Len's Jukebox of the Month - June 2020

Last week I hit pandemic rock bottom.   Desperate to find anything to watch, I stumbled across the God awful "St. Elmo's Fire."   Did I actually once pay good money to see this in a theater?   Huh?  

That said, I remember how addictive the theme song video was.   That I enjoyed.  And you can, too.  Oh, by the way, I now recall I had a crush on Ally Sheedy for about ten minutes.

Dinner last night:  Leftover General Tso's Beef.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - June 29, 2020

Um, no fireworks shows this year, gang.   So just be content to watch these idiots.

Dinner last night:  Chicken cacciatore.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - Vacationing When We Used To Be Allowed To Do So

That won't be this year as COVID-19 numbers rebound on the wrong side. This summer will be the ultimate STAYcation.   Oh, well.   Maybe we simply look at photos and videos of places we once were allowed to visit.   The good times.

Or in the case of the photo above, those vacations that were better left not taking.

Oh, Len, say it isn't so.  How could you possibly have a horrible time in Pennsylvania Dutch Country?   And what could you possibly have against those wonderfully simple folk?

Truth be told, I've got nothing against these horse-and-buggy types.  I would probably have loved this visit.

If I had only gotten the chance to actually see anything there.  Why would you go on vacation to a destination and then never visit it?

Yes, this is one of my childhood vacations with the family.  A trip that went horribly wrong at every turn.  And was badly conceived from the get-go.

When I was a kid, our major family summer outings were confined to two specific weeks a year.  The last week in July and the first week in August.  Those were the two weeks that my dad took off every summer.  You could set your calendar watch to those dates.  If Mom was working, she would do the same.  

So, the big summer fun was always super-concentrated into those fourteen days.  A night at Playland in Rye.  An afternoon trip downtown to see the summer fare at Radio City Music Hall.  A Met game at Shea.

And, somewhere embedded in those two weeks, we would actually pack a couple of suitcases and actually go someplace far.  Not on a plane, of course.  It was always a car ride.  Niagara Falls.  Atlantic City.  Lake George.  My mother would prep for the excursion by buying lots of peaches and plums for me to snack on during the four or five hour drive.  Invariably, these treks would be done in tandem with another family.  Usually my parents' friends and their kids.  The children would get along famously.  But, at some point, one of the adults would say the wrong thing to one of the other adults and the proclamation would be announced:

"WE'RE NOT GOING ANY PLACE WITH THEM AGAIN."

By the very next year, we would likely be out on the road with the same people all over again.

These vacations were fun for me, but, as I got older, I didn't necessarily want to hang out with a bunch of kids I barely knew.  I'd much prefer staying home with the gang in my neighborhood.

And, of course, bury myself in the New York Mets.

Such was my sentiment the year my mother took me aside and gave me the word on that year's planned trip.

"We're going away with Aunt Anne, Uncle Bob, and your cousins."

For informational purposes, that would be my mom's loony sister, her New York Yankee-obsessed husband, and my cousins who were close to my age.  They lived in Suffolk County and I wrote about our Sunday trips to their home several weeks ago.  

Sound harmless?  I didn't think so.  We had never traveled with this tribe before.  Our holiday visits on Long Island always found us with somebody being pissed at somebody else.  Now we're going to take this hilarity out on the road for the unsuspecting public to see??

I was eleven and felt that I could exert a bit of independence.

I'll stay home and keep Grandma and Grandpa company.  And, oh, yeah, watch the Mets on TV every single day.

Er, no.

Apparently, the voting age in my family was 12.  Because I didn't get one for this proposition on the ballot.  My mother went into oversell mode, telling me how much fun we would have in the planned destination.  

The Pennsylvania Dutch country.

Oh, I thought.  That's where the noodles come from.  

More heavy-handed selling from Mom.  The history of the region.  How educational it would be.

I saw impending doom at every turn in the country road.  I asked the simple question as to how they all had decided on visiting the Pennsylvania Dutch country.

"Well, that's where Uncle Bob's parents live."

Oh.  Why are we going?  That's not our family.

"Yes, it is.  Sort of."

But it's Uncle Bob's family.  Your brother-in-law's parents.  How are they connected to us?

"Well, they are.  Sort of."

I would not win a single point in this discussion.  I went into my room and looked at the New York Met baseball schedule which hung over my bed next to a photo of Jesus Christ.  Damn, the Mets were home that whole week.

