Well, dear readers, I have bombshell breaking news, so hold on to your hats – does anyone still wear a hat – yes, I do, so others must – hold on to your hats – it is August. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, it is August, and it is my fervent hope and prayer that August will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful. As to the final day of July, it was a doozy (yzood, spelled backwards). I got eight hours of sleep, was up at eleven, and not only did we have to deal with the rehearsal schedule change, we had another performer drop out, a boy this time. Commitment means nothing anymore and we may as well abolish the word from the English language. But things happen and must be dealt with and that was yesterday and yesternight in a nutshell. Thankfully, everyone involved in the afternoon rehearsal change to Tuesday was able to do it, so that was good. Finding a replacement boy took some doing, but thankfully, a couple of moms had gotten hold of me after we’d cast the show and one of those boys was able to join us despite the last minuteness of it all. I sent the mom the music and tracks to listen to and hopefully the boy is a fast learner – kids usually are, thankfully. So, by the end of the evening we were covered in all directions, and I hope it stays like that. At one-thirty, our musical director came and we went through everything and figured out the two put-togethers, one of which was complicated as it involved six songs. But it came out really well, I think. The other put-together was pretty simple. We were done in an hour. After that, I moseyed on over to the mail place and thankfully picked up two important envelopes and a big supply of Pepcid. Then I came home. I ordered my fried catfish from the nearby jernt and they cancelled the order instantly – second time there’s been a problem so I’m done with them, I’m afraid. They refunded me the dough and I ordered some Pad Thai from the nearby Thai jernt, that arrived quickly, and was very good, as always. That was the food for the day. Then it was back to dealing with all the drama, which took up a lot of time. It was too late to watch a complete motion picture, so instead I watched some irritating videos on the Tube of You. Then I rented from Vudu the new 4K transfer of To Catch a Thief even though I can only watch it in what they call HDX. The Blu-ray that came out a few years ago was really bad and looked nothing like a VistaVision transfer – it was soft to the point of almost being out of focus. While I believe this new transfer for the upcoming 4K release was based on the previous transfer, but whatever they’d done to those raw files back then was just wrong – they removed all the grain and whatever else they did resulted in a terrible transfer. Well, I’m happy to report that this new version is very sharp, has very good color, with my only caveat being the extreme green nighttime tint for certain scenes – just seems a bit too much and my memory of my new IB Tech 16mm print is that it was never quite that green. But otherwise, this is a very nice transfer and a big improvement over the horrid Blu-ray from a couple of years ago. I watched the first thirty minutes – what a light soufflé it is, and the screenplay of John Michael Hayes is very witty and sly. The Robert Burks photography is stunning, Grace Kelly and Cary Grant are even more stunning, and no director back then could hold a candle to Mr. Hitchcock’s mastery of the film medium.
Today, I’ll be up by ten, then I’ll mosey on over to bank one and cash a check, mosey on over to bank two to deposit the cash, then I’ll come home. I’ll do a little writing, I’ll eat something light but fun, and then at some point I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow, I’ll attend an opening night and stay briefly for the afterparty. Saturday must be a ME day and so must Sunday, because on Monday we have the first half of the first Kritzerland rehearsal, on Tuesday we have the second half of the first rehearsal, and I have a lunch thing prior to that rehearsal, then the second rehearsal on Thursday, the stumble-through on Saturday, and then sound check and show on Sunday, and since we’ll be out of there by three o’clock, I’m sure some of us will go have a nice meal somewhere.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by ten, do banking, do some writing, eat, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite performances in Alfred Hitchcock’s films? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where it will be my fervent hope and prayer that August will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.