Yesterday, my mother Bettijane L. Eisenpreis started feeling poorly and saw our new family doctor, Mark Nechiamie in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, and was informed that the primary cause was high blood pressure, but, fortunately, cancer and a heart attack were ruled out and she had to curtail many of her activities.
Now, I know, somebody in London, Paris, or Mexico City, or one of the various other locales where this fine blog is enjoyed, is just going to close the window and forget (s)he ever saw these incoherent ramblings, but as you know, George H.W. and Barbara Bush, John McCain, and Stan Lee have passed in the past few months and weeks and today, Broadway legend Carol Channing, after nearly 100 years, has also left this mortal coil, but that had me a bit worried.
To be perfectly honest, I DON'T THINK THIS IS BETTIJANE'S TIME TO GO! I know, nobody lives forever, but with so many people who have made a difference either in the history of the planet or in my life, "doing the flat wave at Stiff Stadium," I think there should be people to hang around, keep on keeping on, and showing the rest of us young whipper-snappers how it should be done.
I don't care who outside our little circle of friends reads this blog, but Bettijane, GET WELL IMMEDIATELY, IF NOT SOONER, and I hope you keep going and going into the next century.
The rest of you, if this sounds like, to quote Mel Brooks, "the nonsensical ravings of a lunatic mind," my sincerest apologies, but I DO love my mother! I may not always agree with her, and she may not approve of all my decisions, but she IS a fifty-fifty partner in my creation, we HAVE had a great time on our various vacations, and she DID turn me on to Shakespeare and opera, and I thank her for that.
To reiterate, I hope she gets back to 100% ASAP, and that she keeps kicking posterior and taking names.
Thank you, Bettijane, for everything you do, and thank you, all you non-Bettijanes, for reading, and here's wishing ALL of you a happy and HEALTHY New Year.
SLE
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Monday, January 7, 2019
Welcome Back, My Friends To The Show That Never Ends!
1. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2. OOPS!
Number One is self-explanatory, other than I wish all the best for you and your friends and loved ones, but, as for Number Two, I was trying to create my Nice List and write a tribute to my fellow Steve Stephen Hillenburg who created SpongeBob Square Pants and talk about the absorbent, yellow,porous resident of a pineapple under the sea as a beloved character when I ran up against a whole article about people on both sides of the political aisle who weren't exactly fans of SB and his friends Patrick, Sandy, Larry, his boss Mr. Krabs, and his long-suffering neighbor Squidward, so I kinda got, to sanitize a Yiddish expression, "fertootzed," and the whole thing kinda fell apart. Long story short, my other nice people were Mickey Mouse, (90 years old and still the Leader of the Club!)
my Nicest Newsmaker of 2015, the late, great Stan Lee, Senator John McCain, and my Number Two and Number One respectively, Barbara Pierce Bush and her husband, the 41st President of these United States, George Herbert Walker Bush, who took his responsibilities as Commander-In-Chief seriously but never himself. Needless to say, this blog will make substantial donations to Reading Is Fundamental and the Points of Light Foundation to make sure the H.W. Bush legacy endures. (I didn't forget about Penny Marshall, Neil Simon, or the more recently departed Bob Einstein, Daryl "The Captain" Dragon, or the greatest wrestling commentator ever to step into the squared circle, Mean Gene Okerlund.)
You've all heard of How The Grinch Stole Christmas, (The live musical, the animated special, and the live-action Jim Carrey movie were all better than the CGI disaster featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, who does a WAY better job as Dr. STEPHEN Strange and Sherlock Holmes!) but have you heard about the Planet that stole New Year's Eve? Planet Fitness, the alleged gym that calls itself the Judgement-Free Zone but only succeeds in making millenials' wallets $10 (a month) thinner,sponsored this year's rain-soaked festivities in Times Square which involved, among other bizarre publicity stunts, getting former Playboy Playmate Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg (as in husband Donnie) on one of their purple exercise bikes on national TV (Playboy vets Debbie Harry, Susan Sullivan,Kathryn Leigh Scott, B.J. Ward, and oh,yes, even Gloria Steinem, have more talent in their respective pinkies than Jenny Mac has in her entire body!), and handing out ridiculous top hats with their obnoxious logo. Oh for the days when Sony was the major sponsor of the Times Square NYE festivities!
Instead of getting soaked and falling victim to Planet F's propaganda, I spent NYE at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden seeing the Professional Fighters League, a competitor to the more established Ultimate Fighting Championships. Before you go and call PFL trash sports ala the WWE, this is a promotion that really cares equally about its talent AND audience. The PFL combatants fought for a $1,000,000 payday, and they all talked about using the purse to create a better life. You can't aim any higher than that!
One show you should check out before it goes on season hiatus is RETURN TO AMISH on TLC this Sunday at 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific. In case you've been hiding out in a cave (or,well, you're Amish) this show is a continuation of the BREAKING AMISH franchise, which began in 2012 with a look at five Amish and Mennonite young adults leaving their sheltered lives to explore the Big Apple. This show has been compared to the rite of Rumspriga wherein Amish youngsters go out into the "English" (short for "Englischer") world, and decide whether they want to assimilate into OUR world or remain in theirs, but while Rumspriga is a temporary period, BREAKING AMISH traced its participants for six months. In the latest iteration, Jeremiah from the early seasons, his wife Carmela, and a few Amish matriarchs go on a road trip with adopted Mennonites Lowell, LaShell (Shelly) and Dawn. Long story short, Lowell, Shelly and Dawn have decided to ditch the ancient outfits and join the 21st Century, but their announcements haven't been exactly received enthusiastically. This week's season finale brings it all to an uncovered head with a wedding, a BIIIIG announcement concerning Lowell's (still Amish) fiance and mother of his upcoming children, and more surprises than you can shake a hoe at (I said H-O-E.), and don't be surprised if TLC follows it up with its "postgame" show "The Shunning Truth." Sometimes THOSE shows are more exciting than the regular season!
