Well, dear readers, thank God it’s Friday (TGIF, in Internet lingo). This has been a non-stop week, where I was literally on the go from morning till late evening – working with the creators of the long musical, sequencing the next Kritzerland soundtrack release, having meetings, lunches, dealing with a whole slew of telephonic calls and e-mails and errands and whatnot, as well as packing up and shipping a large number of CDs. I haven’t had time to watch a motion picture or even relax, although I have made time each and every day for the last six days to do the long jog. I am quite overtired but probably won’t get to sleep in until Sunday, since she of the Evil Eye comes tomorrow. On top of all that, the streets of Studio City have turned insane – I’ve never seen it like this, in all the years I’ve lived here. Traffic backed up for a mile in either direction for no reason whatsoever – I mean, it’s just horrible. On top of that, I turned off the cold water faucet in the shower – you really have to turn it and turn it till it’s tight or water drips – well, I turned it and instead of stopping, it kept turning and now won’t turn on at all. And when I went to the other bathroom and turned on the shower there, a trickle came out of the showerhead. It’s always worked perfectly in the past, so I’m not sure what that’s about, but I called The Handyman/plumber and he’ll be here Saturday afternoon to fix all of it. Meantime, I’ll be showering in a trickle of water, unless I want to scald myself by only using the hot water in my shower – or, I could just let it run until it’s merely warm and then take a quick shower. We shall see. In any case, I really need some good sleep and some me time, both of which I hope to get this weekend and maybe even Monday. Speaking of Monday, yesterday was as crazy as the rest of the week. I got up, did the long jog, came back, had to deal with a bunch of e-mails (on the two upcoming Kritzerland releases, I have to clear the cover art and the inlay cards with the company from whom they’re licensed), and then the CDs of Death Of A Salesman/Rashomon arrived, so I spent the rest of the day getting the CDs in the already addressed and stamped packages, and shipping out the two big online store orders. I only have three other store orders to ship now, and to deliver CDs to the LA dealer. I’m hoping if I have the cover approvals for the two new releases, that I’ll be announcing them in about a week-and-a-half – I will, of course, give you dear readers the advance word so you can be first to order, and believe me you’ll want to order these two releases pronto. I had lunch with Mr. Brent Barrett and we discussed his upcoming Christmas CD, and talked about the possibility of him playing the lead in our late-March staged reading of Nudie Musical. He’s too old for the part, really, but for this particular reading I think it will be fine, and I know he’s got the charm, the likeability, and the humor. After all that, I toddled off to see a play at the Falcon Theater in Burbank.
Last night, I saw a play at the Falcon Theater in Burbank. My pal Dale Cooke (stage manager of What If and Deceit) is stage managing. The play is a comedy by TV writer (and former actor) David Landsberg. I found it completely unfunny, old-fashioned (and not in a good way), clunky, and endless (although it only runs an intermission-less ninety minutes). There were a few laughs (maybe three), and the audience was trying to enjoy it and maybe even thought they did (it was an older crowd). The cast was decent and did what they could with not good writing. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. The slogan for their season of plays is “Find The Funny” (such a typical Garry Marshall line) – well, they didn’t find the funny in this thing.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because frankly I’m trying to find the funny and I haven’t found it yet.
Today, I must do an early errand, try to get in the long jog, and then I’m meeting with Mr. Kevin Spirtas for a very brief work session. After that, I’ll try to write the liner notes for the soundtrack release, plus get all the credits and track titles to the designer. My goal is to get these announced and up for preorder by around March 7th. There’s still a bit of work to do. Other than the work session and writing, I have no other plans, not for tonight, and not for the weekend – I’m hoping to dig into the pile of DVDs on the coffee table, and to catch up on some CD listening, as well as leisurely finish proofing the new novel.
Tomorrow, I will have to be gone for a couple of hours, and I do have a few errands and whatnot to attend to, but when I return, that’s it – I’m home. I’ll only go out to get something amusing to eat.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, do an early errand, meet with Kevin Spirtas, ship out three packages, and finally relax and smell the coffee or the roses or the pumpernickel. Does anyone still wear a pumpernickel? Seriously, do they even make pumpernickel bread anymore? And who came up with the name pumpernickel in the first or even the second place? I now want some pumpernickel bread, even though I haven’t thought about pumpernickel bread in, oh, about forty-five years. I think I just found the funny. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, the marvelously marvelous new five CD David Raksin set, along with the even more marvelously marvelous three CD Johnny Mandel set. DVD, The Cat And The Canary (courtesy of elmore), and then Kurosawa’s Ran, a new transfer on a special edition region 2 release, which is supposed to put all the other transfers to shame. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we all say the word pumpernickel in our best Jerry Lewis voices. On the count of three: One, two, three – PUMPERNICKEL! Yes, I think we found the funny.