Well, dear readers, it is 2015! Can you believe it? It seems like only yesterday it was 2014. Of course, it WAS only yesterday when it was 2014, so there’s that (it’s a tradition to use that joke each and every New Year). It is also January, so let me just take this opportunity to say that it is my fervent hope and prayer that January and all of 2015 will be a month and year filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.
I had a very nice last day of 2014. I got about seven hours of sleep, then got up and got ready for the work session at ten. That went very quickly and very smoothly thank to our musical director being very prepared and on top of everything. For whatever reason, I’ve got several songs of mine own in this show, so it was fun to hear someone else play them other than my very own self. After we finished, Jason Graae popped by to pick up some CDs, then I went and had a cup of chicken corn chowder and a ham and Swiss on rye for my meal o’ the day. Then I picked up two little packages and came home. Once home, I had a couple of telephonic calls, did some work on the computer, did some work at the piano, and got everything ready for me to start on the new book this morning. I got the news that we’d won the best soundtrack reissue of the year for It’s a Wonderful Life from The Second Disc website, as well as having several titles on Jon Burlingame’s end of year best list. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which I had not seen since it was originally out, despite having owned the DVD for years. I quite liked it back in the day, and I liked it even more yesterday. In fact, I quite loved it because they really do not know how to make movies like that anymore. Nor would they have the gumption to actually do it the way it was written, thanks to all the silly political correctness and oh so sensitive souls that tell us what we can and can’t watch, what is appropriate and not appropriate and to them I say “Phut.” Miss Maggie Smith won a well-deserved Best Actress Oscar for her performance, which is magnificent – brash, yet subtle, hilarious, yet touching. She was a treasure then and a treasure now. The supporting cast is every bit as good but rarely gets the credit they deserve. I’d forgotten completely that the head mistress of the school was played by Celia Johnson, who I fell in love with in Brief Encounter. She’s just terrific, as is Robert Stephens as an art teacher with a wife and six children, but who has dallied on the side not only with Miss Brodie but with one of her students, namely the one played by Pamela Franklin. I loved Pamela Franklin back then as much as I loved Hayley Mills. I thought and think she was an amazing child and then teen actress. I saw her in everything and was never less than impressed by her range and ability. And all of that (and more) is on view in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – neither she nor Celia Johnson were nominated for Oscars, but they should have been. The screenplay by Jay Presson Allen (adapted from her play, which had been adapted from the novel by Muriel Spark) has wonderful dialogue and structure. The scenes crackle with life. And Ronald Neame – another treasure, a director who never had to show off or call attention to himself. He just made one terrific film after another, always doing a great job. The music by Rod McKuen works fine, thanks to the arrangements and orchestrations of Arthur Greenslade. I could have lived without his lyrics and the song version at the end, because it really has nothing to do with the film we’ve just seen. The transfer on this Twilight Time Blu-ray is absolutely perfect in every way – especially the color. Just a wonderful presentation of a wonderful film and highly recommended by the likes of me.
In fact, before I go on, let me just say that Twilight Time, the little company started by our very own Mr. Nick Redman and his pal Brian Jamieson, has turned into, for me, the most important company releasing Blu-rays today. They began by releasing DVDs – that was their business model. I remember sitting in my living room with Nick and telling him they had to get into Blu-rays – and they did, and the DVDs went the way of the dodo bird, as they should have. From the beginning, a small coterie of incredibly rude and unknowledgeable people spewed the most disgusting vitriol toward Twilight Time – unprecedented in the history of home video with nothing like it seen before or since. And in the years that have gone by they’ve never stopped. Given any opportunity, they will pile on all over again. It basically all happens on one sorry Blu-ray site and it is truly nauseating. Of course, the biggest complainers are the ones who buy multiple copies of the Blu-rays so they can scalp the sellouts later. Funny that. But the fact is that no other company can match their releases, although others are really trying now, namely Kino and Olive. But for consistency, it’s Twilight Time all the way. If you look at their releases since they began, it’s kind of breathtaking, from classics to obscure and things we would not have on Blu-ray were it not for them. Certainly the studios have shown little to no interest in the catalog market. But if ANYONE has brought that market along it’s Twilight Time. So, we wish Nick and Brian and Julie Kirgo the happiest of New Years and look forward to all the great stuff that’s ahead.
After the movie, I ate some cheese and crackers for a snack, then watched the first eighty minutes of Yentl, another Twilight Time Blu-ray. I’ll finish that one tonight. And then it was time for our Annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Bash right here at haineshisway.com. It was one of our best partays, with pages and pages of lovely postings from our wonderful dear readers. For our lurkers, make 2015 the year you finally come out – and join our merry troupe on our merry discussion board. I did my New Year’s Eve thing and then our various and sundried balls dropped and we all yelled HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep. Once up, I shall begin a new novel. At some point, I’ll do my New Year’s Day jog, and then later in the afternoon I’ll mosey on over to Barry Pearl and Cindy Dellinger’s New Year’s Day partay for some food and fun. Then I’ll come back home, probably write some more, and finish Yentl.
Tomorrow the helper finally returns and will do a bit of catching up on shipping and then we’re having a meeting that will hopefully clear up a few things that need clearing up. I’ll probably dine out either tomorrow night or Saturday night, but mostly I’ll be in merrily writing away. Come Monday the New Year’s work officially begins with the first of our two Kritzerland rehearsals. I’ll be writing every day, and have several meetings and meals to do.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, begin a new novel, do a jog, and then attend a partay. Today’s topic of discussion: If you could have your druthers, what would you like for this coming year of 2015? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to say HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE, and give a hearty welcome to January and 2015, and it is my fervent hope and prayer that both month and year will be filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.