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04/03/2002:
"FORGET-ME-NOT"

Photo of Bruce Kimmel

bk's notes II

Well, dear readers, has this ever happened to you: You're sitting at your handy-dandy computer. You think of something. You get up to do said something. You cross the room and by the time you reach the other side of the room you've totally forgotten what you got up to do. This just happened to me. I was waiting for this here page to load, I thought of something, got up to do it, crossed the room and by the time I'd gotten to the other side of the room I'd totally forgotten what I got up to do. I just stood there like a large container of borscht, trying to remember that which I'd thought of a mere ten seconds before. Isn't that annoying? Isn't what annoying? Now I've forgotten what was annoying. I hate when that happens. I have an incredible memory for things past (you will know this when you buy my handy-dandy novel), but suddenly I'm forgetting things that happened ten seconds ago. I have to write everything down, like that guy in Memento. Soon I will have notes all over my body. Can you even believe how much minutiae is in our brains? How is their room for all that minutiae. Look at that "a" just sitting in "minutiae" for no good reason whatsoever. Remove the "a" and you have a cute, if fey, looking word, "minutie". I like "minutie" much better, don't you? Wait a minutie. That's so cutie. And fey, too. Not like that cucumber of a word, minutiae. "Min-oo-sha". If we're supposed to pronounce it that way, then spell it that way, that's what I say. In any case, I think our brains are filled with so much minutiae that it just overloads and we forget simple little things that we thought of ten seconds ago. And, of course, the harder you try to remember what you thought of ten seconds ago, the less chance you have of remembering. You have to put it out of your head completely, and then it usually will come back into your head all by itself. Harvey Schimidt and Tom Jones wrote the perfect song for people who are having the problem I am, Try To Remember.

Speaking of Harvey Schmidt, I was speaking to Harvey Schmidt just last night. He told me that JAY Records has just recorded their show Roadside and that is good news indeed. He's also thrilled that his painting graces the cover of my very own novel. Harvey is back in his native Texas now, although he travels to New York quite often.

Now wait just a darn minutie, isn't it time we all click on that Unseemly Button below? Yes, I do believe it is time we do that, so let's do it quickly before I forget that that's what we're supposed to do. If I forget that that's what we're supposed to do then I will be bitch-slapped by that Ukranian moose fancier, Mr. Mark Bakalor.

Where was I? Where am I? Was I talking about a Ukranian moose fancier and, if so, why was I talking about a Ukranian moose fancier? Is that the subject of today's notes? The Ukranian Moose Fancier? I was going somewhere with today's notes but now I have forgotten where because I cannot remember from one minutie to the next because of all the minutiae floating around in the middle of my brain.

I have been catching up on all manner of DVDs. Last night I watched Cactus Flower, with Miss Ingrid Bergman, Mr. Walter Matthau and Miss Goldie Hawn. Miss Goldie Hawn is adorable in this film and she won an Academy Award for it. Matthau and Bergman are great, too, as is Jack Weston. It's one of those fluffy romantic comedies that were so popular on Broadway at the time, and it's a perfectly nice, very contrived, confection, with some genuine laughs. Very sixties in tone and feel and look. The song that plays over the main and end titles, is one of the worst things you will ever hear. I love Sarah Vaughn as much as the next person, but it sounds like someone is making the record so slower and faster and slower and faster - it's very strange. Then I watched half of Dick Tracy, with Mr. Warren Beatty, Al Pacino, Madonna and Dustin Hoffman. I hated it when I saw it when it came out, and its not much better now. The script is just plain bad. The film looks pretty swell - the just late Mr. Richard Sylbert did the production design, and Vittorio Storaro's camerawork is fun and bold and brash. But the "plot" is lame, the pace is off and the dialogue is never as funny or smart as it thinks it is. Hoffman's "Mumbles" is really funny, though. Al Pacino is over the top and fitfully amusing. Madonna is okay in the acting bits, but really doesn't sing the Sondheim songs very well. It's as if she's taken the name Breathless to heart, and maybe that was her take on the way to sing, but it just sounds not too good. Mandy Patinkin gets to sing What Can You Lose?, the best song in the film.

