Music To Your Eyes

Yours truly is now officially a full-fledged, bonafide, card-carrying (Vaccine card) member of WPIX-TV, or as we've called it in New York for more than 50 years, PIX 11's Documentary Club, a/k/a Watch With Dan, for its moderator, Daniel Mannanino, who also anchors the 7,8,9, and 10 AM hours of the PIX 11 Morning News. (Watch it on pix11.com, the PIX 11 News app, or, in the New York-New Jersey area on Hulu or YouTube TV.) I don't know how long it's going to last, because many are starting to return to work, but it's a fairly simple idea: Watch one (or both) of two documentary films chosen by Dan and his producer Katie Meyers, follow the special Zoom link, and get ready to talk about the pros and cons of the docs you have seen. I know what you're thinking, "It's one of those glorified contests,right?!?" Friends, the biggest prizes you can win from this club are knowledge of topics of which you may, or may not, have been aware, the courage to defend your beliefs before a group of friends, and, quite possibly, friendships that will last long after the world gets all the way back to normal. 

The first two documentaries chosen by PIX 11 that I have seen are SUMMER OF SOUL OR, HOW THE REVOLUTION NEARLY WASN'T TELEVISED (Hulu) and WOODSTOCK 99: PEACE, LOVE AND RAGE (HBO Max). SUMMER OF SOUL is about an event I never heard about until I saw the first trailer, the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969. Like many kids of the era, I got my Top 40 music and the top stories about the artist in those pre-MTV days, from mainstream AM radio stations like 77 WABC, 57 WMCA, or the pre-Imus iteration (Google the I Man!) of 66 WNBC (now WFAN) , and neither the jocks nor the newsmen at the top and bottom of the hour said anything about the Harlem Cultural Festival which occurred the same weekend in 1969 as the original Woodstock Music Fair. Both mainstream artists such as the Fifth Dimension (who felt they had to do this festival to convince their African American brothers and sisters they weren't white), Stevie Wonder, and Nina Simone and countercultural figures such as Gil Scott-Heron were represented, and the festival secured a corporate sponsorship from Maxwell House Coffee, but none of the local television stations in the New York market , the largest and most demanding in the country, would carry it, and the original film had been stuck in a basement for 50 years, until it was unearthed by Amir (Questlove) Thompson, better known as the bandleader for THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON, who assembled a very entertaining, enriching, portrait of a unique time in American cultural history. Get ready to enjoy this beautiful film, but also know there are a lot of similarities between Black America of 1969 and the Black America of today, such as the glaring inequality, unemployment, and prejudice. Of the two docs, SUMMER OF SOUL is the most musical and, well, most soulful.

By contrast, WOODSTOCK 99 is more reminiscent of a good magazine article, examining developments both positive and negative without fear or favor. The original Woodstock 99 music festival, held on an Air Force base in Rome, NY, was intended to replicate the magic and joie de vivre of its pioneering namesake thirty years prior, but it drowned in a sea of violence, vandalism, sexism, misogyny, and all-around poor planning and production. Who are the villains of this piece, the promoters of the original 69 festival and its 94 follow-up, the kids who stole money from the ATMs, took Limp Biskit leader Fred Durst's call to "Break Stuff" literally and thought it was OK to use the N-word because rapper DMX had, or MTV, once the iconoclastic pioneering music television network, now a shameless promoter, using every opportunity to milk this train wreck, which, in the eyes of this reviewer, laid the cornerstone for the insurrection of January 6th? (The viewer may note graffiti that dropped the F-bomb on MTV and one of the concertgoers who also dropped it on one of the cameras that just HAPPENED to be there. He should have read the legally-required sign giving MTV the right to use voices and likenesses of concert attendants during live concerts as well as for promotional purposes.) I leave it for the reader to decide, but I WILL say that Jewel, Alanis Morrisette, the Backstreet Boys, and Rage Against The Machine also turn in memorable performances. Of note is Latina comic Rosie Perez responding to a bunch of male chauvinist pigs, and that's all I'm gonna say about THAT.

Some people may opine that the documentary died with David L. Wolper and Edward R. Murrow, but if these excellent productions, and the interest that has sprung up since the pandemic, the genre is very much alive and well, and these two are definitely worth a look, and listen. (Also of note, and on HBO Max, SMALLTOWN NEWS, the real-life story of an actual TV station, but still, it's great for fans of WKRP, MARY TYLER MOORE, NEWSRADIO, and even WAYNE'S WORLD.)

Steve out!

Viva Vivo!

