Classic Musical Comedy Production Number of the Month - April 2016

Woo hoo.  A five Saturday month and we get to sample some of the best of musical comedy numbers.   Here's a favorite.   For those who thought this was a Beatles song.

Dinner last night:  Flatbread pizza with pepperoni and sausage at BJs.

Please Sign Here

Dinner last night:  Sandwich and salad.

The Great Satellite-Cable Debate

And so it goes.   Indeed, the battle continues.  Of course, there are many Americans who have given up either their satellite or cable hookups to save money.   They're doing things for a lot less a month by using Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and digital antennas that can be picked up for twenty bucks at CVS.

As for me, I'm not there yet.   There is still way too much specialty programming and sports for me through the big providers.   But, as I said, the battle rages on.

In my own apartment.

A little history is needed to put this war into perspective.  Truth be told, I have been a long time Direct TV customer.  Since 2002 they would tell me whenever I had reason to call customer service.  And my calls were always answered promptly by somebody in the south or the midwest of this country and not India.  Indeed, Direct TV followed me through two different apartments and I held onto it despite the fact that, for the past two baseball seasons, I couldn't get the Dodgers broadcasts from TWC.  (Um, actually I did and there are ways around those blackouts.   If you're one of those Yankee fans currently shut out of the Yes Network, call me.   I literally can get you hooked up.)

So, when I elected to move from one apartment to another in the same building this past March, I fully intended to keep the same connections I had in the past. Direct for TV and, ironically, Time Warner Cable for their broadband wifi because it is...well...the best.  As a matter of fact, on my actual moving day, I engaged both companies to do their hookups in the new place at the same time. Both Direct TV and TWC in the same room simultaneously.  Hell, this is something the Los Angeles Dodgers haven't managed to do.

TWC, with their now very prompt on-time service, got here first.  Over the years, it has been well known that their customer service has sucked.   But, not now.  They are much more attentive.  As their tech guy worked on installing the new broad band, Direct TV arrived.   No pun intended, I directed them to where my dish was on the roof of the front of this building and I knew that there was no way they would be able to use that to the new pad in the back of the building. I figured that the dish, at the very least, would be moved.

But I was troubled by the Direct TV guy who was here.   English was, at best, his third language.  And he didn't seem to be that seasoned.   Too young and with a language deficiency, he was less a tech guy and more a Bernie Sanders supporter.  I had also noticed that this was the type of folks I was connecting with over the phone with Direct TV of late.   Clearly, one call was to India.  I could hear the monsoon in the background.  And the on-hold time was now at least 30 minutes to speak to a live body that may or may not have been in America.   If you poke around the internet, you will read similar stories and most attributed to Direct TV's diminishing customer service as a direct product of their merger with ATT, which is renowned for being super lousy.

In my living room, the Direct TV actually had to consult with the TWC guy on what he was doing.  What the what??  Within 15 minutes, the Direct dude, in some fashion of English, Spanish and Swahili, announced that he could not connect me.  After 14 years, I would no longer be a "valued" Direct TV customer.   Since he was on the premises, I told the TWC techie to proceed and give me more than just the broadband connection.  I had no choice.  And he probably did a silent happy dance while alone in my bathroom.

As a result, I am now a perfect person to give you the pluses and minuses of both services as they are all fresh in my mind.

First off, Direct TV and TWC have seemingly flip flopped when it comes to customer service.   TWC has been extremely accommodating with my questions.   Direct TV, in my subsequent conversations on getting a more seasoned tech here to see if a reconnection is possible, has become virtually impossible to reach without at least an hour of hold on the phone.

What about the actual product?  Well, it is fun to have the Dodger channel especially this year when they are likely going to do a lot of vintage Vin Scully stuff.  But, I miss the access to places like the Yes Network and SNY in New York.   Sure, I can get the Yankee and Met games with my MLB package but, inexplicably, I miss the pre and post game shows that I could get with Direct TV.

