Well, dear readers, the heat was supposed to abate yesterday – it did not. Not a Whit Bissell. No, it was 109-degrees. One more degree and it would have been a musical. Today it’s supposed to be 100-degrees. Then it’s supposedly going to drop into the low 80s. Of course, they said it was going to drop yesterday and we can see how right they were about THAT. Anyway, I am quite over this damn heat wave. I am currently sitting here like so much fish, listening to more Jerry Goldsmith – this time the soundtrack to The Other, the movie based on the novel by Tom Tryon. It’s a wonderful score to a movie that almost works but doesn’t quite, even though it’s well directed by Robert Mulligan and the screenplay is by the author. It’s a real shame that the soundtrack is only twenty-two minutes and is of not-great quality. We released it on Varese Sarabande, coupled with The Mephisto Waltz. I worked on all the Fox classic soundtracks until I left. Unfortunately, the deal with Varese is they owned all those titles in perpetuity – what a shame, as it means we’ll most likely never see a better release. I did manage to watch a documentary last night entitled Gilbert, about comedian Gilbert Gottfried. I will say up front that I never thought he was the least bit funny, but surprisingly, the documentary is very entertaining, and he comes off well in it, and it’s even moving in its way. It’s on Prime. Then I watched a movie entitled The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee, a 2020 film starring Paul Hogan. Why anyone thought this meta disaster was a good idea is anyone’s guess. It was a complete bomb. All but the beginning, takes place in L.A. Hogan plays Paul Hogan, star of the Crocodile Dundee movies. His agent (I don’t know the actress playing the role, but she sure seems like she’s trying to channel Jane Krakowski) is trying to get him work, he’s supposedly going to be knighted by the Queen in England, but he keeps blundering into situations that make him look bad. None of it is the least bit funny, and there are many cameos – including yet another horrible turn by Chevy Chase playing Chevy Chase, John Cleese in a completely awful one-scene role, Olivia Newton-John, still beautiful and always a pleasure to see, and others I can no longer remember. Through it all, the then-80-year-old Hogan looks befuddled and bored. Highly NOT recommended by the likes of me. Of course, I never understood the popularity of the Dundee films, so there’s that.
Otherwise, yesterday was pretty okay. I was up at six again, but this time only for thirty minutes, and then I slept quite late, getting about eight-and-a-half-hours of sleep. Once up, I answered e-mails and then I decided on pasta and made some penne with Rao’s vodka sauce, which wasn’t much to my liking – a little too acidic for me. After that, I did some work at the piano, had a little modern major miracle, so that was a good thing, but obviously I wasn’t going out in that heat. Then I watched the movies. And here we are.
Today, I’ll be up by ten or thereabouts, I’ll shave and shower and then eat something prior to our three o’clock rehearsal. At three, we begin and that will probably last until six, I think. Then I can watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow, I may or may not have a dinner out and a visit to a fun store, Thursday is our second rehearsal, not sure what’s the haps on Friday or Saturday or Sunday, Monday is our stumble-through, and then sound check and show are on Wednesday. Whew!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by ten or thereabouts, shave and shower, eat, have a rehearsal, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What do you think of today’s stand-up comics? Who were your favorites from the past? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping that tomorrow the weather people will not continue their wrong-headed predictions and be right about the heat going down.