 VIVO (PG for Language and Certain Thematic Elements) With the Talents Of Lin-Manuel Miranda,Ynairly Simo, Zoe Saldana, Juan de Marcos Gonzalez,Brian Tyree Henry, Gloria Estefan,Michael Rooker,Nicole Byer,Katie Lowes,Olivia Trujillo,Lidya Jewett,Christian Ochos,Gloria Calderon Kellett,Leslie David Baker,Paloma Morales,Danny Pino,Alex Lacamoire,Aaron LaPlante, and David Baida. Directed by Kirk DeMicco, Co-Director Brandon Jefferds. Screenplay by Kirk DeKicco and Quiara Alegria Hudes, Story by Quiara Alegria Hudes and Peter Barsocchini., Co-Producers, Daniel Chuba and John Clinton, Executive Producers Louis Koo Tin Lok , Laurence Mark and Lin-Manuel Miranda,Produced by Rich Moore,Lisa Stewart, and Michelle L.M. Wong, Original Music by Alex Lacamoire and Lin-Manuel Miranda, A Sony Pictures Animation Production for Netflix, Distributed by Columbia Pictures

A few blogs ago, I reported on the Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest, usually staged at the chain's founding outlet at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in historic Coney Island (Brooklyn,NY) but, this year, held due to unprecedented demand at Maimonidies Park in the same area,and I mentioned that not only was it named for a trailblazing hospital (that sent a lot of real life super heroes off to battle the original strains of COVID-19, but it was also named (whether they knew it or not) for the father of modern Torah study.

Last Sunday, this reporter returned to the Park (or, as he likes to call it, Rambam Park) to see the home-standing Cyclones score a brilliant upset victory against the visiting Hudson Valley Renegade (Good luck wearing a mask at all times, guys!) on Jewish Heratige Day, but he was pleasantly surprised to see an ad on the Jumbotron for VIVO, a beautifully animated, illustrated, and written love letter to pre-Castro Cuban culture from the mind of Lin-Manuel (HAMILTON, IN THE HEIGHTS, MOANA, HIS DARK MATERIALS) Miranda, who plays the title character, a kinkajou who belongs to Andres, (Juan deMarcos of the group Buena Vista Social Club) a percussionist who played in Miami in those glory days alongside Maria (an old-school cabaret queen played by the multi-talented Gloria Estefan), but never told her his true feelings. He writes her one last song, and tries flying to Miami to get it to her before it's too late, but, unfortunately for him, it is, and Vivo, who used to pass the hat to pay for Andres' living expenses, meets his niece Rosa (Zoe Saldana) and great niece Gabi (promising newcomer Ynairaly Simo) after sneaking into Gabi's backpack and following them to their home in Key West, FL. We find out that Gabi hates her girl scout troop but she loves music, rapping, and being that one in a million, which is also an appropriate term for VIVO. Without giving too much of the movie away, VIVO jumps off the screen (big and small) with a combination of CGI and hand-drawn animation, smart, contemporary humor, a chase scene equal, to, if not surpassing, the greatest live-action chases in movie history, and, of course, Lin-Manuel Miranda's lyrical gymnastics, tongue-in-cheek humor, an ability to segue from traditional Cuban music, and other manifestations of Latin music to hip-hop, and even "Love Picks You Up," a ballad seemingly intended for (and definitely intended to mock) lite FM stations.

Although I'm determined to get outside and go back to living life to the fullest, today's triple-digit real feel temperatures made it difficult, if not impossible. VIVO is the best lemonade you can make from the lemons today's world can hand you, and, no previous knowledge of Spanish is required. (Gracias, subtitulos, or, to put it another way, thank you,subtitles!) Since I found out about VIVO at a ballgame, I can safely say this is one movie that hits a home run!

Arriba!

Esteban 

How I Spent My Vacation, Part 1

 Those of you who wish to see the under-the-bridge version of the following report are referred to the last three editions of this fine Blog. The Reader's Digest version follows.

Long story short: After nearly two years of staying put, Mom and I decided to take a brief work-week vacation in beautiful Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, about an hour away from (A) Scranton, The Electric City, practically the Brooklyn of Northeast PA thanks to the popularity of the American version of THE OFFICE, (B) Moosic, the home of world-famous Montage Mountain and PNC Field, the defacto branch office of Yankee Stadium and stomping grounds of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Rail Riders, the Bronx Bombers' farm team, and (C) Wilkes-Barre, where Mom was born and we "visited" Gramps and Grams  on  Tuesday (We came in on Monday)at the Temple B'nai Brith Cemetary as well as Mom's one-time boss, David Baltimore who owned NBC affiliate WBRE-TV (now part of a group which includes WGN 9 in Chicago and PIX 11 here in New York) and whose name graces a turnpike where cable operator RCN is headquartered. (Ironic, huh?) After a long search and a nice lunch (which we found after said search), we returned to the hotel and I headed off to (B) where the Rail Riders kicked the collective posterior of the Washington Nationals-affiliated Rochester Red Wings. I could have gone to (A), and I plan to one day after Amtrak resumes non-stop passenger service, but I didn't get in the decent exercise I should have, and I had some serious packing to do. I took care of all that on Wednesday, and yesterday, (Thursday, to be exact.) we got a driver and we rode back to Manhattan. Mom got a sandwich, and I got a chewy granola bar. Hey, gotta watch the old physique!

