Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to Jacques Loussier, he of the Play Bach albums, have his way with the music of Erik Satie. Mr. Loussier, who has been a favorite of mine since the 1960s, just passed away a couple of days ago. This is one of his many albums for Telarc, none of which I bought simply because I’m not a fan of the label. But this one is excellent, both sound, performance, and arrangements.
Yesterday was a day that went by. I was up at eight-thirty after only four hours of sleep, I did some work on the computer, and then I went and had a light breakfast. After that, I picked up one tiny package, then came back home, where I found some stuff I needed to find in the garage. I listened to some music, whilst doing work on the computer, and then I sat on my couch like so much fish and began the last of the Psycho viewing.
First up was Psycho III, written by our very own Pogue, and directed by Norman Bates himself, Anthony Perkins. It has an interesting female lead in Diana Scarwid, and some of it is very outre, both in style and where things go. It’s enjoyable, certainly. And then it was Psycho IV, the final entry in the series, made for cable. I’d only seen a snippet of it, so 99 percent of it was new to me. I can’t say it was a good film – it’s written by Joseph Stefano, who wrote the screenplay for the Hitchcock film. He ignores completely the other sequels, so, in essence, this is a sequel and prequel to the original film. It’s certainly wacky and weird, but ultimately, I just didn’t find it interesting or to my liking much. And my takeaway after seeing all the films? None of the sequels were necessary. Psycho is virtually a perfect film – perfectly written, directed, acted, scored, edited, photographed – the whole thing is just a masterpiece. The story didn’t need to be continued, and each continuation, while fun on certain levels, just don’t come near the original.
I also watched The Psycho Legacy documentary, which has interesting stuff in it, including an interview with Pogue. I’m pretty much Psycho’d out right about now and need some light entertainment.
I had two tuna sandwiches for my evening meal, both excellently excellent. That was followed by a Kind bar. Then I dove into the liner notes and tray card information for our next release and got all that done. I have to proof the notes after I post these here notes, then those will go to Doug Haverty.
Today, I’ll be up by nine-thirty. Our youngster from the last Kritzerland show has become truly enamored of Mr. Legrand and is dying to see The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, so she and her mom are coming at ten-thirty to watch it – and I’ve been wanting to see it again anyway. After that, I’ll relax and catch up on other stuff, then at five I’m meeting Hartley Powers and her mom and they’ll drive to Pasadena, we’ll have some food, and then see this reading of a new musical.
Tomorrow and this week will be meetings and meals, a bit of relaxation, planning the April Kritzerland, announcing our new title, and doing whatever needs doing.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, watch The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, relax, eat, and see a reading of a new musical. 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, where I shall lose one hour of sleep for no reason whatsoever.