Classic Movie Trailer of the Month - October 2020

 COVID or no COVID, it's still Halloween this weekend.  And let's watch a scary movie.   Scream!

Dinner last night:  Pizza.

Len's Jukebox of the Month - October 2020

RIP Eddie Van Halen.  As much as I'm not a hard rocker, this song (and video) is one of my most guilty pleasures.   I can never ever turn it off.

Dinner last night:  Mexican salad.

 

Hollywood Then and Now - October 2020

Back when Hollywood was brand spanking new in the Roaring Twenties and Thirties of the last century, the entire growing city was one big sound stage for the movie making world.   It was very easy to go and shoot whenever they found a great location.

A few years back, I visited one such memorable spot nestled into a quiet neighborhood in Silver Lake.

If you are fans of Laurel and Hardy, you might remember their Academy Award winning short "The Music Box."  Stan and Ollie lugging a piano up a large flight of stairs.

This might be one of the funniest Laurel and Hardy adventures ever.

Well, the internet allowed for me to search where these steps are and Hollywood has already turned the spot into a shrine.

With a street sign.

And a plaque.

But nothing is official until I visited the steps.   Notice I only went up one flight.  My knees, even then.

Yep, Hollywood's back lot just might have been your backyard.

Dinner last night:  Leftover chicken parm.

This Date in History - October 28

I guess I could call this Throwback Wednesday.  Happy birthday to Bruce...well...I'll update it below.

97:  EMPEROR NERVA IS FORCED BY THE PRAETORIAN GUARD TO ADOPT GENERAL MARCUS ULPIUS TRAJANUS AS HIS HEIR AND SUCCESSOR.

The nerva!

306:  MAXENTIUS IS PROCLAIMED ROMAN EMPEROR.

Mentioned because...

312:  CONSTANTINE I DEFEATS MAXENTIUS, BECOME THE SOLE ROMAN EMPEROR OF THE WEST.

Six years in charge, door to door.

1061:  EMPRESS AGNES, ACTING AS REGENT FOR HER SON, BRINGS ABOUT THE ELECTION OF THE ANTIPOPE HONORIUS II.

I'm really curious about this concept of an antipope.

1420:  BEIJING IS OFFICIALLY DESIGNATED THE CAPITAL OF THE MING DYNASTY.

I bet the air was bad there even then.

1492:  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS DISCOVERED CUBA ON HIS FIRST VOYAGE TO THE NEW WORLD.

Babalu.

1628:  THE SIEGE OF LA ROCHELLE ENDS WITH THE SURRENDER OF THE HUGUENOTS.

Okay, now there's a Huguenot Street in New Rochelle, NY.  Hmmm, what a coinky dink.

1775:  AMERICAN REVOLUTION - A BRITISH PROCLAMATION FORBIDS RESIDENTS FROM LEAVING BOSTON.

Obviously trying to preserve the Red Sox paid attendance.

1776:  AMERICAN REVOLUTION - BRITISH FORCES ARRIVE AT WHITE PLAINS, NY.  

Hey, I know where that is!

1886:  IN NEW YORK HARBOR, PRESIDENT GROVER CLEVELAND DEDICATES THE STATUE OF LIBERTY.

Gift shop to follow.

1897:  FASHION DESIGNER EDITH HEAD IS BORN.

Well, actually, her whole body came out, too.

1914:  PHYSICIAN JONAS SALK IS BORN.

Thank you for that polio vaccine you will invent.

1919:  THE US CONGRESS PASSES THE VOLSTEAD ACT OVER WOODROW WILSON'S VETO, PAVING THE WAY FOR PROHIBITION TO BEGIN THE FOLLOWING JANUARY.

Idiots.

1922:  ITALIAN FASCISTS LED BY BENITO MUSSOLINI MARCH ON ROME AND TAKE OVER THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT.

He doesn't realize that there's a rope with his name on it.

1929:  BLACK MONDAY - A DAY IN THE WALL STREET CRASH OF 1929.

Sell!

1940:  TELEVISION PRODUCER SUSAN HARRIS IS BORN.

The genius behind TV's "Soap" and "The Golden Girls."  From my hometown of Mount Vernon, New York.

