• One of my favorite things about summer – the tiger lilies that grow along the roadside. In this case, they are on the edge of our front lawn and on my neighbor’s lawn as well. The vivid splash of orange is so summery, so gorgeous.
• Normally, I don’t turn on the air conditioner until around noonish. Today? I switched it on at 9 am. It is so unbelievably humid out there that it feels like I’m living in the South or, as I remember well from doing a play there many years ago, Washington DC. Oh my goodness. We’re due for lots of thunderstorms today, which will break up the excess humidity. Tomorrow will be nicer.
There go my plans to do some weeding. I just can’t deal with humidity. I’ve never been able to. I remember summers as a kid where all I would do was lie in front of the window fan in my bedroom. Couldn’t move.
So it’s reading today – I know, what a sacrifice – and catching up on Gardener’s World. I’m way behind!
• I had a lovely time at lunch yesterday with Rick. He also came in so he could see the new sofa, which he likes very much. We’re going to go there on Tuesday for some French Toast.
• We watched The Wizard of Oz last night on TCM. Did any of you watch it? We never tire of it.
• And finally, file this under “You Get What You Pay For”:
The national tour of Escape to Margaritaville, is, as you know, a non-union tour. When you use non-union actors, you end up with unseasoned performers who are lacking in skills and experience.
Case in point: 1) The lead role of Tully, who is a musician. The actor who played that role in La Jolla, on tour, and on Broadway not only acted and sang the role beautifully, he played the guitar as well, and his guitar was part of every song he sang. Live. Onstage. Every performance. That’s what the role calls for. If you’re cast in the role, it’s because you can act, sing, and play the guitar. In the tour, the actor playing the role will be faking the guitar because he can’t play. In other words, he doesn’t have the chops to do everything that the role requires. 2) The actor playing Don’s role – J.D. – which Don originated. The character is supposed to be in his seventies. They couldn’t find an older actor to play the role – I could have predicted that because what older actor worth his salt wouldn’t be in the union by now? – so the guy playing the role will be ‘aged’ to look 70.
Really Producers? Are you kidding me?
It’s like a high school production.
I’ll leave it at that.
Happy Saturday.
Pooh. Jimmy Buffet, you should know better by now!
Your lillies are spectacular! Mine don’t exist yet, but I’m hopeful. Happy Weekend!
He should. But apparently, he doesn’t.
Thanks so much, Shanna. Yours are coming!
Your hydrangeas are lovely! Mine have finally started to bloom…yay!
Sounds like a crime for what they are doing to Escape to Margaritaville. All for the love of the almighty dollar. Speaking of almighty dollars…we watched a show yesterday…San Francisco 2.0. It was on HBO…but check to see if you can find it elsewhere. It’s a documentary of how technology and those dollars from technology are changing that city…and not for the better. It’s interesting and eye-opening. I’ve been to S.F. three times in my lifetime. I have nothing but pleasant memories…but, I’m not sure I would recognize the city any more. I felt bad for the current residents and how they are getting shoved out of their homes. And all because of that almighty dollar.
Ok…off my soapbox now….sorry to hear you are getting more rain. Enjoy your reading day. Don’t you worry…the weeds will still be waiting for you! ;)
Yes, Silicon Valley and Tech is making SF unaffordable for most people. It’s ridiculous. But then again, San Diego is fairly unaffordable now, it was getting that way when we left almost 18 years ago. Also Los Angeles. It’s a shame.
I’m sorry EtM has been cheapened. Theater goers won’t get to appreciate the show fully, as it was intended to be.
I’m seeing Kiss My Aztec at Berkeley Rep today, then returning tomorrow to see a performance by 2nd City. Total theater weekend!
No, they won’t. And what makes me angry is that they’ll think that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Unless they’ve seen it on Broadway and then’ll they’ll really be upset!
The Wizard of Oz never gets old. In January of this year it was being shown in a few theaters here. It was my first time to see it on the “big screen”. It was marvelous!
Your flowers, as always are a joy to see. I had flowers in a large pot. They were so pretty. The deer took care of of the bright red blooms. But, they have to eat, too.
Enjoy your french toast Claudia.
The deer have chomped on a hydrangea that I have, and on some coneflowers! We have lots of greenery around here for them to eat, but they don’t discriminate.
Milorganite is made from sewage sludge. I would be very concerned about the heavy metals and other stuff people & industries put down the drain ending up in my yard.
