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August 30, 2020:

BABY, IT’S HOT INSIDE

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, riddle me this: How can it a nice and cool sixty-four degrees outside and a nice and hot eighty degrees inside.  When it’s cold out, I normally have to turn on the heat immediately, but I cannot get the house to cool down – the best I’ve done is seventy-seven degrees and then it goes right back up.  I cannot have the air blowing on my anymore or I’ll lose my voice, and I’m tired of suffering this insufferable heat.  I has spoken.  Otherwise, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to Toscanini’s 1951 version of the Verdi Requiem – I’m enjoying it because I’m actually hearing the orchestra, which was too distant in the Barbirolli recording.  That said, one really can’t get past the mediocre sound so as good as it is, it will not be one I need to hear again.  But it made me even more enamored of the work, enamored enough to seek out some inexpensive third-party CDs on Amazon – so, I’ve got the Reiner coming (very high marks), the Leinsdorf (not quite as high marks), and the Ormandy (nobody really talks about it at all, but the two or three things I’ve read all say it’s up to his usual standards).  A highly-rated performance, maybe the most highly rated, is the Giulini 1964 recording (I think I have the year right), but I’ve never liked his recordings and more than one review who think it the best has had to mention the distortion inherent in the recording, so I don’t see the need to hear distortion.  Or should that be I don’t hear the need to see distortion.  But one of my mottos is always Who Needs Distortion? – which is also the title of my next novel.  Since I always enjoy Reiner, Leinsdorf, and Ormandy, which is also the name of a fine legal firm, I’m sure one of them will be to my liking and who knows, I may end up fond of all three.  They were all under four bucks.  I’m also happy to inform you that for the third day in a row I’ve been a good boy, food-wise, so I’m feeling like I’m on the road to weight loss.  I know it will be a slog, especially the first four weeks, but once it begins, I’m hoping I can lose twenty pounds, then another twenty.  That will be my goal of goals.

Yesterday was Saturday, I think.  I finally got it into my bones that it was Saturday even though Friday felt like Saturday.  The good news was I got a little over nine hours of sleep, which I really needed.  Once up, I answered e-mails, did some Kritzerland show stuff, them moseyed on over to the mail place and thankfully the important envelope was there.  There are even more important envelopes that will hopefully be here on Monday.  I came right home and decided on pasta papa from Hugo’s for the meal o’ the day.  By the time I ordered, it was already four o’clock.  The food arrived and was excellent.  The calorie count for pasta papa is very friendly at 640.  I did a few things on the computer, and then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.

Around a year ago, I’d had a hankering to watch The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo extended trilogy again and I brought the Blu and Ray set in the house.  But I never got around to it and it ended up in the closet.  So, I took it out of the closet and watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the first of the three Millennium films.  The extended version really isn’t extended – it was originally intended for TV in Sweden and elsewhere as a miniseries.  When they decided to release them all theatrically, they cut the films down, with Dragon Tattoo losing about thirty-one minutes.  That’s the way I first saw it and I loved it.  That version was shown in scope, but for TV it was meant for 1.85 and that’s what this Blu-ray is.  I still have the theatrical scope version, but once you’ve seen the longer version, there’s no going back.  This is probably my fourth time seeing the first film and it just gets better with each viewing.  For me, it’s the only real authentic classic of the 2000s.  Yes, there’ve been some good movies and maybe even a couple of greats, but I’ve seen none that work as well as this, and that includes David Fincher’s awful American remake two years after the original.

It’s really well directed, the story is endlessly fascinating, brilliantly plotted, the pace is fantastic even at three hours, the score works nicely, and the actors are all perfect, none more so than Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander.  And it’s completely satisfying on every level – it’s not only horrifying when it needs to be, but it’s also very moving at times – in fact, it’s just riveting from start to finish.  If you’ve never seen the longer version or you’ve just seen the bad Fincher version, this box set is still available.  So, now I’ll move onto the second film and I must tell you that both the second and third films in their theatrical lengths are real disappointments, but with all the footage back they’re also great and fully satisfying.  Transfer is great.

After that, I ate some peanuts to get the calorie count closer to 1000, probably netting out at around 900, then I took a little walk – I almost should have worn a coat.  Once back, I listened to music and relaxed.

Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I do have some Kritzerland show stuff to do, otherwise it’s a ME day and I’ll eat something reasonable and fun, I’ll take a drive, I’ll take a walk, and I’ll watch, listen, and relax.

Then, starting tomorrow, it’s very busy again as we’re two weeks away from our show, there’s a new month to welcome in, there are important envelopes to get, and just lots o’ stuff to get organized.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, do whatever needs doing, do Kritzerland show stuff, have a ME day, eat, take a drive, take a walk, and watch, listen, and relax.  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, wondering if I should write a song called Baby, It’s Hot Inside.

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