Haines Logo Text
Column Archive
September 16, 2014:

102 IN THE SHADE

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, let’s just get this out of the way right here and now and also right now and here:  It is HOT.  I’m writing these here notes at midnight and the temperature outside is 95 degrees.  Today it was 102 in the shade.  Eight more degrees and we could have had a musical.  I gotta tell you.  Walking outside this evening was like walking into a sauna bath.  Does anyone do sauna baths anymore?  I know they were all the rage when I was in my twenties, but you don’t hear about them much anymore.  In any case we’re havin’ a heat wave and it’s too darn hot and it feels like steam heat and it’s just grotesque, weather-wise.  And it’s supposed to be hotter today, if you can believe it.  Maybe it will be cool, man, cooler on Friday.

Yesterday was hot.  I only got about three hours of sleep and was up by about eight.  The helper came by at nine-thirty and we did a Costco run.  I got the usual things – water, Diet Coke, some shrimp cocktail shrimp, some flavored waters, some Eyetalian thin-cut salami and some low-cal Bonbel cheese and stuff like that there.  After that, we came back home and unloaded the car, and then I went and had some lunch – a chili, cheese and onion omelet and potatoes and an English muffin.  Then I came home.  I’d put on the air before going to lunch, so it was nice and cool in the house.

I then buckled down, Winsocki and wrote about two-thirds of the first set of liner notes.  That was a good thing.  I got singers their music for the most part, with only a few things to go.  Then I had a few telephonic conversations having to do with the New York Kritzerland shows, and then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.

Last night, I finished watching Jeune et Jolie and I liked it even better the second time.  The lead gal gives a terrific performance – subtle, but you can always hear her and she’s stunningly beautiful to boot.  But everyone is great in the film, the short score by Philippe Rombi is gorgeous, as is the photography.  It’s really an unconventional film in terms of its narrative, never really explaining anything – just scenes from this girl’s life, and no answers as to why she’s gone down the road she has.  And the final scene with this girl and Charlotte Rampling is quite beautiful in its utter simplicity.  Once again, highly recommended by the likes of me.

I then watched the first thirty minutes of another French film from France and another Truffaut film, this one Shoot the Piano Player.  I know I’m supposed to love Jules and Jim and Shoot the Piano Player but the fact is, hard as I’ve tried, I love neither.  There are things in Shoot the Piano Player that I like very much, but it’s just, for me, an awkward film.  The transfer is nowhere near the transfer of The Soft Skin.  One Internet wag blames it on the shooting conditions and points to cameraman Raoul Coutard’s commentary as confirming they had problems and not enough lighting.  I understand what Mr. Coutard is referencing, but that’s not the problem here – the problem is very erratic contrast fluctuations.  Some shots look great, but more often than not some look terrible and I just don’t really know if I’d blame ALL of it on shooting conditions.  I’ll finish watching it at some point today.

After that, I did some work on the computer, had some more telephonic calls, and relaxed a bit.

Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep.  I’ll finish the first set of liner notes and start on the second, I’ll eat, hopefully I’ll pick up some packages, and then I comp the Sandy vocals.  I’m hoping we can get through them all.  We shall see.

Tomorrow I have a bunch of errands and whatnot, Thursday is this Bewitched Fan Event a few blocks from the home environment.  I’m part of the Tabitha event – Karen Morrow will also be there, along with David Ankrum, who played Adam in the second pilot, Cyndi Haynie, who was in my pilot, and I’m told Louise (Liberty) Williams might be there (she played Tabitha in my pilot).  It should be fun.  Friday I’m supping at Genghis Cohen with Kay Cole and a few others, then seeing a musical, Saturday I’m probably back at the Bewitched Fan Event for a few hours to sign stuff.  If Karen Morrow’s around that day, I may try to sup with her.  Sunday I’m attending the opening of Kiss Me, Kate at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, not jog in this heat, I must finish liner notes, I must eat, hopefully pick up some packages, and then comp vocals.  Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time worst weather experiences?  Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, after which I shall gird my Jewish loins for another day of 102 in the shade.

Search BK's Notes Archive:
 
© 2001 - 2024 by Bruce Kimmel. All Rights Reserved