When you get all the alleged movie channels, you will notice one major difference between Direct and TWC.   On the former, all the appropriate HBO, Showtime, and the like movie channels are broadcast in crisp HD.  Not so on TWC where the only HD offered on the latter is for their primary channels.   If you're looking to watch a HD movie on HBO Family, you are shit out of luck.

Okay, here's a stupid little quibble from me on TWC.   My favorite channel, Turner Classic Movies, has a wonderful app that I have kept on my tablet and my phone.  To access it, you have to put in your television provider info.   No problem when I had Direct.  Er, major issue when you have TWC who does not participate.   I can probably get around this by using my New York Cablevision tie-in but, for now, I miss this app.

At the same time, there is some fun available on TWC and not Direct TV.   Well, fun for me at least.   There are a host of those digital retro channels on TWC that Direct TV doesn't bother with.  Antenna TV, for instance where my hormones take a stroll down memory lane with episodes of a young Valerie Bertinelli on "One Day at a Time."   Plus nightly uncut airings of the Johnny Carson Tonight Show from the 70s and 80s.   Also, there is Buzzr which broadcasts old and beloved game shows with Match Game reruns that remind me how damn funny Charles Nelson Reilly was.  And Get TV which shows you television history from the 60s with vintage black-and-white reruns of the Merv Griffin Show.   Now, my good friend and electronic guru Leo tells me I could still get these channels via Direct TV via an indoor antenna and an A/B switch.   But, still.  I have found myself gravitating to these channels more often than not.   

So, you might say that TWC has grown on me.   But there are still some charms of Direct TV that I miss.  Plus you have the added complication of billing.   You can cut TWC anytime.   With Direct, I would be back on a "must keep for 24 months" dictum that is laughable given I originally was a customer for the last 14 years.

I am going to try and give Direct TV one more try.   I have asked them to send me a very experienced tech guy...translation: one who speaks fluent English...to see if the other idiot's determination was accurate.   And I guess I will continue to live a full life either way.   This will all come to some fruition next Tuesday.

Stay tuned...as they say on your favorite TV provider.

Dinner last night:  Had a big lunch so just a sandwich and a small salad.

This Date in History - April 27

It's the birthday of the mouse...and I don't mean Mickey.

33 BC:  LUCIUS MARCIUS PHILLIPPUS, STEP BROTHER TO THE FUTURE EMPEROR AUGUSTUS, CELEBRATES A TRIUMPH FOR HIS VICTORIES WHILE SERVING AS GOVERNOR OF A HISPANIC PROVINCE.

This is a microcosm of why I hated tenth grade World History.

711:  THE ISLAMIC CONQUEST OF HISPANIA.

And I still don't care.

1509:  POPE JULIUS II PLACES THE ITALIAN STATE OF VENICE UNDER INTERDICT.

Inter what?

1521:  EXPLORER FERDINAND MAGELLAN IS KILLED BY NATIVES IN THE PHILIPPINES.

I guess he got the natives lost with his navigation device.

1595:  THE RELICS OF SAINT SAVA ARE INCINERATED IN BELGRADE BY THE OTTOMANS.

Now was that nice?

1667:  THE BLIND AND IMPOVERISHED JOHN MILTON SELLS THE COPYRIGHT OF PARADISE LOST FOR 10 POUNDS.

Lowballed it.

1805:  FIRST BARBARY WAR - US MARINES ATTACK THE TRIPOLITAN CITY OF DERNA.

The shores of Tripoli...I get it.

1861:  PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN SUSPENDS THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS.

In four years, he will be his own corpus.

1899:  ANIMATOR WALTER LANTZ IS BORN.

And so too is Woody Woodpecker.

1911:  A COMPROMISE IS REACHED TO ROTATE THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE US SENATE.

As if this really makes a difference.

1922:  ACTOR JACK KLUGMAN IS BORN.

Oscar, Oscar, Oscar.

