September Stuff

Is it just me or did summer FLY by? One minute I was waiting for Mother’s Day to plant flowers and now I have to pull them out and replace them with mums. Memorial Day was one minute and July 4th the next, and we barely got a breath before Labor Day showed up. Time flies, so I guess I must be having fun.

I am always reminded of my mother when football season starts. No, she was not a football fan; quite the contrary. She would be very annoyed when the NFL Sunday games would cause a delay in the start of “60 Minutes.” She would put on CBS and find the game instead and say with exasperation, “Again with the football?”

Just so you know, “Permanent Press” isn’t.

Every time I turn on Yacht Rock Radio, they are playing a song by Christopher Cross or Ambrosia. And really, how many songs are there by Christopher Cross (“Between the Moon and New York City”) and Ambrosia (“How Much I Feel?”) The music on this station, which I think is temporary, is so BLAND!

When you get into a cleaning mode, you need to pounce on it. I made one trip to Goodwill last week and now I am prepared to bring another bag of clothes that I don’t need or want – some still with tags. What WON’T be going to Goodwill is a pair of sweatpants from my freshman year at Douglass in 1968. They were a mandatory purchase for my body mechanics class, along with a long-gone leotard. Somehow, they survived 34 years at J&J, 18 years of retirement, 5 moves and countless cleanouts. And I'm not ditching them now!

I have always pronounced the word “vanilla” as vaNELLa. It wasn’t until I bought a box of “Nilla Wafers” that I realized the “Nilla” is short for vanilla and now I’m chagrined at having said it wrong for my whole life. You know, chocolate never posed these kinds of problems to me.

Remember the old, original TV Guide Magazine? It was small (the size of Reader’s Digest) but contained feature articles, the puzzle and the TV listings for the week. Quite a while ago it morphed into a larger size magazine that still contained those elements and a much larger grid to accommodate an increasing number of channels with the advent of cable. They first started publishing “double issues” and now they publish triple issues. What’s next? A monthly? I had stopped subscribing years ago but my sister gave me a subscription one year and now it is again a habit I can’t break. I read about new shows or movies and snap a quick pic so I can save this info to my phone for future reference. Meanwhile, I have an extensive collection of TV Guide Fall Preview Issues that I have compiled over the years that are nostalgic and fun to look at. Now I would love to sell them and have someone else enjoy reading about the introduction of The Mary Tyler Moore Show or M*A*S*H* and see when Good Times aired. Any takers?

My worst fear was realized recently when I bought a spray can that I could not open. Yes, I pushed in the sides of the top as indicated – or at least I tried – but I could not get the thing to budge. I took it back to CVS and the diminutive cashier somehow muscled it off and made it go flying about 20 feet!  This stuff is supposed to help alleviate the pain in my knee, but it has turned out to be a pain in my…

When my mother had trouble opening a jar, she would get “the big knife” and smack it (not with the blade side) against the jar. It worked every time!

In your house, did you have “the big knife” and the “good scissors?”

I don’t mind letting other drivers take the right of way, but I at least expect a nod, a wave or a pantomimed “THANK YOU” in return. And if we are merging on the highway and I let you go, please go! Don’t hang back, just go!

Remember the old car inspection process in New Jersey? You would arrive and get on a very long line and wait an hour. When you finally reached the station, you had to turn on your blinkers, lights, brights and whatever else and then get out of the car so the inspector – who you could only hope was in a good mood that day – could slam on your brakes. And then you prayed that they put the passing sticker on the windshield. Fast forward to 2024, same inspection station. I arrived just before 11 AM and 20 minutes later I was on my way home. No blinkers, no brake slamming, just emissions. And now you only have to go every two years, not every year. Not much has changed for the better, but this process has.

As much as I relish old TV shows, I wonder who is watching a block of comedies from the 1950s that include “Our Miss Brooks,” “The Donna Reed Show,” and “My Three Sons.” These sitcoms aren’t very funny and the people in the shows have no real burning issues or problems. Sure, I liked these shows in the 1950s and 1960s, but my standards have gotten higher in the last 60 years. 

