Film Score Blogs by Bill Wrobel Today is the first full day of Spring. The Spring Equinox occurred yesterday at 5:07 pm Pacific time. Today is also my day off, hence avoiding heavy Penny-Saver day at the Post Office. I need the rest, especially after a hectic, busy day at work yesterday, trying hard to get done in eight hours. Then my wife and I went across town for a 6:15 pm appointment with our tax lady. I was a bit worried that we might be hit harder this year because most of my wife's part-time jobs did not take out federal and state income taxes. Fortunately the marriage penalty was relaxed this year (I believe the deduction is $10,500 now) and I also had more withholding taxes taken out from my own job. So we only need to pay about $400 in taxes in mid-April. Leaving the tax lady's place in a fairly good or relieved mood, we then proceeded to Soup Plantation for dinner. I particularly like the creamy tomato soup and the ginger broth. Of course I had a big plate of salad with lots of lettuce. Also today I received in the mail my eBay-won vhs video of The Hanging Tree, music by Max Steiner. I saw the auction on Sunday by a man from Houston who offered two mint condition copies of the movie http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Hanging-Tree-1993-VHS_W0QQitemZ250093284544QQcategoryZ309QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem The auction was going to be over in several hours so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity since nobody bid on the item(s) yet. I put in the minimum bid at $12.99 and won the item. So far this movie has not been released as a dvd (I rather doubt it will), and the vhs was not available when several years ago I purchased many vhs Max Steiner-scored movies. I have not seen the movie in many years but decided not to open this 1993 vhs yet since I believe this coming Sunday a film music researcher guest (and his wife) will be visiting. They never saw the movie and it will be a treat watching it together. This morning I took the opportunity to use the wife's car and go to the local University to do some quick music research. I specifically wanted to peruse the microfilms of Etude, "The Music Magazine," that ended circulation sometime in the Fifties. I wanted particularly to copy Mark Hambourg's "Master Lesson" on Tchaikovsky's "April" (from T's Seasons). I was alerted to this small paper by Karen J. Hom's master thesis (1986) that I discovered and purchased (for $10) March 10 at Acres of Books used bookstore. It's a fine dissertation titled "A Study of the Solo Piano Literature of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky With Reference To Selected Works," a thesis presented to the faculty of San Diego State University. My wife and I attended an arts festival downtown and saw that the bookstore was open until 9 pm, so I browsed and found a few good items, including Green's Form in Tonal Music. Hom's selected works where she generously reproduced many excerpts were Tchaikovsky's piano Sonata in C# Minor (opus 80), Sonata in G Major (Opus 37), The Seasons (Op. 37 a/b/bis), Six Pieces (Opus 19), and Six Pieces on a Single Theme (Opus 21). Inspired by the thesis, I decided to purchase two cds from Amazon including Ponti's performances of the Seasons and the C# Sonata (Vox Classical release) for $10.99. I haven't received them yet. Hom discussed the "April" segment of The Seasons in Bb in 6/8 time. The music is rather Herrmannesque by the looks of it (if the melody line was slowed down significantly) but I need to substantiate it by the listen of it once I hear the cd. The melody is played p dolce where we find the Line 1 F 8th in the grace bar to (Bar 1) G dotted quarter note legato to A quarter note to Bb 8th up to (Bar 2) Line 2 D dotted quarter note to C quarter note down to F 8th up to (Bar 3) B dotted quarter note up to Line 2 C quarter note to D 8th up to (Bar 4) F dotted quarter note to Eb quarter note to same Eb 8th to (Bar 5) E dotted quarter note up to Bb quarter note to A 8th down to (Bar 6) Line 1 A dotted quarter notes, and so forth. Mark Hambourg wrote in the April issue of Etude that Tchaikovsky "wrote a collection of twelve short piano pieces, each representing one of the months of the year. Best known among them perhaps is "Troika," written for November, but none of the twelve has greater romantic appeal than the charming "April." …written "in an atmosphere of reflective lyricism…" Mark wrote that the piece "must be played with nostalgic sentiment and the Slavic melancholy so characteristic of Tchaikovsky's melodies. He then discusses the specific piano technique. I