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August 17, 2020:

THE MENNONITES EAT A KIWI FRUIT AND DO THE LIMBO

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, the hot spell continues, although it was cooler today, in the mid-90s, not that you’d know that from sitting here like so much fish where it is currently eighty-four degrees, to degrees HOTTER than it is outside at eight-two.  I think all homes should cool off automatically without the use of air conditioning.  Can we arrange that, please?  The only time I’ve had the air on today is when I’ve been out because I had a terrible allergy attack before bed that lasted over two hours and I blame it completely on the air conditioning and I wasn’t about to have that happen again.  But it’s too darn hot right now.  I will turn on the air again when I shower, so hopefully that will cool it off a bit and perhaps it will stay cool, although the most I’ve been able to get it to cool off yesterday was two degrees.  Ridiculous, as the Mennonites once said. Actually, if you must know, I don’t really know if the Mennonites said ridiculous, since I don’t believe I’ve ever actually known a Mennonite.  I do know the Menotti opera about them, Amahl and the Mennonite Visitors – it’s a corker.  But as I always say, when in doubt, throw in a Mennonite reference to distract.  Speaking of distraction, and who wasn’t, I was distracted way too much yesterday and frankly I find too much distraction is distracting.  I just couldn’t get with yesterday, even though it was supposed to be a ME day.  In point of fact, I found yesterday somewhat irritating in certain ways and I turned to the Mennonites for some answers, but they were busy eating Kiwi fruit and doing the Limbo.  I gotta tell you.  I think I may have gone off the deep end is what I think.  I think the Mennonites would agree, don’t you?

Yesterday was not quite the day I had in mind.  Oh, it was Sunday and I did have THAT in mind, but it was just a back-and-forth day of irritating e-mails that were irritating.  I did manage to get ten hours of needed sleep after the horrid allergy attack, which I blame on the air conditioning, but which the air conditioning blames on the Mennonites.  I think this is setting a record for the most mention of the Mennonites in an online blog on a Monday in the middle of a pandemic in the middle of a hot spell.  And speaking of spelling hot, hot spelled backwards is toh – never forget that.  Where was I?  Oh, yes, so I awoke at 1:15 having missed the entire morning.  But once up, I had to deal with the guest star and we ultimately decided to not go ahead, mostly to do with the fact that said guest has been sick and doesn’t have the complete voice back where it belongs.  I wish that information had just been stated right off the bat.  I went immediately to my back-up, but my back-up, who would have loved to do it, is actually in a Broadway show, you know, the one that’s going to film inside an empty theater, so her life is consumed with that right now.  So, my thinking cap is on again.  That took up too much of my time, then I went to the mail place and picked up a tiny package from the day before, then went to Taco Bell and got food, came home, and ate it all up.  Calories were only 850.

Then I did a few more things that needed doing and then the day was done, and I didn’t start writing the commentary, which I absolutely will do today.  Oh, and I was HOT.  Not HOT in the sense that it would be nice to be, but HOT in the HOT sense.  Then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.

Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Harlow, the Paramount version starring Miss Caroll Baker, along with Red Buttons, Angela Lansbury, Raf Vallone, Touch Connors, Peter Lawford, Martin Balsam, Leslie Nielsen, and countless others.  I’d only seen this on DVD back in 2010, but I guess I got the Blu-ray and had never watched it.  It’s probably the same transfer and it’s fine.  It’s really not very good, but some of it is enjoyable thanks to the dialogue of John Michael Hayes, who wrote To Catch a Thief, Rear Window, and Peyton Place.  But accuracy is out the window, and it just becomes a real sudser about an actress who holds off all suitors until she marries Peter Lawford’s character who, of course, turns out to be impotent.  What’s a girl to do?  Well, she does it and a lot because girls just want to have fun.  It’s glossy and colorful, but ultimately garbage in a pretty wrapping.  I must say I find Gordon Douglas, the director, a director with a filmography practically devoid of any films I like, save for one – Them!

After that, I turned on the air and went to Gelson’s.  I got some melon and almonds and Diet Coke (out of caffeine free once again), came home, turned off the air, ate the melon and almonds, which were a good evening snack, and then I listened to a weird opera by Erwin Schulhoff, whose music I’m fond of, but this was a bit outre for me, part of the London Entarte Musik series, this one conducted by John Mauceri.  I suspect I may warm up to it with a few more hearings.

Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, and hope that some nice things happen because that would be nice.  I’ll definitely start writing the commentary and get as far as I can get, I’ll hopefully pick up packages, I’ll eat something, and then we have a quick Zoom rehearsal at five with two of our cast, just to set everything that needs to be set.  After that, I’ll watch, listen, and relax.

The rest of the week is more of the same, we’ll try to do our big Zoom sessions on Friday and get that out of the way, and I need to lock down a lot of stuff for the anniversary show.  If only people, who are basically sitting home doing nothing, would read their damn e-mails and respond, this all would go a lot smoother, as the Mennonites would say.

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, hope for some nice things and nice news, hopefully pick up packages, eat, start writing commentary, have a Zoom session, and then watch, listen, and relax.  Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite movie biographies – and the ones you can’t stand?  Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have given the Mennonites all these free mentions.

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