Well, dear readers, I come to talk about the scarcity of the onion bagel. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, am here to talk about the scarcity of the onion bagel. I have a Western Bagel near me. I have been going there for a decade. It used to be that I could go there in the morning, at noon, or in the afternoon and get a couple of onion bagels. About four years ago, that changed and if I showed up after noon there were no onion bagels. I got so irritated that I stopped going there. Yesterday, I wanted two onion bagels, so at one-thirty I went over there. They had ever bagel type under the sun, each and every bin filled with more than ten bagels each. There was only one empty bin – the onion bagel bin. I said to the woman, what is it with this place? If you know that everyone now only wants onion bagels, why don’t you double or triple your onion bagel output instead of ALWAYS being out of the damn onion bagels. I said I came back in hopes the problem had been addressed, but that I now would never ever come back again. Seriously, they have bins of bagels they probably have to trash every day – make less of those and more onion bagels. It’s not brain surgery. But apparently everyone found out I only purchased onion bagels and then all of the City of Studio had to jump on that bandwagon. Now it is impossible unless you show up early in the morning. Thanks a lot but no thanks. I think they should JUST make onion bagels – then there would never be a problem. But as soon as they’d do that, then the City of Studio people would be on to the next thing. Actually, if I switched to sesame bagels then they’d all copy that – yes, perhaps I’ll mess with their collective minds and then have all the onion bagels to myself. End of onion bagel rant.
Yesterday was a nice little day, all things considered, save for the onion bagel part. I was up at six in the morning, announced our new titles, then went back to bed at seven and slept until eleven, so I think that was a little over eight hours. Then I printed out orders, did some errands and whatnot, picked up some packages and then it was time for our first rehearsal.
First up was Nancy Dussault. She’s singing a song Billy Barnes wrote especially for her – and it’s very pretty and sweet. She ran it a couple of times and that was that. Next up was Susanne Blakeslee. The first of her songs took her entire thirty minutes because we were trying to conform the chart to what she learned. The song is Where Are Your Children? and I’d sent our musical director the version from the cast album and Susanne a different version – so we spent all that time fixing it. It’s going to be very funny, though. Then we quickly ran her other two songs, The Queen of Equity Waiver and A Little Lift. She did the latter in What If and stopped the show nightly with it. Then came Caitlynne Medrick, who is new to us. She was recovering from the same cold that everyone on the planet has apparently had and she also was out of town last week winning an award for breakout performance in a web series called Out With Dad – so she just needs to get her songs down and she will be grand. Her three songs are a pretty song called New Girl, which Billy wrote to replace Have I Stayed Too Long at the Fair when Joyce Jameson went on tour with The Billy Barnes Revue – she didn’t want anyone else singing her song. The other two songs are Naughty Little Girl and Where Was The Music? As I’ve done for three or four other songs, I ended up updating the actor and composer references as Billy would have done. Then came Robert Yacko – he was in the Animal Farm episode of Outside the Box (he auditions for the rooster at the very end of the audition sequence) – first time doing one of our shows and very prepared and excellent. He ran his ballad, Keep Away, then the hilarious Ambivalent, then the equally hilarious I’ve Never Attended At All. Then Chelsea Emma Franko arrived and she and Robert did what will be our opening number, LA Is. The updated lyrics work really well (it’s just references – very easy to do), and after we got the form to work, it will be really delightful. Then Chelsea ran her other two songs, Always a Bridesmaid and Have I Stayed Too Long at the Fair. Then we ended with Jane Noseworthy. She has two ballads – Something Cool and I’m the Only One, and the very amusing Weather Report. And that was that. I’m sure Wednesday’s rehearsal will be much smoother now that we’ve worked all the kinks out.
I hadn’t had time to eat prior to rehearsal, so I rustled up some Wacky Noodles for dinner – a lot of food but really yummilicious. After I finished the last helping I felt like I would explode and four hours later I still feel like that. But no bread and no dessert. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Midnight Lace. Actually I watched the first forty minutes of Midnight Lace and will finish it this very evening. I saw Midnight Lace the day it opened at the Picwood Theater. I liked it back then, but watching it these days it’s pretty hoary. I do love Doris Day but her “fear” is so over the top in this film and the film is directed in ham-fisted fashion by David Miller – it’s just not so good. It’s glossy, oh, yes, it’s glossy and very typical Ross Hunter. Hitchcock it ain’t, even though that’s clearly what they were going for. The cast is fun – in addition to Miss Day is Rex Harrison, Myrna Loy and John Williams. Oh, and John Gavin doing perhaps the worst English accent in the history of the universe. The transfer is many moons away from the camera negative and is therefore exceptionally grainy and ugly-looking – color is fine, but it’s just not an attractive transfer at all. The Blu and Ray is from Germany.
After that, I did some work on the computer, we had to fix a few things in the A Time for Singing package and get that back for approval and I printed more orders. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I really do need a good night’s beauty sleep.
Today, I will arise after a good night’s beauty sleep, I will do errands and whatnot, I will hopefully pick up some packages, but mostly I will relax because the rest of the week will have no time whatsoever for relaxing.
Tomorrow, cousin Alan and I will be driving to the Hills of Woodland to have a brief visit with my brother. After that we have our second rehearsal. Thursday I have to see a show, Friday we have our stumble-through and I may have to see another show, Saturday is video and sound check and then our show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do errands and whatnot, hopefully pick up some packages, eat and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite bagels? What’s the most exotic bagel you’ve ever eaten, and where did you eat the best bagel you’ve ever eaten? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall ponder the scarcity of the onion bagel.