Len's Recipe of the Month - May 2026

 

As I follow several YouTube-based chefs, I have learned that you can be adventurous as you finetune your culinary skills.   That's how I came up with the dish above.   It's essentially called Mediterranean Chicken, but that's a big catch-all phrase.   You could call it Chicken Len because I took several recipes and merged them together.   

I started with four boneless and skinless chicken thighs.   That's the part of the fowl that you want to use most of the time because it's got the most flavor.   Oh, and you can never overcook it to sheer dryness.   

So, I cut the thighs up into smaller pieces and tossed them into a bowl with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder.   On top, I sprinkled some flour but not to excess amount.

In a Dutch oven or pan, I melted some butter and mixed it with EVO.   When hot, I added the chicken and browned the pieces.   This took about 8 minutes.   I moved the chicken to a plate.

Back to the cooking apparatus, I caramelized a sliced sweet onion.   Then, I added a half jar of pitted Kalamata olives.   Then some drained capers.   Then a pint of cherry tomatoes.    Lastly, I poured in a half cup of white wine.

I covered the Dutch oven and let it simmer for a half hour.   Some sweet corn on the side.

Done.   And I did it all by myself.

The cooking lesson this month?   Use your skills to make every dish your own.\\

Dinner last night:  Grilled sausage with bacon.

This Date in History - May 20

 

Happy birthday, Cher.   And what better way to celebrate than to spotlight your acting triumph in "Moonstruck."

325:  THE FIRST ECUMENICAL COUNCIL OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IS HELD IN NICEA.  

Meetings in the morning.  Golf in the afternoon.

526:  AN EARTHQUAKE KILLS ABOUT 250,000 PEOPLE IN WHAT IS NOW SYRIA AND ANTIOCHIA.

Now that's an earthquake.

794: KING ETHELBERHT II OF EAST ANGLIA VISITS THE ROYAL MERCIAN COURT AT SUTTON WALLS, WITH A VIEW TO MARRYING A PRINCESS.  HE IS TAKEN CAPTIVE AND BEHEADED.

I prefer to wait for Queen Ethelmertz I.

1293:  KING SANCHO IV OF CASTILE CREATES THE STUDY OF GENERAL SCHOOLS OF ALCALA.

Sounds like some gut courses to me.

1498:  PORTUGUESE EXPLORER VASCO DA GAMA DISCOVERS THE SEA ROUTE TO INDIA.

For you three who want to go there.

1521:  IGNATIUS LOYOLA IS SERIOUSLY WOUNDED IN THE BATTLE OF PAMPELUNA.

Didn't this guy Loyola open up a lot of colleges?

1609:  SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS ARE FIRST PUBLISHED IN LONDON.

When do we see the Cliff Notes?

1775:  THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IS SIGNED IN NORTH CAROLINA.

Doesn't Mecklenburg sound like one of those countries in a Marx Brothers movie?

1802:  NAPOLEON BONAPARTE REINSTATES SLAVERY IN THE FRENCH COLONIES, REVOKING ITS ABOLITION IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

I guess that's Shorty's version of an executive action.

1861:  DURING THE CIVIL WAR, THE STATE OF KENTUCKY PROCLAIMS ITS NEUTRALITY, WHICH WILL LAST UNTIL SEPTEMBER 3.   MEANWHILE, THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA SECEDES FROM THE UNION.

Why do I think this kind of stuff will happen again?

1862:  US PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN SIGNS THE HOMESTEAD ACT INTO LAW.

Pitch your tent here.

1873:  LEVI STRAUSS AND JACOB DAVIS RECEIVE A US PATENT FOR BLUE JEANS WITH COPPER RIVETS.

So that's how they got there.

1883:  KRAKATOA BEGINS TO ERUPT.  THE VOLCANO EXPLODES THREE MONTHS LATER.

From the movie title, I know this is "east of Java."  Or was it West?   Who does remember that film anyway?

1891:  THE FIRST PUBLIC DISPLAY OF THOMAS EDISON'S PROTOTYPE KINETOSCOPE.

Two on the aisle please.

1899:  THE FIRST TRAFFIC TICKET IN THE US --- NYC CAB DRIVER JACOB GERMAN WAS ARRESTED FOR SPEEDING WHILE DRIVING 12 MILES PER HOUR.

He probably contested it.

1902:  CUBA GAINS INDEPENDENCE FROM THE US.

Babalu.

1908:  ACTOR JAMES STEWART IS BORN.

This will be a wonderful life.

1915:  ISRAELI POLITICIAN MOSHE DAYAN IS BORN.

Are they coming on the left?

1916:  THE SATURDAY EVENING POST PUBLISHES ITS FIRST COVER WITH A NORMAN ROCKWELL PAINTING.

