Len's Jukebox of the Month - November 2019

Always looking for new monthly features to install, I'm happy to bring you this premiere installment.

Once a month, I will present to you one of my favorite songs of all time.   These are the tunes that I never ever get tired of.   Enjoy them as I do.

First up, this incredibly lush tune from the late Glen Campbell.  Is there a better opening to a song that this one?


Dinner last night:  Leftover turkey chili.

This Date in History - November 20

The first birthday in heaven for Kaye Ballard.  A lady who actually hosted me for lunch at her home.

284:  DIOCLETIAN IS CHOSEN AS ROMAN EMPEROR.

Diocletian sounds like something you would take for allergies.

1194:  PALERMO IS CONQUERED BY EMPEROR HENRY VI.

Hey, if you want to conquer some place, Palermo is really nice.

1407:  A TRUCE BETWEEN JOHN THE FEARLESS, DUKE OF BURGUNDY AND LOUIS OF VALOIS, DUKE OF ORLEANS IS AGREED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF JOHN, DUKE OF BERRY.

The Duke of Earl was busy?

1518:  SOLDIER MARMADUKE CONSTABLE DIES.

Do I actually need to type the obvious joke here?

1739:  START OF THE BATTLE OF PORTO BELLO BETWEEN BRITISH AND SPANISH FORCES DURING THE WAR OF JENKINS' EAR.

Why fight over somebody's ear?  Especially in a town famous for mushrooms.

1789:  NEW JERSEY BECOMES THE FIRST US STATE TO RATIFY THE BILL OF RIGHTS.

As if they're smarter than anybody else.

1820:  AN 80 TON SPERM WHALE ATTACKS THE ESSEX.  THIS INSPIRES THE WRITING OF "MOBY DICK."

You're gonna need a bigger book.

1861:  DURING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, SECESSION ORDINANCE IS FILED BY KENTUCKY.  

Well, then fine.  Go.  We'll hold the Derby elsewhere.

1900:  CARTOONIST CHESTER GOULD IS BORN.

Calling Dick Tracy.

1907:  ACTRESS FRAN ALLISON IS BORN.

Paging Kukla and Ollie.

1913:  COMIC JUDY CANOVA IS BORN.

She was Minnie Pearl before Minnie Pearl was Minnie Pearl.

1917:  UKRAINE IS DECLARED A REPUBLIC.

You care?   Anybody?

1921:  LAWYER JIM GARRISON IS BORN.

Back and to the left.  Back and to the left.  Two days and forty two years later, this guy's career got a big boost.

1923:  RENTENMARK REPLACES THE PAPIERMARK AS THE OFFICIAL CURRENCY OF GERMANY.

And the official grocery store would be Pathmark.

1925:  ACTRESS KAYE BALLARD IS BORN.

Nice lady.  I was on her Christmas card list for two years.  I peed in her guest bathroom while staring at a Red Skelton original painting that was hung over the toilet.

1925:  ROBERT F. KENNEDY IS BORN.

Gee, his 38th birthday weekend really sucked.

1932:  GAME SHOW HOST RICHARD DAWSON IS BORN.

Survey says!!!!!

1942:  VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN IS BORN.

Yes, Dan Quayle was a dummy.  But this guy just might be the most stupid Vice President ever.  Google his mistakes.  Your computer will crash.

1945:  BASEBALL STAR/ANNOUNCER RICK MONDAY IS BORN.

And don't ever try to burn an American flag in front of him.

1945:   AT NUREMBERG, TRIALS AGAINST 24 NAZI WAR CRIMINALS BEGIN.

I smell a movie.

1947:  THE PRINCESS ELIZABETH MARRIES LIEUTENANT PHILIP MOUNTBATTEN, WHO BECOMES THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH IN LONDON.

The crown's in the mail.

1962:  THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS OFFICIALLY ENDS WHEN PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ENDS THE QUARANTINE OF CUBA.

I thought it was 13 days in October.   At least, that was the title of the movie.

1969:  THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER PUBLISHES EXPLICIT PHOTOGRAPHS OF DEAD VILLAGES FROM THE MY LAI MASSACRE IN VIETNAM.

That's not My Lai, it's yours.

1973:  COMIC ALLAN SHERMAN DIES.

Hello Rigor.  Hello Mortis.

1977:  EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT ANWAR SADAT BECOMES THE FIRST ARAB LEADER TO OFFICIALLY VISIT ISRAEL WHEN HE MEETS MENACHEM BEGIN TO DISCUSS A PEACE SETTLEMENT.

How many times have I typed a sentence like this over the years?  And still no peace.

1985:  MICROSOFT WINDOWS 1.0 IS RELEASED.

Well, there had to be a first version at some point.

1992:  IN ENGLAND, A FIRE BREAKS OUT IN WINDSOR CASTLE, BADLY DAMAGING THE CASTLE.

