would have the name of an actress I couldn’t remember – I really wanted to put her name in the book, but alas, the box was just buried too deeply. There was so much great stuff in that box I could have used – all my original sheet music for songs I wrote in the early 1970s, the TV Guide listing for my first guest shot on The Young Lawyers, and some fun photographs. Oh, well. I also found some interesting tapes, including one that may just find itself on Kritzerland. I found an original Follies program, and I found all my programs from the 1970s, from New York and LA. I had no idea Molly Ringwald played an orphan in the first national tour of Annie that played here at the Shubert. Prior to going over there, I realized that I’d written a film script in the 1980s called Film School – it wasn’t very good, but it had one really fun spoofy thing in it, and I realized that would make a perfect episode five for my web series. I had no idea how hard it would be to find, but it was literally the first thing I found. Go know.
After that, I picked up a couple of packages, then I finally came home. I had a lot of e-mails to answer and the telephonic device kept ringing so I had to have many conversations and I was starving. I then did as much of a jog as I could – two and a half miles. Then I just didn’t feel like going out for food, so I made some more hot dogs, then had some low-fat candies for dessert. After that I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture entitled The Stunt Man on Blu and Ray. I go back and forth on this film – sometimes I like it, sometimes I find it a bore. This time I found it a bore. I do like the music a lot, and I like Mr. O’Toole, but Steve Railsback is just too creepy. The transfer is very nice.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I have another early lab session and I also have a bit of a headache and I need some good beauty sleep.
Today, I shall be up at eight and to the lab by nine (we were originally going to start at eight, but it got pushed). We’ll work till one. My hope is that we’ll finish the last fifteen minutes in two hours, and then use the balance of the time to lay it to digital tape. The sound will get done at a later date. We also have to transfer the trailer and the wardrobe tests, but I also found a box of outtakes (no sound) and I want to at least see what those are about. Also at a later date, we’ll be spending about ten hours doing cleanup to light scratches, the reel change cue marks, and stuff like that. I’m sure the rest of the work will all happen over the next month. Don’t forget to spread the word about our Kickstarter campaign. We’ve stalled a little and have forty-nine percent to go. After our session, I’ll come home and jog, then we have our rehearsal at four for the Gardenia show and that will take until six-thirty, after which I hope to actually go have a good meal, something other than a sandwich – maybe some chicken or fish or something fun.
Tomorrow, depending on today, we may have a couple more hours at the lab to finish whatever we haven’t finished. After that, I will have a ton of errands and whatnot to do, hopefully some packages to pick up, and then I’m doing our haineshisway.com radio show, which got pushed from yesterday to tomorrow. The rest of the week is very busy and I really have to buckle down, Winsocki and write the damn liner notes. This next release will not only include a classic soundtrack, but will also include Mr. Jason Graae’s Jerry Herman album, unless I decide to hold that for an off week.
Let’s all put on out pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, let’s all break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, let’s all dance the Hora or the Monkey, because today is the birthday of this here site’s designer, Mr. Mark Bakalor. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to this here site’s designer, Mr. Mark Bakalor. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO THIS HERE SITE’S DESIGNER, MR. MARK BAKALOR!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a session at the lab, I must jog, I must rehearse, and I must have a nice meal. Today’s topic of discussion: What have been the most spectacular or most effective sets and lighting and costuming you’ve ever seen on the stage? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland. It just occurs to me that these notes have no title – sometimes that happens so I’ll just be all hip and do [title of notes].