When stars align, and the message is clear you have to accept the challenge
Posted: May 16, 2012 Filed under: Misc. | Tags: Brave, Disney, Fate, June 22, Mike Anderson, Miscellaneous, Phillies, Pixar, Universe 2 Comments »
May 16, 2012 – When I was a kid, I remember attending one particular Phillies game on a Saturday night in June.
It was June 22, 1974 to be exact, and the reason I remember it so vividly is because I was sitting in right field along the foul line, Phillies right fielder Mike Anderson was wearing #22, and I had just read in the Phillies Yearbook that it was his birthday.
Those three factors, along with the gorgeous weather made my child brain believe it was a sign of an absolutely perfect moment, and from that moment on June 22 became my favorite day. Funny how I don’t remember if the Phillies won or lost that night, or who they were playing, but a quick Google provided that information easily; the Phillies beat the New York Mets 5-2, which makes it even better.
Flash forward to present day. While I can’t say that June 22 remained special for me over the years, I still think about my childhood perfect day now and then and it makes me smile. So, imagine my surprise when I saw a commercial for the new Disney Pixar movie “Brave”. The tag line jumped out at me in big bright gold letters: “If you could change your fate, would you – June 22”.
The adult side of me knows very well that June 22 is simply the day “Brave” hits theaters, and it’s a clever way to market the film. But the kid inside of me jumped for joy again. Could the universe be sending me another message? Perhaps I should have stood my ground and celebrated each June 22nd. Instead, like many childhood thrills, I let it go like it didn’t matter anymore.
Now June 22 is tempting me to change my fate, and I’d be crazy not to accept the challenge. I’m overdue anyway, so game on, Universe.
Oh, where to begin? There’s so much I want to work on.
I suppose I have until June 22 to decide.
Not the Dark Shadows of my youth, but entertaining just the same
Posted: May 14, 2012 Filed under: Entertainment | Tags: Angelique Brouchard, Barnabas Collins, Collinsport, Collinswood, Dark Shadows, Entertainment, Eva Green, Johnny Depp, Jonathan Frid, movies, Tim Burton 2 Comments »
May 14, 2012 – Fans who consider themselves purists may not appreciate Tim Burton’s long-awaited adaptation of the 1960s gothic soap opera”Dark Shadows”, but if they look at the film on its own, as another Johnny Depp/Tim Burton collaboration, and not as a remake of the popular series, they’ll find some clever moments.
I went back and forth about whether I should see “Dark Shadows” or not. I don’t consider myself a complete purist, but was a major fan and raced home from grade school every day to watch it. It was the previews that originally turned me off and gave the impression that Burton made a mockery of it.
My internal battle didn’t last long; I saw “Dark Shadows” on its opening weekend, and I’m glad I did. It’s certainly not the “Dark Shadows” I remember, although Burton did stay true to the original storyline.
In my mind there will only be one Barnabas Collins, the first vampire we met with a conscience and a heart, who really wasn’t monster like at all, and paved the way for all of the softer vampires that are so popular today. Canadian Actor Jonathan Frid who recently passed away at age 87 played him miraculously. Frid may have actually taken stereotype 360 degrees with this role; you can’t imagine anyone else playing the role, and you can’t imagine him playing any other role either. To my knowledge he really didn’t act again once “Dark Shadows” went off air in 1972.
That being said, Johnny Depp, who played an awfully disturbing Willy Wonka for another Burton remake did a fine job as Barnabas Collins. He was charming just like the original, and played the part with an appealing comic twist. The rest of the cast is also suited to their roles, with Michelle Pfeiffer as the matriarch Elizabeth Collins, and the obligatory “Helena Bonham Carter in a Tim Burton movie role” that has her playing Dr. Julia Hoffman, the family live-in psychiatrist, which doesn’t seem odd considering the Collins family deals with vampires, ghosts, werewolves, witches and two hundred year old curses on a daily basis.
