The Sunday Memory Drawer - Baseball Like I Used to Be

I never thought I would say this.   

I used to be a New York Mets fan.  

Yes, used to be.

If you knew me as a baseball fan/child, you would have considered such a statement unfathomable.  The Mets were my first team.  They were my only team.   I lived with them.  I died with them.  And, in a neighborhood of Yankee fans, this was not easy.  Especially when the Mets were bad.   And they could be just that.  Bad.  Awful.  Unwatchable.   

I didn't care.

Now, what has driven me away in 2019?  Well, distance for one.   Proximity to a well-run organization AKA the Los Angeles Dodgers.   But I tried to stay connected once I moved 3000 miles away.  But the team's rotten and nasty ownership, otherwise known as that complete shithead Jeff Wilpon, treated some partial ticket holder plans so badly that the terms of divorce were easy to negotiate.  I will be back when the ownership changes.  I doubt this will happen.  Because once Daddy Fred croaks, the team will fall under the inept management of the maniacal son Jeff.   He will run the place once and for all into the Flushing ground.

I am, however, feeling pangs of this separation right now as a major anniversary looms.  Fifty years ago.   The greatest summer of my young baseball life.   The celebration begins.

The 1969 World Champion New York Mets.

This weekend is the official half-century commemoration at Citi Field.   I thought about going back for the festivities, but, frankly, there was a bit of luster removed.   Tom Seaver, dealing with dementia, would not attend.  About six or seven members of the team are now playing in the Heavenly League, which I hope has no designated hitter.  Heck, even Nolan Ryan declined to appear.

So I watched the ceremonies instead on the TV in my bedroom 3000 miles away. Laying across the bed on my stomach like an eight-year-old watching cartoons. And, as one 1969 Met after another was brought out, I cried. And cried some more, especially when my dad's favorite Met Jerry Grote was brought out. And remembered the days of old. I wished that this very  gathering had been held actually in the now-parking-lotted Shea Stadium, where it all played out like the most improbable plot line ever created.

Like I said, this was perhaps the most fabulous season of my life and it set a standard for summers that has yet to be topped. I was a young baseball fan and my choice for favorite team was being vindicated for at least this year. 

That World Championship year would be like no other for me then or since.  
As I scoped the usual blogs to read stories on the team reunion, I noticed more than a little indifference from the writers. Because most of these articles are done by younger people, the 1969 Met championship is only a sidebar in their lives. For most of them, the real bell ringer is the 1986 World Championship New York Mets. To them, players like Gary Carter, Keith Hernandez, Dwight Gooden, and Ron Darling trump all others in Met lore.

Hmmmmm.

Hey, I was there, too, in 1986. And I shared in the exhilaration of a long day's journey into Ray Knight and a ball behind the bag that get by the recently departed Buckner. For the first time as an adult, I was vindicated as a baseball fan. But, as great as that was, it didn't hold a candle to 1969. The first time for the Mets. The first time for me.

So, the question bears asking. Do you have to be alive to appreciate history? If I had been born ten or fifteen years later, would I appreciate 1969 as much?
So, I think about it. I wasn't alive for Babe Ruth, but I can still recognize that he was one of the greatest players of all time. I never saw Jackie Robinson, but I can appreciate every thing he did for the game. I didn't live through Pearl Harbor, but I can understand how devastating that event was in the annals of our nation's history.

I know some young adults who clearly get it. They can reel off the wonders of Sandy Koufax, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, and other players who had retired long before their birth dates in 1983 or 1984. But, there are others who have no concept.

Several years back, when the Mets had fans vote on the greatest moments in the team's history, catcher Todd Pratt's playoff home run in 1999 outscored several earlier but more important days in Flushing. Huh? A terrific game, but better than Agee's two catches in Game 3 of the 69 World Series? More memorable than Ron Hodges' ball off the wall during the September pennant race of 1973? More exciting than Lenny Dykstra's game-winning home run (I refuse to say the ESPN-conjured expression "walk off") in Game 3 of the 1986 NLCS? If you're under 30, I guess the answer is...probably.

