Well, dear readers, and then it was Wednesday. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, and then it was Wednesday, which is what usually happens when Tuesday is a thing of the past and let me tell you Tuesday is a thing of the past because Tuesday has passed. Thus: Wednesday. It occurs to me that in the history of these here notes I don’t think I’ve used a colon more than a handful of times. I feel we’ve neglected the colon and now we’re going to have to fix that because to have a neglected colon is unseemly. The Neglected Colon – that’s the title of my next novel.
Yesterday was a day – some good, some okay, some ugly – but as days go it certainly had some lovely moments. I only got about five hours of sleep, then the helper came by after being gone for ten days, and she picked up invoices, signed booklets, and got CDs shipped out. Then I did some work on the computer, but not the work I should have done, which was finalizing song choices for the Kritzerland show and choosing its final singer. Oh, well, there’s always today, which is Wednesday. Then I went and had some chicken tenders for my meal o’ the day, after which I picked up a couple of packages, then came home. Once home, I finished listening to the Bruckner symphonies, which I’m going to have to hear again, as I’m not quite sure I’ve gotten the full measure of them, as they are very densely packed symphonies that can’t be digested with one hearing. I do enjoy these performances by Eugen Jochum. But for the next go-through, I’ll listen to Gunter Wand’s set and see how that feels. Then I had a few e-mail volleys about the little problem with certain posts that had been made on Facebook. I’d already decided it had to be addressed with the person who did the posting. So, I had e-mails and telephonic conversations.
Then Kay Cole and John Boswell arrived. Kay was a whole new person – comfortable, fun, with her personality finally coming through. She had most of her patter down perfectly and spoke it well, with great humor. She still has to get the last bit of it memorized better, but I gotta tell you, this has turned into a terrific act. I had one suggestion for the show’s final number (outside of the encore) and she loved it and we figured it out and it’s going to be very emotional for her and the audience. I don’t want to give it away until show time. I know she felt so much better about everything, and so did I. We have about sixty reservations thus far, so hopefully we’ll get another twenty before Sunday, and that will be a lovely house. Then they left, and I sat down and wrote a long missive for the person whose behavior was very out of line. As is usually my wont, I went for the jugular – it was very strong and acerbic. I then walked away and did some stuff, then came back and removed everything acerbic and most of the strong stuff, keeping it even-keeled and factual and without making it about me and my emotions, but about him and how wrong he was to do what he did. That was much better. I sent it to three people for comment. One of them took out just a couple of other things and it was better. They then asked me to send it and copy them, which I did.
Whilst doing all that and other things, and still feeling awfully good about Monday night’s Levi reading, I listened to the first symphony of Brahms in another set, this one conducted by Istvan Kertesz, another Australian Eloquence CD – they’re dirt cheap and great, these Eloquence discs. Funnily, the set that turned me around on Brahms was also on Eloquence, the Rafael Kubelik set from the late 1950s. Well, so far Kertesz is every bit as good and in sound that’s a little smoother than the early stereo of the Kubelik (although I like that sound), and what seems like a better band. The first symphony was just lush and beautiful and the equal of the Kubelik. Interestingly, there’s a third set of the Brahms symphonies on Eloquence – conducted by Ernest Ansermet, who I love. That one had a defective second disc, but I heard enough of disc one to know that that set is also going to be swell. I’m returning it and they’ll send a replacement.
Then I turned my attention to Bohuslav Martinu – as you may or may not remember, some months ago I gave his symphonies a listen – I’d bought them years ago and had no memory of them. That set was absolutely not to my liking and I nuked it out of iTunes. I didn’t like the sound, and I certainly didn’t respond to the music or the performances. And then I got one of those Karel Ancerl disc, a great conductor, and whatever that disc was had a Martinu symphony as a companion piece. I listened to it and it was like hearing the music for the first time. So, I decided to take a chance, researched the four or five complete sets, and chose one that several magazines had raved about. And raves are what it deserves – great performances that make the music so much more accessible and listenable, at least for me. I now like these very much and I can’t imagine better performances than these by Jiri Belohlavic and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Very happy with this set.
Today, I’ll hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep. I won’t eat until a package arrives – I alluded to this the other day, my starting a serious diet today and start it I shall. There’s a company called Freshly – they make meals that you prepare in your microwave. I kept seeing ads for them, so I researched, read reviews of the food, and decided to give it a try. They had a special – six meals for thirty-nine bucks (that’s about two meals at Jerry’s Deli). I chose the six – chicken dishes, pastas – it all looks very good. They’re being delivered today. The good news is that each meal is under 600 calories – so if I do one of these a day that will leave me 400 more calories to play with – I’m stopping all candy and sweets and as much sugar as I can forego until I’ve lost at least twenty pounds. So, I’ll let you all know if this is a good or bad thing – I’m hoping it’s a good thing. Kay will be here at two to run the act, and I’ll choose the final singer and assign the songs and get everyone their music.
The rest of the week is Kay rehearsals, a pick-up rehearsal for Dial ‘M’ for Murder (we’ve gotten several more excellent reviews) – I’m just going to be there ten minutes to tighten up the murder scene. Then we resume performances on Friday – I’ll attend at least one, just not sure which. Then on Sunday, we have Kay’s sound check and then show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, try my trial meals from Freshly, I must choose songs and cast our final gal, I must rehearse, and I must relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What was your all-time favorite class in high school and then college – why was it your favorite and what was so great about it? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, realizing that despite mentioning the neglected colon, after I used it the first time I never used it again – still neglected after all these years.