Thanks Cara. Good to know. I have a homemade deer repellent – all natural and safe – but this year, it’s been so rainy that I would have to spray every day! Also, this particular deer seems to chomp on everything. I think I just have to accept the fact that there will be a certain amount of loss every year.
I have had luck with milorganite keeping the deer from my hydrangea. It is a manure meant to spread around but I fill small containers (the to-go type from the supermarket prepared foods) and place the containers on the ground under the plants. It lasts for months, even when rained upon. So far, so good and I am in the woods adjacent to state land.
Thanks. Anne. Where do you get that?
I purchased it at Adam’s Fairacre Farms in Newburgh.
Thanks, Anne.
Very sad; Margaritaville. Such a disappointment. I can’t imagine how Don must feel.
I love your tiger lily – – gorgeous! Claudia, you are awash in beauty and color!
Sorry about your weather; yuck. We’re also a smoky haze; I don’t know where the smoke is coming from; my asthma is in high gear with humidity, smoke and warming temps (and too much blowing a/c in house and car). All in all, I’m sort of struck by what a lousy 4th of July weekend we’re having here! But of course that’s also because of…
…EARTHQUAKE! (Am I talking about it enough? Sorry!!) Guaranteed, I know NO ONE who isn’t on edge right now in my neck ‘o the woods. Do I ever remember IN MY LIFE this many tremors (in a cluster) as a native SoCalifornian? It is major creepy. I wasn’t here for the Northridge quake in 1994 and I guess this is similar; it’s just that this epicenter is ‘way out in the eastern desert of the state rather than Los Angeles environs or we’d be hearing of so much more damage and injuries. This is not a crack-the-whip/jerk/snap & over earthquake; this is multiple rollers. And I mean you absolutely have no control and of course no notice; it is the WEIRDEST sensation with the ground moving in this way.
(I feel so sorry for the creatures; all the animals. My cats outside were in such odd positions yesterday; not eating. Someone’s bunny somehow escaped its hutch and got injured by a car last night; all these poor fur babies in a panic with no understanding of what’s happening, only that [like us] they want to get away from it. My dog has continually been panicked between the ongoing illegal fireworks and the unstable ‘earth’. It’s not a good time.)
Last night, huge surprise to any of us (I guess we were in denial; the experts had said we’d have aftershocks), a bigger quake than the one the morning before! (So now, that one, on July 4 is called the aftershock and, so far, the one we had last night is then the ‘real’ one; the info keeps changing, so you have to remain fluid on the topic.) At 8:30pm last night, I stopped in mid-sentence because I thought I was having a dizzy spell; my husband said, “You’re not dizzy; that’s another quake!!!” Almost lost my footing, like being on a boat in the active ocean.
Then, within a half hour, before 9pm, two more mini rollers. Each time, you don’t know if it’s gonna be bad or just okay. Restless overnight hours (uneasy; even slept with my eyeglasses on, just in case; flashlights at hand, shoes ready to jump into!). We tied shut all the kitchen cupboards and ‘medicine cabinets’ over the bathroom sinks because I just don’t want the potential mess of things falling out and breaking. Part of our remodeling is to re-do the old kitchen cabinets and get earthquake latches on every cupboard.
I’m reminded now, too, that for my multiple bookcases, I want one of those horizontal wood pieces against each shelf (like a rail; I dunno what you call it) which will contain books from falling to the floor. The videos coming in from Ridgecrest/Trona/China Lake show the library with books all in disarray blocking aisles, the grocery/convenience stores of course suffering the same thing with broken bottles and spilled foods/liquids; what a chore to clean up. And you have to be so careful of what’s overhead which could also fall and hit YOU on the head. As we continue to organize and unpack this house, we will also bolt to the wall studs all my glass display cases and two china closets/curios. They’re saying, too, that television screens should be bolted and I’ve gotta find out how to do that; of course our water heater (natural gas) in the garage is elevated and bolted/strapped. You just have to think of every little and big thing.
