Well, dear readers, it’s Friday already and its already Friday, a TGIF day if ever there was one. And I am sitting here like so much fish, finishing up the Andre Previn RCA cycle of Vaughan Williams symphonies. Now playing, the ravishingly beautiful Pastoral, his third symphony – this and the fifth are my favorites of the nine he wrote. Earlier, I hunkered down and finished Mare of Winningham, sorry, Easttown. I know that I’m in the minority here and maybe I would have liked it better had I not seen superior shows like Happy Valley, which is clearly the role model for this show. But I’ve seen four or five like this and they’re all exactly the same – dreary, depressing, unhappy people doing bad things to each other, family woes, and a murder to solve that becomes almost silly in its three twist reveal that simply defies credulity. The last two episodes were especially illogical and most of the last episode is endless yakking, and then we get the final third twist (if you can call it that) and it’s just, for me, not believable at all. There’s no question that the actors do a fine job, but the truly awful characters, especially the surly ex-boyfriend of the murdered girl and his gal pal – horrible, both – never pay the price or get their comeuppance for being vile. Winslet is excellent, though, but it’s the structure, which borrows heavily from the Swedish and Danish similar series, where every episode has to end with a cliffhanger development, a new possible killer, etc. However, for me, the worst thing is the music, by some composer I never heard of – it’s literally all wallpaper, sound design, and droning. At the end, we get some piano octaves before the final fadeout. I mean, it’s so ludicrous and one can only hope that there is a sea change at some point, film score-wise.
Yesterday, I got about five hours of sleep, mostly due to an incessantly ringing phone – I finally figured out how to turn the ringer volume down but I haven’t figured out how to have it go to voice mail earlier. It used to, but when we switched to Spectrum, apparently it reset itself or something. Anyway, I was up at ten-fifteen, had a nice conversation with my check-in coordinator from the publisher and thankfully it was someone I’d worked with before, and so she knew all my deals. I then sent her all the book elements. The first thing that happens is the book goes to a content evaluation team. That used to take two or three days, until I spoke up about it, and then over the last few years it would take just one day. She e-mailed me to tell me she’d received everything and had just forwarded it. Twenty minutes later, it was approved to go to the design team. That was amazing. So, the fellow who’s supervised all my books now takes over and I wrote him a nice e-mail, telling him that this one was designed by a different person and because they’d made it print ready, that’s one less thing for them to do, which means all they have to do with this book is add the ISBN numbers. So, as long as they follow instructions, this should all go pretty quickly, at least that’s the hope. I remember last year I had a galley in three or four days. Anyway, I’m so glad it’s finally all getting done, as I can’t wait for folks to read it. I have the eBook version ready to go, but I haven’t decided if I’ll put it up early or wait until galley and covers are approved. It would still be available before I get my copies, for those who like eBooks or who want a jump on reading it.
Then I went to Taco Bell and got food, came home and ate it. I shaved and showered and then we had our second rehearsal. It was pretty easy and short as two of our performers weren’t with us but will be coming an hour early on Saturday to go through their stuff. Rehearsal was fun, though. After, I finished watching Mare. And after that I made some popcorn, which was literally the only edible thing in the home environment, unless I wanted to eat an onion. I’m still hungry, but I’ll hang tough.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll eat something fun, perhaps a Subway sandwich, I’ll call the mail place and see if anything’s there, I’ll do some Sami stuff, and then I can watch, listen, and most of all, relax.
Tomorrow, I’ll relax until we do the stumble-through at three-thirty, and then I’ll have some food after that, then rest my voice. Sunday, I’ll relax, then get ready, then mosey on over to the Gardenia for sound check at four-thirty, then we do our show at eight, and after a few of us will probably grab a bite to eat somewhere.
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, call the mail place, do some Sami stuff, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray player? I’ll start – CD, nothing. Blu-ray, nothing. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy the book is moving right along.