Well, dear readers, how can this week almost be over? How can this month be almost half finished? How can borscht actually be eaten? These are the questions that are roaming around the windmills of my mind on a fine Wednesday evening about to be Thursday. Of the three questions above, perhaps the most baffling regards borscht. First of all, who the HELL gave such a name to a food? Of course, if you’ve ever seen a bowl of borscht your first reaction might be to blurt out “borscht” just like that. Borscht, for those who might not know, is cold beet soup, usually served with a dollop of sour cream, which turns the entire think into a pink liquid with beets swimming around like so much fish. Now I will freely admit that I, BK, have eaten borscht on more than a few occasions. I will also freely admit (or perhaps I should charge to admit) that I can’t stand pickled beets, so why exactly I have eaten borscht is anyone’s guess. But the odd thing is that I have sort of enjoyed eating borscht with its dollop of sour cream. If it’s chilled it can be quite refreshing and nauseating at exactly the same time. In fact, I feel that today should be designated as Borscht Day here at haineshisway.com. I feel we should all go get some borscht and then talk about it in meaningful ways. I feel that instead of saying hello when we answer our various and sundried telephonic devices today we should say borscht. That will confound people to no end, and that’s a good thing. Confounded by Borscht – that’s the title of my next novel. If they asked me I could write a book and they have and I have. Where was I? Oh, yes, Borscht Day. I feel that when we go outside we should greet strangers on the street with a happy-go-lucky cry of “Borscht.” I feel we should all wear belts today and call it the borscht belt. So, Happy Borscht Day to one and all and also all and one. Well, that was a rather long and pointless paragraph about borscht, in case you hadn’t noticed. I have only one word to say after reading that long and pointless paragraph and that word is, of course, borscht.
Yesterday was quite an okay day. I got up early, answered e-mails, and then helper arrived and we addressed quite a lot of packages and put quite a lot of postage on them. After that, we went to Hugo’s where I had my first real food since last Saturday night. I had the Pasta Victor but they went really easy on the chilis so that I wouldn’t get an upset tummy. I didn’t quite love it as I usually do because frankly the chilis are part of the reason the taste is so unique. But it hit the spot. After that, we came back, did a little more work, helper left, and I went and did some errands and whatnot, including some banking, picking up mail and a package, and doing a few other things, like paying a ridiculous number of Kritzerland bills. I heard from the pressing plant that they managed to ship out the replacement CDs for Legend of the Lost with the correct label film on the disc – so those should be arriving by Friday or Saturday I should think. Then I realized that we’d sold out of two titles – Earth vs. the Spider and Rhapsody of Steel, so we put that information on the Kritzerland site. Then I wrote the liner notes for our next release and sent those off, approved the cover and inlay card, and am now waiting to hear the master. I also had a good telephonic conversation regarding three excellent release possibilities that I hope we’ll be locking up in the next week or two, one of which is going to make a LOT of classic film score lovers very happy. Keep all digits crossed and send lots and lots of excellent vibes and xylophones. After all that, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched the latest episode of Lost. I was truly baffled by it and thought it was incredibly silly to have an episode in which not one of the major characters appeared (save for one tiny flashback to season one) – I was just really irritated by the entire episode – perhaps if it had come earlier in the season, but to shove this thing in as the third to last show just didn’t work for me at all. And there was a lot of dissatisfaction on the various Lost boards that I perused. Still, the folks for whom this show can do no wrong, loved it, and that’s fine. That’s what makes the racing of horses. I also watched a motion picture on DVD entitled Smile. It’s quite an odd little film – people tend to remember the film as a hit film, but the fact was it really bombed at the box-office (if you read my new book you’ll know this because I talk about Michael Ritchie discussing the box-office with me). It’s a very erratic film with too many mood shifts for its own good. People often say that the musical version failed because it failed to capture the film’s satirical tone, but the film’s tone is so all over the place there would be no way to capture it in a musical. While it would seem like a good thing to musicalize, the reality of it is, it wasn’t, despite many wonderful songs. Still, the film boasts terrific performances from Bruce Dern, Barbara Feldon, choreographer Michael Kidd, Geoffrey Lewis, Nicholas Pryor, and an absolutely amazing group of young ladies, led by Annette O’Toole, Joan Prather, Melanie Griffith, Maria O’Brien, Denise Nickerson, and my pal Carol Ann Williams, Cindy’s sister. There are great moments, and there are not great moments. Still, it’s worth watching if you haven’t seen it. The transfer on the DVD is good, but non-anamorphic. I have to believe it will show up on MGM-HD any moment now.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below and whilst we are doing so why don’t we all just say borscht.
Today, helper will be arriving and we will ship out close to 1000 CDs, after which we’ll drag our weary bones to an eatery to eat something. Then we’ll do some organizing, and then I have to do all the questions for our Andrea Marcovicci event on Saturday. Finishing them today will leave my afternoon and evening completely free tomorrow, which is exactly what I want and need.
Tomorrow, we have a ninety-minute meeting to discuss notes on the long musical, after which I’ll do a few errands and whatnot and deliver books to Mystery and Imagination so they have them in advance of the signing a week from Saturday.
Saturday, of course, is the Andrea Marcovicci event, and then I’m seeing a show on Saturday night that the helper is appearing in. Sunday is a surprise visit with the brother and his son – the brother will be spending the night, then leaving early the next morning, and I, of course, will be up at six anyway announcing our new title, which I’ll announce here first on Saturday midnight.
Let’s all put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, let’s all break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, let’s all dance the Hora or the Swim, because today is the birthday of La Jolie Femme aka Mrs. Julieanne Pogue. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to La Jolie Femme aka Mrs. Julieanne Pogue. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO LA JOLIE FEMME AKA MRS. JULIEANNE POGUE!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, ship out a LOT of CDs, I must eat something amusing, and I must write many questions for our Andrea Marcovicci event. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Jewish foods – most people, at one time or another, have had deli food or Jewish food, and we’ve never done this as a topic and it’s both high and low time we did. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, as we celebrate Borscht Day here at haineshisway.com.