am quite eager as I await the arrival of the cd. The entire piece was printed in that issue of Etude so I will be able to follow the music as I hear it. Hom wrote on page 101 of her thesis: "There are other reasons for Tchaikovsky's lesser stature as a keyboard composer. He was a gifted orchestrator, and he focused most of his attention on symphonies, operas, ballets, and concertos. As a result, these large-scale works have enjoyed such popularity that the solo piano music has been overlooked. Because Tchaikovsky was an orchestrator, he tended to think in orchestral terms, even in writing piano music. This, thick textures permeate a number of his piano pieces." She also wrote (on page 99): "Though Tchaikovsky's piano music is not considered innovative, it does feature elements which are noteworthy. Like Tchaikovsky's orchestral works, the solo piano compositions display clearly the composer's gift of melody. The expressive melodic contour is further supported by colorful harmonies and strong rhythms. These melodies, harmonies, and rhythms are sometimes exhibited in a Slavic context. Russian folk tunes are included in Tchaikovsky's piano repertoire, along with the use of pedal point, which has been credited to Glinka." Once again, I will be quite keen to listen to this piece, especially the opening sequence, since it looks (on the written page) rather Herrmannesque in style. As I mentioned in a previous blog, T's Manfred Symphony includes some Herrmannesque elements as well. Herrmann's "Romantic" style is quite homophonic in structure… Gee, I almost accidentally wrote "homophobic!" Tchaikovsky of course was gay (Herrmann was straight.) Homophonic structure means melody/lyric with a subordinate accompaniment (usually chordal for both Herrmann and T.). Also like Tchaikovsky, Herrmann was enormously gifted as a colorful orchestrator. Both had a terrific dramatic sense. Both tended to be rather "moody" with their music, a focus on the deep and dark sides. Both were gifted in being able to heighten emotional effect. Both composers liked to use the repetitive compositional device. Both liked using arpeggiated bass chords and forms of the perpetuum mobile (perpetual motion). Both like the "question & answer" device (say, the flute answering the same phrase just played by the clarinet). Etc. So I think there are many common characteristics between the two composers. Max Steiner, however, would far more closely resemble T's gift of melody than Herrmann. Of course the most prominent "Steinerism" is his gift of melody. I discussed other Steinerisms in a previous blog. There were other interesting articles in various issues of Etude include a piece by Darius Milhaud called "Modern Music" Is Nonsense. He starts off the essay with the following: "Let me begin talking about composing by saying that I have absolutely no philosophy of composition. I write what I feel. The only 'philosophy' of composition is to have something to say, and then to say it in a craftsmanlike manner." Darius has a nice, clear, clean style of writing (direct-to-the-point). But his ideas in this essay tend to be a bit defiant, a sort of "to hell with you" sentiment. I like his readable style but I do not necessarily agree with his underlying philosophy or belief system. He does not have a balanced view, dismissing criticisms of atonality, say. He states, "Words like discordant and cacophony are entirely subjective terms. What sounds discordant to one set of ears (and to the musical potentialities inside them) sounds quite delightful to another." On the surface this sounds reasonable, yet if you give it deeper thought, it ignores basic realities regarding the nature of harmony. Being in a constant state of disharmony would show different effects than being in a constant state of harmony. This is certainly shown in the area of physical and psychological health. Stress of disharmony can have real negative effects upon the body and psyche over time. Kurt Stone in the February 1951 issue of Etude has an article titled "The Origin of the Fugue." I had that xeroxed. Virgil Thomson's essay titled "The Problem of Sincerity" (March 1951 issue) is also interesting. In the November 1951 issue. He wrote a piece titled "Atonality Today." Sigmund Romberg wrote a short piece called "How To Write A Song" in the December 1950 issue. His attitude is basically 'You either have talent and ability or you don't.' Well, certainly prodigies show the innate talent clearly demonstrated. They brought it in, so to speak, or built in from development, say, in other incarnations. Others may not be so gifted but have learned