It was a boy with a baby carriage in case you're in a trivia contest.

1919: COMEDIAN GEORGE GOBEL IS BORN.

No longer lonesome.

1927:  CHARLES LINDBERGH TAKES OFF FROM ROOSEVELT FIELD IN LONG ISLAND TO MAKE THE WORLD'S FIRST SOLO NON-STOP FLIGHT ACROSS THE ATLANTIC.  HE LANDS IN PARIS THE NEXT DAY.

After what we learned later on, it's a shame this was a round trip.

1932:  AMELIA EARHART TAKES OFF FROM NEWFOUNDLAND TO BEGIN THE WORLD'S FIRST SOLO NONSTOP FLIGHT ACROSS THE ATLANTIC OCEAN BY A FEMALE PILOT.

This one she actually finished.

1940:  THE FIRST PRISONERS ARRIVE AT A NEW CONCENTRATION CAMP AT AUSCHWITZ.

And so it begins.

1944:  SINGER JOE COCKER IS BORN.

He'll get high.  With help from his friends.

1946:  ACTRESS/SINGER CHER IS BORN.

We got you, babe.

1948:  CHIANG KAI-SHEK IS ELECTED AS THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF CHINA.

Waiter, Kai-shek, please.

1964:  DISCOVERY OF THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION BY ROBERT WOODROW WILSON AND ARNO PENZIAS.

Oh, good, now we can heat up lunch.

1966:  ACTRESS MINDY COHN IS BORN.

Saw her once picking up take-out food at Blue Plate Diner in Santa Monica.

1969:  THE BATTLE OF HAMBURGER HILL IN VIETNAM ENDS.

Hold the pickle.  Add the napalm.

1983:  FIRST PUBLICATIONS OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE HIV VIRUS THAT CAUSES AIDS IN THE JOURNAL SCIENCE BY LUC MONTAGNIER.

Uh oh.

1989:  ACTRESS GILDA RADNER DIES.

Marvelous talent.  What a waste.

1990:  THE FIRST POST-COMMUNIST PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS ARE HELD IN ROMANIA.

Da, I can vote now.

1996:  THE SUPREME COURT OF THE US RULES AGAINST A LAW THAT WOULD HAVE PREVENTED ANY CITY, TOWN, OR COUNTY IN COLORADO FROM TAKING ANY JUDICIAL ACTION TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF GAYS AND LESBIANS.

And now you can legally smoke weed in the same state.

2012:  SINGER ROBIN GIBB DIES.

How do you mend a broken heart?   You really can't.

2013:  SINGER RAY MANZAREK DIES.

From the Doors....now knocking on Heaven's...well, you get it.

2025:  ACTOR GEORGE WENDT DIES.

Norm!

Dinner last night:   Had a big lunch so just some cheese and crackers.

Go Long on Short

 

As far as I'm concerned, Martin Short can do no wrong.   He is probably one of the smartest and most talented people working in show business today.   

So, naturally, a documentary on him would be intriguing.   And even more so when one of the producers is Ron Howard, who has moved almost exclusively into the world of making documentaries.   And with all that positive stuff, there is no way the new Netflix film couldn't be successful and as interesting as all get out.

Oh, sure, it plays like the typical biographical documentary with a linear look at the life under the microscope.   The good news is that Marty participates with the production.   And, as a result, he provides access to tons and tons of home movie footage which demonstrates how he values the friendships of the likes of Tom Hanks and Steve Martin.

Short appreciates comedy and the ability to make people laugh.  Hey, I once got a giggle and a like from him when he was active on Facebook.   But, moreover, the laughter is the fuel that propels him through life despite an awful lot of loss.  When he was a kid, he lost his big brother, his mother, and his father over a two year period.  Later on, his beloved wife Nancy passes away after a battle with cancer.   More recently, he lost good friend Catherine O'Hara and his own daughter commits suicide.

But Marty perseveres almost magically.   And that is the true story behind this film.   Short presses on and on and on.   And remains the steady and positive influence for his treasure chest of friends who populate his home movies.

This is a must see.   I must say.

LEN'S RATING:  Four stars.

Dinner last night:  Leftover chicken.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - May 18, 2026

May continues with more animal tomfoolery with Johnny Carson.   That koala bear is so cute.

Dinner last night:  Mediterranean Chicken.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - I Once Was Thin

 

I am still sifting through more of the photos I dug out of my New York apartment.  Most of them I can easily remember the specifics.  The time, the place, the occasion.  The one atop today's post?

No clue.  

Okay, it's a batting cage.  I don't recall ever going to one on the East Coast, so this must have been taken during one of my California trips.  The longish hair.  The moustache.  The timing seems right.  And, good news, the ball is nowhere to be found.  I've obviously made contact. Len's 1 for 1.

