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February 12, 2017:

HUMBLE, GRUMBLE, TUMBLE

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I cannot say that I did no work yesterday, oh, no, I cannot say I did no work yesterday. Why can I cannot say that? Because I did some work yesterday. For example, I finished casting the Rupert Holmes show. That was work, but we’re cast and I can now finish choosing the damn songs and get people the damn music, which I’d damn well like to damn do. But that was not the only work I did, oh, no, that was not the only work. I also finished the song I was commissioned to write. The tune itself I finished weeks ago, within two days of having been asked to write a song. But setting the lyric was very difficult because of the nature of the tune and the way I chose to lay out the rhyme scheme. I boxed myself right into a corner because once you do that you have to adhere to it quite strictly, at least I do. So, for example, in the verses, lines one, two, four, and five all rhyme, while lines three and six also rhyme, albeit with a different rhyming word. But the verses are long and so it continues with lines seven, eight, and nine rhyming with lines eleven, twelve, and thirteen, while lines ten and fourteen also rhyme, albeit with a different rhyming word. Doing the first of the four verses wasn’t that hard, but adhering to it for the subsequent three was nutty and VERY hard. When you’re triple rhyming as in the case of lines seven, eight, and nine, and lines eleven, twelve, and thirteen, you can usually get the first two pretty quickly but the third usually trips you up and it’s back to square one. To compound that difficulty the rhymes on those lines are two-syllable rhymes, i.e. humble, grumble, tumble, to give you an example. The two bridges also have their own rhyming scheme. But I’m very happy with the result and the tune is REALLY catchy. That alone took up about four hours of my day and evening as well as my evening and day.

I slept until noon – ten hours – guess I really needed it. And I’m quite bored of these completely weird dreams I’ve been having. Whatever happened to the pleasant in pleasant dreams? That’s what I’d like to know. During the day I ate the other half of the tuna pasta salad, which was a bit less than the first half portion. I enjoyed it very much. Then I went out briefly. I picked up one package, and then went to the nearby Rite Aid and got some of their Thrifty ice cream that’s pretty low-calorie – their cherry chocolate chip, which is my favorite. Frankly I could eat the whole damn thing in one damn sitting if left to my own devices. Thankfully my own devices are controllable, although I did have three helpings – which probably equaled a double cone sans cone.

I was going to sit on the couch like so much fish, I had every intention of sitting on the couch like so much fish, and yet I did not sit on the couch like so much fish mostly because finishing the song kept me occupied. I also had a few telephonic conversations, answered e-mails, and did a bit of other work on the computer, not to mention listening to more music, mostly Mahler. I must say, listening to his symphonies is a commitment with a capital C. The shortest is just under an hour, but the longest can go past ninety minutes. Still, it’s wonderful music. I have the complete Bernstein 60s cycle in iTunes, save for alternate performances of the fifth and sixth symphonies, specifically John Barbirolli. The Bernstein fifth is fine, but I just don’t care for his sixth, the only Mahler symphony in that cycle that just does not do it for me. Barbirolli does it for me, as do a few others. I’d read about a CD of Thomas Sanderling conducting the sixth (he’s the son of Kurt Sanderling, whose Sibelius cycle I’m very fond of) – that CD is literally impossible to find. There is not a single copy for sale anywhere at any price. Happily, it’s on Amazon streaming so I get that free with Prime. I added it to my library and it is a very good performance – not my favorite, but filled with interesting details and I heard things in the orchestration I’ve never heard clearly in any other recording. If you have Prime, search for it and give it a listen. It’s certainly in my top ten Mahler sixths. At some point I took a shower and that was that.

Today, it’s more of the same. I can now finish choosing songs and then start getting everyone their music. I’ll also finish the packaging for our next soundtrack release on Kritzerland, which we’ll announce on Tuesday or Wednesday. Other than that, I’ll relax, listen to music, perhaps watch a motion picture or two, and, of course, make the remaining pasta (less than eight ounces), with some red sauce. If I’m feeling like I need some protein I may go buy one more box of pasta and a little chicken for today and tomorrow. That means I won’t eat out again before Tuesday – pretty good. And frankly, I may go over to Von’s, which is much less expensive than Gelson’s, and buy food for the next couple of days, so that I don’t eat out until mid-week, when I do have some meetings and meals.

This week is all doing stuff for the Rupert show, and organizing other stuff, some meetings and meals, seeing at least one show but perhaps one other. This month is almost half over – how did THAT happen? Oh, and the hope is that by Thursday we can get the book designed, proofed, and hopefully off to the publisher the week after – that would make me very happy.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, finish choosing songs and get the singers their music, I must finish the packaging for our next CD release, I must relax, listen to music, eat, and perhaps watch a motion picture. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have finished the damn song, and happy with the rhyming schemes, especially the two syllable triple rhymes.

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