Well, dear readers, I ended up having a long telephonic call and now I must therefore write these here notes in a hurry, as they should have been posted one minute ago. And yet, what is there to write about really? The days are the days, the nights are the night, the food is the food, the showers are the showers, the Pepcids are the Pepcids, the Sambucol is the Sambucol, the movies are the movies, the music is the music, the mirror is the mirror – wait, a Chorus Line moment – the snacks are the snacks, and while we continue to flatten the curve, I continue to fatten the curve. Like sands through an hourglass, these are the days of our lives.
Yesterday, I did get ten hours of sleep thanks to the gentle pitter-patter of the rain on the roof. Once up, I answered e-mails, decided on food and placed a Door Dash order for the Cheesecake Factory and my usual farfalle with roasted garlic, chicken, pancetta, caramelized onions and peas in a light cream sauce. It arrived about thirty minutes later and I set about to eating it along with the great bread they include. It was great and nice not to cook and clean up after.
There was no real mail to go gather up, so I didn’t go gather it. Instead, I stayed in the house and roamed from room to room – that was exciting. Then I took a quick drive to K’s Donuts and got two of their smaller donuts, just because I needed a sweet treat and because I had the lunch-size portion of the pasta dish. It was too much food, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. I think I will start taking a daily walk around the neighborhood. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled The Mouse that Roared. I bought the DVD back in 2002 when it came out and watched part of it, but it was quite bad looking so didn’t finish it. I saw this film at my beloved Stadium Theater back in 1959 and thought it was absolutely hilarious, a rollicking treat. Watching it all the way through again, it’s not so good, not a rollicking treat, but a mild comedy, droll, with some wonderful performances and some really not wonderful performances. Peter Sellers plays three count them three roles and is his usual great self. Leo McKern does Leo McKern, but all these American characters are played by Brits and Canadians who are just not great actors. It’s hard to imagine, in fact, why this British film was directed by Jack Arnold of all people, not exactly someone I’d think of for a comedy – his métier was the B-horror movie genre, at which he really excelled. Here his direction is stodgy and uninspired. But, for me, what makes the film is the beautiful Jean Seberg. The score is so-so, and the transfer is brown and ugly – it would probably seem better if we had a great Blu-ray transfer with excellent color, but we don’t. Still, it’s eighty minutes and was fun to see again.
After that, I watched the first thirty minutes of the Thoroughly Modern Millie DVD. I saw it the day it opened at the Warner Cinerama, which was, at that time, called the Pacific’s. It was a roadshow presentation. I remember wanting to love it but being disappointed in it. That, of course, did not preclude me from seeing it several times during that run. I liked Julie Andrews, really didn’t like Mary Tyler Moore, thought James Fox was really goony, enjoyed John Gavin, thought Carol Channing was bigger than life, but absolutely loved Beatrice Lillie as Mrs. Meers. And of course, she does have the classic line, “Sad to be all alone in the world.” Of course, that’s the way I’ve been feeling these past few weeks. George Roy Hill seemed like an odd choice for a musical film, and indeed the musical numbers are just not shot well, with constant cutting to disembodied feet, which is the big clew that the director has no idea how to shoot dance on film. I’ll finish it up today and have more to say.
Then I listened to music, had a nice telephonic with Doug Haverty, who told me that on the video for In My Mind’s Eye, someone donated six hundred bucks to the theater, which was such a lovely thing to do. There’ve been a couple of other donations, too.
Today, I’ll be up whenever I’m up, I already know what I’m doing for food, although now I can’t remember, but I think it involves a sandwich and perhaps a frozen dinner. I am determined to have several 1000-calorie food days in a row. I’ll hopefully pick up some non-existent packages – although it would be nice if there was some nice mail to gather up – then I’ll do some work on the computer, then I’ll watch stuff, listen to stuff, and whatever else comes my way will come my way.
The weekend will be more of the same, and will probably involve a couple of delivered meals, unless I just go over to McDonald’s or Taco Bell. Easy to count calories there, too.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up whenever I’m up, eat, hopefully pick up mail, do work on the computer, and then watch and listen. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray player? I’ll start – CD, music of Charles Tournemire. DVD, the rest of Thoroughly Modern Millie. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, as the hourglass continues to remind us that these are the days of our lives.