Well, dear readers, let’s just call a turkey a turkey and say that it is Thanksgiving, a day when we should give thanks. While there is much to be thankful for and for which I do give thanks, there is also the need for some damn Major Miracles and hopefully we’ll have one or two soon because we need ‘em, especially going into birthday and holiday season. But while things occasionally do get weird and difficult, there are wonderful things and for those I am thankful. What that has to do with turkeys I have no idea, although I’m also thankful for turkeys. I’m not sure if the turkeys are thankful, given what’s going on today. As I write these here notes I am listening to the incandescently beautiful Rozsa Violin Concerto as played by Jascha Heifetz. This is the wonderful concerto that became the basis for his film score to Billy Wilder’s The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. And on this same CD is the Korngold violin concerto – I’d heard the Previn and Shaham version the other night and really didn’t care for it and nuked it. Hearing this performance it’s a whole other ball of fish – suddenly everything works, nothing is belabored, the phrasing is just right and it’s amazing and in great mono sound (the Rozsa is in stereo). There are third party sellers on Amazon selling this for under two bucks so if you don’t know this music it’s worth checking out.
Yesterday was a fine old day until about five o’clock when I got an e-mail I thought might have come many days ago, but noooooo, why do that when you can send it the day before Thanksgiving. Thanks to the holidays, however, I don’t really have to respond until Monday. It wasn’t a nasty e-mail or a bad e-mail, but just one I have to figure out and take care of. That I shall do on Monday. Prior to that I got about seven hours of sleep, answered e-mails, printed out a few orders (it’s so wacky to me, but we’re selling more Kritzerland titles on Amazon than at Kritzerland, and that’s not so good for Kritzerland, since Amazon takes thirty damn percent of every sale. I listened to various and sundried music during the day, did a two-and-a-half mile jog (finally), and then at two-thirty I moseyed on over to Casa Vega for a meal with Sami and her mom. I had my usual beef taco and two enchiladas, and we shared some chili con queso dip, which was great. We gabbed and it was fun and then I went to the mail place and picked up a couple of packages, after which I came home and found four screeners from the DGA. None of them were to exciting (I’ve seen so little this year I hope we get some interesting stuff at some point), but I sat down and watched about forty minutes of something called Captain America: Civil War or something like that. I don’t know at what point superhero movies become sour and dark and completely not fun, but this is in that mold and what a bore it is. And it’s all these other superheroes with Captain America. The co-directors are terrible, the script is terrible, the acting is non-existent BECAUSE the script is terrible, everyone mumbles and the sound people make all the male voices sound like they have no treble and I really had to just turn it off – well, I didn’t exactly turn it off, I fell asleep. I’m not sure I can suffer through the whole thing. They make these stupid movies in the computer – pre-visualizing everything and sorry that’s the worst thing that ever happened to movie making. The other movies are The Jungle Book (I know this was a big hit, but I don’t hold out much hope that I’ll like it), Queen of Katwe, and Manchester by the Sea.
After that, I went to Gelson’s and bought the stuff for today’s meal – which isn’t turkey, thank you very much – Wacky Noodles with some sautéed chicken. They had about ten shelves for pumpkin pie and every single pumpkin pie had been sold – but plenty of apple and pecan left. Then I went in the hall closet and did the last of that, pulling out about twenty things to upload and hear (I do nuke anything I think I won’t listen to again), whilst listening to Henry Mancini’s brilliant score to Wait Until Dark, which I hadn’t listened to since it came out some years ago. That one’s a keeper in iTunes. I also listened to The Time Machine and Ride the High Country, but once was enough and those got nuked and CDs are back on the shelf. And now I sit here like so much fish listening to Mr. Rozsa and Mr. Heifetz make magic.
Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep, then I’ll do a jog, listen to music, make the Wacky Noodles with sautéed chicken bits, and then watch two or three motion pictures.
Tomorrow I may or may not go to a little post-Thanksgiving partay, but I will finish writing the commentary, which I began yesterday. Otherwise I’m just relaxing and that goes for the entire weekend to because next week is either going to be very difficult or fun – I, of course, am hoping for the latter.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, eat, watch movies, listen to music, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are you doing today and tonight – if you’re cooking, what are you making? And what do you think of all these superhero movies of today? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping everyone has a most wonderful Thanksgiving Day eating turkey and all that goes with it.