Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to another CD of the wonderful composer Jean-Michel Damase play more solo piano music by Faure with some Ravel thrown in for good measure. Very tuneful and delightful – Mr. Damase is a superb pianist in these 1950s recordings that really not only set the bar for these pieces, but probably these were amongst the earliest records of them. Sound is excellent. I’ve also listened to quite a few other CDs whilst relaxing, including the soundtrack to Omar Khayyam by Victor Young, The Omen and The Final Conflict (the third Omen film) by Jerry Goldsmith – that’s quite a lot of intense the devil made me do it music. And prior to that, I watched two motion pictures on the Firestick thing. The first was entitled Panic Room – I have it on Blu and Ray somewhere but could not locate it – actually, maybe I don’t since I can now find no evidence of their being a Blu-ray for it – who knows? It’s probably my favorite David Fincher movie, a director I sometimes enjoy as long as I don’t have to watch or hear him talk about his “process”, which is of no interest to me, but, on the couple of occasions where I did succumb, soured me on those films. Panic Room is wonderfully paced and has terrific performances. Apparently, it began filming with Nicole Kidman, who had to drop out because of an old injury. I’m quite happy Jodie Foster replaced her. The Howard Shore score is wonderful, too, and the film looks very good. After that, I went from excellent to bottom of the barrel with a film from last year entitled Wander. I don’t know what the HELL I was watching, but it was just awful. Convoluted, horribly directed, an out-of-control performance by Aaron Eckhart, and a co-starring turn by Tommy Lee Jones, who probably didn’t work more than two or three days. And why, in a film made in 2019 is everyone using cell phones that look like they’re from 2005? And there is enough shakycam in this film to make you vomit on the ground. I suppose the director, April Mullen, hasn’t gotten the memo that no one should be doing that anymore.
Yesterday was a decent enough day with only one irritant that was handled swiftly and well. I got up at eleven after about eight-and-a-half hours of sleep. I shaved and got ready for our noon-thirty rehearsal. Said rehearsal went very well – the little changes we put in worked great and the structure feels very right. The young girl’s duet was super cute and she’s got her good energy and fun now. After we finished, the girl and mom left and I gave some notes to the singer. There was one bit of patter that she just wasn’t playing right and I’m guessing it just wasn’t something she could do comfortably – so, while we were running it I decided to cut it – but then I came up with a really cute line that would cover the important information and that also tied it to the song we were coming out of. I gave her the line and she liked it so much more, so that problem is solved. She left and I decided I’d go to Panda Express. Unfortunately, the motor car’s battery was dead – I sensed it might be, because I could not get the car to lock properly (it locked but didn’t beep – that usually is not a good sign) – I drove around for thirty minutes trying to get it to work, then it finally beeped, but not correctly. So, out came the new car battery charger. I opened the hood, removed the thing that covers the battery, attached the red jumper cable to the red side and the black jumper cable to the other side, went in the car and it started right up. So, that thing has just paid for itself and it’s great to know that it works as it should and was easy as can be.
I drove to Panda Express but let the engine run in the parking lot for about ten minutes. I got the almond chicken, orange chicken, rice, chow mein, and instead of the Kung Pao, which I didn’t like, I got the string bean chicken, which was very good. It’s not great Chinese food, but it’s not terrible either and it hits the spot. I came home and ate all but the string bean chicken, which I saved for a between movie snack. I never heard from the senior tech, who may have been off yesterday. I really hope he calls today.
Then I watched Panic Room, ate the string bean chicken, then watched Wander and then I listened to music.
Today, I’ll be up by eleven, hope for a call from the senior tech, otherwise I’ll drop him another e-mail, hope to hear from the computer fix-it store to come get the big boy computer – I will have him fire it up in the store so I can see what’s what before bringing it home. When I get it home, I’ll get it all hooked up again, but I will need to talk to someone because I can’t remember which half of the Ethernet cord goes into the computer. For that, I can probably call Spectrum. I cannot wait to have it back and hopefully working well and consistently and that all the apps and stuff will be where they were. So, do send those most excellent vibes and xylophones that it’s all going to work perfectly. I’ll eat something light, I have a Zoom thing at five and hopefully Zoom will still be on the computer and hopefully my password keychain is working and will remember everything. And then I can watch, listen, and relax.
The rest of the week is more of the same – meetings, meals, setting the final two cast members for the two play readings in November, then the big push to the singer’s act – I thought we had our pianist on Thursday but we don’t have her until Friday, which is more than a little nuts, so I’ve told everyone we’ll be running the show twice that day. Then we have a dress rehearsal with small invited audience on Saturday, and then it’s sound check and show on Sunday.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eleven, hope for a call from the senior tech, hope for the call from the computer store, hope to get the computer and bring it home where I hope it will work perfectly – do send those excellent vibes and xylophones – have a Zoom thing, eat, hopefully pick up packages, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite films starring Miss Jodie Foster? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping that the big boy computer comes home working perfectly.