Well, dear readers, a little after noon I shall be on my way to the Portland Airport, and a little while later I shall be on my way to the Burbank Airport, and a little while later I shall be on my way back to the home environment, and a little while later I shall be happily ensconced in the home environment. I’m going to spend two hours this morning doing some final staging work with Adair and JMK. Yesterday, I was picked up early and spent the entire day working on the Bacharach revue in the theater in which it will be performed. It’s a very nice space. Once we decided where the band would live, then we began at the top of the show and went number by number. It was quite insane trying to stage an entire show in one day, but I was quick on my feet, and Adair and Bruce were quick to pick up what I was throwing at them. It would have been nice to have three days in which to do this, but that was not to be. We came up with some fun stuff, staging-wise, and they’ve now got a couple of days to get it into their bodies. We worked out most of the patter, too. I think I’ve got it so that the show moves along at a nice clip, and so there’s always something interesting happening somewhere. I kept the first half of the show busier than the second half, so that they could grab the audience and get them comfortable. We made a few more cuts, one structural change (and perhaps one more depending on what happens in the morning), and at least they have something to do and somewhere to go on every number. The band came in at two, and we ran most of their numbers. They’ve got some work to do, but JMK is on it and is a fine musical director. I recommended that they have one more three hour band rehearsal, and they’re going to, which I think will be invaluable. After we finished (around six), we went out to Jake’s Crawfish restaurant. I tried not to overeat, but still felt like a whale when I left. I had a wedge of iceberg with bay shrimp and thousand island dressing for a starter, and it was yummilicious. I then had the fried razor clams. I don’t know what I thought I’d be getting, but what I got was something that looked like fried catfish filets, but tasted like rubbery fried clams. I didn’t care for it much and, in fact, I left half of it. I did eat the deliciously delicious mashed potatoes, though. I had a couple of pieces of bread, too. But, that’s all I ate for the entire day, so maybe I won’t gain. I then came back to The Arlington Club, hooked up Ye Olde Computer, and did some final proofing on the Kritzerland site. Everything seems to be loading correctly, and we’ve managed to speed up some of the load times on various pages. Obviously, those with high-speed Internet will get things at much faster speeds, but my designer also tested a dial-up connection and said it wasn’t too too bad. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?
If they decide to proceed with the Bacharach revue past this weekend, I suggested they bring me back and that we spend three full days on blocking and finessing the performances. That was the one area I didn’t really have time to address enough – the performances. It was all I could do just to get everything on its feet. It’s a very cute show, and I think it could get bookings, so we’ll see which way they’d like to proceed. I’m not sure if JMK was taken aback by the way I work, or not. I’m very brusque occasionally, when there are time constraints – I’m not mean, I don’t yell or get snippy, I just cut to the chase and don’t like a lot of conversation. He was very quick to adapt and change things, and that was a great help. Well, Jose and JMK can share stories, I suppose.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because shortly JMK will be picking me up and driving me to his home environment to rehearse, and then take me to the airport.
I think I just wrote the entirety of the notes in the first section. So, here I am, sitting here like so much fish, vamping, trying to figure out what to write about in this section. I suppose I could write a dissertation on the state of bliss or, at the very least, a dissertation on the state of Iowa. I suppose I could write various and sundried bon mots or, at the very least, some various and sundried mots bon. I suppose I could write a new play.
However, since I’m feeling quite blissful, perhaps I will write a dissertation on the state of bliss. I think I would write a fine dissertation on the state of bliss, if only I knew what a dissertation or bliss was. Damn them, damn them all to hell.
In the next day or so, I’ll be getting a printout of my new book to proof – that will be very exciting, to see it actually look like a book. What fun. Or, at least we’re hoping it will be fun. If not, I shall write a dissertation on the state of why it wasn’t fun.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, rehearse for two hours, then I must fly home to the City of Studio, where I shall relax and smell the roses and the coffee and the pistachio nuts. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite nutmeats? But first, may I just say that I just adore the word “nutmeats?” That is just one first-class word. “Nutmeats.” They just don’t make them like that anymore, do they? In any case, what are your favorite nutmeats and, besides just munching them, what other dishes do you like to use them in or find them in? My favorites are cashew nuts, pistachio nuts, and peanuts in the shell. I also enjoy almonds and macadamia nuts. I like cashews in almost any food dish, but especially in The Cheescake Factory’s yummilicious Spicy Cashew Chicken. I like pistachio nuts in ice cream. I like almonds in Almond Chicken, and Almond Joy. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we? In fact, let’s have a dissertation on the state of nutmeats.