I know it's been a long time, but here we are again, and I'd like to start by wishing a happy Canada Day and a happy 4th of July to all those who celebrate, and despite EVERYTHING, and I do mean EVERYTHING that's happened, especially between both of our countries, that should be a lot!
This time, we're going to try something COMPLETELY different: a Smorgas-Blog! (Hope it doesn't leave you Smorgas-BORED!)
APPETIZER: A Bronx Tale
THE SCENE: Yankee Stadium,One East 161st Street, The Bronx,New York
THE DATE: June 4,2025 (On Earth-2)
On both Earth-1 and Earth-2,Congregation Emanu-El of the City Of New York, America's leading Reform Jewish temple,is celebrating 180 years of history and growth from a simple building on Grand and Chrystie Streets in Manhattan's Jewish Quarter to a magnificent structure on Fifth Avenue and East 65th Street, and, to mark the occasion, the home standing New York Yankees have invited key representatives of Emanu-El, including Senior Rabbi Joshua N. Davidson (who performs the invocation,) Cantor Sara Anderson (performing the National Anthem and "God Bless America" in a handsome version of the official Yankee pinstriped jersey emblazoned with her honorary number,1 1/2, more on that later) with her husband Peter and beautiful baby Golda Grace (Number 2 1/2) in tow,and members of the Men's Club (including a handsome devil named Steven Eisenpreis,why DOES that name sound so familiar?!?) who perform the time-honored ritual of throwing out the first pitch after they stroll onto the field waving their Yankee caps at an insanely applauding audience as a video of Temple history unspools, Thanks in no small part to Emanu-El's presence, the Yanks go on to beat the visiting Cleveland Guardians, formerly the Indians, (LONG STORY!)by a 3-0 margin.
THE DATE: June 4,2025 (As it actually happened right here on Earth-1)
The Men's Club buys its tickets to the game like EVERYBODY ELSE,they don't even get a plug on the Fan Marquee (That honor goes to the Manhattan JCC, darn it!),a marching band from Joisey plays the Anthem after the pre-game parade, of Little League teams, the Yanks DJ spins the recording of the late,great Met Opera star,and honorary number 1 1/2 Robert Merrill (In the aforementioned alternate reality, Cantor Anderson, a devout Broadway and opera fan, would be paying homage to Bob by wearing his number.) singing "God Bless America", and some other lucky sons of guns throw out the first pitch. At least (A) the Yanks beat Cleveland in THIS reality as well,(B) we were serenaded by a marching band,and (C) we saw a live sporting event IN PERSON, and how cool is THAT?!? Besides, the aforementioned Rabbi Davidson is a loyal METS fan as are most of the clergy at Emanu-El.
THE MAIN COURSE: Speaking of Cleveland...
...That's where I'll be for July 4th Weekend. Everybody LOVES to pick on Cleveland, but in addition to being immortalized by fellow Steve Steven R. Gerber and Ohio native Val Mayerik in Marvel's surreal, classic "I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Underground" epic HOWARD THE DUCK, comedian Drew Carey on his epynomous ABC sitcom, and writer Harvey Pekar and Robert "Fritz the Cat" Crumb in a comic classic that IS underground, AMERICAN SPLENDOR, it's the home of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and where DJ Alan Freed coined that very term. CLE, as its residents call it, is also where Al Roker got his start as a weatherman,Don Imus, who lost his job in New York over a notorious racist, sexist slur, achieved national fame as a National Guard officer who called a McDonald's to order "!200 Hamburgers To Go",and also the home of the Guardians of Traffic, (Now you know where the team got its name!) and the movies MAJOR LEAGUE (made when they were STILL the Indians) and DRAFT DAY (starring Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, and, unfortunately, Diddy). I'll also take a day trip to the Akron-Canton area, home of NBA star LeBron James (The Akron Hammer) and the Pro Football Home of Fame.
SIDE ORDERS: A Hall of A Band
The Rock Hall is ALREADY spiritual home to Dolly Parton,Cyndi Lauper, Bon Jovi, and ABBA, and I'm sure Brian Wilson, the leader of the Beach Boys, Sly Stone of the Family Stone, who have recently passed,are already inducted, as well they should be. Sadly, Robert Cabot Sherman Jr., better known by his nickname, Bobby, was also taken from us by kidney cancer. To be perfectly honest, I don't think he qualifies as HOF material because a few of his hits were featured on a show a lot of you young 'uns never heard of called SHINDIG in the 60's and the majority of those hits charted very high in the 70s and he was VERY limited by his bubblegum label,but his hits, "La La La (If I Had You)", "Oklahoma City Times", "Cry Like A Baby",and "Turtles and Trees", to name a few, WERE the soundtrack of a lot of lives in the 70s. (At least Bobby deserves an Honorable Mention or Participation Trophy, if the HOF gives out such things.)
DESSERT: Groovy Movies
The Summer Movie Season looks very promising with SUPERMAN (Did I mention I'll also visit a shrine to the Man Of Steel's creators, Clevelanders Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster?), FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS,and SUPERGIRL (formerly SUPERGIRL: WOMAN OF TOMORROW. LOOOONG story!) on the horizon,but already I've seen Wes Anderson's THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME, starring Benicio del Toro as an eccentric millionaire and promising newcomer (and Kate Winslet's daughter) Mia Threapleton as the sole heiress, who wants no part of material wealth and prefers a vocation as a Bride of Our Boy, the Late, Great J.C. of Biblical Fame, in a fast paced bruised-forearm epic reminiscent of the Indiana Jones epics, and even Carl Barks' classic Uncle Scrooge stories, and Disney/Pixar's ELIO, which TRIES to measure up to the lofty standards set by TOY STORY, CARS, THE INCREDIBLES,and A BUG'S LIFE,but doesn't QUITE make the cut. (Still a good ninety minutes in an air-conditioned theatre, nonetheless.)
CHECK,PLEASE! Hope all of you reading in the East Coast made it out of this EXCRUCIATING heat wave in one piece, and that you say a prayer for our troops keeping the peace in the Middle East and Europe and our police officers doing the same here at home.
Talk to you from Cleveland!
Steve
