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October 5, 2019:

THE NOT QUITE QUITE A DAY

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to music and pondering the imponderables, such as why is cheese called cheese?  Why is the cello called cello and why doesn’t it have an “h” in it like cheese?  Conversely, why isn’t cheese spelled ceese?  I mean, if it’s good enough for cello it ought to be good enough for cheese.  Yes, these are the thoughts that are roaming around the windmills of my mind.

Yesterday was quite a day for reasons I no longer remember.  It wasn’t really quite a day – I just said that for effect.  The effect it had on my was to eat a matzoh.  I got about six hours of sleep, got up, answered lots of e-mails, had some telephonic conversations, and then I got ready and moseyed on over to a jernt called the Black Bear Diner in the heart of Tarzana, although I’m not sure Tarzana has a heart.  This was formerly a Coco’s – now it’s another chain, the Black Bear Diner, which I’ve never heard of.  The menu was promising, but sometimes reality is different.  I got the “light” version of the chicken fried steak (five ounces instead of ten, and only 600 calories).  There was something in the gravy, some spice, that just wasn’t to my liking.  Still, I ate it up along with some of the redskin mashed potatoes, and a couple of bites of salad, as I also didn’t care for their bacon ranch dressing – everyone needs to leave bacon out of ranch dressing – that’s simply not done, not in civilized society.  David Wechter, with whom I was lunching, and I had a civilized conversation that was lots of fun.

I then went to a nearby used CD store.  They didn’t have much of interest, but I got a couple of three-dollar CDs of Bach, just because I’ve enjoyed what I’ve heard but I haven’t heard that much.  Then I moseyed on over to the mail place, which was not a fun drive until I finally got off Ventura Blvd. and jogged up to Burbank Blvd.  That was pretty quick.  I picked up some packages, then headed right home.  I listened to some music whilst answering more e-mails, got a new lyric sheet to peruse – I made some notes on that and we’ll see where it goes. At some point, I sat on my couch like so much fish.

Last night, I watched the final two episodes of the five-episode mini-series, Chernobyl.  It was quite a powerful mini-series and certainly the Soviet Union doesn’t exactly come off well, nor should they.  The acting was quite good, especially Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgard.  It’s mostly a cast of Brits, none of whom attempt to do a Russian accent.  I think they could have sped up the pace a bit towards the end and maybe done it in four episodes, but clearly they wanted five.  My one major caveat was the noise that called itself a score.  Yes, there was the ubiquitous chorus singing a dirge – maybe five minutes of that – the rest just a series of noises, more sound design than music, a seeming trend that should be flushed down the toilet and that doesn’t make me think we’ll of the directors who like that sort of thing.

After that, I relaxed, had some matzoh, and that was about it, really, and really, that was about it.

Today, I’ll be up by eleven, and then I’ll mosey on over to the Burbank Nordstrom Rack store to see if I can get a pair of black slacks.  Then I’ll relax until I go to Doug Haverty’s home environment.  Then we’ll all go sup, after which we’re attending some jazz concert thing at the Montalban Theater, formerly the Huntington Hartford, where I spent many happy hours in the 1960s seeing all manner of wonderful shows.

Tomorrow, I’m attending a do for the exiting artistic directors of the Group Rep.  I’m sure that will be fun.  Until I leave, I’ll relax, and when I return I’ll relax some more.  Next week is very busy – a work session for the What If show, announcing two new titles – or one – depends on how much I get done – working at the piano and at the computer, writing some connective stuff for the What If show – mostly just the set-ups – and doing whatever else needs doing, with the usual meetings and meals, including one with Kay Cole on Tuesday.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, go to Nordstrom Rack, relax, sup, and attend a jazz concert thing.  I will, of course, have a full report for you.  Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite fact-based TV movies and mini-series?  Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had a not quite quite a day.

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