This Al Gorithum guy is not always right. I keep getting emails about Universal Lacrosse, a sport I have never watched or tried. Finally, I realized I could “unsubscribe,” so I did. What took me so long?

In addition to being inept at folding fitted sheets and at parking the car, I have to admit another shortcoming. I cannot tell if a melon is ripe, and now that I have started eating avocados, I have no idea how to buy them. They seem to go from way too hard to way too soft, and I can’t seem to catch them at the perfectly ripe stage.

Hold on to your pets, friends! According to an outlandish claim made by the Republican nominee for President and his running mate, marauding bands of illegal immigrants are kidnapping Fluffy and Fido and eating them. You simply cannot make this stuff up.

August 30th was the last day of work for my sister, Nancy Gordon Tillman, after 46 years at the Middlesex County Board of Social Services. She was the person everyone went to for help, the person who always worked during the holidays so others could spend time with their families, who "donated" time to coworkers for medical or family emergencies, who trained and mentored so many people in the agency and much more. Since the staff could not work from home, she braved the covid epidemic and trudged into the office as soon as the office reopened (within just a few weeks) and worked all through the quarantine. As much as she hates snow, she would go to work as long as the roads were passable. And I can’t imagine how much money she has doled out for co-workers’ showers, weddings and special occasions over the last 46 years. 

Now she will no longer have to worry about whether her driveway will be shoveled out, the traffic jams that mark the beginning of the school year and the buses on the road. She won’t have to pack her lunch for the next day after dinner, worry about the slippery parking lot at the office or bringing the safest shoes.

When her son gets married at the end of October, she won’t have to deal with going back to work after the wedding. She made many sacrifices for a job that served people in the community for 46 years. She will be able to take her long walks before it gets dark at night and after the sun is up in the morning. She won’t have to battle the sun while driving east in the morning and west coming home. 

I'm so proud of her for her devotion to her job and I know that everyone there will miss her as a colleague and friend. I'm lucky, because I'll get to spend more time with her. She has set the standard of excellence as an employee, mother, wife and sister and she deserves a nice long rest and a healthy and happy retirement. Welcome to the club, Nan!

Movies and More, August 2024

Here are the 16 programs I watched in August. New programs that I had not seen previously are marked with an asterisk. All programs are rated on a scale of 1-5 cans of tuna fish, with numbering picked up from the previous months.

