Well, dear readers, we had a real mystery on our hands yesterday, a real puzzler – The Mystery of the Problematic Postings by Agatha Christie. When I got home from rehearsal I of course came directly to haineshisway.com and our beloved discussion board. I saw that we only had three pages of postings by four-thirty, which I found quite odd. So, I read the posts, then typed my usual Page Three Really post and then instead of posting it just sat there like so much fish. It sat there and it sat there, ten minutes worth of sitting there. I went to the main page and got there fine and all the pages of the discussion board came up fine, it just wouldn’t take the post. Then I tried a test post. Nada. Then another test post. Squat. Then I called the emergency hotline of our host and asked for them to call me as soon as possible so I could tell them what was happening – I did do a Reader’s Digest version on the phone. Just two minutes later they called. They, too, were getting the page just fine, but I had them log in using my username and password, and he attempted to post and saw that it wouldn’t take. He said he’d investigate and call me back. He did just a few minutes later. I went back to the computer and suddenly we had four pages of posts and I saw all my test posts and a bunch of repeated posts from dear readers, along with folks saying their posts weren’t going through. I was then able to post, and so were others and suddenly there were five pages of posts. We never really did solve The Mystery of the Problematic Posts by Agatha Christie. The tech guy thought it may have been an issue with smf, the board software folks, but I don’t know enough about that stuff to know. But we were back up and running so the mystery at least had a happy ending.
Prior to that, I was up early and Adryan Russ came by and we went to the theater for our rehearsal. Now, I have never gotten to the theater, no matter what route, in less than fifty minutes, and most of the time it’s an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. We took the 101 to the 405 to Venice – that took exactly fifteen minutes. Then it took an additional ten minutes on Venice and we were there in twenty-five minutes, which is what the damn ride should take. Amazing. We began with the tap number, and made the decision to take Sami out of it (she’d actually made the suggestion to me a few days ago), and to let the other actor have it as a solo. So, Sami gets a new song, which we kind of need for time anyway and I think we came up with something that will really be cute for her. Then we spent the rest of the time drilling the group numbers and they are getting better and people are finding their energy.
After rehearsal, Adryan, Sami, her mom and I went to this barbecue place on Lincoln – we’d seen it and it looked great so we decided to give it a try. The menu looked amazing and we all ordered, with me having the pulled pork sandwich and sides of creamed spinach and mac-and-cheese. Sami’s mom had brisket, Adryan had chicken and Sami had wings. As most here know, I have my favorite barbecue jernt in North Hollywood – the Kansas City Barbecue. I also love Dr. Hoggly Woggly Texas Tyler’s Barbecue in Van Nuys – it’s very different but great. I am sad to report that yesterday’s meal was one of the single worst meals I’ve ever eaten. Maybe that style of barbecue is just not for me, but all the sauces were tart and vinegary-tasting, the pulled pork had not one iota of flavor, the creamed spinach was inedible, the mac-and-cheese was weird but passable, the cornbread was flavorless and downright peculiar. Sami got half sweet wings and half spicy. She couldn’t eat the spicy ones because they were TOO spicy, but she seemed to think the sweet ones were okay. Her mom didn’t like her food at all. Adryan was fine with her plain quarter chicken. So, no need to ever return to this jernt.
After, I came home just in time to have Sandy’s rehearsal, which took a little over an hour. I made a couple of tiny adjustments and that was that – she’s really grown so much in the last two years – it’s quite amazing to see, and she’s really got this show down. After she and Lanny were on their way, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I finished watching Giant on Blu and Ray. The final eighty minutes of the film isn’t quite as good as the first two hours – as the characters age, the makeup just doesn’t quite cut it and it begins to look a little like a school play in that regard. But the story is interesting enough that it holds interest, and Mr. Stevens’ direction is always precise and lovely to watch. I must say, James Dean is very endearing in the first two-thirds of the film – he doesn’t really have that much to do in it, but his final big scene really isn’t so hot – he just doesn’t seem to know what to do with it and I was surprised at how poor I thought it was. I’m sure others probably think it’s great, so it may just be me. And then, after this three hour and twenty minute journey, the film kind of just ends. But the transfer is pretty amazing for this very problematic film (in terms of its opticals), and I doubt Giant has ever looked better.
I then watched another motion picture entitled Carry on Screaming, a horror spoof. People seem to think it’s one of the best of the Carry On pictures, but I found it mildly amusing with a few good laughs – it does move along quickly, but I don’t remember the other Carry Ons enough to know if I’d consider this one of the best. My favorite of them is the divinely silly and hilarious Carry On Cleo. But I do love Kenneth Williams in these films, and in this one instead of Sid James we get Harry H. Corbett, who’s pretty good. The transfer’s okay. I’m hoping they bring Carry On Cleo to Blu-ray. I have about ten of the Carry On films (maybe more) in a big Carry On DVD box – I’ve only watched about three of them, so maybe I should check some others out.
After that, I just relaxed.
Today, I have to be up at eight to wait for the Garage Man, who will hopefully solve the problem the door is having – it starts to close then goes back up and it’s just a pain and it’s exactly what it was doing before when I was told the previous motor had conked out. After that, I’ll do some writing of liner notes and listen to a new master, and then I won’t pick up any packages or mail since it’s Veteran’s Day. I will go to The Federal at 2:45 for our band rehearsal. Sound check will be officially at five, and then dinner begins at six-thirty. Show is at eight, and it does look like we’ll have a very nice crowd.
Tomorrow and the rest of the week is all rehearsals and run-throughs, getting our Kritzerland singers their music, prepping our next release, and finishing many sets of liner notes. Daunting all, but everything must get done.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, write liner notes, listen to a master, have a band rehearsal and sound check and then eat and see Sandy’s show. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite British comedy films? I’m quite fond of Brit comedies, especially some of the Ealing Films. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall ponder the unsolved Mystery of the Problematic Postings by Agatha Christie.