Classic TV Theme Song of the Month - October 2021

Fifty years ago this month,  Shirley MacLaine actually had a half-hour TV series.  If you blinked, you missed it.

Dinner last night:  Italian sub from Jersey Mike's.

Today Should Be A Federal Holiday

Seventy years ago tonight, "I Love Lucy" debuted.

Yes, this should be a federal holiday.

Dinner last night:  Leftover jumbalaya.

Wait! What?!! - October 2021

 

Here's your trusty CDC-approved COVID-19 vaccination record card.  We all have them.

Well, not all of us.  But that's another story for another day.

So, these days, you need this card to do pretty much...well...anything in the major cities and states of this nation.   And if you live in a Democratic stronghold, you might as well wear this around your neck.   Or maybe you can have it stamped on your arm.  Oh, wait, somebody tried that during World War II.

In places like New York and Los Angeles, they now say you must show the card if you are doing anything that is not in your own house.  Eating out.  Going to a movie.   Drinking in a bar.   Enjoying an outdoor ball game.

These restrictions have just kicked in and I spent the very first week of it all in New York.   I dined out five times.   I went into stores.  I was all over the map.

Ask me how many times I was requested to show my vaccination card.

Yep, that would be zero.

But failure to do so would be a federal crime.    

Wait!  What?!!

I guess I am officially a fugitive on the run.

Dinner last night:  Beef sausage and Spanish rice.

This Date in History - October 13

 

 No fiddling around today, Nero.

54:  NERO ASCENDS TO THE ROMAN THRONE.

Because....

54:  ROMAN EMPEROR CLAUDIUS DIES.

I, Dead.

1362:  THE CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND FOR THE FIRST TIME OPENED PARLIAMENT WITH A SPEECH IN ENGLISH.

Or was it a pack of Parliament he opened? 

1582:  BECAUSE OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GREGORIAN CALENDAR, THIS DAY DOES NOT EXIST IN ITALY, POLAND, PORTUGAL, AND SPAIN.

Didn't we report this last week?  What's with these people?  How fast do they want a year to go by?

1773:  THE WHIRLPOOL GALAXY IS DISCOVERED BY CHARLES MESSIER.

I'm not sure, but I don't think this is the same guy who played for the New York Rangers.

1792:  IN WASHINGTON DC, THE CORNERSTONE OF THE UNITED STATES EXECUTIVE MANSION (LATER KNOWN AS THE WHITE HOUSE) IS LAID.

And, right after that, the cornerstone had a cigarette.

1843:  IN NEW YORK CITY, HENRY JONES AND 11 OTHERS FOUND B'NAI B'RITH.

Jones?  Okay, that's a name change.

1845:  A MAJORITY OF VOTERS IN THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS APPROVE A PROPOSED CONSTITUTION, THAT IF ACCEPTED BY THE US CONGRESS, WILL MAKE TEXAS A STATE.

Uh-huh.  And now they're trying to figure out how to become their own country.

1884:  GREENWICH, IN LONDON, ENGLAND, IS ESTABLISHED AS UNIVERSAL TIME.

And Fossil watches all over the world applaud in unison.

1917:  GEORGE OSMOND, PATRIARCH OF THE SINGING FAMILY, IS BORN.

You'll have to wait for the joke...

1917:  PUPPETEER BURR TILLSTROM IS BORN.

Oddly enough, Kukla was born two years earlier.

1943:  DURING WORLD WAR II, THE NEW GOVERNMENT OF ITALY SIDES WITH THE ALLIES AND DECLARES WAR ON GERMANY.

What took you so long? 

1959:  MARIE OSMOND IS BORN.

Same birthday as her papa.  Gee, those Mormons are a crafty lot.

1968:  ACTRESS BEA BENADERET DIES.

No more is she riding the little train that is coming down the track to the junction.

1974:  ED SULLIVAN DIES.

And, surprisingly, Topo Gigio survived for another five years.

1983:  AT & T (THEN AMERITECH) LAUNCHED THE FIRST US CELLULAR NETWORK IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

I hope they're not expecting a thank you.

2012:  TV PERSONALITY GARY COLLINS DIES.

What comes after PM Magazine?

Dinner last night:  Fried chicken sandwich at the Dodger game.

Woke Up This Morning...

 

It's a rare occasion when I anxiously await the release of a movie.  I'm not one of those droids who runs on opening weekend to see the latest dribble from Marvel Studios.