Meanwhile, as I stare at this snapshot, there is one thing that grabs me.

Damn, I was skinny on this day.

Seriously, there is no stomach.  The legs don't look that chunky.  Are those designer jeans that I have wormed my way into?  I'd like to lose the two tone belt that just screams "J. Crew."  But, overall, this looks like one fit individual.

Really?  When was this?  And how come I couldn't make this last more than three days?

Weight has always been an issue with me.  Want to see?

I'm probably four in this picture and already I see evidence of love handles.  One Animal Cracker box too many.  And dig those chunky thighs.  Frankly, I think some folks just happen to be blessed.  There are those who have svelte in their DNA make-up and others that don't.

I'm somewhere in the middle.  As you can see, I could be bi-polar with regard to fitness.  But, for me to achieve the thinner side, it takes a lot of work.

The only problem is that I didn't start that work until I was in high school.

For about sixteen years, I was totally passive.  Except when it came to eating.  We dined healthy, but there was candy and dessert and always chocolate chip cookies in Grandma's pantry jar.  Fruit and vegetables, yes. Tootsie Rolls in Grandma's living room candy dish, definitely yes.  And, after school, there was always the walk around the corner to Charlie's Delicatessen for an after school snack.  A carrot stick?  Hell, no.  Make that a Drake's Ring Ding.

Exercise in my first decade and a half?    Well, there wasn't as much as there should have been.  I played in the neighborhood, but was always the slowest and clumsiest one on the team.  Sports didn't come to me easily.  Maybe it was the extra pounds.  Maybe it was a lack of practice.  I was always the last one to be picked when sides were chosen.

Things weren't much better in school when there was gym class always taught by some jerk who thought he was coaching the Green Bay Packers.  The most strenuous activity for me was just to figure out how to get a medical excuse for whenever they would turn to gymnastics and tumbling.  

And, of course, we had that great annual humbler.  The President's Fitness Test.  Some bureaucratic nonsense concocted to make kids feel horrible about themselves.  You had to run six laps around the playground.  Or scoot around picking up erasers.  Your times were compared to everybody else in the class.  It was a horrible feeling each and every Spring.   While other classmates had moved on to the locker room, I was still in Lap 5.

This kind of misery became quite second nature to me.  It was me and I started to accept it.  I was aided and abetted by parents who discounted the whole concept of weight and fitness.

"Some people are just big-boned."

Oh.

But, as I moved into the teen years, I started to kick back on this flimsy excuse.  I looked around at some friends.  There were others who were equally "big-boned."  My best neighborhood buddy Leo was one of them.  But, when it came to playing games on the block, he had a dose of athleticism that I envied.  Why was that?

Ultimately, I found my own niche.  It came on those summer teenage nights when my gang would troop en masse down to the local vacant lot after dinner.  We'd play softball or baseball until it was either too dark or the ball had been lost in the weeds.  And, as I did this night after humid night, I found there was some truth to the old adage.

Practice does make perfect.

Well, maybe not perfect.  More like passable.  

Suddenly, I could pitch at softball.  I found a hitting stroke and could pound the ball with a little power.  And, given my height, I came in handy playing first base.  You always wanted to put the tall guy there because the highest weeds were right behind that base.  You never wanted to overthrow because that would easily get that night's game cancelled due to shrubbery.  

I was tall and was now able to catch.  I was ideal at first base and relished the notion.  Leo would play third and field like a young Ron Santo.  Snag a grounder and fire it to me for the out.  What a defensive combination.

I now belonged someplace on a playing field.

The weight, or non-lack of it, still plagued me.  It became really chronic in my senior year.  During the very first gym class of the year, a deep knee thrust popped out the whole joint and that would be the beginning of the long end for my right knee.  Touch football games after school were discarded in favor of TV reruns and lots of Hostess Twinkies.  

By Christmas, I was no longer "big-boned."  I was fat.

I hated the way I looked and vowed to make changes.   There was a diet being hawked on TV talk shows that required you to drink eight glasses of water a day.  A problem when you're taking six classes a day in a high school where going to the bathroom was a death wish.  But I did it.  Plus I monitored my calorie intake.   Dad did the super market shopping.  I gave him my list.

"Low calorie Wishbone dressing?" 

"Non-fat yogurt?"

"Tab?"

Yes, that Tab.  

By spring, I was looking for a new wardrobe.

And, folks, it's been a battle ever since.  I went to college and almost ballooned to Jabba the Hut proportions again.  Late night hero sandwiches from the Fordham student deli will expand your waist measurement.  As soon as I graduated, I went back to dieting.

Weight off, weight on.  Muscle tone good, muscle tone bad.  I never stayed the same the rest of my life.

