Well, dear readers, where in tarnation do these ridiculous expressions come from? One day they don’t exist and the next their in the lexicon. Where did this incredibly annoying “on set” come from? That’s what everyone says now when they’re shooting a film or TV show – “I’m on set.” It’s just so silly sounding and inane. “I’m on set.” “Here I am on set.” I just hate these sayings. Whatever happened to the obvious? “I’m shooting today” or “I’m filming a movie today” or “I’m filming a TV show today” or “I’m at the studio today filming?” On set. Just more actor babble that I loathe. It’s right up there with “I don’t play results” and “my character’s arc” or “my character’s journey” or “the spine” or “the third act” or any of a dozen others that are the new actor speak of now. I’m on set. I’d rather have Barbie dolls shoved up my nose than say “I’m on set.” Well, that’s the end of my arc for this paragraph and I think I’ve got the spine of the notes right and the third act seems really strong with lots of payoffs of the foreshadowing that took place in the first act, and these notes were playing results but I beat them about the head and now they’re not. End of “on set” rant.
Yesterday, I was not on set and I can talk about that freely. Yesterday, I was up at eight-thirty and answering e-mails and dealing with a few little things that I had to deal with – nothing terrible, just things. I made the last two song choices for the Kritzerland show, then gathered all the sheet music together. Then I went and had a sandwich and no fries or onion rings to tide me over till my seven o’clock dinner. After that, I picked up two packages, both from amazon France. One package contained a couple of Blu and Rays, the other contained something I did not order and certainly did not pay for – dolls. Scary dolls. One was called Draculaura. They’re cute but not something I need. I wrote amazon and gave them the order number from the packing slip and the name of the person in France who was supposed to get it, so they could send that person what he/she ordered. They wrote back apologizing for the confusion and confirming I hadn’t ordered it and it was a simple shipping mistake. They told me it wasn’t worth their while to have me return it and to keep it and do with it as I see fit.
I then did a little work on the computer, then sent the singers their music, so that’s out of the way. I then sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I finished watching another Bond film on Blu and Ray, this one Diamonds Are Forever, which had the return of Sean Connery as Bond. While that seemed like a grand and welcome idea, and while Mr. Connery seems to have more energy than he did in You Only Live Twice, he just doesn’t seem like Bond anymore. And the film itself is so relentlessly stupid it’s just the worst of the Connery Bonds. The villains are too many, the two gay killers are just awful, and Jill St. John is terrible as Tiffany Case – annoying and grating in equal proportions. It’s fun to see Vegas as it was in 1970 – very few buildings on the strip and really seeming like the desert town it was back then. The transfer is the worst of the Connery transfers – too light, weird contrast, and schizoid color. Highly not recommended by the likes of me.
After that it was time to mosey on over to The Federal to see a show. I found street parking and when I got out of my motor car I saw someone I hadn’t seen in quite some time. She’s doing a show at the El Portal, which is across the street from The Federal, so we walked together and chatted – it was nice. Then I met our very own Miss Adryan Russ and we dined. They put my beloved fried chicken breast back on the menu, but it’s not what it used to be – the sauce is completely different. It was good, but not AS good. I didn’t eat the sweet mashed potatoes or the kale, just the medium-sized breast. This is the only time I’ve been to The Federal where I did not know one person in the audience, save for Adryan and critic Don Grigware. As to the show, the two gals are very talented, but the show is all over the place, doesn’t obey the laws of its own universe, which it must, and tries too hard for laughs. They had lots of friends there so they had a nice reaction. If they continue doing this, I’d recommend to them thinking things through a bit more. In this incarnation of what they’re doing, they had three or four guest performers and that just eats up their time and their talent and is completely unnecessary, as is the bass player and the drummer. A piano and the gals is all you need. There’s something here, but it really needs to be developed.
I then came home, did some more work on the computer, and that was that. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I really really need a good night’s beauty sleep.
Today, I must prep our new release. The good news is it’s supposed to actually be here on Wednesday, the first time we’ll actually have CDs before we announce. This was certainly the most complicated Kritzerland deal ever – it involved a studio and a record label, dealing with both, approvals from both, and the label does the pressing and we pay a fee that’s inclusive of everything, including the mechanical royalties. It’s taken about six months to get this done and we have a LOT of money tied up in it. We also had to press and pay for all 1500 copies, which are all arriving on Wednesday and of course the helper is on vacation this week and I’m going to have to lug all 15 boxes (presuming they come in the same boxes of 100 as our other stuff) out of the mail place. The helper is really going to have her work cut out for her on her return, because the day she’s back she has to ship out all the Rains of Ranchipur CDs and then the next day she can start shipping out the new release. I sincerely hope that the title sells – it’s one I really wanted to do and, for me, it’s an important release by a very underrated composer and this release is interesting for other reasons. Hopefully I’ll pick up some packages, I’ll eat something light but amusing, and I’ll try to do a jog. Then in the evening I can relax.
Wednesday, I hopefully pick up all those heavy packages. The rest of the week is meetings and meals and a get-together with dear reader ChasSmith, hopefully on Friday for an early dinner. That way, he can meet the family Staitman – mom Karen, and uber-talented kids Sami and Sarah. I don’t really have a clew as to what’s happening on the weekend.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, try to do a jog, prep a release, listen to five songs where we did really minor adjustments to the mix, eat, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Of the newspeak of today, what are your most loathed expressions, words, and idiocy? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall not be on set.