Haines Logo Text
Column Archive
December 16, 2011:

WHERE DID THIS YEAR GO?

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, we’re barreling towards a little year I like to call 2012. We’re barreling towards Hanukah and Christmas and New Year’s Eve. This year has flown by, like a gazelle with Ginsu knives. In fact, this year has flown by like no other year, at least for me. It feels like I’m still in the first third of the year and yet we are in the last two weeks of the year. Where did it go? I’ll be looking back at the year over the next two weeks – accomplishments, things I didn’t get done, things I could have done better, the whole damn pizza pie.

I had a Thursday that wasn’t too busy, although, surprisingly, I really did a lot of work I wasn’t expecting to do at all. I got up at nine, answered e-mails, had a couple of telephonic conversations, then went to the piano and spent the next two and a half hours there writing music and lyrics for the first three episodes of season two of Outside The Box. I had some of it, but I’d say I wrote five new things and finessed and finished the stuff I’d already written. So, these three are musically complete now and I’ll get them to our musical director John Boswell so he can make the playback tracks. If the keys end up not being right, it’s just a push of a button to fix them, but I’ve been really good about guessing keys and have, in fact, only been off once and even then I covered myself by having the song in a lower key, too. I then typed up the lyrics into the scripts, so for those three episodes all that’s left is to write the set-up scenes – those will have to be short on two of the episodes because the musical portion is a little longer than what we’ve been doing, and I won’t have any of these run over six and a half minutes. I also want to switch up the set-up scenes a little for season two so that those don’t become stale. Sometimes that will have to do with location and the number of people involved in the set-up, and sometimes it will just be a different kind of set-up. One thing I know I want to do for one of the episodes is that rather than calling a performer to offer the role, Stephen Findle will hold auditions, so that opens up a lot of fun seeing different people auditioning or meeting with Stephen.

After that work, the helper came by and picked up invoices and we went and had some lunch at Zach’s CafĂ© – I had my usual salad with turkey and a couple of their yummilicious garlic cheese rolls. Then I picked up one little package, then came back home, where I did some work on the computer, approved all packaging for the two new releases, and then did some errands and whatnot. I had a little six-inch Subway spicy Eyetalian at around seven (not too bad given I only had the salad for lunch). I never got to jog because it was just too damn chilly and then it rained. I don’t mind taking this week off, frankly. After all that, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.

Last night, I finished watching Vincente Minnelli’s film Meet Me In St. Louis, starring Miss Judy Garland. It’s a gloriously glorious film that just takes its sweet time to tell its small story – but when a small story is filled with exquisite song and dialogue and beautiful detail, well, I know it flies in the face of Screenwriting 101 and the idiots who teach it, but I’ll take it any day over most of the tripe I see these days. If this script were offered to a studio today, the authors would be laughed right out of the office, if they even got that far. Everything about the film is perfect – the direction (my favorite shot in the entire film, just because it’s so brilliantly conceived, is at the dance where Esther and Grandpa are dancing – Grandpa sees something off-camera, dances Esther around and the disappear behind a Christmas tree and when Esther reappears she’s dancing with the boy next door – simple and perfect), the screenplay, the settings and costumes, the great, great songs, the musical arrangements and orchestrations, and the kinds of performances we just will never see again because we simply don’t have actors like this anymore. Miss Garland is magical, of course, but the supporting players are all perfectly chosen. Leon Ames is so wonderful as papa and Mary Astor is equally wonderful – the kind of parents that everyone would like. Lucille Bremer beams as one of Judy’s sisters, and, of course, little Margaret O’Brien walks away with every scene she’s in – she gives one of the weirdest, most interesting performances ever given by a child actress – it’s like she’s from another world at times and it’s just so much fun to watch. Of course, I love anything with Marjorie Main and she’s great, as always. For me, the most underrated performance in the film is Tom Drake as the boy next door, John Truett. Why this man didn’t have a major film career is truly an enigma – so charming and good looking and real. He did have a prolific career in television all throughout the fifties, sixties, and seventies. There’s really nothing more to say other than it’s a perfect film. The transfer is lovely – not quite up there with the greatest of them, but the film and its color really look swell and I’ve no complaints. If for some reason you’ve never seen this film, not only is it highly recommended by the likes of me, I’m just coming out and telling you that you really need to see it.

I then watched the second episode of Maigret from box set number two. I enjoyed it thoroughly, although it was, for me, one of the least interesting of the ones I’ve seen. One of the reasons for that, is that someone made the choice to have a really sparse score in this episode, so it seemed much talkier than the others, and it also all took place in one location. It needed some music. Performances were excellent.

After that, I listened to the first half of one of our upcoming CDs and it sounded terrific, so I’m just waiting on part two, and then the other CD. If I were to get both of them by end of today, I’d probably announce immediately, but either way, I’ll announce here so you dear readers get a jump on things.

Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I have not been getting nearly enough beauty sleep and I need to.

Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep. CDs and helper will then arrive and we’ll get everything shipped out. Then come hell or high or even low water, I’m doing the damn four-mile jog, after which I’ll eat something light but amusing, then hopefully pick up some packages and an important envelope. After that, I think that will be it – unless the other part of the master is ready for my listening pleasure. Other than that, I’ll catch up on movies and CDs.

Tomorrow, she of the Evil Eye will be here all too early and I’ll go do errands and whatnot. Then I’m being taken out for a birthday dinner at around five. If that ends early enough, I may see a screening of The Artist. If not, I’ll watch something in the home environment. Sunday I have to listen to all the mixes for an upcoming soundtrack project – something that we’ve completely remixed from the multi-track tapes – can’t wait to hear what it all sounds like.

Next week should begin my two-week Christmas vacation – all I really have to do is finish casting the Kritzerland show, choose the songs, get the charts, make singers CDRs and that is IT.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, ship CDs, do the four-mile jog, hopefully pick up packages and an important envelope, eat, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, the Guy Haines tracks (four) and various and sundried soundtracks. Blu and Ray, The Lady Vanishes and Design For Living will be next, and on DVD more Maigret. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall ponder where this year went.

Search BK's Notes Archive:
 
© 2001 - 2024 by Bruce Kimmel. All Rights Reserved