Well, dear readers, I have been a lazy loafer. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, have been a lazy loafer and I don’t care who knows about it. I needed a day to clear my cluttered head and by gum and by golly and buy bonds I took it. I took the damn day and cleared my cluttered head. My head is not quite clear of clutter but there is less clutter than there was. I didn’t quite get enough sleep, but I do think I managed eight hours total. Once up, I had to print about forty orders – there must have been something about Follies somewhere. An hour later, Follies was sold out. I answered e-mails, including some lovely ones about Follies, and then I moseyed on over to the Daily Grill for the first day of my new Daily Grill Diet. I chose the crab cake BLT – under 600 calories. It came on a teeny-tiny bun but it was ever so yummilicious and I ate it quite slowly and found that it actually was sort of filling, kind of, in a way. Then I picked up no packages and no important envelope.
After that, I came home and decided to be a lazy loafer. I did a three-mile jog, effectively cutting the 600 calories to 300. Then the helper got some invoices, and that was basically that, save for a little trip to Gelson’s, where I bought some apples, some sauerkraut (something I have never purchased from a store before – I don’t know what got into me), some fresh pineapple chunks, and some of those little mutant bite-sized carrot things. Then I came home and sat on my couch like so much fish and had some low-cal crackers with lo-cat Laughing Cow cheese wedges, a little sauerkraut (which goes a long way), four mutant carrot things, and the pineapple chunks. Definitely under 1000 calories, I should think.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled There’s No Business Like Show Business, starring Miss Ethel Merman, Mr. Dan Dailey, Mr. Donald O’Connor, Miss Vera-Ellen, Mr. Johnny Ray, and Miss Marilyn Monroe. I will admit here and now and also now and here that I’ve never really cared for this film. I do think I saw it when it was first released, and I’ve seen it a few times over the years. But even though I had the DVD I was never able to watch more than fifteen minutes of it. So color me surprised that I actually really enjoyed it last night. It gets a little maudlin but the numbers are really fun, and the Merm and Dan Dailey are just wonderful, as is O’Connor and Vera-Ellen. Mr. Johnny Ray is okay, but it’s Miss Marilyn Monroe that walks away with the movie. She literally lights up the screen every time she’s on. She is so beautiful and her presence so magical and endearing, and she does her numbers wonderfully. And, of course, you do get a whole slew of great Irving Berlin songs. The plot’s not much to speak of, but the dialogue is frequently amusing and it moves along at a steady clip. The good news is that after the disappointing transfer of The Seven Year Itch, this transfer looks pretty terrific, with perfect color – just compare this color to The Seven Year Itch and you’ll see how off that transfer is. It’s nice and sharp and very pleasing.
I also checked out a little bit of Gentleman Prefer Blondes and it looks pretty dazzling. I read some complaints that said it had been slathered with DNR but that is not possible as there is incredible detail and sharpness – if you have DNR, even a little, it softens the image. This, to my eye, is very much what a dye transfer Technicolor print of a film of this era looks like – it’s all shot with high-key lighting on very glossy sets with very glossy make-up.
After that, I read a little bit more of the West Side Story book, but it continues to be a disaster of typos and misspellings – so silly. And it’s just too repetitious. Some of the stories are wonderful, and everyone telling them has at least one or two that are particular to them. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I really need a good night’s beauty sleep.
Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep. Then I’ll do a jog, then I’ll hopefully pick up some packages and an important envelope – if the latter arrives, which it should, then I’ll also do some banking. Then we have our stumble-through, after which some of us will go to the Daily Grill, where I will do day two of the Daily Grill Diet. I may have some salmon or some chicken breasts. After that, I need to do some writing.
Tomorrow, it’s more of the same, then our sound check, then it’s show time. We’re hoping for a nice crowd but we never really know that until the last minute. Next week is very busy, with finishing liner notes, announcing three new Kritzerland items, meetings, meals, finishing casting the anniversary show and finishing choosing the music.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, hopefully pick up packages and an important envelope, do banking, have a stumble-through, eat, and write. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite Marilyn Monroe films and what are your favorite songs and/or numbers she’s done? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy in the knowledge that I was a lazy loafer.