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[elmore3003]

Yes, I'm back! I got in about 2 hrs ago, unpacked, ordered dinner, won an eBay item, and here I am. Next week the stupid US Air goes back to three nonstop flights a day from Dayton to LaGuardia. Fuckem.

There was a delay in DC with the shuttle to LaGuardia so I got back later than expected, but the 2-hour wait in DC was a major pain in the butt. I hate having to take two planes to get to one location.

So, anyway, I think I had a very good time in Ohio, probably regained every pound I lost, and it's nice to feel that Randy and I still constitute a family unit and that I care greatly for him and Jo and my nephews and nieces. I also saw more friends than I usually do - some I hadn't seen in 30 years! - and that was a wonderful thing.

DR Ginny, the package had a glitch; it should arrive by Wednesday.

And now I'm tired. I have to be here tomorrwo to receive three cartons of Fed Ex and wait for Fed Ex to ship out 4 cartons of manuscripts to Miami University. And then there's also laundry to be done. Oy.

[Matt H.]

I did watch the three bonus features when I went back downstairs. The longest was only 25 minutes, so it took less than a hour to finish off the disc.

[Matt H.]

So glad you made it back safely, DR Larry, even with the burdensome plane changes.

[Matt H.]

I did not get any review discs in the mail today, so it looks like tomorrow's assignment will be the new Centennial Edition of BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S. Again, there are three or four new bonus features in addition to porting over the others from the last release of the film on DVD. It will likely take me the afternoon and part of the evening again to finish everything. I could write the film up now if I wanted since I've seen it so many times, but I'll hold off for tomorrow.

[Matt H.]

Once I finished the Criterion disc, I put in Mae West in SHE DONE HIM WRONG. Although I had burned a DVD for myself a few years ago from a TCM broadcast (since it looked like Universal wasn't going to release any more of their Mae West pictures), they did release this one, and it's been sitting on my to-watch shelf for a year waiting to be watched.

It's basically the same quality of the disc I burned: heavier grain than one might expect and some scratches along with a hissy audio track. Still, it goes on the shelf with the Mae West box set Universal issued some years back.

[Matt H.]

After that was finished, I was in the mood for a mystery, so I took off the shelf the Joan Hickson version of A POCKETFUL OF RYE. I love all of her Miss Marple films, but in this one, she's barely in the first hour. It's an excellent mystery all tied into the old nursery rhyme.

[Matt H.]

I ended my evening by skimming through today's AS THE WORLD TURNS. Nothing of interest, but Luke-Brian-Noah were certainly prominent in the previews for tomorrow. Should be a good episode.

[td]

Borders is safe until at least 2011.  I speak because I know.

But the location in Sacramento is closing and offering 40%-off their entire stock. -At least according to the e-blast that Border's sent out.

. . .and the follow-up email that went out.

The official line on the Sacremento screw-up is that someone really f**ked up royally by sending a regional short list letter out nationwide, leaving upper levels with tons of spin control and many more Borders' customers questioning when the rest of the stores were closing.

[Ron Pulliam]

Let the joyous news be spread....

I am back in my homestead!

[JoseSPiano]

Let the joyous news be spread....

I am back in my homestead!

...And what about the joyous news?





Welcome home, DR Ron Pulliam.

[Ron Pulliam]

The inflight movie I watched was "Vicky Cristina Barcelona". I rather enjoyed it.  Bardem was delightful in a suave lover role.  The two women were interesting.  I liked the blond the best.  The brunette kept channeling Mia  Farrow...or, rather, was Woody Allen's female alter-ego.

[Ron Pulliam]

Let the joyous news be spread....

I am back in my homestead!

...And what about the joyous news?





Welcome home, DR Ron Pulliam.

Awww...has my departure from the east coast dimmed your lights?

[Dan (the Man)]

DRs Elmore and Ron, it's so nice to have you back where you belong!

[elmore3003]

My cousin Sue Ellen is our family's historian and she gave me on Saturday a CD-rom of family stories and photos, many of which I've either not seen in 50 years or never seen. I've been caught up in them and the ones from the 1930s of my mother and her siblings are very "Little Rascals." DR MBarnum would love them and all my mother's sisters 1940s dresses.

Here's my mother and dad on their wedding day, 1944.

[Matt H.]

The inflight movie I watched as "Vicky Cristina Barcelona". I rather enjoyed it.  Bardem was delightful in a suave lover role.  The two women were interesting.  I liked the blond the best.  The brunette kept channeling Mia  Farrow...or, rather, was Woody Allen's female alter-ego.

I am supposed to get this DVD to review when it comes out in January. At this point, I can't remember if it was the DVD or Blu-ray version, but I'll be seeing it within a few weeks, and as the movie is his biggest hit in years and has garnered his best reviews in years (and with an almost certain Oscar nomination for Penelope Cruz in the supporting category), I'm looking forward to seeing it.

