Well, dear readers, expectations can be so disappointing sometimes, so sometimes it’s best not to have them. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, expectations can be so disappointing and my expectation of how good the slaw dog would be at Soul Dog was not met in any way, shape, or form. I’d been thinking about this dog ever since having my chicken and waffles at Soul Dog last Sunday. And yesterday was the day. I did the four-mile jog early and got over there around eleven-thirty. I was primed. I was ready. I was also willing and able, not necessarily in that order. And speaking of order, that’s precisely what I did – I ordered the slaw dog (chili, cole slaw, hot dog, bun), a side of their raved-about mac and cheese (fortunately not too big a side) and their raved-about sweet potato fries.
The food arrived about six minutes later. Since the slaw dog was too hot too approach, I sampled the mac and cheese, expecting (there’s that word again) and incredible burst of flavor and instead getting a weird tasting concoction and a huge chunk of garlic. No one loves garlic more than I but I can certainly now say I don’t love it in mac and cheese. I then decided to go for the first bite of the slaw dog and was greeted with the first problem. It was simply impossible to pick up. I tried four times and the fourth time everything started to fall out of the bun. So, I used knife and fork to eat a hot dog on a bun, not optimal, hot dog eating-wise. I cut a nice piece and got some dog, some chili, and some slaw and shoved the whole thing into my gaping maw. And I did not like it. The chili had some weird spice that made it very off-putting, the dog tasted really weird – the one upside was the slaw was tasty, so I probably should have just ordered a side of it – there certainly wasn’t a lot of it on the dog and, in fact, the dog itself was pretty tiny – since I didn’t care for it, that was a good thing. I was hungry so I did eat the entire dog and contents. I took a few more bites of the mac and cheese, but just couldn’t get with it and left half of it. Then I tried the sweet potato fries and those were great. I was getting full so I only ate two-thirds or maybe a little less than that. So, expectations dashed and a severe disappointment. When I return, I shall stick to their wonderful fried chicken (and, if it’s Sunday, waffles).
After that disappointment, I did some errands and whatnot – they were all fine, since I had no expectations. Then I picked up no mail and no packages, put gas in the motor car, and came home. I then continued my maniacal organization – things had really piled up everywhere, so I continued to take it all out to the garage, where everything is neatly organized in boxes. The dining room is now back to being a dining room. No boxes, no papers, no sheet music, just a nice dining room. The book room is now neat as a pin with everything where it should be. The living room is neat as a pin. I’m still working on the den and the CD and Blu and Ray closets – that will take some time to get neat, but slowly I go and slowly it gets better.
I also listened to part of CD 1 of our new release and had some problems with a few tracks, so there’s still some work to be done there, but it should go very quickly. In fact, later, when I heard a couple of more tracks, I realized that my problems were probably one of sound levels – the tracks I had problems with were many db lower than the soundtrack tracks. Hopefully that’s an easy fix. I then got an e-mail asking me to do an interview for the Author House site – I’m their most published living author and they sent me about fourteen interesting questions, which I’ll do over the weekend. I then finally sat on my couch like so much fish – with no expectations.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled The Guns Of Navarone, starring Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Quayle, James Darren, Irene Pappas, Gia Scala, and Stanley Baker. I had the DVD and the laserdisc but, truth be told, I never got more than ten minutes into the film before shutting them off. So, the fact is, that I hadn’t seen this film since it came out. I remember enjoying it all those years ago and this time I made it past the ten-minute mark. Well, it’s just a terrific movie, with good, sharp dialogue, a good plot, great performances from everyone, and a rousing Dimitri Tiomkin score. It’s a long film, two hours and forty minutes, but it’s well paced and moves right along. And it’s quite suspenseful at times. The transfer is actually quite excellent. There have been criticisms of it, but due to some cheaping out by Columbia (the British release used IB Tech dye transfer prints that were apparently gorgeous) but for the US release Columbia used Eastman color (Pathe, in the credits) and therefore all the film’s many opticals immediately looked horrid. The film has simply never looked very good, especially in its original release prints (and I remember thinking that way back when). Sony has done a masterful jog with the transfer – the opticals look like they’ve always looked and there are a lot of them – but every time we get the actual production photography it looks very pleasing, and the color is excellent. Sound is robust and full and the score sounds great.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because it’s late and I must get my beauty sleep and wipe out all memories of the disappointing dog, which is also the title of my next novel.
Today, I shall do the four-mile jog, do some writing, do some work on the LACC show, do some more organizing, hopefully pick up some packages and an important envelope, then I’ll sup and then I’m seeing our very own Kritzerland designer, Mr. Doug Haverty, in And Then There Were None – he occasionally dons his acting hat – I’ve never seen him act before, so I’m looking forward to it.
The weekend will be mostly devoted to getting the LACC script in some kind of shape, and I’m sure I’ll jog and sup and sup and jog and I’m equally sure I’ll watch a motion picture or three. Next week will be VERY busy with rehearsals for the Gardenia show, announcing our new title, meetings and meals.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the four-mile jog, I must work on the LACC show, I must organize, I must hopefully pick up packages and an important envelope, I must sup, and I must see a play. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player, and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, still catching up on soundtrack releases and listening to upcoming Kritzerland stuff. Blu and Ray, probably My Life As A Dog, and then maybe The Four Feathers. I did watch a little of Scrooge and the transfer is fantastic – but I decided to save it for Christmas week. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall not dream of the disappointing dog.