Well, dear readers, I have breaking bombshell news so hold on to your hats – it is September. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, it is September, and it is my fervent hope and prayer that September will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful. I’m happy to say I’ve finished my work on my friend’s book, just doing some fixes the hubby suggested in the final three chapters. It took about two hours and that was it for the likes of me. I’ll now send the manuscript, all cleaned up and newly beautified, and she can send that to the folks who’ll be doing blurbs for her. The final day of August was nothing special. I went to bed at three and woke up at three-thirty and could not get back to sleep. So, I watched the last hour of Mr. Buddwing. Such a shame it wasn’t a better movie, but then I imagine it was not an easy novel to adapt. James Garner famously said he didn’t know what the movie was about and that it was the worst movie he’d ever made. And he really does look uncomfortable during all of it, like he’d rather be in any other movie. The year before, he’d done 36 Hours, a much more successful movie. You certainly can’t fault the cast – Jean Simmons, Suzanne Pleshette, Katharine Ross, and Angela Lansbury are the ladies and they’re all terrific – especially Pleshette, who give one of her finest performances. The supporting men are equally good – interestingly both Jack Gilford and George Voskovec are in it – a year later, Gilford would create the role of Herr Schultz in Cabaret and a couple of years after that, George Voskovec would replace him and I’d see him in the show opposite Lotte Lenya. Raymond St. Jacques is great, as is Ken Lynch, a favorite actor of mine – he’s in North by Northwest and Hotel and many other movies and TV things. Joe Mantell plays a cab driver. I used to see him every two weeks at the Reseda unemployment office. Wesley Addy also has a very small role. Kenyon Hopkins’ jazz-flavored score is very good. As I said, I just think it was the wrong screenwriter and director, but who knows? At seven, I had a couple of small biscotti and pill one, then went back to bed and slept until eleven. I felt groggy and out of sorts most of the day. I hate to be out of sorts – one always needs a plentiful supply of sorts. I ate my first helping of tuna pasta salad and took pill two, then realized I’d been offered three free months of Apple+ when I bought the new Mini Mac. So, I took that, which means come this Friday I can watch Spike Lee’s remake of High and Low. There are a few other things that look interesting. Then I rented The Umbrellas of Cherbourg to see what the new 4K transfer was like – for the most part, it looks really good – colors are vibrant and saturated, and they seem to have gotten rid of all the yellow from the previous transfers. Now, if they’ll only do the same for The Young Girls of Rochefort. Of course, I got sucked right into the movie and watch it all.
Then I had my second helping of tuna pasta salad and pill three and the Prednisone pill. I watched a few irritating YouTube videos, and a fun hot rod movie opening, shot on Vermont right near the Los Feliz Theater and then what would become Sarno’s. It was all very easy to ID. I had a nice telephonic conversation with dear reader Jeanne, who’ll be in escrow on Tuesday on her new condo. Very exciting. That was about it and here we are.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll definitely do what I did not do yesterday – go to the mail place and hopefully pick up two important envelopes – I’ll finish the tuna pasta salad throughout the day, do the big pill thing – the three pills, the Prednisone, and the once a week four pill thing. Other than that, no labor on Labor Day – I’ll just watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow, something is going on – maybe a phone call or something like that – definitely not a lunch meeting. I’ll do banking, and I have a lot of stuff to catch up on. Oh yeah, I’ll be Zooming with a potential set designer for the play I’ll be directing. The rest of the week is catching up, getting more orchestrated tracks, and then doing arrangements for act two, so those can get done.
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, go to the mail place and hopefully pick up two important envelopes, eat, take lots of pills, then just enjoy the holiday day and watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What cable subscriptions do you have and do you think they’re all worth it? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, as we try to remember the kind of September when life was slow and oh so mellow – and it is my fervent hope and prayer that September is a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.