Well, dear readers, yesterday it was rainy here in the Studio of City – not real rain, of course, but drizzle and enough to cause traffic everywhere for no reason. But that’s not the point – the POINT is I was walking to the bank to do banking, which is what I like to do at the bank. I took my little shortcut across the strip mall at Ventura and Laurelgrove. I don’t know what the HELL kind of flooring they used, but it was so slick that I could not control my feet. Now, I’m really good at not taking a header – I’m really good at my balance and even if I trip or something happens I can recover before actually doing the fall. But this stupid flooring was so slick it was not possible to recover no matter how hard I tried and I slipped and fell right on my ASS, even hitting with my lower back, which was not pleasant. I got right up, but boy was I irritated and boy do I want to sue that place and make them do something about that. I cannot be the only one that it’s happened to, especially in sneakers for heaven’s sake. Luckily, it doesn’t seem like I did any serious damage other than my lower back is a little sore. It was that kind of day, frankly.
I did sleep ten hours, which was lovely, and I had a really wonderful kind of dream for a change. Once up, I found my voice was still pretty shot from the night before, so I didn’t speak much during the day and evening. Once up, I answered e-mails and did some work on the computer, got some wacky news that didn’t really please me all that much, then I went over to Jerry’s Deli at 12:30 to find not one parking space, so instead I went a few doors down to Carney’s – normally you can’t get near Carney’s at lunch but there was not even one person in line. So, I ordered a cheeseburger and a chili cheese dog. I hadn’t been in eight years, but I really enjoyed it the few times I went back then. Well, it was pretty dreadful, I have to say. The cheeseburger was smaller than In and Out and nowhere as good as I remembered. The chili cheese dog was horrible – ironically, Jerry’s does a great chili cheese dog. Go know. Anyway, I won’t be returning.
After that, I went to the mail place and picked up some mail, which is what I like to do when I go to the mail place. Then I had The Curious Incident of the Jew Who Fell on His ASS in the Day, after which I came home. I had a chat with Lanny, and a chat with my book person, then did some more work on the computer and at the piano. I went to Staples and had five copies of the LA show Xeroxed for this evening’s informal reading at the home environment. After that, I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I finished watching Lilies of the Field. What a wonderful movie, the kind that they would and could never make today. Today executives would pick apart the script, ask for backstories, all the usual Robert McKee/Syd Field horse manure that has literally ruined screenwriting forever. This film is simply magical for all the right reasons. The director just tells the story. The script is tight and wonderful and has great characters (based on a novel), and the actors are perfect. It’s just a marvel of simplicity – funny and moving all the way through. And the score by Jerry Goldsmith is brilliant and does what a real movie score should do, rather than the pap and wallpaper or cutesy music they write today that literally has no function in the movie other than to be there. The transfer is fine – typical for MGM/UA and, as always with them, in the wrong ratio, but that’s nitpicking. This is simply a must-purchase Blu-ray if you at all love great moviemaking and stories. The weirdest thing about Lilies of the Field, however, is that its director got a possessory credit – Ralph Nelson’s Lilies of the Field. At that time very few people got that, and the fact that HE got it with only one other film to his credit (the excellent Requiem for a Heavyweight, which was not exactly a box-office phenomenon), is truly strange.
After that, I decided to go from the sublime to the ridiculous and I watched The Good Man, another recent Steven Seagal movie, this from 2014. They have their formula (each of these movies is the exact same film with different actors), and there’s something fascinating about watching them – you know they’re terrible, you know they’re an affront to filmmaking and yet there’s something that makes watching them at least interesting. Mr. Seagal is a terrible actor and the thing on his head is reason enough to watch these films. When they get boring, the thing on his head is always interesting. After that, I took a shower and relaxed and had some damn Milk Duds.
As promised, here are some more videos. First up is Keri Safran doing a medley from The Sound of Music with some surprise guest stars. We had to keep very tight-lipped about them so they would really be a surprise.
Isn’t she amazing? Next we have Robert Yacko doing a put-together of three songs. This was a wacky idea I had and thankfully it worked like a charm.
And finally we have that master of mirth Jason Graae. He KILLED them with this number. He SLAYED them. They DIED laughing. So, here’s JASON.
See what I mean?
Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep. I’ll probably go over to Gelson’s and pick up the cake, and then come back here and get ready. Then I’ll mosey on over to Mystery and Imagination Books and get everything set up and ready for the reading. Send excellent vibes and xylophones that my voice will be in good condition. Hoping for a nice crowd. After, some of us will go grab a bite to eat. Then I come home and get ready for our little informal read through of the LA show, just one last chance for me to hear it in order and take a timing and see how the many changes I made after the last reading work. After that, I go to a show choir event that goes quite late.
Sunday is a day of rest and I do mean rest. Then on Monday we begin our LA show adventure. Rehearsals every day, plus meetings and meals, including one on Monday night for this year’s ALS benefit, which we’re starting to work on. So, it will be a very busy but hopefully fun week, with no stupid days where I fall on my stupid ASS because of stupid slick surfaces.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, maybe do a jog just to clear my throat and sinuses, pick up a cake, do a signing and reading, do an informal reading of the LA show and see some show choirs. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Sidney Poitier movies? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping that I have no repeats of The Curious Incident of the Jew Who Fell on His ASS in the Day.