Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, relaxing with Mr. Debussy for a change of ear pace, conducted by Paul Paray on Mercury Living Presence and eating a cookie. I don’t eat cookies very often actually, but I inherited a gift box of cookies yesterday – they’d arrive a day or so ago for the fellow in the back house, who’s been out of town for a month and will not be back until the beginning of the January. The box said “refrigerate after opening” so I alerted him about it, asking if he wanted me to open it and refrigerate. He said it wouldn’t last until he was back and that he wanted me to partake of the contents. So, I opened it and there was a tin of cookies from Milk, which I presume is some company that makes such things. I immediately tried something that was labeled “corn cookie” kind of a cookie/cornbread thing and it was very tasty indeed. I’m eating a “confetti cookie,” which is like a sugar cookie but with gaily colored little I don’t know whats. Only having a few bites, though, as they’re filled with something called calories. And now I’ve moved on to the lovely music of Paul Le Flem, for another change of pace, given all the operas of late. I’ll continue down the opera path today, I suppose. I also have Klemperer doing Handel’s Messiah to get through and then Klemperer doing Beethoven’s Messy Solemnis – sorry, Missi – we’ll see if I think it’s messy or missi. I did listen to an operetta earlier, by Eduord Kunneke – Traumland, it’s called and it’s quite tuneful and delightful, his second to last operetta. I’m not sure exactly if this was done as a performance or is just prepared for the studio but having heard a bit of an old mono radio broadcast, I’d guess this has new orchestrations or at least spruced up orchestrations, and they’re lots of fun. Singers are good and sound is, too. What else can I tell you? Well, it’s almost midnight so I suppose I’d better keep these here notes moving right along and, of course, stay away from the inherited cookies.
Yesterday was okay. I got eight hours of sleep, did stuff that needed doing, picked up some packages from the mail place, after which I came home and made the third of the four Regina pizzas, this one sausage. It took less than ten minutes to heat up and I liked it better than the meatball one, so that was nice. After that, it was some work on the Kritzerland show, then I did some work on project two, so that’s moving slowly but surely and I’m curious to see where it’s going from where it is now. After that, I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched more episodes of The Good Fight – I think I have three or four left, can’t remember. It’s pretty well written, but like most of these things, a few lapses into silliness. The characters are typical of these kinds of shows, which all seem to come from the same inherited cookie jar, but the actors are very good and breathe their own interesting takes on the characters. I love Christine Baranski and she’s great in this and the Amy Adams-ish gal is very good, too. As always with these kinds of shows, they are loaded with Broadway folks – too many to name, really. It looks and sounds like all the other shows that came before it and I think they were all influenced by a Swedish multi-part series that I can’t remember the name of – the structure of that was unique at the time and soon thereafter that kind of structure found its way into TV and cable, most blatantly in House of Cards. I’d love to know how Ridley Scott sticks his name on so many of these shows. I also must point out that the show’s end title music is very similar to what Grant Geissman wrote for my production of Dial ‘M’ for Murder – in terms of feel and orchestration – when it first started it really took me aback. But these things are addictively addictive and it’s no wonder people binge on this stuff, especially during a pandemic. My favorite lapse in writing 101 was a list that plays an important part – names and numbers next to them that no one in a high-profile law firm knows the meaning of (the numbers). They puzzle over them – they’re not social security numbers or other kinds of numbers, what can they be, what a mystery. Well, the first time they cut to them it’s so obvious that they’re business tax ID numbers, you know, a 95 followed by a hyphen. I mean, that kind of lazy writing is so unnecessary in an otherwise smartly written show. I’ll look forward to finishing up season one, perhaps even this evening.
After that, I had a Healthy Choice frozen dinner thing of under three hundred calories, which probably took me up to about 1200 calories, which is fine. The rest you know.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll do some last minute Kritzerland show stuff, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, I’ll eat the last of the Regina pizzas, this one plain cheese, I’ll work on project two, hear some more orchestrations (I heard one last night, not quite finished, but sounding great), and then I’ll be watching the Group Rep holiday show thing – for those who are interested, it’s ten bucks, which goes to help the Group Rep and enables you to watch it as many times as you like through the rest of the month. Plus, if you join us for the premiere you get to come to the Zoom cast party and that’s bound to be a Zoom cast party. Here is the link.
Tomorrow, I’ll relax until it’s time to get ready for the Kritzerland show, which, of course, begins at 5:00 Pacific Standard Time/8:00 Eastern Standard Time and we hope you’ll all watch it with us live so we can get your wonderful comments. It’s shaping up to be a very entertaining show, that much I can tell you. I’ll have the links in tomorrow’s notes.
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, do last minute Kritzerland show stuff, hopefully pick up packages, eat, work on project two, hear some orchestrations, and then hunker down to watch the Group Rep holiday playlets – I haven’t seen any of them save for ours, which closes the program. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite cookies – to make at home, and the best you’ve ever found at stores and such? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have some inherited cookies.