Well, dear readers, I must write these notes in a hurry because it is late and I am still very overtired and therefore there will be no extraneous words in these here notes. Well, with the exception of “extraneous” of course. Any use of the word extraneous is extraneous by its very nature. Each word used in these here notes will be to the point. There will be nothing superfluous except, of course, the word superfluous, which is, by its very nature, superfluous. Well, we’re off to a rousing start, aren’t we?
Yesterday was a day in which various and sundried things occurred. For example, I got up. That occurred. I did manage to get eight hours of sleep, but I really need a couple of days where I get a bit more than that. The good news was/is that the Jacuzzi jets never came on of their own volition, so that problem may well be solved for the time being, although I certainly shall be discussing it with the Pool Man come tomorrow. Friend Nick Redman came by early to drop off some CDs. I didn’t have time to do the jog, as I had to mosey on over to Barney’s Beanery in West Hollywood for a lunch meeting. The meeting was fun and it took all my willpower and also my georgepower to not have the foot-long chili cheese dog, which my lunch partner did have. Instead, I was a good lad and had what a good lad should have – a chicken salad sandwich with American cheese and bacon. It was quite good. After the meeting, I headed back to the San Fernando Valley and did some errands and whatnot before returning to the home environment. I then did some work on an upcoming release, sequencing a suite of bonus material. Then the helper came by and she picked up the new invoices and some other stuff, and we did a Costco run, as I was literally out of everything. I got waters, I got Diet Cokes, I got soap, I got some flowers to brighten up the jernt, I got some fruity snacks, I got some fruit ice cream bars (80 calories per and yummilicious), I got some Pop chips (small bags, 100 calories per), and a few other things.
Then I did some more work on the computer, had a couple of telephonic calls, did some work at the piano, and then finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I’d intended to watch a motion picture on Blu and Ray, but when I turned the TV on it was on one of my hi-def cable channels and the film Bugsy was just starting. I only intended to watch the first few minutes, but I got sucked into it and watched the entire film. I saw Bugsy back in 1991 when it came out. I enjoyed it, certainly. These days, people forget it was the front-runner to win Best Picture (Silence Of The Lambs won) and these days Bugsy is almost a forgotten film. What seemed fine back then seems pretty great now, thanks to two decades of fairly terrible filmmaking. The craft alone – the sets, the costumes, the photography, and the direction – make this worth seeing. It’s a superb-looking film in every detail and one of the best period recreations of LA ever put on film – right up there with Chinatown. Warren Beatty gives one of his best performances as Benjamin Siegel (aka Bugsy), a gangster, a wannabe celebrity, and a dreamer. Beatty has always been unlike any other actor – he’s completely unique and he’s just great in this. His long outbursts are lessons in screen acting. Annette Bening is good as his love, Virginia Hill. And Ben Kingsley is his usual terrific self as Meyer Lansky, as is Harvey Keitel as Mickey Cohen – Keitel’s first scene with Beatty is wonderful and unexpectedly funny. The score by Ennio Morricone is top notch, too. The hi-def transfer didn’t look too hi-def to my eyes – more like an upconverted low-def transfer.
After that, I did more work on the computer, but my eyes were already not focusing and I was just too too tired to really do anything else, so I just perused a few websites and that was that. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get a good night’s beauty sleep.
Has anyone noticed that there are no extraneous words in these here notes? Also, that there are no superfluous words? Today, I must be up by nine and then I have an eleven o’clock meeting. That really shouldn’t last more than thirty minutes and then I’ll come home and do the long jog. Then we have our first Gardenia rehearsal, which I’m very much looking forward to.
Tomorrow, I have tons of errands and whatnot to do, writing to do, and an important decision to make, which I can’t make until I have a telephonic call. Thursday we have a rehearsal with the thirteen-year-old – we’ll be working at Screenland Studios, which is kind of how we have to work from now on, so she gets a sense of her space and has room to move. Friday is our next Gardenia rehearsal, and the weekend we have a Melody rehearsal and then performance on Sunday.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a meeting, do the long jog, have a rehearsal, pick up some packages, and then eat something light but amusing. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite Warren Beatty films and performances? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland without using one more extraneous word with the exception of extraneous.