1949:  CAITLYN JENNER IS BORN.

Well, technically, not really until 2015.

1952:  ACTRESS ANNIE POTTS IS BORN.

Wonderful on "Designing Women."

1955:  BUSINESSMAN BILL GATES IS BORN.

Yeah, he invented some stuff.

1958:  JOHN XXIII IS ELECTED POPE.

He dies in 1963, so not a long gig.

1962:  END OF THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS - SOVIET PREMIER NIKITA KHRUSCHCHEV ORDERS THE REMOVAL OF SOVIET MISSILES FROM CUBA.

JFK's shining moment.

1964:  VIETNAM WAR - US OFFICIALS DENY ANY INVOLVEMENT IN BOMBING NORTH VIETNAM.

Yeah, sure.

1965:  CONSTRUCTION ON THE ST. LOUIS ARCH IS COMPLETED.

I always wonder how they managed to build that in the first place.

1998:  AN AIR CHINA JETLINER IS HIJACKED BY A DISGRUNTLED PILOT.

Well, is that any way to display your anger?

2006:  BASKETBALL COACH RED AUERBACH DIES.

Fifth foul.

2010:  ACTOR JAMES MACARTHUR DIES.

Bury 'em, Dan-O.

Dinner last night:  Pizza on an October 27 the Dodgers will never forget.

Len's Recipe of the Month - October 2020

 

Chicken Marsala.   I have always wanted to try this classic Italian dish but was always frightened by the recipes on-line.   But, recently, a YouTube chef named "Italian Grandma" posted her version of it and, for once, I was not scared away.   The results were delicious and surprisingly easy.   Here we go.

Take four boneless chicken breast filets under some Saran wrap and pound the shit out of them.  The flatter, the better.   Put aside.

In a large skillet, get some butter and EVO heating.

Make a mixture of some flour, Kosher salt, and ground pepper.  Dredge each of the breasts in the flour mixture and start heating in the skillet.

While they are frying up, mince a shallot.

When the breasts have a nice golden color, remove from the pan and put aside.  Add a little more EVO to the pan and start to saute the shallot for a minute or so.

Then add one pound of sliced cremini or baby bella mushrooms.   Let that all room together for about five minutes, stirring from time to time.

Add 1 cup of sweet marsala wine.   Be careful adding this as it could flame up.  Then add a can of chicken broth.

Let this all simmer together for about five minutes.   Return the chicken to the skillet and let it all get happy for another fifteen minutes.   To create a thicker sauce, add one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of flour.   

Top with chopped parsley and serve.   If you have done it right, this should take no longer than a half-hour.   And you will gobble it up in a lot less time than that.

Dinner last night:  Leftover chicken parmagiana.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - October 26, 2020

 Halloween is coming.   Time to get your prank on.

Dinner last night:  Chicken parm with pepperoni.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - And I Endorse for President...Again...

In a year where we again are presented with a choice of candidates that is somewhat akin to deciding whether to have either your right or left leg amputated, I give you my proposed candidate.  Yet again!

I am endorsing for the office of President of the United States...

...Mr. Jack Benny.   And can't you see this portrait hanging alongside Lincoln, Washington, and Kennedy in the White House?

Oh, stop your snickering.  Have you got a better solution?  Some of you didn't do such a good job in the last four or five national elections.  All of you have clearly botched up 2020 for sure.   Don't blame COVID for this electoral dumpster fire.

Okay, now that I have made my announcement, I will entertain your questions.

Len, somebody in show business shouldn't be President of the United States.

First of all, idiot, that's not a question.   But, look, the show biz angle has already been covered.  Remember Ronald Reagan?  And who's going to argue with me about which was the better movie?  The Horn Blows at Midnight or Bedtime for Bonzo?  I thought so.   Besides the office of the Chief Executive has been completely sullied anyway.   Clinton playing the sax for Arsenio Hall.   Obama going on the View to whack at some softball questions from the likes of Joy Behar.  And do I have to mention the current occupant.  "You're fired."  Next...

Come on, Len.   Jack Benny's a comedian.

