Happy New Year 52 Years Ago

 Hmmmm.  Maybe this will be the year for the Jets.   And the Mets.

Dinner last night:  Grilled bratwurst.

Len's Recipe of the Month - December 2021

 

So, with another COVID Christmas, the above photo was the sum total of my baking for the holiday.   But, it was well worth it.   Admittedly, this looks like a basic bundt cake.   But, hold on...

This is a recipe from the South and, in lieu of milk or water, it uses...get this...Coca Cola as the primary liquid.   The result is perhaps one of the most moist cakes you will ever enjoy.  

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a bundt cake pan with non-stick spray.

Mix the following ingredients into a single mixing bowl.

1 box chocolate cake mix.

1 box instant chocolate pudding.  

4 large eggs at room temperature.

3/4 cup (1 stick and 1/2) melted and unsalted butter.

3/4 cup of Coca Cola.   The sweetened kind.

I used a stand mixer to blend this all together, but you can probably use a hand mixer or even a whisk.

When all smoothed together, pour into the bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cake cool for about 10-15 minutes.   And this is critical.  At that point, remove the cake from the pan.   If you wait much longer, it will stick to the pan.

Now some recipes include a chocolate sauce, but I went without that.   Instead, a side dollop of fresh whipped cream made with mascarpone cheese works very well.

Enjoy!

Dinner last night:  Omelet with Taylor ham and cheese.

This Date in History - December 29

 

Love is all around.  Except maybe on this blog.  And, especially not for...

1170:  ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY THOMAS BECKET IS ASSASSINATED BY FOLLOWERS OF KING HENRY II.

A Canterbury Tale not worth telling a second time.

1778:  DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR, 3,500 BRITISH SOLDIERS CAPTURE SAVANNAH, GEORGIA WITHOUT FIRING A SHOT.

Who was commanding these troops?  Deputy Barney Fife?

1786:  DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, THE ASSEMBLY OF NOTABLES IS CONVENED.

What the hell is a notable?  Knowing the French, this involved wine.

1813:  BRITISH SOLDIERS BURN BUFFALO, NEW YORK, DURING THE WAR OF 1812.

Gee, those Brits are feisty on December 29ths throughout history.  And how hard is it to burn Buffalo in the middle of the winter?  They must have about 39 feet of snow by now.  Meanwhile, what's with the noteworthy War of 1812 event happening in 1813?

1845:  THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS IS ADMITTED AS THE 28TH U.S. STATE. 

Most of the people there still think Texas is a separate country.

1851:  THE FIRST AMERICAN YMCA OPENS IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

And, for the first time ever, husbands have someplace to go after getting kicked out of the house.

1890:  UNITED STATES SOLDIERS KILL MORE THAN 200 OGLALA LAKOTA PEOPLE IN THE WOUNDED KNEE MASSACRE.

Burying lots of hearts at Wounded Knee.  Now it's probably a gaming casino.

1911:  MONGOLIA GAINS INDEPENDENCE FROM THE QING DYNASTY.

But they got to keep the popular Chinese buffet item, Mongolian Beef.

1936:  ACTRESS MARY TYLER MOORE IS BORN.

Since the Dick Van Dyke Show started in 1960, this gives you an idea on how young she was when she got that part.  Still miss her.

1938:  ACTOR JON VOIGHT IS BORN.

I mention it only because I see in the neighborhood drug store all the time.  I've also been on the same plane with him to NY not once, but twice.  Jon, please stop stalking me.

1940:  DURING WORLD WAR II, THE LUFTWAFFE FIRE-BOMBS LONDON, KILLING ALMOST 200 CIVILIANS. 

What is the definition of "almost?"  198?  199?  Just curious.

1947:  ACTOR TED DANSON IS BORN.

Cheers!

1949:  KC2XAK OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, BECOMES THE FIRST UHF TELEVISION STATION TO OPERATE A DAILY SCHEDULE.

Does anybody these days even remember UHF?  When I was a kid, it was nothing but Spanish game shows and wrestling.

1975:  A BOMB EXPLODES AT LA GUARDIA AIRPORT IN NEW YORK CITY, KILLING ELEVEN PEOPLE.

Okay, at least, it's not listed as "killing almost 12."  Those New Yorkers like to get things on the nose.

1973:  BASEBALL EXECUTIVE THEO EPSTEIN IS BORN.

With all his success, I bet he's lousy at Strat-O-Matic.

1997:  HONG KONG BEGINS TO KILL ALL THE NATION'S 1.25 MILLION CHICKENS TO STOP THE SPREAD OF A DEADLY INFLUENZA STRAIN.

Which is why, for three months afterward, you could get Kung Pao Chicken very cheap at your local takeout place.

2009:  FORMER PRO WRESTLER AND FOOTBALL PLAYER STEVE "DR. DEATH" WILLIAMS DIES.

Would he still be alive if he called himself "Dr. Birth?"

2020:  DESIGNER PIERRE CARDIN DIES.

Used his cologne....like...years ago.

Dinner last night:  Prosciutto pizza at Eataly.

The Wonder Years Go to Ireland

 

Or something like that.

So begins the 2021 award season as I have received my first screeners.   And the very first one I watched was this charming slice of Irish life called "Belfast."  In retrospect, it's one I wish I had seen in a theater rather on my couch, although the intimacy lends to the film's success.

This comes from writer-director Kenneth Branagh and, after the movie was over, I confirmed what I thought.   He hails from Belfast and was probably the same age as Buddy the hero of the film in 1969 when it was set.   You can feel the personal touches in every frame.   You know this is all probably true-to-life and a chapter from Branagh's early life.

It's August 1969 and the violence is starting up in Belfast between Protestant Irish and Catholic Irish.   Young Buddy's family is Protestant and trying to stay out of harm's way while dealing with rent money, marital strife, and aging grandparents.   But, in the middle of it all, Buddy strives to do things that a youngster would do and that includes the apple of his eye in school, a young Catholic girl named Catherine.

Against the historical backdrop, you see Buddy and his family doing such mundane things as watching "Star Trek."   The movie is in glorious black and white but comes to Technicolor life when the family goes out to the movies and see such movies as "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."  Indeed, the familiar issues for this household were no different than any other family in 1969 against the agitated background of the late 60s.   That's where the comparison to the old "Wonder Years" comes into play.   "Belfast" resonates in the same manner and, at a tight 97 minutes, tells the story of the times efficiently and beautifully.   

