Well, dear readers, as I write these here notes, Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky cantata is playing, a rather magnificent Eugene Ormandy performance in superb monophonic sound circa 1945. Hard to believe. And it’s sung in English, so that’s fun, and you couldn’t ask for a better female soloist than Jennie Tourel. I’m now on disc 25 in this magnificent set and as good as the sound is now, it will only get better when the tape era begins around 1950. There’s so much great music, some of it the standard repertoire, but also some programming that was fairly radical back then, like Miaskovsky’s twenty-first symphony, in an absolutely glorious performance. Yes, there are Nevsky stereo spectaculars, including a late Ormandy on RCA, but this one outshines his redo by quite a bit. I have several classic recordings, including one on SACD – they’re all pretty great, but there’s something magical about this one. I also watched one-and-a-half motion pictures on Blu and Ray yesterday. The first motion picture on Blu-ray was entitled The Naked Kiss, a film by Samuel Fuller, starring Constance Towers, Anthony Eisley, Michael Dante, Virginia Grey, Betty Bronson (the screen’s very first Peter Pan), and even Edy Williams. This film begins with a scene unlike any other there’d ever been – it grabs you by the shoulders and you know instantly it’s a Fuller film. The dialogue is pure Fuller – in fact, I’d go so far as to say this film is one of the quintessential Fuller films. You’ve never seen anything quite like The Naked Kiss, I’ll tell you that. Towers plays a prostitute who comes to a small town. A detective sleeps with her, then tells her to get out of town, to go to a brothel in a nearby town, run by Virginia Grey. Her “stock” are called Bon Bons. Edy Williams plays one. But Connie looks in the mirror and decides to give up hooking and trod the straight and narrow, becoming a nurse in an children’s orthopedic hospital, much to the chagrin of Eisley. But the town is named for a rich philanthropist named Grant, played by Michael Dante, and he falls for Towers. This makes Eisley even more annoyed. But Connie tells Grant all about her past and he doesn’t care, he’s in love with her. Eisley steps back and congratulates them. Then Connie comes to Grant’s house to show him her wedding dress, even though she’s told it’s bad luck. A surprise visit. When she comes in the house, she hears a recording she made with her crippled kids, which she finds odd. Then a little girl of seven comes skipping out from the shadows and leaves. Connie knows what’s what now, that the beloved Grant is a pervert with a capital P – yes, the P word (not pervert). He tells her that’s why he wanted to marry her, because of her past he feels she’ll understand his sickness, that they’re both abnormal. She disagrees and knocks him in the cranium with the phone receiver, killing him. The rest of the film is her trying to prove her innocence. Pretty daring stuff for 1964. The other motion picture was also Sam Fuller, Shock Corridor. That, too, is so weird that you’ll sit there with your mouths agape. That one’s from 1963. After those two films, Fuller didn’t make another movie until 1969 with Shark (which he disowned) and then nothing until The Big Red One. I’ll finish it up at some point soon.
Yesterday was just what I needed it to be, a relaxing day filled with music and movies. I got eight hours of sleep, got the various helpers the address – we’ll have at least four, perhaps five, although I think one is going to flake as I never heard back from him. So, from noon until two there’ll be three or four of us, and then the last person will arrive at two and I’m praying we can get finished by six. I suppose some of that will depend on how fast the movers get the shelving in and how fast they unload the CD boxes, and how fast we can get them alphabetical and on the shelves. I suppose if we had to, we could either stay later or come back on Tuesday, which I really don’t want to do. But there are a LOT of boxes.
I had a sudden inspiration for a carb and calorie friendly meal and so I ordered it with my eight-dollar off coupon. I got shrimp scampi from Barone’s. It arrived about forty-five minutes later, piping hot, just the scampi and some vegetables on the side. Their scampi is fantastic, and I ate every bite of it. They serve it with tiny clams in a garlic sauce that’s out of this world. When I finished the shrimp, I put the vegetables in the sauce and ate all those. Fantastic. I was, up to that point, listening to the Ormandy box. Then I watched The Naked Kiss. After that, I knew I needed a small snack, so I went to Gelson’s and got the little snack pack of salami and provolone – very small, not many calories, and almost zero grams of carbs. I came home and ate that and then watched the first hour of Shock Corridor.
After that, I listened to more music and relaxed and then it was time to write these here notes.
Today, I’ll be up by nine o’clock. I’ll do whatever needs doing here, and then I’ll mosey on over to the new storage place so I can sign papers, pay, and then be shown the spaces. I’ll purchase three of their official locks, too. Then the helpers will get there at noon and according to the movers that’s when the truck should be arriving, as well. Once there, they know to set up the big unit first with all the shelving. Then after that’s done and we begin getting the boxes shelved, they’ll put all the other stuff in the other two units. Happily, all the units are on the first floor, so no elevator trips. Please send your strongest most excellent vibes and xylophones for all this to go smoothly. Once we’re done, and hopefully we’ll finish it all, then I’ll go get something to eat, perhaps with Marshall. Then I’ll really need to watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow, if we haven’t finished, hopefully the helpers can come back and we’ll complete that, and then I’ll get the key and codes to the helper’s mom, who’ll have some stuff to ship by that time. I’ll hopefully pick up the MOST important envelope, and then it’s back to getting singers tracks and setting up some Zoom rehearsals.
The rest of the week is more of the same, then having some Zoom rehearsals, and hopefully start getting videos in. The show is shaping up very nicely. I’m still waiting to hear from two potential guests, and hopefully that will happen sooner than later.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by nine o’clock, do whatever needs doing, go to the new storage place and sign contracts and pay and then get the lay of the land. Then helpers arrive and hopefully the movers do, too, at the same time, then we begin getting everything organized and up and running, which I hope we can do in six hours. We can stay later if need be, however. Then I’ll eat, come home, and watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite what is it fish dishes? Whether cooking at home or eating out? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland as I gird my loins for the big move.