Well, dear readers, it’s the final day of Thanksgiving weekend and I have enjoyed the last four days quite a bit. I did not enjoy only getting three hours of sleep last night, but that’s another story. Just too many things going on in Ye Olde Cranium. So, I was draggy and saggy and baggy all the livelong day and evening yesterday. I did doze off a couple of times but not for long enough. Had she of the Evil Eye not been coming, I probably would have slept until noon, but alas I was up at eight-thirty. I’d intended to jog, but alas I was too draggy and saggy and baggy to even contemplate such a thing. So, instead I went and had some sausage and eggs for my meal o’ the day. I sat there for quite some time with my Inside Out script, making lots of notes, thinking about casting (we’re going to start asking actors this week), and how I want the show to flow visually. I may ask for some slight adjustments in how the transitions from scene to scene are done, but we’ll see how it all shakes out. Meanwhile, if you feel like donating to our worthy Indiegogo campaign, please do – we need all the support we can get. We knew it would be slow going this past four days, which is what happens when you launch the day before a holiday, but we’re hoping that more people will come on board now that the holiday is past. In fact, Purple Monday would be a perfect time to donate. There are lots of fun perks, too, and if you have any ideas for additional perks just let me know because we can add them easily. Here’s the link to our page.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/20th-anniversary-production-of-musical-inside-out/x/9165600
Be sure to watch the video by Hartley Haverty, it’s fun. In any case, after I left the restaurant I picked up no packages and came home. I had a few telephonic conversations, and then sat on my couch like so much fish because my tummy was a little queasy, which I think had everything to do with getting only three hours of sleep. Whilst sitting, I watched the first of two motion pictures on Blu and Ray.
The first motion picture on Blu and Ray was entitled The Girl Hunters, a 1963 Mike Hammer film, starring the author of the Mike Hammer books, Mickey Spillane, along with a bunch of folks you never heard of, lovely Shirley Eaton, and the token American actor, Lloyd Nolan. The film takes place in New York, New York and most of the brief exterior shots were done on location there. But the other 90% of the film was shot in England so it has a weird kind of disconnected quality. The film is pretty bad, but I do enjoy black-and-white scope films so there’s that. Spillane is a horrible actor so the film simply never comes to life. Nolan looks bored, Eaton is beautiful and attempts an American accent somewhat successfully. The other actors are mostly Canadian as they could do the accents better than Brits. The story is convoluted, the writing is not so hot, and funnily, Mike Hammer instead of being the slightly sadistic hammer that he should be, mostly gets the bejeezus kicked out of him. I can’t really recommend it at all. If you want the best Mike Hammer, try the brilliant Robert Aldrich film, Kiss Me Deadly or even the Biff Elliot I, The Jury. I was also a fan of the Mike Hammer TV show with Darren McGavin in the 1950s.
After that, I went to Gelson’s. I still had not much of an appetite, so I just got a small thing of rice, peas and carrots to nibble on, and I also got the ingredients to make a batch of Wacky Noodles today. I haven’t had them in over a year, I’d guess and I have a craving. I came home, ate the rice and had a 7-Up, then watched the second motion picture on Blu and Ray, which was entitled The Americanization of Emily. I’d been saving it for just the right time and yesterday was that time. I hadn’t seen it in quite a few years, so it was fun to see it again. I first saw it at a sneak preview, then a few times during its run – I’m pretty sure that was at the Stanley Warner Beverly Hills. I loved the film back then – I thought Julie Andrews was just so wonderfully endearing and beautiful in it, and James Garner was his usual great self. The supporting cast was also terrific – especially James Coburn and Melvyn Douglas, but all the character actors were wonderful and it’s always grand to see William Windom in anything. Interestingly, two of the small roles were played by people who’d both go on to star in Laugh-In – Judy Carne and Alan Sues. Arthur Hiller’s direction is simple and effective and the script by Paddy Chayefsky is literate and wonderful, if occasionally a little too preachy for its own good. But the best thing about the film is Joyce Greenfell, who has two brief scenes and walks away with the film. She is so moving in the first of her scenes that I always tear up. And then there’s the score by Johnny Mandel, with its stunning main theme (which has had a long and wonderful life as the song Emily, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer). They wouldn’t have a clew as to how to make a film like this today, nor would they have the actors to do it. Shockingly, even though it was a strong year for films, Emily was only nominated for two awards – photography and art direction of a black-and-white film. Miss Greenfell certainly deserved a nomination, and so did Mr. Garner and Mr. Douglas. The transfer is lovely and this is highly recommended by the likes of me.
After that, I took a shower, then finally got hungry, but had nothing in the house other than the last vestiges of some rocky road ice cream and some Halloween candy – which I ate.
Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep. I shall then do nothing but relax. I do know an Amazon package is arriving so I may go pick that up, but that’s it for being out. I’ll make the Wacky Noodles and eat them all up and I’m sure I’ll watch a motion picture or two during the day and evening.
Tomorrow is our first Kritzerland rehearsal. The rest of the week is meetings and meals, and an important one on Thursday at noon, then our second Kritzerland rehearsal, then our stumble-through, the sound check and show, then birthday.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, relax, eat Wacky Noodles, pick up a package, and relax. 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 hopefully will arise and not be draggy and saggy and baggy.