Again, dodo, that's not a question.  But, since you mentioned it, Jack Benny was a damn good comic.   And the humor is intentional.  As opposed to the unfortunate verbal pratfalls from the likes of the inept Dan Quayle and Joe Biden, who are so stupid that they actually made Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush looks like Aristotle and Archimedes.  If we're going to have a jokester running our country, he might as well be funny.   Next question?

Jack Benny has no experience.

Does anybody know how to form a sentence with a question mark?  No experience?   Don't even go there.  Compared to who?   A guy who ran around the South Side of Chicago with a clipboard?   A game show host with bad hair?  A female senator from California who has yet to answer a question.   Next.

Wasn't Jack Benny a cheapskate?

Ah, now you're getting it.   After the past four decades where government spending has doomed life for future generations, we need the pinnacle of fiscal conservatism.  Who better than Jack Benny?  The man who absolutely refuses to part with a dollar bill until the very last moment.   I'm thinking that he will take the same delicate care with our money as he does with his own.

How could somebody like Jack Benny govern in these tough international times?

Well, he was the hottest thing on radio during World War II.  He had the number one radio show in America with most of the country tuned in every Sunday night.  Jack Benny had a fine hand in bringing this nation together during those years---perhaps the very last time this country was completely unified.

Could he handle the international scene?

He's Jewish and you know that immediately heals the Israeli wounds inflicted by the current administrations.  Laughter is the best medicine.   I'll guess that even Vladimir Putin would chuckle at that Mel Blanc bit "Si, Sy, Si, Sue, Si."

What about the American car industry that has suffered through some tough times?

Jack really knows his stuff in that area.   After all, he drove that Maxwell for years.  The car really stood up.   Put that up against anything GM has turned out in the past 20 years.

Is Jack up on all the latest technology in the world?

Twitter, schmitter.  Who needs it?   No e-mail server to worry about here.   Jack put a 2 cent stamp on a letter and stuck it in the mailbox.   How refreshing and uncomplicated is that???

And his ability to make crack, split-second decisions?

You mean like waiting for a week to give the real reason what happened at Benghazi?  Well, you'll always know where Jack stands.   Even if he hasn't made a judgement call, he'll update you on the process.   Remember his answer to "Your money or your life?"  Jack was straight forward and totally transparent.  "I'm thinking it over."

And his views on minorities and women's rights?

If you listen to the old radio show, you'll notice that Mary Livingston and Rochester get all the good lines.   He shares the stage with them equally.   And, let's face it, Rochester was well taken care of.   He should have been.  After all, he did no ironing.   Hell, he should be Vice President.

His general concern for the public?

Look, he was totally humanistic.  Every week, he scheduled a song for Dennis Day.  That was Jack's way of setting up a few moments for his audience to go to the bathroom or get a cold drink from the kitchen.

What about COVID-19?

Jack's sponsor on radio was Jell-O.   Some people will argue that can cure everything.

Len, you're missing one important point.  Jack Benny is dead.

Gee, I don't think this is as much of an impediment as you do.   Compared to who?   Some 78-year-old screwball who will burn down the White House when he forgets that he lit the stove for a cup of tea in the middle of the night.  Besides over the past five decades, we have done nothing but elect brain-dead politicians to all sorts of public offices.  So what if Jack Benny is a little more dead than that?  I doubt anybody will notice the difference.

Makes total sense to see.   Go ahead.  You try to argue my logic.

Dinner last night:  Hamburger at the home of Leo and Connie.

Classic Musical Comedy Production Number of the Month - October 2020

Woo hoo!  A five Saturday month.   That means we get to enjoy a classic musical comedy production from stage or screen.  And since there have been hopeful signs that Broadway will return when I saw them put up the marquee for the future revival of "The Music Man," let's enjoy this fabulous number from my very favorite musical.

 

Dinner last night:  Pizza.

The Signs of a Pandemic

 Dinner last night:  Bacon wrapped filet mignon.

That Guy In Albany

 
There are just so many hours in a day.   How could this possibly happen?

What am I talking about?

Well, take a gander at the recently published book from New York's sainted governor, Andrew Cuomo.   "Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic."  Er, how narcissistic can you get?

I have friends in New York who would collapse at his feet if they could.   This man singlehandedly saved their state.   Oh, sure, several thousand residents of nursing homes died but I guess you have to break a few eggs to make a delicious cake.

