Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to the neighborhood morons still shooting off their illegal fireworks – one of them just a bit north of here, and marveling at how childish and selfish some people are. I’m sure the police are receiving calls every second and I’m equally sure they don’t care and do nothing. In one Facebook post, apparently some dope in some neighborhood shot off something that lit a tree on fire in their yard, which then endangered not only their own home but the rest of the homes in the neighborhood. Because 911 was called and the fire department dispatched at least those morons will be fined, apparently $2,000. They won’t care and it won’t stop them from doing it again next year. I’d like to throttle them, frankly or even robertly. Otherwise, I’ve been listening to a LOT of music all day and evening. For example, I just finished listening to Elmer Bernstein’s score for Far from Heaven, a lovely late-in-life film score from Mr. Bernstein that harkens back to his 1960s scores. Sadly, the mastering, as with tons of Varese Sarabande CDs of this era is brick walled and really unpleasant on the ear. There’s no excuse for this other than not being great at your job – there are no dynamics whatsoever. But the score is lovely. And before that, I listened to some Varese re-recordings – it’s no secret I’m not much of a fan of most of these, mostly due to the washy sound of many of them – recorded directly to two-track in almost all cases, so there could be no mixing. That said, the Joel McNeely version of Bernard Herrmann’s Psycho is pretty good – tempos seem right and it’s more upfront than most of these. The sound lacks the bite the score needs and, of course, no one captures the Herrmann sound better than Herrmann himself, and his recording on Unicorn, as wonky as some of that is, is a must-have for the Herrmann sound. And before that, it was the re-recording of Alex North’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, this one recorded at Abbey Road with Jerry Goldsmith conducting. Jerry did several North scores there and none of them are very good. Again, North has a very specific sound that no one captured better than North himself. I love the Virginia Woolf score, but this recording has not an iota of that North sound – in fact, it sounds like Jerry Goldsmith. That’s a real problem. So, a big disappointment. Sadly, the soundtrack album released on an import CD is filled with dialogue and that mastering is the worst example of brick walling I’ve ever heard. It’s literally unlistenable. Maybe someday we’ll get it done properly and sans dialogue. And prior to that, I heard Roberta, the Goddard Lieberson studio cast version. Lieberson did a bunch of these throughout the 1950s, all conducted by Lehman Engel. My favorites are this one and On Your Toes – just love ‘em. And Portia Nelson singing Yesterdays is sublime.
Yesterday was a day of music, noise, fireworks, firecrackers, and attempting and failing to watch a motion picture. I did get eight-and-a-half hours of sleep, I did order a roasted garlic chicken pizza from CPK, it did arrive, I did eat it all up (under 1000 calories), I did enjoy it, then I loafed and relaxed, surfing the Internet, watching a few things on the Tube of You and, of course, listening to music. I started to watch Zodiac but realized I’d watched it a couple of years ago for the second time – since I didn’t love it the other two times and since I realized the ending is obviously not going to satisfy, I figured I didn’t need to waste the two-and-a-half hours, especially listening to the mumbling of Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey, Jr. And mumble they do. I took a little drive, just to get out of the house, came home, and then it was music, music, music. And fireworks, fireworks, fireworks.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’m not sure if this is still a holiday or not, but I’ll act like it is, I have no idea if mail is on or not or if banks are open or not, I’ll eat something really light – want to stay right at 1000 calories today and tomorrow because I had that desserts episode – I’ll choose the last couple of songs and start getting people their music, and then at some point, I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
The rest of the week is more of the same, there’ll be some meetings and meals, I may try to have a meal at Genghis Cohen at some point, and then on Saturday I sup with Peyton and her mom, after which we’ll go to the Group Rep and see the playlets. So, a busy little week, which will be followed by an even busier week.
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, figure out if it’s a holiday and if there’s mail and banking, I’ll eat something light, choose songs, get people their music, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What did you do for the fourth of July? Did you see fireworks? Did you eat fun stuff? Did you go to a party? Were there illegal fireworks happening near you? Are your pets okay? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy that the morons will be though shooting off their illegal fireworks.