Well, dear readers, am I mistaken or is this month almost over? How can that be? In a mere week or so this year will be half over. That boggles my already-boggled mind. But I shan’t think about it today, I’ll think about it tomorrow. What am I, Scarlett O’Hara all of a sudden?
I must tell you and therefore I shall tell you that yesterday was quite a nice day any way you look at it and I looked at it head on, askew and at a Dutch angle. And any way I looked at it, especially the Dutch angle, yesterday was quite a nice day. I didn’t quite get my eight hours of sleep but it was close. I did a three-mile jog and then had some bacon, eggs, and toast, not necessarily in that order. In fact, the exact order of food eaten was eggs, toast and bacon. I’m glad we set the record straight. One must always set the record straight because if you’ve ever tried to play a crooked record you know that it doesn’t work so well. What the HELL am I talking about?
In any case, after I ate my food I came home, played on the ghost site, talked to the tech guy and he feels that by the end of next week we should be done with all our testing, we should have everything working, including Donald’s radio show, and if that’s the case, we will begin migrating that day or the following Monday. That is very exciting news. Then Miss Susan Watson came by and ran her song – she just wanted to get a jump on getting the key set and figuring out how we were going to routine the song and that we did. Then I spent about ninety minutes working with our wonderful musical director, Lloyd Cohen, doing little arrangement things, and I think we’re in pretty good shape now for our first rehearsal on Monday.
Then I got the news that the work on the house begins on Monday – that, too, is very exciting. It should take about ten days and will hopefully be finished, at least the interior stuff, by the time I leave for Washington, DC in mid-June. Then I spent an hour prepping for Monday’s announcement – I wrote a blurb, I prepared the eBlast (so easy now), and I got the web guy the audio samples. And then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I finished watching Leave Her to Heaven on Blu and Ray. The film is wonderful, Miss Gene Tierney has never looked more beautiful and certainly she has never played a character who is quite this crazy, Cornell Wilde was a very underrated actor, and the supporting cast is all terrific. John Stahl’s direction is just about perfect and the photography is luscious. The transfer, which, as I mentioned yesterday, some are bemoaning because they’ve read somewhere that the original negatives were trashed in the 1970s, is really terrific. Wonderful detail, lovely color, and clean as a whistle, thanks to the only kind of restoration they could do – done with the aid of Martin Scorsese. I’m sure it could look better if the camera negative hadn’t been trashed, but why even think about it – it’s the way it is and what we should be doing is thanking our lucky stars that this looks as good as it does.
I also watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Too Late Blues, just because we’ll be shipping the CD on Tuesday morning. It really is my favorite film that John Cassavetes directed. And boy is the David Raksin music fantastic. It’s been a bit of a slow seller for us and all I can say is the people who seem not to have much interest in anything that’s not from their beloved decade of the 1980s or isn’t from some blockbuster that’s been released on CD five times, are missing out on some amazing music. Maybe someday, when their favorite decade is exhausted, they’ll realize just how much brilliant music they’ve missed out on while triple dipping on the same scores over and over again. Take a chance is what I say. Broaden your horizons is what I say. For worlds will open up if you do. The Too Late Blues transfer is the usual Olive Films thing – they do what they are given, and in this case it’s got nice detail and contrast and also has a lot of dirt, scratches, and negative dirt. I’d still recommend it because it’s a marvelously marvelous film.
After that, I put a lot of British musicals into iTunes because I’m getting a jump on the July Kritzerland show. I’m trying to have all the songs chosen and have it cast by the end of next week. I also did a second jog and had a small thing of mac-and-cheese. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button while the clicking’s good.
Today, I will do a jog, I may or may not see some friends for lunch (although I shan’t eat anything significant), then I’m going to Fullerton to sup and then see a musical entitled Parade. I will, of course, have a full report.
Sunday, I’m attending a book signing at Mystery and Imagination, and then I’m doing nothing but what I wish to do. Monday I’ll be up bright and early to announce our new release, then the workers will get here at eight to begin the home improvement, and then we have our first rehearsal in the evening.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, maybe see some friends for lunch, hopefully pick up some packages, do a long drive, eat, and see a show. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite British musicals from the 1960s up through 1975? They don’t have to have ever played the US. And what songs would you recommend I hear from said musicals? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall dream head on, askew and at a Dutch angle.