Well, dear readers, I’m told that the moon is finally getting out of Uranus or that Mercury is out of retrograde or that Pluto is done with Mercury, Uranus, and retrograde. In other words, maybe we’ll start having some nice, non-irritating days because I have quite had it with the irritants of the last few weeks. And to celebrate the passing of the retrograde, I listened to the Rachmaninov third symphony (I’m usually a Rachmaninov second symphony person, but decided on the third) because to listen to some of the most ravishing music ever written is to calm the mind, enrapture the spirit, enlighten the soul, and warm the heart, as well as say, “Eat me, Mercury in Retrograde, there is beauty in this world you will never stop, despite your insistent trying.” Take THAT, Mercury in retrograde, you blithering twit. Take your irritants and shove them right up Uranus via Pluto. And don’t come back for a LONG time. There, I’ve said it and I’m glad.
So, the other day I saw a photograph that just astonished me and I am not easily astonished, just as I am not easily assimilated. This photograph was from the 1993 TV movie version of Gypsy, starring Bette Midler. I bought the DVD when it came out and liked that it didn’t muck about with the script or orchestrations or the original Jerome Robbins choreography. But I was of mixed feeling about Bette Midler as Rose, as I found her performance a little one-note and tiring to watch. I did enjoy Cynthia Gibb as Louise, but thought Peter Riegert as Herbie was not that interesting. Of course, it’s kind of impossible not to like the young versions of June and Louise – I’ve never ever seen those roles be anything less than wonderful by the young kids who play them. The older versions are also usually very well played, too. I’d forgotten that Baby June was Lacey Chabert, who I once worked with way back on Liz Callaway’s first album (same year as Gypsy). But the photograph I saw wasn’t of her, it was of Baby Louise, and that is what astonished me. Because I had no idea who’d played it, and there she was, unmistakable even at ten and my mind was just boggled. Because staring me in the face was my beloved Peggy from Mad Men – at ten. Yes, Baby Louise was played by none other than a ten-year-old Elisabeth Moss. Who knew? I’d always thought that her first big thing was Mad Men, but after looking her up, she’d already had a very successful career as a child and then young adult actor, and had appeared regularly on The West Wing, a show I have not seen one episode of. Here she is as Louise.
Isn’t that astonishing? But enough preamble. Yesterday was an occasionally okay day, but definitely suffered from the final day of Mercury being in retrograde. There were little irritants all the livelong day right into the livelong night. But the clock has struck twelve and now Mercury in retrograde is hopefully all done with mucking things about. I was up at nine after almost eight hours of sleep. I did some work on the computer, then got ready and moseyed on over to the House of Pies for a little late breakfast get-together with a few fun folks. I had some eggs benedict (best in town), and shared a short stack (two pancakes) with the table. I suppose I ate almost one pancake on my own. We were there about ninety minutes or so and we all had a lot of fun and there were laughs galore, and I even got to hear about something I only knew a little of – I got the complete update and I must say, karma does do its thing.
After that, I picked up one package and then came home. I dealt with another irritant, and then, tired of that sort of thing, sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I watched a motion picture on the Flix of Net entitled Night Falls on Manhattan, a film of Sidney Lumet that I’d never seen. I like Mr. Lumet’s films and even though this one is a bit of a muddle (Mr. Lumet wrote the screenplay himself, adapted from a book, and I just think he was not a very good writer), the actors are all good – Andy Garcia, Lena Olin, Ian Holm, James Gandolfini (four years before The Sopranos) and a host of good character actors. It’s well paced and I enjoyed it for what it was.
Then I went to Gelson’s to get some light bulbs, came back, had an early evening meeting, then had a snack (about four ounces of pasta), and then, once again, sat on my couch like so much fish. This time my allergies began to act up, which was irritating, and I watched the first thirty minutes of the Bette Midler Gypsy, just to watch Elisabeth Moss. From what one can see, she’s a really good dancer and even at ten was a good actor. There are times when she’s just reacting or looking at someone where you can absolutely see what she’d become. After that, I just did some work on the computer, and put on the ravishing Rachmaninov third symphony.
Today, I absolutely will spend most of my time trying to nail down the song choices (so many, too many great ballads, and still searching for more up-tempos), and lock down the rest of the cast. I’ll eat something at some point, maybe do a jog, hopefully pick up packages, and then relax. Also, we’re in the final three weeks of our Kritzerland a GoGo indiegogo campaign and we really need to push now. I remind that it’s not just “giving” money – it’s more like purchasing our CDs in advance and at a considerable savings. I know we have a lot of fans for the kind of music we do – and I’d like to think that more than 170 of them would want to come along on this ride – we’d really hoped for more like 500 fans. Anyway, at the $100 level you get for your $100 six CDs and other swag AND you don’t pay postage. So, that’s close to thirty-five dollar savings. We need to keep spreading the word, so here’s the little link to our page.
Tomorrow I’m not sure what’s happening, Sunday afternoon we have a little read-through of the Sami show, just to hear the new material, and next week is busy with all the usual stuff.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, finish choosing songs, finalize casting, eat, hopefully pick up packages, and relax. 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, various Paul Williams albums. Blu and Ray, who knows? Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy that Mercury is finally out of retrograde and Pluto is out of Uranus.