Well, dear readers, I believe I am now on vacation, as much as I’m ever able to be on vacation. My plan is to get as much relaxing done as possible, as much motion picture watching as possible, as much jogging as possible, and just enjoying some ME time. I will be continuing to make notes on the new book, and I will try to cast the first three episodes of Outside The Box, season two, because until I do I can’t write the set-up scenes. The only other work to do is figure out the Kritzerland show (we’re almost fully cast now) and get everyone their music. And maybe prepare the packaging for what we hope will be our big end of January Kritzerland release. Okay, so it’s not ALL going to be vacation, but most of it will.
I had a perfectly pleasant Sunday, but not exactly a day off. I got up at nine, answered e-mails, was very pleased by the early reaction to episode four of Outside The Box (http://youtu.be/Fkr3QAc2JDE http://youtu.be/Fkr3QAc2JDE), and had some telephonic conversations. I intended to do the four-mile jog but somehow the morning got away from me, and I can’t even remember how, frankly. All I know is that it was suddenly time to be on my way to my engineer’s home environment to hear the mixes for our big end of January title (that is if all approvals come in a timely manner). The mixes sounded breathtakingly beautiful and so much better than the original LP and then CD release, the latter was the same album master as the former, which was pinched sounding and constricted. Now it is spacious and beautiful, thanks to pristine 16-track tapes. The original album had most but not all of the music – we’ve got it completely complete – I think there’s probably fifteen minutes of new material that is absolutely stunning. And, as mentioned, this film had its first score rejected and I heard those mixes – that score, by a major Broadway composer, is so outré that one wonders what the composer was thinking of when he wrote it – one wonders if he was having a bad acid trip, that’s how outré it is. Apparently, the film had one preview with that score and the next day the powers that be hired the new composer and gave him three weeks to write his score. And what a score it is – one of the composer’s finest works and I think people are going to be VERY happy with this release.
After that, I made myself a couple of eggs (no mean feat) and put them in a couple of flour tortillas. Very low-cal and almost no fat grams. I did more work on the computer, some work at the piano and then I went to Gelson’s to get some small foodstuffs to nosh on throughout the evening. I got some cucumber roll sushi and some shrimp sushi (shrimp cooked of course), and a little thing of lobster salad. And that was that. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD, one of those homegrown Warner Archive things, this one entitled The Carey Treatment, starring Mr. James Coburn, and directed by Mr. Blake Edwards. I’ve always been a Blake Edwards fan and can even abide his most awful films (well, not quite all of them) – when Mr. Edwards was on his game there was no one better. And when he was off his game he was REALLY off his game. I saw The Carey Treatment on the day it opened, ready to love it. But it was not a film to love, and I was truly disappointed by it in just about every way, most especially because Mr. Edwards didn’t have Mr. Mancini and not having Mr. Mancini was not a good idea. The score by Roy Budd is okay but it’s not Mancini, and whatever alchemy was at work when Edwards and Mancini worked together didn’t happen with Mr. Budd. Seeing the film all these years later hasn’t changed my opinion of it, although it’s directed well and I like most of the cast. But one suspects that there was a lot of post-production drama on this, as there was with Wild Rovers because it’s so choppy at the beginning that you simply don’t know what’s going on for the first twenty minutes of the film. The screenplay is based on the book A Case Of Need by Jeffrey Hudson, a taught medical thriller, which should have made a terrific suspense film ala Coma. Mr. Hudson was, of course, the nom de plume of Michael Crichton. Transfer is fine for a homegrown DVDR thing.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must be up at six in the morning to announce two new Kritzerland CDs – some vacation – six in the morning. I gotta tell you. So, early to bed so I can get some sort of beauty sleep.
Today, I shall be up at six in the morning to announce the new Kritzerland titles. Then, I’ll either go back to sleep, or I’ll go do an early four-mile jog. Then the helper comes to get some invoices and we’ll do a Cosco run – it’s been three months since the last Costco run and I have no waters or Diet Cokes left. I’ll also get some ingredients and things for the Christmas Eve Do while I’m there. After that, the day is mine all mine. I may go over to storage and pull all the music we might be using for the Kritzerland show and we’ll definitely try to have our cast by the end of the day so I can assign the songs. At some point I’m sure I’ll eat something light but amusing.
Tomorrow and the rest of the week will be as described in the first section of the notes. I’m having lunch with Alet on Wednesday, but I really don’t have many plans, other than preparing for the Do.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, announce two titles, do the four-mile jog, do a Costco run, hopefully pick up some packages and an important envelope, do some banking, pay some bills, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite films and TV shows with a hospital setting? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall begin my semi-vacation.