There are some photos over time that I want to burn.  Since when did I look like Ralph Kramden?  There are other snapshots that make me squint to see the label on the jeans.  Calvin Klein?  Hmmm, I'm impressed.

There's the photo at the top and I like what I see.  How many days did that flat stomach last?  I'm curious.

Over the years of my life, there was always some form of cardio.  I've been through not one, not two, but three stationary bikes.  There was a Yonkers gym membership in the 90s and I actually went four times a week.  I became addicted to a Nordic Track machine.  

And then, for a whole,  rotten joints that connect the two parts of my leg started to prevent a rigorous exercise regiment.

Today, there is a personal trainer that works with me twice a week.  I go to PT once a week.  The struggle continues.  The weight doesn't leave.  Actually it seems to pile up faster.   Now the only way I can have abs is by taking an old picture and running it through AI.

Still, it's a part of my life that I can't ignore.  And don't.  

I may never look like the photo at the top.  But, at the same time, I never want to be the one in the middle either.

And, my friends, isn't that what it's all about?

The middle.

Dinner last night:   Pizza at Viva La Mamma.

Classic TV Theme Song of the Month - May 2026

 One of those shows I never watched except for the opening theme.

Dinner last night:  Beef and broccoli.

It's Prom Season....AGAIN.

 It's that time of year.  Everybody, smile!

It's either the senior prom or open call for "The Lion King."

It's a courteous boyfriend who's always willing to coordinate his dress with his date's.

Explosion at the paint factory!

Hello, 1983.

Hello, Bellevue Hospital.

The junior prom at the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory.

Love is Blue.

There's a problem when your boyfriend's hair makes him look like Lucille Ball.

Pat and Lois, sans toolbelts, at the prom.

"Oh, what proudly we hail....."

Dinner last night:  Bacon wrapped hot dog at Dodger Stadium.

The AI World

I hate to admit.  I have dabbled.   Playing with images and turning them into quick videos.  I haven't gotten complicated.   Just people...well, me...kissing some stranger.

I started with this single photo from about 30 years ago.   I've always liked this photo of me.   I call it my porn producer profile.   I look good but smarmy.

Well, Central Casting made a call and I wanted a romcom make-out moment.  Now I can't load the whole 8 second video here, but here's a screen shot of what happened.   Enter attractive woman.

Now I realize AI is putting people out of business and all that.  But, for a single fantasy moment.

Okay, so here's another little innovation of AI and I used this photo from my first ever photo to Los Angeles.

Dig the old Met t-shirt.  And the shot of the Valley with the Sheraton Universal hotel in the background.

I remember this being a sultry day.   Maybe I should have stripped down.   Enter AI again.

Oddly, I probably did look that good back then.

Again, another fantasy.

Now I'm not a fan of people who use AI to pose in pictures with Grandma who's been dead since Carter was President.   But, as a lark...

Dinner last night:  Sandwich.

This Date in History - May 13

 

He's got his detractors, but I'm a Bobby Valentine fan.  Happy birthday, Skipper.

1373:  JULIAN OF NORWICH HAS VISIONS WHICH ARE LATER TRANSCRIBED IN HER REVELATIONS OF DIVINE LOVE.

Is that like an older version of Fifty Shades of Gray?

1568:  THE FORCES OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, ARE DEFEATED BY A CONFEDERACY OF SCOTTISH PROTESTANTS UNDER JAMES STEWART, EARL OF MORAY.  

As opposed to James Stewart, Awesome Actor.

1619:  DUTCH STATESMAN JOHAN VAN OLDENBARNEVELT IS EXECUTED IN THE HAGUE AFTER BEING CONVICTED OF TREASON.

With a name like that, he deserves it.

1787:  CAPTAIN ARTHUR PHILLIP LEAVES PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND, WITH ELEVEN SHIPS FULL OF CONVICTS TO ESTABLISH A PENAL COLONY IN AUSTRALIA.  

If you have to be in jail, there's no better place than Australia.

1846:  THE UNITED STATES DECLARES WAR ON MEXICO.

This never ended, right?

1848:  THE FIRST PERFORMANCE OF FINLAND'S NATIONAL ANTHEM.

Don't know it.  Hum a few bars, please.

1861:  DURING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, QUEEN VICTORIA OF THE UNITED KINGDOM ISSUES A PROCLAMATION OF NEUTRALITY WHICH RECOGNIZES THE BREAKAWAY STATES AS HAVING BELLIGERENT RIGHTS.

A good fight to stay out of.

1861:  PAKISTAN'S FIRST RAILROAD OPENS.  

For those four of you who actually want to travel around Pakistan.

1880:  IN NEW JERSEY, THOMAS EDISON PERFORMS THE FIRST TEST OF THE ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

Take that, Pakistan.

1914:  BOXER JOE LOUIS IS BORN.

