Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish listening to the Brahms Serenades, which I’m enjoying very much, after having listened to two different symphony cycles – the Rafael Kubelik and the Istvan Kertesz – of the two I do believe I am gravitating to the Kertesz – it’s just marvelous and his set includes all these Serenades, too, and it’s cheap. But enough about Brahms although I probably have more to say about Brahms than I do about yesterday.
Yesterday I don’t have too much to say about. I mean, I can say it was a Sunday. I can say I got eight hours of sleep. I can say I had a brief visit. I can say I did a three-and-a-half mile jog. I decided on the west jog and when I got to Van Nuys and Ventura I just kept on going because it was a pleasantly pleasant day and I enjoyed seeing how many new lame restaurant/bars had opened and all the little trendy people sitting there drinking like fishes whilst picking at healthy bushes and shoots calling itself salad, with heinous looking things that are purportedly pizzas, but which aren’t pizzas at all – just one after another. I did both sides of the street, and, of course, I always feel a little pang of nostalgia on the north side as I pass what used to be Tower Classical and then on the south side as I pass what used to be Tower Records and Video. But I also feel nostalgia for the two or three great mom-and-pop record stores that dotted the boulevard in the 1970s, as well as passing what used to be the greatest hot dog stand in the world – The Weiner Factory – all the good stuff is gone, replaced by horrid-looking new buildings and the aforementioned jernts, but perhaps in twenty years some person will be jogging lamenting THESE new places that will be replaced by even lamer new places. Every generation has their own nostalgia. Shockingly, that now includes nostalgia for 2000 – 2010. Of course, some people older than I have forsaken nostalgia for neuralgia.
Once home I was pretty pooped – the extra half-mile wasn’t that easy, although the first three miles weren’t bad at all. I was also starving as it was almost three-thirty. So, off I went in the motor car to Jerry’s Deli, where I had a wonderful bacon cheeseburger and a side Caesar salad. I only had the bacon cheeseburger because I’d looked up the calorie count and was surprised to see how reasonable it was – a quarter pound bacon cheeseburger, which is what Jerry’s does, is only 450 calories, and if you search bacon cheeseburgers at chains you’ll see that that calorie count is fairly consistent. The side Caesar is around 250 calories, so all in all, a very reasonable meal o’ the day and plenty of room for a sweet later, which, let me assure you, I had. But I’m getting ahead of myself (no mean feat).
Once back home, I began watching a motion picture called Dragonwyck on a new Twilight Time Blu and Ray, but I couldn’t really get into it, despite enjoying the actors, especially Gene Tierney. So, I shut it off and will come back to it. Instead I went to Ralph’s to buy a few necessities, like waters and Diet Coke and I also picked up some low-calorie low-fat chocolate chip ice cream and came home and had a bit of that as I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched another Twilight Time Blu-ray, this one entitled My Cousin Rachel. They’d put out a DVD of it in their early days, which I’d watched the first five minutes of and never finished. But this time I kept watching and I must say I found the film terrific – a wonderful script by Nunnaly Johnson and moody, atmospheric direction by Henry Kostar. It was Richard Burton’s first American film and he is really excellent in it, as is Olivia de Havilland as cousin Rachel. And the usual array of excellent Fox character people. The ninety-eight minutes flew by, and the transfer is exceptional. Highly recommended by the likes of me.
Then I took a hot shower and relaxed, listening to the Brahms serenades.
Today is, of course, Memorial Day, not labor day as I originally wrote whilst being under the influence of too much phlegm. But I think I’ll leave the title allusion anyway, just because I can. I think I’ll try to do the jog prior to our first Kritzerland rehearsal, which begins at two. We finish at five so I wouldn’t eat till then – but if I’m hungry prior to rehearsal, then I might eat then and then jog at five. I’ll play it by ear, nose, or throat. After all of that, though, I fully intend to relax. It’s been great being able to catch up on a lot of movies, I must say, but I also have new liner notes to write – going to try and do two sets of them. I’m thinking of announcing the next Revisited title at the end of the week. People seem really jazzed by these and they do sound a whole lot better.
The rest of the week is meetings and meals, more casting for the Sherman event, our second Kritzerland rehearsal, and then our stumble-through, then sound check and show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, have a rehearsal, eat, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Beatles albums and songs, especially the latter. And how old were you when you heard your first Beatles song and what was it? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, as we get ready for a day sans labor.