Realizing how complacent my husband and I have become about earthquakes since returning to Calif in this past 20 years and how we are NOT prepared (for which there is simply no good excuse except we’re dumb-stupid humans!) … trying to remedy this today, putting together our getaway kits, getting in some sacks of ice for the freezer (power going off can be common, just like when you have your nor’easters), gassing up the vehicles and with a firm vow that all home remodeling goes to the side for now, we have to stabilize hazardous stacked (loose) stuff like the packed storage boxes inside the house and garage (and the ladders, sawhorses, paint cans, etc. are blocking pathways in the home interiors); we need to be MUCH safer than this! My husband’s on a freelance gig for the next six weeks anyway; he has no time for the work on the house right now. So, I’m about to get at it and make it this afternoon’s focus.
I went to the post office this morning and it’s of course the topic on everybody’s minds. Two of us were looking around the post office and realizing if a quake hit while we were in line, even with oversized windows too near (broken glass), we could still huddle under these massive, heavy work counters for postal patrons which have been there since probably the 1930s when the post office was built. I’ve been revisiting Red Cross online for all the tips again. This is a mega wake-up call for any of us here. Mind you, as I’d said, we’re ‘way over at the COAST to have still felt this last night’s 7.1. earthquake so much; it’s sorta incredible. 7s are not good.
I know it’s chokingly-humid, Claudia, but be glad you and Don are on the East Coast ’cause you sure wouldn’t want to be on the West Coast right now! And, yes, lions & tigers & bears oh-my! I did record Wizard of Oz last night (had been in the line-up for a couple of weeks, thankfully; I just had decided I needed to watch the whole movie from beginning to end this year; same thing for TCM and Gone With The Wind coming up very soon) but I was SO in no condition to watch it. Maybe tonight!
If you’ve seen that viral video online of the news anchor (female; said she was born in nearby Diamond Bar; she KNEW what was going down with the shaking quake!!) and her co-anchor gentleman (long-time news veteran in the L.A. news area, Juan Fernandez) on-air as last night’s quake hit (I think the TV station was in Studio City/Burbank), it was on and happening on ‘live’ TV in the background as I was grabbing hold of the doorframe/interior wall of the house; it didn’t pick it up in that video as it’s been posted a zillion times online now, but the noise (rattling, clanging) was VERY audible in the tape on TV; they’ve got all those monitors and lights and cameras in the ceiling; it was a lot of shuddering and banging noise; their emotions were REAL, those two news people(!); we were ALL probably registering the same looks on our faces!
Boo, hiss; earthquakes be done; go away!!
I said it wrong. They’re now calling the July 4 quake a foreshock, not an aftershock. So far, the July 5 quake is the bigger one. Any we now get on July 6 (today) if they’re below a 7.1 will be classified as aftershock. Whatever; they’re all not welcome!
Re-education: I may be feeling them more than someone in a structure on slab; I’m on pier & beam/raised foundation, so it’s definitely more bounce and/or sway.
xo
I’m so sorry you’re having to deal with all that. Very unsettling. I’ve been through earthquakes, though nothing as strong and prolonged as this one. Don, as a longtime California resident went through more than a few strong ones. Yes, you have to rethink everything now!
Hang in there! We’re thinking of you!
Thanks; we got the last sack of ice at the big-box store and the clerk said, “It ain’t for 4th of July that we’ve had a run on ice!” Yep, everybody’s afraid we could lose power and the experts are saying we need to be prepared to stand on our own for 7 days, not 3. But all’s quiet Saturday; don’t want to break the spell! We did have something heavy shift in the garage rafters and it fell but didn’t hit anything, so that was new; we’d had to leave for a little while so happened when we were gone. The good news is that the seismologists have said that anything now, if patterns/history hold up, will be less than a 7.1 such that we won’t get a repeat of Friday night. I’m fine; the people you have to feel for, are in this area called Trona/Ridgecrest; they’ve had a lot of damage to homes.
Yes, I do feel for them!
to vicki …
sorry for what you all are going through with the earthquakes … and the fireworks! poor animals, too. will pray for you. stay safe.
kathy in iowa
… thank you, kathy; you always have such a good heart … the seismologists said on Saturday that it’s a good thing the ‘quake line’ is going north, further away from the large Los Angeles metro area … I do feel so sorry for people in this epicenter of (eastern SoCalif) Trona/Ridgecrest because they’ve sustained such damage to their homes, like one guy’s whole brick fireplace tumbled to the living room floor, and they’re also getting the more noticeable aftershocks which will go on for awhile (one guy said “I want to move” like in, go live somewhere else and I couldn’t blame him.. !!!!) … and, yeah, I’m getting short-tempered over the continuing illegal fireworks; big spread in our local newspaper that it’s the worst the fire officials have seen, all over the town, so I don’t know what the plan is for next year (we don’t have a very big police force); it’s illegal to have fireworks in our city, yet a neighboring city allows it and sells the fireworks, so access to purchase them is very easy … I’m just hoping EVERYTHING simmers down soon! We’re prone to wildfire here; the last thing we need is for fireworks to cause a problem with THAT.