Pow!  Crunch!  Pow!  Ouch!  

1917:  THREE CHILDREN REPORTS THE FIRST APPARITION OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA IN PORTUGAL.  

Do you see what I see?

1922:  ACTRESS BEATRICE ARTHUR IS BORN.

God will get you for that.

1933:  BASEBALL CATCHER JOHN ROSEBORO IS BORN.

Hit in the head with a bat wielded by Juan Marichal in 1965.  Just sayin'.

1939:  THE FIRST COMMERCIAL FM RADIO STATION IN THE US IS LAUNCHED IN BLOOMFIELD, CONNECTICUT.   THE STATION LATER BECOMES WDRC-FM.

1939?   It's a little early for them to be playing Jethro Tull.

1940:  WINSTON CHURCHILL MAKES HIS "BLOOD, TOIL, TEARS, AND SWEAT" SPEECH TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Earth, Wind, and Fire were not available.

1940:  QUEEN WILHELMINA OF THE NETHERLANDS FLEES HER COUNTRY TO GREAT BRITAIN AFTER THE GERMAN INVASION.

I wonder how somebody from the Netherlands would say "let's get the hell out of here."

1941:  SINGER RITCHIE VALENS IS BORN.

Died at the age of 18 in a plane crash.   Waste.

1948:  THE KFAR ETZION MASSACRE IS COMMITTED BY ARAB IRREGULARS, THE DAY BEFORE ISRAEL DECLARES ITS INDEPENDENCE.

PS, they're all still fighting.

1950:   BASEBALL LEGEND BOBBY VALENTINE IS BORN.

How he got those Mets into the 2000 World Series is still a mystery to me.

1950:  MUSICIAN STEVIE WONDER IS BORN.

When he really was Little Stevie Wonder.

1954:  THE ORIGINAL BROADWAY PRODUCTION OF "THE PAJAMA GAME" OPENS.

Steam heat!

1958:  DURING A TRIP TO VENEZUELA, VICE PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON'S CAR IS ATTACKED BY ANTI-AMERICAN DEMONSTRATORS.

Don't hit my dog Checkers.

1958:  THE TRADEMARK VELCRO IS REGISTERED.

This will stick around for a while.

1958:  A GROUP OF FRENCH MILITARY OFFICERS LEAD A COUP IN ALGIERS DEMANDING THAT A GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL UNITY BE FORMED WITH CHARLES DE GAULLE AT ITS HEAD IN ORDER TO DEFEND FRENCH CONTROL OF ALGERIA.

By the way, De Gaulle had really big ears.

1960:  BERKELEY STUDENTS CONGREGATE FOR THE FIRST DAY OF PROTEST AGAINST A VISIT BY THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES.  

There's always some kind of nonsense on this campus.

1961:  ACTOR GARY COOPER DIES.

Dead.  Yup.

1969:  RACE RIOTS TAKE PLACE IN MALAYSIA.

Just in case you thought this only happened in this country.

1972:  WILLIE MAYS PLAYS HIS FIRST GAME FOR THE METS AFTER BEING TRADED FROM THE GIANTS.

He hit a homer in the rain if my childhood memory is correct.

1972:  ACTOR DAN BLOCKER DIES.

Hoss!

1977:  MOBSTER MICKEY SPILLANE DIES.

No mystery.

1980:  AN F3 TORNADO HITS MICHIGAN AND PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER DECLARES IT A FEDERAL DISASTER AREA.

If anybody knows disaster areas, it would be Carter.

1981:  MEHMET ALI AGCA ATTEMPTS TO ASSASSINATE POPE JOHN PAUL II IN ROME'S ST. PETER'S SQUARE.

After emergency surgery, he lasted a whole bunch longer.

1989:  LARGE GROUPS OF STUDENTS OCCUPY TIANANMEN SQUARE AND BEGIN A HUNGER STRIKE.  

An hour later, they were still hungry all over again.

1994:  JOHNNY CARSON MAKES HIS LAST TV APPEARANCE ON THE DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW.

Still miss the hell out of him.

2013:  PSYCHOLOGIST DR. JOYCE BROTHERS DIES.

You think I got problems???

2018:  ACTRESS MARGOT KIDDER DIES.

Not kidding any more.

2019:  ACTRESS DORIS DAY DIES.

They should have given her an Oscar while she was alive.

Dinner last night:  Leftover Korean chicken.

What The F Were They Thinking?

 

Ah, those were the days.   This is one of those iconic passageways at LAX that connected your gate with baggage claims.   That long, long, long walk that was made easier by the inclusion of those sliding people movers.   You just stood on it and, if you chose, you didn't have to move a single foot.   Perhaps you remember these from the opening credits of "The Graduate."

