Well, dear readers, I’m the laziest guy in town. I’m just damn lazy, that’s all there is to it, and I’ve enjoyed being lazy for a couple of days. Oh, it’s not that I didn’t do things, I did, I did do things, but mostly I’ve been relaxing and still trying to fight the good fight and not get sick. I have sucked down way too many Coldeez and I’ve been popping four Airborne tablets at a time (the chewable things). I have gotten two nights of at least nine hours of sleep and that’s been very helpful. It was really good to be able to do this because the entirety of December will be non-stop work. So, I’m the laziest guy in town and no one can say boo about it, although I was out yesterday and someone said boo and I clobbered them with a Swedish fish.
Yesterday was a most lazy day. I didn’t fall asleep till almost two in the morning and I didn’t arise until eleven-thirty. Once arisen, I arose. Once I arose I was arisen and vice versa and also versa vice. I answered e-mails, was lazy, and then hit the road, Jack, and did some banking, some errands and whatnot, picked up no packages and no replacement credit card, once again did not receive my new driver’s license, and went out to visit my pals Malcolm and Christine at Mystery and Imagination Books in the Dale of Glen. We had a lovely chat and then I perused the shelves and to my delight I found a great copy of a book I have wanted for two decades. It’s not that I haven’t found copies before, but they’ve never been in a condition that I found acceptable and even in that less than ideal condition they were way too much money. Well, good things come to those who wait and that is what happened yesterday. The book in question is In the Heat of the Night by John Ball and it was certainly the best copy of the book I’ve ever seen – just a bit of wear at the very top left of the dust jacket, but no fading to the spine and no chips out anywhere. I opened it expecting to see some horrendous price, but Malcolm and Christine’s prices are always fair and this one was more than fair, it was a downright steal – add to that that they give me an automatic twenty-percent discount and it was a done deal instantly. So, I have now filled that particular hole in my particular collection. I looked at other books, just for fun, picked up the two latest copies of Firsts magazine and then moseyed on back to the City of Studio. I had a bacon cheeseburger and no fries or onion rings for lunch, after which I came home.
Then I did a bit of work on the computer, cast a couple more people (still need ten or so for one particular bit, but that can all be done last minute), then finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled It Always Rains on a Sunday, which I, of course, watched on a summer-like Saturday. I’d never seen the film before, but have always loved the title. It’s an Ealing Studios film, but not one of their comedies, which is what they were known for. This film is a gritty little drama set in the East End of post-war London (the film was made in the year of my birth, 1947). It looks at the mundane lives of housewives and husbands, petty crooks, and an escaped criminal. The film is based on a novel by Arthur La Bern (who would go on to write the novel that became Alfred Hitchock’s Frenzy), and the film’s characters are rich and beautifully drawn, the scenes are frank and adult, and it’s all of a piece and a great film. I just sat there marveling at how wonderful a film can be when everyone just trusts the material and no one is trying to win an Oscar or show off – just telling the story simply, efficiently, and perfectly. The direction by Robert Hamer is wonderful, as is the camerawork by Douglas Slocombe, most of it on location. The score is by Georges Auric, although a song called Theme Without Words recurs throughout – that song is by composer Mischa Spoliansky. It’s a UK Blu and Ray and I’m not sure if it’s all region or locked. If anyone is interested, I’ll check. The restoration by the BFI is great.
I then finally watched the new Pixar film, Brave, on Blu and Ray. For whatever reasons, this is the first Pixar film I had absolutely no interest in seeing. It just didn’t seem like Pixar – from what I could tell it looked more like a standard Disney film with a bit of Shrek thrown in. I’ve had the Blu and Ray for a few days and I just couldn’t even work up the energy to open it. Well, I should know to at least trust that Pixar, even if they are not up to their peak, will, at the very least, deliver a fine motion picture experience. And while the heroine is definitely more Disney than Pixar and definitely panders to today’s tween girls and has all of what you’d expect of that, the movie is very sweet, has some good laughs and some very Pixar moments, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. It’s very short – sans credits it runs eighty-three minutes, which is just right for the story being told. The animation is brilliant, as always, and the character work is incredible. I could have lived without the handful of Shrek moments and I certainly could have lived without the awful songs (there are two or three, sung by that kind of whiny, thin, voice that passes for singing these days) – it’s a shame Alan Menken or someone couldn’t actually write a couple of songs that would have actually meant something and sounded good. I know the film did not perform as well as other Pixar movies, and I think it’s because, with the exception of Cars and its sequel, their work has been so blisteringly original and Brave just feels a lot like other movies at times. Wall-E and Up felt like no other movies. But as an overall viewing experience I really thought most of it was terrific and I will definitely watch it again. The transfer, as you’d imagine, is as good as it gets, and Patrick Doyle’s good score shines through the great sound.
After that, I moseyed on over to Gelson’s and got some chicken noodle soup from their deli, along with a tiny bit of scalloped potatoes, for my evening snack. I also picked up stuff to make today because I just don’t want to go out, and the same for tomorrow. I wrote some more notes on the new novel, and that was it. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get another good night’s beauty sleep.
Today, I shall continue my lazy ways. Just some casting, some writing, but mostly movie watching and relaxing and eating. Then at seven EST the new episode of Outside the Box will go live and I will, of course, immediately post the direct link to it. But it will be on the Broadway World home page right at the top, so it will be easy to find.
Tomorrow is a crazy day. At some point I will Face Time with the East Coast Singer and I will block her show via computer screen. She’s been so crazed trying to pull all this together and I have no idea how any of this is going to work. I’ll just do the best I can from 3,000 miles away. Then hopefully my Fed Ex package will finally arrive and I will be here all day so that I can sign for it and speak to the driver to make sure that from now on should I not be here they actually scan the door tag number so I can retrieve the package. Then we have our first Kritzerland rehearsal, which is in the evening, starting at six. But we only have four singers coming then. Then Tuesday, we do another singer, because he couldn’t come on Monday night. Tuesday is also jam-packed and may involve another Face Time rehearsal. Wednesday I’m lunching with dear reader Jeanne, which I’m looking forward to. Wednesday night I may have a dinner thing, Thursday is our second rehearsal (also in the evening), Friday I have to rehearse one singer who can’t be there Thursday, Saturday is stumble-through and Sunday is sound check and show. Oh, and it’s also going to be December.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do some casting, some writing, and some relaxing. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all 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 topics and loads of lovely postings as I hit the road to dreamland, the laziest guy in town.