Ultimately, it's okay to respect something you yourself didn't feel or touch. So, young baseball fans, open up the books and experience some of the past days of your favorite team. Because it counts just as much as what you saw happen last week.

As for me and 1969, I am lucky. I did feel. I did touch. And it was so good.  Forgive me if you see a story or two here about that team in the coming weeks.  Please understand.   It was one of the top five highlights of my life.

Dinner last night:  Pepperoni and olive pizza from Maria's.

Classic Musical Comedy Production Number of the Month - June 2019

Woo hoo!  A five Saturday month and that means we get to enjoy a number from a classic musical comedy.  And continuing with our Doris Day tribute this month, how about this gem from the screen version of "The Pajama Game?"

Dinner last night:  Pork fried rice.

Signs and Funny Sayings

Dinner last night:  Had a big lunch so just a PB and J sandwich.

Checking All The Boxes

These days, every Hollywood movie needs to comply with standards. Diversity must be served.   Genders must be addressed.   And the rights of women must be advanced.   The result of all of the above usually results in a dull-as-dish-water film.

Not so "Late Night," a surprisingly funny and wise movie directed by an Indian woman named Nisha Ganatra.  Heck, her involvement alone clicks a couple of those boxes required by the social police force.

So does the participation of Mindy Kaling, who wrote the script and is the co-star.  Truth be told, this is my first exposure to Kaling, although I know she's been around the show biz block for a while now.   Her screenplay is smart and funny without hitting you over the head with a preachy message.   Good for her.  Good for us.

Of course, nobody doesn't steal a movie when Emma Thompson is around and that's the case with "Late Night."  This is her film.  Thompson plays Katherine Newbury who has hosted a late night talk fest for thirty years.   The evil network president (aren't they all?) swoops down and makes plans to replace her with a younger stand-up comic (paging Johnny Carson).  Katherine doesn't want to go quietly so she ventures to become more relevant.  Oh, and finally meet the writing staff she never met for the last three decades.   Not wanting to be bothered with their names on their first meeting, she calls them by numbers from one to eight.

The cranky Katherine also realizes she needs to put a female voice in the all-male writing staff.   In comes Kaling as Molly Patel, who has some comedic ideas despite the fact that her only work experience is in a Pennsylvania power plant.   This sets up all the necessary tussles for comic conflicts and verbal exchanges.  Katherine vs. the writers.  Katherine vs. the network.  Molly vs. the rest of the writing staff.  Katherine vs. Molly.

The end result is a somewhat predictable but laugh-out-loud comedy.  But, just when you think you know how it is going to end, there are some plot twists that take you by surprise.   Trust me.  If a comedy can catch me unawares, you have done a good job.

Besides the lead performances, "Late Night" is bolstered by a strong supporting cast including John Lithgow as Katherine's Parkinson-afflicted husband and the always welcome Max Casella as one of the writers.

All of the pertinent issues of today's Hollywood are covered.  Diversity hiring.  Harassment.  Gender equality.  And, let's not forget #Metoo.   But the latter goes through a little bit of a welcome twist here.   Despite the need to check all of the necessary boxes, "Late Night" still made me laugh.   

And I can't say that about too many movies these days.

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

Dinner last night:  Leftover ravioli.

This Date in History - June 26

Happy birthday in Heaven to Eleanor Parker.  The star of one of my favorite TV shows "Bracken's World."  Never heard of it?  Not many people have.

221:  ROMAN EMPEROR ELAGABALUS ADOPTS HIS COUSIN ALEXANDER SEVERUS AS HIS HEIR AND RECEIVES THE TITLE OF CAESAR.