But it was French actress Eva Green’s portrayal of Angelique Bouchard that stole the show. Green fine tuned her acting chops on more sophisticated roles, such as Merlin’s nemesis Morgan LeFay in Camelot, which crushed me with its cancellation last year, but she lit up the screen in every scene she appeared in and held her own in a semi-comic role, and it was great to see her again. She plays evil incredibly well.
There are also four original cast members that make cameo appearances in the movie, in the party scene to be exact, but if you blink too quickly you’ll miss them.
While the movie is entertaining, it certainly had its flaws. One of the biggest was Tim Burton’s apparent confusion on whether the vibe should be funny or dark and gothic. It seems he couldn’t make up his mind and went with both, which usually plays well in a Burton film. However, while I did enjoy the more humorous moments, as well as the scary dark scenes, it got a little tiresome constantly going back and forth. It was too much.
Some may argue that the original series did the same, but as a kid I kid, I didn’t understand that “Dark Shadows” was campy. I didn’t even know what that meant. I only knew it was the scariest show I’d ever seen. Burton’s adaptation is also very campy, but even the darker scenes come no where as close to being frightening as the original.
A better way to describe the movie may be to say that it is far out or outta sight, as the era – the early 1970s and its free loving hippie lava lamp ways – play out like a character.
So, all of you purists out there, stay cool. See this adaptation for what it is – a downright groovy time.
E-mail gets a reprieve
Posted: May 11, 2012 Filed under: Misc. | Tags: Current Events, e-mail, Facebook, Office Communicator, social media instant messat QWERTY, Twitter 2 Comments »
May 11, 2012 – Communicating via text and instant message through cell phones and social media outlets such as Facebook seems to become more popular each day.
Sort of makes you believe that e-mail is a dying technology.
I know you’ve heard the theory before. Having been around for 40 plus years, e-mail is outdated, dying a slow painful death, and is waiting to be replaced by social media or whatever new and successful technology comes down the pike.
Many of my friends tell me they’re less inclined to check e-mail and appreciate text messages sent to their cell phones instead. And more and more of my co-workers are opting to use Office Communicator, an instant messaging tool, to avoid the e-mail clutter.
Aside from spam, which I do a good job of avoiding, I like e-mail and still use it as a primary communication tool for personal and professional messages. I’m prone to think of sending an e-mail instead of using that impossibly small QWERTY keyboard on my cell phone. And by trade, I’m a corporate communicator who freely sends business updates, announcements and executive messages to the e-mail boxes of my co-workers.
So, you can imagine my delight when I read a recent report that claims e-mail is still the main driver when it comes to reaching people, beating out Facebook and texting – at least when it comes to online shopping. The report comes from Exact Target, an Indianapolis-based leader in e-mail marketing. They claim that about 66 percent of Americans who routinely go online have purchased items either directly through e-mail or because they found a product or service via e-mail.
It’s nice to know I’m not quite the dinosaur I thought I was, although I’ve never – not once — purchased something because of an e-mail, and I am an online shopper. Clearly, I see these survey results at face value, and choose to believe they were not skewed in any way because they were ordered by a company specializing in reaching customers through they very method they promote — e-mail.
For now it seems e-mail has received a last minute call from the governor. If it’s replaced by new technology down the road – and chances are good that it will in our ever-changing technological world – I will adapt.
Until then, I will persist and stay in my comfort zone.
Dear Jayson Werth, the Washington Nationals Team, the front office and their fans:
Posted: May 9, 2012 Filed under: Sports | Tags: "Take Back the Park", Boo Birds, Cole Hamels, Jayson Werth, Major League Baseball, Mike Rizzo, Natitude, Philadelphia Phillies, Philly Fans, Rivalry, Sports, Washington Nationals, Washington Post 6 Comments »
May 9, 2012 – Thank you for your part in helping Philadelphia sports fans make national headlines once again with the antics that occurred over the weekend series in Washington. In the words of one of your players, a new and intense rivalry is born.
