Well, dear readers, it is the Day of the Do and the Do of the Day, and, as always, I am happy that I am able to do the Do for the twenty-fifth year in a row, which I’d say is something of a tradition. That’s a lot of Doing of the Do if you ask me, which you Do. As always, I have no idea how many people will show up and how staggered they’ll be – we only have a finite number of chairs and I do like to shove everyone into one room, as it makes for a lot of fun and great conversation, rather than spreading everyone out throughout the house, which I’m simply not a fan of. There will be several kids in attendance and certainly they can sit on the floor, so that will help. I Do know that dear reader Druxy will be attending his first Do, and I Do know that Richard and Elizabeth Sherman will be with us, which is always a treat and has also become something of a tradition – this will be their third year coming. I know the Staitmans will be here, and Jenna Lea Rosen and her mom will be here, and, of course, the Havertys and the Russ’s, but beyond that I haven’t a clew.
Yesterday, I was up at six, we had a bad situation with Doug not being able to upload the files to the site (it happened once before a few months ago), and so that took thirty minutes to deal with but the web host got it loaded and then figured out what the problem was and it won’t be an issue again. The orders were very strong, which was nice, and people seem very happy about this release, which makes me very happy. Then I had a dealer pick up some CDs, after which I went and had a chili, cheese and onion omelet, potatoes, and an English muffin. I had a few packages arrive, and we shipped out a LOT of CDs of the three releases that just came in. The helper worked a lot of hours to get it all done. I continued to print out orders until I had the telephonic conference call, which had to do with the upcoming recording of And the World Goes Round – we clarified some things with the show’s original musical director, David Loud – it was a good conversation and we’re all on track now. I’m extremely happy with the cast we’ve assembled – Brent Barrett, Kyra Da Costa, Jason Graae, Christiane Noll and Kristin Towers Rowles – rather first rate if you ask me. After that, I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I didn’t really watch a movie all the way through, but I did check out some transfers of import Blu-rays that arrived. Two were Eyetalian from Italy – both from director Sergio Leone – Once Upon a Time in the West and Duck, You Sucker. I was hoping the former would be a new transfer but it’s the same as the Paramount US disc – I wish the color on that had a bit more blue to it, but it’s fine. The Eyetalian disc may be a hair sharper, but it’s not worth getting it if you’ve got the US. I was also hoping that since it was an Eyetalian release for the Eyetalian market that it might be the nine-minutes longer cut that was released in Italy on DVD, and which I have, but alas, it’s not. The usual people who think they know everything have proclaimed Duck, You Sucker as the Blu-ray of the year. I don’t know what year they’re actually talking about, perhaps 2004 before Blu-ray existed? Because not only is it not the disc of the year, it’s a complete and utter fail in terms of color – well, unless you like brown (what the wags on that site call “warm” – apparently they’ve never seen an actual Sergio Leone film or they would know that a drab, brown film could not be what he intended). And make no mistake, this is as drab a transfer as this film has had. The contrast is milky, the color is brown, and the detail is okay. The MGM/UA DVD has slightly better color and at least has a little blue and green in it. This thing made me want to vomit on the ground – anyone who’s seen what this film should really look like will want to do the same – and I just saw a gorgeous IB Technicolor print of it literally four weeks ago. Disc of the year, my butt cheek. Mr. Leone and his cameraman would be turning over in their graves – and shame on Andrea Leone for allowing this or thinking that it’s right in any way.
And finally, The Fearless Vampire Killers – on that same site they are howling to the high heavens about what a disaster it is and that it’s exactly the same as the DVD in terms of sharpness. Let’s start there – no. It’s a Blu-ray and looks much sharper than the DVD, but it’s clearly an older element, and most likely the same as was used for the DVD here in the US. But are they complaining about the one thing they should be complaining about – yes, you guessed it – the color? The awful brown color that looks nothing like this film? You know, a fading internegative from ten years ago? No, because they don’t know from color. The disc is clearly a disappointment from that standpoint and because of that is barely watchable, at least for me. It’s also strange that it’s 1080i at 25fps. And the icing on the cake – can’t remove the French forced subtitles.
After that, I made the tuna pasta salad. Because last year was the first time we almost ran out of it, I made a double portion – two pounds of pasta, two cans of tuna. What I didn’t take into account was how full the thing I serve it in would be, so full that it was really difficult stirring in the tuna and red onion and then mayonnaise. Really difficult, but I just kept at it and I think I got it mixed pretty good and will do more of that today.
Then I watched the first hour of Cinerama Holiday on Blu and Ray, in Smilebox. It’s not very good, but I do love the Cinerama travelogues and this looks terrific. I was not as happy with the sound – it says 5.1 but I hear nothing coming from the rear channels and it’s mastered very, very low. But the image itself is wonderful.
After that, I did a quick mile-and-a-half jog, and then it was time to slice and dice. First up were the mushrooms, then the onion, then the hard, time consuming part – mincing the garlic. I really don’t care for mincing the garlic, but to keep myself amused, I minced when I was mincing the garlic. That all took almost two hours and then I listened to music and played on the computer.
Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep, I’ll jog, I’ll do some banking, hopefully pick up some packages, and I’m going to try and buy a new pot to make the spaghetti (the actual pasta, not the sauce) – the pot I have isn’t really big enough to hold the four pounds of pasta that I make, and I’m thinking of even making five, so I just want to find a big ol’ pot that will hold a lot of water and accommodate that amount of pasta. I have a Bed, Bath and Beyond near me and I guess I’ll try there in the morning. At around one I’ll throw all the sauce ingredients into the pot I use for the sauce and will begin the process of making the sauce. Once made, then it simmers all afternoon, right up until people arrive, which is six o’clock. I will, of course, have a full report and photographs.
Tomorrow will be a day of relaxing and then at some point I’ll mosey on over to Cissy Wechter’s house for Christmas dinner. Thursday I’ll be seeing the Darling Daughter, but the rest of the week is mine all mine and I’m keeping it that way no matter what.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must Do the things I Do, I must, for example, Do a jog, bank, maybe buy a big ol’ pot, hopefully pick up some packages, make the famous spaghetti sauce and then have the Do. Today’s topic of discussion: How will you be spending your Christmas? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, after which it will be the Doing of the Do.