And I wouldn't be.

The trip into the middle of Pennsylvania seemed to take forever.  We were traveling on our own.  My aunt and uncle were in a separate car.  As I looked out the window of my back seat, I saw nothing but grass.  I sucked down one plum and peach after another.  I thought briefly about swallowing a pit and ending it all right there in the back of the Buick.  

When we all arrived in the midst of nowhere, I was startled at how desolate it all was.  Where's our motel?

"We're staying at their house."

ALL OF US????  UNDER ONE ROOF???

I was back to thinking about clogging my windpipe with that peach pit all over again.

The house in question seemed to be the only one within miles.  There were just fields and fields and fields of grass.  It was as if we had come to a new planet.

We were all greeted by my cousins' grandparents and my amazement/shock continued anew.  I didn't remember seeing these two before.  They looked incredibly old.  My own grandmother and grandfather looked like John and Jackie Kennedy compared to these fossils.  

I had briefly thought that, perhaps, these two relics were actually Pennsylvania Dutch types.  Maybe I'd be riding in a horse and carriage.  Or get to watch the old lady churn up a stick of butter.

Nope.  As I surveyed their home, they had all the modern conveniences of the 20th century.  Except for one.

There was no air conditioning.

Or electric fans.

Or any breeze of any kind.

I felt my clothes adhering to every pore of my skin.  The only way I will be able to get undressed at the end of the day is by using a spatula.

And then the vacation started to kick into high gear.

We did nothing but sit around the house and talk.

My cousins and I fooled around outside and played in their yard which seemed to go on for acres.  But there was nothing but grass.  No swings.  No slides.  And, definitely NO SWIMMING POOL.

I could feel the temperature getting hotter by the second.

I asked my mother what our plans were for the next few days.  Sightseeing?  An amusement park nearby?  ANYTHING????

"We'll see what they want to do."

Meaning her sister and brother-in-law, who were too busy yakking it up with their side of the family.  And ultimately didn't really want to go anywhere.

I looked at the clock on the wall.  Back in civilization, it was 8PM.  The Met game would be starting right about now.  I could be sitting in the backyard with Grandma and Grandpa.  Wolfing down a slice of her rhubarb pie while radio announcer Bob Murphy would be telling me the New York Met lineup.

It would get worse.  As the night dragged on, people started to stretch and yawn.  

It was time to hear the sleeping arrangements.  Or how to cram six adults and three children into a two bedroom house that had virtually no air.

The shortest straw again?  Yours truly.  My bunk mates were my cousin Bobby and his grandfather.  From the heat I felt, it might have been on the top shelf of their convection oven.  Sweat pored out my body as if it was Old Faithful.  But dehydration was the least of my issues on that night.

The old fart snored.

I don't mean lightly.  He could be heard clear into Ohio.  Martians could hear him in their backyard light years away.  It was like I was trying to get some shut-eye in the middle of a lumber mill.

I kept looking at the clock.  Counting the minutes and the seconds until it would be morning.

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.....

The next days were filled with as much boredom as the first one.  If there was anything to do in the vicinity, we sure as heck didn't do it.  I got the impression that my parents had even been sold a bill of goods on this one.  They started to look bored, too.

It was Friday and the coma set in on me early.  Until I remembered something.  Back home on the planet Earth, the Mets were home that night.  Playing the Philadelphia Phillies.

Whoa!!!!

Since the TV was always on in this dungeon, I knew that we were in the Philadelphia TV market.  Maybe the game was on with the Phillie announcers.  This was in the days before ESPN and the MLB Network.  But, local teams did broadcast games.  The Mets and Yankees did.  The game had to be on in Philadelphia.

OH, GOD, PLEASE LET THE GAME BE ON.

I asked the retched old buzzsaw which channel carried the Phillies.

"I don't know."

Do you have a TV Guide?

"We use the newspaper TV listings."

Do you have today's paper?

"I think we threw it out."

OLD MAN, THIS SHOULDN'T BE THIS HARD!!!

Guess who didn't get to see a baseball game on TV that night?

When I attempted to turn the channel in the family room that night, Uncle Bob scolded me.

"Don't turn that channel.  My father's trying to watch the 11 O'Clock News."

I wondered why.  There didn't seem to be happening within a hundred miles of this God-forsaken place.  

Meanwhile, the sports report came on.

"The Mets beat the Phils tonight in 10 innings, 3-2."