Your marketing group called the weekend the “take back the park” or the “natitude” promotion, but let’s call it what it really was: a ploy to sell more Philly fans tickets to your stadium by taunting us, because although your team is good, and you’re in first place, you’re still not drawing crowds.
I feel I have to defend my team and fellow fans against the against the harsh words of you, Jayson, who wrote: “After walking off the field feeling nauseous knowing my wrist was broke and hearing Philly fans yelling ‘You deserve it,’ and, ‘That’s what you get,’ I am motivated to get back quickly and see to it personally those people never walk down Broad Street in celebration again.”
If a few fans yelled those words to you, Jayson, I am sorry for them. They are idiots, and you can find them everywhere, even outside of Philadelphia. But I don’t believe they were screaming in multitude. Phillies reporter Greg Murphy was in right field at the time and he says there weren’t many fans out there and he didn’t hear anything. So, who do I believe?
Face it, Jayson, you acted unprofessional to fans who cheered for you when you played in Philadelphia, and to your former teammates who walked down Broad Street with you while thousands and thousands cheered you on, and to the Phillies front office, who gave you and your wrist a second chance after the Dodgers released you.
I can’t believe you’d find many fans in Philadelphia who are happy you broke your wrist. But your rampage brought to mind the time you cursed a man out in front of his young son for catching a foul ball that you may have been able to reach. And to think I defended your actions for that.
I won’t defend the actions of Cole Hamels, who admitted he purposely hit your young phenom teammate. I actually don’t have a problem with the hit – it is part of the game and he wasn’t throwing to hurt him – but I do have a problem with how Cole handled it after the game.
But I did get my just desserts when Major League Baseball stepped in and fined Mike Rizzo, your general manager, who told the Washington Post that Hamels’ act was “classless” and “gutless.” He also said Hamels was “fake tough.” Good move on MLB’s part.
I won’t defend the behavior of a few idiotic fans who drank too much and acted like buffoons in your stadium, but for your fans to call all of the Phillies fans cock roaches is a bit dramatic, don’t you think? After reading the comments in the Washington Post and on the Washington Nationals website, I’ve learned that it is not the minority of Philly fans that cause trouble, it’s the majority. Apparently thousands and thousands of fans were drunk and abusive, and had the gall to laugh at a child with down syndrome. Again, I wasn’t there but I’m sure that didn’t happen.
The slams written against us include the tried and true incidents that are always brought to light when talking about Philly fans. We know Philly fans booed Santa Claus and threw snowballs at him. This event, which happened at an Eagles game in 1968, and has been so blown out of proportion. It also happened 44 years ago, so it’s time to let it go.
And we know Philly fans threw batteries at J.D. Drew. Or did they? There were 50,000 fans at the game that day, and two punk teens threw two batteries at J.D. Drew. It’s not as if the entire stadium stoned him with a barrage of batteries, as the urban legend claims. Two kids, two batteries, 50,000 fans. Can you name any city in America that doesn’t have at least two stupid teenagers who would do the same thing? Sadly, every city has its share of losers.
Let’s not forget that Philly fans are so out of control that Veteran’s Stadium had a courtroom and a jail on sight to immediately deal with unlawful behavior. Veteran’s Stadium did have Eagles’ court and a jail for fans that got unruly at football games. Not our proudest moment, but it seemed like an efficient solution to a time-consuming problem. It reduced court backlogs, saved taxpayer’s money and served as a deterrent. Now that the Eagles have made the move to Lincoln Financial Field, the jail and court are out of session.
And, of course, Philly fans are boo birds. Let me just say I defend their right to boo, although I typically don’t participate. Philadelphia is the birthplace of democracy, and its citizens clearly understand their right to express their dissatisfaction.
Add to them last year’s drunken vomit episode, or “the most heinous incident in the history of sports”. There are no words to defend what that awful fan did, but how is it worse than fans who set fire to five police cars in Montreal, riots and knife-fights in Oakland, Calif., arson in West Virginia, injuring state troopers in Maryland, or throwing glass beer bottles at a seven-year old in Wisconsin? None of those fans were from Philadelphia.
