Classic Musical Comedy Production Number of the Month - November 2025

Woo hoo.  A five Saturday month gives us the opportunity to enjoy a classic musical comedy number from stage and screen.   Here's the wonderful number from the recent revival of "Merrily We Roll Along."  I got to see it on Broadway and next month the filmed version of that production will be released to movie theaters.  Woo hoo again! 

Dinner last night:  Sausage and peppers at Carlo's.

Your Black Friday Mall Alternative

 My annual gift to you on this, the manic shopping day known as Black Friday.  If you're out in the malls today, you are no friend of mine.   So, instead of fighting with some slob over a sweater, let me help you with these gift ideas straight out of Amazon.

For that cousin you know belongs in Cirque du Soleil.

 Your goldfish should not have more square footage than you do.

 Let's make it easier for Lucky to go piss on the sofa.

 If you could seal up the end and toss it around the house, I might be a buyer.

Unless the name is interchangeable, this T-shirt has a very limited market.

This device can replace your barber.  Until, of course, you need to call him to repair the damage you did.

 Orthopedic surgeon is optional.

You have to be pretty lazy if you need a vacuum to get the lint out of your dryer.

 Wonder why the back of your seat keeps bumping you?

Designed to improve circulation.   But, as soon as you put this contraption on, you know the doorbell will ring.

 For the pervert in your family.

The woman and batteries are extra.

Dinner last night:  Turkey dinner at the home of Bob and Ellen.

Our Thanksgiving Day Tradition

 Another rendition of "Turkey Lurkey Time" from "Promises, Promises."  We still miss Burt Bacharach.

Dinner last night:  Eggplant parm at Gianna's.

This Date in History - November 26

 

Happy birthday in Heaven, Tina Turner.   I wonder if she took her wigs with her.

783:  THE ASTURIAN QUEEN ADOSINDA IS PUT UP IN A MONASTERY TO PREVENT HER KIN FROM RETAKING THE THRONE FROM MAUREGATUS.

Sounds like a logline for a comic book.

1476:  VLAD THE IMPALER DEFEATS BASARAB LAIOTA WITH THE HELP OF STEPHEN THE GREAT AND STEPHEN V BATHORY.

Sounds like a logline for an episode of the WWF.

1703:  THE GREAT STORM OF 1703 IS THE GREATEST WINDSTORM EVER RECORDED IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF GREAT BRITAIN.

All that air must be coming from Parliament.

1778:  IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, CAPTAIN JAMES COOK BECOMES THE FIRST EUROPEAN TO VISIT MAUI.

Wowee.

1789:  A NATIONAL THANKSGIVING DAY IS OBSERVED IN THE US AS RECOMMENDED BY PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON.

Pass the cranberries.

1825:  AT UNION COLLEGE IN SCHENECTADY, NY, KAPPA ALPHA SOCIETY, THE FIRST COLLEGE FRATERNITY, IS FORMED.

Party on!

1842:  THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME IS FOUNDED.

And are immediately seven point favorites.

1863:  US PRESIDENT ABE LINCOLN PROCLAIMS NOVEMBER 26 AS A NATIONAL THANKSGIVING DAY, TO BE CELEBRATED ANNUALLY ON THE FINAL THURSDAY OF NOVEMBER.

It was later moved to the fourth Thursday and that had everything to do with Christmas shopping.

1899:  BRUNO RICHARD HAUPTMANN IS BORN.

Murderer!

1912:  JOURNALIST ERIC SEVAREID IS BORN.

That's the way he was.

1917:  THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE IS FORMED.

And the losing streak begins for the NY Rangers.

1922:  CARTOONIST CHARLES SCHULZ IS BORN.

What do you think of that, Charlie Brown?

1922:  HOWARD CARTER AND LORD CARNARVON BECOME THE FIRST PEOPLE TO ENTER THE TOMB OF KING TUT IN OVER 3000 YEARS.

Did they come out? 

1922:  TOLL OF THE SEA DEBUTS AS THE FIRST GENERAL RELEASE FILM TO FILM IN TECHNICOLOR.

Check IMDB for the particulars.

1933:  SINGER ROBERT GOULET IS BORN.

Later marries punching bag Carol Lawrence.

1939:  PUPPETEER WAYLAND FLOWERS IS BORN.

Oddly enough, Madame was born two years earlier.

1939:  SINGER TINA TURNER IS BORN.

Later became a punching bag for Ike Turner.

1944:  DURING WORLD WAR II, A GERMAN ROCKET HITS A WOOLWORTH'S STORE IN LONDON, KILLING 168 PEOPLE.

So much for Five and Ten.

1950:  DURING THE KOREAN WAR, CHINA LAUNCHES A MASSIVE COUNTERATTACK IN NORTH KOREA AGAINST SOUTH KOREA.

The good news is that this all gave us M*A*S*H*.

1956:  BANDLEADER TOMMY DORSEY DIES.

He'll never smile again. 

1968:  DURING THE VIETNAM WAR, USAF PILOT JAMES FLEMING RESCUES AN ARMY SPECIAL FORCES UNIT PINNED DOWN BY VIET CONG FIRE.  HE IS LATER AWARDED THE MEDAL OF HONOR.

As well he should be.

