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September 29, 2011:

I REMEMBER

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, it occurs to me that I shall be on my way to Chicago, that toddlin’ town, tomorrow. That means I must pack, get some cash, and prepare for the trip. Transportation to the airport is booked, so that’s good. This has been a very strange week for writing these here notes. Even though each day has been very busy, by the time I begin writing these here notes I can barely remember what the HELL I did all day. So, here’s what the HELL I remember about yesterday. I remember I got the HELL up very early, at eight, and that CDs and helper arrived and we shipped out 1200 CDs. I remember that we figured out how we were going to ship t-shirts and Blu and Rays to our Kickstarter angels, and all those are going out this morning – they would have gone out yesterday, but the USPS makes everything more difficult than it has to be, so we had to clarify the way in which we were categorizing these padded envelopes in order to have delivery confirmation, which we will not ship without. Is it any wonder that the USPS is on its last legs? I remember that I did the four-mile jog. I remember that I had a bacon cheeseburger but no fries or onion rings. I remember that I did some errands and whatnot, picked up a couple of packages, including thirty Cherry Ripe candy bars, which are now happily frozen in my refrigerator. I know that I approved the Nudie Musical CD master as well as the master for our 100th release and those two items are now on their way to the pressing plant. I know we caught a mistake on the Nudie inlay card and fixed it before it went to press. So, that’s what the HELL I know so far.

I know I moseyed on over to the editing room for what was supposed to be a very simple tweaking of the sound, but which turned into a nightmare because for some reason on one of the episodes, the sound got totally screwed up for about thirty seconds. Since the editor had saved after making me a DVD and Quick Time files two days ago, and since those play fine and don’t have that thirty second problem, he just couldn’t figure out what the HELL had gone wrong. He even found the auto-save folder and the last thing that had been saved two days ago and THAT was screwed up. It was an enigma wrapped inside a conundrum is what it was and the editor was ready to hurl something at the computer. I finally left, but he e-mailed me to tell me he’d gotten everything back to the way it was in those thirty seconds and that all was well. I do know that he and a guy who works this system regularly will try to figure out what exactly went wrong. Then they’ll do the little finessing and save and lock it all up, make the Quick Time files that I’ll eventually be uploading to You Tube, and he’ll begin cutting our trailer. I came up with the idea and wrote it at lunch, and gave him the road map and told him he could add or subtract or even go his own way with the idea.

Here’s what the HELL else I remember – I remember I printed out more orders than I thought we’d have for the Nudie Musical Blu and Ray and CD. I was heartened to see that while some ordered either the Blu or the CD, many ordered the combo platter. In fact, we’re almost done with the first 100 signed sleeves, so that’s fantastical. And I think we’ll have slightly more than the hundred sleeves, but I didn’t know that until we shipped the Kickstarter copies. I remember that I did a little rewriting on the Matt Ashford episode of the web series, and he’ll be getting the script, his song, and the sheet music today. I also remember sitting on my couch like so much fish.

I remember watching the first half of a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Ben and Hur. Now, the first half of Ben and Hur runs two hours and twenty-three minutes so that was quite a first half. I’ve always liked the film ever since I saw it in 1959 at the Egyptian Theater (written about in one of the Kritzer books). It’s well-written, it’s well-directed, and has some wonderful performances. No one did this sort of thing better than Charlton Heston and he’s just great in this. Jack Hawkins is memorable, as are Hugh Griffith (I believe he won the Oscar), and, of course, our very own Mr. Frank Thring as Pontius Pilate. The score by Miklos Rozsa is a masterpiece of film scoring. But the problem with Ben and Hur as a home viewing experience is that the film defines the very word EPIC. And with such a thin image on the screen (aspect ratio, 2.76) it doesn’t exactly give you that EPIC feel. The transfer is very nice – good color, very sharp, but I don’t feel it’s in the league of The Ten Commandments, but those elements were and are apparently in excellent shape, whereas the elements for Ben and Hur were not. I’m looking forward to the second half, although I may not get to it until after Chicago, the town, not the movie.

Well, that was quite a lot to remember, wasn’t it? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I really must get some beauty sleep or I shall arise feeling very cranky and I do not like to arise feeling very cranky – I’d much prefer arising gay and resilient, with applause. Oh, a Stephen Sondheim reference.

Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s sleep, then I shall go to the bank and get some cash, including $100 in $5 bills so I can make change in Chicago. I’ll do the four-mile jog, which I then won’t do again until I return on Monday – however, I will do four or more miles each day whilst in Chicago – on the treadmill. I shall do some errands and whatnot, hopefully pick up a package or three, send Matt Ashford script and music, try to book a camera person, have a meal o’ the day, and then pack. In the early evening, we have a rehearsal with Alet and then I’ll write the notes early, post the notes early, and get to bed by ten at the latest.

Tomorrow, I shall be on my way to the airport at five-thirty in the morning, and then on my way to Chicago, that toddlin’ town to do the celebrity signing show. I shall hopefully sup with Druxy, and then I will hopefully spend time with Miss Cindy Williams (well, I know we’ll be spending time after the Sunday show for sure). Then I shall be on my way home on Monday morning, just in time for a very busy week.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the four-mile jog, get some cash, do errands and whatnot, send a script and music, eat, have a rehearsal and get to bed early. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Charlton Heston movies? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy about all I remembered.

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