97. Her Name Was Grace Kelly* (2024, PBS) – With an apt name for a woman of grace and beauty, actress Grace Kelly had a short but storied career. At the age of 26, she retired from acting and moved to Monaco to marry Prince Ranier and begin royal duties as the Princess of Monaco. This PBS documentary takes a close look at this talented American actress who became a real-life princess. 3 cans.
98. Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes* (2024, HBO) – I’m glad someone found this treasure trove of recordings of Elizabeth Taylor telling her own story. She was a star as a young girl and only knew fame for her entire life. It’s hard to keep up with the marriages, but between romantic conquests, Taylor turned in some great performances in movies like Who’s Afraid of Virigina Woolf, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Butterfield 8. But it was her romantic entanglements that led to the rise of the paparazzi, a roving mass of photographers determined to get a picture of Liz and her latest paramour.  She started as a star and ended as a fighter for AIDS research. What an interesting life! 3½ cans.
99. Gods of Tennis* (2024, PBS) – This 3-part documentary series takes us back to the rise of tennis in popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, as rivalries between its brightest stars heated up. First there was the emergence of Billie Jean King and Arthur Ashe, not rivals on the court, but in the court of public opinion, with Billie Jean advocating for pay equity and Arthur Ashe taking positions on apartheid. Both Wimbledon winners, they commanded a lot of attention (and it was especially comforting to see Ashe ward off brash young Jimmy Connors). Then Swede Bjorn Borg made it to the top, reeling off consecutive wins at Wimbledon and challenged by his on-court opposite, irreverent John McEnroe. And finally, America’s sweetheart, Chris Evert, was challenged by Czech player and eventual US citizen Martina Navratilova. They played each other nearly 100 times. There are great memories included here and it was fun reliving those times, which is when I initially became a fan watching these players. 3½ cans.
100. The Sopranos (1999-2007, HBO) – HBO launched this outstanding series 25 years ago, and I thought this would be a good time to revisit it, so I watched all 86 episodes in about 6 weeks. There is too much drama and detail to get into in depth here, but the story centers around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), mob boss, husband and father, who sees a therapist to help him with his problems in between ordering hits on his enemies or knocking them off himself. The nuances (if a brutal show can have nuances) balance the action. The show is so well cast that it is impossible to imagine anyone else playing his beleaguered wife, Carmela (Edie Falco), who knows but doesn’t really want to know the source of his income; his nephew Christopher (Michael Imperioli); his therapist (Lorraine Bracco) and his many cronies – Paulie, Silvio (E Street band member Steven Van Zandt), Pussy, Bobby, Uncle Junior, Janice and his evil mother (Nancy Marchand). The writing is impeccable, the acting superb, the direction is perfection and the locations are familiar to all of us who know NJ. Kudos to creator David Chase and his team for making what can be considered the best series of all time. There is plenty of violence but there is also humor and a deep sense of family – blood family (ironically) and “work” family. If you have HBO Max and have 86 hours to kill, check it out. 5 cans.
101. Presumed Innocent* (2024, Apple TV+) – I remember the original Harrison Ford movie based on Scott Turow’s book. This 8-part series was much darker, tenser and longer than the movie and I honestly couldn’t wait until it ended. Maybe if I hadn’t seen the original movie I would have liked it better. But no one here had any redeeming value; each character was flawed, evil, narcissistic or unfaithful or something that made me not like them or the story. 3 cans.
102. At Witt’s End* (2024, Netflix) – I love a good Dateline-like mystery as much as the next person, but this four-parter on Netflix was excruciatingly long (and was labeled “season 1,” so expect a follow-up; the mystery was not solved at the end of the season). You know the story: Young woman disappears from her local community, everyone says she would never do that, huge search is launched and eventually her body is found. So who done it? You have to go though painstaking police work done over decades to get examine the events. I don’t need such lengthy scrutiny over the possibility of DNA on a cigarette butt from 30 years ago. Maybe this could have been just a one-part program. Pardon me, Netflix, while I return to Keith Morrison and Dateline. 3 cans.
103. Timebomb: Y2K* (2024, Max) – Think about it: 25 years ago we were worried about the impending doom that might result from the dawn of a new millennium. Computers programmed with two digits for the year might inadvertently switch to 1900 instead of 2000. Predictions of systems crashing, of food and other necessities being in short supply, of power outages and other disasters were enough to scare the general population. This documentary features so-called “experts” -- but who could be an expert on something so unprecedented? Here you will see the concern of average Americans, workers and people in our communities as they come to terms with the inevitable passage of time. I hope I don’t ruin it for you when I tell you that we survived. 3 cans.
104. The Accidental Twins* (2024, Netflix) – In the documentary, then two women spot someone they know who doesn’t recognize them, a chain of events begins that leads the confused man to find out he has a twin and a brother he didn’t know he had. The men grew up in different parts of Colombia, each with a brother, unaware that miles away was their real family. There are two sets of identical twins here, accidentally separated when one baby is sent for medical care and returned to the wrong family. What makes us related? How much DNA makes the bond between brothers and how much is the situation in which you are raised? The movie is done with Spanish subtitles so you have to pay attention to understand the action. 3 cans.