1986:  THE IRAN-CONTRA SCANDAL - US PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN ANNOUNCES THE MEMBERS OF WHAT WILL BECOME THE TOWER COMMISSION.

What arms?

1998:  TONY BLAIR BECOMES THE FIRST PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM TO ADDRESS THE PARLIAMENT OF IRELAND.

They'll drink to that.

2000:  GEORGE W BUSH IS CERTIFIED THE WINNER OF FLORIDA'S ELECTORAL VOTES, ULTIMATELY ALLOWING HIM TO WIN THE 2000 US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

There are some still counting ballots.

2005:  AUTHOR STAN BERENSTAIN DIES.

Those freakin' bears.

2013:  ACTRESS JANE KEAN DIES.

She was Trixie on the Honeymooners.  But, not really.  Joyce Randolph is the only one in my book.

2021:  WRITER STEPHEN SONDHEIM DIES.

Still a loss we feel.

Dinner last night:  Steak panini at Lombardo's in Dobbs Ferry.  

Best Picture of the Year

 

Yeah, I said it.   Given I haven't seen many movies this year, there wasn't much competition here.  But, these days, when you find an enjoyable film with a few laughs and a few tears that has you walking out with a smile on your face, you embrace it.

Such is the case with "Rental Family."   Run, do not walk to your local cinema.

As directed and co-written by some genius woman named Hikari, this movie has one of the most unique plots ever.   I don't know if the premise really does exist in Japan, but there are allegedly agencies that will send out actors to fill in for your family events.   Somebody to play a bride's father.   Somebody to play a dad helping the daughter he never saw get into a prestigious school.  You name it.  Rental Agency is a business that can help you out of a jam.

Enter Phillip played by the now flawless Brendan Fraser.   He's a commercial actor living in Tokyo and not getting a lot of parts even though he can play a great tube of toothpaste.  The agency hires Phillip who promptly gets a little too involved in the family dramas he is cast into.   Of course, the inevitable happens.  But the journey along the way is phenomenal.  You are captivated by the acting and the writing every frame.   

Looking at this year's Oscar buzz, I'm not seeing much for "Rental Family."  That mystifies me.  I mean, it's my Best Picture of the Year.   That has to count for something.

LEN'S RATING:  Four stars.

Dinner last night:  Long day of flying.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - November 24, 2025

 The annual Thanksgiving clip courtesy of Ray Romano and Patricia Heaton...

Dinner last night:  Salisbury steak dinner.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - Your Intrepid Macy's Parade Reporter

 

But, I've only had a Thanksgiving chef hat in recent years.  Most of my life, I was parked in front of the television.   And gaping at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  And that brings to mind this sidebar comment.

Some years back, I was actually asked this question by a work colleague in New York.

"When is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?"

I replied that I was not sure. October sometime?

The idiot said, "Oh," and walked away. I made a mental note never to speak to that person ever again.

Okay, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an integral part of the holiday's celebration. Right along with football, cranberries, and a post-dinner nap on the couch with your pants unbuttoned. And, for the complete sensory experience, you have to watch the parade on television with either one of two smells emanating from your kitchen. The aforementioned sauteed onions for stuffing. Or a pumpkin pie baking in the oven. It all goes hand in hand.

When I was a kid, I was totally into the balloons, because they were all my favorite cartoon characters. 

Popeye. 

Bullwinkle. 

Bugs Bunny. 

Somewhere along the way, Macy's went off the track and started devoting balloons to commercial sponsors. Because I'm a big fan of the Snuggle Bear? When you're ten years old, you really don't give a shit about what fabric softener your mother is using.

Back in my youthful days, the parade was always hosted by Lorne Greene and Betty White and they were delightful. Later on, they were replaced by the idiots from the "Today Show," who introduced every float as written on the cue cards. It all became a lot less spontaneous. 

"Guess who's coming, kids? I can see his sleigh." 

Duh.

I dreamed always of going to the Macy's parade one year. Of course, this would never happen as it fell totally into my father's tried and true trilogy of excuses.

"It's too crowded."

"It's too far to drive."

"It's too hot and/or cold."

Thanks, Dad. Again.

It would be years later that I would finally see the parade live. Up close and in person. And I would do so for five Thanksgivings in a row.

A company I worked for in New York had offices on Broadway. Third floor directly opposite the Ed Sullivan Theater. With picture windows that were ideal for parade viewing. It became an annual party for employees and clients plus their kids. A continental breakfast was served and then folks would line the windows as soon as the first drum roll was heard.

We were eye level with the balloons. And, despite the fact all these rubber creatures were now nothing more than commercial placements, they were still spectacular to look at. And it was also a great way to see just how broken down they were. The number of patches were plentiful as they did their best to keep the air from going out of Snoopy's ass. It obviously required a lot of surgery to get Underdog through Times Square every year.

Up in our penthouse of viewing, we were above the hordes on the street. Folks down there brought their own ladders in an attempt to get a better look. It was fun for us to watch the ladder climbers eventually fall off their perches sometime during the morning. While the parade was certainly the main attraction, the curbside morons were a delectable side show.