Seriously, I know people who actually have cardboard cutouts of this idiot in their homes.   It's very disheartening to suddenly realize that you have very stupid friends.  But you can't argue with them as they genuflect to the man who guided them through Hell with a bunch of Powerpoint slides.

Yep, it's the same guy who is on tape in early March telling New York State that COVID-19 will not be a big deal.   He just might be the dumbest man in the state, but he can thank NY Mayor Bill DeBlasio for knocking him out of that top spot. Of course, with Andrew's lunkhead of a brother wandering around aimlessly, he won't even be the dumbest Cuomo in the state.

So what's the point of this all?   Let's get back to the aforementioned book.  Governor Coma is making the rounds of all the talk shows promoting what he did to save New York State.  All the liberal cable networks.   The Sunday news shows.  He even carved out time for Kelly Ripa, who also bowed down to him like he was the religious statue in an Italian neighborhood feast.

Now let's do some calendar math.  COVID-19 effectively started around March 13.  It is now October.   A little more than seven months later.   How the hell can a civic leader entrenched in a pandemic find the time to write a book and have it for sale in such a short amount of time?

The answer is he can't.   And this is one more political memoir that is completely ghost written.   There are people who work in closets and do nothing but put the written word into the mouths and pages of a politician.   They make big bucks and do fine work.   Meanwhile, all the glory is gratefully accepted by the "author."

I have long been a suspect of all political memoirs.   You really think Barack Obama sat down and wrote a huge tome?   Heck, not while the NBA Playoffs were going on.   You really think Michelle Obama wrote her autobiography?   Of course not.   She probably did a fast proof read and screamed at the typist like a banshee whenever she found a spelling mistake.

The best example of a phony political memoir was when that Gabby Giffords got shot in the head.   She wrote a book about the experience within nine months. Are you fucking kidding me??   You would think there would be other things on her mind....I mean, besides the bullet.

So, no, I don't think Andrew Cuomo wrote the book he is peddling right now.   At the very least, he barked some bon mots into a tape recorder for transcribing.  And if he did actually write a book, I'd like to know where he found the time to do so while acting as the Saviour.   

I have little interest in his story, but I will check out the table of contents to see which chapter contains the story on how he horrifically destroyed the lives of everybody's grandmother.

Dinner last night:  Leftover chicken.

 

This Date in History - October 21

Happy birthday to Joyce Randolph, the original...and only true "Trixie" of "The Honeymooners."

1096:  DURING THE PEOPLE'S CRUSADE, THE TURKISH ARMY SUCCESSFULLY FIGHT OFF THE PEOPLE'S ARMY OF THE WEST.

Rhetorical question: was there a People's Army of the East?

1097:  FIRST CRUSADE - CRUSADERS LED BY GODFREY OF BOUILLION BEGIN THE SIEGE OF ANTIOCH.

Against Bouillion, the enemy was really in the soup.

1520:  FERDINAND MAGELLAN DISCOVERS A STRAIT NOW KNOWN AS STRAIT OF MAGELLAN.

Well, that was easy to name.

1774:  FIRST DISPLAY OF THE WORD "LIBERTY" ON A FLAG, RAISED BY COLONISTS IN MASSACHUSETTS.

...and justice for all.

1797:  IN BOSTON HARBOR, THE 44-GUN US NAVY FRIGATE USS CONSTITUTION IS LAUNCHED.

I always love the word "frigate."

1824:  JOSEPH ASPDIN PATENTS PORTLAND CEMENT.

A national holiday declared by the Mafia.

1833:  ALFRED NOBEL IS BORN.

He invented dynamite and that stupid award.

1854:  FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE AND 38 NURSES ARE SENT TO THE CRIMEAN WAR.

I wonder how many of them were cute.  And wearing squeaky shoes.

1861:  THE CIVIL WAR - UNION FORCES UNDER COLONEL EDWARD BAKER ARE DEFEATED BY CONFEDERATE TROOPS IN THE SECOND MAJOR BATTLE OF THE WAR.

Back when they were not shy about raising that flag.

