Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much tired fish, after several nights of not enough sleep and trying to get this Kritzerland show ready, despite two of my regulars being out of town and any number of people not being available. Not only the casting and choosing and assigning songs, getting singers their music, getting the musical director all of his stuff, and trying to get the club to make ticket sales live so we can announce the show, but trying to get the flyer done, set rehearsals – all of it, the never-ending story. Still waiting for the tickets to go live and still waiting for the flyer. And it’s not helpful, of course, when one is told the show is too soon and we may not get the word out in time to fill the house. Well, you know, no one knew that my beloved Richard Sherman was going to pass away last week, which precipitated changing the show from a Disney evening to a celebration of the life and music of Richard M. Sherman. But I was not about to miss celebrating him in his birthday month. So, guess what – you do what you have to do. To have to instill that in others is so debilitating, but one must, I suppose. Moving along, the big boy is back. Yes, you heard it here, the big boy is back. You’ll recall that on Monday night I watched the original Godzilla. Well, last night, I watched the latest Toho Japanese Godzilla movie, Godzilla Minus One. There are only two movies from last year that have a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes – no higher rating for any film last year, but even the most well thought of films from last year are below 98%. The first movie is my favorite from last year, Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret and the second is what is now my second favorite movie from last year, Godzilla Minus Zero. I don’t count any of the stupid American-made Godzilla movies as part of the canon. I haven’t seen any of the recent Toho movies – I gather they’re of variable quality. Godzilla Minus Zero is a throwback to the original Japanese Godzilla, which is a somber and wonderful film that happens to feature a big boy monster. This new film takes place prior to the 1954 film. It is also somber, as it takes place right after World War II. There’s PTSD, shame, guilt, destruction, and – Godzilla. There’s no withholding the big boy, he appears right at the beginning of the film. But the reason this film works so beautifully on every level is because like the first film, it has living, breathing characters you care about, who are trying to rebuild their lives. Yes, we have a couple of terrific big boy Godzilla sequences filled with destruction. But the film is about its characters, and I think the actual Godzilla appearances probably take up thirty minutes of a two-hour movie. You know how you know when a Godzilla movie is working? When you get emotional at the end, perhaps even weepy. The score is somber and works fine, but the highlight of it is, of course, when they haul out the original Akira Ifukube music at key moments. It’s streaming now and is only six bucks on Prime and comes VERY highly recommended by the likes of me.
Prior to that, I got six hours of not enough sleep, maybe even a bit less. I got up at noon o’clock, answered e-mails, and then spent the rest of the day and evening up until I watched the movie at nine, doing the Kritzerland show stuff. I never left the house, never had a break, and ate while I worked. I had roasted garlic chicken farfalle for food, and it was very good other than the lid wasn’t attached well and some of the sauce spilled into the bag. I literally did nothing else for nine long hours. Now it’s up to others to do what they need to do to get us announced and selling seats. I really want to fill up the jernt to capacity. And here we are.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, hope the flyer is ready, hope tickets have gone live, and if all that happens, then I can at least relax a bit. I do have to do a show order, and then the commentary, but a lot of the songs are things we’ve done before, so I’ll be able to use stuff from previous commentaries and just freshen it up. We do have to set the rehearsal schedule and get that out to the cast. I suppose I’ll eat something, but I don’t think I’ll order in – I’ll pop over to Gelson’s and get something there. Then I’ll do whatever else needs doing and at some point, I’ll watch, listen, and relax. I may even watch the big boy again.
The rest of the week is more of the same, with a work session on Friday that will probably last two hours. I will absolutely have ME days on the weekend so that I’m fresh as a daisy for the Kritzerland rehearsals next 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 hope, hope flyer and ticket sales are ready to go, do the show order, write commentary, figure out rehearsals, eat, do whatever else needs doing, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have seen the big boy back in action and part of such a wonderful movie.