Well, it's 2026 and most terminals at LAX are sprucing up for the burgeoning Summer Olympics of 2028.   They are updating and upgrading the facilities.

And, as a result, those handy people sliders?   Gone.  Replaced by...well...nothing.  And with gates moved out more, this walk to your gate or to baggage claim on incoming flights is an unmitigated disaster.   Indeed, the American Airlines terminal at LAX is now a horror show for anybody that is ADA-compliant.  Or like me...coming off hip, knee, and hernia surgeries.

As the title says...what the bleep were they thinking?

Okay, they have a solution and I did try it out on my last plane trip.

Waymo Wheelchairs!  

The waiting attendant programs in your gate number or ultimate airport destination and off you go.  

At one mile a minute.   If you're flying next Wednesday, you might want to get your chair on Tuesday.  It's a help for sure.   But wasn't the original sliding gizmo a better alternative?

Indeed, at this point, the only people who will be fit enough to attend the Olympics will be the athletes who are in the Olympics.

Dinner last night:  Sandwich.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - May 11, 2026

 More Johnny Carson animal hi-jacks.   Going five rounds with a baboon.

Dinner last night:  Grilled veggies.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - Mom Sings

 

I just looked at that title.  It sounds like my mom was Rosemary Clooney.   Or Taylor Swift.  And the latter would mean I have no idea who my father is. 

But, I digress...

It's Mother's Day and those of you who are missing your moms today are probably doing your own version of sensory perception to bring her near to you one more time.   It might be a perfume or the scent of something good cooking in the kitchen or the aroma from her favorite flower bouquet.

For me, it's always music.  Indeed, every Saturday, I indulge a bit in bringing back the sense of the past.  Back when I was a little tyke, my grandmother would bake a cake or a pie every week.  I now do the same and the same flavors waft throughout the house.

And the soundtrack while I do this every week?  The 60s Channel on Sirius/XM.  Because nothing brings my mother back to me more than some big hits of that decade.  It's not aromas that spark these memories.   It's the music.

My mother was a rarity back in the day.  She listened almost exclusively to Top 40 radio.  The countdown surveys.  The sure shots.  The #1 hit of the land.  My mom was all this.  And it played completely in the background of our lives.

When I got up for breakfast and got ready for school, it was either WMCA (The Good Guys) or WABC on the radio.  Giving us the weather and the latest hit from the Beatles.  My mom actually called in once and won a Good Guys sweatshirt.  I might have been the only kid in the neighborhood with a mother wearing this.

It didn't stop with the radio.  If my mother really like a song, she'd make sure to stop at Brodbeck's Record Store on Fourth Avenue in Mount Vernon, NY, to buy the 45 RPM platter.  Then she'd take it home and play it on our record player.  Over and over and over and over.  Mom had a record case with probably over 200 of those little vinyl coasters.

One that predated me by a lot of years still found its way to that turntable at least once a week.  Not that it was played once.  My mother listened to it at least ten times in one setting. 


I can hear my mom singing along.  I can also feel cavities taking root in my teeth from the sickening sweetness.

Another popular song that ran through our house endlessly came from Bobby Rydell.  I knew him from "Bye Bye Birdie" but, admittedly, I was focused on co-star Ann Margret.  I accidentally sat on this record and was punished.  I also had to replace it with my own allowance money.

My mom had no language skills beyond English.  Yet, that didn't stop from amazingly singing along to "Sukiyaki."

This song was hot on the radio during a summer road trip.   On a rare moment where the car radio wasn't being commandeered by my dad, this tune came on.  And my mother sang it perfectly in Japanese.  The look on my father's face was priceless.  It asked one burning question.

"What the hell have I married?"

Okay, and whose mother danced while vacuuming the living room to this little ditty?
 

Yeah, mine did.  And I confess that quite uncomfortably.

Now, there was a bit of a music rivalry between my mom and my aunt, her sister who lived out in Deer Park on Long Island.  They were the first relatives to get a "high fidelity" console.  While my mother was spinning the platters on a crappy little record player, Aunt Anne was blowing the windows out every time we visited.  And the one song that they played over and over was a Lawrence Welk record.

 On one visit where "Calcutta" was played over and over and over, there was one of those parental "conversations" in the car going home.  Mom started it.

"We need to get a hi-fi."

"What the hell for?"

"So we can play records like they do."

"What the hell for?"

"You could play your Polka records on it."

Mom won.  Dad had no rebuttal.

We didn't get the big contraption that my aunt and uncle had on Long Island.   Our stereo was portable.  And my mother took it more places than she took me.  To peoples' houses.  To work.  To parties.

We were now one bitchin' family.

That used the new stereo to play nothing but Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. 

