Well, dear readers, Christmas is approaching quickly, like a gazelle on a boogie board. And if Christmas is approaching quickly like a gazelle on a boogie board, then New Year’s Eve and the New Year are but a moment behind. Mother of mercy, is this the end of 2006? But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves or even aknee of ourselves. Let’s just enjoy the rest of the year and then welcome the New Year in with open arms and closed feet. Speaking of closed feet, yesterday was quite a nice day for reasons I can no longer remember. I do remember waking up, which was nice, and I do remember shipping packages, which is nice for those who ordered, and I do remember relaxing, which was nice because I needed to relax and smell the coffee or the roses or the paprika. After all that, I toddled off to the recording studio to do the rest of the Brain vocals. A couple of people didn’t make it to the session, including the fellow who played Merrill’s boyfriend. He’s known about this session for two weeks, and yet he had to work at six. I found it very odd, and very disconcerting. Had I known he was going to be a major flake I would have cut the bars of music where he has to speak in Merrill’s first song, and I would have figured out how to deal with his absence for his one line in Merrill’s second song. As it is, either he has to come in when I’m mixing, or I’ll just have someone else do it and the heck with it. I just don’t get people sometimes, really I don’t. The session went a little slower than I care for, mostly because most of the students had never sung in the studio, and while you can get away with certain things on stage, you can’t on the microphone, so we had to keep doing things until they were right. Once we finally finished the ensemble, then I had to get Alet and Kevin out, so it was a mad rush trying to finish their stuff and make sure we had all their solo lines and dialogue lines. It got very confusing and I got very frustrated. Normally, I have a stage manager prepare a recording script once I decide on what we’re going to record. That didn’t happen here, so one had to reference my script constantly, and I’m just praying we got it all. The one disaster of the evening was The Brain himself, who had terrible laryngitis. There was no way he was going to be able to sing, so we’re going to bring him back after the first of the year to record his stuff at Vinnie’s just before we mix. What the hell, it’s only more money. All the students who had solos did very well indeed, and I think it’s going to be a really good album. I’m glad we’re not beginning the mix until after January 5th, when my head will be much clearer. But, we will have to get these missing vocals done, although it probably won’t take more than an hour. After the session, I took some of the cast to Mel’s Diner for some supper. And then, I came home and sat in front of my laptop like so much fish.
Tonight I start my DVD watching, and I will watch at least two DVDs a day, hopefully more. I have piles of them sitting around various locations in the home environment. I’ve been catching up on my CD listening, though, and only have about ten more to get through.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because once again I must get my beauty sleep and then have to package up ten more orders – I really wasn’t going to ship after the 19th, but I’ll get this one last batch out before taking the Christmas break.
Today, I shall ship packages and then I shall do nothing. I shall put on my lounging pyjamas, my smoking jacket, my leopard-spotted dickie, and my bunny slippers, and I shall sit on my couch like so much fish and I shall not give one or even two whits about anything. I shall eat bon bons and confections and I shall pamper myself with emollients and balms and Gilead. I shall eat something reasonable and I shall get back to my daily jogging routine.
How many of you knew that today was Winter Solstice? I had no idea. I don’t even know what solstice means but whatever it is today is it. To me, Winter Solstice sounds like a George Winston New Age album. In any case, let us all have a happy Winter Solstice, whatever the HELL it is.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, ship, relax, watch DVDs, and celebrate Winter Solstice whilst listening to George Winston. Today’s topic of discussion: I must say, I’m fond of anything to do with the Arabian Nights sort of stories and movies. What are your favorite Arabian Nights tales, and what are your favorite Arabian Nights-themed films? I’ll start – as a kid I loved Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves, the first story I can remember reading and loving. Movie-wise, I love The Thief of Baghdad (a perfect movie), and The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, as well as two Universal Arabian Nights movies from the 40s that I never remember the names of. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, on this day of Winter Solstice.