1927:  CORETTA SCOTT KING IS BORN.

She died in 2006 and I think the kids are still fighting over her dough.

1936:  THE UNITED AUTO WORKERS GAIN AUTONOMY FROM THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR.

Not a crowd to fool around with.

1937:  ACTRESS SANDY DENNIS IS BORN.

She went up the down staircase.

1939:  ACTRESS JUDY CARNE IS BORN.

Sock it to her.

1945:  WORLD WAR II - BENITO MUSSOLINI IS ARRESTED BY ITALIAN PARTISANS, WHILE ATTEMPTING DISGUISE AS A GERMAN SOLDIER.

That plot line would make a good movie.

1953:  OPERATION MOOLAH OFFERS $50,000 TO ANY PILOT WHO DEFECTS TO SOUTH KOREA.

And the Fabulous Moolah was a lady wrestler.

1965:  TV JOURNALIST EDWARD R. MURROW DIES.

Person to Cigarette.

1967:  EXPO 67 OPENS IN MONTREAL.

And that's how they named the baseball team.

1974:  TEN THOUSAND MARCH IN WASHINGTON DC CALLING FOR THE IMPEACHMENT OF US PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON.

And it worked.

1978:  FORMER NIXON AIDE JOHN D. EHRLICHMAN IS RELEASED FROM AN ARIZONA PRISON AFTER 18 MONTHS.

No pardon for him.

1981:  XEROX INTRODUCES THE COMPUTER MOUSE.

And life will never be the same.

1999:  TRUMPET PLAYER AL HIRT DIES.

That blows.

2012:  BASEBALL STAR BILL SKOWRON DIES.

Moose!

2014:  POPES JOHN XXIII AND JOHN PAUL II ARE DECLARED SAINTS.

Two more holidays for Catholic schools.

Dinner last night:  Leftover roast chicken and vegetables.

Fun When You Least Expect It

You pay your fifteen bucks and you never know what you will get.   I went into this one with mild trepidation.  The reviews were fabulous, but that's never a guarantee.   And I vaguely remember seeing the "unofficial" prequel to this, which was "Dazed and Confused," and not liking it.  

But you want to see a movie and "Everybody Wants Some!!" was the best thing I could find.

And it was the best thing I could see.  Clearly, this was a film that had me smiling from the first frame to the last.

Director Richard Linklater has liked to mine his childhood into movies and there is definitely an autobiographical nature to this.   You can see where the main character of Jake Bradford is probably Linklater.   In this case, the mining brings us pure gold.    With a tale where nothing really happens but a lot indeed does.

Jake is a college freshman who will be pitching with a rundown Texas college.   A star in high school, he will just be one of the bunch living together in a rickety frat house.  The year is 1980 and the hair and the music and the leaky waterbeds all perfectly evoke the era.  Essentially, this film takes us through the first three days before classes will actually start.   Because, as soon as school starts, the story and the film rightfully ends.  But, the three days prior is where the meat of the movie is served.

You watch as this screwy collection of college baseball players come together.   To fight.  To drink.  To sit on each other's faces.   And, of course, to go after women.   "Everybody Wants Some!!" is funny and raunchy in an Animal House sort of way.   But, deep down, there is a heart as you develop an affinity for even the most obnoxious character.   An expert script will do that.

Amidst all the nonsense, Jake is smitten by a drama student and their first connection over the telephone sounds like a conversation all of us have had at least once in our life with somebody we were crushing on.   It's all beautifully organic and real.   Kudos to the actors playing out this relationship --- Blake Jenner and Zoey Deutch, who is the real life daughter of Lea Thompson.  Go figure.

From the poster above and the loglines about the film, you would likely turn up your nose at "Everybody Wants Some."   But it would be a crime for you to avoid it.   Jeez, the soundtrack alone is worth the prices of your Buncha Crunch.

LEN'S RATING:  Four stars.