Even we stumbled out of the gate, we crossed the finish line like a true thoroughbred. Here's hoping my trip to Ohio (the subject of Part 2) will be just as successful! (Find out when I come home in September!)

Down and gone! (I've met a lot of truckers during my many road trips!)

Steve

The Calm After Monday's Storm

 Hey, Eisketeers! (Might as well make some use of the last name. As you are about to find out, I had a "meeting," if you can call it that, with two people responsible, remotely responsible, but responsible nonetheless, for Steven Long Eisenpreis' creation, and I am about to tell a very Long story about the middle name too.)

As you may recall, trying to get a Lyft from Mount Airy Lodge to Wilkes-Barre, one of the largest cities in Pennsylvania and the town where my mom Bettijane was born, was no walk in the park, and by the time we realized we were five minutes late and we had to call the Rabbi who was guiding us through the cemetery where our ancestors were buried to tell him we were going to be a LITTLE late. As I went to the casino entrance of Mount Airy looking for our driver, I put in another call for a driver, and what do you know, there was one in the neighborhood who was about to let a passenger out. 15 minutes and a text later, Jennifer, our new Lyft driver, drove up to the entrance, and led us through the beautiful Pocono Mountains and the kind of small towns every Manhattan neighborhood aspires to emulate right into the heart of Wilkes-Barre,which has taken a few poundings from Mother Nature, 9/11,the 08 recession, and the broken promises of the last Presidential administration, but manages to keep on swinging. After a mixup as to the exact coordinates of the Temple B'nai Brith Cemetery, to use its full name, we were finally greeted by our patient and jovial rabbi, and I visited the plots for my paternal grandparents, Sigmund (the inspiration for my first name, betcha didn't know!) and Claire. I told her to stay. Right. Where. She. Is. (That's a story for another time.)

On the other hand, we had a better time, or at least as good a time that you can have in a cemetery any day before Halloween, exploring the history of the Longs of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, including Simon who used the war in California with the Indians as a selling point for his department store on Public Square (for reasons that mystify me to this day), and when we made it to the graves of my maternal grandparents, Carol Hess Long and Clinton Mayer Long, I extended my tradition of giving Pop (as I called CML) the baseball cap of the World Series champion (The LA Dodgers won a VERY strange year.) to Nana (Carol) by giving her a cap from the Jimmy Fund, the Boston Red Sox' initiative benefiting Dana-Farber Cancer Research Institute. I may hate the Red Sox on the field, but they do so much for the community, and that makes them the broken watch that's right at least once a day! After the Kaddish and a visit to the marker of David Baltimore, the owner of NBC affiliate WBRE-TV and its radio sister who, it should be noted, employed the aforementioned mom, and to him, thanks are due in perpetuity. (FYI, WBRE's radio stations are now owned by Audacy, formerly Entercom, formerly CBS Radio, and the TV station has since combined its newsgathering operations with CBS affiliate WYOU,formerly,WDAU, the sister station of Philadelphia Eye station WCAU,and they are currently under the stewardship of Nexstar, which has converted superstation WGN America into NewsNation, a truly fair and balanced channel. ) After this family reunion,the Rabbi gave us a lift to Public Square, and after a search for something to eat (We both agreed that Chik-Fil-A was OH-YOU-TEE for so many reasons!) we happened on this nice Italian restaurant and we took another Lyft back to the hotel where I hung out before heading out to PNC Field in beautiful Moosic, the home of Montage Mountain, a popular ski resort, and seeing the Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre Railriders, the Triple A affiliate of my beloved Yankees, begin a very exciting game against the Washington Nationals-affiliated Rochester Red Wings. Ordinarily, I would hang around to see a Yankee-related team win in extra innings, but my phone was rapidly running out of juice and Mom was kinda (Understatement of the year!) worried about my being stranded in No Man's Land, so I decided to leave just before the seventh inning. Anywho, PNC Field is a very beautiful modern facility, and the in-game entertainment is just as fun, especially the race between characters costumed as Yankee legends Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, and Billy Martin. (Sorry, no player autographs, but high-five their mascot Champ!)

