Well, dear readers, in honor of my watching the new Criterion Blu and Ray of The King of Jazz, today’s notes will be in two-color Technicolor. Therefore the color blue will not appear in these here notes – that’s right, there will be no blue notes today and there will be no bananas today because yes, we have no bananas. So, let me begin by talking about The King of Jazz, one of those early talkies musical revue type things, starring Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra and featuring a very young Bing Crosby in his first film. It’s a really entertaining phantasmagoria of all kinds of acts, with incredible costumes and sets, and some seriously amazing dance numbers that actually were jaw dropping. But the real jaw-dropping thing is the restoration and transfer. This film was entirely shot in the two-color Technicolor process and about 90% of the transfer is from the original camera negative. The quality of that 90% is simply astounding, mind-bogglingly beautiful with texture you can actually feel whilst watching. The two-color Technicolor is gorgeous and unique. I loved every minute of it and plan on watching it again next week. This is worth a purchase for the Happy Feet number alone. Highly recommended by the likes of me.
Yesterday had its ups and downs but mostly ups, so let’s accentuate that positive. I got seven hours of sleep, got up and began trying to print out orders. There weren’t as many as I was hoping for, but hopefully it will continue getting orders every day, as Eubie did – that one, too, started out a bit slower than I would have thought but ended up doing very well. And all these kinds of releases have done very well on Amazon, and I can’t list there until we actually have the CDs. When I say trying to print out orders I mean trying – it took one hour to print ten orders. The printer has been like that for a few weeks now and I was concerned I might have to get a new one. I also still hadn’t gotten a call from the publisher, so, frustrated, I went and had a Philly cheesesteak sandwich and a side Caesar salad, bought some printer ink, which I needed, picked up one package, and came home. That is when the ups began. I had a call from my gal at the publisher – she’s a good one and is on top of everything, so I felt more comfortable after that long call. Then I began to think about the printer and wondering whether it, like Netflix, was somehow having trouble communicating Wi-Fi-wise. So, I called Spectrum, got a really nice and smart tech on the phone and we went through a bunch of checks. We finally traced something on Netflix to a DNS server problem – the number wasn’t quite matching the IP number, which it should. So, he actually had me do what Netflix had suggested a month ago and that I didn’t want to do because it was evening and if something had gone wrong I wouldn’t have been able to call anyone – he had me reboot the router and he sent a new signal to the modem. And voila – Netflix connected instantly and I put five orders in the print queue and they printed out in ten seconds. So, that was a big relief. Then I printed out all the orders that had built up. Even though there were less orders than hoped for most of them were for both CDs, so that was helpful.
Then I finished writing the commentary, so that’s done. I did some work at the piano and on the computer, then sat on my couch and happily watched The King of Jazz. I didn’t get the major miraculous miracle I was hoping for – I was trying to sell a rather high-ticket item on eBay, just trying to give Kritzerland a little cushion, which it needs, and it had a lot of views and watchers and in the end no one bit because eBay has turned into a horrible place filled with price-gouging dealers and very few legit buyers for the higher ticket stuff. It’s mostly dealers looking to quadruple their dough, and they weren’t going to be doing that on my item I can tell you. So, that was a disappointment.
I made about four ounces of spaghetti with red sauce and sautéed onions for my evening repast, and that hit the spot. We got some audio samples up for Pieces-Of-Eight, so go check them out. It’s such a fun and delightful time machine back to revues that were irreverent and sophisticated at the same time. And the performers, especially Jane Connell, are terrific. I laughed out loud several times, especially the number Oriental, which you couldn’t really do today, but it’s a hoot and it’s one of the audio samples. Then I took a hot shower, listened to music (our three piano concertos CD – it really is fantastic and if you’ve heard it, we could really use an Amazon review for it), and relaxed.
Today is our second Kritzerland rehearsal. I’ll call the mail place and if there’s anything to pick up I’ll do that prior to rehearsal. Then I’ll go to the market for a couple of items so I can eat at home. Then we rehearse, after which I’ve decided not to go to the dinner downtown. It will be too tight time-wise, and too much traffic, and I have a few things I have to do anyway.
Tomorrow and Friday I’m not sure about – I think there may be some kind of meeting tomorrow, and I’m hoping Friday can be a ME day. Saturday is our stumble-through, and then Sunday is a brand new month, April Fools Day, and our sound check and show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, hopefully pick up packages, have a rehearsal, eat, do some work, 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 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 presented the two-color Technicolor notes with no blue notes.