Well, dear readers, I am writing these here notes early because I must get to bed at midnight due to having to be up very early and on my way to the Autry. There’s not much to report anyway, but report I shall because it simply must be done.
Yesterday was a day I barely remember. Oh, I remember being up early for she of the Evil Eye, I remember taking a thumb drive into Staples to get two copies of the new book printed, I remember eating a light breakfast of bacon and eggs, and I remember picking up the two copies of the new book. So far, so good and so good, so far. I remember going to the mail place and picking up no packages or mail, and I remember coming home and proofing the first fifty pages of the book.
What else do I remember? I remember sitting on my couch like so much fish and dozing off for a short while. I remember watching two documentaries on the Flix of Net. The first was entitled Abducted in Plain Sight, certainly the weirdest documentary you will ever see, about a man who ingratiates himself into a family because he has set his sights on their twelve-year-old daughter, with whom he’s obsessed. He has sex with the mother, the father, and ultimately the girl, who he not only abducts once, but twice. You’ll basically sit there with your mouth on the floor.
The second documentary was The Ted Bundy Tapes, and that one is really excellent and more than a little chilling. I knew about it back in the day but didn’t really pay attention and didn’t watch the trial on TV. A serial killer before that term existed, Bundy was not your typical killer, in that he was good looking, could be charming, and then, of course, be a brutal killer of young women, some thirty or more in several States. What’s interesting is that stuff that would be easy now in terms of matching him to the murders, was nearly impossible then, in a world without DNA tools, fax machines, inter-state cooperation or anything else, really. Bundy is a fascinating lunatic and he ultimately gets his just desserts. But what’s equally disturbing are the people, mostly drunk teens, who come to watch and cheer the execution. I’m glad they have that footage and show those faces, and one would hope those idiots would be properly shamed, but in order for that to happen they’d have to actually have a conscience. It’s a compelling documentary because there’s so much of Bundy himself on tape. And thankfully it’s not stretched out to ten episodes, so there’s no repetition, no fat – four episodes and done.
After that, I went to Gelson’s and got some salad from the salad bar and some shrimp cocktail shrimp from the fish department. I came home, put some shrimp in the salad, dressed it with Good Seasons Eyetalian dressing and ate it all up – very good. And I had the remaining shrimp with cocktail sauce. Even though it was really filling, there were very few calories involved.
Then I went over the commentary and realized I actually hadn’t finished writing two bits, so I did that quickly, futzed and finessed it, and then printed it out. Then I relaxed a little bit, but wanted to get these here notes done, take a hot shower, and get to bed.
Today, I’ll be up early, I’ll shave and shower, and then I’ll mosey on over to the Autry for our sound check and then first performance at one. I have to be really careful with my voice – doing two of these back to back with only a two-hour break will be daunting, because I talk a lot more in the almost two-hour concert than I do at Kritzerland and having to do it twice, well, I hope it holds out. Then we do our five o’clock performance. After the concert, we’re being taken to dinner at a nearby eatery.
Tomorrow, I finish casting – just one person to go and then I start choosing songs. Because Mr. Legrand just passed away, it was suggested to me that we do a Legrand evening, and while that would probably be nice, I’m not sure I want to do that, as there would be no real comedy songs and not enough variety. What I may do is what I was thinking about – a rarities show, and if we do that, I have a couple of Legrand rarities we could do in tribute to him. I’ll also continue proofing the book and get that finished. The rest of the week will be meetings and meals and entering fixes for the book from the various and sundried proofers.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up early, do a soundcheck, do our first show, take a little break, do our second show, and then dine. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, looking forward to the day of the concert.