What's London's version of State Farm?

1998:  A COURT IN AFGHANISTAN DECLARES ACCUSED TERRORIST OSAMA BIN LADEN A "MAN WITHOUT SIN" IN REGARD TO THE 1998 US EMBASSY BOMBINGS IN KENYA AND TANZANIA.

That's a good lawyer for you.

2001:  IN WASHINGTON DC, US PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH DEDICATES THE US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE HEADQUARTERS AS THE ROBERT F. KENNEDY BUILDING.

Aw, how nice.  And on his birthday.

2006:  DIRECTOR ROBERT ALTMAN DIES.

D*E*A*D*.

2008:  AFTER THE US FINANCIAL SYSTEM COLLAPSE, THE DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE REACHES ITS LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 1997.

When everybody's 401 K became a 201 J.

2010:  BASEBALL PLAYER DANNY MCDEVITT DIES.

He pitched and won the last game ever to played in Brooklyn's Ebbets Field.

Dinner last night:  Caesar salad.

A Movie Review and A Little Commentary

A friend of mine devoted a chunk of money to the makers of this documentary and one of the perks she got, besides a nifty screen credit, was an invitation for two to the LA premiere of "No Safe Spaces."  One of those Hollywood nights that can't be resisted.  

This very thoughtful film is the brainchild of radio and podcast personalities Adam Carolla and Dennis Prager and clearly on the conservative side of things.  My friend is a big fan of Prager and his on-air personality is not of the contemptible, mean-spirited ilk that liberals would portray.  He strikes me as thoughtful, smart, and logical.   

Well, "No Safe Spaces" is almost as thoughtful, smart, and logical.  It's all about free speech and the growing lack of it in America, especially on college campuses.  While the documentary does touch both sides of the argument, it clearly sits in the conservative dugout on the ball field.   And rightfully so as recent events at such lunatic asylums as Berkeley demonstrate.  All conservative opinions are viewed as hate speech from bigots, homophobes, and any other categories that are registered as being non-liberal.

Indeed, if I had a child of college age right now, I would be very, very, very careful to send that student to a university that presents a balanced curriculum.  If a kid wants to be conservative or liberal, let it be their own choice and not one indoctrinated by the faculty.  I've seen it in my private sphere.   A college friend is now a professor at a major university.  I see his Twitter account.   I would not let my child be a student in any one of his classes.

The film makers lay out the arguments perfectly.  Sure, it's on one very distinct side of the aisle.  But it still lets you formulate your own opinion.  And that's the point of what should be happening on our college campuses.

Sadly, it is not.

Going to the premiere of this movie, which has a message that deserves to achieve a following, was enlightening in some other ways.

I sit in Los Angeles which is predominantly liberal in thinking.  Actually, it's that one-party rule which is pretty much sinking the whole state at this juncture.   But I am surrounded by prattle from non-moderate thinkers and it's almost sickening to hear.   My own pastor, sadly a graduate from the aforementioned nut house called Berkeley, bloviates on and on about the civil war that Trump will be starting in 2020 with secret messages embedded in speeches directed at White supremacists.   She talks about the villainous white men that are running this country on the right.

So, I go to this premiere and I survey the demographics of the well-dressed crowd.   

I would say half the room was under the age of 35.  

I saw diversity.

I saw women.

I saw all the things that the left would say does not exist on the right.

With a documentary like this, eyes can be opened.  Because when I see all sorts of folks embracing other ideas, there is hope for America.

LEN'S RATING:  Three stars.

Dinner last night:  Leftover turkey chili.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - November 18, 2019

As a prelude to the upcoming Tom Hanks movie, I present...

Dinner last night:  Turkey chili.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - Thinking About My Movie Palaces, Part 3

Wrapping up my movie palace memories with some snapshots of other theaters I frequented with my family and friends when I was a kid.  While some of these are not the ornate palaces that the Mount Vernon, New York RKO and Loews were, they all conjure up very distinct and warm thoughts from my childhood.

Because my family had their roots in the Bronx and we lived very close to that borough, it was natural for us to occasionally venture there for some movies that didn't hit our hometown houses.  Take, for instance, the theater above.  

The Wakefield located on the corner of White Plains Road and 233rd Street.  Right underneath the IRT elevated tracks.  Actually, the train whizzing by noisily was part of the ambience as you watched your film.  I remember seeing "The Guns of Navarone" there with my dad.   Later on, it was a walkable journey for me and my neighborhood chums as we got older and could venture more than two blocks from our front yards.   It was at the Wakefield where my neighborhood best bud Leo and I saw...gasp..."Midnight Cowboy."  And if you look at the photo above, I do believe the shoe repair place was owned and operated by Leo's uncle.

The Wakefield is now a church.

