Well, dear readers, when do good delis go bad? Yes, that’s the eternal question, and sadly it’s one I can answer in these here notes. Yesterday, after spending an hour with Richard Sherman shooting some video, the two video gals and I went over to nearby Nate ‘n’ Al’s for a meal. For me, Nate ‘n’ Al’s has always been second to Langer’s as my go-to deli for great pastrami. And their kishka was always second to none. Now, maybe it was just an off afternoon but I had truly one of the worst meals I’ve ever had. We all ordered, and I ordered my usual New York – pastrami, cole slaw, and 1000-Island dressing, and I ordered kishka for the table, along with a short order of potato pancakes. As always, I ordered the pastrami extra lean. The potato pancakes arrived first and they were fine – not as good as Langer’s or Factor’s, but fine. Then the girls’ food arrived. About five minutes later our waitress was passing and I said, “Is my sandwich coming soon?” She looked at me for a beat, then hastily said, “Yes, soon.” I believe she simply hadn’t put in the order. She went back to the kitchen and then about five minutes later she passed again and I said, “Lean, yes?” She looked at me for a beat, then hastily said, “Yes.” A couple of minutes later she brought me the sandwich. Well, not only was it not lean, it was LOADED with fat. Fatty meats are not my thing. I do not like fatty meats. Fatty meats are fatty and fatty makes me want to vomit on the ground. I should have sent it back, but I just ate around the fatty bits – and it had so much fatty meat in it (their sandwiches never used to be this big – they were, like Langer’s, edible, size-wise), that I literally could not hold it and get my mouth around it. So, I left some of the bread and quite a bit of the meat.
And then there was the kishka. Their kishka was amazing – every single time. This came out and I simply did not know what I was even seeing. It looked nothing like the kishka they used to have and needless to say it tasted nothing like the kishka they used to have. This had no texture, no flavor, and the three pieces (used to be five) were circular and looked like little brown pillows. Disgusting. I shall not return. Factor’s is close by and so much better, and I do want to give Canter’s another try because last time I was there it was pretty good. And that’s how good delis go bad. But in other Jewish news, Happy New Year to all of our Jewish dear readers – Rosh Hashanah is here and I, for one, shall celebrate by eating something Jewish but not at Nate ‘n’ Al’s.
Yesterday was a pleasurable day in a lot of ways. I got seven hours of sleep, had some good news in the morning that has made everything a little easier, but mostly I had one telephonic call after another and I had a lot of e-mails to answer and we got all the Fuller at Fox CDs shipped. Then I had to some work on the computer, and then I had to shave and get ready to be on my way to the home of Richard and Elizabeth Sherman. I arrived at three-thirty, as did my video gals. It was good to see Richard. He’s still in a bit of pain, but I think the visit was fun for him. We laughed almost the entire time. We first sat him on the couch in the living room and shot just about two minutes of him talking about Levi and how it came to be. I knew exactly what I needed for our Indiegogo video, so we shot no extraneous material at all.
Then we got him to the piano and he played and sang the show’s anthem, Opportunity. We did two takes of that, then moved back to the couch and he and I sat together and did exactly one minute of banter. So, we have enough to make a fun video now and while I was going to have my wonderful editor/friend Marshall Harvey cut it, the gal is going to put it together because she has all the equipment at her school (she’s in film school) and that way we don’t have to take the time to transfer stuff and get it to Marshall, who then has to book time in a place he uses to cut our stuff. So, I should see something hopefully by Thursday and I’m hoping we can get the campaign up and running by the weekend. Richard gave me six copies of the new book A Kiss Goodnight, based on the song he wrote for Disneyland a year or so ago – it comes with a CD of the song, and these six copies have been signed by him (and let me tell you, he’s not signing much these days), so that will be one of the nice perks – just have to figure out the cost.
Then we had the bad meal, then I returned the gals to their car at Richard’s house, and I went in and spent another thirty minutes there. Then I finally came home. It was too late to watch anything, so I just finessed the Indiegogo copy and did a blurb for our next release.
Today I’ll be up early and over to LACC by ten-fifteen to meet with my two potential costume designers to see what they’ve come up with, and then I’ll make the final decision as to which of them will do the show, and I’m seeing three actors who weren’t at the workshop. But I should be out of there by noon at the latest. Then I’ll eat, hopefully pick up some packages, and then I have work to do here and then I’m absolutely watching some stuff.
Tomorrow I’m hoping to have an eleven o’clock visit with Nick Redman, and then I’ve got other stuff to do, and then the rest of the week and the weekend is busy with Kritzerland show stuff. The following week is our Kritzerland rehearsal week.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, meet with my two potential costume designers and my three errant actors, eat, hopefully pick up some packages, work, and then 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 you like 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 to have spent a lovely afternoon with the likes of Richard Sherman, and unhappy when good delis go bad.