to develop it in this lifetime, building it into their nature slowly, step by step. It is a focus of attention, a value fulfillment, brought alive by desire. So far today [9:49 pm] there have been 511 hits on my site, according to StatCounter.com. This is thanks to the JWFAN dot com site update announcing my CE3K rundown: http://www.jwfan.com/index.php I believe that is the most hits I had on my site ever. It started Monday with 182 visits, and then 229 total hits on Tuesday. What I found amusing, however, was the public General Discussion board on that site because someone started a topic/thread called "CE3K Score Rundown, Stupid Errors." Well, if anyone made "stupid errors" of reporting, it was that poster. He erroneously stated that I go on and on about product placement of Coca-Cola in the movie and claim it's because "they" owned Columbia. Well, of course, I never stated that in my paper, but he then says why bother writing such a meticulous study of the score and then make stupid comments "out of your a** "? This hasty and juvenile (or at least juvenile-minded) poster would fail miserably as a researcher, and certainly as a proof-reader. He tends to see things that actually don't exist (such as statements I never wrote). The fact that he also chose to be crude and rude with his "ass" statement shows his true character and state of intellectual development (and lack of common decency or etiquette). He needs to apologize with that remark but such people rarely do. Best to ignore such juvenile-minded posters (not "debating" them on public forums). It's not worth the effort. Most people probably would shake their heads and laugh at such juveniles anyway. I know at least that I had a good chuckle out of his post! [Thursday, March 29 at 12:53 pm] Day off. My wife went back east Tuesday afternoon to visit family for about two weeks. A few days ago I did indeed finally get my first Tchaikovsky piano music order from Amazon�the one performed by Michael Ponti ( Vox CDX 5087 two-cd set). I listened immediately to "April" (track # 4 of CD 1). The tempo marking is Allegretto con moto e un poco rubato in 6/8 time, so it's rather fast. The melody line of the first section can be construed as sounding rather Herrmannesque if, as stated earlier, it was played much slower and converted to an orchestral texture (not just solo piano). Personally I lean heavily towards the orchestral so I am not completely satisfied with the album but I appreciated hearing melodies by Tchaikovsky that I had not previously experienced from my listening of many of his orchestral works. An analogy is, say, Herrmann doing primarily piano works that obviously would not convey the full dimensions and pleasures inherent in his talented orchestral talents. The piano works would convey the basic musical thought forms but that's all. I prefer the whole musical enchilada! A poster on Talking Herrmann in the "Herrmann score for a Spielberg movie" thread on March 27th commented that he felt some of Ravel was borrowed by John Williams for "The Mountain" cue (track # 14) of CE3K. I replied: "You got me interested about Williams borrowings from Ravel and Hovhaness for CE3K. Can you be more specific? Where exactly from Daphnis et Chloe did Williams directly borrow from? Can you give a specific location (timing, especially if you have a cd) and from what section ("Lever du jour" or ???). Similarly for MYSTERIOUS MOUNTAIN. If you are speaking of a generalized "feel" or sensibility instead of a direct quotation, that's another thing. I can also hear, say, Goldsmith being influenced by Ravel in some works. I can hear Ravel in some of Williams' HOOK, and so forth, but not necessarily direct borrowing per se. "I just did a rundown of CE3K and found that Williams seemed more influenced by Penderecki. The music editor, Ken Wannberg, had recalled that, "the one piece I remember that it was temped with ...Penderecki." This incolves tone clusters, weird string devices, etc. But I can sense some of Ravel in the more traditional cues of CE3K but I don't remember any direct quotes, but perhaps you can give us specific locations. I'd love to hear them." I haven't received a reply from him yet but I am certainly open to the possibility that Williams did a direct quotation or "ball park" borrowing. I can hear some stylistic similarities based on what I have of Ravel's work (not all of it I have, unfortunately). But the same can apply to Jerry Goldsmith, as I indicated in my reply post. For example, if you have Goldsmith's Intrada cd of King Solomon's Mines, go to track # 13 ("Upside Down People"). Then skip to 2:25. This section of the cue is rather like the delicate opening section of "Lever du jour" in Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe. In track # 16 ("The Rirual; Low Bridge") starting at 4:56, you also hear that rather same delicate, whispery side of Goldsmith. Very nice effect there! If you go to the Warlock cd, end track # 11, you'll hear the same from 1:44 to 2:26. If you go to The Shadow cd, track # 9 ("The Hotel"), you'll hear the same delicate effect starting at 3:55. But certainly the "Upside Down People" section I mentioned first is perhaps closest to Ravel in that section of Daphnis. Since I am talking about cds, here is some of my film music cd collection:
Bernard Herrmann Max Steiner Rozsa
Goldsmith
John Barry
Franz Waxman
Tiomkin
Miscellaneous Speaking of The Prisoner British tv series (quite fun), I took advantage of a half-off special from Amazon of Patrick McGoohan's first series, Danger Man, on dvd (5 dvds, 39 episodes. I'm on the second episode so far but I'm fond of this nostalgic reawakening of the good ole days of the Golden Years of television. Plus I have the treat of finally seeing all the episodes of this half-hour series. It turned to an hour format as Secret Agent. I purchased for half price Set 2 of eight episodes. I am particularly interested in watching "Colony Three," an episode that foreshadows The Prisoner series. There was an even greater spike of traffic interest in my site last week after someone posted about it on the Film Score Message Board in a topic called "Super Intense Notes on Goldsmith's Night Crossing" dated Sunday, March 25, 2007. The day before the page load noted on StatCounter.com was 136 visitors. But on Sunday it rose to 555. The previous high was the 21st with 513 hits (179 "Unique Visitors). Of the 555, 218 were "Unique Visitors," and 10 were "Returning Visitors." Monday showed the page load of 271, down to 144 on Tuesday, and 155 yesterday (Wednesday). Most of the comments were complimentary but a few posters were skeptical. One fella even stated "�but he could be making the whole thing up for all I know." I got a good laugh out of that one! Another poster commented it was "so sad, so pitiful." Evidently he thought the detailed rundown too linear and cumbersome (of course it would help if he could read and understand music) or like a post-mortem dissection (like CSI: Film Music!). It would be nice to show the actual scores online but that is impossible for legal reasons. A few posters did not like the "astrology stuff" and that it somehow cast doubt on the mindset of even producing the film music rundowns! Well, on the surface, this is understandable for those with the mindset (beliefs) of being against astrology, but his logic was faulty. Let's give a hypothetical analogy. Say, for example, you are against gay men (or insert astrology, or "Republican" or whatever). You really like Tchaikovsky's music, or the music of Leonard Bernstein, or Copland, Poulenc, Virgil Thomson, and so forth. Then one day you read that these composers were actually gay (or "Republican" or whatever). You are floored! But does this mean that their music you previously liked so much is suddenly devalued? Does this mean you will now sneer at their music because they were gay? That would be rather closed-minded, wouldn't it? Exclusive in approach rather than inclusive? My site is a specialty site; primarily a fact-dissemination exercise. I believe there is a Proverbs line about how knowledge is the acquisition of facts (sight, say) whereas understanding is the interpretation of those facts (say, insight). I attempt now and then to give understanding based on the facts (not based on speculations or, as many scholars do, reading-too-much-into-the-material). Of course you will always find some cyber-trolls out there who will criticize my work. Some will say my rundowns are making a short story long (!) or that it's too much information ("that's information we didn't really need to hear") or whatever. Except for occasional erudite and interesting posters on the Film Score Discussion Board and the John Williams discussion board (and others), I believe you have mostly film music fanzies who are basically collectors of the audio cds and not interested in a scholarly approach to the music they hear. Some of them are downright rude. If they do not like something then, without any pause for thought, they go on the attack and stomp on something they do not understand (especially if they cannot read music!). Some of these cyber-trolls in message boards engage in digital harassment who make a habit of provoking people, trying to push