1879:  THOMAS EDISON INVENTS A WORKABLE ELECTRIC LIGHT BULB.

Good.  Now he could see the other things he was inventing.

1902:  IN THE US, A FIVE-MONTH STRIKE BY UNITED MINE WORKERS ENDS.

Dig they now must.

1921:  PRESIDENT WARREN G. HARDING DELIVERS THE FIRST SPEECH BY A SITTING US PRESIDENT AGAINST LYNCHING IN THE DEEP SOUTH.

He was sitting because he wanted to.  FDR was sitting because he had to.

1921:  "THE SHEIK" STARRING RUDOLPH VALENTINO PREMIERES.

And women swoon all over America.

1924:  ACTRESS JOYCE RANDOLPH IS BORN.

I met her once.  Nice lady.

1928:  BASEBALL STAR WHITEY FORD IS BORN.

I met him once.  Dirt bag.

1940:  ERNEST HEMINGWAY'S NOVEL "FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS" IS PUBLISHED.

It tolls for thee.

1942:  JUDGE JUDY SHEINDLIN IS BORN.

Boy, I wish there were nine of her on the US Supreme Court.

1945:  WOMEN ARE ALLOWED TO VOTE IN FRANCE FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Viva La France.

1959:  US PRESIDENT DWIGHT EISENHOWER SIGNS AN EXECUTIVE ORDER TRANSFERRING WERNHER VON BRAUN AND OTHER GERMAN SCIENTISTS FROM THE US ARMY TO NASA.

Outer space, here we come.

1959:  IN NEW YORK CITY, THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM OPENS TO THE PUBLIC.

Yeah, that round looking building.

1967:  VIETNAM WAR - MORE THAN 100,000 PROTESTERS GATHER IN WASHINGTON, DC.  A PEACEFUL RALLY IS HELD AT THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL.

As opposed to the thousand other non-peaceful rallies that will happen over the next five years.

1969:  POET JACK KEROUAC DIES.

On the road no more.

1973:  JOHN PAUL GETTY III'S EAR IS CUT OFF BY HIS KIDNAPPERS AND MAILED TO A NEWSPAPER IN ROME.  IT DOESN'T ARRIVE UNTIL NOVEMBER 8.

Forget the ear.   That's some shitty mail service.

1973:  FRED DRYER OF THE LA RAMS BECOMES THE FIRST PLAYER IN NFL HISTORY TO SCORE TWO SAFETIES IN THE SAME GAME.

Seems odd that it took that long.

1979:  MOSHE DAYAN RESIGNS FROM THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT BECAUSE OF DISAGREEMENTS OVER POLICY TOWARDS THE ARABS.

Moshe Dayan:  "Are they coming on the left?"

1983:  BASEBALL PITCHER ZACK GREINKE IS BORN.

He had a phenomenal season for the Dodgers in 2015 and hasn't been the same since he left.

1984:  FILM DIRECTOR FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT DIES.

Truly that was the Last Metro.

1990:  ICE CREAM KING TOM CARVEL DIES.

Yes, I worked for him.   And, yes, I believe he was murdered.

1992:  LAWYER JIM GARRISON DIES.

Back and to the left.  Back and to the left.  Back and to the left.

2003:  ACTOR FRED "RERUN" BERRY DIES.

No longer happening.

2012:  POLITICIAN GEORGE MCGOVERN DIES.

And he thought he lost big in 1972.

2013:  RECORD SMOG CLOSES THE CITY OF HARBIN, CHINA.

Doesn't say much about the emission controls over there.

2014:  PUBLISHER BEN BRADLEE DIES.

All The President's Dead Men.

2015:  COMIC MARTY INGELS DIES.

Making Shirley Jones a widow.

2019:  ACTOR JERRY FOGEL DIES.

The last member of "The Mothers-In-Law."  Interviewed him once.   Nice, nice guy.

Dinner last night:  Leftover chicken marsala.

The Uninvited

 

For me, this is the most bittersweet fact of 2020 and COVID-19.  A Dodger World Series and I can't be there.  As the fall classic is played in a Arlington, Texas bubble, there will be a daily attendance of 11,500.   

None of them named "me."  Good friends are throwing a helluva party and I am not on the guest list.

