Well, dear readers, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that yesterday was Monday. It takes a lot of courage to go out on a limb and say yesterday was Monday, but we simply must have the courage to do so, especially if the limb is an arm, although a leg will do in a pinch. I personally never pinch a leg or any other limb – my mother was a pincher, and I don’t mean an affectionate pincher either. I have no idea what the HELL I’m going on about but go on I must because these simply wouldn’t be these here notes if we didn’t go on and didn’t go out on some kind of limb. I suppose we could go out on a limb whilst doing the limbo – that would be of a piece, certainly. Other than going out on said limb, I’d say that I was sitting here like so much fish listening to the second Previn box, this one his complete HMV and Teldec recordings, which I got before the Ormandy box using a credit, but of course I had to do the Ormandy box first and then the Rodzinski box. I have the big RCA Previn box from two years ago, and I enjoyed that one very much, although I do wish they’d remastered all of it, which they didn’t, and I suspect that’s the case here, too, with only a few things being remastered. I mostly love Previn and until he began recording for Deutsche Grammophon, he at least was interesting. But the DG years were pretty terrible, I thought – bad sound, slow conducting and certainly not to my liking. The first CD in this box is from 1971, which is Prime Previn. And that first CD was quite a surprise, a concerto for sitar and orchestra by Ravi Shankar. I’d rather eat fetid yogurt than listen to anything with a sitar, but I listened and was quite taken aback to find a delightful concerto, well-orchestrated, and tuneful. Who knew? Of course, Mr. Shankar is the soloist, and he certainly knows how to play that damn sitar. Previn and the band sound great. But the next disc is fascinating – a Gershwin disc that, at the time of its release, was praised to the skies as the be-all and end-all of Gershwin albums. Well, not quite. The Rhapsody in Blue is excellent, for sure. The American in Paris is not up to mostly any of the classic versions, and the Concerto in F is now my least favorite version of a piece I love. It’s just lifeless and ordinary and at the climax, really unpleasant to listen to due to sonic overload. But then comes an absolutely brilliant Alexander Nevsky and all is forgiven. There is no shortage of great Nevsky recordings in both mono and stereo – the Ormandy mono in the big box set is great and I’ve always been partial to the Thomas Schippers on Sony. But this is one of the greats and in perfect sound. Now I’m listening to a pops concert disc that’s very fun – Candide Overture, Greensleeves and the Hungarian Rhapsody. This disc opens with a long Elgar piece but conducted by Edward Heath. There are only a few discs left, like 93. I need a break from big boxes after this.
Yesterday, well, you already know I went out on a limb and said that yesterday was a Monday and I double checked and I’m right, it was a Monday. I did get eight hours of sleep, I answered e-mails, we now have all but two videos and I’m hoping we have both no later than tomorrow morning. We shall see. I moseyed on over to the mail place and picked up some package, including one from the jernt Lydia Geissman recommended to me, Thin Living, which has all Keto friendly items. I ordered rye bread (net zero carbs), some no carb pasta, which I’m afraid to try but will, some parmesan crisps, and I think that was it. So, I decided to try the rye bread right away – only 45 calories a slice, too – I rustled up two fried egg sandwiches with cheese and bacon. When you have cheese, egg, and bacon between two slices of bread it really doesn’t matter what the bread actually tastes like – I don’t think this is so tasty, but it sure did the trick, because it gives you the appearance of eating bread without the calories or carbs. After that, I heard from the Blu-ray guy – he thought we’d have print proofs by the end of the day but that didn’t happen, and he thinks we’ll have a check disc on Wednesday. I won’t count those chickens before they hatch, nor will I go out on a limb. Then I did a few things that needed doing, answered more e-mails, got about five of the ten-CD perk orders in the works – most of them include one of the two titles we don’t have yet, but hopefully they’ll be here by the end of this week. I listened to a two-CD Rodzinski set, his final recordings for EMI in 1958, made just before he died at sixty-six. It’s a wonderful set, and the 1958 stereo is breathtaking and incredible – today’s engineers could learn a little something by listening to these early stereo recordings, but they don’t. Then I had some veggies and onion dip – very good. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched the New York City Ballet in Paris again, this time on Blu and Ray, where the quality is much nicer than the DVD. I watched the first two ballets and part of La Valse. Marvelous. After that, I dove into the Previn box (no mean feat) and relaxed.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, and then I’ll look forward to dining at The Smokehouse with Marshall Harvey – their Tuesday special is the great filet mignon that I love. And everything I’ll eat is completely Keto friendly – the steak, Bearnaise sauce, creamed spinach, vegetables, and a small Caesar to start. Can’t wait. After that, I’ll come right home, catch up on stuff, and then watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow, I have a lunch meeting at some healthy kind of food place, the kind in which they have not a single thing I’d want to eat, so I’ll create my own omelet because that’s it for me there. And they don’t have Diet Coke as far as I can tell, and I’m almost tempted to bring my own damn Diet Coke. They have two flavored sparkling waters, so I suppose I’ll do one of those. Frankly, I should have said choose a different jernt, but I’m sure I can get some kind of omelet that won’t make me gag. Then the rest of the week is more of the same, I’m getting a haircut on Friday, which I desperately need, and then on the weekend I’m dining with Peyton and her mom.
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 packages, dine, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Toothpaste. What was the very first toothpaste you used, did you ever use powder toothpaste, and what do you use today? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have gone out on a limb to state that yesterday was Monday.