In those days, the Mets didn't win more than 50 or 60 games a season.  And I had missed it.  I felt so defeated that I wanted to cry.  Except there was no water left in my body.  All the liquid had been used up as perspiration.

I don't remember much about that vacation after that.  It might have lasted another day or maybe ten.  But, it certainly wasn't what my folks had in mind either.  There was definitely a tension in the air.

As we began the long drive back to where real people lived, I heard my mother's declaration from the front seat.

"WE'RE NOT GOING ANY PLACE WITH THEM AGAIN."

This year, that would certainly be an easy wish to comply with.

Dinner last night:  General Tso's Beef from Mandarette.

Classic Movie Trailer of the Month - June 2020

This movie opened sixty years ago this month.  I watch it regularly on TCM.

Dinner last night:  Pizza and salad.

Your Nifty Face Mask Shopping Guide

Dinner last night:  Grilled bratwurst.

Len's Recipe of the Month - June 2020

I didn't know what a galette was.   It sounded French but, otherwise, I was in the dark.

But Valerie Bertinelli was making one on her show and that was good enough for me.  She was making one with peaches and cherries on TV, but a Google search revealed that she also had made one that cream cheese based.   This I had to try because...well...cream cheese.   It's super easy and winds up tasting like a pastry you would get in Paris.   Or so I am told.

Now you will need a single pie crust.   You could make one of those yourself with a rolling pin.   But I am lazy.   And Valerie said it is alright to be so.  She used a store bought pie dough shell for her peach and cherry concoction.   I could legally do the same for the cherry cream cheese edition.

On a baking tray, place a sheet of parchment paper.   Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Take that store bought pie dough shell and roll it out on the parchment paper.

In a bowl, place four ounces of softened cream cheese.    To this, add two tablespoons of granulated sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract.   Separate one egg and add the yolk to this mixture.   Save the egg white because you will need that for something else in a few minutes.

With an electric mixer, blend all these ingredients together till it resembles a smooth consistency.   

For the next part, you could use fresh cherries, but Valerie recommended frozen so who am I to argue?   Take a bag of thawed out cherries.  Place in a bowl.  Mix in one tablespoon of corn starch and another tablespoon of granulated sugar.   Incorporate all that together.

Take the cream cheese filling and spoon it onto the pie shell.   Smooth it out to a circle but make sure you leave an inch to an inch and a half of space from the end of the dough.   Do the same with the cherry mixture on top of the cream cheese.

Start folding up the edges of the pie crust.   The pastry should look like a circle.  Mine looked more like the Pentagon.   So what?   Tighten the edges together.

Remember that egg white?   Brush it on top of the pastry so it will get golden brown.   Then I remembered a trick from America's Test Kitchen.   Sprinkle some more sugar on top of the pastry.   This will help with the crispness.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.   Remove and let cool for twenty minutes.

Then have a slice and look around.   You will swear you see the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

Dinner last night:  Grilled bratwurst.

This Date in History - June 24

Today is another example of the Knots Landing guarantee.   Anybody from that show with a birthday gets their picture here.

109:  ROMAN EMPEROR TRAJAN INAUGURATES THE AQUA TRAIANA, AN AQUEDUCT THAT CHANNELS WATER FROM LAKE BRACCIANO.

It's an Aqueduct, not a Belmont.

474:  JULIUS NEPOS FORCES ROMAN USURPER GLYCERIUS TO ABDICATE THE THRONE AND PROCLAIMS HIMSELF EMPEROR OF THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE.  

Glycerious?  Isn't that something for a rash?

1230:  THE SIEGE OF JAEN STARTED IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SPANISH RECONQUISTA.

I suppose there was an earlier Spanish Conquista.

1314:  FIRST WAR OF SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE - THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN CONCLUDES WITH A DECISIVE VICTORY BY SCOTTISH FORCES LED BY ROBERT THE BRUCE.  

At least, he didn't call himself Robert the Springsteen.

1374:  A SUDDEN OUTBREAK OF ST. JOHN'S DANCE CAUSES PEOPLE IN THE STREETS OF AACHEN, GERMANY TO EXPERIENCE HALLUCINATIONS AND BEGIN TO JUMP AND TWITCH UNCONTROLLABLY UNTIL THEY COLLAPSE FROM EXHAUSTION.  

They shoot Germans, don't they?

1509:  HENRY VIII AND CATHERINE OF ARAGON ARE CROWNED KING AND QUEEN OF ENGLAND.