Save for Judi Dench as the grandmother, the cast was largely unknown to me and that helped demonstrate the commonplace situation all the more.  As Buddy, youngster Jude Hill shines.

So whether you have it free on an industry DVD or it's your local cinematic emporium, "Belfast" is well worth your time.

LEN'S RATING:  Four stars.

Dinner last night:  Leftover chicken.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - December 27, 2021

How prophetic.   Just last New Year's Eve.  We were warned.

 

Dinner last night:  Leftover chicken.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - The Last Really Good New Year's Eve

 

Truth be told, it was 10 years ago.   Maybe the last time I will do anything "decent" on this pretty useless holiday.   Of course, with this year and last year being germ-laden, we may never go out again.

Kristin Chenoweth, if you're Googling yourself and you wind up on this link, please provide with me a mailing address.  I want to formally send you a thank you note for giving me the last good New Year's Eve.

Steady (or, more likely, unsteady) readers to this blog were witnesses to my recent lamentations about New Year's Eve and the horribleness of my more recent celebrations.  The one in 2009 was the absolute worst as I dined with a bunch of complete strangers who were the conversational equivalents of torn underwear.

Well, if I can have the kind of enjoyment that I got at Disney Hall one year later, New Year's Eve in my life will have at least one highlight..  Chenoweth's four foot-eleven package of talent made that year-end festivity tower over anything I've done since the New Year's Eve I was kissing complete strangers at Shout in New York.  In this age of hand sanitizers and variants, who wants to be doing that anyway?

I officially saw Kristin Chenoweth sing "I Say A Little Prayer" three different times in 2010.  Twice when I saw the wonderful and now-sadly-shuttered "Promises, Promises" on Broadway and one more time at Disney Hall.  I really had little exposure to her prior to this past year, except for occasionally hearing her do that "Popular" ditty from "Wicked."  Now I'm a fan and a ticket buyer for anything else she attends either in Los Angeles or New York.  Kristin, if you're playing Fargo, North Dakota, you're on your own.

Disney Hall is a cool and intimate venue.  Huge on the outside, it is incredibly warm and cozy inside.  Actually, downright hot.  Both times I have been at this concert hall, the temperature rose to Turkish bath proportions.  With an hour, you have completely sweated off the ribeye steak you had for dinner.

Perspiration aside, Kristin used the tight quarters to her advantage.  She sang as if she was doing it in your own living room.  A one-to-one touchstone  that very few artists can master.  It quickly became a very personal experience.  Beyond the song stylings, Kristin connected with us by using the time in between tunes to talk about her In N' Out Burger cravings, her use of hand sanitizers, and other little anecdotes that immediately put the star on the level of her audience. 

I was stoked because she borrowed for the evening a rather liberal portion of the "Promises, Promises" company.  Her band was from their orchestra.  The back-up singers were the Turkey Lurkey girls.  One of her dancers was one of the office guys using CC Baxter's apartment.  I began to wonder if that night's NY performance of "Promises" had been done by Sean Hayes and selected members of the local Salvation Army band.

The's night songbook was a collection of Broadway tunes, standards, and, given Chenoweth's Christian background, one song that was very Gospel-oriented.  She prefaced the latter by advising the audience that, if you don't believe in Jesus, the song would be over in three minutes.  Frankly, I give her props for sticking to her religious stance and also acknowledging that there might be some in the crowd who did not.  For me, there were no issues and that number got one of the more rousing receptions of the night.

Of course, you rarely can go to any performance in Los Angeles without the now-standard moment of editorializing by whatever star you are seeing.  Kristin Chenoweth at Disney Hall was no different.

"I'm not actually a very political person...but..."

Here it came.  The now routine reminder that we need to support our President, which was Obama at that moment.  This played well on New Year's Eve, but I wondered how and if Kristin does the same sermonizing when she does a show in Bumfuk, Kansas.  Unlikely.  Personally, I'm against any performer using their show to extend their political opinions whether I agree or not.  It's a stage, not a pulpit.  Many of us attend performances to escape the horrors of the world outside, not hear another viewpoint on it. 

Chenoweth rambled on with her take on discrimination and harassment, most particularly with the gay community.  No issues from me on this, but, now, my thoughts shifted to how complex a life she must have.  Here she is.  A very Christian woman working in a Broadway environment which is always predominantly homosexual.  Yep, there must be a lot of layers to this lady.

While a virtual show stopper, the sermonizing was short enough that the evening's momentum was not lost.  Midnight arrived and we all celebrated together.  Kristin did one or two more numbers and off she went back to New York to do the very final performance of 'Promises, Promises."

New Year's Eve was back.  At least for this one night.  

And probably forever.

Dinner last night:  Chicken Scarpariello.

Classic Movie Trailer of the Month - December 2021

On this Christmas Day, is there a better trailer than the one that heralded the arrival of my favorite Christmas movie of all time??

Dinner last night:  Pepperoni Pizza from Maria's.

Merry Christmas From My Tree to Yours

 Hope the holiday is safe and healthy and filled with good friends and love.

Dinner last night:  Grilled Taylor Ham with egg and cheese on an English muffin.

But It's Jolly Old St. Nick!

 

Dinner last night:  Roast chicken at the home of good friends Amir and Kevin.

This Date in History - December 22

 

"Ward, I'm worried about this date in history."

69 AD: EMPEROR VITELLIUS IS CAPTURED AND MURDERED BY THE GEMONIAN STAIRS IN ROME.

With my bum knees, stairs kill me, too.

1807:  THE EMBARGO ACT, FORBIDDING TRADE WITH ALL FOREIGN COUNTRIES, IS PASSED BY THE U.S. CONGRESS AT THE URGING OF PRESIDENT THOMAS JEFFERSON.

But how will we get our really cheap clothing??

1809:  THE NON-INTERCOURSE ACT, LIFTING THE EMBARGO ACT EXCEPT FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM AND FRANCE, IS PASSED BY THE U.S. CONGRESS.

Well, that didn't last long.  Frankly, I can't get behind anything that promotes non-intercourse.

1851:  THE FIRST FREIGHT TRAIN IS OPERATED IN ROORKEE, INDIA.

"Freight" in India means "people."  Lots and lots and lots of people.

