Well, dear readers, September is flying by, like a gazelle singing the Verdi and Faure Requiems at the same time, the result of which sounds like the score to CATS. I gotta tell you. I am, in fact, sitting here like so much fish, listening to the Eugene Ormandy performance of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem and like I always say, don’t messa with da requiem and Mr. Ormandy doesn’t. I was quite anxious to hear it. This is a Japanese import and it’s mastered a little low, which is very unusual for the Japanese. The recording is crystal clear, however, and the performance is wonderful. This must be a difficult piece to record, with the soloists, the choir, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, who play magnificently. Because so far, only in the bad-sounding Toscanini do you get anything resembling a great blend between orchestra, choir, and soloists. The Barbirolli band is very distant for a lot of it and the Ormandy the engineers who recorded it did a great job but you can hear them trying to get the orchestra more present throughout – they succeed some but not all of the time. But the singers and choir are wonderful, and because it goes over onto a second CD, they have the Rossini Sabat Mater, which I know nothing about, conducted by Thomas Schippers, so that’s something new to listen to. I’m now interested to hear the Leinsdorf Living Stereo version and the Reiner version. Both get high marks from certain folks. I’ve also been listening to the symphonies of someone named Felix Weingartner, a name I was completely unfamiliar with, and who is considered one of the greatest conductors in history. Well, he was also an excellent composer, and prolific, too, with seven symphonies, a lot of tone poem kinds of things, and a lot of operas. The symphonies are really quite good, and they’re beautifully performed and sound great. They’re all on the Tube of You.
Yesterday wasn’t a bad day at all. I got six hours of sleep, arising at ten. I answered a lot of e-mails, did stuff that needed doing, then got dressed and moseyed on over to the local branch of my bank. Thankfully, the line outside was fairly short so it only took about seven minutes to get inside, and once inside another five to get to a teller, and then another five to do my transactions and get the HELL out of there.
Then I went to the mail place and picked up the little package that contained the Ormandy Requiem CD, and then I came right home. I did some work on the computer, got hopefully good news about another drop-in guest for the tenth anniversary show, and then I ordered food from Jersey Mike’s – a regular turkey and provolone and a mini Eyetalian. That arrived thirty minutes later, and I ate the turkey and saved the Eyetalian for dinner. The calorie count for the two sandwiches was slightly less than 1000. Then I felt logy, so I sat on my couch like so much fish and put on the extras for the Dragon Tattoo trilogy – interviews with the cast and such. I feel asleep immediately and stayed asleep for about forty minutes.
Then I did a bit more work, then around six-thirty I had the Eyetalian mini sandwich and that was pretty good and then I sat on my couch like so much fish again and this time I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Ex Machina. I’d only seen it once and remembered enjoying it. And I enjoyed it again, although it does have its flaws, including a weird ending. Alicia Vikander is great, but the two male leads got on my nerves after a while. It’s well directed but it’s not a classic, really.
After that, I did a Diet Coke run. Since Gelson’s hasn’t had any Diet Coke the last three times I’ve been there, I simply went to Ralph’s. They had plenty and they were on sale at three for ten bucks, so I got six of them, plus a thing of waters, which I was out of as well. I also got some hamburger patties for today’s meal, along with some calorie-friendly buns, and I got some tuna and onion rolls for tomorrow’s meal, so I don’t have to think about food again until Friday and I could always have tuna two days in a row. Stranger things have happened.
Then I listened to music, did a little more work on the computer and then it was time to write these here notes.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, I’ll eat two burgers, I’ll do some Kritzerland show stuff, and then I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow is busy with Kritzerland show stuff, and so is the rest of the week and then I have to gear up for the one and only Facebook and YouTube Live test. I’m also getting a haircut on Friday, which I really need.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, do whatever needs doing, hopefully pick up some packages, eat, do Kritzerland show stuff, and then watch, listen, 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 heard Ormandy’s excellent performance and that he didn’t messa with da requiem.