This hit me like a dump truck of bricks on Sunday as I watched the deciding NLCS game in virtual solitude.   Alone.   And in silence since I like to keep my finger on the mute button to drown out that melon-headed idiot John Smoltz.

These are the moments where true baseball fans need to be there.   The game normally would have played out in Dodger Stadium.  I would have been there in my season seats.   Loge Aisle 120, Row L, Seat 1.

Nope.

Getting your team to the World Series doesn't happen a lot.   Being there for the winning game is a needle in a haystack.   I remember being in Shea Stadium when the Mets won it all in 1986.   I turned to my friend and said that we need to savor the moment because it is very, very rare.

Indeed, there are many moments missed by people in this cesspool of a year called 2020.   Senior proms.   Senior plays.  Weddings.  College and high school graduations.  Even memorials for those who succumbed to the coronavirus.  There are the parts of life...and death...which you never get back.

The 2020 World Series with the Dodgers is my missed opportunity this year.  Such baseball nirvana needs to shared with a community.   It's an experience that requires the participation of both friends and strangers.   A triumphant World Series is not to be celebrated on your living room couch.  

Oddly enough, a friend in Texas had tickets to the NLCS games.   I had my chance.  Airfare, even in these trying and desperate times, was cost prohibitive.  And a two-day drive one-way is too much driving for this intrepid motorist.

Even more oddly enough, I do have access to tickets if the World Series would get to Game 6.   Again, who knows about airfare?  And I really don't have friends that adventurous and impulsive to make the journey with me.

Still, I need to capture the enjoyment of these games somehow.  Maybe I'll go to a bar.   Or the Dodger Stadium parking lot.  Or somebody else's living room.  

Beyond the baseball aspect, I see this upcoming World Series as a metaphor for life in 2020.   It's time to be out among the living.   We have been trapped in our cells for too long.   

Life...like a winning World Series...doesn't come around that often.   Enjoy it.

Dinner last night:  Leftover Chinese food.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - October 19, 2020

 Even the British version of QVC can have its funny moments.

Dinner last night:  Chicken marsala.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - The World Series 20 Year Ago

It's that time of year.  Even in COVID-laden 2020.   The World Series will play out.   In a bubble down in Arlington, Texas.    

There seems to be something wrong with that.   The World Series doesn't seem right if it's not playing games in Los Angeles or Chicago or Boston or....

New York.   Ah, the World Series games of my childhood when it always seemed to be the Yankees playing one of the other teams in town.   The Giants or the Dodgers or...

The Mets.   Yes, that happened.   20 years ago this week.   And I managed to go to NY for those games and I went to four of the five games played.

It was exhilarating to see New York so alive.   Given that less than one year later, we had 9/11.

But I remember getting a seat among the Yankee Stadium bleacher contingent who took the Met cap of a ten-year-old and threw it on the outfield grass.   This was the game that reminded me of my youth.  Popping down on the subway.   I was ten years old myself...all over again.   I, of course, was smart enough to wear neutral clothing in enemy territory.

The Mets blew Game One in the ninth inning and the contest dragged into extras.   When the Yanks got the winning hit in the 12th inning, that may have been the last time I ran fast.   I had no interest in the celebration.  My goal was to get the subway uptown with as few Yankee fans as possible.

I flew up the steps to the Jerome Avenue station.   Ideally, there was a train in place.   

Empty.

I sat down in the car and could hear and feel the crowd exiting the stadium and coming up the stairs.

Close the doors.

CLOSE THE DOORS.

CLOSE THE FUCKING DOORS!!!!

Finally, after a minute or an eternity, the train doors closed and I was still by myself.

Phew.

For Game 4 at Shea Stadium, I had to be in Manhattan for work.  So, for the first time ever, I opted to travel to Queens via a ferry that landed at the Flushing Bay Marina.   How different was that?   Even more different was the fact that I was seated next to Matthew Broderick.   I resisted the urge to ask where his wife was.

Only in New York.

But then there was the fatal Game 5 the very next night as the Mets faced elimination.   

Thursday, October 26, 2000. Unbeknownst to us at the time, this would be the last World Series ever to played at now-halfway-dismantled Shea Stadium. 