And orders a salad by the same name,

363:  ROMAN EMPEROR JULIAN IS KILLED DURING THE RETREAT FROM THE SASSANID EMPIRE.  GENERAL JOVIAN IS PROCLAIMED EMPEROR.

Rome sure does run through leaders, don't they?

1409:  THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IS LED INTO A DOUBLE SCHISM AS PETROS PHILARGOS IS CROWNED POPE ALEXANDER V AFTER THE COUNCIL OF PISA, JOINING POPE GREGORY XII IN ROME AND POPE BENEDICT XII IN AVIGNON.

How many Popes does it take to screw in a light bulb?

1541:  FRANCISCO PIZZARO IS ASSASSINATED IN LIMA BY THE SON OF HIS ANTAGONIST.

Leaving his grandson to later pitch for the Chicago White Sox.

1718:  TSAREVICH ALEXEI PETROVICH OF RUSSIA, PETER THE GREAT'S SON, MYSTERIOUSLY DIES AFTER BEING SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HIS FATHER FOR PLOTTING AGAINST HIM.

And you thought dysfunctional families were new?

1819:  ABNER DOUBLEDAY IS BORN.

The inventor of baseball.  God bless him.

1870:  THE CHRISTIAN HOLIDAY OF CHRISTMAS IS DECLARED A FEDERAL HOLIDAY IN THE US.

Nice thing to do in the middle of the summer.

1886: HENRI MOISSAN ISOLATED FLOURINE FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Can Crest toothpaste be far behind?

1892:  AUTHOR PEARL S. BUCK IS BORN.

And the Earth is Good.

1909:  COLONEL TOM PARKER IS BORN.

Somebody loved his mother tender.

1917:  THE FIRST US TROOPS ARRIVE IN FRANCE TO FIGHT ALONGSIDE BRITAIN AND FRANCE AGAINST GERMANY IN WORLD WAR I.

And what do we need the French for?  Oh, yeah, fresh bread.

1922:  ACTRESS ELEANOR PARKER IS BORN.

Another one of those actresses that I wish was my mother.

1927:  THE CYCLONE ROLLER COASTER OPENS ON CONEY ISLAND.

And, as a result, the concept of vomiting is invented.

1934:  PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT SIGNS THE FEDERAL CREDIT UNION ACT, WHICH ESTABLISHES CREDIT UNIONS.

In a weird way, this makes sense.

1938:  SINGER BILLY DAVIS JR. IS BORN.

Had this not happened, it would have been the Fourth Dimension.

1944:  THE BATTLE OF OSUCHY IN POLAND ENDS WITH THE DEFEAT OF THE POLISH RESISTANCE FORCES.

Osuchy was really Ouch-y.

19i45:  THE UNITED NATIONS CHARTER IS SIGNED IN SAN FRANCISCO.

So how come New York got stuck with this monstrosity?

1948:  WILLIAM SHOCKLEY FILES THE ORIGINAL PATENT FOR THE GROWN JUNCTION TRANSISTER, THE FIRST BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR.

Any time I see the word "bipolar" in print, I automatically think of Carrie Fisher.

1948:  SHIRLEY JACKSON'S SHORT STORY, "THE LOTTERY," IS PUBLISHED IN THE NEW YORKER.

Who hasn't done a book report of this?

1961:  CYCLIST GREG LE MOND IS BORN.

How long did he need training wheels?
 
1963:  PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY GIVES HIS "ICH BIN EIN BERLINER" SPEECH IN GERMANY.

And later that year....."ich bin ein corpse."

1974:  THE UNIVERSAL PRODUCT CODE IS SCANNED FOR THE FIRST TIME TO SELL A PACK OF WRIGLEY'S GUM IN TROY, OHIO.

Price check!

1993:  BASEBALL STAR ROY CAMPANELLA DIES.

Hoverround on sale.  Cheap.

1997:  THE US SUPREME COURT RULES THAT THE COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT VIOLATES THE FIRST AMENDMENT.

