Well, dear readers, once again I must write these here notes in a hurry because once again I must be out the door early to do the four-mile jog because I must be at the Michelle Nicastro event at noon. Therefore I shall dispense with all the frou-frou and get to the nitty-gritty as well as the gritty-nitty. I shan’t waste time on frivolities; I shall get to the meat of things. Not the fish of things, mind you, no, I shall get to the meat of things and I do hope that does not bother our vegetarian dear readers. I suppose to be safe I could get to the vegetables of things, but before I do can someone please explain to me why the word vegetables contains the word tables? What the HELL am I talking about? I really must buckle down, Winsocki and write these here notes.
Yesterday was quite a nice day. She of the Evil Eye arrived and I vamoosed and also vamcameled and did the four-mile jog. After that, I went and had some matzo brei and whilst doing so I signed two hundred Nudie Musical Blu and Ray sleeves. After that, I came home and answered various and sundried e-mails, after which I went to the mail place and picked up no packages and an important envelope. Then it was back home, where I wrote my portion of the liner notes for the Nudie Musical CD – earlier, I’d received Mr. Nick Redman’s portion of the notes, which were laugh out loud funny because he decided to parody these here notes and their style of “writing” in his notes and he did so rather brilliantly. I can see non-denizens of this here site scratching their heads in puzzlement and I’m all for that. Then I went to the Woodland Hills Jerry’s Deli, where I met Cindy Williams. I hadn’t seen her in a couple of years (we’ve spoken, but not seen each other), so it was grand fun to eat and chat as well as chat and eat. Over the course of two hours she signed two hundred Nudie Musical Blu and Ray sleeves opposite from where I’d signed. We had lots o’ laughs and we’ll hang out together in Chicago.
After that, I came back to the home environment, answered more e-mails, uploaded all the tracks for the Nudie Musical CD for the mastering guy (there will be additional tracks from the CD that was included with the DVD back in 2002) and then finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I finished watching a motion picture on DVD entitled The Magnificent Ambersons. As I stated earlier in the week, the first thirty minutes of Ambersons is as good a thirty minute as I’ve ever seen. It’s just magical, the combination of Welles’ mellifluous voice narrating, and the images, which are, in a word, brilliant. And then, of course, the real butchery of the film begins and it can never really recover from it, despite some absolutely breathtaking sequences. As most know, the preview cut of Ambersons ran a little over 131 minutes, and the first preview audience hated it. The second audience liked it a lot better, but the studio was only concerned with what the first audience thought because that audience skewed younger – and – wait for it – they wanted that younger demographic. Yes, thus it was even back then. So, the film was re-edited by the studio, scenes were shortened and re-shot by much lesser talents than Mr. Welles, and the resulting eighty-eight minute film is one of the most tragically mangled films in all of cinema. That, of course, was the subject to the third Adriana Hofstetter book, Murder At The Hollywood Historical Society, where I got to have a fanciful fiction about the Urban Legend that a print of the full version may still be in Brazil. There is a book that reconstructed the Welles version from the cutting continuity script of his cut – it’s fascinating reading, although it’s occasionally headache-inducing with the tiny print and the many, many footnotes. The re-shot scenes are horrible – badly written, shot with no artistry whatsoever so that they stick out like a sore thumb. One short scene plays out for a few minutes in all of its blandness then cuts and continues in Welles’ footage and the difference is so immediately apparent it’s not even funny. Had Welles come back from Brazil and worked with editor Robert Wise, I suspect the result would have equaled Citizen Kane in brilliance. As it is, only flashes of the brilliance are left, but what brilliance it is. The transfer is not so hot, but is the best available on DVD.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must dispense with the frou-frou and get some beauty sleep before arising early once again.
Today, I must be out the door jogging by nine, then I’ll shave and shower and be on my way to the Michelle Nicastro event at the Catalina Bar and Grill. The performance starts at one, and the promise is that it won’t last more than eighty minutes all in. Each performer has been strongly asked to limit themselves to no more than five minutes and that includes the song. My song is probably the shortest – just one time through. I’ll probably say a little something about Michelle and our albums. After that, I have to come right home, where I’ll be picked up by Mr. Barry Pearl and taken to the Pasadena Playhouse to see the opening night of a new musical.
Tomorrow and the rest of the week will be filled with rehearsals, meetings, meals, and getting ready for my Chicago trip. I have to send ahead books, photos, and Blu-Rays, which I’ll take to the UPS Store tomorrow and send via three-day shipping so they get there on Wednesday or Thursday at the latest. I’ll let the hotel know they’re coming.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the four-mile jog, I must attend an event, I must see a new musical and I suppose at some point I must eat something. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall dispense with any and all frou-frou.