Well, dear readers, the thud of fireworks in the distance continues as I write these here notes. Thud, thud, thud. All illegal, of course. One house somewhere blew up due to idiots doing this. In any case, there were no fireworks in my home environment, except me hocking another glob of gunk out of me. Thankfully, the house didn’t blow up. I only really had two mild coughing fits, so that was good. I felt a bit better, but the gunk is still there and hopefully will dissolve completely soon. I did get nine hours of very good sleep with some of the weirdest dreams ever – they literally made not one lick of sense. Every time I was somewhere, I was somewhere else a second later. I was trying to have some crab for dinner and reached into my pocket but only had a dollar. A second later in a different location I had a pocketful of money but no wallet. Then I found I’d left my wallet in the car, which was unlocked, but everything was still in the wallet. Then the late Nick Redman, who is never “late” in any dream in which he appears, and he appears in quite a few – I mean, he’s passed away, but we still talk and see each other for some reason. He said I had a package, and it was very large. Then he disappeared after opening it and it was filled with all manner of posters and signed stuff, some of which he’d taken out and put against the wall before leaving. Then I saw there were a bunch of these large packages. Then someone asked me for proof it was my package and I said it had my name on it. As it turned out, you could only see my first name and my last initial and it wasn’t my package after all. I mean, what the HELL was all that about and frankly I’m surprised I remember it all so well. Thud, thud, thud. I did manage to watch a motion picture last night, one I thought I’d seen at some point on home video but apparently not, as not a frame of it was known to me. I searched this very site and indeed it appears nowhere. Funnily, I do think I own a Warner Archive DVD of it but never watched it. I was buying all that stuff when they began the archive, and I don’t think I’ve watched hardly any of them.
Anyway, I read the book when it came out, as I was a fan of Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain novel (not the film). I remember liking it quite a bit. I’m not sure how close the film sticks to it, but it’s certainly an interesting movie. The director, Mike Hodges, made a well-loved cult film, Get Carter, and he’s a really interesting director. He was fired from The Omen II, but the footage he shot is the only interesting thing in that horrible movie. His direction in The Terminal Man is very good – he was inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper in his visual approach. He wanted to shoot it in black and white, but Warners said no – so, he designed the entire film until the final sequence in monochrome. Everything is white or gray pretty much throughout. He wanted to cut the short pre-credits scene and he was right, but Warners wouldn’t. But all you need to do is skip it and start with the credits and voila. George Segal is terrific in it, as is Joan Hackett, and the large supporting cast filled with good actors. The only music in the film is a short Bach prelude played by Glenn Gould and some muzak playing very quietly in some of the hospital scenes. But the film would be better with a score – Michael Small comes to mind, but Jerry Goldsmith in that era would have been a great choice. It just sort of ambles along and never really kicks into a higher gear, so there’s no real suspense at all. Warners hated it and dumped it into wide release in not great theaters. It played a couple of weeks and was gone with the wind. But I enjoyed it for what it was and the subject matter is certainly interesting in that Michael Crichton way.
Prior to that, after getting up there were almost no e-mais save for the endless spam. I ordered a grilled cheese with bacon sandwich from Paty’s and that was very good, and it arrived really fast, too. Then I just was lazy and watched some YouTube videos, had a brief telephonic conversation, and then after the movie, I made a bean and cheese burrito and that was amusing. And then it was time to write these here notes.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll just do whatever I feel like but I’m not leaving the house. I’ll catch up on some stuff then I can watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow is the same, although I may go out as she of the Evil Eye needs a couple of things. I’d just do a quick Gelson’s run and come right home. Monday, she of the Evil Eye comes, so I will have to leave at eight-thirty and go somewhere for breakfast. I’m not thrilled about it, as I don’t really want to be near people in close proximity. I’ll try to think of something that’s not crowded, which wouldn’t be Jinky’s. Anyway, the week will be busy and I hope to get the book to the designers on Monday, too.
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, do whatever I feel like, not leave the house, catch up on some stuff, eat, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite books by Michael Crichton, and your favorite films based on his books or directed by him or both. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, as the thud, thud, thud drones on.