The Mickey Rooney of monarchs.  I mean in number of marriages, not height.

1535:  THE ANABAPTIST STATE OF MUNSTER IS CONQUERED AND DISBANDED.  

Herman or Lily?

1717:  THE PREMIER GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND, THE FIRST MASONIC GRAND LODGE IN THE WORLD, IS FOUNDED IN LONDON.

Wives now know where their husbands are two nights a week.

1779:  DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, THE GREAT SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR BEGINS.

Get a piece of the rock.

1793:  THE FIRST REPUBLICAN CONSTITUTION IN FRANCE IS ADOPTED.

Not those Republicans, right?

1880:  FIRST PERFORMANCE OF O CANADA, WHICH WOULD BECOME THE NATIONAL ANTHEM OF CANADA.

Now they have something to play before hockey games.

1902:  KING EDWARD VII OF THE UNITED KINGDOM DEVELOPS APPENDICITIS, DELAYING HIS CORONATION.

Back in the day when appendicitis was sometimes a fatal disease.

1904:  SINGER/ACTOR PHIL HARRIS IS BORN.

That's what I like about the South.  Ah, you thought there was going to be a "bare necessity" joke.

1916:  MARY PICKFORD BECOMES THE FIRST FEMALE FILM STAR TO SIGN A MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACT.

That's $500,000 per pigtail.

1919:  ACTOR AL MOLINARO IS BORN.

Most remember him from Happy Days, but I still prefer him as Murray the cop on the The Odd Couple.

1938:  PIECES OF A METEOR, ESTIMATED TO HAVE WEIGHED 450 METRIC TONS WHEN IT HIT THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE, LAND NEAR PENNSYLVANIA.   

What's that flying above...OUCH!

1942:  ACTRESS MICHELE LEE IS BORN.

Met her several times.  Nice lady.

1947:  KENNETH ARNOLD MAKES THE FIRST WIDELY REPORTED UFO SIGHTING NEAR MOUNT RAINIER, WASHINGTON.

Maybe it was a piece of that meteor.

1948:  START OF THE BERLIN BLOCKADE - THE SOVIET UNION MAKES OVERLAND TRAVEL BETWEEN WEST GERMANY AND WEST BERLIN IMPOSSIBLE.

Mr. Stalin, put up that wall.

1949:  THE FIRST TELEVISION WESTERN, HOPALONG CASSIDY, IS AIRED ON NBC.

There will be a few others...ahem.

1957:  IN ROTH VS. US, THE SUPREME COURT RULES THAT OBSCENITY IS NOT PROTECTED BY THE FIRST AMENDMENT.

Hell, yeah.

1973:  THE UPSTAIRS LOUNGE ARSON ATTACK TAKES PLACE AT A GAY BAR IN NEW ORLEANS.  THIRTY-TWO PEOPLE DIE.

They should have gone to the Downstairs Lounge.  Probably easier to get out.

1987:  ACTOR JACKIE GLEASON DIES.

And away he goes.

1997:  ACTOR BRIAN KEITH DIES.

Killed himself.  Buried in the Westwood cemetery near my house.

2000:  ACTOR DAVID TOMLINSON DIES.

No saving Mr. Banks this time.

2004:  IN NEW YORK, CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IS DECLARED UNCONSTITUTIONAL.  

Glad I moved.

2005:  VENTRILOQUIST PAUL WINCHELL DIES.

Oddly enough, Jerry Mahoney released a statement.

2013:  FORMER ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER SILVIO BERLUSCONI IS FOUND GUILTY OF ABUSING HIS POWER AND HAVING SEX WITH AN UNDERAGE PROSTITUTE AND IS SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS IN PRISON.

And you thought all the political sleazeballs were in this country.

2014:  ACTOR ELI WALLACH DIES.

The Good, the Bad, and the Dead.

Dinner last night:  Salad.

Hollywood Then and Now - June 2020

Oh, look at this.   Is that the very first Zoom conference?   Is it one more in a needlessly long list of accolades to be given to this incredibly crappy TV show created by the ultra-obnoxious Sherwood Schwartz.

Well, it's the subject of this month's Hollywood Then and Now.    Because, in reality, Then looks exactly like Now.   The exterior location of the Brady house is on Dilling Street in Studio City.   It's ridiculously easy to find.   And, thanks to a recent renovation spearheaded by some reality TV show, the house Now is still Then.   Except for the orange cone in the walkway.  Allegedly, the house inside is made to look like the interior from the Paramount sound stage.  After all, we can't get enough of that 70s decor.