Then I watched the brand spanking new Special Edition of The Usual Suspects, one of the few films I like from the last decade. It really works, because the script plays fair, is well-written, and the characters are interesting (more interesting the more times you watch the film) and the cast is great. The direction is not too fancy-shmancy, either. There are quite a few extras, including a lot of interviews with the various and sundried cast members, who all share their rather fond memories of the shoot. Especially amusing is Kevin Pollack's ribbing of Stephen Baldwin, and Stephen Baldwin being surprised that Kevin holds this hostility. The enhanced transfer looks great (the previous DVD wasn't enhanced, and didn't look very good), the sound is great, so if you like the film it's a must-have.

What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? I'm surprised I could even remember what I saw last night, since I can't remember what I thought of ten seconds ago.

I just got the Image Entertainment sell book for June, and The First Nudie Musical is one of the only things in it that gets the full page treatment. It looks really great. We're trying to arrange a signing at a local DVD store - I will keep you posted. But you dear readers will be able to get signed copies right here at haineshisway.com. I'm going to get as many people as I can to sign them (including Cindy Williams).

Well, the minuties have flown and it is now time for me to take the day, to do the things I do. It is time to try to remember that which I have forgotten. The question is, will I forget that I'm trying to remember that which I have forgotten? And what of the Ukranian Moose Fancier? Haven't we left the Ukaranian Moose Fancier out in the cold? Oh, well. I have been reminded (I must always be reminded because I can no longer remember anything) that today is Ask BK day, so that is the topic of discussion. You may ask me any old question that may be on your mind, or any new question for that matter, and I will answer your questions to the best of my ability in an honest and forthright manner. No minutiae is too small to ask about. So, ask away - let's have lots and lots of questions. I'll start. Why did the Ukranian Moose Fancier cross the street?

- Bruce Kimmel



Replies: 18 Unseemly Comments


Any chance David Shire's gorgeous score to "Return to Oz" will ever get re-issued on CD? Seems to me a certain forgetful producer was very successful getting the first pressing released ....

Posted by Phil Crosby @ 04/03/2002 09:22 AM PST


How come nobody has ever done an Unsung Jerome Kern??(hey,Mr Producer I'm talking to you sir)It seems that there is a very ripe opportunity to do a great CD of relatively unknown Jerome Kern songs. Your answer??

Posted by Arnold M. Brockman @ 04/03/2002 10:30 AM PST


BK: The last few years have been deadly on my short-term memory. I can barely remember a phone message long enough to write it down. Scary. But considering the alternative to getting old, I guess I'll settle for the few brain cells I still have working.

My question to you: how did you like the CDs I sent you?

As for Kern, the late Ben Bagley produced three collections of rare Jerome Kern songs. You can find a complete list of songs at http://www.showmusic.com/PaintedSmiles/pscds.htm. The Kern albums are especially well served by his eclectic casting style.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 04/03/2002 11:16 AM PST


The link below would have worked, but for the end period. Here it is again:

http://www.showmusic.com/PaintedSmiles/pscds.htm

Posted by Robert Armin @ 04/03/2002 11:20 AM PST


Dear BK,
I'm having trouble losing the last five pounds on my diet. Do you think it could be the ham chunks and cheese slices? Should I switch to soy ham and soy cheese?

Posted by Laura @ 04/03/2002 01:29 PM PST


Dear BK,
I need help. There's this stupid guy in my English class (It's his fifth time taking English 101.) Sometimes he makes fun of me because I'm odd. (After all, I like Jason Graae and the Lawrence Welk Show.) Can you give me a good Jewish insult word I can call him that won't get me in trouble if the Jewish girl who sits next to me happens to understand it?

Posted by Sandra @ 04/03/2002 03:21 PM PST


Now wait just a darn minutie. Where are all the questions? Where are all the queries, dearies? Where is all the minutiae that you wish to know about? I know there are things your are dying to know about, so ask away. Otherwise I shall have very few questions to answer tomorrow and that will be unseemly. Then I shall mope and be in a foul mood and eat chicken bits which will then not only put me in a foul mood but in a fowl mood. For example, someone could ask what sort of socks I wear. That would be an interesting question. Or what CDs are in my player. Or what kind of socks I wear whilst listening to whatever CDs are in my player.

Posted by bk @ 04/03/2002 03:51 PM PST


Let the unseemly interrogation commence...

