Well, dear readers, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but this is the final day of January. How did THAT happen? It’s been a real rollercoaster ride, January has, but hopefully February will be smoother. In fact, it is my fervent hope and prayer that February will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful. January was certainly a productive month, no complaints there. But as you’ve been reading, it was also an extremely challenging month in other ways and frankly I’m just too damn old for that kind of crap. So, let’s all have our most excellent vibes and xylophones for no bullets to dodge, no merde to hit the merde, and for smoother sailing. There, I’ve said it and I’m glad.
Yesterday, I had a restful day. It began with a wonderful telephonic call from Muse Margaret, who’d seen the final version of the cover and really liked it and thought we’d addressed all her concerns. I love it, too, I must say. In fact, I can’t think of what a better cover for this particular book could be, so it is with happiness that I present you with the new book cover.
It took a long time to get there, but it was worth the effort and all kudos go to Doug Haverty for being able to take what I saw in my head and make it work, and them be patient while we finessed aspects of it that needed to be better. I also read Muse Margaret the paragraph and a half that I was thinking of adding. The reason for the addition was because I’d gone through the Bronstein appearances in the Hofstetter books and there were a couple of specific film titles mentioned there, and I wanted them to be in the filmography – but in one of the books he mentions two titles and I thought it would be really funny to marry them into one film, which I did, and which is what the paragraph and a half is. So, I read it to her and she was just laughing out loud the whole time, so she said it absolutely had to be in the book and in the book it went (I’d written it in a separate document) – it was an easy cut and paste and it does add some fun color and actually fills in a little gap. So, that was a nice way to wake up. I only got about seven hours of sleep because I was up till three.
Once up, I answered e-mails, did some banking, picked up no packages, and then had a Philly cheesesteak sandwich and a few fries. Then I came home and did some work on the computer. Then I had a lovely telephonic conversation with editor Marshall Harvey about two things that I was hoping he could put together for me. I’ve never done an actual trailer for any of my books – the publisher did a horrible one for Benjamin Kritzer and it just kind of soured me on doing them, and I wasn’t ever interested in just doing it myself as a talking head kind of thing. But this book really lends itself to a trailer, since it’s about a producer. So, I wrote some copy and Marshall is going to create an old-style 1950s black-and-white movie trailer – I’m very excited about it and if we all share it everywhere, maybe we’ll actually sell some books.
The other thing was we have to do an Indiegogo campaign for the LA show. I’d been led to believe that the school’s Foundation would help us by funding the cost of the band and the sound package we’ll have to rent. But alas, that isn’t going to happen for various reasons. So, we have to raise that money. We’ll start a campaign in about a week to raise $12,000, which is what that will all cost. We’re trying to come up with some fun perks, but attending the show won’t be part of the perks because the admissions are what keeps the department going. We have to think outside the box, so to speak. We can certainly have thank yous in the program, producer and associate producer credits, and stuff like a private after-party just for Indiegogo folks. And we thought it might be fun to put together a dinner package with me and two of our well-known writers, if they’ll agree to do it, which I think they will. I’m guessing a couple of people might go for that. We’ll also record the show, so we can give CDs away. Stay tuned for details. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled The Wrong Man, an Alfred Hitchcock film starring Henry Fonda and Vera Miles, based on a real-life story wherein a musician is accused of several robberies he didn’t commit, with firm identifications from witnesses. He is put through absolute hell, has to endure a mis-trial, but before the case can be re-tried the real culprit is caught. It’s a scary movie, and while there are things that are done to him that can no longer be done, in a sense it’s even worse now with innocent people being incarcerated for years and then being found innocent. This film is usually not thought to be top drawer Hitchcock, but I would completely disagree. For me, it’s as good as any he did, with a superb performance by Fonda, who should have been nominated for it, and a wonderful turn by Vera Miles. Hitchcock’s direction is simply brilliant. The score by Bernard Herrmann is great – and very clever. In the film, the lead character is a bass player in the Stork Club band. So, even though there is no mention of it by the Herrmann expert in the puff piece that’s included, the bass is the predominant instrument in all the cues in the first half of the film. It’s subtle but boy does it work. The transfer is lovely and this is highly recommended by the likes of me.
After that, I made about three ounces of spaghetti and ate that for my evening snack along with an ice cream cone (a drumstick). I had more telephonic calls and that was that.
Today, I’m hoping to have no drama, just a nice day. I’ll eat something, do a little work on the Kritzerland show, and pray for some damn good news.
This coming week is all meetings and meals and getting the Kritzerland show cast, music finalized, and getting everyone their material.
Let’s all put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, let’s all break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, let’s all dance the Hora or the Continental, for today is the birthday of dear reader Michael Shayne. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to dear reader Michael Shayne. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO DEAR READER MICHAEL SHAYNE!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, hopefully have no drama, do some work on the Kritzerland show, hopefully have some damn good news, and I’ll watch Grease Live because Barry Pearl is in it. 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, as we get ready for a new month – one that will hopefully not be quite such a challenging one or one with quite such a rollercoaster ride – in other words, as Anthony Newley might have put it – stop the rollercoaster, I want to get off. I want calm and peace and I just want to do my work, be creative, and be a positive force.