One year, one of our sales managers (sadly he has since passed away) was standing next to me at the window. We started cracking wise about some of the Hollywood has-beens that always seem to show up in the parade. Before you knew it, we were getting laughs up and down the row of windows. A ha! An audience. Our color commentary was appreciated.

"Ah, Joanne Worley is the old woman in the shoe. She has a lot of children and no real career since Laugh-In."

"When do we tie some strings to Al Roker and float him down Broadway?"

"The Popeye balloon has a big tear down his crotch. Must have been a rough night with Olive."

Betty White and Lorne Greene were never like this. 

The next year, one of our annual guests, a young boy, came up to me.

"Are you and that guy going to make jokes again this year?"

There was a look of hope on the kid's face.

"We would be happy to."

And another holiday tradition was born. And I was a heck of a lot funnier than Matt Lauer.

Dinner last night:  Pepperoni pizza at La Piazza.

Classic Movie Trailer of the Month - November 2025

 Remembering the wonderful talents of the late Diane Keaton.

Dinner last night:  Cheese and crackers.

Hollywood Then and Now - November 2025

 Several weeks ago, I wrote that I was binge watching "Family" the drama from the late 70s.  It was as good as I remember.   And that house was so iconic, it almost served as a cast member.

Welp, all you have to do is drive to Pasadena and there it is in 2025.

Is Kristy McNichol home?

Dinner last night:  Beef with broccoli.

Prescription: Hollywood

 I've had a "Aha" moment.   Simply by looking around my own world.

Many of you know that these blog pages have included some lamentations about how depressing Hollywood movies have begun.   Dark.  Foreboding.  Sad.  I wonder what has been happening in their lives to make them this way.   And, no, you can't blame it all on Trump.

For some possible answers, I didn't have to go farther than a good friend's 17-year-old daughter.   Even at this tender age, she wants to be a film maker and, from what I have seen, she will be a damn good one.   Indeed, she has to make some short movies to get submitted and accepted by the finest film schools.  

She showed me one she just made for a college.   It was cute and whimsical and slightly comedic.   Even if I didn't know her personally, this was a smile on my face at the end.

For funsies, she showed me a You Tube Channel which houses the work of recently accepted film students for the same college.   Their shorts are uploaded for all to see.  I watched four or five of them.   Save for one which had the same kind of whimsey my friend showcased, they were all well made.  But sad.  Depressing.  Broken marriages of parents.  Delivering flowers to Mom's grade.   You name the psychosis.   It was there.

Is the world that depressing for our youth?   And who is contributing to this trend?   Parents who hate Trump?   Or is it another source?

I connect the dots back to my friend and her high school film teacher.  Last summer, he assigned a viewing list of essential movies for his students to watch over the summer.   She showed me the list which I surveyed.

Depressing.

Depressing.

Dark.

Morose.

Sad.

Of the ten movies, I only recommended one...the delightful 1963 film "Charade."

She also showed me a short film he made them watch in class.   It was allegedly an award winner at Cannes and hailed from the country of Germany.

Oh, it was well made.  But dark and sad and depressing.   A divorced dad picking up his 10-year-old daughter for a play date, although his ultimate plan was to run away with the kid all the way to Manila.  

I thought about the kids in this class.   How many of them have been involved in parental and marital struggles?  No wonder some of those images get transferred to the screen.

While not the entire reason, there is a culpability on the part of academia.  Or as I call them "Macademia" because they're all nuts.

I queried my friend about some background on her teacher.   Yes, he went through a recent divorce.  And apparently implicated his own class into the drama.

Mike drop.

Dinner last night:  Leftover pork.

This Date in History - November 19

 

Happy birthday in Heaven, Alan Young.  He's the one on the left.

636:  THE RASHIDUN CALIPHATE DEFEATED THE SASSANIAN EMPIRE IN IRAQ.

These damned caliphates are still around, God damn it.

1095:  THE COUNCIL OF CLERMONT, CALLED BY POPE URBAN II TO DISCUSS SENDING THE FIRST CRUSADE TO THE HOLY LAND, BEGINS.

I'm personally waiting for the Third Crusade.  By then, they will have all the kinks out.

1493:  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS GOES ASHORE ON AN ISLAND HE FIRST SAW THE DAY BEFORE.   THIS WILL LATER BECOME PUERTO RICO.

So he discovered that?  Gee, thanks, Chris.

1794:  THE UNITED STATES AND THE KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN SIGN JAY'S TREATY, WHICH ATTEMPTS TO RESOLVE SOME OF THE LINGERING PROBLEMS LEFT OVER FROM THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

Jay's Treaty sounds like a bit on the old Tonight Show.

1863:  US PRESIDENT ABE LINCOLN DELIVERS THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS.

Without a teleprompter, I might add.

1905:  BANDLEADER TOMMY DORSEY IS BORN.

And what about Jimmy??

1911:  THE DOOM BAR IN CORNWALL CLAIMED TWO SHIPS, KILLING THE ENTIRE CREW OF ONE EXCEPT THE CAPTAIN.

So they don't all go down with the ship.

1916:  SAMUEL GOLDWYN AND EDGAR SELWYN ESTABLISH GOLDWYN PICTURES.

A Wyn Wyn.

1917:  INDIAN POLITICIAN INDIRA GANDHI IS BORN.

Along with probably three million other Indians the same day.