I have also been to the Metropolitan Opera AND the Professional Bull Riders tour at Madison Square Garden. And how has YOUR year been going?
Well, as my one-time buddy Keith Olbermann once said, "I've done all the damage I can do," so I'll close the door on this first blog of the New Year and wish you all the best in the coming year.
In the words of Billy Joel, "Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes, and I'm afraid we're at goodbye again," soooo...
...Buh-Bye!
Steve
2. OOPS!
Number One is self-explanatory, other than I wish all the best for you and your friends and loved ones, but, as for Number Two, I was trying to create my Nice List and write a tribute to my fellow Steve Stephen Hillenburg who created SpongeBob Square Pants and talk about the absorbent, yellow,porous resident of a pineapple under the sea as a beloved character when I ran up against a whole article about people on both sides of the political aisle who weren't exactly fans of SB and his friends Patrick, Sandy, Larry, his boss Mr. Krabs, and his long-suffering neighbor Squidward, so I kinda got, to sanitize a Yiddish expression, "fertootzed," and the whole thing kinda fell apart. Long story short, my other nice people were Mickey Mouse, (90 years old and still the Leader of the Club!)
my Nicest Newsmaker of 2015, the late, great Stan Lee, Senator John McCain, and my Number Two and Number One respectively, Barbara Pierce Bush and her husband, the 41st President of these United States, George Herbert Walker Bush, who took his responsibilities as Commander-In-Chief seriously but never himself. Needless to say, this blog will make substantial donations to Reading Is Fundamental and the Points of Light Foundation to make sure the H.W. Bush legacy endures. (I didn't forget about Penny Marshall, Neil Simon, or the more recently departed Bob Einstein, Daryl "The Captain" Dragon, or the greatest wrestling commentator ever to step into the squared circle, Mean Gene Okerlund.)
You've all heard of How The Grinch Stole Christmas, (The live musical, the animated special, and the live-action Jim Carrey movie were all better than the CGI disaster featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, who does a WAY better job as Dr. STEPHEN Strange and Sherlock Holmes!) but have you heard about the Planet that stole New Year's Eve? Planet Fitness, the alleged gym that calls itself the Judgement-Free Zone but only succeeds in making millenials' wallets $10 (a month) thinner,sponsored this year's rain-soaked festivities in Times Square which involved, among other bizarre publicity stunts, getting former Playboy Playmate Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg (as in husband Donnie) on one of their purple exercise bikes on national TV (Playboy vets Debbie Harry, Susan Sullivan,Kathryn Leigh Scott, B.J. Ward, and oh,yes, even Gloria Steinem, have more talent in their respective pinkies than Jenny Mac has in her entire body!), and handing out ridiculous top hats with their obnoxious logo. Oh for the days when Sony was the major sponsor of the Times Square NYE festivities!
Instead of getting soaked and falling victim to Planet F's propaganda, I spent NYE at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden seeing the Professional Fighters League, a competitor to the more established Ultimate Fighting Championships. Before you go and call PFL trash sports ala the WWE, this is a promotion that really cares equally about its talent AND audience. The PFL combatants fought for a $1,000,000 payday, and they all talked about using the purse to create a better life. You can't aim any higher than that!
One show you should check out before it goes on season hiatus is RETURN TO AMISH on TLC this Sunday at 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific. In case you've been hiding out in a cave (or,well, you're Amish) this show is a continuation of the BREAKING AMISH franchise, which began in 2012 with a look at five Amish and Mennonite young adults leaving their sheltered lives to explore the Big Apple. This show has been compared to the rite of Rumspriga wherein Amish youngsters go out into the "English" (short for "Englischer") world, and decide whether they want to assimilate into OUR world or remain in theirs, but while Rumspriga is a temporary period, BREAKING AMISH traced its participants for six months. In the latest iteration, Jeremiah from the early seasons, his wife Carmela, and a few Amish matriarchs go on a road trip with adopted Mennonites Lowell, LaShell (Shelly) and Dawn. Long story short, Lowell, Shelly and Dawn have decided to ditch the ancient outfits and join the 21st Century, but their announcements haven't been exactly received enthusiastically. This week's season finale brings it all to an uncovered head with a wedding, a BIIIIG announcement concerning Lowell's (still Amish) fiance and mother of his upcoming children, and more surprises than you can shake a hoe at (I said H-O-E.), and don't be surprised if TLC follows it up with its "postgame" show "The Shunning Truth." Sometimes THOSE shows are more exciting than the regular season!
I have also been to the Metropolitan Opera AND the Professional Bull Riders tour at Madison Square Garden. And how has YOUR year been going?
Well, as my one-time buddy Keith Olbermann once said, "I've done all the damage I can do," so I'll close the door on this first blog of the New Year and wish you all the best in the coming year.
In the words of Billy Joel, "Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes, and I'm afraid we're at goodbye again," soooo...
...Buh-Bye!
Steve
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