But when it comes to David Chase and the Sopranos Saga...well, I can run faster than anybody else.

This prequel to the great HBO show has been discussed for years.   Indeed, fans of the program like me who were saddened by the untimely passing of James Gandolfini never thought they would see any more Sopranos stories either on TV or the big screen.  But creator David Chase figured out how to go there.  And did so with a flourish.

So, yes, this opened on October 1 and I was there October 2.   Despite the fact that the film is available on HBO Max, I took myself to a real movie theater to enjoy it in the grandest fashion possible.

If you are one of those lemmings who never watched the series (I literally have viewed all 60 plus episodes three times each), you might be lost watching "The Many Saints of Newark."  Heck, it took a while for me to figure out who was who at a younger stage in their lives.  But, once I got my bearings, the ride was glorious.

The story is told by latter day character Chris Moltisanti from the grave.   It takes us back to when his dad Dickie was a Newark crime boss back in the 1960s.  As a matter of fact, for a good deal of the film's first hour, the Soprano family is secondary to what is going on.  But eventually we meet young Tony, played by James Gandolfini's own son, and everything starts to come into place.

Besides meeting a young Tony, we see a younger version of virtually every character we met in the HBO show from his nasty Mom to his uncle Junior to his sister Janice to his mob henchmen to even...briefly...a young Carmella.  All of the casting is so spot on that you will nod with approval at each of their appearances.

Now, making a movie in 2021 requires a diversity aspect.  But Chase does it so seamlessly by introducing some Black characters against the backdrop of the 1967 Newark riots.  Indeed, they become integral players to the story.   

If there is one quibble, it's that you don't see enough of the grizzly relationship between Tony and his mother.   But, again, the quibble is a small one and it certainly doesn't detract your enjoyment of the film...especially for Sopranos fans.

The HBO series is set up perfectly in the closing scene and that slides right to the wonderful TV theme music.  That prompted me the next day to rewatch the pilot for a fourth time.   My biggest fear is that I will now start binging the show all over again.

If you're a fan, please check out "The Many Saints of Newark."

LEN'S RATING:  Four stars.

Dinner last night:  Flew all day so nothing really but airplane snacks.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - October 11, 2021

On this Friday, we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the premiere of "I Love Lucy."

So, naturally...let's spoon our way to health.

Dinner last night:   Leftover sausage and peppers.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - Dental Trilogies Come in Threes

 

Screw you, Lord of the Rings.  Here's a real trilogy of life.  The third installment of my dental saga begins. 

As we left off last Sunday, my braces were off and my mouth was a shambles.  Food and plaque had dug down deep into my enamel.  I had gone through elementary and junior high school cavity-free.  That would not be the case with high school.  Open wide!  Here comes the novacaine.  In goes the drill.

My esteemed orthodontist, Dr. Arthur Ash Not The Tennis Player, conveniently had ties to a dentist down the hall at 10 Fiske Place in Mount Vernon.  I am guessing this was a lucrative trade-off whenever the renowned architect of bite retainers was done with his patients.  Let Dr. Paul Cipes deal with all the holes caused by the inability of kids to brush their teeth while impersonating a Buick LeSabre.  This might have been the kind of business deal hatched by the two devious doctors while sipping high balls at the Lake Isle Country Club.

My braceless mouth now had six cavities that needed immediate attention.  As I got off the elevator and headed down the hall to Dr. Cipes' office, the whirring of a drill was unmistakable.  I envisioned a big grin on his face and a set of new golf clubs in his car trunk. 

Dr. Cipes was a nice man.  He probably was younger than he looked, but nevertheless he was always dressed for his next golf match.  I got the impression that he was simply dealing with my teeth to kill time before his next foursome.  There were golf photos and paintings adorning all his walls.  Was he going to use a regular drill in my mouth?  Or would he be repairing my teeth with a couple of swings from his nine iron?

To this day, the nerves in my mouth take a lot of medication to get numb.  If I'm having work done, I need to get there at least an hour early to make sure all the knock-out juice is working.  So, back then, Dr. Cipes would inject me with novacaine and then leave me with a seven-month-0ld Golf Digest to read for the next hour.  In between other patients/victims, he'd periodically stick his head in my room.

"Are you numb yet?"

No.

