Gutbrain Records

Thursday, 19 October 2006

This is a pastrami eggroll, something you can get at this Kosher Chinese/Japanese place on E. 34th and Madison. It's called Eden Wok. No shellfish, no pork. I've been working in that part of town for almost three years now and I'm always looking for a good lunch. It's one of the best places I've worked as far as lunch goes. Korean food, Indian food, Eisenberg's, Waterfront Ale House (where, ahem, I would never go for lunch during a workday). Sometimes I'll go to the Oyster Bar in Grand Central, take the subway to Chinatown or up to the Grand Sichuan on 2nd Ave and 55th. I'm not sure yet what to make of Eden Wok. I like the pastrami egg roll. The General Tso's chicken was pretty good. The sesame chicken (pictured) was good but not as good and the chicken with broccoli I had today was completely flavorless.

Gracie and I tried to watch Seance on a Wet Afternoon. I was curious about it because of John Barry's score, one early in his career. I found the movie to be too dull for my taste. At some point I thought, "How much of this is left? Ten, fifteen minutes or something?" I was only halfway through with about an hour to go. That's when I remembered a whole lot of other stuff I had to do that day. Seance on a Wet Afternoon was remade by Kiyoshi Kurosawa a few years ago. I thought the remake was kind of boring too, but not boring/interesting like some of his other movies. Just boring.

John Barry didn't write a lot of music for Seance on a Wet Afternoon, but what he did write is great. It's an unusual score for a small ensemble with harp, piano, flute, vibes, probably a few other instruments, I can't remember. Bernard Herrmann was always able to get incredible results from small ensembles like that — check out his work for radio and television — and Barry has acknowledged Herrmann as an inspiration.

A rocking version of the theme from Seance on a Wet Afternoon was released as a single in the early '60s and is included on the CD John Barry: The Emi Years Volume Three 1962 – 1964.