duaneiac

From the boxed set --

Very good performances by both stars. Charlotte Rampling, in particular, is very good at expressing emotion through the things not said.

People, get ready -- after midnight, Santa Claus is coming to town on the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe!

A nice big band session (including the likes of Gerald Wilson, Conte Candoli, Med Flory, Jack Sheldon, Ted Nash, Dick Nash, Plas Johnson,Shelly Manne, Earl Palmer and Larry Bunker) covering mostly jazz standards like "Moanin'", "Take Five" and Mr. Hefti's own "Cute" and "Li'l Darlin'".

What would seem to be a most unlikely pairing actually produced a very entertaining program, both musically and conversationally.

Some jazz clubs have gone to the dogs and vice versa . . .

A film I'd never seen until last night. i purposely avoided it because I have an aversion to Capra-corn, but also -- a movie whose dramatic high point is a filibuster??? Talk about edge-of-your-seat thrills! Granted, there are some fine performances here, most notably by the two stars. Jimmy Stewart is about the only actor who could have made this movie palatable. But Claude Rains? He starts out okay, but by the last third of the film his accent shifts and one can't help but wonder why a member of the House of Lords is speaking in the US Senate. The story is kind of dark, dwelling as it does in political corruption and early "fake news". But scenes of the young boys who are coming to the defense of Mr. Smith being slugged around by the bad guys and even a car full of youngsters being forced off the road into a (offscreen) fiery death -- that's pretty grim stuff for a feel good comedy. Whether or not Mr. Smith deserved to be expelled from the Senate on the trumped up charges, clearly he would have deserved to be expelled because he went on a rampage around DC punching out members of the press. Granted, today such a senator would be a hero to half of the US depending on who was throwing & receiving the punches. Give me Preston Sturges any day. At least he knew how to make good use of William Demarest, unlike Mr. Capra who merely gives the actor a couple of lines here.

Disc 3 of 4, which contains half of Spellbound and all of Starting Time.

I can't give you anything but love, tequila, seventy-six trombones, three little fishies, this diamond ring, a hundred pounds of clay, cotton candy, lollipops and roses. What now, my love? Is that all there is?

Recordings from 1958-59 in Brazil, well before he signed with Verve Records and became an overnight success in the US in 1966.

I heard an interview with Michael Nesmith on NPR this morning. He was promoting his new memoir. While I don't think I'll be getting the book, it inspired me to give a listen to this disc once again --

Mr. Bass Man, please, please, please begin the beguine before the parade passes by the folks who live on the hill.

I'm kind of looking forward to this. I only saw a few episodes of the show when it was originally aired. It was funny, but I wasn't a huge fan at the tiem. A few years ago, I found some episodes of the show on DVD at the local library. It was at a time in my life when the gift of laughter was most welcome and those shows made me laugh out loud. I started watching episodes of the show on YouTube and even bought some of the DVD sets of the show. The best shows, like many of the best movie comedies, stand up to repeated viewings and just recalling a favorite line (such as "Welcome to the Diane Arbus cafe!") will make me break out in a laugh. And Christmas just isn't Christmas anymore without a viewing of MST3K's Santa Claus. I also enjoy the Rifftrax projects that Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett do, which follow the same bad film riffing concept. I hope the new series is good. I wonder if they ill be focusing on more modern bad movies or if they still have a treasure trove of older films they can exploit. I'm afraid they may now be making pop cultural references that an old guy like me will no longer understand. But then I wonder how many young people watching episodes of the old series can understand all those pop culture references.

Finally finished listening to the unabridged (18 1/2 hours!) audiobook version of Elvis Costello's memoir Unfaithful Music& Disappearing Ink. On the hole, it was an interesting listen. He has had musical collaborations with some legendary figures: Paul MCartney, Bob Dylan, Tony Bennett, George Jones, Allen Toussaint and Burt Bacharach not to mention encounters with the likes of Chet Baker, Solomon Burke, Emmy Lou Harris, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Roy Orbison, Anne Sofie von Otter, Questlove and Van Morrison to name a few. One would have to have at least a passing interest in Mr. Costello's music to really appreciate this book, but the tales he has to tell about all these musical collaborators are very entertaining and sometimes enlightening. I really enjoyed hearing the book performed by the author. His tone of voice at times really reflected the respect and admiration he had for some of those legends. At times, his tone shows bemusement or disbelief at the stupidity of some of his youthful indiscretions. His voice cracks as he recounts the scene of his father's passing (he passed away while listening to a recording of Clifford Brown playing "Yesterdays" -- we should all be so lucky when our time comes). In talking about the second and final breakup of his band The Attractions, he notes, "You know that thing Neil Sedaka said -- (his voice dropping to a whisper) -- it's not true!" One of my favorite anecdotes was about an appearance at a music festival following Bob Dylan. Elvis Costello had toured as the opening act for Bob Dylan a few years before, but at this festival for what ever reason, Bob Dylan went on at 8 PM and Elvis Costello at 10 PM. From their tour today, Mr. Costello knew that Mr. Dylan's concerts could be erratic affairs as the singer often went out of his way to play some of his more obscure tunes instead of just the hits. But at this concert, he played almost exclusively one legendary hit after another, the band's solos were kept tight and they ended with three encores.. As Bob Dylan came off the stage, he saw Mr. Costello standing in the wings and came up to him smiling, saying, "There ya go -- I softened 'em up for ya!" There is, of course, some mention of Diana Krall and it provides a different view of her than most of us, like her or hate her, have ever had before. I'll admit, I never expected that marriage to last, but here they are 14 years later and he still sounds very much in love and very grateful to have her (and their sons) as part of his life.

Disc 3 of 3

I liked The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and I loved The Young Girls of Rochefort, so I figured I would give this Jacques Demy film a try, despite the unpromising title. I would say this movie is the cinematic equivalent of the Hindenburg, but hey, at least the Hindenburg got off the ground, a feat which this dud never accomplishes. Another fine example of people with proven talent coming together to produce a film of absolutely no merit whatsoever. Avoid at all costs!

I've got a feeling your mother should know the way you do the things you do up on the roof.

A trio session from 1990 with James Genus and Leis Nash