1864:  SAVANNAH, GEORGIA FALLS TO GENERAL WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN, CONCLUDING HIS "MARCH TO THE SEA." 

Who wants to go to the shore in the dead of winter?

1890:  CORNWALLIS VALLEY RAILWAY BEGINS OPERATION BETWEEN KINGSPORT AND KENTVILLE, NOVA SCOTIA.

With a daily shuttle to that freight train in Roorkee, India.

1894:  THE DREYFUS AFFAIR BEGINS IN FRANCE, WHEN ALFRED DREYFUS IS WRONGLY ACCUSED OF TREASON ON ANTI-SEMITIC GROUNDS. 

Years later, Richard Dreyfuss is wrongly accused of treason on anti-shark grounds.  Okay, that's the best joke I had for this.

1912:  FORMER FIRST LADY LADY BIRD JOHNSON IS BORN.

Lady lady?  First one to make a Jerry Lewis joke wins.

1915:  ACTRESS BARBARA BILLINGSLEY IS BORN.

The woman who always made me ask the perennial question: why did my mother vacuum the hallway in high heels?

1917:  GAME SHOW HOST GENE RAYBURN IS BORN.

When the labor pains started to kick in, Mrs. Rayburn screamed "blank."

1937:  THE LINCOLN TUNNEL OPENS TO TRAFFIC IN NEW YORK CITY.

Completely backed up on December 23, 1937.  So, is this date a big one to open up new public transportation shit or what?

1942:  DURING WORLD WAR II, ADOLF HITLER SIGNS THE ORDER TO DEVELOP THE V-2 ROCKET AS A WEAPON.

All because he messed up the oral quiz on pastels.

1947:  THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY OF ITALY APPROVES THE CONSTITUTION OF ITALY.

Later on, the Constituent Assembly of Poland approved the Constitution of Ohio.

1949:  BEE GEES MAURICE AND ROBIN GIBB ARE BORN.

Just so you know that this author is still learning things every day.  I had no idea these guys were twins.

1953:  ACTRESS BERN'NADETTE STANIS IS BORN.

Good times, bad punctuation.

1956:  COLO, THE FIRST GORILLA TO BE BRED IN CAPTIVITY, IS BORN.

Or as his parents later named him.  Co'Lo.

1965:  IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, A 70 MPH SPEED LIMIT IS APPLIED TO ALL RURAL ROADS.  PREVIOUSLY, THERE HAD BEEN NO SPEED LIMIT.

Hey, why not?  After all, what was everybody rushing home for?  Mum's home cooking?

1979:  MOVIE PRODUCER DARRYL F. ZANUCK DIES.

Turns out December 22 was the shortest day for him.

1984:  BERNIE GOETZ SHOOTS FOUR WOULD-BE AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUGGERS ON A MANHATTAN SUBWAY.

I'm still wondering why we don't get this day off.

1990:  THE PARLIAMENT OF CROATIA ADOPTS THE CURRENT CONSTITUION OF CROATIA.

Since it worked out so well for Italy in 1947.

1995:  ACTRESS BUTTERFLY MCQUEEN DIES.

She knew nothing about birthin', but she obviously figured out how to manage the back end of the deal.

2001:  RICHARD REID ATTEMPTS TO DESTROY A PASSENGER AIRLINER BY IGNITING EXPLOSIVES IN HIS SHOES.

And you were wondering exactly when we started to remove our shoes at airport security?

2002:  SUSAN MARX (WIFE OF HARPO) DIES.

Now she's not talking either.

2002:  MARY MARX (WIFE OF CHICO) DIES.

WTF!  A suicide pact?  Cashing in on a bulk discount at the funeral parlor?

2014:  MUSICIAN JOE COCKER DIES.

So much for the help from your friends.

Dinner last night:   Chicken noodle soup.

El Rebooto

 

Nobody was more skeptical about a new screen edition of "West Side Story" than me.   Why?   That was the question that kept coming to me.   I mean, sixty years ago, it won the Oscar for Best Picture along with a bunch of other categories.   Is there a point to this?

Well, apparently, yes.   Because somehow and some way director Steven Spielberg has pulled it off.  The 2021 edition of "West Side Story" seems fresh and new, even though the story is as familiar as...well...Romeo and Juliet.

Indeed, Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner has ramped this up to 2021 expectations.    The Hispanic characters are really played by Hispanics and not White folk with quick tanning bases.   And there is a little preaching about diversity.   But, at the end of 2 and a 1/2 hours, the story still is the focus.   And, by setting this back in the 60s, you had the historical perspective that a modernized version would probably ruin.

All of the beats and the production numbers are intact, even though some of the latter are moved around in sequence when compared to the original stage and screen mountings.   And the character of Doc the druggist has been replaced by his wife Valentina, played to the hilt by Rita Moreno.   The marketing department is working overtime to grab an Oscar nomination for Rita, so they can say she won an Academy Award for two versions of the same movie.   Moreno's participation (along with her Executive Producer credit) is significantly beefed up but not to distraction.

Where the 2021 reboot excels in comparison to the original movie is with the castings of the leads.   With all due respect to Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood, Ansel Elgort and Rachel Ziegler really look more like Tony and Maria.   And, thankfully, they can both sing and there is no need for the dubbing department.  My one issue with Ziegler is that, with her hair tied back, she has an incredible likeness to that political whore Alexandria Ocassio- Cortez.   But, after you get over that annoyance, you totally buy her performance.   And pray that maybe she runs for Congress.

The production is completely top notch with the NY and LA Philharmonic doing the music.   The locations were amazingly accurate.  This is a movie that needs to be seen in a theater.   Truly, the money is on the screen.

But, sadly, the money is not at the box office.  The movie has bombed in its first weekends of release.   The rationale is that this is for old people only.

But, if kids would only give it a chance...  I mean, you need to see it simply as a final homage to Stephen Sondheim who supposedly saw the film and approved it before he died.

If he was happy with the outcome, he should be.

LEN'S RATING:  Four stars.

Dinner last night:  Grilled Taylor Ham.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - December 20, 2021

 This blog's annual Christmas tradition.  Hiccup!

Dinner last night:  Grilled bratwurst.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - You Still Haven't Watched My Favorite Christmas Movies??

