Well, dear readers, like the Energizer Bunny, I keep on writing these here notes, day in and day out, night in and night out, week in and week out, month in and month out, year in and year out, decade in and decade out, notes, notes notes (that is three notes). And tonight is no different – here it is, approaching midnight, and I am writing notes. I am not sitting here like so much fish contemplating my navel, no, I am sitting here like so much fish contemplating my notes. But enough preamble – we’ve had entirely too much preamble and I feel we should move directly to the amble and then the postamble.
So, here is the amble. Yesterday was quite a long day – not a bad day, not a great day, but an in-between kind of day. It began with telephonic calls, one after another, from eight in the morning until nine. I answered not a one of them and when I looked to see who’d done all that calling it was all 800 numbers of one sort or another. So, I got out of bed at nine, answered e-mails, and did some work on the computer. Then I got a hankering for an Islands Big Wave bacon cheeseburger – hadn’t had one in several months so I figured if I drove to Encino and got there by 11:45 I’d get right in with no wait. So, I decided to take Ventura Boulevard straight there. That was, as it turned out, a huge mistake because the lovely street people have ripped up Ventura from Woodman to Beverly Glen, thereby making the journey four times longer than usual. Thank you street people, you useless pieces of snot. This has, apparently, been going on for some time, and will continue going on for some time. They are killing businesses all along that mile-long stretch. Traffic going west is one lane and a bad joke. Once I finally passed Beverly Glen I moved right along and was still at Islands by 11:45. I was right – there was no wait at all, but not for the reasons of getting there nice and early. There was no wait at all because there is no more Islands – it is closed, boarded up, kaput, vanished into the good night. I looked it up on Yelp and it closed in September of last year, which is, I guess, the last time I was there. So, why would a successful chain restaurant that always did great business close its doors at a prime location? From what I understand, it was the building’s owners trying to raise the rent in some exorbitant way, so that it was no longer feasible for Islands to stay. If that’s indeed correct, their greed will hopefully result in an empty building for years. Certainly it’s been empty since September, just sitting there all boarded up. Note to building owners: You reap what you sow and you sow what you reap. So, I drove all the way back home and ended up at Jerry’s Deli, where I had – a bacon cheeseburger, which was very excellent, and some fries.
After that, I picked up one package containing a marvelous book about graphic designer Saul Bass, and an important envelope. Then I came home, the helper arrived and got some invoices. I then did some banking while she went to Capitol Records in Hollywood and picked up a DVD containing a Pro Tools session of the original eight-track session masters for the original Broadway cast album of Follies. My engineer will pick it up this weekend and we’ll hear it next week. After the banking, I began writing the contextual commentary, just the beginning. I then filled out the paperwork for Junior High School’s pressing, then I proofed the new check disc, which was fine. I asked them to make one tiny adjustment in the audio level of the main menu and told them once they’d done that they could send it to the pressing plant. I then sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I finished watching the rest of Firewall, the two-part Wallander movie with Rolf Lassgard. It was excellent, and so much better than the Branagh version of the same story. Then I watched the next two-part Wallander film, The Man Who Smiled. Something seemed queer to me, so I looked up the order in which these were shot and shown and sure enough, The Man Who Smiled preceded Firewall. That made complete sense, since Wallander is involved with someone in The Man Who Smiled, and they’ve broken up by the time of Firewall. Why on earth would this DVD company put these on the discs out of sequence – it is to laugh and so stupid. Anyway, The Man Who Smiled was terrific, only marred by some overly fussy direction, heavy on the art. I’m now completely used to Lassgard’s interpretation and I really like him. Two more to go, and then next week I should have two of the very early Lassgard films in this series, and those will be fun to see. I was happy to see the character of Linda Wallander make a very brief appearance in The Man Who Smiled. Interestingly, while the ending implies that the villain will ultimately get his by being exposed for the creep he is, he actually gets away with everything.
After that, I listened to a few tracks from our new master (only four so far) and they sound great. Then I did a teeny bit more work on the contextual commentary. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get a good night’s beauty sleep and woe to anyone who calls me before ten.
Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep. I shall then do another bit of banking, some errands and whatnot, hopefully pick up some packages, and then I’m thinking about making some pasta right here in the home environment, as I think my dinner plans got switched. I’m sure I’ll finish the contextual commentary, too, finish proofing the packaging of our new release and prep the eBlast and announcement.
Tomorrow is in flux, so I’m not quite certain how the flux will shake out – we shall see. Monday I’ll be up at six to announce the new Kritzerland release, then I have a ton of stuff to do before our afternoon Kritzerland rehearsal. Two new people I haven’t worked with before in this show, so that’s always interesting. Shelly Markham will come an hour early so we can work on the couple of put-togethers we’re doing. The rest of the week is rehearsals, meals, meetings, two evening performances for the East Coast Singer’s show at The Gardenia (again, anyone who’d like to come on Friday night can come as my guest), our stumble-through on Saturday, and our sound check and show on Sunday.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, try to do some sort of jog, do more banking, do errands and whatnot, hopefully pick up some packages, finish the commentary, eat something (liking the pasta idea), prep announcements, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What’s the best pasta dish you’ve ever eaten and the best you’ve ever made? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, which I do every night after writing these here notes, just like the Energizer Bunny. Actually, I have no idea what the fershluganah Energizer Bunny does in its postamble time.