Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Vacation day!

Tuesday off! A movie at the theatre early: "Shoot 'Em Up". Definitely better than you might think from the title; I'd of sat through it again immediately. I was one of those rooting for Clive Owen
to be the next Bond. They decided he was too old, and though Daniel Craig was good, I think they might have missed a sure bet!

We beat the rain home, and settled in for a 2nd movie, one Dottie didn't think she had seen until we were a bit into it. "Kelly's Heroes", from 1970. All star cast, led by Clint Eastwood. Dottie decided that might be one of her favorite WW2 movies. I hadn't seen it in years, and on DVD it was a treat.

Along with dinner we watched "Eureka", a Sci-Fi channel series we started watching last year. One we both look forward to each week...

We have a DVD recorder that my oldest and his wife gave us for Christmas and birthdays two years ago, and I two movies I had recorded for her skipped in the same place, so I put in one I had recorded for our 3rd movie of the night. She grumbled a bit when Leo the lion came on in black and white (she says that it reminds her of growing up poor with black and white TVs when everyone else had color). As we eased into "The Americanization of Emily" Paddy Chayefsky's writing along with James Garner and Julie Andrews won her over, and at 12:30 she went off to bed with a smile on her face. (No skips, either.)

I finished the last half our of a 3 hour documentary on Kansas City Jazz I had been working through this last week, recorded from PBS a year or so ago, then put in another movie I had bought last year. I don't know if any of you might remember Veronica Lake, but I fell madly in love with her back in my early teens. She walked away from Hollywood about the time I was born and only did two more movies after that, the last of which is called "Flesh Feast" from 1970. She died a few years after that much too young. Though it would be called a camp horror movie, a "B" or even "C" pic, it's better than you might think from the title and was worth watching just for her. I have a paperback copy of her autobiography I bought last year around here that I will get to at some point; it's so yellowed and the pages are so brittle I don't dare carry it to work, not that I have much reading time there anymore...

Meanwhile, the 5th load of laundry is in and I need to go move it. As I wander off, I ran across something very very special the other day. Many of you know my love of jazz. One of my idols was Gerry Mulligan, and I was fortunate enough to see him here in the early 90's before his untimely death (complications from knee surgery). He was an extraordinary talent; playing, writing and arranging some very fantastic things from the time he was in his teens.

One of the highlights of that concert was when he added singing to that list; though he might not be a Tony Bennett, give him a chance and then wait for him to pick up his horn...please?



May the rest of the week be kind to you each!

alan

9 comments:

Jennifer said...

Ha! I remember Veronica Lake because my mom always accused me of trying to look like her. I was in junior high, and my hair was constantly falling in my eyes :-)

Interesting, juxtaposing the simplicity of those vocals with the fabulousness of the horn. I like!

Glad you had a mostly relaxing vacation day (LAUNDRY!?) I hope you get another one soon.

robin andrea said...

That's a great video, alan. What a cool find.

I remember Veronica Lake. Interesting that my mother accused me of the same thing as zbtzahbtzoo's mother because my hair was always in my eyes. I am a big fan of film noir, and I'm pretty sure I've seen VL in a few very fine movies of that era.

CrackerLilo said...

I am glad you had such a fun and restful day!

I just love a movie title that gives you a real good idea of what you can expect. :-)

dragonflyfilly said...

the americanization of emily...i liked that movie a long time ago...cannot even remember what it is about but I remember liking it.

and WHO could forget Veronica Lake, my sissy and I used to fight over who would BE her when we played our pretend games.

how's things in the mechanics's world now??

cheers for now,
pj

b o o said...

i'm a big clive owen fan but i thought daniel craig makes an excellent Bond

hey you *hugss*

Green tea said...

Loved this post Allan
I laughed at Dolly's comment about Black and white TV.
We were the last ones on our block to get color, and my kids couldn't believe it when we finally did get one in the early 70's
Now we are the last ones again, because we don't have a Hi Def TV..
Hubba can certainly afford to get one
I think he is just afraid of new technology.. :D
I am a old movie buff..I love to watch TNT and AMC Channels
I loved Veronica Lake, but personally I wanted to look like Liz Taylor..*GRIN*
Never missed a movie of hers.
Thanks for sharing your life with us...

Green tea said...

DUHH!
That should have been TCM
Turner Classic Movies

taza said...

5 movies and 5 loads of laundry--that does not sound like a "day off" my friend--that sounds like stimulus overload + chores!

but to each their own (ha) -- howgenerous of me, huh?

i have been watching HHDL videos lately, teachings on the 4 Noble Truths and the 6 Paramitas. sometimes i even stay awake until the end....!

MB said...

Oh, Alan, I was listening to Gerry Mulligan as I read this post!! I do wish he'd got to be a really, really old man so we could've heard more, more, more of his incredible sound.