Well, dear readers, yesterday I passed the two-thirds point of the new novel – just about 100 pages to go. That will probably take another two weeks, but at least I’m in the home stretch now. The last fifty pages I have lots of notes on – not an outline, just stuff that happens. It’s the first fifty that I’ve just started on and I have to figure out how to keep those moving along and compelling. It’s about four chapters’ worth. I wrote quite a bit yesterday, about eight pages in all, most of it new stuff, but a little of it the result of futzing and finessing.
The day began with she of the Evil Eye’s arrival. I left the home environment and went and had some ham and eggs. After that I did some banking and picked up no packages. When I returned I futzed and finessed and wrote a couple of new pages. Oh, I also stopped at K’s Donuts and got two count them two of my beloved chocolate peanut butter things, which I decided was dinner. I wrote a third page, then sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I watched a motion picture entitled Man of Steel. Let me just cut to the chase here – simply put, everything I hate about today’s movies wrapped up in one loathsome and horrible package. I grew up loving Superman. I discovered the TV series in the very early 50s and I was obsessed with it and loved George Reeves and the entire cast. I wanted to fly and BE Superman and I had my very own Superman suit. Back then, I also saw the Columbia serial, which I didn’t love, and the Max Fleischer cartoons, which I did love. I also occasionally purchased the comic book. As long as Superman played on TV, whether new shows or reruns, I watched it, right into the late 1960s. For me, the magic never wore off. I never saw the Broadway musical, but I loved the score by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams. Then we finally got a feature film, the Richard Donner film of the 1970s, starring Christopher Reeve. The ad line was “You’ll believe a man can fly” and you know what – we did. It was a wonderful movie made by people who knew and understood what made Superman tick – people with a sense of history and certainly a sense of respect. They knew where the joy had to be, where the fun had to be, and where the drama had to be. And they had John Williams to help tie it all together. But we believed because Christopher Reeve made us believe – he was perfection.
Then there were the series of sequels, none of which came within a country mile of the original, culminating in the dreadful fourth installment. Then we had what the yokels call a reboot. That was terrible. Now we have a reboot of the reboot, the first reboot being only seven years old. And what do we get? We get a dark, dreary, ugly, stupid, reprehensibly awful film, that’s what we get. One critic said it was perfectly cast. I must have missed that cast, because the cast I saw was mostly comprised of deep-voiced mumbling actors – the villain, whoever that actor is, was so dreadful I wanted to just throw my shoe through the TV screen. Some horrid director named Zack Snyder incompetently directed the mess to the tune of $225 MILLION dollars – yes, that was the budget. One wonders just how much they had to give Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner for their week of work. Amy Adams was Amy Adams and that’s okay by me. The fellow who played the Man of Steel (I don’t know that they ever call him Superman) was a mumbler, the villain was a mumbler, Mr. Crowe always mumbles and Mr. Costner and Diane Lane at least can be heard. Here’s how I feel: How DARE these people do this – how DARE them. Just to appease the little kiddies and the people who still THINK they’re just past puberty, despite being in their 20s and 30s? To give them that disgusting “dark” crap they do with Batman? I can’t even tell you what the plot of this stupid, inane film was. You never know anything about anyone, the villains are ludicrous, the CGI is worse than ludicrous and mind-numbing to boot, filled with all that militaristic James Cameron kind of crap – note to all concerned: BORING. The Superman suit? HORRIBLE. And then there is the music of Hans Zimmer, the kind of score that makes you want to become a serial killer – pounding drums, big chords from the orchestra without a whiff of melody anywhere, and relentless from start to finish. The last forty-five minute battle sequence is so idiotic and dopey – I mean, even a film as stupid as this really needs to have some kind of logic to its universe, but that would be asking too much, and so Superman and the villains destroy a huge city beyond recognition. The film, of course, ends, and so they don’t have to explain the millions of deaths that must have occurred, not to mention the trillion gazillion dollars to rebuild. I mean, if the city is supposed to be Metropolis, somehow, magically, five minutes after the climactic battle, the city is back to normal. And let me just say again: $225 MILLION DOLLARS to make this steaming pile of dog snot. It purportedly made just under $300 million dollars worldwide, which makes it a money loser. If I never have to sit through a Zack Snyder whatever you call it (certainly it ain’t film) it will be too soon. I’m taking down my DVDs and watching the first two seasons again. That’s the REAL Superman, not this poseur that has nothing to do with the original creation. But, got to appease those kiddies with bigger, faster, louder because that’s how we’ve devolved. Critic Peter Travers gave it a lovely review, which just goes to prove once and for all that this guy is the biggest critic whore who ever lived. He’s become a complete joke, rather like Man of Steel. Sorry, but that’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.
After that, I had to get the rancid taste of it out of my mouth so I went to Gelson’s and got five teriyaki drumettes and some Chinese slaw – the latter was awful – first time that’s ever happened. Then I wrote something like five more pages – I did take a shower at some point whilst writing. I finished the chapter I was on, and began a new one. I also finished prepping our Monday new release announcement. We’re hoping for a fairly quick sell out on this one.
Today, it will be another writing day – really want to do at least eight pages but I’d be happier doing ten, frankly. We shall see. I’ll eat at some point, but very lightly. I’m actually kind of bored to tears eating out, so I may make a sandwich or find something at the market to make.
Tomorrow, I’ll be up at six to announce our new title, then I’ll write, then we have our first Kritzerland rehearsal in the afternoon. Tuesday, I will write, I think I have a work session at some point and Wednesday is insane, with writing, getting Muse Margaret the latest batch of pages, at least one work session and then the second Kritzerland rehearsal. Thursday is equally insane, with a band rehearsal for And the World Goes Round, and then our stumble-through. Friday is the most insane of all, with a sitzprobe, a work session, and getting the revue moved into the new space as well as putting in the cover for Dana Dewes. Then Saturday and Sunday are recording – Saturday night IF we wrap by seven of seven-thirty I may drive over to Santa Monica to catch a little of the re-launch of our show. Then it’s no rest because Monday is sound check and the Kritzerland show. And then I’m taking the rest of the damn week off and just finishing my book. I will find time to write on all those crazy busy days, I’ll just probably have to get up early each day, and do writing after all the work is done.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, write, eat, write and write. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, after which I shall look up in the sky and exclaim, “It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SUPERMAN.”