Well, dear readers, it is August. Last year at this time I was in the city that never sleeps, New York, New York, at the very beginning of rehearsals for The Brain From Planet X. It sure seems like yesterday, doesn’t it? In any case, I am currently in the city that sleeps, Los Angeles, Los Angeles and it is August. I really need August to be a good month, but there are some mine fields to avoid and I’m hoping to avoid them like the fershluganah plague. Speaking of the fershluganah plague, yesterday was the end of July. I got up early and got my annoying errand out of the way, after which I did a rather hearty two-mile jog. After that, I continued querying people about their availability for this New York gig on December 1st. Happily, I got a yea from Miss Liz Callaway, and also a yea from Mr. Alex Rybeck to musical direct. He’s really the perfect choice for this and the timing just worked out splendidly. I’ve got someone querying the next two people I’m going after. Once they’re set (hoping), then I’ll probably let you all know what the project is – those of you on the East Coast will definitely want to be there. I also began work on writing the liner notes for the new Kritzerland limited edition CD release, which is Mario Nascimbene’s wonderful score to the film Scent Of Mystery, which, of course, was the one and only film in Glorious Smell-O-Vision. This is a little dream come true project, since I have such fond and vivid memories of seeing the film in all its smelly glory. I’ve written about that experience extensively in these here notes and also in Kritzer Time. Then I got word that the new book had gone “live” on the Kritzerland site, and we actually got a few orders today from my e-Blasts and my Facebook and MySpace notes. There are only about five of the special bonus gifts left, so if you’ve been procrastinating, perhaps it’s time to get off your butt cheeks and order. I had a craving for tuna fish sandwiches, so I got me some rye bread and a can of tuna and an onion, and that’s what I had for lunch. With it I had one and a half apples, and two no fat fifty calorie fruit bars. I answered a whole slew of e-mails and made some telephonic calls, and then somehow the day was over, so I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture I TIVOd entitled Jack And The Beanstalk, the Abbott and Costello version. I really hadn’t seen it since I saw it around 1955 at my beloved Lido Theater at a kiddie matinee (the film originally came out just a few years earlier). Even back then, when I loved mostly anything, I knew the film wasn’t very good. I remember vividly being very restless and visiting the candy counter, the restroom, and rolling down the stairs more often than usual. Watching it today is almost impossible. For me, it’s certainly the nadir of their career. The songs are excruciatingly bad, the dialogue is worse, and other than a couple of small slapstick bits for Lou, the film is almost completely devoid of laughs. The director was one of their TV directors, Jean Yarbrough, strictly a one-take kind of guy. The film starts and ends in sepia and the color sequences are in Super Cine Color, which was one of the cheapest color processes known, just a step up from regular Cine Color.
After the film, I wrote some more of the liner notes, which I’m having tremendous fun with – we’re making this a longer than usual (for us) booklet, with lots of text and lots of fun photographs and images. The booklet WILL be in Smell-O-Vision – the homegrown kind. You’ll be told what items you’ll need for the Smell-O-Vision to work, and then you can trigger the smells when you’re told to. Very exciting, and, I believe, the first CD booklet that will really smell.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below, whilst we all say a big, warm hello to August – which will hopefully be a wonderful month for one and all and also all and one.
Have I mentioned that it is August? Today, I shall continue and hopefully finish the liner notes for Scent Of Mystery, and will continue querying performers for the upcoming gig. I’m not at all certain about what foodstuffs I shall consume. I’ve been eating at home all week (or bringing stuff in) so I may want to venture out and sit at a table in a restaurant where I won’t overeat. I’ll also jog and do some errands and whatnot.
I have no real plans for the weekend, other than preparing for our upcoming reading, which is coming up really fast, like next week. I’m scheduling a music rehearsal during the week, and then we begin our two-day rehearsal period next Saturday.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, write, do errands and whatnot, and go eat a nice meal. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player, and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, a Willie Bobo CD, one of his Verve albums, and Stan Getz’s Sweet Rain, both recently reissued on the original masters series. DVD, I may watch The Wild One, which is the only film in the Stanley Kramer box that I haven’t watched yet. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we say a hale and hearty hello to a little month we like to call August.