Well, dear readers, it’s time to break out not the cheese slices and ham chunks but the trombones. Why trombones? Well, you see, today is the birthday of ME and if you put my new age before the word trombones, what do you get? Let me help you out – 76 Trombones. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, turn 76 today so let the trombones play. I could never have and still can’t imagine a time when I would say I’m 76, but it’s true. I don’t feel 76 unless I’m trying to get out of bed in the morning. I don’t even know what that number means, frankly. I don’t think I look a day over 75. I feel younger than springtime even though I’m now older than dirt. Yes, I was born in the early morning hours of this day back in 1947 and back in 1947 this day was, in fact, a Monday. If I’d wanted to see a movie on that day, well, Nightmare Alley was at the Beverly, the Village had Song of Love and Monsieur Verdoux, Daisy Kenyon was at the Chinese, Where There’s Life was at the Paramount, Body and Soul was at the Music Hall, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was at the Pantages. If I wanted to see a play on the day I was born, Angel Street was at the Biltmore, starring Laraine Day and Gregory Peck. On the front page of the Los Angeles Times we were told that “Los Angeles’ biggest crop of babies will be born this year”. The Republicans were promising a big tax cut. At Ralph’s, halibut steaks were fifty-five cents a pound. You could buy a sweet three-bedroom Cape Cod home at 715 N. Doheney in Beverly Hills just about two blocks south of Sunset for $26,500. Amazingly, that sweet house is still there. Today, the estimate for that sweet house is $3,848,900. And here we are, 76 Trombones later in a world that no one alive back then would even recognize. Now playing whilst I write these here birthday notes is Bill Evans, his From Left to Right album, no which he alternates between a grand piano and an electric piano. What makes the album really special are the orchestra charts by Micky Leonard, the composer of the flop musical The Yearling. Two of that show’s best songs are on the album, I’m All Smiles and Why Did I Choose You? Just beautiful. As the midnight hour approached, I watched a motion picture entitled Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One. At two hours and forty-six minutes, I’m not sure I’m in for part two. It’s another relentless movie in this franchise – loud, non-stop, too long, way too much exposition, a plot that’s ridiculous, and a cast of good actors who have not much to play in terms of characters, other than unstoppable villain, girl thief who can’t decide where her loyalty lies, shadowy government figures, and Tom Cruise. In fact, it’s a Tom Cruise Production. Yes, some of the stunts are fun but it just all gets so tiresome after about thirty minutes. I thought a couple of the early movies were fun, but as they began the journey to longer, bigger, louder, they became less interesting to downright boring.
I also watched a bit of a 1960 movie that actually carries a 1958 copyright, entitled The Pusher. A no-budget, no-star affair (Robert Lansing and a tiny role for John Astin are the only names you’ll recognize), directed by someone named Gene Milford. But it has many interesting things – starting with it’s based on an Ed McBain (Evan Hunter) paperback original novel, the screenplay is by Harold Robbins (yes, THE Harold Robbins), photography is by Arthur Ornitz, who shot a few movies you might have heard of, like Requiem for a Heavyweight, The World of Henry Orient, A Thousand Clowns, Charly, Me, Natalie, The Boys in the Band, Serpico, Death Wish, well, yeah. All New York-set films – he was the go-to guy for New York-set movies. But who is Gene Milford, the director – never heard of him and this is his only film. Turns out, Mr. Milford was an Oscar-winning editor who edited a few movies like On the Waterfront, the original Lost Horizon, Splendor in the Grass, A Face in the Crowd, Wait Until Dark, and more. So, I’ll definitely finish it – it’s very short, just eighty-one minutes.
Otherwise, I was up at seven-thirty, shaved and showered, and on my way to the DMV at 9:10. I got there around 9:35. I had to stand in the non-appointment line but that part only took about five minutes. Then I sat and waited for my number to be called. That took about twenty minutes. We had to basically start from scratch, but I had my stuff from the day before so when he asked me to do the vision test I said I’d just passed it less than twenty-four hours ago. I told him I’d be happy to do it again, but he said it wouldn’t be necessary. Then it was back to the photo person and that went quickly, and then back to the room where the test took place, but this time I just went to the window and he processed my stuff and I had my interim license. The whole thing, with the waiting, took about forty minutes and I was on my way home without that cloud hanging over my head. When I got home. I did a few things on the computer, answered e-mails, had a telephonic conversation, ordered three slices of pizza for food – they arrived cold, so I nuked them in the microwave, and they were okay. Later, I had a toasted sesame bagel and some rice pudding. I then wrote the rest of the sequence I was working on for the project with David Wechter. Then it was viewing and here we are. As I type this, I’m still 75.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever I damn well feel like doing. At six, Marshall Harvey will pick me up and we’ll sup and then see the movie May December. Then I’ll come back home and just relax.
Tomorrow, I’ll just hang out, Sunday I’m being taken out for a birthday dinner, so that will be fun, and then next week I’ll be continuing to write, then we have a brush-up rehearsal on Thursday and then we play our final three shows. And of course, I’ll need some modern major miracles to get through the next few weeks.
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. Have a birthday dinner and then see a movie. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray/streaming device. I’ll start – CD, nothing. Streaming, The Pusher. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to be having a birthday filled with trombones.