Nope, I wasn't a fan of the show.   But I recognize the television history behind the photo above.  

Knock yourselves out.

Dinner last night:  Steak salad with Balsamic dressing.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - June 22, 2020

And the lack of proms this year deprived us of this fun proposal.   Gee, a lot of high schoolers have time on their hands.

Dinner last night:  Beef tri-tip and tomatoes.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - Wise Words From My Dad on His Day

Not many photos of my dad exist.   Indeed, he was usually the photographer, not the photographee.

Yes, this would be his day.   Father's Day.   Actually it would be his weekend as his birthday was yesterday.   Always a little more wistful when the days coincide.  And this birthday, in particular.   It would have been his 100th!

So, I've told many a tale of my father here in the past.   But, lo and behold, this is a new one.   And it sprang to the forefront of my memory drawer because of all the recent events in our country.   Not the pandemic.   The other one.   

As I watched the images and read the prose of "the other" situation, I remembered when my dad and I had "The Talk."   No, not about sex.   I don't think that ever happened, as a matter of fact.   Nope, "The Talk" I am referring to is when I first started driving the family car.  It was summer and I was in college and soloing with my father's Buick barge.   I can recall the words as clearly as if I heard them yesterday.

"Do you know what you should do if you are ever stopped by a policeman?"

I didn't.   I knew I was going to hear it right now.

"If you are ever pulled over, don't ask a lot of questions."

"Just smile and nod yes.   Don't argue."

"Don't move abruptly."

"Ask permission before you reach into the glove compartment for the registration and insurance."

"Whatever you do, don't get out of the car unless he asks you, too."

"Respect the law."

I probably half-listened and thought more about that night's Met game.   As I have mentioned this to a few friends of late, I realized that they, too, had the same experience with the same words.   

Yes, they had been given "The Talk." 

As fate and the Gods would have it, it would only be a few weeks before "The Talk" actually came into play for me.

It was summer and I was working at my college radio station WFUV-FM, Fordham University.   My dad was off, so I got the glory of driving the limousine to campus.   I was headed back to Mount Vernon and was picking up the Bronx River Parkway at the Mosholu Parkway entrance.   I promptly came up the entrance ramp a little too quickly.   So quick, in fact, that I zoomed onto the parkway without yielding.

There was a cop right behind me and the lights flashed.   I pulled over to the grassy shoulder.

The officer approached the car.   And, immediately, I had forgotten the words connected to "The Talk."

I asked what I did wrong.

He told me.

I said I didn't.

Mistake.

"Are you telling me you didn't do anything wrong, Junior?"

Junior?   Yes, he called me Junior.

The cop scolded me for either a hour or, more likely, five minutes.   Somehow I talked my way into not one citation, but two.   

And then I got a final warning.

"Don't let me see you ever again, Junior."

The easy part was telling my dad what happened.   And getting "The Talk" repeated to me one more time.

My father punctuated it with one word.

"See."

On a purely anecdotal point, I will add one more highlight to the story.

The policeman was Black.   

I did not knock down a statue of Bill Cosby.   Or protest for a ban on all Sidney Poitier movies.   It is what it is.   And I echo words my dad said at another time.

"There are bad cops.   There are bad lawyers.   There are bad accountants.   There are bad people.  But most of them are good."

And that's the case.   Whether you are white, black, or purple.

Happy Dad's Day to one and all.   I hope you can recall some wise words yours shared with you.

Dinner last night:  Pizza with good friends Leo and Connie. 

Classic TV Theme Song of the Month - June 2020

Perry Mason is coming back to television.   I sure hope they use the music.   Still as scary as it was when I was a kid.

Dinner last night:  Salad.

Your Weekend Movie Guide for June 2020

Dinner last night:   Salad.

We're All In This....Together?

Or so says the marketing line/hashtag of the COVID-19 pandemic.   It was rolled out so quickly that I'm convinced it came out of a corporate think tank a year ago.  

I would guess that I'm not the only one who feels a little disjointed these days.  We are all striving to make the most of a rotten situation.

But, with the quarantine, race riots, curfews, etc, I've been prompted of late to think about friendships,  Totally reflective.  And it's all about who I am as a person.  In this case, an only child devoid of siblings.  And single.