1919:  ACTOR ALAN YOUNG IS BORN.

And still with us.  Or so the horse tells me.

1920:  ACTRESS GENE TIERNEY IS BORN.

I'll never forget the day that Laura died.

1921:  BASEBALL STAR ROY CAMPANELLA IS BORN.

Yes, his father was Italian.

1933:  TV HOST LARRY KING IS BORN.

Sad to report.

1936:  TV HOST DICK CAVETT IS BORN.

Remember when there were only three late-night hosts?   Oh, wait, there still are.

1938:  BUSINESSMAN TED TURNER IS BORN.

For a while, Mr. Jane Fonda.

1942:  DURING WORLD WAR II, SOVIET FORCES LAUNCH THE OPERATION URANUS COUNTERATTACKS AT STALINGRAD.

Everybody forgets they were on our side at this point.

1942:  FASHION DESIGNER CALVIN KLEIN IS BORN.

Nice pants.

1943:  THE HOLOCAUST - NAZIS LIQUIDATE JANOWSKA CONCENTRATION CAMP IN THE WESTERN UKRAINE, MURDERING AT LEAST 6,000 JEWS.

They could use a better word than "liquidate."

1944:  US PRESIDENT FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT ANNOUNCES THE 6TH WAR LOAN DRIVE.

Buy Bonds Now.  Still.

1946:  AFGHANISTAN, ICELAND, AND SWEDEN JOIN THE UNITED NATIONS.

You're going to regret letting in the first one.

1950:  US GENERAL DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER BECOMES SUPREME COMMANDER OF NATO-EUROPE.

A bigger job coming shortly.

1959:  THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY DISCONTINUES THE EDSEL.

So much for getting new parts.

1962:  ACTRESS JODIE FOSTER IS BORN.

No truth to the rumor that her middle name is Bananas.

1969:  APOLLO 12 ASTROANUTS PETE CONRAD AND ALAN BEAN BECOME THE THIRD AND FOURTH HUMANS TO WALK ON THE MOON.

Names we never remember.

1969:  SOCCER STAR PELE SCORES HIS 1,000TH GOAL.

That's an awful lot of running around.

1985:  US PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN AND SOVIET UNION LEADER MIKHAIL GORBACHEV MEET FOR THE FIRST TIME.

About that wall....

1985:  ACTOR STEPHIN FETCHIT DIES.

So go and shine your own shoes.

1988:  BUSINESSWOMAN CHRISTINA ONASSIS DIES.

Who wouldn't want to be mentioned in this will?

1990:  POP GROUP MILLI VANILLI ARE STRIPPED OF THEIR GRAMMY AWARD BECAUSE THE DUO DIDN'T SING ON THEIR LAST ALBUM.

These days, there are dozens of rock stars I wish wouldn't sing.

1998:  THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUDICIARY COMMITTEE BEGINS IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS AGAINST PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON.

Who me?  What did I do?

1998:  DIRECTOR ALAN J. PAKULA DIES.

Killed tragically when a metal pipe from the car in front of him shot through his windshield on the Long Island Expressway.  Dying on that road is redundant.

2004:  PRODUCER TERRY MELCHER DIES.

Doris Day outlives her son by more than a decade.

2017:  SINGER DELLA REESE DIES.

Really touched by an angel.

2017:  SERIAL KILLER CHARLES MANSON DIES.

What's Hell like?

2023:  FIRST LADY ROSALYN CARTER DIES.

And he outlived her.

Dinner last night: Leftover Korean pork.

# 21

 

In an attempt to stretch out the baseball season a bit into the winter months, I stumbled onto this documentary.  And again that genre proves to be a winner with me.   

Oh, sure, there's nothing sleazy or gossipy about this film devoted to the legendary Pittsburgh Pirate.   He was a good family man.  He was an outstanding baseball player.  And also one who became friends with some lucky souls in the fanbase.

As you know, Clemente's life ended abruptly in a New Year's Eve plane crash while delivering supplies to people in Nicaragua.  He often predicted that he would die young, given that, as a child, he watched his own sister accidentally catch fire and burn to death.   

While the years were short, the accomplishments were many as told in this film by his sons, his widows, and his many teammates.   To be his friend was to be lucky.  If you crossed him, watch out.   There is one story where Bob Gibson was trash talking Clemente.   Roberto pledged to get him during his next at-bat.   He certainly did.   Clemente hit a line drive at the pitcher that broke his leg.

There was a lot here I knew and, as a good documentary would do, a lot I didn't know.   Indeed, I came to know the man.  And I am not sad that I didn't get to watch him play more.

It's an honor to recommend a movie about a true "humane" being.

LEN'S RATING:  Four stars.

Dinner last night:  Grilled bratwurst.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - November 17, 2025

 If only the weather was this funny...

Dinner last night:  Korean pork filet and red cabbage.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - Dressed to the Nines

 

Suits.

Who even wears them anymore?   I mean, Casual Friday has essentially expanded into Casual Everyday.

I used to wear suits for work, especially when I worked in Manhattan.  In Los Angeles, forget about it.  I had some in my closet here.  Last week, I needed to revisit the wardrobe as I had a wedding that stared me in the face from my Outlook calendar.  Oh, I have two sports jackets.  But the suits on hangers in dusty garment bags?

