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February 10, 2019:

THE ERRATIC NATURE OF SLEEP

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, one night we get eleven hours of sleep and the next night we barely get four hours of sleep.  I gotta tell you.  What in tarnation is going on, sleep-wise?  So, here I sit like so much tired fish, attempting to write these here notes after having eaten salad with shrimp and the rest of the shrimp with cocktail sauce. Even though none of that is fattening, I currently look like a pregnant person with thirty-three children in his stomach.  I really must lose some weight but that is very difficult to do these days, for a whole slew of reasons.

Yesterday was a day, I suppose.  I was up early after said four hours of sleep, she of the Evil Eye arrived and I went to Jerry’s Deli and had my light breakfast of bacon and eggs and toast and fruit.  I hung out there until around eleven, then went to the mail place, where I picked up one package and some mail.  After that I did some banking, then came home briefly to answer e-mails.

Then I moseyed on over to see a play, a matinee, but not a Pinter play, nor a piece of Mahler’s (and one for Mahler).  Were it only a Pinter play or any other play other than what it was. Actually I wouldn’t call it a play. I would call it words on a page without a point.  I would also call it just about the worst thing I have ever seen on any stage anywhere at any time.  Yes, it was that bad.  I shan’t name the author or the play’s title, although I should.  The poster for this play is filled with words like “Funny” “Hilarious” and more.  I think the attempt is to make us think those are review quotes – they are not. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but not review quotes.  The play ran about seventy minutes with no intermission – seventy minutes that seemed like five hours.  The cast had no chance with material like this.  There aren’t any real characters, just names on a page saying things that no human would ever say.  There was a reviewer (well, blogger) sitting in front of me – you know, one of those pontificating types that gives raves to everything.  Well, he was asleep for the entirety of the play so I will be very curious to see if he actually has the temerity to review it – he was with someone who, I suppose, could give him a blow-by-blow.  I would like to have given the author a blow-by-blow of a different sort, but one simply cannot do that.  An embarrassment of an afternoon.

After that, I came right home and ate two bagels.  I did some work on the computer, had some telephonic calls, and then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.

Last night, I finished watching the Eyetalian motion picture giallo on Blu-ray known as The Fifth Cord, based on a mystery novel by D.M. Devine, who wrote several mysteries in the 1960s and who was apparently a favorite of Miss Agatha Christie.  As giallos go, this one is pretty typical – a black-gloved killer not revealed until the very end, an eclectic cast including Franco Nero and Pamela Tiffin, who is always fun to see in anything – and believe me, you see a lot of her in this movie.  The Eyetalian version with subtitles is what I watched, but you’re pretty safe watching the American dub, too, since Mr. Nero did his own dubbing – I didn’t watch the Tiffin scenes in English, but I’m guessing she did her own voice, too.  This in an Arrow Blu-ray and a new 2K transfer off the film negative.  It is a spectacular transfer in every way – perfect color, gorgeous-looking and sharp.  And with this film that is a necessity, as the photography is by Mr. Vittorio Stararo before he became VITTORIO STORARO.  It’s a stunningly designed and shot film and how much of the atmosphere is Storaro and how much is the director, is anyone’s guess.  It’s very enjoyable, not overtly violent, and I recommend it to those who like these sorts of films.

After that, I did a quick Gelson’s run and got the shrimp and a bit of salad – that’s all water, basically, and the shrimp has almost no calories, and yet I feel as if I’ve eaten a large home.  Then I listened to music, most specifically the first symphony of the wonderful British composer, Alan Rawsthorne.  If you like Walton you’ll definitely like Rawsthorne, who was also equally at home in classical and film music.

Today, I’ll be up by eleven and have to go pick something up in Canoga Park at noon.  Then I’ll eat something light, then come home and continue on with the show order and whatever else needs doing.  Then I’ll relax and watch a motion picture of some sort.

This week is busy with meetings and meals, starting the book design, seeing Hello, Dolly on Tuesday, and lots and lots of other things, including writing the commentary for the March Kritzerland.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, pick something up in Canoga Park, eat, continue making a show order, relax, and watch something.  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, hoping to alleviate the erratic nature of sleep.

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