Well, dear readers, once upon a time here at haineshisway.com we had our Annual Oscar Bash and it was something to behold and many, many people attended and did indeed behold, as well as lurkers from all over the world. Our Glory Years were really 2006 through 2010, when these Oscar partays were the thing and the most fun anywhere on all the Internet. In those days, our usual posting days were always in the 140 to 200 postings a day. But then the Oscar Bash would happen and the first big year we had over 1,000 postings. No one could believe it, and it was fun and funny and irreverent. In the best of those five years, we had over 2,000 postings. And then it began to wane and we’d go below 1,000 posts, and then below 700, and then below 500, but up until about four years ago we always managed four or five hundred. And then it REALLY waned because the Oscars kept getting worse and worse, where it wasn’t even fun to watch. I got rid of cable and couldn’t even view them. And this year? We hit our nadir, with almost no one attending and commenting, basically only three or four of us. I understand it, but it felt really sad. And where were all the kinds of comments we’d get here every year? One guess. Correct. Facebook. But Facebook, which barely existed during the Glory Days and certainly didn’t become what it was until after 2010, isn’t us and isn’t fun. That, dear readers, is the big difference. I didn’t even tub thump for it this year. While I didn’t see the broadcast, I’ve seen enough clips to know that it was horrible. The best news was CODA winning best picture. In December, when I began berating people in all the unions for not even having viewed it, and I began posting about it everywhere, only to be told that people didn’t feel it sounded interesting or that they had no interest – well, thanks to me and others like me, it turned around. They began watching and as I knew they would, they loved it. And then, suddenly, it became a “thing” you had to see and those same people who couldn’t bothered or who had no interest, were all jumping on the CODA train, and it became the little film that could and the then-front runner, The Power of the Dog, began losing steam for whatever reason and CODA kept gaining because – it’s a wonderfully directed and written film, with great performances and it is SIMPLE. No Oscar bait at all, just a lovely story told lovingly. There was a bit of silliness with Will Smith and Chris Rock. But the whole thing seemed without any class or dignity, with the producers desperately trying to lure young viewers or seem hip. Ugly set. And “streamlined” it wasn’t, from what I can tell. End of nostalgia paragraph about the Glory Days.
Yesterday wasn’t quite the ME day I had in mind. I went to bed at three-thirty with an upset tummy, slept on and off whilst tossing and turning until I got up at around five-thirty, at which point I had a horrendous allergy attack. I’d taken a pill at midnight, but it obviously wasn’t working so I popped another at seven in the morning. It finally kicked in about an hour later. I could not stop sneezing and it was really, really irritating. I finally got back in bed at ten, the alarm went off at one, but I stayed in bed and slept until two. So, I imagine I had about five hours of sleep. I answered e-mails and then drove to the mail place to pick up some packages – more Sambucol, a big salad bowl to replace the one I broke, and more Kleenex. Then I went to the local CVS and finally got the twenty-four Claritin-D – the twelve-hour ones just aren’t as potent, at least for me they’re not. I’d pre-ordered food from Daughter’s Deli – a pastrami on rye with coleslaw and Russian dressing. It arrived and was great. And, like Daughter’s daddy over at Langer’s, they’re not oversized sandwiches.
Then I settled in for the partay that wasn’t and then decided to watch Blade Runner 2049. I’m an hour in and it’s a little convoluted and very much indebted to Ridley Scott’s original, style-wise. I’ll stick it out – unlike the original film, this one’s almost three hours long. One sandwich wasn’t really enough food for an entire day, so I ordered a chicken salad sandwich from the Cheesecake Factory and that came and was really excellent. Not too large and I didn’t have any fries or anything, so it should be fine. She of the Evil Eye didn’t come this week and won’t be back for another two, so I did the laundry. And now, I’m importing more Orpheus Chamber Orchestra recordings and beginning to import the Carmen Dragon box. Lots of listening ahead.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, then I’ll mosey on over to the theater to meet with our sound guy as he sets up for our sitzprobe. Musicians arrive at six, cast at six-thirty, and downbeat is at seven. If we have time after, I’ll run a few things. Then I’ll come home and relax.
The rest of the week will probably be intense, although I’m hoping not TOO intense. Tuesday is our one and only dress/tech rehearsal, and then we play a preview on Wednesday and another on Thursday, and then we open. The SCARY part, of course, that we won’t even be able to attempt projections until tomorrow night’s dress/tech, and we’ll just pray they work as they should. Same with sound – our sound guy will have Tuesday to mix and get blends – our call time will be six so he can have ninety minutes to do all that and I’m sure he’ll figure out some of it tonight. I have no idea if the show is selling or not so don’t know what size audiences we’ll be having.
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, eat, have a sitzprobe and maybe run a few things, and then relax. Today’s topic of discussion: When exactly did you become disenchanted with the Oscars and what led so many of you last night to not even drop in? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, having reminisced about the Glory Days of our Annual Oscar Bash.