Long live Korean porn.

2003:  POLITICIAN STROM THURMOND DIES.

Born in 1902.  Finally, says everybody listed in his will.

2003:  THE US SUPREME COURT RULES IN LAWRENCE VS. TEXAS THAT GENDER-BASED SODOMY LAWS ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

There are no words.

2007:  FASHION DESIGNER LIZ CLAIBORNE DIES.

Out of style.

2012:  WRITER/DIRECTOR NORA EPHRON DIES.

No longer sleepless.

2012:  ACTRESS DORIS SINGLETON DIES.

Carolyn Appleby on I Love Lucy!

2015:  THE US SUPREME COURT RULED, 5-4, THAT SAME SEX COUPLES HAVE A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO MARRIAGE UNDER THE CONSTITUTIONS' 14TH AMENDMENT.

In extra innings.

Dinner last night:  Ravioli.

Len's Recipe of the Month - June 2019

Take a vegan approach to our entry and ignore the delicious beef tri-tip in the photo above.

Indeed, when you're serving beef, it's all about the sides.  And what better complement to a meat din din than some sauteed mushrooms?  So easy and so flavorful.   

The best to use, in my humble opinion, are portbello mushrooms.   Get about four or five of them because they shrink in the process of cooking.   

Here's something I learned on my new TV best friend, "America's Test Kitchen."  Do not wash mushrooms completely in water.   Simply clean them off with a wet sponge or paper towel.   Do this gently.

With the stems discarded, slice them length-wise.  Then place three tablespoons of unsalted butter in a skillet with about one tablespoon of EVO.  Get that heated.  Then add the mushrooms.   Sprinkle with either Kosher salt or...even better...sea salt.   Keep them moving in the pan.  

Amazingly, the four mushrooms will keep getting smaller and smaller.  But, at the same time, a flavorful sauce will develop between the liquid given off by the mushrooms plus the butter and EVO.

In about twenty or so minutes, you can serve and enjoy!!  

Dinner last night:  Leftover General Tso's Chicken.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - June 24, 2019

It's that time of year, Part 3.   A reminder that people are generally stupid.

Dinner last night:   Hamburger at Duke's in Malibu.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - Remembering Judy

The summer fifty years ago was memorable.  A lot happened in a short amount of time and I will be dragging back those memories over the next two months.  

But here's how that summer began.  Fifty years ago yesterday, Judy Garland died.  And there were tears in my house

Here's a trivia tidbit for you all.  Had I been born a girl, this blog would be entitled "Judy Speaks."  Yep, I would have been named after the legendary singer and actress.   That would have been on my mother.  One of Judy's biggest fans.

My mom was a typical housewife in Mount Vernon, New York.  She loved movies and, for a while, went out to either RKO or Loews for a double feature every Monday night with her best girlfriend Ronnie.  On Tuesday morning, there would always be a remnant of her night at the theater.  Either a box of Pom Poms or Milk Duds on the kitchen.  Or, in the freezer, a sleeve of those chocolate covered Bon Bons.  

For me.

When I was older, there would be Friday afternoons at the same movie theater for my mom and me.  She'd pick me up at the Grimes School.  We'd walk to the Fourth Avenue shopping district for an early dinner at the Bee Hive restaurant. I always had a BLT sandwich with a chocolate shake.   Then, we'd head over to either Loews or RKO, depending upon what was playing.  Most of the time, it was one of my mother's favorite genres.  Disney or Biblical epics.  

She was apparently mesmerized by Hollywood and I would be her conduit. Each month, she'd open her pocketbook and fish out a couple of bucks.

"Go to the candy store and buy my magazines."

I knew the ones.  

Photoplay.

Motion Picture.

TV/Radio Mirror.

Mom needed to know all the gossip from Tinseltown.