Well, they no longer fit.  And it's not that the pants are tighter.   Since I have been regularly going to a personal trainer, my entire body shape has changed.   The upper chest is much wider and broader.   There is more of a V shape to my upper torso.  As a result, the suit jackets felt like those they would give you in a mental institution.

I needed a suit and I didn't know where to go.  It's not like my days right out of college when I was first working in Manhattan.  When I would dress not alone in suits, but three-pieced ones to boot.  I knew where to shop for those.

Wallach's in the Cross County Shopping Center of Yonkers, New York.

Gone were the days of Mom shopping with me for nice clothes.  Going either to County Pants on Fourth Avenue in Mount Vernon or Novick's over on Mt. Vernon Avenue.  Nope.  I was dressing for success.  The young businessman headed downtown.  And I had to look sharp.

Truth be told, the very first credit card I ever had in my own name was one from Wallach's.  They saw I was a serious shopper.  My father would say that they saw me coming.  And, thanks to years of shopping with a fashion-conscious mother, I knew how to color coordinate shirts, ties, and socks.

Every three months or so, I would go over to Wallach's and browse.  I had my own sales guy who knew my fit perfectly.  I'd pore through the racks of my size and see what would be my next purchase.  Okay, I've already got a blue-pinstriped suit at home.  And a black one.   I could use gray.

The process would take at least an hour.  I suddenly realized that my mom's weekly visits to Bromley's Dress Shop in Mount Vernon, which ran up a tab, were very similar to what I was doing on a regular basis at Wallach's.  Technically, other than my college student loan, the very first debt that I ran up in our wonderful capitalist economy was at Wallach's.

Ka-ching.  Ka-ching.  Ka-ching.

Suits became my addiction.  I had suits for work.  I had suits for fancy events like weddings and funerals.  I even started to dip into Wallach's more casual wear for those Qiana shirts and polyester-blend pants for those date nights.
It was always perfectly color coordinated.  And expensive.  My closet at home was jammed now.

And then I had to buy more.  Body shape had changed.  The 36 waist crept up to a 38.  Jacket size went from 40 to 42.  

Wallach's became to remodel the Cross County store.  I think they did so largely with my money.  And the nicer surroundings made it even easier to spend money.

Before long, I had a rotation of about 15 suits in my collection.  That meant, with five workdays, I could wear the same suit just 1.5 times a month.  But, just as easily as this addiction began, it ended.  Fridays were suddenly out of bounds when it came to dressing up for work.  Before long, all days fell into the casual category.   I've looked around the Metro North train on those times when I still venture into Manhattan.  Really?   You're going to work like that?

Wallach's is long gone.  So, for the most part, are suits.  And now I shop almost exclusively on-line with Eddie Bauer.  But I remember how cool it was to be suddenly an adult.  With a killer wardrobe and a credit card bill that also was fairly murderous.  But, I've seen lately an old photo that I have posted here before.  It was the very first suit I ever bought at Wallach's.  It was for a summer wedding, which explains the light color.  And it was probably the most favorite suit of all of them.  A Johnny Carson model.

It's also the time that I started mounting a debt.  But you can't put a price on color coordination.

Dinner last night:  Sloppy Joes at the home of Kevin and Amir.

Classic TV Theme Song of the Month - November 2025

 This Dynasty spinoff debuted forty years ago.   Gasp.

Dinner last night:  Sandwich.

Let The Holiday Family Portraits Begin

 

Remembering where the family dog just peed.

Why is one-half of this crowd dressed in prison garb?

Somebody please confiscate her hair brush.

Find the Lesbian.

The boy is crying because they insisted on propping up his dead sister for the photo.

"Who the fuck is that?"

Find the uncle with the strange skin condition.

That's not a family.  It's a J Crew ad.

I cannot fathom my family doing this...ever.

Dad actually wears that to work.

Dinner last night:  Leftover chili.

The Sign on the Door

 

Welcome to America 2025, Len.

As normal conventions would have it, I was recently in a movie theater.   When the picture finished, I did what I normally do upon exit.

Pee.

Standing at the urinal, I was by myself.   Suddenly, the door swings open and in enters a girl somewhere in her 30s.   She was not very attractive but unmistakably a female.   She stood at the basin and washed her hands.  

Finished with my business, I walked over to another basin.   Our eyes met and she must have noticed my look of confusion.   She smiled and shrugged.  

On the way out, I looked at the sign on the door.

Men.

But, here in 2025, signs mean nothing.  This chick went into the men's room and did what she wanted.  

I thought about this all on the way home.  Suppose I had walked away from the urinal and zipped up at the same time.   If she had seen something, would I have been charged with inappropriate exposure.  Could she have made me into a criminal?   Was that her intent?   Or did she just want to wash some caramel corn off her hands?

I'll never know.   Nor do I want to.   After all, this is America 2025, Len.

Dinner last night:  Had a big lunch so nothing much.

This Date in History - November 12

 

Happy birthday, Megan Mullally.  Is that an Irish name or what??

1330:  THE BATTLE OF POSADA - WALLACHIAN VOIEVODE BASARAB I DEFEATS THE HUNGARIAN ARMY.