105. Wicked Little Letters* (2023, Netflix) – Somebody in the conservative British village of Littlehampton likes to write letters – crude, brash, profane letters – all received by the quiet, shy Edith Swan (Olivia Colman). The meddling neighbors are convinced the culprit is a vocal and tough young Irish woman, Rose (Jessie Buckley), a former friend of Edith, and both the police and the community set out to prove their case. After all, it was Edith who contacted the authorities on her loud and disruptive neighbor, so could these obscenity-filled diatribes be retribution by Rose? This cheeky film is based on a real incident from the 1920s and is well-played here. 3½ cans.
106. Jim Henson, Idea Man (2024, ABC-Disney) – Every now and then someone comes along with an idea for entertainment that is unique to his personality and skill set and like nothing we have ever seen before. Jim Henson was a writer, director, puppeteer – it is impossible to adequately describe the visionary man who brought us the Muppets. This documentary by director Ron Howard explores the mind of Henson, taking us beyond just a list of achievements and providing a chance to understand his artistry from behind the scenes. His Kermit the Frog (which he voiced), Miss Piggy, Big Bird and so many other characters brought joy and education into countless homes. His deal with Children’s Television Workshop introduced his beloved characters to young children, who learned by watching them for free on PBS. The Muppet Show, The Muppet Movie and a stint on Saturday Night Live exposed these characters to a wider, adult audience. Despite his death at the age of 53 in 1990, Henson left behind a huge body of work and a world that continues to flourish in his absence. 4 cans.
107. Daughters* (2024, Netflix) – This documentary is the moving story about a group of men incarcerated in a Washington, DC, prison who are participating in a program called “Dance with Dad.” For 10 weeks, they have to meet as a group with a life coach to prepare them to reunite for one evening with their young daughters, a chance for them to dress up and dance with their girls. The program forces them to reevaluate their relationships with their daughters and their responsibilities as parents. Many of the men have had sporadic or no opportunity to see or spend time with their children, and the little girls are as nervous and excited as their dads. If you watch it, stick around for the very end to see how this 12-year-old program has made a difference. Parts of this – with the children and the dads – just touched my heart. 4 cans.
108. The Murder of Laci Peterson* (2024, Netflix) and 109. Face to Face with Scott Peterson* (2024, Peacock) – These two documentaries were released within a week and each covers the case of Lacie Peterson, a pregnant wife who went missing in 2002 and who subsequently was found dead in a marina miles away from her home in Modesto, California, in the same place where her husband Scott told police he had gone fishing on Christmas Eve day, the day she disappeared. The first program focuses on Laci’s family, their initial support for Scott, and the subsequent fall-out when his affair with Amber Frey is revealed, up through his trial and conviction. The second series starts after the trial, interviewing Scott in prison, where he is serving a life sentence. Peterson rejects the circumstantial evidence in his case and his defense attorneys – including his sister, who became a lawyer to assist with his legal proceedings – are still pointing fingers at the local police department for withholding or failing to investigate clues that could identify someone else responsible. I have followed this case since it started in 2002, when it dominated the news. Watch only if you are a true crime junkie. 3½ cans each.
110. Betrayed* (2024, Hulu) – There are two seasons to this documentary series, each presenting a 3-part story of husbands who have betrayed their wives and families in a most egregious way. I won’t give away their despicable acts, but that’s just part of it. The amount of emotional abuse and manipulation by these men is astonishing. And when they say they are sorry, you naturally wonder if they are sorry for their transgressions or sorry they were caught. This series is disturbing and addictive. 3½ cans.
111. Lie to Fly* (2024, FX and Hulu) – This broadcast is part of “The New York Times Presents,” an investigative series on a wide range of topics. This one focuses on the mental health issues experienced by airplane pilots, whose actions affect the lives of all passengers on board their flights. Pilots with issues that might be addressed by medications the rest of us can take are not able to use those medications and retain their flying status. Some resort to other ways to address their problems, and, as this show reports, some have intentionally crashed their planes because they just could not cope with their problems. The jurisdiction over pilots’ health and safety are unclear, with involvement by the FAA and the National Transportation Board. This is an intriguing issue that needs much more scrutiny. 3 cans.
112. Remembering Gene Wilder* (2024, Netflix) – He was the Cisco Kid in “Blazing Saddles” and Leon Bloom in “The Producers.” Gene Wilder didn’t play ordinary people, and his characters in “Stir Crazy” and “Young Frankenstein,” which he wrote, demonstrate his ability to evoke laughter from the oddball folks he portrayed. The documentary traces his career from stage to screen, his marriage to the late Gilda Radner from “Saturday Night Live” and his last years in the grip of Alzheimer’s. If you like Gene Wilder, don’t miss this one. 3½ cans.