1. Did you get "it" yet?

2. If you could cast and direct a revival or a movie version of a musical, what musical would that be, and who would be in it?

ok.. and for the lightening round, word and song association.. I'll give you a word, give us the first word that pops into your head, and the first song..

a) Enchilada
b) Tap
c) Factory
d) Accounting
e) ALF

Thanks!

Posted by Craig @ 04/03/2002 05:40 PM PST


P. S.: I have met our Ukranian Moose Fancier. He told me why he crossed the street when I asked, but a drummer was playing so loud nearby that I couldn't hear what the U. M. F. replied. Or maybe he couldn't hear my queery, and answered a totally different question.

Posted by S. Woody White @ 04/03/2002 06:12 PM PST


We all know about how you love to dish the dish "Orange Chicken" at Chinese restaurants, BK. My questions have only to do with restaurants. Sorry.

Do you like or dislike buffet-style restaurants? What do you like about them? What do you dislike about them? And is there a buffet-style restaurant that serves decent Orange Chicken? (Figured I'd throw you a bone of some kind.)

Posted by S. Woody White @ 04/03/2002 06:16 PM PST


A few good ones:
What do you think of the "new" theater composers? (Guettel, LaChiusa, Brown, Tesori, Gordon, et. al.)
What was the most recent piece of theater you've seen? What did you think?
Are there any current musical actors you love/hate? Why?
How has your Passover been?
Are the Oscars completely out of touch with quality in movies?

Posted by Hapgood @ 04/03/2002 06:38 PM PST


Alright, what kind of socks DO you wear? Do you change them to listen to CD's? Now, this isn't so much a question as a request: I would love it if you would create a Bruce Kimmel gallery/scrapbook posted right here on this site. I would love to see all the clothes, hairdos, poses with other celebrities, variety show appearnaces, etc. Maybe even a video clip?!?!? It is hoped that Mr. Haines would consent to such a use of his site and that Mr. Bakalor (aka UMF) will not bitch-slap me for coming up with yet more work for him.

Posted by Kerry @ 04/03/2002 07:41 PM PST


Betty or Veronica? Betty or Wilma? Archie or Reggie? Did you ever tell Jason Graae that Harry thought he was an amazing hunk of manflesh (or somethng to that effect)?

Posted by Scott @ 04/03/2002 07:44 PM PST


bk-
Ok ..Food and DrinkQuestions
1-Favorite Food?
2-Favorite Restaurant in N.Y.?(I think I know the answer to this one)
3-Favorite Restaurant in L.A.?
4-Favorite Restaurant somewhere between N.Y and L.A??
5-Favorite Hard Liquor drink?
6-Favorite Soft drink?
7-Favorite Hot drink?
Ok-what is in your C.D.Player now?
And lastly-
What is your favorite word?
What is your least favorite word?
What turns you on?
What turns you off?
What sound do you love?
What sound do you hate?
What is your favorite curse word?
What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?
What profession would you not like to participate in?
If Heaven exists what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Posted by Arnold M. Brockman @ 04/03/2002 07:47 PM PST


Oy vey, what a day I've had today!

Okay, my questions are:

Just which cds ARE in your cd player currently?

What is your favorite rhyme?

What is your favorite backwards word?

What is your favorite dialogue sequence in a movie?

Also, I just want to say that Yale Sucks. But nevermind me ;)

Posted by Lolita @ 04/03/2002 07:49 PM PST


After reviewing the questions (as opposed to reviewing the situation), I bet you're really sorry you made this "Ask BK Day"!

Posted by kerry @ 04/03/2002 08:41 PM PST


Where are you going, and what will you find?

What's in that grab bag that you call your mind?

No, on second thought, don't answer that last one!

Do you sleep in pyjamas?

Did you ever look closely at that word "pyjamas"?

Posted by William F. Orr @ 04/03/2002 08:50 PM PST


Alright, so it's Thursday now, but I'd still like to slide these queries in before it's too late!

What's your favorite "unknown" musical?

What are your thoughts on Jeanine Tesori's "Violet"?

What's your musical theatre dream role?

What's your favorite track from the Terry Trotter Sondheim series?

Are there truly worse things than staring at the water as you're posing for a picture after sleeping on the ferry after getting up at 7 to come over to an island in the middle of a river half an hour from the city on a Sunday?

Does everybody love Louis? Him as well as his cakes?

And, above all, does anyone still wear a hat?

Posted by Jed @ 04/04/2002 01:08 AM PST





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