I don't remember how I learned that my mother's favorite movie star was Judy Garland.  Sure, like all kids, I was sat down on one Sunday each year to watch the traditional showing of "The Wizard of Oz."  But, there were others.  I will never forget the hot summer afternoon where we were all secluded in our air conditioned living room.  My mom pointed me to an ideal diversion from the humidity.

"You have to watch this movie."

It was "A Star is Born."

It was a harrowing, but totally entertaining view of Hollywood.  Most of it was way over this kid's head.  But, on the countless times I have seen it since, the film speaks to me more with each viewing.   And, at the time, I had no clue that the movie had been butchered in the editing and was really three hours long.   When I watch the restored version on my Blu Ray at least once a year, I realize how much of the film my mother didn't get to see on that 21-inch Zenith.  Truth be told, I didn't know what good singing really was.  But I learned when I saw this number.

 
Of course, when Judy Garland scored her own Sunday night variety show on CBS, there was suddenly no issue as to whether the program was on past my bedtime.   There was maternal clearance to watch it with her.

There's one episode of that show where Judy sang the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."  I've since read that she was dedicating it to the late President John F. Kennedy.  I recall my mother sobbing as this played out.  This merited an audience standing ovation on television long before they started that practice nightly on the Ellen show.

Of course, there would be no happy ending for Judy Garland.  She died on June 22, 1969.   I remember the tears in my mom's eyes on that day, too.

"She had a lot of problems."

My mother summed it succinctly and quickly.

Now I knew where Judy Garland's crypt was in Ferncliff Cemetery up in Hartsdale, New York.   I've already got a bunch of relatives in there, including my dad.   But when it came time to put my mother's ashes someplace, I asked the question.

Was there a niche nearby Judy Garland's?   

Well, they weren't exactly neighbors, but it was really only a short walk between the two final resting places.  I thought that was fitting.  Of course, as fate would have it, that did not last.  About two years ago, Liza Minnelli and family opted to move her out to another "final" resting place.  In Hollywood.  I'm sure Mom enjoyed it while it lasted.

Okay, let's flash back to 2015.  Actually, I'm at a Los Angeles Dodgers playoff game and I get a comment notification for my blog.  This is noteworthy because, frankly, I don't get a lot of comments here.  Most people who read me are regulars and friends.  They contribute their daily two cents on my Facebook page.

Oddly enough, this comment came on an entry from two years prior.  To be exact, December 15, 2013.   A Sunday Memory Drawer piece entitled "Christmas As Seen Through My Dad's Camera."  It's a series of old photos I had dug out from my father's Technicolor slides.  Me unwrapping presents under the Christmas tree.  Toys I had forgotten.  Family snapshots of cousins and grandparents.  All were badly in need of restoration, but the point was well taken.  

And here's the comment I received in October of 2015:

 wow...thanks for sharing an awesome piece of your life...so many parallels to my own life, and, i suppose, thousands of others of the era.
i hope people's memories are as golden and warm and magical as my own.

I was happy to have touched somebody with my memories.   And then I looked at the name attached to the comment.

Joe Luft.

Okay, follow me here, gang.  Judy Garland had three children.  Liza Minnelli with famed director Vincente Minnelli.  And, through her marriage to producer Sid Luft, a daughter Lorna and a son Joey.

Hmmm.

I pored over the piece from December 2013.  I wanted to see if there was any mention of Judy Garland in it.  Nope.  I dug around the stat counter for this blog.  I couldn't pinpoint a location.  But I wondered.  

Was this Judy Garland's son reading my blog???

I returned to the comment and clicked on the name.  It took me to a You Tube video page bearing his name.  It's chock full of videos.  Of guess who?

Judy Garland.

Lorna Luft.

Liza Minnelli.

Even one little Joey Luft's appearance on his mom's TV Christmas show.

But here's the kicker.  The caption on each of the videos was a little curious.

"I am not related to the people in this clip."

Okay.

So the mystery deepened.  Was this just some obsessive Garland fan who uses the son's name as a profile name on the internet?  Or...was it really her son?