Dinner last night:  Bacon wrapped Dodger Dog.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - April 25, 2016

Lucy and Milton Berle?

Dinner last night:  Roast chicken, potatoes, carrots, and onions.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - A Political Memory

This Sunday Memory comes from some mental meandering I did the other night when I was briefly watching the election coverage of the New York State Primary.   Okay, if you think I'm going to take a political side here, you're wrong.   As seasoned readers here know, I pretty much hate all politicians regardless of where they sit on the aisle.  The last fifty years have been a cesspool of leadership from which America will likely never recover.

But let's think about one of the asswipes running in 2016 to replace the current asswipe living in the White House.

I got pretty incensed during the primary coverage when one media nabob after another was talking about how Hillary Clinton had won her home state of New York

What the what???

Okay, folks, let's be real here.  She's not a New Yorker.   Never has been.  Never will be.   Logical people know that the only reason she moved to New York State was that she knew it was the only state where she could get elected to the Senate easily.   After all, it was all about the agenda set by her and her neanderthal husband back in the mid 90s.   This would be her time to shine as payment for the hubby fucking anything that moved in front of him for ten seconds.   That is it.  And, oh, by the way, people I know tell me he hasn't changed his ways.   No female Starbucks barista is apparently safe in the environs of upper Westchester County.

Um, there's a reason why Chelsea is an only child.

But I remember this week that I was onto this fraud a long, long time ago.  Back when I was still living in Yonkers.   Cue the flashback music machine.

Actually, the memory starts a little while before that.  Back when Big Bill was first running to be President.   At that time, I had a very, very good friend who was toiling in the political world.   He has since seen Jesus and cleaned himself up.   But, back then, my pal was telling me all the stuff you don't hear on the Nightly News.

Somewhere in the hinterlands of America, Big Bill was on a campaign tour.   And those whistle stops frequently turned into booty calls.   If the candidate saw somebody he liked in the front row, he would have his pimps AKA the Secret Service invite her back for a...ahem...personal meeting.

Well, imagine Big Bill's surprise when, on one particular afternoon, the cute girl presented to him was the daughter of Ron Brown, who happened to be the guy running the Democratic National Committee at the time.

Ooops.  Eggs on all faces.  Enough to make a frittata big enough to feed East Los Angeles.

Well, I always remembered that delicious little tale.   And I particularly recalled it when, several years later, Brown was on Clinton's cabinet and was horribly killed in a plane crash.

In those days, I was a Nordic Track-aholic at Court Sports in New York.   I was there three nights a week on that machine around 630PM.   As I was "skiing," I'd watch one of the national anchors tell me the news of the day.  And there, as I stared up at the screen that evening, cameras showed me the poignant meeting where Big Bill and Hilarity Clinton made a condolence call to the Brown home.   And my jaw dropped as I saw Big Bill give him a caressing hug to Brown's daughter.  As Hilarity watched...

And that, for me, solidified my view of pretty much every politician in America. They are all con artists and frauds and killers of life as we used to know it.

Of course, Hilarity knew all about that dalliance.  If I knew about it, she sure did.   And that's the main reason why I would never vote for her.

I'm sure there are other memories that will give me reasons why I will never vote for Trump, Cruz, Kasich, and Sanders as well.

Dinner last night:  The salad bar at Souplantation.

Classic Movie Trailer of the Month - April 2016

Sixty years old this April...

Dinner last night:  A wonderful buffet at the home of good friends Connie and Leo.

This Month's Discards from the Sears Portrait Center

 This woman wandered in from another family.

 Somewhere in this world, people are amused by this photo.

 "I better not catch you in gym class, kid."

 Kindergarten Kid of the Month.

 PS, Jesus did not wear pants.

 "I swear to God.  She's yours."

 I wonder what her Match.com profile picture looks like today.

 Ironically, they are not wearing masks.

 When you can't get enough plaid.

 Available most Saturday nights.