 

There's really no excuse if you answered no to the above question.   I mean, you were probably quarantined last December.   And it looks like we're headed in that direction again.

Yes, it's back.   My annual holiday service to you.   And don't we all need a break today?  One more year and one more Sunday for me to push these wonderful holiday-themed movies.

Maybe the weather outside is frightful.  Or you're wrapping presents.  Baking cookies.  You might want to multi-task by watching one of these movie suggestions.  They're all available on DVD.  And Turner Classic Movies shows several of them every year. 

These are my 10 must-watch movies for every Christmas.  And please note that "Miracle on 34th Street,"  "It's A Wonderful Life," and "A Christmas Story" are not included.  Don't get me wrong.  They are all terrific films, but played to death everywhere but in my house.  These movies all have personal connections to me in some shape or form.  So, if you disagree, I hope there's some coal mixed in with your buttered popcorn.

1.  I saw "Meet Me in St. Louis" in a theater for the very first time two years ago.  They dragged out co-star June Lockhart for a post-film question-and-answer.  Ironically, most of the people were there to ask her all about the TV show "Lost in Space."  Hell, I want to know what Angela Cartwright is doing myself.  

None of that has anything to do with how wonderful a holiday treat this movie is.  Truth be told, Christmas only makes up one-quarter of the movie as it follows the Smith family through one whole year prior to the opening of the St. Louis World Fair in 1904.  Each portion is devoted to a calendar season and Christmas dominates the winter as it should.  

The scene where a dateless Judy Garland has to dance with her grandfather at the big Christmas Eve ball is priceless.  He twirls her around the Christmas tree and she magically reappears with her beau who was late in arriving.  One of those very simple cinematic moments that only director Vincente Minnelli could turn into pure gold.  

Of course, this is the film that sports my very favorite Christmas song..."Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."   If you've heard countless versions of this ditty, you need to listen to the very best rendition by Miss Garland.

I remember watching "Meet Me in St. Louis" with my mom when I was about seven or eight.  In the middle of it all, she blurts out "if you had been a girl, I was going to name you Judy."

Okay.   So, there's that. 

2.  This is a mid-40s classic from the Warner Brothers back lot. In fact, they don't even get off a soundstage. For a movie from that era, it is still surprisingly modern. Because star Barbara Stanwyck plays a character very similar to Martha Stewart. A magazine writer who specializes in being an expert on hearth and home. And supposedly the greatest cook on the planet.

Her publisher hits on a publicity stunt where Stanwyck will provide a home-cooked Christmas meal for an injured soldier. Except nobody knows the woman can't cook and hasn't got one single domestic talent. The plot spins out into several directions from there, but it is all delicious screwball-y fun. And any movie that features S.Z "Cuddles" Sakall is okay in my book. This is a perfect film to watch while wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve day.  Or if you're finished off a quart of egg nog.   With popularity of the Food Network, this movie should be remade.   I want to work on that script now.

3.  This is technically not a Christmas movie, but it should be, since all the action happens around the holidays. This 1941 movie is another one that never leaves a Warner Brothers soundstage, but it really doesn't have to. You may know that this was originally a big hit on Broadway as written by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. And two members of that cast, Monty Wooley and Mary Wickes, reprise their roles in the movie, which features the most razor sharp dialogue ever captured on celluloid. 

There's not one unclever moment in the entire six reels. Who can't identify with the holiday guest who just won't leave? In this case, it's renowed critic and lecturer Sheridan Whiteside, who sprains his ankle and then sets up camp in somebody else's house for the holidays. As portrayed by Wooley, Whiteside is loosely based on Alexander Woolcott and he has one great barb after another. He's described this way: "He would have his mother burned at the stake if that was the only way he could light his cigarette." I wish people talked like these characters in real life. 

When Whiteside's nurse (Mary Wickes) forbids him from eating some candy, he retorts, "My great Aunt Jennifer ate a box of candy every day of her life. She lived to be one hundred and two, and when she had been dead for three days, she looked better than you do now." If that's not enough, throw in the fact that this is the only movie in history that co-starred Bette Davis and Jimmy Durante! Grab a box of your own candy and savor this great Christmas treat.

4.  Yeah, yeah, I know.   An obvious choice.  And, gee, Len, isn't this movie shown to death already?  Sadly, "White Christmas" is starting to fall in that category---the Christmas movie that is starting to look like your tree on January 15.  Dried out and ready for the dumpster.  You can thank some cable networks like the woefully annoying AMC for playing it over and over and over.  

Gee, thanks, idiots.  Because you're destroying another movie that landed on the list of my Top 25 Favorite Films of All Time at slot #23.  Sure, after repeated viewings, this film starts to look like "Off White Christmas."  But, miraculously, recent digital restorations have made this look glorious all over again.  All of a sudden, it's the hot and in thing to run this movie in theaters.   Try to see it on the big screen if you can.  The Aero Theater in Santa Monica runs it every December and I plan to be there one more.  But if you can't experience it on a large screen, the Blu Ray edition will do.  I'd be happy to loan you mine.

Right from the moment that Paramount's Vistavision logo exploded onto the screen to the last frames of the movie when the Pine Tree Lodge is celebrating a snowy Christmas Eve, I was moved to tears all over again.  Just like the very first time I saw it about 26 years ago.  When I was having a pretty crappy holiday and this boosted my spirits like a Vitamin B-12 injection. 

I had both my parents housed in separate hospitals with illnesses. Unfortunately, my dad was in the final stages of his cancer and this year would be his last Christmas. My mom was sequestered elsewhere dealing with one more smoke-provoked bronchial episode. I spent the holiday season shuttling between semi-private rooms located on opposite ends of Westchester. And I felt incredibly alone.

"White Christmas" gave me a little bit of hope and brightness for some darker days that would come. And it still shines for me every year.  Plus it's my second "must watch" holiday film featuring Mary Wickes.

5.  Yeah, yeah, you've never heard of it.  I did list it as #25 on my list of Top 25 Favorite Films of All Time, but perhaps you missed that entry.  And you say it's not a Christmas movie??

Oh, pish and tosh.  The film opens and ends on Christmas day one year later.  Good enough for me.  And it embodies everything that Christmas is all about.

