Well, dear readers, has anyone realized that we are now more than halfway through a little month I like to call April? How did that happen? This month is flying by, like a gazelle eating a nut cluster. Oh, see, now I want to eat a nut cluster. That darn gazelle. Does anyone still eat a nut cluster? Do they call nut clusters nut clusters anymore? If not, why? If why, not? These are the questions that are roaming around the windmills of my mind. I had quite an okay day yesterday and I didn’t eat a single nut cluster. Excuse me for one moment.
Okay, I have done the research and nut clusters are alive and well and living in many recipe books and in various and sundried confectioners’ confections. In fact, here is a recipe for nut clusters that include the haineshisway.com favorite, CRANBERRIES!
Ingredients
1/2 cup (3 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips or chopped baking bar, such as Ghirardelli
1/2 cup (3 ounces) milk chocolate chips or chopped milk chocolate bar
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
Preparation
1. Place the semisweet chocolate and milk chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1 minute. Stir; microwave 30 seconds. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.
2. Stir in the cranberries and pecans. Immediately drop by level teaspoonfuls onto a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, about 30 minutes. Clusters will keep in the refrigerator up to 5 days.
And there you have it – nut clusters with CRANBERRIES. I feel that soon we will be the most popular site on all the Internet. Where was I? Oh, yes, the notes. I had a perfectly okay day yesterday. I got up around ten. That was perfectly okay. I then did a mile and a half jog. After that, two more singers came and got their CDRs and music sheets. I made one tiny addition to the end of the song I’ve been working on, and then did some other work on the computer. I was hoping we’d hear about our final cast member today, but alas we are still looking. It is quite annoyingly annoying.
Then it was time for the work session with the twelve-year-old. The first thing we did was for me to play her and her folks my new song, which I wrote specifically for her. I really felt that her show needed something very personal up front, a song that would state who she is and what she loves in a fun, catchy, and endearing way. Using the title of the show as the title of the song, that’s what I wrote, and I’m happy to say that everyone loved it and it will indeed open her act. She then sang through all the songs on our initial list – after hearing them all, we removed two songs, and probably have to remove two more, but the song choices are really strong and interesting and she sounds great on all of them. So, now I have to find time to have one two or three-hour work session with John Boswell, where we’ll come up with arrangements for everything that needs it (some of the songs I already have arrangements for).
After our rehearsal, we all went to have an early dinner at Casa Vega, my favorite Mexican restaurant. I had my beloved two cheese enchiladas and a beef taco. Melody had two beef tacos, her mom had some sort of salad, and her dad had some sort of burrito. It was, as always, stellar and yummilicious. I got the seal of approval from Melody on the new Adriana Hofstetter book, which she’d just finished. She didn’t guess the murderer and really liked all the characters, the story, and the way Adriana solves everything. So, that was nice to hear. Now we start assembling her show – I’ll do a preliminary structure and order and then we’ll sing through that and see how it feels. Once we lock that, then we’ll start thinking about the patter, and I’ll start actually directing and staging the act. I think we’re going to shoot for late July or sometime in August.
I then came home and promptly sat on my couch like so much fish and finished watching the documentary on Harry Nilsson. I’ve always been a big fan of his, and it was a very interesting documentary and it really pulled no punches about Mr. Nilsson, who was, at many times in his life, his own worst enemy. There are a lot of really good interviews, one with his ex-wife, and one with his widow, his kids (beautiful children all), record people like Richard Perry and Perry Botkin, music folk like Jimmy Webb, Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman, Yoko Ono (the Beatles loved Harry and John Lennon produced one of his albums), Paul Williams, and others, Pythons Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam, and there’s tons of great archival footage and sound clips of an oral biography Harry was doing. And, of course, lots of Harry’s music. If you liked Mr. Nilsson, it’s worth a look.
After that, Grant Geissman sent me his version of the book flap copy, I approved it, and then he sent everything off to the publisher, so they should have it all when they arrive in the morning.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get my beauty sleep whilst dreaming of nut clusters.
Today, I have to go to the Bank of Bur and pick up some tapes for two upcoming releases. Then I have a lunch meeting, after which I may take the tapes to the tape transfer guy (if not, I’ll do that on the ‘morrow), and then I have a bunch of errands and whatnot to do, hopefully pick up some packages, and then I have to write two sets of liner notes, find my final cast member, and then I’m seeing Little Me at the Alex Theater – our very own Jason Graae is doing the Musical Theatre Guild whatever it is they do – sort of a staged something or other. I’m quite sure Mr. Graae will be hilariously hilarious.
Tomorrow, I have to finish everything to do with our next two releases, and then I’m actually going to a Passover Sedar. The rest of the week is quite busy with meetings and writing and approving masters and shipping out Black Sunday CDs.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, pick up tapes, have a lunch meeting, do errands and whatnot, hopefully pick up some packages, write two sets of liner notes, find our final cast member, and then see a show. Today’s topic of discussion: Who were your favorit 1970s singer/songwriters and what were your favorites of their songs? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall dream of nut clusters with CRANBERRIES. Perhaps one of our dear readers should make some and send them to me.