Well, dear readers, the paperback show was, in its way, fun. Why they keep asking me back year after year I have no idea – the basic idea of the show in terms of authors signing is that it’s free and people bring books they already own to have signed. But they don’t own my books. So, I usually bring a few different titles and sit there like so much fish and normally I’m lucky if someone buys one. I didn’t have any There’s Mel, so I brought two Album Produced By and two Patrick Bronstein Presents, and my one extra hardback of Thrill Ride. Guess which one sold the second I put it out? Correct, Thrill Ride. So, I peaked immediately and THEN sat there like so much fish. People did stop by to chat, which I always enjoy, and after I was done, Grant Geissman and I traversed the room and I saw lots o’ dealers I knew and looked at lots of wacky paperbacks and a few other interesting items. One dealer I really like always brings original paperback art, but this time it was all sleaze paperback art, not that it wasn’t amusing but not anything I would ever hang on a wall. We spent about an hour walking around and Grant and I share the same saturation point – once reached, it’s out the door immediately.
We went over to the Coral Café for some lunch. I had a small Caesar, chicken strips and a few sweet potato fries, all very good. Then I finally came home. I was kind of tired, since I’d only gotten about six hours of sleep, so I answered some e-mails. Then I got a text that one of our kid performers and her mom were over at Jerry’s Deli, so I went over there and had a Diet Coke whilst they ate and we all chatted. Then I came back home and sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched two interrelated Blu and Rays – the first was entitled Film. Film is a twenty-two minute thing written by Samuel Beckett, directed by Alan Schneider and photographed by Boris Kaufman, starring Buster Keaton. I’d never actually seen it before and it was interesting, sort of, but arty and pretentious, of course. Buster Keaton had no idea what it was about and after reading the script he asked Mr. Beckett if he ate Welsh Rarebit before going to bed. On that same disc is the early 1960s TV version of Waiting for Godot, starring Zero Mostel and Burgess Meredith, also directed by Alan Schneider. Of course that’s much more interesting than Film and I’ll watch it at some point – I did sample it and certainly didn’t love what I saw but I’m sure it’s worth watching.
The second Blu-ray was entitled Notfilm, about the making of Film. As I mentioned, Film runs twenty-two minutes. Notfilm runs two hours and eight minutes and it seemed like four hours and eight minutes. There were certainly interesting interviews and information presented, but the style and the writing was so pedantic and hyperintellectualized in that CINEMA kind of way, filled with all that kind of cinema babblespeak and pretentiousness that I really cannot stomach. I found the whole thing a trial, but, as I said, it does have some good interviews and fun information if you can wade through the filmmakers mind-numbing narration.
After that, I did some work on the computer, listened to some music (it was a David Diamond kind of evening), had one little tortilla and cheese and some cherry chip ice cream and that was about it.
Today, once up I’ll do the usual morning stuff, then I think I’ll go have some soup and a bagel to tide me over to dinner. The lunch meeting was cancelled. Then at four a bunch of actors are showing up along with some of my creative team to read through the musical – hopefully without also playing the music, so we can just get through it. I’ll make notes as we go along, but this is really for the designers who want to hear it and then express concerns they may have about costumes and changes, and the set and stuff. After that, I’ll probably have a little something else to eat, depending on if anyone wants to go out.
Tomorrow I have an afternoon of stuff and possibly a dinner, Wednesday I may go visit Nick Redman – if not, that I’ll do on Thursday. Thursday night I’m seeing Fun Home, and somewhere this week I’ll have a work session with John Boswell for the Kritzerland show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do stuff, eat, hopefully pick up packages, have a reading, and then perhaps eat something small afterwards. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite films of Mr. Buster Keaton? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had fun at the paperback show.