"Okay, I'll be back.  Great article about Jack Nicklaus on page 35,"

Eventually, Dr. Cipes would get his turn on me and it always sounded more dreadful than it really was.  I was completely spooked by the sound of the drill.  Once Dr. Cipes realized that, he had a 75 watt light bulb of an idea.

He got a pair of headphones and let me listen to the music.

Sweet.  Except it wasn't exactly the Doobie Brothers.

It was WQXR, the classical station in New York.  Hardly calming for me, especially if it was the Overture to the War of 1812.

It took about six months of visits for Dr. Cipes to pour more cement into my mouth than was used to bury Jimmy Hoffa.  I got a free ride for a while.  Now that I could brush and floss to my heart's content, my trips to Dr. Cipes at the 10 Fiske Place Golf Course were relegated to two check-ups a year.    He'd be done in ten minutes.  Hardly even long enough to get a good conversation going about the Masters.

But, a year after college, I was jolted back into reality.  Well, actually, it was more like a sharp pain in one of my two front teeth.  And when it didn't go away for a couple of days, it was time to go back into the world of Sam Snead and dental probes.

"Did you bang this tooth?"

Er, no, but it's been sensitive to cold liquid for a while.

"You ever get hit in the mouth?"

Do you think I work for a union down at the docks?

The tooth was dying and Dr. Cipes wanted to know why.

"Ever fall and hit it on the floor?"

Come on, Dr. Cipes....no, wait....

You've read the story here before several times.  The time I fainted in Sunday School, fell forward, and they had to retrieve my bite plate from behind the altar.

Bingo!  We had a diagnosis.  And apparently a dead tooth that required a root canal.  I had no clue what that was.

"Well, I drill a hole, let some pressure and bacteria out of the tooth, and then I pull out the nerve."

He lost me at "well."

Headed to 10 Fiske Place on the fateful day, John Dillinger had more hope coming out of the Biograph Theater in Chicago.  There would be drilling and pulling and maybe some more drilling and a lot more pulling.  None of it sounded like the soft caress of a down pillow.  I should have called ahead and had Dr. Cipes order extra novacaine.  He couldn't possibly keep that much in his supply cabinet.

Root canals have become much easier for dentists do now.  I've had two on the West Coast and they barely raised an eyebrow for me.  But, back then, it was a big deal.  Except for the pesky and painful tooth, a plastic covering is overlayed unto some metal contraption which, in turn, was then placed around my head.  Did I have a bad tooth or was I suffering from whiplash?  I looked like the earliest incarnation of Hannibal Lechter.

"You want the headphones?"

I couldn't answer him.  A plastic wrapped cage around your skull will do that to you.  I grunted.  Amazingly, he took that as a yes.

Back then, dentists would use a tiny but red hot poker to clean out the tooth canal of any infection.  So, on the tray in front of my chest (it's not like I could see it) was a bunsen burner that allowed Dr. Cipes to heat up the little rods.  He also might have been using it for his lunch fondue.  Anyway, a strange aroma started to seep through the plastics and into my nasal passages.

I somehow garbled the question.

I smell smoke.

Dr. Cipes lifted up my headphones.

"What?"

I formed some non-words again.

I smell smoke.

Dr. Cipes lifted up my headphones again.

"What?"

How long does this Abbott and Costello routine need to go on?  More non-words.

I SMELL SMOKE!!!

"Oh."

I felt some commotion in front of me.  Heavy patting of my chest.  An air hose blowing across the front of my body.

What happened, Doctor?

"Your bib caught on fire."

Sure enough, it did.  I left that day with one nerveless tooth and a five inch wide burn mark on my polo shirt.

My subsequent visits to Dr. Cipes were less incendiary.  Pretty much, two check-ups a year for the next decade never found a thing wrong.  Ultimately, he chose to retire and my dental records were transferred to a new and younger dentist up the road. 

My first trip to Dr. Frank Leone would be a breeze.  Until he looked in my mouth...

"When was the last time you saw Dr. Cipes?"

It had been six months ago.

"Your mouth is full of cavities and broken fillings.  Didn't he see any of this?"

Probably not.  That's why you retire.  But I can be sure he didn't miss the eighteen holes out at Lake Isle Country Club.

Oddly, I happened to be in New York ten years ago when I was reading the Westchester newspaper and saw the obituary for Dr. Cipes.  He had made it to the age of 90.

Or, as he might like to say, three under par.

Dinner last night:  At a wedding reception in Long Beach, NY at the Allegria Hotel