I could go on, but I think I’ve made my point. Human nature is the same in Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and even in Timbuktu.
To paraphrase W.C. Fields, all things considered, I’d rather be in Philly.
Sincerely,
A proud member of the most hated fan group in America
Spring in Bryn Athyn: Remembering Sandy
Posted: May 7, 2012 Filed under: Misc. | Tags: Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn Cathedral, Miscellaneous, Pitcairn Estate, Swedenborg 6 Comments »May 7, 2012 – Just a mile outside Philadelphia city limits on Huntingdon Pike sits the tiny village of Bryn Athyn.
With schools – elementary through college – museums, a library, places for social gatherings and housing developments this lovely area is practically self-sufficient. It’s also home to the Cairnwood Estate and the Academy of the New Church.
The day was cloudy, but the view was still breathtaking from the back of Bryn Athyn Cathedral
The area began to expand about 150 years ago when the Academy of the New Church, or the Bryn Athyn Cathedral, was built here. It was a project sponsored by the Pitcairn family, who also built their home on the same grounds, which they named Cairnwood. Legend claims the Pitcairn’s intermarried to keep the wealth in the family, causing all kinds of rumors to circulate among the youngsters in the area. As teenagers, we’d drive up to the estates and walk around in the dark petrified that we’d run into someone with two heads or four arms.
Once I finally made my way into adulthood, the fascination of the estates remained with me, but I was a much more logical about those who lived there, and realized how silly I was to believe such nonsense. I was drawn to the history and beauty of the properties, and often wanted to peek inside one of the cathedrals to see for myself what lurked behind the stone walls.
Bryn Athyn Cathedral, also known in my family as Sleeping Beauty’s house
When my son was a young child, we’d drive past the estates often since the main road provided a direct route to his pediatrician’s office. When he saw the cathedral sitting back on the hill in all of its majesty, he’d sometimes ask if Sleeping Beauty lived there.
The aisle Sandy walked down to marry Phil
About seven years ago, I finally got my peek the inside when my friend Sandy, a member of the Swedenborg religion practiced at the Academy of the New Church, was married there. Stepping inside seemed almost forbidden, although it was only my crazy imagination and memories of youth making me feel that way, and not the vibration of the place or its friendly people. It gave one the feeling of being in a medieval castle rather than a church, since it stone walls lacked religious icons such as crosses or statues. The wedding ceremony was unique and lovely, and I’d never seen Sandy happier.
Sadly, I visited the cathedral again last summer for Sandy’s funeral. Although we thought she had beaten it, she succumbed to cancer at her home in Chicago at the age of 46. Her husband was thoughtful enough to hold a special memorial service in Bryn Athyn so many of her friends and family – those who couldn’t make it to Illinois – could pay their respects.
It’s been almost a year now, and I think of Sandy every time I pass this beautiful and special area that sits only minutes outside of Northeast Philadelphia. I think about her husband and her young son, and how they are getting on without her. Most of all, I think about how happy she was on her wedding day – when I visited the cathedral for the first time – and I’m glad she got to spend the remaining years of her time on earth happy and content with her husband and baby boy.
Rest in peace, dear friend, and I know that somewhere some part of you is laughing and thinking about “packin’ the yams…”
One of the many wings of the cathedral
This entrance hall into the main church really gives it a medieval feel
Cairnwood, the original estate built by John Pitcairn for his family’s home, is now a museum dedicated to the history of the family and the area
Occupy protesters reach is far and a little too wide
Posted: May 4, 2012 Filed under: Current Events, Misc. | Tags: Current Events, Montgomery County, Occupy Jenkintown, Occupy Movement, Occupy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Leave a comment »
May 4, 2012 – While the Occupy Philadelphia movement made headlines once again earlier in the week with their May Day Protest in center city that resulted in two arrests, this blogger wants to bring attention to the news from its neighbors at Occupy Jenkintown.
