Books and movie stars

No news from Andy lately. I wonder what he’s doing. He’s not much of the writing kind, so I didn’t expect to hear much from him anyway. He managed an occasional few lines. I learned that the flute competition in Kobe did not go as well as he wished. However that was a good experience for him, he said.

Other than that, I have no idea what is happening to him.

[…]

I’m keeping on with my reading of film-star memoirs. After Marilyn Monroe and Alec Guinness recently, I’m starting Hedy Lamarr’s, Ecstasy and Me. A ‘shocker’ as advertised on the cover. Brent is a film aficionado and we share great time talking about our favourite stars and films. He insisted on me having his copy of Bette and Joan, a book about the feud between the two stars. I’m not that fond of either of them, but it’s supposed to be quite a delightful read. Brent knows all the second hand bookstores in Chicago where you find treasures after treasures. My downfall it was; I came back with an overweight suitcase and bigger biceps!

Hedy Lamarr

Will see Alo tonight. We’re going to watch Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche New York. Beside books, I have also spent lots of time searching for DVD’s. And it’s always nice to have a cinema companion who can actually appreciate films. I’m curious to see how Charlie Kaufman fares as a director. It may be crazy but I think I’ll approach him for the project when the time comes. It’s crazy, but why not?

I wonder whether he’d be at ease writing a libretto for an opera. I love his screenplays so much that I can’t think of anyone but him –and/or Philip Pullman, to be able to come up with a synopsis ‘big’ enough for what I want to do.

Until then, my play in music will be a good preparation, albeit in a much smaller scale. The fact that the play will be in two different languages will allow the playwrights lots of freedom. When I told her about it, Minita asked whether it could be in Hindi and French for example – does she know any Indian writer? The plot will be the same. The differences will come from the way it is told according to the manners and customs of the country the playwright comes from. I’ve always been captivated by folk tales. After all, films, plays, novels are all tales of human experiences. I would like to keep that idea in mind.