I'd like to know.  So, too, I am thinking, would my mom.

Perhaps he will read this and comment again.  Or not.  Maybe because it is the fifty year anniversary, he is Googling this weekend.

Dinner last night:  General Tso Chicken at La Mandarette.

Classic TV Theme Song of the Month - June 2019

And, of course, we remember Doris Day's TV show...

Dinner last night:  French Onion soup and salad at Monsieur Marcel.

Your Weekend Movie Guide for June 2019

Well, the summer movie season is upon us and this photo from "The Blob" clicks a couple of boxes.   The theater is air conditioned and that's often the main reason why we go to the movies during the summer.  Plus we do see the Blob itself.   Indeed, this was an ideal "beat the heat" film.

Let's see what can keep us cool this weekend.   I am guessing most of it is a lot of hot air.   You know the monthly routine, folks.  I'll flip through the movie pages of the LA Times and give you my gut reaction to what Hollywood has to offer this week.   

But, at least, the theater is "healthfully air conditioned."

The Dead Don't Die:   I Googled.  Yes, they do.

Men in Black - International:   The beating of a horse that died 15 or so years ago.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco:  From what I hear on the news, he's probably homeless.

Late Night:  Blog review coming.  Emma Thompson as a late night TV talk host.   And that means she's already 100 times more entertaining than the idiots who are doing it in real life.

Rocketman:  Reviewed here the other day.  Surprisingly entertaining for what you expect to be a rather routine biopic.

Booksmart:   It's about high school kids in America.  I think the title is supposed to be ironic.

Echo in the Canyon:   A documentary about all those old rock musicians who lived in the Hollywood Hills.   I hear it glosses over their alcohol and drug use, which makes no sense.

The Biggest Little Farm:  A documentary about a couple who starts a farm outside of Los Angeles.  My guess is that their biggest obstacle will be growing an audience.

The Fall of the American Empire:   Is this about Trump, too?

Framing John DeLorean:  Framing as in criminal activity?  Or is there a painting that needs to be hung?

American Woman:  #NotMetoo.

The Edge of Democracy:  Nope, not Trump this time.  This one's about Brazil.

Anna:  A young woman assassin.  Helen Mirren is in the cast.  She ain't a young woman.

Burn Your Maps:  A young boy is fascinated by Mongolia.   Well, it sounds different.

Child's Play:  They're rebooting Chuckie???!!!

The Command:  A real life story about a Russian submarine disaster.  Collusion!!!

Wild Rose:  A woman from Glascow wants to be a country music star.  I have no words.

Toy Story 4:  The only Pixar franchise I like.   And likely Don Rickles' very last screen credit.

The Samuel Project:  Hal Linden as a Holocaust survivor.   Paging Abe Vigoda.

Nightmare Cinema:  Moviegoers are trapped by a killer projectionist.  Frankly, we have all been victims of this.  Richard Chamberlain is in the cast.  Paging Dr. Kildare.

In the Aisles:  Romance between workers in a big box store.  Already marked down.

The Quiet One:  A documentary about Rolling Stone Bill Wyman.  This is the new movie genre---spotlighting musicians from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Shaft:   Another reboot with Samuel L. Jackson, who is becoming a pest.

The Secret Life of Pets 2:  Strictly for those who saw "The Secret Life of Pets 1."

Dark Phoenix:  A power failure in Arizona?

Dinner last night:  Bratwurst and baked beans.

Son Of Bohemian Rhapsody

The old monster movie franchises, if they got some traction, would put out subsequent films by introducing the son of the original beast.   Hey, when you have a good thing going, Hollywood doesn't mess with success.

So, you are aware of the rousing reaction to "Bohemian Rhapsody" last year, even meriting a Best Actor Oscar.   That movie got some box office juice from the life of Queen's Freddie Mercury.  It was only logical then that Tinseltown would look at other rock icons of the 60s, 70s, and 80s to grab your money.   