Insert your favorite Yankee catcher joke here.....

1439:  PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND BECOMES THE FIRST TOWN INCORPORATED BY THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT.

When does Plymouth come out with the Duster?

1555:  THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT RE-ESTABLISHES CATHOLICISM.

So that should make Catholics in Plymouth happy.

1602:  SEBASTIAN VISCAINO LANDS AT AND NAMES SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA.

Except nobody remembers him.  But everybody knows Tony Gwynn.

1793:  JEAN SYLVAIN BAILLY, THE FIRST MAYOR OF PARIS, IS GUILLOTINED.

Can we bring back this practice please?

1897:  KARL MARX IS BORN.

The sixth Marx Brother.

1912:  THE FROZEN BODIES OF ROBERT SCOTT AND HIS MEN ARE FOUND ON THE ROSS ICE SHELF IN ANTARCTICA. 

Talk about your freezer burn.

1918:  AUSTRIA BECOMES A REPUBLIC.

Love your pastries.

1920:  ITALY AND THE KINGDOM OF SERBS, CROATS, AND SLOVENES SIGN THE TREATY OF RAPALLO.

Anybody but the Slovenes.

1927:  LEON TROTSKY IS EXPELLED FROM THE SOVIET COMMUNIST PARTY, LEAVING JOSEPH STALIN IN UNDISPUTED CONTROL.

Da.

1929:  ACTRESS GRACE KELLY IS BORN.

Never forget her as Lisa Carol Fremont in Rear Window.

1933:  HUGH GRAY TAKES THE FIRST KNOWN PHOTOS ALLEGED TO BE THE LOCH NESS MONSTER.

Earliest use of Photoshop.

1936:  IN CALIFORNIA, THE SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND BAY BRIDGE OPENS.

As if anybody wants to actually go to Oakland.

1941:  WORLD WAR II - TEMPERATURES AROUND MOSCOW DROP TO -12 DEGREES CENTIGRADE AS THE SOVIET UNION LAUNCHES SKI TROOPS FOR THE FIRST TIME AGAINST FREEZING GERMAN FORCES.

Ach du lieber, it's cold.

1942:  WORLD WAR II - THE BATTLE OF GUADACANAL BETWEEN JAPAN AND THE US BEGINS.  THE BATTLE LASTS FOR THREE DAYS AND ENDS WITH AN AMERICAN VICTORY.

And a bunch of John Wayne movies.

1943:  ACTOR WALLACE SHAWN IS BORN.

Met him once on the Murphy Brown set.

1944:  SPORTSCASTER AL MICHAELS IS BORN.

Do you believe in the miracle of birth?  Yes!!!

1945:  MUSICIAN NEIL YOUNG IS BORN.

Just wait till he teams up with Bing Crosby.

1956:  MOROCCO, SUDAN, AND TUNISIA JOIN THE UNITED NATIONS.

Two countries and a third that was featured in a Hope-Crosby Road picture.

1958:  A TEAM OF ROCK CLIMBERS LEAD BY WARREN HARDING COMPLETES THE FIRST ASCENT OF THE NOSE IN YOSEMITE VALLEY.

Obviously not President Warren Harding because he's dead.

1958:  ACTRESS MEGAN MULLALLY IS BORN.

Everybody remembers from Will and Grace, but I first saw her on Broadway in How to Succeed with Matthew Broderick.

1968:  EQUATORIAL GUINEA JOINS THE UNITED NATIONS.

Any place with the word "equatorial" in it must be freakin' hot.

1969:  VIETNAM WAR - INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST SEYMOUR HERSH BREAKS THE MY LAI STORY.

Complete with pictures.  Ugh.

1971:  VIETNAM WAR - PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON SETS FEBRUARY 1, 1972 AS THE DEADLINE FOR THE REMOVAL OF ANOTHER 45,000 AMERICAN TROOPS FROM VIETNAM.

Too late for those folks at My Lai.

1975:  THE COMOROS JOINS THE UNITED NATIONS.

Who are they?  Anybody?

1979:  IRAN HOSTAGE CRISIS - IN RESPONSE TO THE HOSTAGE DRAMA, US PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER ORDERS A HALT TO ALL PETROLEUM IMPORTS INTO THE US FROM IRAN.

Jimmy Carter?  Yeah, this probably didn't work.

1981:  ACTOR WILLIAM HOLDEN DIES.

Edge of coffee table, 1.   Holden, 0.

1982:  IN THE SOVIET UNION, YURI ANDROPOV BECOMES THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY, SUCCEEDING LEONID BREZHNEV.

Ever notice just how ugly these Russian leaders were?

1990:  ACTRESS EVE ARDEN DIES.

English class cancelled for today.

1993:  POLITICIAN HR HALDEMAN DIES.

Years after his political career did the same.

1994:  SPRINTER WILMA RUDOLPH DIES.

Not so fast now.

1997:  RAMZI YOUSEF IS FOUND GUILTY OF MASTERMINDING THE 1993 WORLD TRADE CENTER BOMBING.

And is hanged, I hope?

2001:  IN NYC, AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 587 CRASHES MINUTES AFTER TAKE-OFF FROM JFK AIRPORT, KILLING ALL 260 ON BOARD.