"Since You Went Away" came out in 1944 and it is 100% devoted to the homefront during WWII. For what "Mrs. Miniver" and "Hope and Glory" did for the London bombings (and I have a good friend who lived through that), "Since You Went Away" wonderfully depicts life in the United States when most men were overseas someplace and completely out of touch with their family and loved ones. David O. Selznick produced it and hoped to do for World War II what his earlier effort "Gone With the Wind" did for the Civil War. Yes, it's almost three hours long, but it sails by and, for me, is a big screen version of the best macaroni and cheese you can ever eat.

Claudette Colbert plays the mother of Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple (here, she's a teenager and Bill Robinson-less). The family is semi-well-to-do and lives in Everytown, USA. Hattie McDaniel, who was obviously highlighted in Selznick's phone book for all servant roles, is their housekeeper and there is not a single stereotypical note to her performance. You never see the father as he has just left for active duty on Christmas Eve as the film opens. What follows is a year in the life of the Hilton family with Dad gone.

You visit USO dances. You experience food rationing and scrap metal drives. You watch as neighbors lose loved ones in battle and then sense the uneasiness as others in the community grapple to find the right words to comfort them. It is probably the truest picture of life in our country as that war raged on in Europe and the South Pacific. The courage. The resiliency. The dread. It is all here in this terrific slice of Americana.

I came to see this movie for the first time about 20 years ago. I've probably seen it once a year ever since and always during Christmas week.  For me, it is a annual reminder of my grandmother, who was a mother during World War II. And she shared virtually all of the stories that are portrayed on screen. On cold winter Sunday afternoons, I would sit in her living room and hear about rationing and community dances and the fear that wrapped around you when a letter from the government arrived in the mail. She lost a son in France in 1945---I was named after him. This movie gives me more than a history lesson. It gives me back my grandmother one more time.

"Since You Went Away" turns up on Turner Classic Movies. It is worth three hours of your time. I defy you not to well up at the end of Act 1 or just prior to the finale. I double defy you.

6.  Forget "Elf" and any other Yuletide crap that Hollywood has passed off the last few years. The best Christmas movie to be produced in the last ten or so years is "Love Actually." It's one of those ultra-episodic scripts where about 15 characters have different storylines that may or may not be connected. It's a little confusing at first, as you meet practically the entire London phone book. But, hang on and you will get a wonderful present. 

Sure, there are about five characters and three storylines too many. But, they will scoot by quickly and you can revel in the more compelling tales. Laura Linney as a single woman who can't commit to any romance. Liam Neeson who is trying to be a parent to his young stepson as they both experience their first Noel without the recently-died Mom. The shaky marriage between Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson, who breaks your heart as she listens to a Joni Mitchell CD version of "Both Sides Now." I even liked Hugh Grant as a Tony Blair-like British Prime Minister. And there is a rendition of "All I Want for Christmas is You" that gives you goose bumps. If you've ever wanted to spend Christmas in London, this is the ideal virtual way to do so.

7.  Okay, what's a Christmas without one Disney cartoon?  And this one is the best in my book.  Because it was my mother's favorite cartoon.  Curiously, I don't remember seeing it with her on one of the many Disney re-issues over the years.  But, when it came out on...wait for it...VHS several decades ago, I bought it and we watched it together one Christmas afternoon.  Suddenly, I was the child again and Mom was the parent again.  Indeed, as always happens with aging folks, the dynamic had reversed.  But, not on this day.  Thank you, Lady and the Tramp, for one of the very last good and lasting memories of my mom.

8.  And then there's Christmas with Dad.  Here's the movie that connects me to him every December.  And, no worries.  This rollicking World War II comedy has a set piece that happens on Christmas Day when Tony Curtis is trying to steal some Polynesian farmer's pig for dinner.  But, moreover, this is the movie that I remember hearing my father laughing out loud for the very first time.

I know I saw it with him in a theater.  I do believe it played at the RKO Proctors in Mount Vernon, New York around Christmas time.  This may have been the way that I was shuttled out of the house for a few hours so that Mom could wrap my presents.  A lot of the ribald gags might have gone over my head.  But I didn't care.

My dad was convulsed with laughter.  And this was not a sight I saw frequently.  Plus there was one line that he repeated over and over and over when we got home.

"Can this submarine go down?"

"Like a rock."

For some reason, Dad loved that exchange.  Meanwhile, I did the same thing with this film when it came out many years ago on....wait for it again...VHS.  I watched it with my father one holiday season. 

He still laughed.

9.  Okay, truth be told, I don't watch "Ben-Hur" every year.   Since I'm already devoting three hours to "Since You Went Away," I'm not sure I have the time to view this three-hour-plus epic.  But, frequently, I can hear the voices in my head.  Most notably that of my mother, who used to drag me to every Biblical movie ever made.  She may not have gone to church, but she sure did run to the theater every time Charlton Heston appeared in a gladiator outfit.  Oddly enough, this was not one of the movies she took me to.

But then there was one holiday season where Judah Ben-Hur and I finally crossed paths.

On December 30, 1987, I tripped on my sneaker laces coming out of my bathroom.  Falling forward, I landed on my right arm with pain so severe that it actually made me laugh.  Nevertheless, I still headed out for the evening, totally ignorant of the fact that I had fractured the rotator cuff in my right shoulder.

I was less ignorant in the morning when the excruciating pain and a neighbor drove me to the emergency room.

Happy F-ing New Year!

I couldn't raise a glass of cheer, because I could barely raise a pencil. So, I was cooped up for the frivolity. And, to get my mind off my chipped bones, I decided to rent the longest movie I could find at the video store. That would be the 1959 rendition of "Ben-Hur," which I had surprisingly never seen. And, so I sat in front of a 19 inch television, arm in a sling and watching, for the first time, one of the biggest and successful epics Hollywood had ever made. It was probably the worst way to sample this film. And I certainly have seen it several times since in much better viewing conditions. But, I can't say that I have enjoyed it more than I did that very first time.

"Ben-Hur" is total validation that, at one isolated point in the fixed universe, Charlton Heston could really act. For a movie that is so large in scope and long in running time, "Ben-Hur" is an incredibly intimate story. Because, indeed, it's about one man's spiritual awakening.

