Well, dear readers, I began yesterday’s notes saying I was listening to the penultimate album of the eleven-CD set of Ormandy at Minneapolis. But I, BK, was wrong, oh, yes, I, BK was wrong. I was, in fact, listening to the PRE-penultimate album. The actual penultimate album was the Bruckner seventh. And NOW, I’m listening to the last album, the Sibelius first symphony. I’m glad we got that straightened out because I don’t care for crooked things that aren’t straightened out. Otherwise, I am sitting here like so much fish, sipping on a zero sugar Sprite, which, in a shocking turn of events, has zero sugar. Something I learned yesterday from a Facebook post on Facebook was that Mercury is in retrograde. It seems to me that Mercury in retrograde is becoming a year-round thing. When is Mercury NOT in retrograde? I think perhaps it is time to rid ourselves of either Mercury or retrograde or even both. Aren’t we all a bit tired of the havoc Mercury and its damn retrograde causes? I know I am. I know you are. I know the man in the damn moon is. I think we should sign a petition that would shove Mercury and its damn retrograde right up Uranus, where it belongs. I think we must fight Mercury and its damn retrograde, I think we must conquer it and rid ourselves of the havoc. For example, we really REALLY need us a modern major miracle right about now and I do mean now or there will be hell toupee. So, let’s get this Mercury in retrograde horse manure the HELL out. Hit the road, Jack, and don’t you look back. As Babs and Donna Summer so aptly put it – Enough is Enough. I did watch a wonderful YouTube video last evening – Kaye Ballard’s farewell show, Kaye Ballard – Going Out of Business. One does wish it weren’t so amateurishly captured, but in the end Ms. Ballard is a treasure and she’s very funny, still sounds good, and the first half, which is an hour, moves very quickly, with hilarious stories. There is nothing more pleasurable than watching a comic actress’ perfect timing, even at eighty-eight. In the second half – thirty minutes – she brings up other people to perform a bit – Peter Marshall, Mimi Hines, some singer I never heard of, and Shecky Greene. I was never much of a Shecky fan, but I have to say he was absolutely great here – really funny jokes told with perfect timing. Last up was Carol Channing, who did her famous Cecilia Siddons routine, which is truly hilarious. Of course, Miss Channing and Miss Ballard passed away a few years after this show, and Shecky Greene just passed on New Year’s Eve of 2023.
On a personal note (Bb), I adored Kaye Ballard. When Tammy Grimes pulled out of doing the There’s Always a Woman duet on Unsung Sondheim, someone recommended Kaye, I thought that was perfect, she was in town (New York), and she was delighted to do it. She was fun, funny, and really easy to work with. When we were doing Lost in Boston, we had Marilyn Cooper doing a cut song from On the Town called Say When. She ultimately couldn’t do it for health reasons, so we went right to Kaye, who was in LA when we were doing that album. The key was a bit high for her, but she still came through and did a great job. And when it came time to do Jason Graae’s Charles Strouse album, Jason got her to do a duet, You’ve Got Possibilities and that session was absolutely laugh out loud funny. She was warm, funny, and one-of-a-kind.
I watched a few other YouTube things, too, including one about how one guy monetized his channel and made quite a bit of money. That was interesting. It’s very clear that to do it successfully it becomes a full-time job. I’ve already got close to 700 subscribers on my channel and a LOT of watched hours over the years – the magic number to monetize is 1000 – but obviously it’s not retroactive. But on old videos, you do get paid on views from the time you’re monetized, so that’s nice. I’m thinking of doing a series of videos called Old Jew Eats in His Car. I should think that would be very popular with the populace. Or I could just do videos where I rant about everything. So, dear readers, if you haven’t subscribed to my YouTube channel, you really must do so immediately. The channel name is, of course, haineshisway. Watch a few videos, hit the like button, subscribe, and leave some comments. That would simply be loverly.
I did get eight hours of good sleep, answered e-mails, then at one-thirty I moseyed on over to the Catalina Bar and Grill to sign the contract for our May show. The drive there wasn’t too bad, but coming back at two-thirty was disgusting. Not the freeway part – that was just fine. It was getting from Sunset and Highland TO the freeway. Whoever is timing those signals from there to Franklin should be run out of town on a rail. The traffic piles up and you just sit there like so much fish, not moving and not moving and not moving. It also doesn’t help that the majority of drivers in Los Angeles are complete morons, but that’s another story.
Anyway, I went to the mail place and picked up no mail, then went next door to Subway and got their new version of their spicy Eyetalian sandwich (you can still get the old version), which basically just adds an extra slice of provolone and some new Parmesan vinaigrette. I didn’t love the latter so next time it will be my usual red wine vinegar and I don’t care who knows it. I got the six-inch sandwich, which is a bit over 600 calories. I also got a six-inch turkey, no cheese, which is only 290 calories. So, under 900 calories for the two – both were very good. I’m adding a few more calories now, eating a few cashews. After I ate the sandwiches, I sat on my couch like so much fish and put on some YouTube video and fell right asleep and woke up two hours later. Amazing. Then I watched the Kaye Ballard thing, and now I’ve completed the 11-CD set of Ormandy in Minneapolis. Before I could find something else to listen to, Ormandy’s stereo recording of Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes began playing – it is my absolute favorite recording of that magnificent music. This will be part of part two of the stereo Ormandy and I’m sure the new mastering will be even better than this Japanese CD, but boy does it sound amazing – those Philadelphians really were something special and so was Mr. Ormandy.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, and then I think I’ll see a matinee at four and then I can either go somewhere to eat or bring something home. We shall see. Once home, I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow can be a ME day and I’ll keep on praying for a modern major miracle because this coming week will be a horror show without one. I’ll hopefully get the new glasses come Monday or Tuesday, then I have some meetings and meals and some writing to do.
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, see a matinee, eat, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Who were and are your favorite female comic actresses and comics? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping we can, at long last, just shove Mercury and its retrograde up Uranus.