buttons, and so forth. Those few are cyber-bullies more than cyber-trolls. If someone states that my research is full of stupid errors, say (as one poster did), then discuss it in a civil manner (not say that I drew it from my a**), and prove your contentions. It would help if you did not quote something I never actually wrote! So far nobody has said I should be shot or hanged for what I write because that would be over the edge! But that has happened in many forums of different groups (such as the recent fears of Ms. Sierra after death threats). I believe in free speech but the culture of unabashed openness on the Internet can lead to license and excess. That is partially why I never allow anonymous posters to post comments on my site. There are bloggers and posters out there who do not follow the rules of civil behavior and intelligent, constructive discourse. They say whatever they want to say without inner self-censorship. They are juvenile and need to grow up. Anyway, for those few interested in astrology (!), there is good news if you wish to find quality reading material about astrological subjects. Dr. Zip Dobyns' CCRS Dodona astrology site has recently been updated. Now you can read every single issue and every article therein of The Mutable Dilemma periodical that existed between 1977-1999. Go to: http://www.ccrsdodona.org/m_dilemma/index.html If for some reason you cannot get it from the above link, then simply go to www.ccrsdodona.org and then click on "The Mutable Dilemma." Below that is "Asteroid World" where you can now access all of the publications tied to asteroids. In the Sagittarius 1995 issue of the Mutable Dilemma is "Scallion's Revised Horoscope," I was mentioned in the article that Zip wrote because I managed to get Gordon-Michael Scallion's (the so-called "futurist") actual birth time while I was at a Virginia Beach conference where he was giving a talk. He's still charging money off people on his matrix website. I recommend you keep your hard-earned money! I don't know how he can still have true believers especially after how all of his important predications fell completely flat. My wife wanted to check her emails on our computer while she was with her brother back east. Instead of constantly forwarding her messages, I found a site that allows a remote computer to check ones emails for free: She tested it yesterday and found out it works quite fine. [Friday, March 30 at 6:47 pm] Earlier on USA I watched a good episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent from the third season titled, "Consumed." I've been watching a lot of L&O;:CI in the past month, especially on USA and Bravo. I like Vincent D'onofrio's detective character. While L&O;: Special Victims Unit is now the most popular of the Law & Order series, I prefer Criminal Intent. The synth music (what little of it there is) is nothing to brag about, especially the drones! I miss the good ole days of television composing when Fred Steiner was working, William Lava, of course Bernard Herrmann, Franz Waxman, and a host of others. Times have changed (basically from the Golden Age back to the Bronze Age�if not Iron Age�of music). Referring back to Goldsmith's King Solomon's Mines, go again to track # 16 at the 4:56 point. You'll start to hear ephemeral music. In the written sketch score, this corresponds to Reel 9/pt 1A starting at Bar 8. The glock, violins I, and electric piano play (in 2/4 time) Line 2 F down to Line 1B 8th notes (crossbeam connected) up to Line 2 D down to Line 1 A 8th notes (crossbeam connected) to (Bar 9) B up to Line 2 D 8ths (crossbeam connected). This six-note sequence is repeated again thru Bar 10. So we hear Line 2 F down to Line 1 B 8ths up to (Bar 10) D-A-B-D 8th notes. The vibe in Bar 8 is ped slow motor sounding Line 2 F up to Line 3 D quarter notes down to (Bar 9) Line 2 B quarter note down to F quarter note up to (Bar 10) Line 3 D down to Line 2 B quarter notes. In Bar 11, the three-note sequence is now Line 2 F up to Line 3 Db quarter notes down to (Bar 12) Line 2 Bb quarter note. Then this is repeated thru Bar 13. Violins II in Bar 8 are fingered trem between Line 2 F down to D half notes while the bottom line violins II are fingered trem between Line 1 B up to Line 2 D half notes. Repeat next two bars. VC are fingered trem between small octave G-A half notes (repeated next two bars). Violas play legato 16th note running figures of Line 1 C#-D-E-F-G-A (connected as a figure by two crossbeams) to descending 16ths Bb-A-G-F-E-D. Repeat next two bars. Violas continue on Bar 11 on Db-Eb-F-G-A-Bb 16ths to Line 2 C-Line 1 Bb-A-G-F-Eb.