Many of the movie's sequences are so legendary that all I have to do is simply mention them and you can conjure up an immediate image. The ship's galley. The chariot race. The leper colony. But, for me, the most memorable scenes are the ones where Judah Ben-Hur encounters Jesus Christ. The first time finds a beaten Judah, enslaved in a road gang, and a traveling Jesus gives him a drink of water. Many reels later, Judah returns the favor when Christ falls in front of him while carrying the cross to his own crucifixion. The symmetry of those two points in the movie is truly amazing and wonderfully choreographed by director William Wyler.

Of course, this was in the day when Hollywood worked hard to never show Jesus Christ's face on camera. Today, they probably would have no shame and they'd probably even cast Tyler Perry in the part.

You can't truly appreciate "Ben-Hur" until you see it on a big screen. And a wide one. A really wide one like the Egyptian Theater had several years back when I saw it there.   But the Blu-Ray on the 42 inch-screen in my living room last year wasn't bad either. 

And my arm wasn't in a sling.

10.  Okay, one more and I'm saving the best for last.  Truth be told, I watch "The Apartment" every year during the week between Christmas and New Year's.  Both those holidays are featured in the film, but it's the really organic blend of comedy and drama that makes it perfect for the post-Christmas doldrums.  You will laugh.  You will cry.  You will be moved.  It is life itself and that's why "The Apartment" is my #1 favorite movie of all time.  To understand it is to understand what we all deal with every single day.

There's no magical story why I am so connected to this film.  I did not see "The Apartment" till well after I got out of college. Now, it's one I see every year. It is an essential part of my annual film viewing. But, every time I see it, there is some new emotion or nuance that reveals itself to me. Perhaps it's a look or gesture from Shirley McLaine or Fred MacMurray that I missed. Maybe it's a line of dialogue that I suddenly realize was set up by another line of dialogue one reel earlier. There's always some new discovery for me.

And maybe it will be a discovery for you.  As well as the rest of the movies on this list.  Sure to bring holiday cheer...and even a tear...to your Christmas festivities.  Watch them with friends and family.  Watch them alone.

Just watch them.   And, if the Christmas tree lights are twinkling in the background, even better.  Take an aspirin beforehand if you feel Omicron coming on.

Dinner last night:  Hot dog at the LA Farmers Market.

Classic TV Theme Song of the Month - December 2021

Not a theme song but nothing usually said Christmas better every year than the traditional Dean Martin Christmas Song.

 

Dinner last night:  Sandwich.

Your Holiday Movie Guide for December 2021

 

Christmas and the movies.   They go hand in hand at this time of year.   And, luckily in 2021, we can enjoy this duality of seasons together, albeit with masks and vaccination cards.   

Sadly, not all my favorite theaters have come back to us.   I'm thinking of you, Arclight Hollywood.   And, of course, a spectacular holiday movie at Radio City Music Hall in New York went bye bye years ago.   But, at least, there is something out there to see.   You know the drill, gang.   I'll sift through the movie listings and give you my gut reaction to what is under the cinema mistletoe these days.

Regardless of the fare, embrace the movies and Christmas one more time.

The Power of the Dog:  Could this be about a canine revolution after being forced to go on all those neighborhood walks during COVID?

Belfast:  Review coming.  Spoiler alert:  Simple and charming.

C'mon C'mon:   Reviewed here the other day.   Don't be frightened by the presence of Joaquin Phoenix in the cast.   This is pretty good.

West Side Story:  Sixty years after the original, this reboot by Steven Spielberg tries to duplicate the success and get Rita Moreno another Oscar.   I hear you need to see it in a theater.

House of Gucci:   Lady Gag Gag.   Not my house.

Spencer:  I was intrigued by this story about Lady Diana until I saw how weird the trailer was.

Don't Look Up:   An all-star cast about a comet that is plummeting toward Earth.   Unless it hits Maxine Waters, I'm not interested.

Drive My Car:  I hear good things about this film from Japan about a 20-year-old Ubering a widowed actor.   Hey, it worked for Miss Daisy.

Flee:  The film follows Amin, who, on the verge of marrying his husband, shares his story for the first time about his hidden past fleeing his home country of Afghanistan to Denmark as a refugee.  If you think that sounds dramatic, please know that it's an animated feature.

Being the Ricardos:   I will see it and I will hate it.   This film offers me the weird experience of seeing two characters on screen that I actually was friends with.

Spider-Man - No Way Home:  Is it me or is there a new Spiderman movie every week?

Nightmare Alley:  An all star cast in a story about 1940s elite NY society.  Directed by the bloated and overrated Guillermo Del Toro who made the dreadful "Shape of Water."

Encanto:  Disney Animation has grown so tedious.

Ghostbusters - Afterlife:   There is no afterlife for dull movie franchises.

The Lost Daughter:  This drama directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and it stars Olivia Colman, who is now in every movie produced in England.

The Hand of God:   I hear good things about this film from Italy about a kid growing up in 1980s Naples.

Licorice Pizza:   Paul Thomas Anderson, who directed "Boogie Nights," examines anew growing up in the San Fernando Valley during the 1970s.  I'm intrigued.

The Matrix - Resurrections:  Proud to say I have never seen a Matrix movie.

King Richard:  If Will Smith wants to make a biopic, how about one that shows us the marriage of him and his wife Jada Pinkett?

National Champions:   Something about a NCAA football coach.  Kristen Chenoweth is in it.   I doubt she is the lead.

The French Dispatch:   Cancel your subscription to this magazine.

Dinner last night:  Had a big lunch so just a little ice cream.

 

Nothing To See Here

 

Here's a new game we can play.   When you get an industry screener and pop it into your Blu-Ray, count the number of times you have to rewind it because you fell asleep.

Well, with the dreadful "French Dispatch," my rewind quota was eight.    And, just so you won't be swayed, I did not watch it at night in the dark.  It was a Sunday afternoon.  Broad daylight.   And I fell asleep in a chair, not lying supine on a sofa.

That gives you a rough idea of how lousy this film is.   Oh, it comes from Wes Anderson who has made some interesting things like "The Grand Budapest Hotel."   It's always got some sort of interesting image.   But, ultimately, I had not a clue what this was about and why.   

Allegedly, we are getting some episodic tales from the French foreign press office of a Kansas newspaper supplement.   It's loaded with people you like.   From Bill Murray to Frances McDormand to Tilda Swinton to even Henry Winkler.   

But, still....ZZZZZZZZZ.

Oh, I'm sorry.   I dozed off just writing this............................

ZZZZZZZZZZ.