Coming right after 9/11, this was pretty scary.

2003:  ACTRESS PENNY SINGLETON DIES.

Blondie!

2007:  PLAYWRIGHT IRA LEVIN DIES.

Talk about your Deathtrap.

Dinner last night:   Leftover chili.

Another Film From Darkest Hollywood

 

With baseball now in its Winter hibernation, I had a craving to go out to a movie.  Any movie.   And, as you will read, the ambivalence of choice ruined a perfectly good evening.

Now, I had read reviews of "Die, My Love" which called it a black comedy.   It starred Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson.  Martin Scorsese was listed as one of the producers.   Sounds like a good choice, n'est-ce-pas?

Wrong.   I am hereby fooled again by Hollywood which has totally forgotten how to make an uplifting film that puts a smile on your face as you leave.   Is the world that bitter a place for these movie executives?   At one point will Xanax replace Raisinets at the candy counter?  How grim can we get?

Pretty fucking grim.  This movie written and directed by some lunatic named Lynne Ramsay is a second-by-second look at post partum depression.  You could probably see it all on an episode of Tamron Hall's talk show as directed by a psychologist.   Instead, you spend 20 bucks and see it all on a big screen as you settle into your own personal depression for the next two hours.

Lawrence and Pattison are a hillbilly married couple with a new baby.   The birth has sent Wifey over the edge.   They fight.  They have sex.  She shoots their dog.   It's one dark moment after another.  Sissy Spacek plays Pattinson's mom and Nick Nolte plays his dad, although I totally missed his performance while reaching for a soda.  

If only I had missed the whole movie.   The bottom line is, if you're craving a movie at the theater...well, don't.   At least not this one.

Stay home and pray for Hollywood.

LEN'S RATING:  Zero stars.

Dinner last night:  Grilled beef sausage.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - November 10, 2025

Puncture resistant, huh? 

Dinner last night:  Chili.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - The Sunday Television Memory Drawer

 

Okay, this isn't quite my family.   I didn't have brothers or sisters.   And most of my TV viewing was done downstairs with my grandparents.   Still, it's as close as we're going to get. 

There's nothing on TV Sunday nights.  Sad.

 
And that got me to thinking about the past.  Almost everything can ultimately time-transport me back to my childhood.   To the pre-DVR days when I looked forward to television every Sunday night.  

It would be my challenge every week.   If teachers loaded me down with homework, I would stay in the house after school on Friday to get it all done.  Who needed to be encumbered by the enormity of a book report or a spelling quiz when you have a very full night of Sunday television?   I cleared the decks each and every week to be ready for it all.  

And then I 'd hear the fatal words from my mother on a Sunday morning.

"We're going to go and visit Aunt _____ and Uncle ______?"

Shit.  Or whatever word would get a bar of soap in a kid's mouth.

I'd have to go into major engineering mode.   By around 5:30 PM, I'd start getting tired and/or restless.  If that didn't get attention, I'd grab my stomach and/or my head.  Gee, I don't feel so good.   I'd pull any trick out of my bag to make sure we would get home in time for my Sunday night euphoria in front of the tube.

It always started with "Mister Ed."  I was in love with this program and I think it was on around 6:30PM.  To this day, I want the show to be rebooted.   Or made into a movie.  I want to write it.  This time, the horse is incredibly politically-incorrect.   You’d pay good dollars to see that, right?   Back in the day, this was my comedy highlights of the week.  After it went off each Sunday, I’d keep singing the theme song over and over and over.

“A horse is a horse, of course, of course, And this one'll talk 'til his voice is hoarse.  You never heard of a talking horse?  Well, listen to this.”

I’d take my little voice and go as low as I could.

“I AM MISTER ED.”

My throat would hurt.  While my grandmother was a fan of the show, she was always done with my rendition of the theme song.

“Oh, shaddup already.”

I'd go from comedy to tears as soon as the Lassie theme song would go on.  Talk about a show that pulled your heartstrings every freakin' week.  And it was made worse by the constant Campbell Soup ads.   They always reminded me of being sick because that's really the only time I ate soup.   Ten minutes into the show, Lassie was usually limping.

As soon as I got my own dog Tuffy, I envisioned that I was just like Timmy on the show.  Of course, my grandfather never fell down a well.   I decided one week to hold my beagle in front of the set to watch Lassie with me.  I remember Tuffy's ears being activated when the collie barked.  But, unlike the always heroic Lassie, this always prompted Tuffy to run and hide under the bed.

My parents hated that I would watch "Dennis The Menace."   I figure they must have thought I would pick up some bratty habits from Jay North.  So, I had to go and commandeer the TV set down at Grandma's to get my fix. 

Oddly enough, this comedy program provided one of my first exposures to death.  Oh, I had already been around for the death of some family members.   But, as most TV shows do, their characters became family to me as well.   And, in a bizarre way, I was closer to them than my own relatives.

Somewhere later in the show's run, Joseph Kearns, the actor who played Mr. Wilson, died.  It actually happened in the middle of the season.  Back then, there were a lot more episodes in the can.  I remember my dad telling me that the actor died.   And, for about another three months, I watched as the once-alive/now-dead Mr. Wilson still appeared in front of me every Sunday night.   And, to me, it was all a little sad.  And made me think about the finality of the world around me.

