Independence Day Light

[kevin_standlee]

With no Westercon to exhaust us, we had a relatively quiet 4th of July. We did make a trip into Reno to take advantage of a sale from Sherwin-Williams (approximately four cans of paint for the price of three) because it's time to repaint the porch (and the wood box, and some other things) again. The climate here (lots of sun, lots of wind, lots of fine dust/sand) means repainting is not quite like the Golden Gate or Forth bridges, but something that does need to be redone every year or two. We're very glad we have metal siding to protect the house.

In the evening, it was time for a movie.



Lisa fired up her Laserdisc player and we watched the super-extended version of 1776. This has even more restored material than the later DVD release. (The latter seemed to decide to drop the pieces that were in black & white from a work print, for example.) I've seen this musical live on stage more than any musical other than Thanks for Playing... The Game Show Show.

Kuma Bear joined us for the viewing, although possibly he was more interested in the salmon Lisa had dished out for us.

This is a long movie in this fully-restored version. It takes two double-sided LDs, but includes the overture, long-form opening titles, and intermission music, all of which were cut in the studio's zeal to get the theatrical release down to something shorter. Also cut from the theatrical release were dozens of "reaction shots" that you can see improve the story.

As a happy coincidence, the movie ended just as the fireworks started. There was a sanctioned fireworks event in Fernley last night, apparently supervised by the fire department, taking place about two miles east of us at the Fernley Out of Town Park. Avoiding crowds is good, so we were happy to see that by stepping outside and crossing the street to the verge of the rail yard, we had a clear line of sight to the fireworks. We even had the sound effects, although of course there was a clear delay between when we saw the explosions and heard them. Also, the bangs and booms bounced oddly off of buildings around us, making it sound like people were shooting off fireworks behind us as well.

Today has been quiet, which is certainly okay with me.

Comments

[garyomaha]

I watched "1776" too -- the "Director's Cut" -- on the Fourth. That non-music stretch between the opening songs and the next song is long, even for one of my favorite musicals. We did the show back in college (you know, much closer to 1776 itself).

[kevin_standlee]

That definitely is a long stretch between musical numbers. I would like to do that musical. I have parts of a reworking of it to map on the Worldcon and the WSFS Business Meeting written. Even though it means exiting early, I reckon I end up with the Richard Henry Lee role, if only because my last name can scan into the melody of "The Lees of Old Virginia."

[garyomaha]

That musical was the first I was involved with (tech only) in college and I experienced theater in a whole new light (no pun intended) beyond what we had done in high school. You mentioned R.H. Lee -- the fellow who played it at college eventually moved here to Omaha and became a successful music director and married a classmate of mine from high school. I still have some cues from that show rolling around in my head...and they were changed for the film version. And that's all I'll share with you for now, Mr. StandLEE!