Haines Logo Text
Column Archive
November 29, 2018:

NOT A BAD DAY

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish listening to a beautiful George Shearing solo piano album called My Ship after a day called Wednesday.  I did manage to get eight hours of sleep, answered e-mails and then it was time for our thirty-minute rehearsal with Keri Saffran, who couldn’t attend Monday’s first rehearsal due to not being in town. She’s doing my song, This Christmas, which is now also part of A Carol Christmas (and speaking of A Carol Christmas, there are now sound samples up, so you can hear a bit of it), Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and then a medley of songs called Voices of Christmas, during which she does fantastic impressions.  So, that was fun and some might even say it was fun-and-a-half.

After that, I moseyed on over to the mail place, where there was but one tiny package and an envelope containing a code to stream a movie called The Front Runner. I did some banking, then I stopped at Taco Bell and got some food.  I came home, ate it all up (not an especially good batch this time – very hit and miss over there), then continued writing the commentary and got close to finishing it. Then it was back to the mail place to ship a couple of things I’d forgotten to bring.  I came back, had Grant scan some stuff for me, and then spent the rest of the afternoon entering the A Carol Christmas song information on ASCAP.  We still won’t know until today whether product will be available tomorrow, but we’ve got our fingers crossed.

After that, I did prep work for three releases – the one I was pondering to do as a two-CD set just didn’t really make sense, so it’s three separate releases. And then I hope to have at least two more to announce in December.  That took a bit of time.

Then I watched The Front Runner, a 2018 motion picture about the Gary Hart presidential campaign.  It was interesting, certainly, but it’s not a great movie or anything.  The director is not a favorite and I found his work endlessly irritating.  The writers, in the first third of the film, are trying very hard to be like Aaron Sorkin and not succeeding.  The cast is fine, although Hugh Jackman seemed an odd choice and has an odd wig. The “score” consists of piano noodling, along with a lot of needle-drop music including a cue by Henry Mancini and the opening music of Unsquare Dance by Dave Brubeck.  You don’t really learn anything you didn’t already know, the real story doesn’t kick in for almost thirty minutes, then it’s better for a while, then just ends.  I didn’t hate it and it held my interest but it’s not one for the books, as they say.

After that, I did a few things about one of the December Kritzerland releases, listened to music, and relaxed.  So, not a bad day.

Today, I’ll get our new releases ready to announce, I’ll eat, I’ll hopefully pick up packages, then we have our second Kritzerland rehearsal.  After that, I’ll relax, perhaps watch something, and do whatever needs doing.

Tomorrow I’m hoping our product is ready – fingers and other digits crossed – and then we resume performances of A Carol Christmas. I’m trying to ascertain if I know folks who’ll be there on Friday and Saturday nights.  If I don’t, I may take one of those nights off, but we’ll see. I do know people on Sunday, so I’ll have to get ready for Kritzerland earlier than usual, make sure I have everything, and then I’ll attend the matinee, then hurry over to Vitello’s for sound check and then our show.  I’m sure some of us will grab a bite afterwards.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, prep our new release announcement, eat, hopefully pick up packages, have our second Kritzerland rehearsal, and then relax.  Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite performances of Hugh Jackman and for those who remember, what did you think of the whole Gary Hart brouhaha?  While these days the press likes to play victim, it was a very different world back then, and their behavior as portrayed in this film is horrible.  Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had not a bad day.

Search BK's Notes Archive:
 
© 2001 - 2024 by Bruce Kimmel. All Rights Reserved