Well, dear readers, I have breaking bombshell news – it is Friday. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, it is Friday, the start of the final weekend of April before May comes knockin’ on the door, which we will open with great elan. I’m looking forward to a restful weekend of doing little, other than our Sami Q&A on Sunday, about which more in a bit. As to music, I am sitting here like so much fish listening to another classic Charles Munch recording in gloriously glorious RCA Living Stereo – this recording considered one of the greatest ever made. It’s comprised of Milhaud’s La Creation du Monde and Milhaud’s Suite Provencal, two of his greatest works. I can’t really remember why I bought this album back in the early 1970s but it was a real ear-opener for me. I think I’d already heard La Beouf sur la Toit by Milhaud and I may have wanted to hear more. The cover of the LP intrigued me (it was a gorgeous package), but I played this puppy over and over again. I’d never heard music quite like it and I became a loyal and true Milhaud fan (and Munch fan). I did manage to watch a motion picture earlier, the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, a completely idiotic, pointless, and mostly inane remake starring Keanu Reeves as Klaatu and Jennifer Connelly, along with one of the most irritating kid characters in movie history – not the kid actor’s fault – just awful dialogue, dumb plotting, and I felt bad for the kid because you really want to slap that character silly. Mr. Reeves is a monotone for the entirety of the film, unlike Michael Rennie, who doesn’t go that route and who’s always seemed otherworldly to me, plus his mellifluous voice. Sam Jaffe in the original was, of course, a very original actor, and poor miscast John Cleese in that role is completely wasted. Of course, it’s not about nuclear war anymore, it’s about saving the planet. Of course, the military scenes are right out of every other overdone crapfest of the last two decades or more. Gort is all CGI and therefore of little interest. Poor Kathy Bates is lost at sea, and the military scenes are so bad you actually will cringe watching them. Where Mr. Robert Wise had Bernard Herrmann to propel his film, here we have Tyler Bates writing music of absolutely no interest whatsoever. The original film was well-paced and made its point without ever being overly bombastic. The new film is ALL bombast, of course. The only actor who escapes unscathed is Jennifer Connelly. The “direction” is either swooping and tracking and tracking and swooping or shaky cam. Just horrible. Other than that, it ended at some point over two hours later.
Yesterday was, well, I don’t quite know WHAT it was. I seven hours of sleep, answered e-mails, had some telephonic conversations, saw we’d gone up to twenty reviews on Amazon, which was lovely, and went over our Sami plans for the next few days. I’d decided before bed to have Pad Thai again from that local jernt and I pre-ordered via pick-up rather than delivery, because DoorDash offers 40% off if you pick-up – one time per restaurants that offer that – so with all that the thing cost only ten bucks, which as six cheaper than if I went and ate there, and more if I’d had delivery. I scheduled it for one-ten, but I got notified at twelve-thirty that it was ready, so I hurried over there – only about five minutes from here, picked it up and told the nice owner that I’d left him a wonderful review on Yelp. I’m a Yelp Elite, you know, and I don’t care who knows it.
It was every bit as good the second time around. Then I did a few things on the computer, and then I watched the movie. After the movie, I shaved and showered and then moseyed on over to the Group Rep for our seven-thirty casting session. That went quickly and I was able to cast the two female roles. So, we’ll probably have to bring in the two male leads from outside the group, since no one auditioned. After that, I came right home, caught up on stuff, and then it was time to write these here Friday notes.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll eat something amusing, and then at some point I can watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow will be a ME day and then on Sunday we do our Sami Q&A on Zoom. I’ll post the link in Sunday’s notes and I hope many of you can make it. I’ve got a LOT of the cast coming, including Sami, Kerry, Matt Cody (he plays the director in The Three Faces of Sami), Charles Busch, Ali Axelrad (the pretentious young director), Doug Cohen, Walter Willison, and more, plus Marshall Harvey and Richard Allen. Should be fun and fun it should be. Then it will be May and I’m hoping for a productive week and some desperately needed miracles.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be when I’m up, do whatever needs doing, eat, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player or your DVD/Blu and Ray player or streaming? I’ll start – nothing. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, as we head into the last of April.