[Sunday, April 1 at 10:07 am] Yesterday early evening at Barnes & Noble I browsed a film book now titled "The Making of Casablanca" (formerly called "Round Up the Usual Suspects") by Alijean Harmetz. On page 257, David Raksin commented to the author in a personal interview about Max Steiner: "But as good as Steiner was, Korngold was better. His music was of a higher order with a much wider sweep." After I had completed my Herrmann self-borrowing paper, I had discovered even more self-borrowings. Tonight I went thru some old notes and scores. Herrmann composed sketches circa 1945 for CBS (perhaps a proposed radio series?) that are available at UCSB. At any rate, cue # 33 is titled "Huck Finn." The woodwinds and then a solo horn play a ten-note rather comical melody than was used a decade later for a few cues of The Kentuckian. I believe those cues are titled "The Bar" and the subsequent cue, "The Attic." A loose variation of this melody was shown in sketch cue # 13 titled "Edison." I believe I'll find more self-borrowings in the many sketches. After a nearly three-week wait, on Friday I finally got my Amazon order of the Naxos cd order of Tchaikovsky Piano Music Vol. 1 (8.553063). I'm listening to it now. It features the Sonata in G Major (Op. 37) and Six Morceaux, Op. 51). I like the Fourth Movement (track # 4) of the Sonata, especially the sempre staccato section that starts on Bar 36. It has a series of 8th note figures in 2/4 time in the key signature of G maj (one sharp). It has an almost Hollywood action style. The top staff plays Line 1 G/Line 2 D# to G/C to G/B to E/A# 8ths to (Bar 37) E/B to E/A# back to E/B to E/A# 8ths to (Bar 38) E/B to E/A# to E/B to C/F# 8ths to (Bar 39) small octave A#/Line 1 G up to middle C/F# back to A#/G to C/F# 8ths. The bottom staff plays small octave E/B/Line 1 E 8ths three times down to C/G 8ths to (Bar 37) E/G to C/G to E/G to C/G 8ths to (Bar 38) E/G to C/G to E/G 8ths down to Great octave A#/small octave E 8ths down to (Bar 39) Great octave E/small octave C 8ths up to A#/E back down to E/small octave C up to A#/E 8ths. Etc. I wish Tchaikovsky had formatted it orchestrally. I am not particularly excited by his Six Morceaux that I would want to listen to it frequently. Probably the 6th one, the Valse Sentimentale, is the best represented of the grouping. [6:17 pm] ESPN Classics on cable tv is now showing Jim Thorpe All American but I missed most of it, unfortunately. I entered when Thorpe enters the Olympics. I would've been watching L&O;:CI instead but it was one I saw already so I flipped the channels until I immediately recognized the movie and Max Steiner's music. [Sunday, April 15 at 9:44 am] The Internet connection is on & off this morning. I managed for a short while to listen to the sample audio tracks of Steiner's The Three Musketeers on SAE. The opening bars of the "Paris" cue of course was later self-borrowed about 20 years later for the Hugo theme in Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima. Starting at the 1:33 point of the cue, "Coach To Paris," we hear a melody that was later self-borrowed in King Richard & the Crusaders starting at the Reel 4/Part 2 cue of Kenneth riding alone in the desert (melody played by the flue and oboe). We find in Bar 5 Line 2 F quarter note to Eb quarter note tied to quarter note next bar to "3" triplet value 8th notes F-Eb-F to (Bar 7) Eb quarter note to Db quarter note tied to quarter note next bar to "3" triplet value crescendo 8ths Line 1 Bb-Line 2 C-Db to (a repeat of Bars 5-6 in Bars 9-10) to (Bar 11) Line 2 Ab half note tied to 8th note next bar (followed by an 8th and quarter rest). So now you have the basic melody line. [Wednesday, April 25 at 9:03 pm] Yesterday was my day off. My wife & I went to Huntington Beach at 1 pm to DVD Planet at 16672 Beach Blvd. At least I did (she went to nearby Marshall's!). I browsed and eventually credit card-purchased $216 worth of dvds. First and foremost I bought the new release (that very day) of JANE EYRE that includes two separate commentaries and the isolated score of Herrmann's music. I started listening to the commentary by Nick Redman/Steven Smith/Julie Kirgo. I'll make a review of it on Talking Herrmann and also in my next blog. I also purchased many Max Steiner-scored dvds: The Bride Came C.O.D., A Summer Place, Band of Angels, On Moonlight Bay, and By the Light of the Silvery Moon. I also purchased the Gary Cooper Signature Collection set of 5 movies �four of which are scored by Max: Sergeant York, Fountainhead, Dallas, and Springfield Rifle. That cost only $37.46. I also bought the two Errol Flynn Signature Collections. Four of the five movies in Volume 2 were scored by Steiner: Adventures of Don Juan, Charge of the Light Brigade, Dawn Patrol, and Dive Bomber. I'll review many of these dvds in the next blog. I may decide to do a chord profile on Jane Eyre now that the dvd is out and the isolated score, but I may do this instead with Steiner's The Adventures of Don Juan. After this expenditure, I doubt if I will spend more money on cds. If I had more discretionary money, I would consider buying the following cds:
-Ivanhoe (Rozsa) That's about $250 to $300 of cds! I think I'll hold off for awhile! I believe Woody Allen once quipped in a movie, in effect: This isn't the best of all possible worlds, but it certainly is the most expensive! ********************************** < Back to BLOG LIST : Next BLOG > |