Late Summer of '17

A cooling breeze blew through my apartment as I awoke to another beautiful late summer day. Listened to the original cast album for 42nd Street as I ate a far more leisurely breakfast than yesterday. Jerry Orbach and Tammy Grimes were the headliners in this 1980 version of the 1933 Warners musical movie, but the real stars were the famous Harry Warren-Al Dubin songs and Gower Champion's energetic staging. My favorite number is "Lullaby of Broadway," cribbed from Gold Diggers of 1935. Orbach leads the cast in persuading former chorus girl Peggy Sawyer (Wanda Riechart) to stay with the show and take over the lead.

Work was a lot easier than yesterday. I spent the entire day outside, doing the trash and rounding up carts. Fine by me. It was too nice to be inside all day, anyway. The sky was blue, and while the sun was warm, the wind had a slight nip of fall. It couldn't have been more than the lower 70's. I'd never seen a nicer day in early September.

Went straight home after work and on the computer. As soon as the group gets Luke in Lance's Lincoln Continental, they rush to his condo to pick up his and the others' things. Lance has decided Bespin Island is a little too hot for him at the moment. As they're leaving, they're chased by Vader and his boys. They manage to give them the slip at the marina, where the Falcon awaits them...if it can get started...

Broke around 6 for dinner and more music. I had leftover chicken legs and made a smaller batch of Cucumber-Tomato Salad. Made Butterscotch Chip Cookies while listening to my The Best of James Bond 30th Anniversary CD. The first disc has all the Bond theme songs up to License to Kill. Along with the title songs from Live and Let Die, View to a Kill, and Goldfinger, "Nobody Does It Better" from The Spy Who Loved Me, and "All Time High" from Octopussy, I was surprised to discover two lesser-known gems. Shirley Bassey's last Bond theme, the title song from Diamonds are Forever, is a stand-out in that strange but fun Connery film. You're more likely to think of space than music when you consider the sci-fi-themed Moonraker, but it has a surprisingly decent theme song.

Finished out the night as I baked the cookies with a couple of orchestral scores. One of the Acme employees had "The Imperial March" as the phone ring on his cell phone this afternoon, inspiring me to put on the full soundtrack from The Empire Strikes Back. Digging around for more orchestral scores, I came up with my LP for Summer of '42. Most of the lovely score is actually from the film The Picasso Summer, but it does have the famous theme song "The Summer Knows." I thought it was a fitting way to end the summer season.

Oh, and I've been enjoying something I've looked up on YouTube. One of my earliest record finds was Satin Affair, by the George Shearling Quintet. I'd never heard of them, but I loved the luxurious, late 50's-early 60's feel of the jazzy music. It's perfect for listening to on a lazy afternoon or evening in late summer. The back listed four other fabric-themed album titles, Velvet Carpet, White Satin, Blue Chiffon, and Black Satin, that I could never seem to find. I tried looking them up on YouTube instead. I've so far found Black Satin and Velvet Carpet. Here's the latter in full:

Velvet Carpet on YouTube

And I'm a little annoyed with myself. I got caught up in a book and wasn't paying attention to my cookies. Some of them are fairly edible, but most got burnt. Darn it. I'll still eat them. I don't like to waste food. I'll just dunk them in tea or something.