Further down on White Plains Road was the Laconia theater near 225rd Street.  It was across the street from John the Barber where my dad took me for haircuts.   We didn't frequent the Laconia as much as the others, although I do recall a very rainy day when my mom took me and the aforementioned Leo to see "The Absent Minded Professor."   I remember the two of us being dressed in those ugly yellow grade school raincoats.  One reason why the Laconia fell off our radar screen is because the neighborhood changed and, according to my father, there were too many...never mind.    Another reason is that the Laconia distinctly changed the fare it was offering.

Not exactly Fred MacMurray and his flying Model T.

Heading back to Mount Vernon, we have on the opposite side of town...the Parkway Theater.  It was likely built in the 40s and had a more modern feel than the other palaces in town.

One of the cool features of the Parkway was a very modernistic smoking lounge downstairs which featured plastic spaceship-like seats that looked like they came from the Mike Douglas TV show.  I've got some distinct memories of a few films seen here.  On one of my birthdays, my mom took me and two classmates here to see "Mary Poppins."  Many moons later, my movie pal Leo and I came here to see "The Exorcist."   The Parkway did last much longer than the other Mount Vernon theaters as I do remember seeing "Ferris Bueller" there.  

But the Parkway is gone.  Dead.  And fitting that it is now....

Moving over to the neighboring Yonkers were two more theaters in walking distance when I was a kid.

The Kimball Theater on Yonkers Avenue was interesting as it was the only movie palace around that featured Saturday afternoon kiddie matinees.  Usually a cartoon, an Abbott and Costello film, and then some vintage horror movie.  This was a frequent...ahem...haunt for me and my grade school buddy Russell.  Years later, I remember seeing "The Odd Couple" there with Leo.  The Kimball eventually shuttered and became...

Even this picture is about 16 or 17 years old as I think the whole thing has burned to the ground.

Now it's nothing.

The movie house that was the longest walk for us was the Kent Theater on McLean Avenue in Yonkers.   I don't remember going there until I was a junior or senior in high school.  I guess that, at some point, I drove there.  I do recall one film I saw there with my neighborhood friend Dolores.   It was "Airport," the very first of the disaster films.  It wasn't a date, but it might have been the first time I went to a movie with a girl.

The Kent was a second run house and that's where you went if you missed seeing the big movies on the RKO or Loews circuit.  Look closely.  I think that's "White Christmas" on the marquee which would mean this is late 1954 or early 1955.  It was a small theater but had a sort of charm that you couldn't escape.  There was also a big clock on the wall that was lit with an advertisement from a local jeweler.  You always knew what time it was at the Kent.  This place died pretty much while I was in college.  These days...

You can still see the tudor awning on the left.  But not the Kent.

But not all the theaters of my past years are gone.  Gloriously, the Bronxville is still there across from the Metro North train station.   I feel so partial to this theater that I will go there to see something even if it is playing in a movie house closer.

Truth be told, I never knew this movie theater existed until I was in college.   I think the first thing I saw there was with my high school best friend Danny..."The Heartbreak Kid" with Charles Grodin.   I remember being astounded that such a marvelous theater had been so close to Mount Vernon and I never went there previously.   It even had the earliest form of stadium seating in the back.

But, since nice things can't last forever, they carved up this auditorium into three screens sometime in the late 70s.   It lost so much charm and history as a result.  Still, I will frequent it mainly because it is still around.  And apparently doing well.

When they tore down the Mount Vernon theaters, the closest one we had near us was the General Cinema theater on Central Avenue in Yonkers.  I think it went up in the 60s and had that new-ish kind of feel.  This was a movie house updated for the Pepsi generation.  Two big auditoriums side-by-side and with balconies.  There was a cool water fountain in the lobby.   It wasn't Loews in Mount Vernon, but it had to suffice.  Plus it was so special that it played movies that were still playing down in Manhattan.   For instance...

I remember my pal Danny and I seeing this Christmas week and we panicked when we smelled smoke in the theater.  Turns out we were sitting close to that old relic...the smoking section.

This movie house was also where I happened to be on opening day of...ta da..."Star Wars."  The movie was playing on both screens there.   

Sadly, they carved the place up into four screens sometime in the 80s.   And, to make matters worse, they shut off the damn water fountain.

Oddly, even this theater couldn't last and closed down a few years back.  Because, after all, we absolutely need one more of these stores...

Woot woot.  We can throw a party but there's nothing left to celebrate when it comes to the movie palaces of our youth.

If there happens to be one still operating near you, please, please, please go there.  And visit often.  That is the only way we can keep them alive.

Dinner last night:  A rarity for me---Big Mac and fries.

   

Classic TV Commercial of the Month - November 2019

This short-lived sitcom from the folks who gave us "Taxi" was on ABC forty years ago this month.  It lasted thirteen episodes.  It was too smart for the medium.  Look at the stellar cast.

Dinner last night:  A small sandwich at a sitcom taping.

Your Church's Favorite Sign This Autumn

Dinner last night:  Finishing up leftover pot roast.