As for today, I did some gambling, but I stuck to eighteen bucks in loose change that I had saved at home. I remembered what Mr. Rogers said about knowing when to fold 'em!)

I'm either going to swim or work out or do both, but tomorrow we'll be back in the Apple, and I'll be more ready to take on Cleveland and my return to the working world in the Fall. Things are going great after that miscue, and I believe they're only getting better!

Finally, good luck to our athletes in Tokyo. Usually, I would say, "Wish I were there!", but since Tokyo is under a state of emergency, I'll have to change that to "Wish you were here!"

Steve out!

On The Road (Paved With Good Intentions) Again!

 Greetings from my temporary residence at Mount Airy Casino Resort, Mount Pocono, PA. Maybe I should say VERY temporary, because I'm spending only three days here with my mom, whereas I'm riding solo to the beautiful state of Ohio next month for Labor Day. While New Yorkers have been know to flee the Baked Apple for the beautiful Pocono Mountains in the summer months, this particular visit to this key region of the Keystone State holds special significance because (A) the pandemic is winding down despite a very stubborn Delta variant and people are leaving their homes on vacation for the first time in nearly two years, (B) my maternal grandparents are buried in nearby Wilkes-Barre and (C) also nearby Scranton has achieved a new reputation as a party city thanks in no small part to the American version of THE OFFICE,. (If you missed it on NBC it's part of your Prime Video subscription or you can catch it on NBC's Peacock app, free as a bird from http://www.peacocktv.com . If you missed the original on BBC TWO, you can catch THAT on Britbox, Hulu, the aforementioned Prime Video, or , if you're joining us from the UK,  the appropriate Best of British channels. Please inquire, or enquire, at http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffice , http://www.sky.co.uk , or http://www.virginmedia.com.) and the birthplace of President Joseph R.Biden Jr. After some discussion, the Electric City, as Scranton has been called, will only be visited by Yours Truly in spirit, and Mount Airy itself almost never happened. We came a little too early for a proper check-in, had a few issues with the slot machines,tried and TRIED to get a lift into town until we got a LYFT into town  (town being the aforementioned Wilkes-Barre). Although our vacation was off to such a rocky start, we may need a vacation just to recover from it, (As I said at the outset, I'll be going to Cleveland and Canton, Ohio next month to do just that.) it can, and I'm sure it will. only get better. Hey, we've been stuck all year, but returning to daily life is worth the effort! Stay tuned for a complete and concise recap of this first full-fledged foray into vacationing since the fertilizer hit the air conditioner. (I have no special plan to win on the floor. To quote THE OFFICE, I'm not superstitious. Just a little stitious.)

Have a great summer!

Steve

Coney Island Goes To The Dogs!

 First of all, here's wishing one and all a very happy Independence Day as we get farther and farther from COVID and closer and closer to normal.

John Adams, one of the Founding Fathers,wisely suggested that our independence from Great Britain be celebrated with sports,and one of the premiere events on the sporting calendar is now in the books, and no, it's not the final game of the Yankees-Mets Subway Series, The Championships at Wimbledon, or even the ACL Cornhole Championship. Today, my special Independence Day topic is...

The Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Yes, dear readers,Nathan's has a hot dog eating contest that has achieved major league status up there with the World Series, the Super Bowl and WrestleMania. Traditionally, the event has been held at the original Nathan's at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues on Coney Island in Brooklyn,NY, but this year, due to the influx of fans who were shut out last year when the tourney was conducted inside Nathan's on a closed set, the event has been moved to Maimonidies Park.

"My-mon-a-WHO?!?", I hear you ask.

Moses ben Maimon,or Maimonidies, better known by the acronym Rambam, (1138-1204),born in Cordoba,Spain and died in Fostal, Egypt,was a medieval Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. Among his most notable works are the Guide for the Perplexed and the Mishneh Torah, or "Repetition of the Torah,"a code of Jewish religious law.

"And this has to do with hot dogs WHAT?!?"