There we were.  My family all the way up in the northeaster part of the United States.  Playing nothing but music from the opposite end of the country.  Mexico, which might as well have been on the moon.  Even my father got into this genre.  So, whenever my folks went out with the portable stereo, they now brought along their own records as well.  As if nobody else had them.

 I can't say I didn't like the music myself.  It certainly made homework go by a lot faster.   I sure did like one of the Tijuana Brass album covers best.

 At some point in my house, the music died.  Not like when Elvis or John Lennon or Buddy Holly died.  It's just that the house became divided.  Everybody went their own separate ways.  And, once my mom went back to work and started commuting downtown to Manhattan, it got very quiet. 

All that was left were the memories of my mom.  Wearing a Good Guys sweatshirt.  Vacuuming and twisting her hips.  And getting annoyed over the fact that her sister had a better stereo than she did.

Dinner last night:  Korean chicken from Chin Chin.

Classic Newsreel of the Month - May 2026

 It must have been a slow Mother's Day back when.

Dinner last night:  The pre-game buffet at the Dodger Stadium Club.

Remembering Mom on Her Special Day

Dinner last night:  Lasagna from my freezer.
 

Two Decades Later

 

Let's all flashback our little selves to 2006.   It was so long ago that I never got to review the first Prada movie on my blog.   That's because I didn't start the blog till a year later.

So much has happened since then.  The hard drive of my brain is totally full and that explains why, despite having seen the first Prada film, I don't remember a single detail about it.   Oh, sure, it starred Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway, and Stanley Tucci.   I sort of remembered that the movie was riotously funny.  But, other than that, I never bothered to see it again.* And maybe I should have.  Because a dearth of seeable movies at the cineplex led me to see the second Prada film, which just opened.   And I sat there stonefaced for most of the movie.   What I did recall as bitingly funny was a toothless mess.   Is this how funny the original was?   Or did I just mis-remember.

Meanwhile, I gaped at the characters on screen and rattle my brain for any sort of recognition.  Who is this?  What did that mean?   Were senses of humor more prevalent in 2006?

I think the sum total here is basically...20 years is too long a time between original and sequel.

LEN'S RATING:  Two stars.

Dinner last night:  Long travel day.

This Date in History - May 6

 

May 6 is a robust day for heavenly birthdays as you will see.   But I would be remiss if I didn't spotlight Willie Mays.  Say hey!  And you will note that the picture I used has him in a Mets uniform.

1527:  SPANISH AND GERMAN SACK ROME.   SOME CONSIDER THIS THE END OF THE RENAISSANCE.

And who are those people who don't?

1536:  KING HENRY VIII ORDERS ENGLISH-LANGUAGE BIBLES BE PLACED IN EVERY CHURCH.  

And lots of motels.

1542:  FRANCIS XAVIER REACHES OLD GOA, THE CAPITAL OF PORTUGUESE INDIA.

I read this so fast that I thought Aunt Bee from the Andy Griffith Show did this.

1659:  A FACTION OF THE BRITISH ARMY REMOVES RICHARD CROMWELL AS LORD PROTECTOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH AND REINSTALLS THE RUMP PARLIAMENT.

Rump is a funny word in any sentence.

1682:  LOUIS XIV MOVES HIS COURT TO THE PALACE OF VERSAILLES.

Don't touch anything.

1757:  ENGLISH POET CHRISTOPHER SMART IS ADMITTED TO ST. LUKE'S HOSPITAL FOR LUNATICS IN LONDON.

If they started a chain like this in America, there would be more outlets than Starbucks.

1835:  JAMES GORDON BENNETT SR. PUBLISHES THE FIRST ISSUE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD.

Extra.  Extra.  Read all about it!

1840:  THE PENNY BLACK POSTAGE STAMP BECOMES VALID FOR USE IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

I suppose there are about five stamp collectors who think this is a big deal.

1844:  THE GLACIARIUM, THE WORLD'S FIRST MECHANICALLY FROZEN ICE RINK, OPENS.

Somebody call that Zamboni guy.

1861:  DURING THE CIVIL WAR, ARKANSAS SECEDES FROM THE UNION.

Who let these peckerwoods back in?

1861:  DURING THE CIVIL WAR, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA IS DECLARED THE CAPITAL OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.

And how long did this last?

1862:  AUTHOR HENRY DAVID THOREAU DIES.

Under Walden Pond.

1877:  CHIEF CRAZY HORSE OF SIOUX SURRENDERS TO US TROOPS IN NEBRASKA.

Sioux?  Si.

1882:  THE US CONGRESS PASSES THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT.

And who's the one who rescinded it.  Because COVID-19 is here.

1895:  ACTOR RUDOLPH VALENTINO IS BORN.  

He doesn't last long.  He dies in 1926.

1903:  BUSINESSMAN TOOTS SHOR IS BORN.

