Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, procrastinating about writing these here notes. And yet notes must be written because if notes are not written then havoc will ensue and we simply cannot have ensuing havoc. In any case, I am procrastinating no more, as you can plainly see or see plainly. We are off and running as they say at the races.
Yesterday was a day, which is about all I can say about yesterday. I got almost ten hours of sleep, which I really needed. Once up, I was up. I answered e-mails, of course, and chose another couple of songs and now I am only lacking two and those I will not choose until I hear from our latest performer. I believe the singers, save for the latest, all have their music, so that’s good. I just relaxed for a bit, then finally went and got some foodstuffs from Gelson’s – a chicken enchilada and some rigatoni Bolognese – they now list the calorie count – the enchilada was two hundred calories and four ounces of the Bolognese was one hundred seventy calories. I came back home and ate it all up and had some cherry chip ice cream as dessert. I did some work on the computer, had a telephonic call, listened to some music and then finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
I watched the second half of The Hustler first, but just prior to starting it I promptly dozed off for about twenty minutes. The Hustler is a long film (133 minutes) but it never feels long. The acting is just superb, and for being in only two scenes in the film, Jackie Gleason is unforgettable. George C. Scott almost walks away with the film, Piper Laurie is quirky and wonderful, and Mr. Newman is great. The direction is also terrific, as is the photography, and Kenyon Hopkins’ score works perfectly. And the transfer is great. Highly recommended by the likes of me.
Then I watched Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte on the Twilight Time Blu-ray. It’s been sitting here like so much fish and it was both high and low time I watched the damn thing. As you know, I love What Ever Happened to Baby Jane. The follow-up film, which began filming with the same stars (Bette Davis and Joan Crawford) and director (Robert Aldrich), along with the same writers, had its share of drama off-camera, which resulted in Olivia deHavilland replacing Miss Crawford. I’ve seen the film a handful of times, and, for me, it’s not nearly as good or as much fun as Baby Jane. It starts off wonderfully, with a pretty gruesome scene for its time, and the first third is fine. Then it just goes on way too long and because of the length it’s not hard to figure out what’s going on. It was a big hit, however, and received several Oscar nominations. I do think it would have worked better had Crawford remained with the film. It’s still enjoyable, and it has the usual ace Aldrich supporting players, including Joseph Cotton, Cecil Kellaway, Agnes Moorehead (who doesn’t so much chew scenery as devour it), and Aldrich regulars Dave Willock (daddy to Muse Margaret), Victor Buono, and Wesley Addy, along with child actor John Megna, and Bruce Dern. Transfer is fantastic.
After that, I dithered and I dallied, went and got a turkey sandwich to go, ate the damn thing, then I had to choose a new electric shaver, as mine has bit the damn dust. But I must say, it gave me almost thirteen years of good service. In fact, thanks to this here site and these here notes I know the exact day I bought it – October 30, 2004. Back then I wrote about being happy with my new Norelco three-head shaver. I never used it solely – I would always use it, then finish off with a razor, but I enjoyed using it. I read a bunch of reviews and researched the newest models from various makers, and I decided to not get a new Noreclo and decided on a Braun, which gets much higher marks from everyone. It’s not three heads, so that will be interesting – and you can return it within thirty days, so if it’s not for me that’s just what I’ll do. It comes with a cleaning station – you put it in there after you use it and it both charges and cleans at the same time. I will, of course, have a full report once it arrives (got it from Best Buy online because they had it in stock with free two-day shipping and Amazon said it would ship in two to five weeks).
Today, I have to make a show order and perhaps start writing the commentary. We’ll be shipping out Rocket to the Moon, I’ll eat, hopefully pick up some packages, and then I just have a lot of work to catch up on, telephonic calls to make, and schedules to figure out. I also have to choose sides for Dial ‘M’ for Murder auditions.
The rest of the week is meetings and meals, attending an opening night, and going hither, thither, and yon, not necessarily in that order.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, make a show order, write commentary, eat, hopefully pick up packages, schedule, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What do you like to do with vegetables – I’m looking for interesting ways to do vegetables. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have dithered and dallied on a Sunday.