Well, dear readers, it has come to my attention that it is time to write these here notes. And attention must be paid, as Mrs. Willy Loman once said. And if Mrs. Willy Loman said it, it is good enough for me and Mr. Arthur Miller. I am therefore sitting here like so much fish, writing these here notes whilst listening to some mighty strange music by Mr. Marius Constant, 24 Preludes for Orchestra. This music is mighty strange, as would befit the composer of the classic theme from The Twilight Zone. I would expect nothing else from the pen of Mr. Constant other than mighty strange. And yet, just prior to this mighty strange piece, which I’m kind of enjoying, if you must know and you must, I listened to Mr. Claude Debussy’s Pelleas and Melisande. What has THAT to do with the price of chocolate covered cashews, you may wonder. Well, Mr. Debussy’s Pelleas and Melisande is orchestrated, and rather beautifully so, by Mr. Marius Constant. Oh, now look – I just went to the Tube of You to look for other Debussy pieces orchestrated by others and realized how woefully inadequate I’ve been in terms of my Debussy listening, so I have thus far grabbed fifteen pieces I’ve never heard. I gotta tell you. Before I leave this here paragraph, here’s an interesting bit of tid: Marius Constant didn’t actually write the Twilight Zone theme – not for the Twilight Zone, anyway. He wrote a bunch of short cues for the CBS Library in the 1950s, music to be used for radio and television, along with many other composers who did the same. But Constant’s music wasn’t used too much due to its “modern” nature. But in 1960, some enterprising music editor took two of the short pieces and put them together and voila, a new theme for The Twilight Zone and one of the most iconic pieces of music ever written. Because it was originally a work for hire, Mr. Constant never received one centime in royalties.
Yesterday was a bit of a day. I got seven hours of sleep, arising at eleven-thirty. Once up, I answered e-mails, got a few new book orders, sent out a personal eBlast for the book, which resulted in three additional orders thus far, then I went to the mail place and picked up some packages and an important envelope, did some banking, and then finally came home. I took the one hamburger patty left from the day before and sliced it in half to make two patties (there were pretty thick). I made those and ate them all up but am now done with hamburgers for a few days at least. I listened to some music, did some work at the piano, answered more e-mails and finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on a Warner Archive DVD entitled Crime and Punishment, USA, based on the Russian novel but not really, since it takes place in – the USA, Venice, California to be exact. It’s not very good, this film directed by Denis Sanders, who managed to make a few low-budget films back in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This one stars George Hamilton, who was cast because he bore a resemblance to Anthony Perkins, and boy is that so in this film. He not only looks like him, but his wardrobe is eerily close to the Anthony Perkins movie that would follow just six months later – Psycho. Mary Murphy is the female lead, and a nice supporting role is played by Marian Seldes. Frank Silvera plays a cop. Dialogue is pretty horrible, and Mr. Sanders really has no discernable style. But it’s worth seeing for the incredible 1958 shots of Venice, Ocean Park, the Santa Monica Pier, and especially the then just opened Pacific Ocean Park. Quite fun.
After that, I made a cheese sandwich as a little snack. I listened to music, relaxed, did a few things on the computer, and approved a booklet to go to the printers.
Today, I’m hoping I get the galley and cover proofs, but who knows? Only The Shadow and I’m definitely not The Shadow. Otherwise, I have to read through a script, continue casting the Kritzerland show, hopefully get more book orders, eat something light but amusing, hopefully pick up some packages, and then relax and perhaps watch something.
Tomorrow will be more of the same. Friday, we resume performances of our show and I’m really hoping that the crazy hysteria and panic don’t result in people not coming, but these days it’s hard to predict how that will go. Not sure which shows I’ll attend, other than the final matinee, but I’ll be there for the little after-party on Saturday night for sure. I’ll miss our little show and wish more people had given it a chance, but it’s hard with unknown plays.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, maybe get galley and cover proofs, read a script, continue casting, hopefully get more book orders, eat, hopefully pick up packages, and then relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping that attention has been paid.