Well, dear readers, I had a very restful and relaxing Thanksgiving Day and evening. I managed to get over ten hours of blessed sleep (on the right side of the bed, which I’m still getting used to), and once up all I did was answer a few e-mails, do a bit of work on the computer for the Kritzerland show, and then I sat on my couch like so much fish and watched the final three episodes of Stranger Things 2. As with the first season, for me the whole thing cannot sustain itself for nine hours – too much repetition, too much the same beats over and over again, too much with the silly cliffhanger endings that don’t work and too much with the 80s rip-offs and nostalgia. But in episode seven they just completely lost me – an entirely new set of characters for an entire episode, who then disappear and are never seen nor heard from again. I gather there’s a name for this in now TV land, it’s a “thing.” But let me tell you – it’s a stupid thing and it’s completely off-putting and insulting to the viewer. After that, episodes eight and nine limp to their foregone conclusions. The people who love this show, or at least most of them, grew up in the 80s and live for any nostalgia that comes their way – there’s never quite been a generation like it, actually, and I don’t mean that in a necessarily good way. I don’t believe I’ll need to watch a season three should there be one, and I certainly have little interest in the Duffer Brothers and what they may come up with in the future.
After I finished that, I had to get ready for the Thanksgiving partay at the Pearl’s. I arrived a little after five and yakked with everyone (it’s usually the same crowd when they do the Thanksgiving dinners), and then we sat down to eat. Normally I just stuff myself silly, but this time for my first helping I had only a little bit of turkey, a tiny bit of stuffing, a tiny bit of yams, one quarter of a boiled potato, and some cranberries. It was all very good. For my second helping, it was just another tiny bit of turkey (I don’t think that I had more than five ounces all told), another spoonful of stuffing, and a bit more cranberries, and that was it. Oh, and the three rolls with butter. For dessert I had a piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and a little bit of a gluten-free brownie. The conversation was fun, as always, and it was just a lovely and cozy partay and I was glad to be there.
I got home around eight-fifteen, answered a few more e-mails, and then sat on my couch like so much fish. Before I get to that, though, every time I walk in this new house it feels good to me, even though there’s still some picture hanging to do. I like my workstation – my other one was in the kitchen, too, but right in front of windows where passersby could just look in, which I never liked. And the light in this house is so bright and wonderful – the light in the old house was always dim and gloomy and anything but bright and wonderful. And in the daytime if I have all the blinds open, you don’t even need lights here.
Last night, I watched Griffin Dunne’s affecting documentary on Joan Didion. I didn’t know much about her life and it surely was an interesting one. Talking about her writing I was surprised to hear her say that she let’s the story happen as she’s writing it – that’s what I’ve always done, but you hear lots of other writers who have the need to outline something to death. It’s a lovely piece and I recommend it – it’s on the Flix of Net. And speaking of the Flix of Net, for the second time in a little over a year, they’re raising their prices again, if only by a dollar.
Today, the only thing scheduled is a work session with this new pianist for the Kritzerland show. He’s got most of the music, but it sure would be easier if the past Christmas show music wasn’t in a box now – I have no idea what box or where it is, but since a lot of the music is stuff we’ve done I have charts that are already routined. I’m going to be up by ten so I can get in the garage and see what I can find. The helper told me the boxes are labeled “music” but I have yet to find any box from the garage shelves that’s labeled at all, let alone one that says “music.” After the session (at one, I think), then I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, eat, and then relax.
Tomorrow I’ll start unpacking Blu-rays and CDs for a few hours, and get the rest of the bedroom bookshelves filled. Then I’m seeing A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Group Rep and afterwards a few of us will go have a bite to eat. Sunday I will relax – unpack a bit, and get ready for the big week ahead. Monday we have our first Kritzerland rehearsal, Tuesday we have a Levi pick-up rehearsal, mostly just getting the kids back into show mode and running all the music and set changes. Wednesday we play an evening show, Thursday we play a matinee, Friday is our second Kritzerland rehearsal and then we play an evening show, and Saturday we close with a matinee and evening, after our stumble-through in the morning. Then Sunday we have our sound check and show. Oh, and we’ll announce our new release on Sunday at midnight (this Sunday) – we’ll probably have one or two more releases for the end of the year.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, try to find the music boxes in the garage so we can save ourselves a lot of time, I must have a work session, I must hopefully pick up packages, I must eat, and I must relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – Black Friday as a matter of fact – why do they call it Black Friday anyway – that sounds like a horror movie – of course the way shoppers behave IS a horror movie, so maybe that’s why. What is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray player? I’ll start – CD, upcoming Kritzerland projects. DVD, some screeners – three of them, none of which I have any interest in, but I’ll watch anyway. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had a warm and cozy Thanksgiving, and happy that I will be going nowhere near any Black Friday sales. But I think we should change the black to a nicer, brighter color like chartreuse or orange or at least burnt sienna. Or yellow – that’s a nice color for a Friday sale.