Well, dear readers, this week has flown by, like a gazelle using a hookah (hakooh, spelled backwards), whilst eating a slice of American cheese. And what a week it’s been – sometimes exhilarating, sometimes disgusting, sometimes fun, sometimes not, sometimes exciting, sometimes just plain damn awful, but we are here to tell the tale and tell it we will. Yes, let us tell the tale of The Randy Vicar and the Slotted Spoon. But first we must tell the tale of the notes.
Yesterday was quite a slow motion day. I set the iPad alarm to go off at eleven, just to insure I wouldn’t oversleep. The alarm, for the very first time, did not go off and I slept until twelve-thirty. When I opened the iPad the alarm was still set so I really don’t know what the HELL happened but it makes me nervous. I’ll try it again tonight, for I must be up by ten this morning and no later than ten. Ten is when I must be up. In any case, I hurried and did my morning stuff even though it was afternoon. One good thing was we averted the nightmare of yesterday, so that was a positive thing to wake up to. I began gathering music to get to singers – all songs but three are chosen and it’s going to be a fun show, I think. We also still have to find a guest star. Once all that was done, I finally went and got something to eat at two. I had a very good Philly Cheese Steak sandwich and no fries or onion rings. Then I picked up no packages and came home. The helper came by and got some stuff, then I buckled down, Winsocki and got some work done. Finally, I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched the rest of John Carpenter’s Vampires. It’s really not my kind of movie, but I enjoyed James Woods and the style of it. By the 1990s, Carpenter was making some very outré movies and I don’t really like any of them. The transfer is as good as the movie will ever have – it’s heavily filtered and the transfer handles it very well. Then I watched another Twilight Time disc entitled Strange Invaders, a film I’m quite fond of and which I’ve written about before. The film is quite strange and has invaders, the cast is really fun – Paul LeMat, Nancy Allen, Louise Fletcher, genre great Ken Tobey, Charles Lane and others. It’s amusing, frightening and if you like 1950s sci-fi films I think you’ll get a kick out of it. The transfer is very good – it’s a film shot with so much diffusion it almost borders on too much. All that diffusion gives the film a hazy appearance much of the time, but the color is fantastic and it’s the way the film has always looked. I then watched another Twilight Time disc, entitled Count Yorga, Vampire – actually that’s the title on the packaging – the film itself is entitled The Loves of Count Iorga, Vampire. The film really only has one positive attribute – the performance of Robert Quarry as Count Yorga, Vampire. He’s very good. The film was a surprise hit and spawned a sequel. This was during a time when that kind of thing was possible for a drive-in film. It was extremely low budget, the director, who was a former actor who had not much of a career and who’d end up in episodic TV, shows absolutely no aptitude for directing a film, the cameraman, who has about five credits to his name, all terrible films, doesn’t seem to actually know how to focus the camera. I read one amusing review that talked about how the film was softer than others of its era. Um, no. The film is OUT OF FOCUS for many shots – whoever was operating just always seem to go past the focus on either side and so many shots are truly out of focus – not soft because of diffusion or filters. There’s one great shot where the camera dollies into a close-up of Mr. Quarry – when it begins it’s almost in focus. The minute the camera moves the focus is completely gone, which has happened even on big-budget films (John Wayne’s first close-up in Stagecoach is the same kind of shot and loses focus briefly while the camera moves in), but as the camera reaches its end position the focus puller doesn’t hit the focus point. It’s pretty amazing to watch. But the transfer looks exactly as it should – it’s not off the camera negative and it looks just like a release print would have looked. There are some nice LA location shots that are also unintentionally hilarious, since people are in Century City, near the airport, in Studio City and Sherman Oaks within seconds. The best shot shows the Studio City Du-Par’s in all its 1970 glory. But the director is not interested in LA and most times you’re just not seeing enough to identify where you are. The film is kind of enjoyable in a cheesy way – we call this kind of film American Cheese.
After that, I made myself a half a grilled cheese sandwich – one piece of rye bread grilled in a tiny bit of butter in my frying pan, then two slices of low-cal, no-fat American cheese. It hit the spot just fine. Have you noticed that American cheese seems to be a theme in these here notes? I also had a few items from the Halloween candy stash.
Today, I’ll be up by ten, then I have to get ready and mosey on over to the Wilshire district to a noon appointment to conform the Welcome to My World sheet music to reflect what we did in the show. We’ll be there for about two hours and I’m hoping it can all get done in that time. Most of it’s fine to begin with, it’s just the adjustments we made during rehearsals, plus the between scene transitions, which are pretty simple and very short. I know Alby will be very prepared. Once we’re done, I’ll hurry home before the rush hour traffic happens. Then I’ll eat something, hopefully pick up packages, then come home and relax.
Tomorrow, I have a few things to do during the day, including a jog, and then I’m attending the opening night of a new musical that our very own Kay Cole is directing. Sunday I think I have a lunch meeting. Next week is very busy.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a noon o’clock two-hour work session, eat, hopefully pick up packages, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray player? I’ll start – CD, endless Vaughan Williams. Blu and Ray, the rest of the Warner Bros. Special Effects Collection – The Beast from Twenty-Thousand Fathoms, Mighty Joe Young and Son of Kong. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, after which I shall greet the day with a laugh and a smile and merriment and mirth and laughter and legs – and American cheese.