In a very tight game, the Yankees manage to pull it together in the top of the ninth. As future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera attempts to close it out for the Bronx contingent, the final hopes rest on the shoulders of Mike Piazza. He offers one mighty swing and sends one soaring to the centerfield wall. 

On most nights, this is a home run. But, in the late October misty air of Flushing Bay, the moisture holds the ball in the air long enough for it to be pocketed by centerfielder Bernie Williams. The Yankees celebrate at Shea Stadium, of all places. Manager Joe Torre is hoisted aloft, sobbing all the while. 

Another great Fall for the Yankees. Another mighty fall for the Mets. 

Watching from the third base of the mezzanine level are yours truly and my best friend from high school, Danny. Being true baseball fans and sportsmen, we did not skulk into the night with disgust. We stayed and watched the festivities. 

Next to us were two Yankee fans. A dad and his eight-year-old son. The youngster is decked out in the warmest of Yankee apparel. He is grinning from ear to ear. Danny and I remember the feeling of being there in 1986 when our own team was doing all the whoop-de-doing. We leaned over and shook the boy's hand in congratulations. He thanked us and continued to bask in his life's most significant moment to date. 

It was the dad's response that has always stuck with me. 

"This is great and all, but, for his sake, I hope they lose one of these years." 

Huh? 

He continued in the role of Hugh Beaumont as Beaver's wise old dad. 

"Ever since he got interested in baseball, the Yankees win every year. They need to lose so he can finally understand what it is to be a true fan." 

Sheer brilliance and wisdom among the hot dog wrappers of Section 22. A father who truly knew how to balance life with fandom. I've taught about that exchange many times. Every time my team loses a playoff or a division title or a close game. And I think about that kid who, in the very next year, probably learned and cried a lot when the Yankees blew Game 7 of the 2001 World Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

I wonder if the kid is still a Yankee rooter. I should do hope so. Because that would make him a real fan.  

But, in the past twenty years, perhaps the kid has graduated college and maybe moved to the Midwest and roots for the Kansas City Royal.   Indeed, I'm much less a Met fan and now more a Dodger fan in 2020.   

You never know what can happen in two decades.  Or the past six months for that matter.   Whatever the case, thank goodness for memories. 

And the ability to have them.

Dinner last night:  Barbecued pork and fried rice from Mandarette.

Classic TV Theme Song of the Month - October 2020

 This premiered in the fall of 1960.   For those who have very long memories.   You will note that reruns cannot be found on the likes of Me TV or Antenna.

Dinner last night:  Grilled gruyere cheese with bacon.

Your Weekend Movie Guide for October 2020

 

Well, there are movies actually playing in some theaters across the country.   But still nothing in New York and Los Angeles.   Idiots.   So I go back into the archives for what was playing in October five years ago.

We start with a vintage photo of the Egyptian Theater which still exists on Hollywood Boulevard and shows classic films to this very day.   You can't see the wonderful stone courtyard here but it has been wonderfully refurbished.   And the Pig N'Whistle is still serving patrons next door and, yes, I have been there, too.

Hmmm, I wonder what's playing at the Egyptian.  Oh, wait.  Nothing.

Pan:   Apropos title.  By both critics and audiences.

The Wire:  Review coming shortly.  Look at the screen, not down.

Black Mass:  Reviewed here recently.  The Sopranos Go to Fenway Park.

Everest:   I guess this is another one to be avoided if you're afraid of heights.

Grandma:  Reviewed here last month.  This will be Lily Tomlin's next Oscar nomination.

Truth:  All about how Dan Rather got fired and I hear the movie is so stilted that the title of the film doesn't fit.

Meet the Patels:  I still haven't really met the Nelsons.

Goosebumps:  I think this is a kid's book or something.

Room:  A woman and her son have been locked in a small room for years.   So I'm guessing no wi-fi?

Bridge of Spies:   Heavy Oscar buzz from Tom Hanks and director Steven Spielberg.   All about that U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers in 1962.  Okay, you talked me into it.

Meadowland:  Not plural, so I guess this isn't about where Jimmy Hoffa is buried.

OzLand:  Okay, let me guess...

