Well, dear readers, I must write these here notes in a hurry for she of the Evil Eye will be here all too soon. So, let me begin by saying I vowed that yesterday would be an all ALS day of buckling down, Winsocki and doing all the work I needed to do, and indeed I buckled down, I Winsockied, and I got it all done. I did the show order (could change – it’s a first pass), and once I’d done that I filled in the entire working script. Now it’s up to the ALS folks to fill in their end of it and then we’ll have something close to final in terms of the script we’ll use for the show.
First, I’d gotten up at eleven after nine hours of sleep. I answered e-mails and did some work on the computer, then went and had an omelet and an English muffin for my main meal o’ the day. After that, I came home and began the work on the ALS stuff. In the midst of it, we had a telephonic conference call with the ALS people to work out various and sundried details. Then I finished my work. I also did a two-and-a-half mile jog. After that, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched three more episodes of Stranger Things. These people who made this show are just so full of their own cleverness and it’s a real problem. The funny thing is they weren’t even born when Poltergeist and ET came out, or several of the other movies they’re paying homage to. While the nods were mostly story and visual nods in the first couple of episodes, now we’re getting things like movie posters on the walls and cute character names like O’Bannon (after Dan, who wrote Alien). And then there’s the problem of stretching out this yarn over eight episodes. It’s not from a book, so there is a LOT of repetition here – the same scene played over and over again, something their idol Stephen King doesn’t do. The three lead kids are written so poorly it’s excruciating. There’s an attempt at charm one minute, then they argue, then they’re mean for no reason other than the writers need them to be – and the dialogue is just horrible, something else the writers didn’t learn from their beloved Mr. Spielberg. This is closer to The Goonies in that regard. I do like the strange girl – she’s very good, and Winona Ryder is clearly chewing up any and all scenery and I’ve always enjoyed her. The irritating music is faux John Carpenter by way of Tangerine Dream. Still, it’s fun in an annoying kind of way, but very typical of these filmmakers/writers who came of age in the 80s and 90s – it’s all about their nostalgia – I don’t think they have an original idea in their head, or if they do they’re not sharing it. Only two episodes to go – I wonder if they’ll wrap up the story or if they’ll carry it over into a second season, even though they haven’t been picked up for a second season.
After that, I went in the pool and swam a bit – I haven’t been in the pool in almost three years. I heated it up to about 88, which was still not warm enough for me. Then I had to eat a little something else, since my net calories for the day were around 500 – but I didn’t want to go out so I had these frozen mini-tacos – four of them have 170 calories, so I made eight for 340 calories, so still under 1000. I don’t really like to come in under 1000, though, and I have to stop doing that.
Today, I’ll be up early, I’ll do the two-and-a-half mile jog, then I have several things to do, after which I’ll come home and get everything ready, including myself, for the stumble-through. After that, I’ll give whatever notes I have, then some of us will go get a bite to eat. Then I’ll come back home and finish Stranger Things.
Tomorrow, I’ll hopefully get up after a good night’s beauty sleep, then I’ll relax, jog, and then mosey on over to The Federal for sound check and then show. Then starting on Monday it’s count down to the ALS show, with rehearsals, meetings, meals, and locking the script.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, do stuff, have a stumble-through, eat, and watch. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite books of Stephen King? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have buckled down, Winsocki and gotten all my work done.