Progress

[randy_byers]

Still sick, but my mood is a lot better today after sleeping for much of yesterday. Feeling like the anti-Thomas Covenant; i.e., unclenched.

The only movie I ended up watching yesterday was Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, which was on TV. Despite the commercials, it was just the kind of braindead spectacle that I needed in my braindead state. Still think Jack Sparrow is one of Depp's best roles, and I love the production design of these movies too (by Rich Heinrichs, who has an interesting filmography that includes Fargo and The Big Lebowski as well as another Depp film, Sleepy Hollow.) One thing I noticed this time is that the film ends with both Jack Sparrow and Barbossa looking for the Fountain of Youth, so it would appear that the idea of adapting Tim Powers' On Stranger Tides was already in their minds. Or maybe somebody warned them about the book after they started going down this road, although it has always seemed to me that the first movie owed a lot to Powers' book to begin with.

I started coughing at the end of the day, but it hasn't gotten too bad yet. Staying home to see if more sleep will get me through the worst of this.

Comments

[ron-drummond.livejournal.com]

Nice to be unclenched! A spot of illness can be a hidden blessing. May you sleep long and deep and linger over warm cups and good books and be as warm and fuzzy as fuzzy and warm can be under the circumstances.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Ron. Sometimes a cold is nature's way of saying, "Relax and listen to some Debussy, wouldja?"

[ron-drummond.livejournal.com]

I'm a little horrified to report that I have no Debussy on hand whatsoever, not so much as a note! That means you're going to have to listen for the both of us.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I've loved "La Mer" going back to college days, but picking up Pelleas and Melisande when I read that it was an influence on Daniel Catan has slowly gotten me deeper into Debussy. I'm halfway surprised that you don't have any recordings of his string quartet.

[ron-drummond.livejournal.com]

Yes, I remember you talking of this process of deepening acquaintance and love. I do have recordings of the quartet, and a few other things too, just not here. I wish I did.

[n6tqs.livejournal.com]

I've recently watched the 3 "Pirates..." movies to see the boats I know, mostly, and then reread _On Stranger Tides_. They mesh amazingly well.
See you in a couple of weeks.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Ah, you know, I wondered if they had used real boats, and I guess they would've had to. Yep, see you at Potlatch.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear you caught the bug. I hope it's not quite the same one I've (still)got. Tomorrow marks the beginning of the third week I've had this effing thing and while it is getting better, it is by tiny little incremental degrees. Teh suck.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Dear god in heaven, I hope I've got something different.

[richardthe23rd.livejournal.com]

Heinrichs and crew won a well-deserved Oscar for "Sleepy Hollow," a gorgeous-looking movie with more than a little debt to Mario Bava.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I didn't know about the Oscar, thanks. There's also quite a Hammer influence on the movie. It really does look amazing, with the little gothic village and the wonderfully twisted tree.