Don't get me wrong.   I have plenty of friends.   And, upon reflection, I've had to work a little harder to get that roster of pals.

As a result of this status in life as an only, I have always felt compelled to be the ring leader.   I'm the one who wants to gather the troops.   Concerts, movies, plays, dinners.   You name it.   I'm the one always being the architect of the plan.  At least, in those days when we could actually leave the house.

And, with the current health situation, I have added yet another chore to my friendship job responsibilities.  I call to check up my friends all over the country.   Even some I have been out of touch with for some time.   Are you okay?  Are you safe?  How's the family?  Is there anything I can help with?  Any looting nearby?  You know the drill.

After a few weeks, it hit me like a can of V-8.

Not many people were calling me with the same courtesy.  I guess everyone is busy with their 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles.   But, as I thought further, why should I expect anything more than the usual?  You see, years ago, I set up the ground rules.   I have only myself to blame.

For my whole life, I'm the one always asking the ask.   Arranging the time.  Choosing the restaurant for the evening.   Always the planner.  Never ever the plannee.

This leads to more quarantine thinking.  If I had not taken on this role, would I ever be going anywhere?   Or was I doomed to be a professional afterthought?   

Of recent years, few people call me and invite me to an event.   Or a party.  Or lunch.   Or a weekend excursion.  Or anything for that matter.  I can't remember the last time somebody else planned something spontaneously and actually took the time to reel me in for it.  Prior to COVID-19, an old work associate I hadn't seen in a while called to take me to lunch for a belated birthday celebration.   I was appreciative.  And shocked.      

So, the question is simple.  If I stop being a ring leader, what will happen?  It's an experiment I want to try but I am afraid of the results.  I think I know what would occur.   

Silence.

But then again it's not like we can go anywhere any way.

I have a subset issue.  Birthdays.   I never forget anybody's.   And I always make sure that said person has plans for their big day.  If they don't, I offer to do something.   The reciprocal?  Save for one or two friends, I don't ever get the same treatment back.  I once mentioned this to somebody as an aside.  The response?  

"Well, we assumed you had plans."

Hmmm.  Yes, I am the professional afterthought.

Meanwhile, in this social media world of 2020, I get to watch on Facebook and Instagram what everybody is doing and what I was not invited to.   I sift through the photos and videos and include my "Like."  Trust me.  I do it in a robotic fashion.  At this juncture, I barely look at them.

And there's another thing.  Over the years, I have worked hard to stay in touch with friends.  Give them a call every couple of weeks to check in.   I noticed that, if I don't initiate, I get nothing in return.  There's no better example of this than the year 2015,  I had a couple of pretty nasty health issues occur simultaneously.  I didn't hide this on social media.  Hell, I posted a Facebook photo from my gurney in the emergency room,  Did I get calls from lots of friends?

Nah.

Five years ago when I had that run of rotten health with an inflamed liver, a stuck gall stone, and a fractured kneecap that all ganged up on me just in time for Christmas, I remember not hearing from a lot of folks.

Yep, what does all my kindness get me?   

Apparently bupkus.

Of course, I then think about the times I checked in on friends who were sick or going through a rough patch.  Well, I've been dealing with a bit of an emotional dilemma the past six months.  Nobody knows because nobody asks and nobody asks because nobody calls.

And then the pandemic hit and...well, silence again.  Liking something I post on Facebook doesn't equal staying in touch.   

I hope I'm not sounding like I'm angry at other people.  I have brought this on myself.   I am angry with....well...me.  And a little bit at my parents who created this personality that allows himself to position himself as invisible and a tad inconsequential.    

Now this is not to say that I want to be invited everywhere people go.  Not hardly.  But, at this point, receiving an invitation rarely would be a vast improvement.

Of course, that's something to hope for when we are all let out of our personal prisons.

Dinner last night:   Leftover ribs and salad. 

This Date in History - June 17

No, it's not his birthday.   Read on...

1462:  VLAD III THE IMPALER ATTEMPTS TO ASSASSINATE MEHMED II THE NIGHT ATTACK.

How come these guys sound like wrestlers?

1565: MATSUNAGE HISAHIDE ASSASSINATES THE 13TH ASHIKAGA SHOGUN, ASHIKAGA YOSHITERU.

If you say so...

1579:  SIR FRANCIS DRAKE CLAIMS A LAND HE CALLS NOVA ALBION (MODERN CALIFORNIA) FOR ENGLAND.