 Okay, for starters, the bathing suit doesn't work with the winter backdrop.   And, who thinks this could be a boy?

Things changed when Grandma started to date a crash dummy.

Dinner last night:  Thai chopped salad.

Len's Recipe of the Month - April 2016

From my Sunday Memory Drawer last week, roast dinner is on my mind.   This is what my parents used to make with an eye round of beef, but I do it a little differently.

And better.

Here's your recipe for the above plate which even looks good in the photo.

Three vegetables are needed.   My dad used to peel big clunky Idaho potatoes, but, frankly, I do this much in a much easier fashion with either some Fingerling potatoes or those small Yukon Golds.  Wash them and simply slice them up into smaller pieces.  Throw them in a bowl.   You don't even have to peel them.

Slice up three large carrots into 1/4 or 1/2 pieces.   Into the bowl, please.

Take one large yellow onion.   Want to know an easy way to peel it without complication or tears?   Microwave it for 30-45 seconds.   You will be astonished by how easy it is to peel it now.   That tip comes from Valerie Bertinelli.  Slice up the onion into quarters, then eighths.   Throw it into the same bowl.

Now, in a small mixing bowl, take 1/2 cup of good olive oil.   Mix in a tablespoon of rosemary, a teaspoon of thyme, a tablespoon of kosher salt, and a teaspoon of fresh ground pepper.   Then use some of that tubed garlic, which mixes in well.   Two good squirts.   Whisk it all up and toss it in the bowl of veggies.   Make sure everything gets coated.   Spray a baking dish with some Pam and then spread the vegetable medley (love that word) evenly across it.

Now prep your eye round of beef, which can be a tough piece of meat if you don't do it correctly.   You want to use a rub that is easily made from kosher salt, olive oil, pepper, and a little more garlic.   Spread it evenly all over the meat.   

Okay, to do this all correctly, you really need two different oven ranges.   What? You don't have two oven ranges.   Well, move.

Preheat one of the oven ranges to 500 degrees.   Yes, 500 degrees.   Place the meat on top of some tin foil in a roasting pan.   You want to know how much the meat weighs because you will cook it in that satanic chamber for 6 minutes per pound.   

While the meat is sizzling, preheat the other oven at 275 degrees.   

After your six minutes per pound session, pull the meat out and fold the tin foil up so it covers the meat like a tent.  Lower the temperature to 170 degrees and place the meat back in for one hour.

At the same time, place the baking dish of vegetables in the other oven for an hour.   You will find to spoon them around from time to time.

After an hour (or when the inside temperature of the meat is around 130-140 degrees for medium rare), pull the meat out and let it rest for ten minutes.  The juices should be abundant.  Slice it in 1/2 inch chunks.

Pull out the vegetables which should have cooked nicely with a lot of flavor.

If the end result doesn't look like the picture above, you did something wrong.

Dinner last night:  Leftover Chinese beef and vegetables.

This Date in History - April 20

Happy birthday, George Takei.  Oh, my.

1303:  THE SAPIENZA UNIVERSITY OF ROME IS INSTITUTED BY POPE BONIFACE VIII.

Which means there were seven other Popes before him named Boniface.

1653;  OLIVER CROMWELL DISSOLVES THE RUMP PARLIAMENT.

Which probably sat on their...go ahead and finish it.

1657:  FREEDOM OF RELIGION IS GRANTED TO THE JEWS OF NEW AMSTERDAM.  

I thought that was Morey Amsterdam.

1775: AMERICAN REVOLUTION - THE SIEGE OF BOSTON BEGINS.  

So close to Marathon Day?

1789:  GEORGE WASHINGTON ARRIVES IN PHILADELPHIA EN ROUTE TO NEW YORK FOR HIS INAUGURATION.

Back then, this trip must have taken weeks.

1836:  THE US CONGRESS PASSES AN ACT CREATING THE WISCONSIN TERRITORY.

Cheeseheads, rejoice!

