Well, dear readers, I’m wondering just when this vacation time is supposed to kick in. Certainly it hasn’t kicked in yet, although in has kicked vacation time repeatedly. Damn them, damn them all to hell. For example, yesterday all that was supposed to happen was a visit from the darling daughter. Well, first the telephonic device rings repeatedly beginning at nine in the morning. I don’t understand people who call people, especially during the holidays, at nine in the morning. So, I got up, reluctantly, and answered e-mails and printed out some orders. Then someone needed to come pick up some CDs. They showed up. Then someone else showed up to pick up some CDs – this guy without even calling to see if I was home – he just showed up. Then I was completely behind and I shaved and showered quickly and then the darling daughter arrived.
First we chatted for about thirty minutes, then we went to Mo’s and had a wonderful lunch. She’s lost quite a bit of weight and looks great. Then we went to the AT&T store because her phone was at death’s door and simply not functioning. So, we looked around – she didn’t want a smart phone because with all the extra stuff those bills are never under eighty bucks a month. She’s on a very old plan they don’t have anymore and the plans that have replaced her plan are not as good. They allowed her to stay on her old plan, so that was good. She chose a really nice phone – touch screen, little keyboard, and it does all the stuff you need. We got her set up and then to complete the Christmas present of the phone, I also paid her current bill and six months ahead, so she won’t have another bill until July. She seemed very happy with all of it. Whilst there, I found out I was eligible for an upgrade to the 4S and since someone had just asked me two days ago if I could do the upgrade and sell them my 4G I decided to pop for it, since it was too cheap not to. Well, what a phone. This Siri thing is Siriously amazing and I am loving using it. No more typing texts on the phone or typing e-mails – I can respond by voice and it puts it into the text or e-mail and sends it, all very quickly.
Then I gave her some books (for her and for her grandmother) – Murder At The Masquers and There’s Mel – and a Nudie Blu and Ray and CD. She then began her drive down to see her mother. I then had to do banking, then get my Christmas cards printed (thankfully it only takes an hour now), then picked up, shockingly, no packages and no mail. I came home, did some work on the computer, found out we’re now finally cast for the next Kritzerland show and it’s a wonderful cast of players – Susanne Blakeslee, Liz Brackenberry, Melody Hollis, Jane Noseworthy, and Annaliese van der Pol. Then I picked up the Christmas cards and got them signed and in their envelopes and stamped. Then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched two count them two motion pictures on Blu and Ray. The first motion picture on Blu and Ray was entitled Seven Chances, a Buster Keaton film. Now, I happen to share initials with some pretty wonderful folks – Boris Karloff, Brian Keith, Burger King – but I feel a real affinity with the BK that is Buster Keaton. Physical comedy is a lost art these days (other than people falling over – that’s about the biggest physical comedy gag we get in film today – unless it’s someone vomiting) and the physical comedy of Keaton is so brilliant that you just sit there and wonder how he did some of the things he did – without a stunt person. Seven Chances is one of his masterpieces – a simple premise (guy has only a few hours to find someone who will marry him so he can inherit seven million dollars), brilliantly done. The gags come fast and furious and several of them are simply breathtaking. The transfer for a film this old is pretty terrific and includes the two-strip Technicolor opening, which I’d never seen before. That’s in rougher shape but boy does it look great. The only nitpick with this Blu and Ray is the score by Robert Israel – it’s serviceable and is the kind of score some piano player would have played back in the day. But I got spoiled with Keaton’s The General – the French DVD of that had an original score by a real film composer, Joe Hisaishi, and it just worked so wonderfully I wish he’d do them all. But it’s a minor niggle and I recommend this very highly.
I then watched the second motion picture on Blu and Ray, a region B title entitled Dear Brigitte, starring James Stewart, Glynis Johns, Billy Mumy, Fabian, Cindy Carol, John Williams, and a cameo appearance by the Brigitte of the title – namely Bardot. I didn’t see it back in the day because it got middling reviews and by 1965 wholesome family comedies were on their way out, about to be replaced by much more “modern” and daring films. But what may have seemed old-hat back then seems delightful now and I have to say I thought it was terrifically entertaining, with some genuinely funny laugh-out-loud moments, most of them courtesy of Billy Mumy, who’s just terrific. No one does befuddled better than James Stewart, Glynis Johns is always a delight to watch, Cindy Carol was impossibly cute, Fabian was wasted, John Williams is always fun, and Miss Bardot is enchanting in her one scene – only Ed Wynn grates, but then I’ve always felt that about Ed Wynn – I’ve never understood what made him so funny to people. I think he was a terrific dramatic actor in Requiem For A Heavyweight, but every time I see him in a comedy I just don’t think he’s funny. He does get some funny lines (he talks to the camera throughout the film), though, courtesy of Hal Kanter. And the score by George Duning is also wonderful – but I am a huge Duning fan and it’s always grand fun to discover a Duning score you haven’t heard. In any case, I had a great time finally seeing Dear Brigitte and if you have a multi-region player it’s highly recommended by the likes of me. The scope transfer is great.
I had to look up Cindy Carol – she was in a Gidget movie as Gidget but didn’t have much of a career after Dear Brigitte. Interestingly, she was married to actor Christopher Connelly – and for those who’ve read my memoir you know how important Mr. Connelly was to me at the beginning of my career.
After that, I assigned some of the Kritzerland songs and had a piece of cherry loaf that my daughter baked me for Christmas – yummilicious. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I really must get a good night’s beauty sleep.
Today, I must meet the helper at my storage facility so that we can pull the charts for the Gardenia show – I sure hope they’re easy to find. After that, I’m having lunch with Alet Taylor. After that, if the weather’s okay, I’ll definitely try to do the four-mile jog or some sort of jog. Then I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, then I’ll finish assigning songs and begin to make CDRs and get music Xeroxed. Vacation? WHEN?
Tomorrow, I think I’m lunching with dear reader Jeanne, and then I have to do some errands and whatnot, hopefully pick up packages and begin getting the home environment in order for our Christmas Eve Do. Friday I am desperately trying to keep completely free save for going to Gelson’s to get everything for the Do. Saturday I’ll be cooking all day and then it’s the Do, and Sunday is, of course, Christmas. I normally go to Cissy Wechter’s but I’m going to pass this year – I’m just not up to driving out there and I’d rather stay home and be cozy.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, go to storage, pull charts, lunch, Xerox, make CDRs, hopefully pick up some packages, maybe do the four-mile jog, and then try to actually get some relaxation in. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have seen BK in one of his finest movies, and happy that I share initials with such a genius of comedy.