The first one out of the box is "Rocketman," the saga of Elton John and directed by Dexter Fletcher.  Like "Bohemian Rhapsody," this clicks all the boxes.  A strong songbook.   A dead-on portrayal by a young actor.   Details of success and then challenges as only life and fame can bring them.  Well, in the case of Freddie Mercury, he's gone to live in the clouds with the likes of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and Whitney Houston.  Luckily, Elton is still with us and his conquest of demons is the framework of the movie.

When we first meet him, he is decked out in some winged costume that Liberace wouldn't be caught dead in.  Elton barges into a alcoholic and drug self-help therapy session.  A perfect way for him to tell his tale.   We start with his piano playing as a child.  We meet his estranged dad and his nasty-as-all-Hell mother played by an almost unrecognizable Bryce Dallas Howard (Ron's daughter).  She might have been the genesis for "The Bitch Is Back."  He meets lyricist Bernie Taupin and success is inevitable.  With it comes a rotten boyfriend, the inability to handle fame, and lots and lots and lots of drugs and booze.

Without knowing much of Elton's biography, I pretty much knew where this was all going.  That said, the predictable ride did have some rewards.   First off, Taron Egerton as Elton excels primarily because he doesn't attempt to copy the musical stylings of the superstar.  Instead, he sings on his own and lets the audience channel back to the real thing.   So, this becomes an acting foray and not an impersonation.  Wise choice.

Even smarter was the use of the extensive Elton John songbook but not in the concert settings you would expect.  Nope, the tunes are used to advance the story and several of the production numbers look like they came from a MGM musical in the 50s.  There is a "La La Land" feel about "Rocketman" and that's not a bad thing.

For all those reasons, "Rocketman" works even though you are seeing what I would call a standard biopic of a musician overcoming obstacles.  Naturally, this is going to give birth to a flood of similar movies.  Expect to see the cinematic life stories of Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, and probably even that Japanese singer who sang the hit song "Sukiyaki."   Heck, he was killed in a plane crash while his one hit was soaring up the Top 40 charts.   That's the kind of film that will expand the rock bio genre even further.   

Hopefully, the three dozen or more movies to follow will be as well done as "Rocketman."

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

Dinner last night:  Prosciutto and burrata at Casa Nostra.

This Date in History - June 19

Happy birthday, Kathleen Turner.  You were really hot back in the day.

1269:  KING LUIS IX OF FRANCE ORDERS ALL JEWS FOUND IN PUBLIC WITHOUT AN IDENTIFYING YELLOW BADGE TO BE FINED TEN LIVRES OF SILVER.

That fine was a lot easier to take than the one Hitler invented centuries later.

1586:  ENGLISH COLONISTS LEAVE ROANOKE ISLAND, AFTER FAILING TO ESTABLISH ENGLAND'S FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT IN NORTH AMERICA.

You snooze, you lose.  Here comes the Mayflower.

1770:  EMANUEL SWEDENBORG REPORTS THE COMPLETION OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST IN HIS WORK TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

Still waiting.

1816:  BATTLE OF SEVEN OAKS BETWEEN NORTH WEST COMPANY AND HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.

One of those historical facts that means absolutely nothing to me.

1846:  THE FIRST OFFICIALLY RECORDED, ORGANIZED BASEBALL GAME IS PLAYED IN HOBOKEN.  THE NEW YORK BASEBALL CLUB BEATS THE KNICKERBOCKERS, 23-1.  

Should have taken the Knickerbockers with 23 points.

1862:  THE US CONGRESS PROHIBITS SLAVERY IN UNITED STATES TERRITORIES, NULLIFYING DRED SCOTT VS. SANDFORD.

And Son?

1865:  OVER TWO YEARS AFTER THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, SLAVES IN GALVESTON, TEXAS ARE FINALLY INFORMED OF THEIR FREEDOM.

