Well, dear readers, I come to speak of the Gateway Enigma. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, come to speak of the Gateway Enigma. As you know, for the past couple of weeks my modem has been losing signal, which causes my router to lose signal, frequently resulting in me having to unplug the then plug in the router. It’s sporadic – sometimes one can go eight hours or more without a problem, other times it happens six or seven times in a short period of time. So, Mr. Spectrum Man came at eleven-thirty yesterday to see what’s what. He did this, he did that, he ran tests, he replaced cables. But mostly he figure out what was happening was that the modem I’d been given was a modem/router, in essence giving me two routers rather than one, and that’s what’s been causing all these problems. It seems that there’s a gateway and then the two routers arrive there, one is basically saying, “You first,” while the other is saying, “No, you first.” While they’re being all polite with each other the signal times out. So, he replaced the modem/router with a modem only. Then it took him a half-hour to finally get everything up and running again, but once he did, everything was much faster and since he’s been here there have been, knock wood, no incidents. So, it seems he solved the Gateway Enigma. He also replaced the line from the telephone pole to the house – he told me it’s ancient, so now we have a spiffy new wire.
He finished just in time for me to make my one-thirty lunch meeting, with my lighting designer for Levi. I had my usual chicken Caesar salad and we had a very nice chat and I think he’ll be fine. Then I picked up no packages and came home. Once home, I did some work at the piano, and then on the computer. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched three more Alfred Hitchcock Hour episodes. As I’ve said, most of these are average – and it’s always the ones who have either good directors and/or writers that are the cut above. The first episode had a fun cast – Darren McGavin, Patricia Crowley, and Telly Savalas, but the script is not so hot and neither is the direction by David Lowell Rich. The second episode was entitled The Gentleman Caller, starring Roddy McDowell and Ruth McDevitt. This one’s written by James Bridges and directed by veteran director Joseph Newman, and it’s very well done, but ultimately not that interesting. Then came the third episode, The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow, and voila – a totally great episode from start to finish, thanks to superb direction by the wonderful Robert Stevens (he helmed some of the most beloved Twilight Zone episodes as well as many Hitchcock shows – he’s as good as it gets), and a really good script by Alvin Sargent from a story by none other than Hugh Wheeler. Add to that that they gave Robert Stevens a better cameraman than the other episodes – John L. Russell, who shot Psycho, and then a great cast, including Patricia Collinge, a wonderful actress who heartbreakingly and memorably played Theresa Wright’s mother in Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, as well as a very young Jessica Walter. But it’s really Miss Collinge’s show and she’s great. This one actually generates considerable suspense.
Then I went to Gelson’s and got a little salad, came home, and ate it all up. Then I buckled down, Winsocki and did the blurb and prep for the new Kritzerland release, which we’ll announce tomorrow morning. Whilst doing that, I continued my journey through the symphonies of Nikolai Miaskovsky – I’m not sure I’d say all of the achieve greatness, but there are some wonderful symphonies so far and even the ones I found less interesting are interesting. Many to go – I think I’ve heard eight or nine by this point, thanks to none of them being all that long.
Today I am having a Dining Adventure. A week ago I decided to see whether anyone had well thought of fried clams, a dish I miss very much. The Coral Café does serve them, but it’s rather like eating breaded erasers there, and their tartar sauce is not good. So, I found exactly one place – a new, trendy seafood jernt in West Hollywood and that’s where I’m going. I’ll be having the fried clams and a salad – I understand portions are on the small side, so maybe I’ll have a side of something. I will, of course, have a full report. Then I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, including this week’s Freshly meals – I’m going to skip the next couple of weeks as there’s too much happening, but I’m looking forward to this batch. Then we’ll get everything ready so we can announce our new title.
Tomorrow, we’ll announce our new title, and then I have a work session. I was invited to see a thirteen-year-old’s nightclub act, but since I created that genre I’ve kind of been there, done that. Friday we resume performances of Dial ‘M’ for Murder – not sure if I’ll be seeing it this weekend or not, and not sure what else the weekend might hold in store. Then we begin our busy Kritzerland rehearsal week.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a dining adventure, hopefully pick up packages, prepare our new release announcement, 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 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, happy that the Gateway Enigma has been solved and that all is once again working well.