Well, dear readers, Mr. B.I.G. has gone to that big drive-in in the sky at 100 years of age. Growing up, I loved his low-budget movies, especially Attack of the Puppet People and The Amazing Colossal Man. I saw most of his movies when they were released. He loved making movies, and with then-wife Flora, their special effects were very clever for having zero money to do them – just watch the giant grasshoppers in Beginning of the End. When I got to be good friends with daughter Susan, which happened literally five days after this here site was born, thanks to dear reader Jane. I had no idea they’d been in touch until I got a message on AOL – what did they used to call those on AOL, they had a name – AIM which was AOL Instant Messenger. We messaged for hours that first night, and hours the next night, and then it was by phone from then on. On New Year’s Eve a month later, we met in Las Vegas and that was really fun. We became very close buddies and she became a wonderful fixture here at haineshisway.com. I believe we called her our den mother. In any case, I did a commentary track for Beginning of the End with Susan and her mom, Flora. And soon after that, Susan arranged a dinner with Bert and I took him to what would become his favorite restaurant and the only place we went – Genghis Cohen. He loved it there and loved the food and we had the best time that first time and then there were many subsequent meals there. Susan could never talk him into doing the Hollywood Show, where Susan and I signed frequently. She asked me to try, and at one of our dinners I talked him into it with his only condition that I be at the table next to him, and so I was. And, as I knew he would, he loved doing it because he saw just how many fans he had and how much people loved his movies. His daughter Christina was there and she was a delight. Susan was, of course, in New Jersey (I think that’s where it was) with her kids – SIX of ‘em. Of course, we went right to Genghis Cohen afterwards. When he wrote his book, Susan gave me one of the first copies and I found it so riddled with mistakes and confusing chronology that I offered to help him fix it up and I spent a week going through it, moving things around so they made sense, and fixing typos and conforming things so it looked professional. Susan did all those fixes and Bert was very happy with it. I think that was the last time I saw him. Susan passed away way too young, and while I had a conversation or two with Bert after that – he was busy, I was busy and life went on. I think only he and Roger Corman were left from that Golden Age of crazy Z-movies. Here we are at the Hollywood Show.
Otherwise, I’m sitting here like so much fish, listening to more Finzi – just so beautiful and a lovely background for writing these here notes. I did watch a motion picture, another Woody Allen movie I hadn’t seen since it came out in 1995, entitled Mighty Aphrodite. I found it strange back then, but, like most everyone, I loved Mira Sorvino in it and of course she won an Oscar for her performance. Watching it again, I liked it better but I have to say that until Miss Sorvino arrives twenty minutes or so into the film, it’s really bad – jokes don’t land, Helena Bonham Carter is an actress I simply don’t care for, and the Greek chorus stuff was just cumbersome and weird. But when Miss Sorvino arrives all is well, the entire film comes alive and the Greek chorus stuff begins to work and the choreography for them is fun – Graciela Daniele did it. Allen seems a little off his game, but this was not long after the whole breakup with Mia and his dating Soon-Yi. But when he’s with Sorvino, it’s the old Woody and the dialogue is truly funny in all their scenes, especially her raunchy dialogue about all her porn work. It kind of peters out at the end but the very end, with the Greek chorus singing When You’re Smiling and doing the clever choreography, then we’re smiling, too.
Prior to that, I got seven and a half hours of sleep, got up, did stuff on the computer, had a long telephonic call, then the actor came for a little coaching session for a little song he has to do in a play. I had him explain to me the scene, his character, and what came just before. Then I had him do it for me twice, and then I gave him some notes – he was not confident on his high notes and I gave him a talk about that and he got it right away. Then I just talked about building the number, we came up with a really funny bit that he’d been toying with but hadn’t figured out, and I put a button on the end of it because the ending as written for the play was too weak, I thought. He ran it that way a few times and that was that.
Then I went directly to Marshall Harvey’s abode and we spot checked the sync on the sound lay backs of John Adams’ leveled tracks and it all looked perfect. After that, I came home and put up the poster art for Sami. I feel we have to start getting the word out and people jazzed about it and I don’t care to wait until the final week before the show airs to do it. I’m going to put the trailer up on Monday, so stay tuned. The reaction to the poster was great, too. Then I made a Facebook page for Sami, so please go and like it – I’ll put the direct link right here in a minute. Facebook, in its endless effort to take what was simple and effortless and make it completely impossible and difficult, now makes it so you can’t invite friends unless you use the Facebook app on your phone. And even then, it’s impossible because it only shows you twenty names. I figured out a workaround but boy is it a pain in the ASS. I type in a search name, just a first name, and then it gives me choices and I can see about sixty or seventy names before having to type in another name. I’ve sent out about two hundred invites to like the page. Here’s the direct link.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090325381827
For food, I made about six ounces of spaghetti with red sauce and that was very good. Then it was more telephonic calls, then I watched the movie. After the movie, I made another two ounces of pasta to use up the rest of the sauce and that was good, too. And the rest you know because you know the rest.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, and then in the late afternoon I’ll mosey on over to see La Boheme at a college, that is if I’m ever sent the details. I’ll eat before the show and will have a full report for you after.
Tomorrow will be a hugely stressful day if some major miracle doesn’t come along, and then there’s the weekend, and then we have our first Kritzerland rehearsal on Monday.
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, eat, then see an opera. Today’s topic of discussion: What was the first Mr. B.I.G. movie you saw, what are your favorites of his films. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, feeling lucky to have known, spent time with, and been friends with Mr. B.I.G.