Well, dear readers, the work on our little corner of the Internet is now completely complete. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, the last of the work was finished yesterday and we are finally totally up to date and with it and happening, not necessarily in that order. The last of the stuff involved what they call “pruning” the board – the last time we’d done that was when we last updated the board software, somewhere around 2007. And so, in the ensuing years instead of pruning the rather large number of daily topics into more manageable archives, some ninety-two pages and close to a half-million posts were all in one board, basically, if that makes any sense. So, finally the majority of that is in about ten new archived sections, which is much easier for searching purposes. We will continue to prune once a year. Also fixed is the calendar so that everyone can now post events to it, should the fancy strike. And finally, the captcha feature was notched up one security level to make it more difficult for spambots to get around it. About three or four spam registrations every few days were managing to get through out of the over 100 that are attempted every day. As of ten this morning when the difficulty factor was notched up, not one has gotten through.
I had not canceled anything with our former web host until absolutely everything had been done, checked, and tested. So, I gleefully called their billing person and said bye bye. Of course, it’s never that easy – she needed an “official” e-mail stating we were canceling, the reason (like I have to supply a reason in order to cancel – get real), and the effective date. She had that e-mail in about forty seconds. Of course, three months were charged at the beginning of May. I have no idea if they will refund the unused portion, but at this point if they do they do and if they don’t it’s not enough to fret about. I then called the bank and put a permanent stop payment on any charges from that company, just to be on the safe side. So, after twelve years we are finally free of that company, which, for me, was a bit of a nightmare – the attitude, the non-communication, the never owning up to problems. Our new host is great, they are quick to respond, there is no attitude and they are half the price. So, even though it’s taken three years to get this done, I could not be happier about it. It’s like a new lease on our haineshisway.com life and I love everything about the new version of the site and board. The ease of the radio show, the new Unseemly Interviews, audio, video, and photographs in the notes and elsewhere, all of it. I feel that soon we will be the most popular site on all the Internet.
Yesterday was kind of a day. I got up just before eight, let the workers in, and then answered e-mails and did some work on the computer. I did a three-mile jog, ascertained that the workers would not be finishing until today and maybe even tomorrow, due to some small additional work and painting that’s getting done. Then I had a quesadilla for lunch, didn’t even go to the mail place and came home. I had a very unpleasant telephonic call that I had to have – too contentious for the likes of me and I won’t ever be having another like it. Then I had a wonderful chat with our very own elmore, who I hadn’t talked to in ages. I heard all about Roberta and he heard about some things I’m working on.
Then I realized I hadn’t heard from our musical director confirming she’d gotten all the charts and mp3s, so I had Adryan Russ contact her. She e-mailed back and I did not like the e-mail and realized that there had obviously been some misunderstanding either on her part or mine about how the schedule was going to work (that never changes). So, we cut her loose and booked our very own Mr. Shelly Markham, so that’s a wonderful addition to what’s shaping up to be a really fun show with a really great cast. Have you ever seen a really great cast? Here’s one of my favorites.
You see, cast can have two meanings because some dopey word person decreed it so, just to be purposely obtuse and confusing. And actually, cast has even more than two meanings, and so confusion runs rampant, cast-wise. Where was I? Oh, yes, my day. I then spent an hour figuring out which lyrics we’re doing from two put-togethers consisting of two songs for each. Basically, I just did an arrangement on paper that I’ll then finesse with Shelly when we have our work session. One of the put-togethers is a duet, so I figured out who was singing what and that took a while, but it’s going to be really cute. When the workers finally left, I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched the latest episode of Mad Men, which just sort of meandered along until the last ten minutes or so, at which point an interesting plot development occurred. Then I made some popcorn and watched the companion feature that’s on the Mr. Sardonicus Blu and Ray, entitled The Brotherhood of Satan, a low-budget horror film produced by the actor L.Q. Jones. I remember when it came out (I didn’t see it), but it didn’t do very well and finally seeing it I can understand why – it just isn’t very good, despite weird performances by Mr. Jones and Strother Martin. The transfer, I’m sure, was exactly right and looked just like a low-budget film of its era should look.
After that, I wrote the blurb for our next release (it was approved earlier in the day) and did some prep work for that release. I think I’ll put up an audio clip in the Now Playing section of the site – and we’ll see if anyone can guess what film it is and who the composer is. We have the technology, you know.
Today, I shall be up at eight to let the workers in, I shall jog, I shall eat something amusing, I shall hopefully pick up some packages and mail (haven’t been there since Saturday), but mostly I’m hoping I can actually take half the day off, other than doing some work on liner notes, and maybe doing a show order and getting a jump on the contextual commentary. I’m sure I’ll watch a motion picture in the evening.
Tomorrow, I have a lunch meeting, then I’m meeting our very own Mr. Jason Graae at a club in Hollywood – we’re discussing the filming of his Jerry Herman show, which we’d then issue on Blu and Ray. After that, I’ll be attending the opening night of Night Hawks, co-directed by our very own Mr. Barry Pearl. Friday I’ll be seeing Shelly Markham’s performance at the Gardenia – haven’t been there in almost a year. Saturday, I have no plans other than packing and I will absolutely keep it that way. Sunday morning I’ll be going to the airport very early and winging my way to Washington DC to work with the East Coast Singer for a couple of days, and I’ll be seeing her in a production of Company. I return on Wednesday, so it’s quite a brief trip. The helper will be staying at the house to keep her eye on everything, as she always does.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, eat, hopefully pick up some packages, write some liner notes, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland happy that our beautiful site and board is now completely complete.