Well, dear readers, this month is flying by, like a gazelle paying $4.39 for a gallon of gas, which, coincidentally, is what I paid last night when I filled the motor car. Actually, I got $65 of gas, and it did NOT fill the motor car – that would have taken three more gallons and that would have brought the total to $77. And this is the cheapest gas station anywhere near me. Other stations are around $4.79 and a few that are just off freeway entrances and exits are over $5 now. There is no excuse for this – there are no shortages, it’s just pure greed because profits were down from the stay-at-home stuff last year. And no one says boo about it. When prices would rise like this a few years ago, someone in California would take on the oil companies and threaten them – that happened many times and it always worked – within weeks prices dropped because they know they cannot afford for anyone to take them on. But our governor? Noooo, he sits there and puts everyone in panic mode about the pandemic, which he has done from day one, overreacting to everything. Then, when people had just about had it and were organizing a recall campaign, he came on social media pleading with everyone not to do it. But when people have been out of work for so long, he doesn’t lift a finger about gas prices? Well, that marks him lousy, in my opinion. Anyway, California prices are the highest in the United States, so good job governor, really good job. And that’s enough gas for one paragraph. Otherwise, I’m just finishing up the Kurt Atterberg stuff I have in iTunes – I got through all the symphonies, and now it’s a beautiful piano concerto, and then there’s a couple of short orchestral pieces and then a violin concerto. This guy really has the stuff, I must say and have said. Prior to that, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Broadcast News, starring William Hurt, Holly Hunter, and Albert Brooks. I keep thinking I’ve only recently seen these things, but it’s been an entire decade since I viewed it. The writer/director, James L. Brooks made a smashing film debut with Terms of Endearment. And with that film, he suddenly was a major Hollywood player. His next film, Broadcast News, was almost as good as Terms of Endearment. The three leads, but especially Holly Hunter, are just great. The writing is snappy, the pacing is excellent, and it all just works. So, that one was a hit, too, and it seemed like he was going A-list all the way in film. But then, several years later came I’ll Say Anything, which was, for me, awful, really, really awful. He shot it as a musical, it didn’t test well and he pulled all the numbers, wrote and shot a few more scenes and finally released it. It was a huge bomb. His next film was As Good as It Gets – that one was enjoyable in certain ways, and had excellent performances, but it wasn’t a huge success at the box-office. And then came Spanglish and How Do You Know, and both of those were huge flops and I do mean HUGE flops. How Do You Know was his last film and that was in 2010. What a weird career. His TV work was much more consistent, and one wonders how he could go downhill so far with his last two pictures.
Yesterday was an okay day. I got a little less than eight hours of sleep, because I didn’t really fall asleep until five in the morning. Once up, I answered e-mails and did a few things that needed doing. Then I went and got three slices of pepperoni pizza, came right home, and ate them all up. They were very good. Then I did just a little work on the computer, then watched Broadcast News as well as all the extras, which I hadn’t watched. The most interesting of the extras was an alternate “happy” ending, but I thought it was absolutely dreadful and would not have worked at all. The film has an ending that’s somewhat unique in film history, in that no one in the love triangle ends up with each other. And that seems quite right.
After the movie, I went to the Arco in Studio City, only to find it’s no longer an Arco, but some station I’ve never heard of. The prices were the same so who cares? I gassed up, got annoyed that I couldn’t quite fill the tank with $65 of gas. Then I stopped at Gelson’s and got a sweet treat, came home, ate it and then began listening to the last of the Atterberg stuff.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll begin figuring out the Group Rep cabaret show, I’ll do some banking and hope for neither bank to be too crowded, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, I’ll eat something light but fun – perhaps some low-cal hot dogs or something like that, I have to record the two replacement songs we’ve written for Nothing in Common, and then at some point I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
The rest of the week is more of the same, there are some meetings and meals, I think I’m doing a Donald radio show, I’m seeing at least one show – I think that’s on Thursday – and we’ll be shipping stuff all week long.
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, I’ll start to figure out the cabaret, I’ll do some banking, I’ll hopefully pick up packages, I’ll eat, I’ll record, and then I’ll watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite films of William Hurt and Albert Brooks? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hopefully over my gas attack.