Well, dear readers, it would seem to me that it’s Thursday. That is breaking bombshell news for those of you who had no clew what day it was. Otherwise, I’m listening to Previn do the greatest recorded performance of the Walton first symphony there will probably ever be. It’s an amazing symphony and I have at least four or five other recordings by great conductors, but none come close to the power of Previn and of course the RCA stereophonic sound is equally amazing. I also did manage to watch a motion picture – I was in the mood for something mindless and so when Taken 3 popped up, I chose that. I couldn’t remember if I’d seen it, but turns out I had, back in 2015. I enjoyed the first Taken for what it was – a mindless but very well-done action picture, with a very good turn by Liam Neeson. And it was short, which was just right for it – around eighty-five minutes without end credits. Not a wasted moment once the action kicks in. Then came Taken 2, which was a bit longer, had a different director, and which was basically more of the same, just not as good. And then there’s Taken 3, truly terrible and horribly horrible in every way. The plot takes thirty minutes to kick in, and then it’s a lot of action scenes interrupted by an occasional quieter scene to get plot points out. The villains are cardboard and the direction, same director as Taken 2, is ludicrous. The action scenes have an edit literally every second and that doesn’t make for a kinetic sequence, it makes for a completely incoherent sequence because you have no geography and you don’t ever know who’s doing what to whom. It really is one of the worst edited pictures I’ve ever seen. A complete waste of time save for Mr. Neeson and Maggie Grace, who playe his daughter in all three films. Forest Whitaker gives a terrible performance, in which you understand only about every fourth word he speaks. He began impressively, but I find him one of the oddest actors ever. No more sequels, please. The reviews for Taken 3 were withering, as they should have been. And now, I am sitting here like so much fish, bathing in the glory that is the Walton first symphony.
Yesterday was, well, I don’t know WHAT it was. I only got about five hours of sleep, maybe even less. I answered e-mails, did some Sami stuff, then I did a quick Ralph’s run for yesterday’s food. I got spaghetti, a red onion, and sauce – total cost – $5.55. I came home, chopped some red onion and sauteed it and added it to the sauce and then heated that while the pasta cooked. It made two nice helpings and it was very good. Then I just did stuff on the computer, watched the movie which, by the way, unlike the eighty-five minutes of the first Taken, ran almost two HOURS. More is not better and I’ll just leave it at that. Then I just relaxed and continued going through the Classic Andre Previn box, all of which I’d previously loaded into iTunes. It’s quite the box set – I got it the day it came out and thank goodness I did because it went out of print quickly and is now selling for the whopping sum of $1500 to 1700 on eBay. I’m not sure anyone would actually pay that price. Don’t be confused by the Previn box that’s readily available, his EMI recordings (and even that box has gone up in price by a hundred bucks), this is the RCA and Columbia recordings box. The Charles Munch box set goes for even more. The Szell box, which you could get for 700 bucks seems to have gotten re-pressed at some point, because you can get it on Amazon right now for around $160, which is the bargain of all time – 106 incredible CDs. That’s about a buck fifty a CD. Why am I talking about box sets?
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll eat the rest of the spaghetti and sauce and red onion, I’ll do Sami stuff, and if I don’t have the galley I’ll call and see what the holdup is because I really should have had it a couple of days ago, since this one’s even easier then usual. And we’re inching ever closer to the premiere of Sami. At some point, I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow, I’m lunching with David Wechter, otherwise it’ll be Sami stuff and hopefully I’ll have already approved the book stuff. Saturday, she of the Evil Eye comes, so I’ll have to go do things whilst she’s here, and then I’ll be sending out the big eBlasts with the direct link to the Sami Amazon page, which goes live at 12:01. And Sunday, I’ll be watching for the reviews on Amazon – we must get a lot, so please watch and review, even if you haven’t finished all the episodes, although I think it’s fun to binge all ten – no longer than one of today’s movies, really.
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, do Sami stuff, hopefully approve the galley/covers if I haven’t already, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite ways of having pasta and which pastas do you like best? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, as we inch ever closer to the premiere of Sami.