1862:  LOUIS PASTEUR AND CLAUDE BERNARD COMPLETE THE EXPERIMENT FALSIFYING THE THEORY OF SPONTANEOUS GENERATION.

I don't see the word milk anywhere in that sentence.

1893:  ACTOR HAROLD LLOYD IS BORN.

Perhaps the most underrated of all silent movie comics.

1902:  PIERRE AND MARIE CURIE REFINE RADIUM CHLORIDE.

Let's pour it on something and see what happens.

1912:  OPENING DAY FOR BASEBALL'S TIGER STADIUM IN DETROIT AND FENWAY PARK IN BOSTON.

Oddly, one of them still exists.

1912:  AUTHOR BRAM STOKER DIES.

The sun must have come up.

1914:  ACTRESS BETTY LOU GERSON IS BORN.

Who, you say?  The voice of the greatest Dinsey villain, Cruella Deville, I say.

1916:  THE CHICAGO CUBS PLAY THEIR FIRST GAME AT WHAT WILL BECOME WRIGLEY FIELD.

World Series flag to follow.   Yeah, right.

1923:  MOTHER ANGELICA IS BORN.

That nun you see on the back channels of every cable system.

1926:  WESTERN ELECTRIC AND WARNER BROS.  ANNOUNCE VITAPHONE, A PROCESS TO ADD SOUND TO FILM.

You ain't heard nothing yet.

1937:  ACTOR GEORGE TAKEI IS BORN.

Who knew that his greatest claim to fame would be a regular lambasting on the Howard Stern Show?

1939:  ADOLF HITLER'S 50TH BIRTHDAY IS CELEBRATED AS A NATIONAL HOLIDAY IN NAZI GERMANY.

Put some gun powder in those candles.

1941:  ACTOR RYAN O'NEAL IS BORN.

Rodney Harrington.

1945:  WORLD WAR II - ADOLF HITLER MAKES HIS LAST TRIP OUT OF HIS BUNKER TO AWARD BOY SOLDIERS OF THE HITLER YOUTH.

And celebrates his last birthday.

1946:  THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS OFFICIALLY DISSOLVES, GIVING MOST OF ITS POWER TO THE UNITED NATIONS.

Which becomes an even bigger joke.

1951:  DAN GAVRILLA PERFORMS THE FIRST SURGICAL REPLACEMENT OF A HUMAN ORGAN.  

And that organ was....?  Tell me.   I don't know.

1959:  ACTOR CLINT HOWARD IS BORN.

Ron's brother.

1972:  APOLLO 16, COMMANDED BY JOHN YOUNG, LANDS ON THE MOON.

With two other apparently nameless astronauts.

1984:  THE GOOD FRIDAY MASSACRE, AN EXTREMELY VIOLENT ICE HOCKEY PLAY GAME, IS PLAYED IN MONTREAL.

Massacre Night in Canada.

1992:  COMIC BENNY HILL DIES.

Never got him.

1993:  ACTOR CANTINFLAS DIES.

Around the world in 82 years.

1999:  VENTRILOQUIST SENOR WENCES DIES.

What is your first name, please?

1999:  THE COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL MASSACRE---13 PEOPLE KILLED IN COLORADO.

And unfortunately a revised business model for Michael Moore.

2008:  DANICA PATRICK WINS THE INDY JAPAN 300 BECOMING THE FIRST FEMALE DRIVER IN HISTORY TO WIN AN INDY CAR RACE.

The sexist remark would be to say that the pit stops took longer.

Dinner last night:  Chopped salad with kale, Brussels sprouts, and asiago cheese.

Droning On

Normally, I would recommend you see "Eye in the Sky" primarily because it's the last screen work of the late Alan Rickman.   You should remember him for his superb acting and not all those crazy costumes and bad eye make-up he was reduced to wearing in those dopey Harry Potter movies.