This show provided my Sunday night TV time with my mother, who particularly liked it when Walt Disney featured his looks at nature.   Hmmm, let's see how a squirrel goes about his day.  As for me, I'd endure the hour-long program mainly because, at the end, they always showed you what big Disney movie was coming out to theaters.

Of course, the irony with it all was that, for the longest time, we were watching the "Wonderful World of Color" in black and white.  I'd ask the inevitable question and always get the same response.

"Ask your father."

Oh.

"Car 54, Where Are You" was only on for two years of Sundays, but it was perhaps the only TV time I had all week with my father.  This was a knock-off of the old Phil Silvers Sgt. Bilko show and ideal for my ex-Army-guy Dad.   Even better, the sitcom was shot completely in the Bronx, where my dad grew up.   So, in between the laughs generated by Officer Toody and Muldoon, my father would act as tour guide.

"Oh, look, there's my old high school."

"Hey, there's Bathgate Avenue."

"I used to play in that vacant lot."

It was all lost on me.

Of course, everybody has their Ed Sullivan Show moment.  Most probably remember it for the debut of the Beatles.  As for me, I prefer to recall the hours I spent watching this variety show with my grandparents.   Ed always gave you something for everybody.  A dog act for the kids.   A rock and roll group for the teenagers.   A comic for the parents.   Some old relic for the grandparents.   The performers would run a very wide gamut.   And I always loved to hear the knee-jerk reactions from Grandma and Grandpa.

"If I couldn't sing any better than that, I wouldn't try."

"He thinks he's so funny, but he's not."

"Oh, go home already!"

To this very day, I can't stand Tony Bennett mainly because my grandmother despised him so.

"Look at that big schnozzola on that ugly greaseball."

Yeah, politically correct, she wasn't.

I think Grandma finally signed off with Ed Sullivan when Jim Morrison and the Doors showed up.   We started to look for something else on another channel and wound up with one of my favorite sitcoms of all time.   "The Mothers-In-Law" lasted only two years but it was so much like "I Love Lucy" that I was totally in.  Indeed, this is the show that prompted me to try and write funny for the very first time in my life.  

And if you don't remember this Sunday night treat at all, I have already written about it.   Here's the link from four years ago.   The story about my connection with the show gets much bigger.

  http://lenspeaks.blogspot.com/2010/08/sunday-memory-drawer-revisiting-mothers.html

And, speaking of color TV...

Here's how I closed my childhood Sunday nights for years.

Arguably, "Bonanza" did more to sell new color television sets than any appliance store salesperson could hope to do. When this show, with its lush filming of the Lake Tahoe area, was the only program broadcast in color, folks clamored to buy one so they too could be enveloped by the splendor of the scenery.

You count my parents in that group. You cannot count my grandmother among those sales.

Actually, my parents took their own sweet time moving out of the black and white TV world. There was one token color television in our family. My aunt had one and we all descended on her living room if ever there was a "must see in color" program. The only problem with her set, which might have been one of the first off the assembly line, is that the colors were never coordinated properly. Grass was blue. Tree trunks were red. Faces were green.

Once my parents were content that the technology had all the bugs worked out, they were buyers. And so, on one March Saturday afternoon, this super clunky Zenith console got delivered to our home. And then, for the rest of the weekend, we watched everything and anything just to see what it looked like in color. 

And, unlike my aunt's set, people actually had flesh tones that didn't make them look like third degree burn victims. We absorbed it all. But the focus of that weekend was Sunday night at 9PM on NBC. When we finally could watch an episode of "Bonanza" on our very own color TV.

"Bonanza" was one of the few TV shows that got two floor viewing in my house. My grandmother was watching downstairs and we were tuned in upstairs. I would act as Kissinger. One week, I would watch it with my grandmother and then the next week with my parents. It was a tradition I held to for many years. But, with the purchase of that huge Zenith, I would be multi-conflicted. Black and white vs. color. A major dilemma.

My mother, in a rare display of multi-generational family unity, had a solution. Grandma could come up and watch "Bonanza" in color with us. So, on that first "colorful" Sunday, my grandmother mounted the three flights of stairs to our living room. She sat down and wasn't there more than five minutes into the program.

"This doesn't look right."

She gave a cursory wave at the dastardly television set and went back downstairs. And never returned on a Sunday at 9PM ever again. To the day she died, she was one of the few stalwarts in America who would not cave in to that crazy fad of color TVs.

So, I spent many a Sunday watching "Bonanza" in black and white. 

Nevertheless, it didn't diminish my love of this classic western. As I got older, the tradition held, but I came to appreciate that the better episodes were written and directed by co-star Michael Landon, who clearly was a gifted creative force. As soon as Dan "Hoss" Blocker died, the show pretty much lost its cohesiveness. But, given that, it still had an amazing run with close to 500 episodes.

Thanks to DVDs and nostalgia TV networks like Me TV, I can still enjoy all of the shows mentioned above.   It takes me right back to the easy chair in my grandmother's house or the floor in front of my parent's Zenith console.  

And I realize just how much television is the fascia for our collective lives.  On Sunday nights.  And the other six days of the week, too.

Dinner last night:  Hot dog.