Good news travels slowly.

1896:  SOCIALITE WALLIS SIMPSON IS BORN.

Wife of Edward VIII, grandmother of Homer I.

1897:  ACTOR MOE HOWARD IS BORN.

Why, I oughta.....

1902:  BAND LEADER GUY LOMBARDO IS BORN.

Happy New Birth.

1903:  BASEBALL STAR LOU GEHRIG IS BORN.

Guten tag.

1910:  THE FIRST FATHER'S DAY IS CELEBRATED IN SPOKANE, WASHINGTON.

Who knew that Spokane was such a trendsetter?

1914:  MUSICIAN LESTER FLATT IS BORN.

Come and listen to a story...

1915:  ACTOR PAT BUTTRAM IS BORN.

Mr. Haney from "Green Acres."!!

1919:  FILM CRITIC PAULINE KAEL IS BORN.

I wonder if she liked this.

1921:  ACTOR LOUIS JOURDAN IS BORN.

And he subsequently died.  This is not a new phenomenon, folks.

1928:  ACTRESS NANCY MARCHAND IS BORN.

What an acting range.  The stately Mrs. Pynchon on "Lou Grant" and then the grizzled Livia on "The Sopranos."

1932:  ACTRESS PIER ANGELI IS BORN.

Later screwed by James Dean....and then really screwed by Vic Damone.

1934:  THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION IS STARTED.

And those seven dirty words are?

1937:  AUTHOR J.M. BARRIE DIES.

From Never Never Land to Really Never Never Land.

1953:  JULIUS AND ETHEL ROSENBERG ARE EXECUTED AT SING SING.

Bye, spy.

1954:  ACTRESS KATHLEEN TURNER IS BORN.

Now she's ice cold.  And just plain fat.

1961:  KUWAIT DECLARES  INDEPENDENCE FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM.

Yet another historical fact that means absolutely nothing to me.

1964:  THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 IS APPROVED AFTER SURVIVING AN 83-DAY SENATE FILIBUSTER.

Why do I think the filibuster was started by some Southern Democrat?

1966:  ACTOR ED WYNN DIES.

Not laughing any more.

1975:  MOBSTER SAM GIANCANA DIES.

Dies?  Ha.

1978:  GARFIELD THE COMIC STRIP MAKES ITS DEBUT.

The only thing on the funny pages that I'm allergic to.

1982:  THE BODY OF GOD'S BANKER, ROBERTO CALVI, IS FOUND HANGING IN LONDON.

Forcing God to go to the ATM himself.

1986:  BASKETBALL PLAYER LEN BIAS DIES.

Fifth technical.

1990:  THE COMMUNIST PART OF THE RUSSIAN SOVIET FEDERATIVE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC IS FOUND IN MOSCOW.

Calling the Marketing department for suggestions on a shorter name.

1991:  ACTRESS JEAN ARTHUR DIES.

Shane didn't come back.   Neither will she.

1998:  ACTOR ATTICUS SHAFFER IS BORN.

The wonderful young actor who played Brick on "The Middle."

2009:  MASS RIOTS INVOLVING 10,000 PEOPLE AND 10,000 POLICE OFFICERS BREAK OUT IN SHISHOU, CHINA.

Well, at least, the sides are even.

2010:  BASKETBALL PLAYER MANUTE BOL DIES.

A tough day to be tall.

2016:  ACTOR ANTON YELCHIN OF "STAR TREK"  DIES.

He ran himself over with his own car.  I kid you not.

2017:  AMERICAN STUDENT OTTO WARMBIER DIES AFTER BEING HELD CAPTIVE BY NORTH KOREA.

Why would anybody want to go there in the first place??

2018:  GORILLA AND USER OF AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE KOKO DIES.

Leaving a bunch of deaf gorillas shit out of luck.

Dinner last night:  Hawaiian Dodger Dog at the Game.