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December 17, 2012:

CHEST NUTS AND HAZEL NUTS

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, there is a mere week left until the Annual Christmas Eve Do and then it’s Christmas and I am here to tell you that not a creature will be stirring, not even a mouse. However, earlier there may be a creature stirring and that creature will be the likes of me stirring the famous BK spaghetti for the famous BK Do. I am really looking forward to this year’s Do, because why should I look backward to this year’s Do? As always, I have no idea how many there will be at the Do – I Do know that several people have e-mailed to say they won’t be at the Do but since these people have never been at the Do it was not a big surprise. I think this year maybe I’ll have an open fire so we can roast some chestnuts on it. I don’t like roasting chestnuts on a closed fire, do you? In fact, I don’t like chestnuts at all, nor do I even understand chestnuts or why they are named chestnuts – do you really want to eat nuts that have been on a chest? I don’t. In fact, I’ve never eaten a chestnut, although I’ve known some chest nuts. I do not like nuts named Hazel, either. But I do like nuts named Pea, and I do like other nuts that aren’t called nuts, like cashews and pistachios. This has turned into a nutty paragraph, hasn’t it? In any case, it’s just a week until Christmas, so let us all be festive and merry and gay and have the wearing of the red and the green and have mistletoe and mistlefinger and grog and hot toddies and cool rickies and fishburgers and nutmeats and fruitcake and Entenmann’s chocolate donuts.

Yesterday, I slept rather late, but then I didn’t really fall asleep until two o’clock. I got up at eleven-thirty, answered some e-mails, did some more cleaning, and then I went over to Jerry’s Deli to see if I could get in. Luckily, I got my usual table, which just happened to be newly vacated and the only booth available. That was excellent timing on my part and on my part it was excellent timing. I had a turkey sandwich and a small fries and it was a yummilicious lunch. Then I came back home and did some work on the computer. I sent our musical director all of the sheet music via You Send It – first time we’ve done that – so he’ll print it all out rather than me printing it all out.

Then it was time for the East Coast Singer’s rehearsal. They managed to get Face Time working, even though it wasn’t optimal (very jerky and unsmooth image and sound), but I could basically hear and see and I took lots of notes. After, she called me from Joe Allen and I gave her the notes, some of which were for her and some of which were for Lanny. The show itself is fun and well laid out and she’s in very good voice. After that, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.

Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Atlas Shrugged, from the novel by Ayn Rand. I have never read Ayn Rand and kind of want to – I really like the film of The Fountainhead and so I wanted to see what is billed as part one of Atlas Shrugged, released in 2011. It’s a relatively short film and in truth it’s not very good, but I like the story and the ideas – the dialogue is mostly all exposition and feels very clunky, the cast is B-level all the way, but I wasn’t bored and I was interested in the story. Rather than set it in the time of the novel, it’s set in 2016 – that part works fine. The producer has been trying to bring this to the screen since 1992 – I like anyone with that kind of perseverance and tenacity. It’s very low budget. Apparently part two came out a few months ago – neither did any business, so I’m hoping part two comes to Blu and Ray soon – but what’s weird is that part two has an entirely new cast playing all the roles from part one and a new director at the helm. I’m very interested to see it. Whilst I was watching I kept trying to figure out where I knew the leading man from – and then it finally hit me – he’s the actor who just played Richard Burton in that awful Liz and Dick Lifetime movie.

I then watched another motion picture on Blu and Ray, this one entitled Our Man Flint. Our Man Flint was certainly not the first of the Bond spoofs, but it was the first in the United States. Released in 1966, the film was a hit for Fox and a perfect vehicle for James Coburn, who is the major reason the film works at all. The man who created the story and co-wrote the screenplay, Hal Fimberg, had mostly TV credits in the 1950s and a handful of movie credits in the 1940s (including the Marx Brothers’ The Big Store, one of their worst films). But the timing was right (Batman was all the rage on TV) for a funny send-up and Flint did the trick, enough to have a sequel the following year. Some of it is still droll, but it was never howlingly funny and certainly isn’t howlingly funny now. As a time machine back to the mid-1960s, however, it’s really fun to watch. I saw the film several times during its initial run – it was never a great-looking film. The Jerry Goldsmith score is a major plus, however.

The Sony transfers given to Twilight Time are mostly guaranteed to be amazing. That hasn’t been the case with all of the Fox transfers, although many of them are truly terrific. This transfer is mostly excellent, but it’s inconsistent, sometimes within the same scene. A lot of the transfer looks splendid with vibrant color and nice clarity. Then we’ll have a few way too brown shots, after which we’re back to vibrant color again. Overall, though, if you like the film I think you’ll be pleased with the transfer. There are a LOT of extras and I haven’t delved into them yet, but no one should have ANY complaint in the extras department. In fact, I should hope that the people who do complain about the lack of extras will have the good taste to show up and post how happy they are to see this amount of extras. For me, I don’t really care one way or the other, and I rarely look at them – too many actual movies to watch to expend that time. All in all, a lot of fun.

After that, I had a very long telephonic conversation with our very own Mr. Nick Redman, and it was a conversation that was very good to have. 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 shall get up early, do a few things, then mosey on over to the Hills of Beverly, specifically to Nate ‘n’ Al’s, specifically for a lunch meeting with a singer. Then I’ll head back home where I will do Face Time with the East Coast Singer live from the Metropolitan Room for her sound check, just to make sure where I’m placing her guest singers will work. After that, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, and then, if all has gone according to Hoyle I will pay an obscene number of Kritzerland bills. Then I’ll relax and watch a motion picture or three.

Tomorrow, I will have to be home for the delivery of the cabinet thing, and I will do some writing and some book notes and that’s basically the rest of the week. At some point, I’ll go to the editing room and get the new episode onto the hard drive, although episode four won’t be airing until January 6th. This coming Sunday will be the first episode of season one and the following Sunday the second episode of season one, along with the tease for episode four. On Friday, a delivery of ten boxes of the best caramels ever will be delivered by their maker, the wonderful Jane Lanier. For anyone in the LA area, these make the greatest gifts and their very cost effective. If you’d like to get some, send me a private message or e-mail.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a lunch meeting, do a Face Time sound check, hopefully pick up some packages, pay bills, find out my delivery time window for tomorrow, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Ayn Rand was as much philosopher as author – what are your favorite novels and non-fiction books of philosophy and ideas? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall dream of chest nuts and Hazel nuts – you know, those people who are chest obsessed and who are obsessed with old TV shows starring Shirley Booth.

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