Well, dear readers, may I just say that waste makes waste? Yes, you heard it here dear readers, haste doesn’t make waste, waste makes waste. Every day of every week of every month of every year do you know how much junk is in my mailbox? Yards of it, miles of it – whether those ads for various and sundried companies are stuffed in there, or mail from people and companies I’ve never heard of to crap that people leave hanging on the front gate – it’s endless, it’s pointless, and most of all it’s irritating as all get out, and I think we all know how irritating all get out is. The waste of paper is astonishing in itself, but this stuff costs someone something and how much return do they get? I mean, I toss this stuff so fast it’s not even funny – I don’t look at it, I just grab it from the gate or the mailbox and it is in the trash in seconds. Happily, I don’t get any of this crap at the mail place, just at home. In fact, I’d say it’s pretty much all I get at home, this plethora of pointless paper. This Plethora of Pointless Paper – that’s the title of my next novel. In any case, if I never saw this junk mail again it would be a very nice thing.
When I was a wee bairn, of course, I loved getting anything in the mail, as long as it was addressed to me. And if you’ve read the first Kritzer book you know that I did indeed send for any and everything I could – catalogs, TV tickets, mail order items from comic books and Song Hits Magazine, anything that was free or where you just sent some stamps for postage. That’s when it was fun to run to the mailbox. We didn’t have all this pointless paper crap back then, this junk stuffed into your mailbox that you never asked for. It should be illegal and if it was up to me it would be. But, alas, there is nothing to be done about it. End of waste makes waste rant.
Yesterday was a long and involved day. I did get up late, after eight and a half hours of glorious sleep. A local dealer picked up some CDs, and then I had to get ready for my lunch with Terry Trotter. Just before I left, I got a call from the actor we’ve been waiting on and who seemed key to this project I’ve been waiting on to happen, committed. And that was that and we’re now off and running and I do mean running. But more about that in a minute.
Lunch with Terry was really fun. We reminisced about the wonderful albums and magic we made, and I filled him in on things me and he filled me in on things him. I had some salmon and vegetables, so under six hundred calories. We were there about ninety minutes. Then I picked up no packages, did some banking and came home. Once home, I printed out some orders but mostly for the next four hours I was on the telephonic device solidifying the production team for this new project, which I can now tell you is a new musical revue I’ll be creating for a well respected little theater in Santa Monica. I’m using four of their company members and I’m bringing in two people, so a cast of six and a piano. Our musical director will be Lloyd Cooper. I’m not ready to reveal the theater or the cast yet, but will soon. Kay Cole will be coming in to do some choreography for a handful of numbers, so that will be fun. I’d started compiling song ideas two weeks ago, so now I have to add a few more things and then begin to think about the structure and point of the evening. I have some ideas already in terms of how to present certain songs, but it’s the shape of the show I have to find and I have to have at least a rough idea of it by the end of next week. But my mind works quickly and I’m also going to brainstorm with Kay a little and also Adryan Russ, who’ll be assisting me. Mostly I do those kinds of brainstorming sessions over food and basically I just yak and out of that yakking ideas come to me. It’s my favorite way to create.
This will all be happening very quickly. We go into rehearsal a week from Monday, so I have to have assigned all the songs by then – I’m choosing too many so that I can whittle it down to what really is going to serve us. I have to meet with one more cast member who I don’t know at all, just to see what he looks like and get an idea of his personality. I’ve met everyone else. I also have to meet with the design team, even though this will be very simple and elegant. At some point, I do have to find a cover for the women and one for the men, because at least one of the women is going to have a couple of conflicts in December – but whoever covers will absolutely be guaranteed shows. So, the next month is going to be absolutely nutty in terms of schedule, but I do love being busy and this project could end up being a lot of fun. But I have the Kritzerland shows to do and also the first two episodes of Outside the Box to shoot on November 4 and 5. I guess I can tell you now that one of the two episodes will star Deborah Gibson, so that will really be fun.
The show will start performances on November 15, but we’re calling the first couple of weeks previews and our official opening will be somewhere around December 5. We won’t play on any of the holidays, obviously.
After all those endless calls (including a long one with an actress who’s coming in from New York to do the show – she’s a long-time company member at this theater), I had to then do some work on the computer and answer a ton of e-mails and by the time all that was done, I had to mosey on over to the Dena of Pasa to have a production meeting about the benefit I’m directing in January. That was fun and I had a small chicken tostada that was very good and I hope not too too caloric. It was really just a little shredded chicken, mostly beans and lettuce, with a teeny-tiny scoop of guacamole and sour cream. The meeting lasted about two hours and then I came home, where there was more junk paper attached to the front gate. I also had to leave the motor car out because the garage door has been spazzing out and I can’t take the chance of it not opening or not closing today. I’m trying to find the receipt for when I had it fixed earlier in the year, but I think I sent it to be reimbursed, so I’ll write and hope they have it, because I’m sure that work was guaranteed, at least that’s the hope. Update, found the check stub and from that found the company, so I’ll call in the morning, even though they have live operators 24/7. So, hopefully they’ll have a record of the work and I know right around when it was done, which was sometime in the first two weeks of January of this year. I can probably find the exact day by searching the notes. In fact, I’ll do just that right this very minute. Found it in an instant – January 13.
Today, I shall call the Garage People and get them out here to fix this problem, whatever it may be – since they replaced all the gears and the motor last time, I’m hoping whatever it is is covered by whatever warranty they have, since it’s not really that long ago. Then I’ll lunch, I’ll jog, which I never had time to do yesterday, hopefully I’ll pick up some packages, pay some bills, and then I’m seeing Clifford Odets’ Awake and Sing.
Tomorrow, I think I’m lunching with the Staitman clan and discussing things that need discussing, and then Sunday I have a brunch meeting with Kay Cole to brainstorm. Otherwise, I’ll be working on the revue, I’m sure, but also making a show order, writing the commentary, and writing some liner notes. Then next week mostly it will be planning the revue and setting the rehearsal schedule.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, get a garage door fixed, hopefully print out some more orders, lunch, hopefully pick up some packages, then see a play. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray player? I’ll start – CD, endless. Blu and Ray, next up will be La Notte, more Sherlock Holmes and whatever else strikes my fancy. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall encounter no pointless paper and where there will be no waste making waste.