Seriously, Mrs. Shor.   Toots?

1904:  ACTOR RAYMOND BAILEY IS BORN.

Milburn Drysdale on the Beverly Hillbillies.

1907: FOOTBALL COACH WEEB EWBANK IS BORN.

Seriously, Mrs. Ewbank.  Weeb??

1910:  GEORGE V BECOMES KING OF THE UNITED KINGDOM UPON THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER, EDWARD VII.

And the Royal family just keeps chugging along.

1911:  ACTOR FRANK NELSON IS BORN.

Yyyyyessssss???

1915:  ACTOR ORSON WELLES IS BORN.

The baby weighed in at 33 pounds and 12 ounces.

1915:  AUTHOR THEODORE H. WHITE IS BORN.

The Birth of an Author.

1917:  BUSINESSMAN JILLY RIZZO IS BORN.

Sinatra's pal.   But mentioned here for one reason that you will read later.

1919:  AUTHOR L. FRANK BAUM DIES.

We're off to see....oh, never mind.

1924:  PATRICIA KENNEDY LAWFORD IS BORN.

Well, she technically wasn't a Lawford yet.

1931:  BASEBALL STAR WILLIE MAYS IS BORN.

No way he appears in a Giant uniform on this blog.

1935:  EXECUTIVE ORDER 7034 CREATES THE WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION.

Just in case you thought Al Gore invented these things along with the internet.

1937:  THE HINDENBURG CATCHES FIRE AND BURNS IN NEW JERSEY.

Oh, the humanity!  Don't you think this radio reporter was overreacting a bit?  I mean, 36 people died.   We've seen bigger disasters.  Like what's happening now.

1940:  JOHN STEINBECK IS AWARDED THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR HIS NOVEL THE GRAPES OF WRATH.

If Barnes and Noble has it, I'll be there.

1941:  AT CALIFORNIA'S MARCH FIELD, BOB HOPE PERFORMS HIS FIRST USO SHOW.

You know this was just an excuse to get on the road and sleep with Marilyn Maxwell?

1942:  DURING WORLD WAR II, THE LAST AMERICAN FORCES IN THE PHILIPPINES SURRENDER TO THE JAPANESE AT CORREGIDOR.

Now that warrants a "oh, the humanity."

1954:  ROGER BANNISTER BECOMES THE FIRST PERSON TO RUN THE MILE IN UNDER FOUR MINUTES.

And done without police chasing him.

1960:  MORE THAN 20 MILLION VIEWERS WATCH THE FIRST TELEVISED ROYAL WEDDING WHEN PRINCESS MARGARET MARRIES ANTHONY ARMSTRONG-JONES.

Yeah, there will be others.

1961:  ACTOR GEORGE CLOONEY IS BORN.

He turned out to be some sort of a big deal.

1963:  ACTOR MONTY WOOLLEY DIES.

One less man for dinner tonight.

1975:  DURING A LULL IN FIGHTING, 100,000 ARMENIANS GATHER IN BEIRUT TO REMEMBER THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE.

If you think that's a lot of Armenians, try going to the Glendale Galleria on a Saturday afternoon.

1990:  ACTOR CHARLES FARRELL DIES.

"But, Dad....."

1991:  ACTOR WILFRID HYDE-WHITE DIES.

Colonel Pickering!

1992:  ACTRESS MARLENE DIETRICH DIES.

Ya, ya, ya, ya...

1992:  BUSINESSMAN JILLY RIZZO DIES.

See!  A perfectly symmetrical life.

1994:  QUEEN ELIZABETH II OF ENGLAND AND FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS MITTERRAND OPEN THE CHANNEL TUNNEL.

EZ-Pass lanes to the right.

1994:  PAULA JONES FILES A LAWSUIT AGAINST US PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, ALLEGING THAT HE HAD SEXUALLY HARASSED HER IN 1991.

Yeah, there will be others.   Lots more.

1998:  THE CHICAGO CUBS' KERRY WOOD STRIKES OUT 20 HOUSTON ASTROS TO TIE THE MLB RECORD HELD BY ROGER CLEMENS.

Even better...no walks.

2001:  DURING A TRIP TO SYRIA, POPE JOHN PAUL II BECOMES THE FIRST POPE TO ENTER A MOSQUE.

Glad he got this out of the way before September.

2004:  THE SITCOM FRIENDS AIRS ITS SERIES FINALE AND BECOMES THE FOURTH MOST WATCHED TV SERIES FINALE IN HISTORY.  

I was there for you.

2010:  BASEBALL PLAYER ROBIN ROBERTS DIES.

Not to be confused with that hen on Good Morning America.

2012:  ACTOR GEORGE LINDSEY DIES.

Hey, Goober!

Dinner last night:   Roast beef and potato salad.