Well, dear readers, today we have The Curious Case of the Itchy Ankles. This is a mystery case that even Dame Agatha would have trouble solving. For the past two years, maybe three times a year and only when it’s cold, I get in bed and my ankles start itching. This is not a minor thing, no, it’s huge – terrible, really awful itching. I know better than to scratch such an itch too much but one must scratch an itch and I do it by rubbing my feet on the itchy part, but no matter how much you do it it doesn’t get better it gets worse. Your ankles and lower leg start getting irritated and hot and it’s fairly unbearable, but eventually you fall asleep and by the time you get up you would never know it had happened. There’s no rash, no bumps, no nothing. Last night, it happened again and it was so bad I just finally had to get up and I was up for most of the night. Being up, I Googled itchy ankles and night and cold and this isn’t peculiar to me – this is a HUGE phenomenon, going on for years. Everyone’s an expert, everyone has a different cause – the causes range from dry skin to cancer to diabetes and everywhere in between. Dry skin and cold seem to make sense, at least. There’s also some official name for it that I can’t remember now, but other than various ointments or creams, which I won’t use when I’m in bed, no one really has a cure. So, I got the fine idea to put on socks and that actually seemed to really help and I got back in bed and fell asleep pretty quickly. So, as long as it’s cold it’s going to be socks in bed. Do any of you dear readers experience The Curious Case of the Itchy Ankles?
Yesterday was not a bad sort of day at all. In fact, it was kind of a very pleasant day with only one teeny-tiny irritant – one of the 100 spam/scam calls I get – I answered one of them because I’d really had it, and some woman comes on the line, asks if it’s me and I said, “What does it matter who it is, I’m telling you to never call here again and I’m logging this call.” She, like all these creeps, just wouldn’t shut up and kept going on and on until I finally used two words – one began with “F” and it was followed by a word that began with “C.” That stopped her, but only for a moment, at which point she began again, asking if it was me, telling me it was a business matter, saying we’d spoken before, and I finally hung up. Of course, I Googled the number and it’s spam/scam. I shouldn’t have answered, but it’s so bad that I just want to let loose on these cretins. It doesn’t do any good, but it felt nice.
I had a fun and nice lunch meeting with a friend at Hugo’s – I had pasta papa and it was yummilicious. Then I picked up a few packages, then came home. Luckily I arrived home just as the UPS truck was pulling up. So, they gave me my two screeners and I signed for them, but said that I really didn’t have to since I’d already signed online. He said it required a signature anyway and that they’d just had the same issue down the street. He showed me that his device said it had been signed for online, but it also said it needed a signature, which simply isn’t how it works. He suggested I call UPS, which I did as soon as I got in. They were their usual unhelpful selves but said I’d get a call back. I got one about twenty minutes later from the local dispatch. We went back and forth, she put me on hold, then finally told me it was pilot error on the delivery guy’s part – he’s new and didn’t understand, and they’ve all been alerted now to just leave the packages.
One of the packages from the mail place was Liz Callaway’s new The Essential Liz Callaway CD, which she was kind enough to send me. She thanks a lot of folks in the booklet, but I have to say, she saved me for last and wrote a really nice thing – I was very touched by it. There are a lot of wonderful tracks, and our stuff is represented more than anyone else’s. I opened the various and sundried packages, did some work on the computer, did some work at the piano, and then finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I watched two more episodes of Humans, and I’m kind of hooked on the damn thing. It’s very well done, really well directed, the actors are all excellent, and I’m just enjoying it a lot. I do hope it sustains itself, and I’m also anxious to see the original Swedish series.
Then I watched one of the screeners from the DGA, a motion picture entitled Bridge of Spies, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks. While I don’t always love Mr. Spielberg’s work, what I DO always appreciate is his love and knowledge of cinema and I always know I’m in good hands in terms of the filmmaking. And so it was with Bridge of Spies – so beautifully directed and acted. I really liked it a lot, maybe my favorite live action film this year. There’s nothing fancy about it, there are no chases or huge dramatic scenes. Spielberg just tells the story and even though most people know how it turns out, there’s still a lot of suspense. Hanks will probably be up for an Oscar, and Mark Rylance should not only be up but should win – a brilliantly understated performance. The score by Thomas Newman isn’t exactly John Williams but it gets the job done. Anyway, highly recommended by the likes of me.
After that, I watched another episode of Humans and it was as good as the three before it. They’re just telling the story really well, and there are a lot of interesting notions and issues. Looking forward to the other four, which I’ll probably watch today.
Today, I’ll be up at six to announce (finally!) the new Kritzerland title, which is Victor Young at Paramount Volume 2. This one has taken the longest of anything we’ve ever released. It was actually ready to be announced at the end of last year, but at the eleventh hour a bunch of extra music was located for one of the scores. That took a long time to get into the pipeline, but we had to have all that great extra music (about twenty-two minutes of it), but finally it’s on its way. The CD, which is very long, has four scores on it – The Proud and Profane, Forever Female, Little Boy Lost, and My Favorite Spy. Here’s the cover.
Then I’ll write, hopefully pick up some packages, relax, maybe have a birthday dinner with a friend (belated), and then I’ll watch the other screener, which is Steve Jobs.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, announce a CD, hopefully print out a LOT of orders, the helper will be by to get invoices and stuff, and then ship everything that needs to be shipped, because we won’t be doing any other shipping until next Monday or Tuesday, eat, 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, where I shall hopefully not experience The Curious Case of the Itchy Ankles.