LEN'S RATING:  Zzzzzzzero stars.

Dinner last night: Salad.

This Date in History - December 15

 

That's bandleader Glenn Miller and, if you're in the mood, read on.

37:  FUTURE EMPEROR NERO IS BORN.

Those childhood violin lessons didn't really pay off, did they?

533:  BYZANTINE GENERAL BELISARIUS DEFEATS THE VANDALS, COMMANDED BY KING GELIMER.

Vandals who may have spraypainted the castle walls.

1256:  HULAGU KHAN CAPTURES AND DESTROYS THE HASHSHASHIN STRONGHOLD AT ALAMUT IN PRESENT-DAY IRAN AS PART OF THE MONGOL OFFENSIVE ON ISLAMIC SOUTHWEST ASIA.

In their never-ending search for swords of mass destruction.

1863:  IN ROMANIA, THE MOUNTAIN RAILWAY FROM ANINA TO ORAVITA IS USED FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Anina, Oravita....and Cugamonga.

1890:  SIOUX NATION LEADER SITTING BULL DIES.

Now it's Lying-Stiff-As-A-Board Bull.

1891:  JAMES NAISMITH INTRODUCES THE FIRST VERSION OF BASKETBALL, WITH THIRTEEN RULES, A PEACH BASKET NAILED TO EITHER END OF HIS SCHOOL'S GYMNASIUM, AND TWO TEAMS OF NINE PLAYERS.

None of whom were sporting any body ink at the time.

1905:  THE PUSHKIN HOUSE IS ESTABLISHED IN ST. PETERSBURG TO PRESERVE THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF ALEXANDER PUSHKIN.

Long live bulletin boards.  No, wait.  Oh.  I thought it said push pin.  Never mind.

1919:  FARMER MAX YASGUR, OWNER OF THE WOODSTOCK ROCK CONCERT SITE, IS BORN.

And I bet he refused to clean up that mess.

1933:  COMEDIAN TIM CONWAY IS BORN.

So, if "McHale's Navy" was set in the 40s, that made him about 10 when he enlisted in the Navy.

1939:  "GONE WITH THE WIND" RECEIVES ITS PREMIERE AT LOEW'S GRAND THEATER IN ATLANTA.

Which future Oscar winner Hattie McDaniel was not allowed to attend because she was Black.  Nice going, Jim Crow.

1941:  THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR ADOPTS A NO-STRIKE POLICY IN WAR INDUSTRIES.

But it apparently was totally okay to hit the picket line if you were a Good Humor Man?

1944:  MUSICIAN GLENN MILLER DIES IN A PLANE CRASH.

They are listing it on this date, but apparently they don't really know.  The movie version has it happening on Christmas Day, but that was just an excuse to let June Allyson overact and shoot for an Oscar.

1946: BASEBALL MANAGER ART HOWE IS BORN.

One of the worst choices ever to be Met manager. Of course, that's before the latest fool they just fired.

1960:  RICHARD PAUL PAVLICK IS ARRESTED FOR ATTEMPTING TO BLOW UP AND ASSASSINATE US PRESIDENT-ELECT JOHN F. KENNEDY.

Had we been successful, Lee Harvey Oswald might be alive today.

1961:  IN JERUSALEM, ADOLPH EICHMANN IS SENTENCED TO DEATH AFTER BEING FOUND GUILTY OF 15 CRIMINAL CHARGES AND WAR CRIMES AGAINST THE JEWISH PEOPLE.

Did this sentence actually get carried out?  Because I swear I saw him at LAX two weeks ago catching a flight to Bolivia.

1966:  WALT DISNEY DIES.

Move the Birds Eye vegetable bags.  I need to make room in the freezer.

1976:  SAMOA BECOMES A MEMBER OF THE UNITED NATIONS.

To honor the occasion, several Girl Scouts set up snack trays full of cookies outside.

1978:  PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER ANNOUNCES THAT THE UNITED STATES WILL RECOGNIZE THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND CUT OFF ALL RELATIONS WITH TAIWAN.

Unlike Biden who probably doesn't even recognize his wife anymore.

2001:  THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA REOPENS AFTER 11 YEARS AND 27 MILLION DOLLARS TO FORTIFY IT WITHOUT FIXING ITS FAMOUS LEAN.

So what was the point?  I thought this was one of those "Build Back Better" jobs.

2010:  DIRECTOR BLAKE EDWARDS DIES.

Underrated but he was married to Julie Andrews so he ultimately wins.

2010:  PITCHER BOB FELLER DIES.

He probably still can hit 95 MPH with the fastball.

2013:  ACTRESS JOAN FONTAINE DIES.

Her sister got the last laugh and outlived her by a bunch of years.

Dinner last night:  Salad.

Black and White

 

Hopefully today's title won't get me kicked off this blog site.   Because I'm not making a political commentary.   I am simply saluting the photography featured in "C'mon C'mon."   

Black and white.   And glorious.  I love filmmakers like Mike Mills who have the guts to that in 2021.

Indeed, the colors may be pretty basic, but this movie is really all gray.  Like life itself.  

"C'mon C'mon" is one of those films where nothing happens and everything happens.  It is simple and complex.   It is sweet and sour.   

Gray.

This one star Joaquin Phoenix in perhaps his most understated and tic-less performance.  He plays a radio journalist who is going around the country interviewing via audio about their views of the future.  While he has no problem dealing with them, he soon is faced with conjuring up a relationship with nephew Jesse.   His sister is buy dealing with her estranged hubby's various psychoses in a mental facility.   She needs her brother to stay with Jesse.   But, given his work and travel, he soon takes the nine-year-old to work with on a buddy trip to New York and New Orleans.

Now Jesse is odd, perhaps inheriting some mental issues from his dad.   But, as played by young Woody Norman, he is not the wise cracking moppet you would expect in a movie like this.   In fact, the uncle and the mother and the son form an interesting triangle that will slowly change..from good to bad to back again.

The relationship between Phoenix and Norman drives this movie in ways we have not seen before.   The dialogue is real.   The relationship fractures on a daily basis.   And then heals again until the next time.  And New York City never looked better in this wonderful two color palate. 

You see, it is safe to go back to the movies again.   I believe this is only playing in theaters.   Worth the masked visit.

LEN'S RATING:  Four stars.