So they almost became the Nova Albion Giants.

1631:  MUMTAZ MAHAL DIES DURING CHILDBIRTH.  HER HUSBAND, SHAH JAHAN I, WILL SPEND THE NEXT 17 YEARS BUILDING HER MAUSOLEUM, THE TAJ MAHAL.

That's an awfully long time to keep a dead body around.

1775:  DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, COLONISTS INFLICT HEAVY CASUALTIES ON BRITISH FORCES WHILE LOSING THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.

Take that, you blasted Redcoats!

1789:  IN FRANCE, THE THIRD ESTATE DECLARES ITSELF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.

Je ne care pas.

1839:  IN THE KINGDOM OF HAWAII, KAMEHAMEHA II ISSUES THE EDICT OF TOLERATION WHICH GIVES ROMAN CATHOLICS THE FREEDOM TO WORSHIP IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

The Kingdom of Hawaii?   Is there any other US state that was once a kingdom?  Not counting Texas, of course.

1876:  THE BATTLE OF THE ROSEBUD - 1,500 SIOUX AND CHEYENNE LED BY CRAZY HORSE BEAT BACK GENERAL CROOK'S FORCES IN MONTANA TERRITORY.

Sioux?  Si.

1877: THE BATTLE OF WHITE BIRD CANYON - THE NEZ PERCE DEFEAT THE US CAVALRY IN IDAHO.

So how come the Indians are always winning?

1885:  THE STATUE OF LIBERTY ARRIVES IN NEW YORK HARBOR.

And they kept it there when they found out it didn't exactly fit into anybody's living room.

1898:  THE US NAVY HOSPITAL CORPS IS ESTABLISHED.

Anchors and Band Aids away.

1901:  THE COLLEGE BOARD INTRODUCES ITS FIRST STANDARDIZED TEST, THE FORERUNNER TO THE SAT.

I thought that was the PSAT.

1930:  US PRESIDENT HERBERT HOOVER SIGNS THE SMOOT-HAWLEY TARIFF ACT INTO LAW.

I don't trust any legislation with the word "Smoot" in it.

1933:  IN KANSAS CITY, FOUR FBI AGENTS AND CAPTURED FUGITIVE FRANK NASH ARE GUNNED DOWN BY GANGSTERS ATTEMPTING TO FREE NASH.

Paging Eliot Ness.

1943:  POLITICIAN NEWT GINGRICH IS BORN.

Is it me or does this guy always look so much older than his age?

1943:  SINGER BARRY MANILOW IS BORN.

He finally came out of the closet.  As if we were surprised.

1953:  IN EAST GERMANY, THE SOVIET UNION ORDERS A DIVISION OF TROOPS INTO EAST BERLIN TO QUELL A REBELLION.

Yeah, that worked.   For a while.

1960: THE NEZ PERCE TRIBE IS AWARDED FOUR MILLION DOLLARS FOR 7 MILLION ACRES OF LAND.

So they beat us on this date in 1877 and also got oodles of money???

1963:  THE US SUPREME COURT RULES 8-1 IN ABINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT VS. SCHEMPP AGAINST REQUIRING THE RECITING OF BIBLE VERSES AND THE LORD'S PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Do Moe and Larry know about this?

1971:  PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON DECLARES THE US WAR ON DRUGS.

Does that mean he'll be bugging the folks at Johnson and Johnson?

1972:  FIVE WHITE HOUSE OPERATIVES ARE ARRESTED FOR BURGLING THE OFFICES OF THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE.

Watergate...I think this turned out to be some sort of big deal.

1986:  SINGER KATE SMITH DIES.

God bless her...and America.

1987:  BASEBALL STAR AND MANAGER DICK HOWSER DIES.

Less than two years after guiding them to the 1985 World Series.

1994:  FOLLOWING A TELEVISED LOW-SPEED HIGHWAY CHASE, OJ SIMPSON IS ARRESTED FOR THE MURDER OF HIS WIFE NICOLE AND HER FRIEND RONALD GOLDMAN.

Guilty.

2008:  ACTRESS/DANCER CYD CHARISSE DIES.

She lived three blocks away from my last apartment.

2012:  RODNEY KING DIES.

Don't know how to describe him with an occupation.  I'll leave it at that.

2019:  GLORIA VANDERBILT DIES.

Mother of Anderson Cooper.   But we never held it against her.

Dinner last night:  Leftover baby back ribs.