to vicki …
thank you. :) same to you.
hope and pray things stop shaking out there.
a question you might not have the answer to … with all the wildfires you all have had to go through, why does california still allow the sale of fireworks?
a couple years ago, fireworks were made legal here for individuals. there were enough problems (injuries and house fires) that the law was changed back. lots of people here still drive just over an hour and buy fireworks in northern missouri. i live less than two blocks from two adjoining parks and heard lots of fireworks over the past couple nights. i feel so bad for animals, pets and wildlife (there are lots of deer in those parks. frogs, too, like the one that got in my garage). wish people would leave fireworks just to professionals.
anyway … hope things settle down for you all and you have an easy day.
kathy in iowa
What a shame with Escape To Margaritaville. You are so right you get what you pay for. Substitution is never the answer. Enjoy the week end.
Marilyn
Wow, Don must be super-steamed. And just generally teed-off. And I don’t blame him one bit. That’s awful. I bet you if they had cast the original roles with people like this new dude, who isn’t right for what he’s doing on a NUMBER of counts, they never would have got to Broadway in the first place. Some people never learn. “You get what you pay for…” No five truer words have ever been strung together! Hope the weather breaks tonight – I loathe humidity too. I never want to do anything but sit by a fan & eat watermelon – LOL. Well, the fan part is true, but I’ll eat ANYTHING that’s cold. Have a great Sunday! 🐝☀️🍦
He’s not steamed. He came to terms with the whole thing a while ago. And frankly, he’s glad he’s not a part of it. But I imagine everyone in the original cast feels a bit betrayed. Or felt that way initially. Thankfully, many have moved on and are in other shows.
oh, wow! what awful casting choices made for “escape to margaritaville”! money is needed to make things happen, of course. we all know that … but to cast as a musician someone who can’t play the guitar? and to try “aging” an actor when it should be don playing j.d. again? i am shaking my head about that and, claudia, i just need to add this …
dear jimmy buffett … i love ya, but please don’t cut corners. it will cheapen the experience for your fans and turn others away. besides, i’m pretty sure you have enough money by now! sincerely, a disappointed lifelong parrothead
onward.
love the tiger lilies; they are beautiful!
glad you had fun with rick. enjoy the french toast tuesday. i think i’d make that a thing. :)
hope don’s photo business is brisk and he knows we all know he’s the real j.d.
and you have fun reading!
kathy in iowa
He IS the real J.D. Very disappointed in the powers-that-be on this one. But in the end, what can you do? It’s a foolish choice on their part.
Thanks, Kathy!
That production is coming to Ft. Lauderdale and I’m making it my business to explain to everyone why they should not support it. Shameful.
I agree! Thanks, Cara.
I would never see it on tour. Jimmy Buffet, I don’t admire him! We just saw a high school play, “ Joseph and the Coat…”. Kids did a great job, but the aging was so fake it did detract, of course, it would have to be. I hate all this cheapening of everything.
I do too.
Day Lillies always seem like a surprise gift from the summer goddess! They just pop up with no special planting or care. One day green stalks, the next brilliant orange flashes. One year our helpful neighbor mowed down the whole lot of them along our road (in his defense is was virtually impossible to see to road when trying to get out of the driveway, but it broke our hearts). I don’t remember day Lillies from California but I’m sure they’re there somewhere. I learned recently that CA has the most diverse flora and fauna in the United States. I do remember Cala Lillies which we had in our yard and I adored. I love how you always remind me to stop and smell the flowers!
They’re really not day lilies, Nora. They bloom for longer than a day – they’re another version of the lily. But I agree – it’s wonderful to have them pop up with no effort on our part! Such a lovely gift!
I’ll remember that if Margaritaville shows up at Wharton. Give it a pass and go for the CD instead!
The flowers are great. I know what you mean about tiger lilies. They are VERY happy flowers!
Very happy, Jeanie!
Happily, I see that Margaritaville is not coming to SF. I was preparing my picket sign.
Ah, you’re the best!