Well, dear readers, how shall we begin these here notes? That is always the conundrum, which, of course, quite literally is a drum inside of a conun. Well, perhaps we should have a story? Perhaps one of our favorites such as The Randy Vicar and the Ball Peen Hammer. That’s quite a good story, but, you know, this is a family site. Perhaps we should sing a nice Irish song, such as Mighty Lak’ a Rose. Oh, dear. All these years I’ve thought that was an Irish song, only it isn’t. It’s an American song written in 1901. Who knew? Well, we need to sing a damn Irish song, so let’s sing A Red, Red Rose. Damn, that’s a Scottish song. Well, we can always do Danny Boy, no one’s going to tell me THAT isn’t an Irish song. Now, wait just a darned minute – Danny Boy’s lyrics are by an Englishman, but they’re set to an Irish tune called Londonderry Air, which I always thought was London Derriere, a song about English butt cheeks. You know, if anyone has a clew as to what the HELL I’m going on about, perhaps you could let me know. In the meantime, the notes.
Yesterday was a day that just kind of sat there like so much fish. I got eight-and-a-half hours of sleep, was lazy, did some work on the computer, did a two-and-a-half mile jog, and then decided today was the day for a nice meal. So, I moseyed on over to Hugo’s, where I had my usual small Caesar salad and my usual pasta papa, both very good and definitely what I’d call a nice meal. After that, I came home, had a telephonic call, had some e-mail volleys, and then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I finished watching the Netflix series River, starring Stellan Skarsgard. The first thing this show gets right is keeping it to six episodes. So many of these shows become repetitious and annoying when they try to stretch one story to ten or twelve episodes (or worse, multiple seasons). It’s an odd series, but I liked it, and the acting from everyone is quite good. The mystery isn’t all that, but it’s kind of not about that. The pace is very measured but never boring. If you like your Nordic Noir, this is kind of like that, but not really. That took me well into the evening. Then I watched this two-part thing on You Tube that someone posted, an exhaustive look at who dubbed whom in the movies, from old right up to now. There were some surprises along the way, but there is at least one unforgivable glaring omission – nowhere to be found is The First Nudie Musical (and believe me there are lots more obscure films than that) – and let’s not forget that one of its co-stars’ songs is dubbed by a very popular actress, and several smaller roles are dubbed by a Tony Award-winning actress. Oh, well.
Today, I have a lot to do. Some Brain matters (I think we’re going to do a small Indiegogo campaign for the band and the one-day sound package), just so all the money that’s actually made will go to the Theatre Academy. We’ll have some fun perks and I’m hoping it will be fairly easy to do. I’ve got to have a little video done, but my usual editor is tied up on a series, so need to find someone else. I’ll jog, eat, hopefully pick up packages, and do other things that need doing.
Tomorrow the busy begins. We have a rehearsal for this little birthday concert thing a week from now that bookends the Kritzerland rehearsal, so that will be several hours, but as always I’m really looking forward to hearing lots of good music. The rest of the week is meetings and meals, our second Kritzerland rehearsal, our stumble-through, sound check, show, and then this other birthday concert thing the following day. Also am going to try and finish casting The Brain so we can announce the cast. I’m thinking we should have a haineshisway.com get-together – those with memories may remember we had a really nice get-together when the show opened a decade ago, and we haven’t really had one since. Let’s try to make that work.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example do Brain matters and begin preparing the little Indiegogo campaign, I must jog, eat, hopefully pick up packages, find someone to edit a little video, and then relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are you all-time favorite UK TV shows and series? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall sing myself to sleep with a medley of Irish songs like Mighty Lak’ a Rose, A Red, Red Rose, and London Derriere.