Dinner last night:  Leftover Chinese food.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - December 13, 2021

A brilliant entry for a slow news day several Christmases ago.

 

Dinner last night:  London broil.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - Christmas Shopping Like It Used to Be

 

Another holiday repeat of a memory.   Back to the day when you didn't do your holiday shopping on-line.   When you had to go someplace to do so.

In this case above, more specifically, the Avenue.

Fourth Avenue to be precise.  And, since I lived on Fifteenth Avenue, it was an eleven block walk to the major shopping area of my hometown.

Here it is decked out in Christmas glory.  And this is one of those Sunday Memory Drawers that has gotten a lot of hits the last time I ran it.   Obviously, I am not the only one with these memories.

Now there was an interesting quirk I must first mention about Mount Vernon's major consumer thoroughfare.  The commuter railroad cut a crevice right through the city.  On one side of the bridge over the train tracks, the street was Fourth Avenue.  North of the span, the very same road was called Gramatan Avenue. 

As a kid, I never understood this.  In reality, the Gramatan part of Fourth Avenue had a bunch of stores, but none that we frequented.  The only things that got our attention on Gramatan were the RKO Proctor's movie theater, Chicken Delight, and my orthodontist, Dr. Arthur Ashe Not the Tennis Player, who I've previously written about here.

But, I wildly digress...

Once Thanksgiving rolled around, it was time for Christmas shopping and my mom rarely deviated from Fourth Avenue's stores.  Back then, there was only one night a week where the stores stayed open for evening shopping.  That would be Thursday and, regardless of the weather, I would get dragged out for the walk down First Street and the treasures that could be found on Fourth Avenue.  On these excursions, I played a major role.

To carry the packages.

I remember the stores and their location like the back of my hand.  There was Fanny Farmer's Candy Store on the corner as soon as you turned onto Fourth.  That is, if I had not waylaid my mom into letting me stop at the Intown Newspaper shop to check out the latest Archie or Superman comic book.  If I wasn't that lucky, our first prolonged and, for me, boredom-inducing stop would be Bromley's Dress Shop.

I'd sit in the chair outside the dressing room area and wait for sleep and/or death to relieve me of my misery.  Mom would be in major "trying on" mode.

But, wait, aren't we supposed to be Christmas shopping?  Why are you trying on clothes when we are looking for a present for Aunt Ronnie?

"Be quiet.  And....don't tell your father."

This was torture without the benefit of a rack.

When it came to Bromley's, the Yuletide season for Mom was not just giving and receiving, it was also charging it and wearing it home yourself.

If we were lucky, the seemingly seven or eight hours we spent in Bromley's was balanced by a visit to Brodbeck's Record Store.  My mother was one of those odd ducks who listened to a lot of Top 40 radio and would go out to buy the 45 rpm platters herself.  I'd sometimes find a record album that I would want.  Holding it aloft, I would look to her.

Can I?

"It's too close to Christmas."

The answer I would hear for practically anything I wanted.  And, each year, the words would be uttered earlier and earlier.  I can swear I asked once for a toy in July and I heard the now-patented response. 

I know, I know.  It's too close to Christmas.

Further up the street would be Mount Vernon's version of a department store.  Genung's.  They were Macy's with less overhead and no Thanksgiving parade attached.  My mother would spend the most time on Thursday nights knocking off her Christmas list.  You had housewares, perfumes, and clothing for all ages.  This presented another annual problem.

My mother often needed to buy my Christmas clothing gifts there.  You know the like.  Underwear, socks, gloves, sweaters.  I knew what she was there for.  She knew that I knew what she was there for.  This was the most un-covert mission possible.  But, yet every year, we went through the drama one more time. 

"Okay, go over to the other side of the store for a while.  I need to look at some things here."

Uh-huh.  Like things for me?

So, almost like clockwork, I would wander around every department that didn't sell anything remotely looking like attire for an eight-year-old boy.   Bored through my skull, I would amble back to Mom.

"I'm not done yet.  Go away."

More staring at pots, pans, and pillow cases.

Now?

"I'm not done yet.  Go away."

When I really was at my wit's end, I'd start to play on the escalator that went to the second floor.  Up.  Down.  Up.  Then down again.   Eventually somebody would chase me.

Finished with her haul, my mother would dump all the packages in my arms.  So, I was carrying all these presents that I would have to feign both surprise and delight for on Christmas morning.  Even as a youngster, the absurdity of it all was not lost on me.

We'd then go across the street to the Fair, which was Mount Vernon's version of what is now Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  Lots of housewares and breakable glass stuff on tall shelves.  As I trailed my mother and stumbled around with packages like Jerry Lewis in "The Errand Boy," I needed the precision of a jeweler to avoid knocking anything over.

"Watch where you're going."

I can't, because it is impossible to see through these bags which are holding all my new socks and t-shirts.

When the acrobatics that were needed to navigate the Fair's aisles became too daunting, Mom would throw up her hands in disgust.

"I'll have to come back when you're not with me."

And when will that be?  So I can kneel on the floor and praise God.

There were other stops on our Thursday night tour.  H.L. Green's five and dime store.  There was a toy section that would get my attention. 

"No.  It's too close to Christmas."

We'd pass by my idea of nirvana.  Shipman's Toy Store.

I know, I know.  It's too close to Christmas.

We somehow and inexplicably could never skip a visit to Albert's Hosiery.  Everything and anything stockings.  What the heck were we doing in there?  Don't tell me that taupe pantyhose is going to wind up under Uncle Bob's Christmas tree?  Gee, who are you buying that for?

"Be quiet.  And...don't tell your father."

We'd make the block-long circuit up one side of Fourth Avenue and back down the other.   But, we would stick to the Avenue that nestled between First and Second Street.  If you went past Second Street, the quality of stores dropped to John's Bargain Basement level.  If I wonder where my adult elitism started, that may have been the kick-off point.  We didn't shop past Second Street.

Our last stop would be the Horn and Hardhart store, which sold all the Automat favorites in conveniently packaged containers that were easy to reheat.  That would be dinner.  My mother and I gravitated to their beef stew.  And, a personal favorite for me, was their rice pudding.  I would hold it up and look longingly at my mom.  Can I?  Or is it too close to Christmas?

"Now why would you ask a stupid question like that?  Put it in the basket."

Dinner last night: General Tso's Chicken from Chin Chin.