Let us now turn the clock nearly eight hundred years after the passing of the Rambam to Coney Island(2001,to be exact),where the home of the New York Mets' farm club, the Brooklyn Cyclones (a name honoring the iconic Cyclone ride which directly faces the Park) has risen from the ashes of legendary Steeplechase Park, sponsored by Brooklyn/Long Island utility KeySpan, hence the name KeySpan Park. In 2010, the Cyclones phased out the name KeySpan, which had become a defunct division of the UK-based National Grid plc, and signed a naming rights deal with Municipal Credit Union, changing the name to MCU Park. (Baseball? Hot Dogs? I think we're seeing a pattern here.) When the pandemic changed everything, MCU refused to renew its naming rights deal,leaving the door open for Maimonidies Medical Center,founded in 1920 as a result of the merger of United Israel Zion and Beth Moses Hospitals which was named after (You guessed it!) Maimonidies. In its many iterations, the Park has hosted walkathons, football games,all-star softball, the New York Cosmos, and on 7/11, a pre-Tokyo tune-up for the Israeli baseball team as they muscle in on the home turf of the Fire Department of New York. (I believe that with a handle like THAT, they should hire themselves out for synagogues that have been studying Torah on Zoom all year long so the students can actually talk to each other in person, but that's just me.)

"But what in the name of Sidd Finch about the Hot Dog Eating Contest?"

First of all, Sidd Finch is the subject of an elaborate Google-worthy scheme involving the Mets, Brooklyn, and George Plimpton, second of all, the women's competition was won by Michelle Lesco putting away 30.75 hot dog/bun combinations, but the undisputed ruler of the men's title, the king of 'em all, that would have to be defending champion Joey Chestnut, who broke his own record with 76 hot dogs. (Good thing old Maimonidies' medical namesake was there at the ready with pouches of plop-plop-fizz-fizz!)

Boy, the year isn't over yet, and we've already tackled politics, women's rights,entertainment, sports, food,AND religion! Who says we don't cover all the bases?!? (Sorry, I just HAD to sneak a baseball pun i in!)

"When are you going to shut up and let us enjoy the rest of our holiday weekend?!?"

Is now too soon?

Steve out!

Hey,Hey,Hey, Bill, Just Go Away!

 I just got a comment from Bettijane Eisenpreis, a/k/a Dear Old Mom, and she said that Cos has lived a full life and we should just leave him be and sort it out for himself.

Yesterday I saw FAT ALBERT: THE MOVIE, starring Kenan Thompson in the title role and Kyra Pratt (Disney's "The Proud Family") as Lauri Robinson, a social outcast who has just lost her grandpa and a child of divorce, and I believe old Cos, and his writing-producing partner Charles H. Kipps ("Exiles; A LAW & ORDER Movie," and Hustle performer Van McCoy's right hand man) make a similar point. It begins when Lauri cries and her tears interfere with the circuitry of her remote while she's watching a FAT ALBERT &THE COSBY KIDS rerun and through a stroke of magic (This was distributed by 20th BEFORE the Disney merger, so, if you see it, don't expect any Mouseka-Magic!), Fat Albert, Old Weird Harold, Dumb Donald, Rudy and Mushmouth jump out of the TV because anybody who saw the show remembers that old FA loved to solve problems and he wants something to do while trying to make sense of the real world. (There are some amusing moments, such as Big Al, as he's called in much of the later portion of the movie,and the Kids seeing an ad for their show "now available on DVD" and gibbering about "Divvid".) SPOILER ALERT: As the kids miss the airtime for their next rerun and get try to fit into the modern world, such as Mushmouth learning how to speak clearly, Old Weird Harold dazzling the playground with his basketball prowess, and (Horror of horrors!) Dumb Donald ditching his oversized hat and actually reading books,which  fits into Cos' grand scheme to educate African-American men into becoming intelligent,civilized creatures, they start to literally fade away and a frantic Fat Albert asks Cos for help. Bill explains that Big Al is a fictional animated character inspired by his real-life friend Albert Robinson,who, for purposes of this movie, just happens to be Lauri's grandpa, and that by remaining in our world, he is in danger of becoming celluloid dust. (Reminds me a skosh of the original FROSTY THE SNOWMAN special, all that's missing is a magic hat and Albert coming back to life and saying, "Happy Birthday!") To quote the much funnier Capitol Steps, the storal of this morey is, "If you try to change to fit in, you lose a lot of what made you you!" Bill could have proved this point MUCH better,so the fact of the matter is, if the physically sick and mentally weak Bill Cosby of today tries too hard to be the same multi-talent who shone in so many arenas, he would lose a lot more of the charm he has lost already, so, even though this may be disrespectful to "America's Dad," Bill, Cos, William, Mr. Cosby....

Don't go away mad.

Do us all a favor and JUST GO AWAY and let us remember what made you the great guy you were before this happened.

Oh, before I run away and let you enjoy your long weekend, a quick word about LEONARD: PART 6, his parody of spy thrillers that I also saw why trying to get ready for Cos' return.

YAWN!

Saying More Than Nuff Steve