That’s right, there is an Occupy Jenkintown movement, and I’m willing to bet that once you stop laughing, you’ll freely admit you’ve never heard them, their cause or their activities.
The reason why this is so humorous – and people from the area understand fully well – is that Jenkintown, a small hamlet right outside of the city limits in lovely Montgomery County, one of the wealthiest counties in Pennsylvania, is known as a mecca of stability. The area doesn’t even have a McDonald’s or any other fast food chain in its .58 square miles because residents didn’t want to take away from the town’s quaint charm.
But they do have a historic movie theater owned by private citizens that shows films of artistic quality, and homes that are to die for on beautifully manicured tree-lined streets. It is home to farmer’s markets, June Fetes, and strong middle (and upper) class who keep the area thriving. And Jenkintown’s median household income is well above the Pennsylvania norm at $56,000.
The Occupy group set up camp in Jenkintown’s tiny town square, along with a website at http://occupyjenkintown.weebly.com. Yet I can’t find anything on the site or the Internet in general as to what they are trying to accomplish.
I did, however, find an article that stated the group moved on in mid-April. Alas, they left for more deserving pastures; after five weeks in the town square, members have headed to neighboring Cheltenham to have their say.
How’s this for ridiculous?
Posted: May 3, 2012 Filed under: Sports | Tags: baseball, Mascots, Mets, Mr. Met, Phillie Phanatic, Phillies, Sports Leave a comment »
May 3, 2012 – According to a Forbes.com poll, Mr. Met, the mascot of the New York Mets officially dethroned the Phillie Phanatic as America’s favorite mascot.
The Phanatic, who came in a close second, has held the top spot for several years, beating out other sports mascots like Wally the Green Monster, Billy the Marlin and the Sausage Racers in Milwaukee.
Our Phanatic may not have been the original – that honor belongs to the San Diego Chicken – but there’s no doubt that our green fuzzy friend, the very one with the impish charm and bad boy good looks, is heads and tails above a guy dressed in a Mets’ uniform with a baseball on his head.
The only thing Mr. Met has over the Phanatic is age; he appeared on the scene in 1964, while the Phillie Phanatic was hatched on the
Galapagos Islands 14 years later in 1978.
Where can I file a grievance about this one?
The Phillies, the Flyers, and waiting your turn
Posted: May 2, 2012 Filed under: Sports | Tags: baseball, basketball, Cole Hamels, Eagles, Flyers, football, hockey, Phillies, Playoffs, Sixers, Sports 4 Comments »
May 2, 2012 – Confucius once said, “May you live in interesting times.”
He wasn’t referring to the Philadelphia Sports fan when he made this statement, but if you’re from the area, or follow Philly sports teams, it’s easy to see the comparison.
Take a look at the Phillies, for example.
Avid baseball fans like me have been spoiled by the Phillies’ success over the past five years. We count down the days until Spring Training each winter and to Opening Day each spring. This year was no exception, even though most of us are disappointed by their lackluster start. That’s interesting (or confusing) considering they have one of the best – if the not best –starting rotation in baseball.
Then you have the Flyers, and all of the interesting (or fun and exciting) stuff surrounding them.
I can’t pretend that I’m a tried and true hockey fan. I’m simply your average band wagon jumper who has discovered that playoff hockey can be a blast, even though I don’t understand all of the little finer points of the game, and have a hard time following the puck. Honestly, I’m never sure if they score until I hear the excitement in the announcer’s voice, or the cheers of the crowd.
So, I’ve come to the interesting (or poignant) conclusion that I enjoy sports that allow you to take your turn. It works nicely in baseball and football, which is why I reserve hockey and basketball for the playoffs, and not the regular season.
It’s all about taking your turn. It is, after all, the polite thing to do.
