Well, dear readers, it is April. Can you believe it? What the HELL happened to March? March flew by, like a gazelle doing the Twist. But, it’s April and I think we all need to feel the April Love, just as Mr. Pat Boone did so many years ago. And it is my fervent hope and prayer that April will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.
But this particular day is April 1, and you know what that means. That means we all get to act foolish, we get to put on our pointy fool hats and cavort about with gay abandon. As Shakespeare said, “Let me play the fool” and by gum and by golly and buy bonds we shall and we will, not necessarily in that order.
The last day of March was uneventful but fine. It was also fine but uneventful, but that’s another story. I got up a little earlier than I’d planned – that was uneventful but fine. I shut off the alarm, I answered e-mails, I did some work on the computer, and then I did a three-mile jog. After that, I went to Gelson’s and bought some foodstuffs and when I came home I ate some lunch, which consisted of two cheeseburgers of my own making. Two of these lovely things cost me only 710 calories – I love that. I got the hamburger patties with the least amount of fat and each patty has 190 calories. The little buns I got (hamburger buns, that is – my buns are not that little right now but we’re working on it, we’re working on it) are 120 calories each, and the low-fat, low-calorie cheese slices are 45 calories each – all of that adds up to 710. I had them with lettuce and onions and ketchup and mustard, oh my. And they were GREAT.
After that, I buckled down, Winsocki and made several short recordings of me reading from the new Hofstetter book – I just wanted our finalists to hear the rhythm I like for the narration and how I approach reading the various characters. I don’t want them to copy me, it’s just to give them a clew about tempo and color, but I like each of the finalist’s qualities and don’t want them to lose their individual takes on the material – and they’ve been told that specifically. Then those tracks and the manuscript were sent to the finalists and hopefully in the next couple of weeks I’ll hear their work and make my decision, and then we’ll do the new book first and work our way backwards from there. That all took quite a lot of time. After that, I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, whilst eating melon balls and grapes, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I saw the film at the DGA when it came out and was of mixed feelings about it. I wanted to love it and didn’t, but I certainly admired the amazing craft behind it – it must have been really difficult to do given the technology of 1988 – even a decade later it would have been so much easier. The film back then looked very grainy thanks to the incredible number of multiple pass opticals. The fact that it didn’t look worse was even more amazing. I’ve only seen it once since then, when the DVD came out, and I thought it looked okay there, especially given the source. I felt the same way about the film. So, it was interesting to watch it last night. Some comments I’ve read have said that there is some disappointment in watching it now because it’s not as much fun as when these people were wee bairns and saw it. I had the opposite reaction and for a somewhat specific reason: The transfer is fantastic and the film looks really good – yes, grainy still, but colors pop wonderfully and it looks a lot better than the release prints because a negative was used for the transfer. Of course, these “reviewers” who know not of what they speak, continually mention that there’s more grain in certain shots, some shots are soft (duh) and one guy wrote a very specific thing about “crushed blacks” and “macroblocking” that was used in another review verbatim – they really don’t know what the HELL they’re talking about. In fact, the only reviewer who got it right about the transfer was former dear reader MattH, who gave it his highest marks. There are no crushed blacks or macroblocking – what nonsense. The film is the film and you either understand what a film with this many opticals looks like or you don’t. You don’t have to constantly yak about it in ignorance and then say “Yeah, it’s probably the source.” Note to these people: Go somewhere and learn about film. It will help you, trust me.
But this time around because it was so spiffy-looking, I got involved in it and rather enjoyed it more than I ever have. The story is fun, and all that stuff about LA’s incredible transportation (the red cars especially) is fascinating and one of the sorriest chapters in this city’s history. They had it all, threw it away, and then had to build it again, only not as wide and not as good. Greed, in case you were wondering. The actors are all fine, and Bob Hoskins is fun as the private dick. If the film is lacking it’s in the supporting players – they’re all okay, but one wishes there were more of the great character actors of the day – say Charles Durning and those kinds of people. I have the feeling most of the film was shot in the UK and that many of its actors are, in fact, Brits doing American accents. The animation is terrific and fun and it’s just exhilarating watching director Robert Zemeckis do for the time very daring things in the scenes where animation and real life are together. Where the film ultimately doesn’t work for me (although it worked better for me this time) is Christopher Lloyd’s villain. I wished he were not such a caricature so that when his true nature is revealed it would be more fun. But overall, it’s a really interesting film and given the transfer I recommend it highly.
After that, I was just too tired to watch anything else, so I did some more work on the computer and just relaxed. I ate some more fruit bits, drank water, looked at the packaging for three upcoming releases, and that was that. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get a good night’s beauty sleep.
Today, I shall do a jog, I shall be foolish, I shall have a rehearsal with Mr. Jason Graae, I shall eat two cheeseburgers of my own making (there were four in the package), do errands and whatnot, hopefully pick up some packages, and then we have our first Kritzerland rehearsal, which goes to about ten-thirty for reasons I can’t figure out. Oh, I just figured it out – we’re not starting till seven-thirty.
Tomorrow, I have a lunch meeting at noon at the local Thai jernt, where I shall have my beloved Pad Thai and cashew chicken, which I will share because I don’t want to eat all of that by myself. I will forego the salad with peanut dressing that I usually have – or, maybe I’ll have the salad and only the cashew chicken – that would be not too bad, calorie-wise. The rest of the week is meetings and meals, our second Kritzerland rehearsal on Thursday, our stumble-through on Saturday, seeing the STAGE benefit on Saturday night, and then on Sunday our sound check and show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, rehearse with Jason Graae, eat, hopefully pick up packages, and then rehearse. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Thai food dishes – where have you had your best Thai food? And what are your favorite animated films? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, after which I will arise to greet April with open arms and loads of lovely April Love, and that it is my fervent hope and prayer that April will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.