The Martian:  Matt Damon gets stuck on Mars.   Unfortunately, this isn't a documentary.

Woodlawn:  It's about a high school football team in Alabama, not the cemetery where my grandparents are buried in the Bronx.

Meru:  Yet another mountain climbing movie.

Straight Outta Compton:   Still hanging around theaters.   Worth your time. Surprisingly.

Steve Jobs:  The computer guy gets the Aaron Sorkin treatment.  Not sure if he deserved that.

Sleeping with Other People:  For those who simply can't miss a Jason Sudeikis romantic comedy.

Stonewall:   The gay bar in the 60s, not the Civil War soldier.

Trash:  A super-bad title for a movie.

The Intern:  Robert DeNiro and Anne Hathaway.   Talk about your odd pairing.

I Spit On Your Grave 3:  Gee, three movies.   That's a lot of saliva.

Hotel Transylvania 2:  Oh, good, now it's a chain.

Sicario:  Drug border war between the US and Mexico.   Okay, so this is a piece of fiction?

Maze Runner - The Scorch Trials:  Another film franchise that I'm apparently missing.

A Walk in the Woods:   This Robert Redford-Nick Nolte came out a month ago and I defy you to find a theater that's running it.

All Things Must Pass - The Rise and Fall of Tower Records:  A record store? What's that?

Crimson Peak:  A young woman in Victorian England visits a house with spooky secrets.  Oh.  That's code for "I have nothing else to say."

Experimenter:  A 1961 psychological experiment goes awry.   God, I hate when that happens.

Medusa:  Okay, let me guess on this one, too.

This Changes Everything:  A documentary about climate change.   Kill.  Me. Now.

A Brilliant Young Mind:  That was me for about five minutes.

Big Stone Gap:  An Appalachian mining town.   With Patrick Wilson, Ashely Judd...and Whoopi Goldberg????!!!!????

Freeheld:  The past tense of the town in New Jersey.

Goodnight Mommy:  A horror film.  Of course.

Knock Knock:   Who's there?  Not me.

99 Homes: A guy who forecloses on homes.   Oh, so it's a comedy.

Pawn Sacrifice:  I hate chess.  Just sayin'.

Dinner last night:  A rarity.  McDonald's Chicken McNuggets and fries.

The COVID-19 By-Product # 247

 

As we enter our seventh or eighth or nineteenth month of this pandemic, I discovered yet another residual effect of this nonsense.  

I don't have a sound sleep any more.

I thought it was just me.

I'll go to bed about 11:30PM after a half hour or so of watching TV while lying across my bed on my stomach like I used to do when I was twelve.  That's been pretty much my norm since...well...since I was twelve.

Usually, I can go through the overnight with just one interruption for the bathroom.   

Since COVID, the overnight breaks are frequent.   Oh, I go to the bathroom but only because I am up, not because I have to.

The wake up times are pretty steady.   1;30AM.   3:30AM.  5:30AM.   I wake up for the day at 7:30AM.  I am as regular as a Metro North train.

Meanwhile, during those short stints, it's tough to get a good dream going.  The ones I have are very vivid and frequently reflective of something that might have happened in the past day.   All of a sudden, my mind has turned into a cable news network.

None of this has been the usual routine prior to last March.

Oh, and one other thing.   Twice, I have awakened in the middle of the night because I have fallen out of bed.  Hard.   Given that I sleep in a queen size bed and usually center myself in the middle, there must be a lot of thrashing underway to move me to the edge.   This is also an issue because my new bed is higher than most.  If I sit on the side of the bed, my feet are about five inches from the floor.

I can remember the dreams in place on both falls.   The first time, I was stepping into an unsteady boat.  Last week, the tumble happened because I was running away from a burglar.   Since our building has had recent break-ins, I guess I am just projecting to the current events.

On the last tumble, I got a nasty bruise on my chest because the said burglar I came in contact with was really my night table.

Forever the researcher, I've asked the question of some friends.  They are in similar boats, not counting the one I was trying to get into.   Also my trainer who is having the same two hour nightly cat naps.   I ask everybody what causes this all.

The answer is simple and now becoming incredibly routine.

COVID.

So there you are.

Dinner last night:  Maple bourbon bacon salad.