But, beyond the fact that this is the last stop for Rickman, you should see this movie because it's just damn good.   A wonderful thriller that is expertly made by director Gavin Hood and it's ripped out of today's headlines.   You will not forget the power of this film any time soon.

Of course, it's all about fighting terrorists in this day and age where nobody can hide, thanks to the drones flying over our heads.    In this case, Kenya, England, and the state of Nevada are electronically connected by those eyes in the skies.   There's an extreme Islamic terrorist that just defected from London and is in Africa as part of the planning of a suicide bomb in a shopping mall.   The goal for all the characters in the disjointed parts of the world is to take down this terrorist nest before it takes down the rest of us.

But, wait, a little nine-year-old African girl has wandered into the bomb target zone as she sets up a table to sell her mom's bread.   If England and the US act, she will be part of the collateral damage.  And therein lies the moral dilemma behind this movie.

The cast is phenomenal as Helen Mirren, the aforementioned Rickman, and Aaron Paul question their motives.  Will the sacrifice of one innocent life now even out the potential loss of one hundred innocent lives down the road?   As the excitement of the story builds, you become torn yourself as to what is right and what is wrong.   As Rickman's character mentions late in the film, this is war and there are consequences.  It's a marvelous moment and speech that is almost literally the last time you will ever see him on screen.

But, in a compact 102 minutes, the filmmaker here not only captures your cinematic senses but your conscience as well.   These days, we usually say most movies are too long.   Well, this is just long enough.   Expertly directed and edited, "Eye in the Sky" is ideal entertainment and you should see it.  

Because they will be able to see that you are seeing it.

LEN'S RATING:  Three-and-a-half stars.

Dinner last night:  Beef and Chinese vegetable stir fry.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - April 18, 2016

Hiccup.

Dinner last night:  Hawaiian Dodger Dog at the game.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - Sunday Dinner

Who are these dorks?  It sure as Hell isn't my family.

But what these folks are doing is exactly the same thing my parental units and I did every Sunday afternoon for years.   Enjoying a Sunday roast dinner.

Now folks in England have been doing this for ages.   Roasting a piece of meat and some vegetables in the oven.   My mom and dad were not as erudite as those in the United Kingdom but this was one tradition that lasted for us all the way from my single-digit childhood to when I was in college.  Indeed, in those latter years, I even came home from Fordham University every Sunday to partake in the one meal a week that the three of us ate together.

That, and, oh yeah, to do my laundry.

It was like clockwork.   Around noon time, my father would start prepping whatever meat it was.   Either an eye round of beef, a roast chicken, or a pork loin.   My mother would be seated at the kitchen table.  Smoking a cigarette and doing the crossword puzzle in that Sunday's edition of the New York Daily News.   

In the pan, the meat would go and then Dad would slice up an onion, some potatoes, and a couple of carrots.  

By 1PM, it was in the oven.  By 2PM, we were eating.   By 230PM, I was back watching a baseball game.   And, in the college years, by 5PM, my father was driving me back to the dorm.

It was all done silently and like robots.  But, ironically, it was the one family tradition we had.  

Indeed, the process would begin the day before.   My parents would have a brief conversation.

"What's on sale this week at the Quick Way?"   This was a meat market at the corner of 241st Street and White Plains Road in the Bronx.

"Pork loin."

And that's how simple and mundane it became.   Meanwhile, everything else in the pan was the same.   Potatoes.  Carrots.  Onions.  

For weeks.   For years.

Now my grandparents were downstairs doing the same thing.   Every Sunday.   A roast dinner.   A little blander because Grandma never met a seasoning that she would use.   But a roast dinner nonetheless.    

Except their meal was earlier.  High noon.  Sharp.

So, the aromas of the two meals permeated the house for a good five to six hours every Sunday.

After my grandfather died, there was a motion in my household to combine the two roast dinners.   Grandma would head upstairs to our area of the house at 2PM.   