[Matt H.]

Glad you made it back home safe and sound, DR Ron.

[bk]

MattH, I'll be interested to hear if the Breakfast At Tiffany's is the same wretchedly brown disgusting transfer from the last special edition.  One of the worst color transfers ever of one of my favorite IB Technicolor films ever - and no one can tell me ANYTHING about the look of this film as I owned a pristine 35mm IB Tech print, which was one of the most stunning prints I've ever seen.

[elmore3003]

Here are my brother Macbeth and me on Easter Sunday, 1957. I'm on the left.

Scary!

[Matt H.]

Now, I think I'll head downstairs to bed.

Good night!

[Dan (the Man)]

I spent the day in NYC.  My nephew has a school project that involves spending time with someone in his proposed field of study, namely entertainment reporting.  So I went up to the city with my nephew and sister.  After we dropped off my my nephew, my sis and I started to walk about the Fifth Ave looking for a place to eat breakfast, but we detoured through Saks and St. Patrick's.  We wound up brunching in the Rockerfeller Plaza concourse where we watched them clear the ice of skaters just so this one guy (who didn't skate well at all) could publicly propose to his girlfriend.  The crowd cheered as she evidently accepted.  After that spectacle, we decided that it was too cold to make our way up to the Met Museum and instead found our way to MOMA where we spent the rest of the afternoon.  Even though the city was cold, and crowded and filled with what seemed to be too many screaming kiddies, a good time was had by all.

[Matt H.]

MattH, I'll be interested to hear if the Breakfast At Tiffany's is the same wretchedly brown disgusting transfer from the last special edition.  One of the worst color transfers ever of one of my favorite IB Technicolor films ever - and no one can tell me ANYTHING about the look of this film as I owned a pristine 35mm IB Tech print, which was one of the most stunning prints I've ever seen.

I remember how much you didn't like it. I'll be absolutely shocked if it isn't the same transfer.

[Matt H.]

And now I'm REALLY going!

[JoseSPiano]

I spent the day in NYC.  My nephew has a school project that involves spending time with someone in his proposed field of study, namely entertainment reporting.  So I went up to the city with my nephew and sister.  After we dropped off my my nephew, my sis and I started to walk about the Fifth Ave looking for a place to eat breakfast, but we detoured through Saks and St. Patrick's.  We wound up brunching in the Rockerfeller Plaza concourse where we watched them clear the ice of skaters just so this one guy (who didn't skate well at all) could publicly propose to his girlfriend.  The crowd cheered as she evidently accepted.  After that spectacle, we decided that it was too cold to make our way up to the Met Museum and instead found our way to MOMA where we spent the rest of the afternoon.  Even though the city was cold, and crowded and filled with what seemed to be too many screaming kiddies, a good time was had by all.

So that was you, DR Dan (the Man)! 

Ah... MoMA...

[elmore3003]

Last one: my mother, her four sisters, and my Uncle Paul the baby. This is around 1929. my Uncle Bob was born in 1931.

[JoseSPiano]

OK... Since I feel sleepy, I think I'm going to go to sleep, so...

Goodnight.

[Dan (the Man)]

So that was you, DR Dan (the Man)! 

Ah... MoMA...

Yes, again although incredibly crowded, it was a wonderful place to spend the afternoon.  So many glorious paintings...

We had a sort of good new/bad new situation--since my sister's place of work is a corporate sponsor, we were able to by-pass the long, long general admission line outside and make it through to the merely long line inside for free admission.  The bad side is that Van Gogh was sold out.

I was shocked to find that MOMA houses Andrew Wyeth's "Christina's World".  I was doubly shocked to find it hung in a small shabby hallway of a gallery.

[Dan (the Man)]

DR Elmore, I'm lovin' the family history pics!  I'll check the rest out tomorrow since I am barely able to keep my eyes open here.

[bk]

I gotta tell you.

[Matthew]

At the beginning of the day, I never thought I'd be a rock guitarist by the end of the day.  The purchase of Guitar Hero for PS2 has taken care of that.  My students will be impressed. 

[JMK]

JMK, please let us know how Stairway to Heaven looks.

Just finished a wonderful day of Powell-gazing.  Stairway/Life & Death looks pretty damned good.  The Technicolor segments look excellent, though you might quibble they're just a tad on the purple side of things.  It's certainly head and shoulders above any other release I've had/seen (I don't have a region free player, so I can't compare to the R2 version that's been out for some time).  There's a bit of damage in the b&w segments, nothing too egregious.

The real story, color-wise, is Age of Consent.  I had never seen this one before.  Wowza, what a palette!  Have you seen it, BK?  Amazing.  You should release the Sculthorpe score on Kritzerland--a lovely little piece, redolent of gamelans.  The stems sound like they were slightly damaged somewhere along the way, probably when the score was jettisoned in favor of one by Stanley Myers.