How many Beatles does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Posted: April 30, 2012 Filed under: Entertainment | Tags: DVD, Entertainment, George Harrison, Living in the Material World, Martin Scorsese, New Release, The Beatles Leave a comment »
April 30, 2012 – Sorry, I don’t have a funny punch line here.
It’s just one of the many questions answered in the Martin Scorsese documentary “George Harrison: Living in the Material World”.
I thought I knew pretty much everything about Harrison since he’s my favorite Beatle, I’m an avid reader of Beatles memorabilia, and I’ve successfully played the Beatles’ version of Trivial Pursuit. That should practically make me a scholar.
But there was so much more to George’s public persona than I realized and I was captivated for the three and a half hours worth screen time dedicated to the quiet Beatle.
I never knew, for example, that Harrison wanted the song “All Things Must Pass” on the Let it Be album, but John Lennon and Paul McCartney were opposed to it. That happened to be the very reason George walked away from the group, something that he would later come to miss, and became a solo artist.
The documentary begins in the early years of the Beatles in Hamburg and is told through letters written by Harrison to his parents in Liverpool. The pearls of wisdom he shares are quite insightful for a young man of only 17. He apparently started on a spiritual path early in his life.
There are also lots of snapshots of George with a camera, capturing all he could of the Beatlemania hysteria that ensued in the early 1960s.
Even the most obscure of details is covered in this entertaining and educational documentary. In the movie A Hard Day’s Night, for example, there is a scene where a reporter asks Harrison what he calls his hair style. His reply was Arthur, which I always found humorous just because it’s silly. But truth is stranger than fiction. He actually copied his early hair style after of friend of his who’s name was Arthur. Harrison had an interesting sense of humor, which obviously made it on to the movie script.
Part two of the documentary delves into his life after the Beatles, his wife leaving him for his best friend, his solo recordings, the Concert for Bangladesh, producing movies, dealing with Lennon’s death, the Traveling Wilburys, and finally his battle with cancer.
And what’s the answer to the title question. It takes four Beatles to screw in a light bulb, of course, as asked and answered by Harrison himself with his trademark toothy grin.
Scorsese did a fine job making this documentary. He talked to just the right people, covered a lot that was previously unknown, and weaved together a story that is well worth experiencing.
NOTE: If this post looks familiar, you’re not crazy. I originally posted this back in October when the film debuted on HBO, but thought it was worth repeating since it will be released on DVD tomorrow.
Accidental Photography
Posted: April 27, 2012 Filed under: Current Events | Tags: Current Events, Independence Hall, Old City, Philadelphia, Photography, The Bahamas, The Comcast Building, The Penn Relays, Track and Field 2 Comments »
April 27, 2012 – It’s time once again for the Penn Relays.
That means athletes from all over the world converge on my beloved city to participate in a track and field event that is the largest in the country, and a Philadelphia tradition dating back to 1895.
I’m not usually up on things of a track and field nature; the only reason I know is that while leaving City Hall last night, where I’m still serving as Juror #2 on the never-ending trial, I ran smack dab into several members of a running team from the Bahamas. And they have a memento to remember our meeting because they accidentally took a close up of me while aiming for the Comcast Building.
The boys in the Caribbean blue track suits with a yellowish orange trim were nice about our collision, and we chatted a few moments about the Comcast Building, which happens to be Philadelphia’s tallest building. And they were majorly impressed.
It’s not my first time being the accidental subject of a photograph. Since I began working in center city, I’ve literally run into several tourists who now have permanent images of me. It happens mostly in the old city area when they’re trying to snap a photo of a horse and carriage or the cobble stone streets, and instead get yours truly walking by.
I’m also a popular attraction around Independence Hall, especially while driving. If I’m stopped in traffic, or if I’m aware I’ll be in the shot, I often acknowledge the camera, and look out my window and wave and smile. That way, when the people get home and look at their photos, they may ask who the hell is this woman who ruined the photo, but at least they’ll know she’s friendly.
For someone who is actually quite camera-shy, sometimes I feel like the most photographed image in Philadelphia.