That lasted three weeks.   We were eating way too late for her tastes.   She missed 12 Noon.   And she went back to preparing a Sunday roast dinner for herself.   And the plating time got earlier and earlier.   I used to joke that, eventually, my grandmother was eating her Sunday dinner on Saturday night.

Of course, old traditions are hard to kill.   And, to this day, I prepare a big Sunday dinner every week myself.  Sometimes for guests.   Or often time for me, myself, and I.  

Except I eat at 5PM.   Heck, somebody has to break out of a mold eventually.

Stay tuned on a later day where I will share my foolproof recipe for a perfect Sunday roast dinner.

Dinner last night:  Hamburger at the Federal Bar.

Classic TV Theme Song of the Month - April 2016

And it was a big hit on the radio, too.

Dinner last night:  Bacon wrapped Dodger Dog.

Your Weekend Movie Guide for April 2016

Here's a relic from the waning days of the glorious Radio City Music Hall.   Usually, you didn't have to oversell the movies that played there.   But, in this case, they were really pushing the envelope in the ads with the excerpts from the critics.   

Indeed, you can never properly figure out how to pick a movie to see these days.   There have been some that were lauded by the reviewers and I hated them.   Others were panned by the critics and I loved them.   Go figure.   It will be the same this weekend with the fare at our local multiplexes.    There might be a gem here or there.   Most will suck.

You know the drill, gang.  I'll wander through the entertainment pages of the Los Angeles Times and give you my gut reaction to the junk out there.  You probably can trust me more than you can some reviewers.  Just sayin'.

Batman V. Superman - Dawn of Justice:   How to ruin two comic franchises with just one movie?

The Boss:   Three words that I always seem to use together.   Melissa McCarthy pass.

Born to Be Blue:   It's about jazz legend Chet Baker, not Tommy Lasorda.

Midnight Special:  Don Kirshner?   Um, no.

Zootopia:  I hear this Disney cartoon actually has a lot of adult inside humor. Just like Bugs Bunny used to.

The Witch:  Bernie Sanders tells me this is a documentary on Hillary Clinton.

10 Cloverfield Lane:  Reviewed here recently.   Quite a rollicking time at the movies.

Miles Ahead:  Don Cheadle overacting one more time...this one as Miles Davis.

Miracles from Heaven:   It stars Jennifer Garner and she might consider one of them her divorce from that lummox Ben Affleck.

Louder Than Bombs:   That would be...again from Bernie Sanders...Hillary Clinton.

London Has Fallen:   And can't get up.

Kung Fu Panda 3:  Damn, I missed two already?

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2:   The word "why" comes to mind.

Hello, My Name is Doris:   Reviewed here last Tuesday and I want you to remember every word I wrote.

Hardcore Henry:  It's playing everywhere and I have no idea what it is about.

I Saw The Light:   All about country singer Hank Williams.   Spoiler alert: he's dead at the end.

Everybody Wants Some:  Blog review coming.  Here's a hint.   Lots of fun.

The Divergent Series - Allegiant:  Like I said last month, Allegiant sounds like a sinus remedy.

Demolition:  A husband goes nuts when his wife is killed in a car crash.   Did he forget to send in the life insurance premium?

Deadpool:   More action nonsense easily ignored.

Barber Shop - The Next Cut:  And they say there are no roles for Black actors?

The Adderall Diaries:  Who is Adderall and why do we want to read them?

The Jungle Book:   Spoiler alert: Neither Sabu or Phil Harris are involved in this.

Hostile Border:   According to Donald Trump...

Eddie The Eagle:  All about skiing.   Perfect to see in the middle of the spring.

Mr. Right:   Starring Anna Kendrick, which means I will see it at some point.

Eye in the Sky:  Blog review coming.  You will like it.  The review and the movie.

Risen:  Easter is over.  Next...

Bill:   All about William Shakespeare's lost years.   Which happened to coincide with those high school years where I had to read his stuff.

Dinner last night:  Bacon frittata with cheddar and pecorino cheese.