Well, dear readers, we’ve made Deadline. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, our handy-dandy publicist gave Deadline an exclusive on the announcement (the rest will follow), and they have a fun clip up, so check it out if you like. Here is the handy-dandy link to the handy-dandy story and the handy-dandy clip.
Isn’t that fun? Feel free to leave a comment on the Deadline site. There are two so far. Let’s make that three. Otherwise, I am sitting here like so much fish after a completely nothing day of handy-dandy nothingness. I did finish watching a handy-dandy documentary about Planet of the Apes and the groundbreaking makeup done for the original film. It’s very interesting and I enjoyed it very much. I then decided to check out a few transfers of movies I’d saved to watch on the Firestick thing. Since I’d just watched a Planet of the documentary I began with Planet of the Vampires, a strange film directed by Mario Bava, that was in some ways a little inspiration for the movie Alien. I got through the main titles and first thirty seconds before falling asleep and when I awoke, the movie had finished. Go know. I got the news about the Deadline article and that was nice news, and now I am listening to the Elgar cello concerto, one of the greatest of all cello concertos. My favorite version will always be Jacqueline du Pre, but this one’s very good with Previn conducting and Yo Yo Ma the excellent soloist. This recording is from 1985 and was on CBS and so it can’t really match Previn’s recordings for RCA, sound-wise, but the performance is lovely and we also get the great Walton cello concerto.
Yesterday was a gone day, really. I got close to ten hours of very needed sleep and didn’t arise until one-thirty. Once up, I answered e-mails, and then I ordered a sandwich from Fat Sal’s again – forty percent off – an Eyetalian sandwich, which I’ve had before. Unfortunately, the bread seemed like it was old and stale and so while I finished it, it simply wasn’t so good and I wrote DoorDash about it and they gave me not a full refund but a small one – I simply don’t have time to argue about it. I’m very anxious for the new Studio City branch of Fat Sal’s to open because the Encino branch is just too hit and miss – sometimes great, sometimes not. I don’t think I had a single telephonic call. I got an e-mail from the guy who supervises the production elements on my book and he said everything looked great and it’s already gone in to get done and he thinks it will turn around pretty quickly, so that was nice.
I’ve only eaten the stale bread sandwich, so I’m tempted to have some popcorn, as the sandwich was only about eight hundred calories. I wouldn’t eat all the popcorn, but half might be a good thing, just to get up to 1000 calories. We shall see.
Today, I’ll be up by eleven-thirty at the latest, I’ll get everything set up for the stumble-through, then the two singers who missed Thursday’s rehearsal will get here at two-thirty to run their stuff. Then we do the stumble-though at three-thirty, I’ll give whatever notes I have, we’ll run whatever we need to, then I’ll either order in some food or I’ll go to Ralph’s or Gelson’s and get a little something. Then I’ll finesse the commentary, rest my voice, and then watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow, I’ll be up by noon, I’ll rest my voice and relax, then I’ll shave and shower and mosey on over to the Gardenia for sound check. People begin arriving at the club at six, then we do the show at eight. After the show, we’ll go out and get a bite to eat somewhere and I will, of course, have a full report for you. Then next week is the countdown to Sami – every day will have something about that. I’m hopeful to see a galley in the early part of the week and get that approved, after which they’ll send me my test soft and hardcover copies.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eleven-thirty at the latest, get everything set up for the stumble-through, rehearse with the two singers, do the stumble-through, give notes, run whatever needs running, eat, finesse commentary, and then rest the voice and watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: When did you first see Planet of the Apes, what did you think, which of the sequels, if any, did you enjoy, did you watch the TV series, and what did you think of the reboot? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy our handy-dandy publicity kicked in and that we made Deadline and that these handy-dandy notes are – handy-dandy.