Philly forty fanaticism

I remember working for Channel 17, WPHL TV,  as a part-time writer in the promotions department in the late 1970's. 

The excitement in the air was palpable when Phillies fans learned that our hometown had just acquired the now infamous Pete Rose as their super-star player.

My  brother Steven accompanied me to a Welcome to Philly party and he was the only one who thought ahead and brought a camera...and had tons of requests for photo ops.

("He" being my brother..Pete Rose didn't request a photo with me..but he SHOULD have)

That was an exciting time to be a Phillies fan.

It was also forty-four years ago...I can only imagine what it's like to be in that stadium right now! 

I'd love to be there!

Of course, I'd be complaining about the long walk in the rain to the car, or my unsuccessful attempt to find a bathroom, or I'd be burping up that ill-advised hot dog, but I'd be eating up the camaraderie as well..  

I'd be so excited that I'd try to scale a greased pole..or..I'd watch someone else try.

I now appreciate all the complimentary tickets I was given back then, and how popular it made my Dad when I gifted them to him and his work colleagues.

Let's pray for a miracle..that my son's team, the NY Yankees, can conquer a mountain and win three games in a row.

Yes, I know it's not going to happen..but I love the idea of two well-rested teams facing each other on the field--hopefully a dry one--after a short Amtrak ride.

If the Yankees lose, I gotta believe that the Phils can bring it home.

(Mainly so I can tell you about the look the Phanatic gave me when I dumped a full glass of champagne into the bushes outside of the studio.  I was embarrassed being a teetotaler back then, but I didn't notice that the Phanatic was watching me. He blew a streamer at me, but he never betrayed my embarrassing secret)

I'm actually excited about sports!

Mad honey with a side of mole

All the loud-- the very loud and very positive buzz you've heard about Jodi Picoult's "Mad Honey" is well deserved, even if you're not a beekeeper, which I kind of wish I was.

This was co-written by Jodi and in my opinion, it's one of her best.

Smart readers love a good who dunnit, and even 'though I'm only occasionally smart and I don't read as much as I'd like to, I figured out the who in the who dunnit  pretty early on... and still couldn't put the kindle down. 

(I'm grateful I wasn't reading a paper copy--my ego is fragile enough to want to  make me want leap ahead to the end just to confirm my hunch, which I'm so glad I didn't do)

Now, if I only possessed the powers of deduction to figure out who "The Mole" is, a revamped Netflix offering that is much more exciting and much more high-tech than the Anderson Cooper version we all loved in the early 2000's was.

I'm sure there are brainiacs who have watched the five available episodes(three more come out on Friday and the last two some time after that) while taking copious notes on their laptops, while I make dumb remarks like, "she has a mole on her neck..is that a clue?"

Netflix subscribers should check it out..it's exciting, suspenseful, brainy, and funny, and you'll be holding your breath watching as  the screen turns green(a contestant is safe if their phones light up in that color) or red..which means he or she is out of the game, because even if their hunch about The Mole's identity was spot-on, they neglected to take notes on how many pancakes they consumed at that morning's breakfast, or how many siblings they have at home, cheering them on.

If you're into suspicious moles, then you should get it screened  as soon as possible, and nope..not gonna apologize for that lame attempt at humor.

I wouldn't be me without it.

Bro-medy

You know how I've often ranted about silly, annoying rom coms in past posts?

 How I sit quietly in the theater, seething,  and think, "Tony  actually fell in LOVE with Maria after exchanging just  a few generic  words?  Rose was out and out  RUDE to Jack when he saved her from jumping ship..would he have bothered if she had a missing tooth?  The flat  body of a twelve year old boy?  Ali MacGraw's Jenny  acted like a sociopath when Ryan O'Neal's Oliver  asked if Radcliffe's library had a certain book he needed..would he have pursued the conversation any further if, when she walked away, she had Lizzo's ass  instead of Jennifer Cavileri's?"

And don't get me started on "Romeo and Juliet"...

My cynicism waned a bit when I stopped believing Janis Ian, believing that love wasn't meant EXCLUSIVELY for "beauty queens", but it REALLY died down when I saw the "Before" trilogy, which is probably my favorite movie(s) of all time.

Yes, Ethan Hawke's Jesse and Julie Delpy's Celine  were a very attractive couple with lots of lust at first sight, but I believed their attraction transcended ONLY that.  They talked for hours..and we got to know them as they got to know each other--before that first kiss, making us believe that first kiss was based on something that resembled a deeper and truer  connection.

(At least in one of the most famous rom coms in cinema history, Woody Allen's Alvy Singer was  honest enough  to ponder, "I wonder what she looks like naked?" after he and Annie Hall had just met, as their inner thoughts appeared on the screen as subtitles. Give him props for being Woody)

All of this build-up to say I saw one of the best rom coms of all time last night, and it was not based on a meet-cute that was all about sexual passion and superficial lust, that it was based on a real meeting of the mind and soul, but..

..that's not exactly true.

There was a LOT of lust in "Bros"..characters DID judge each other by the contents of their undergarments and not the content of their character, but..it worked.

Superficiality  can be very deep with the right dialogue.

I totally believed in Bobby and Aaron--I totally bought that their coupling was the real deal.

"Bros" may not play in Peoria, but make sure you see it elsewhere on the big  screen. 

 It is poignant and funny and exciting and romantic and so very real..real and relatable.

See it on the silver screen if you can, which is a personal recommendation, as both Jim and I are treated daily to the wise and witty postings of our Facebook friend, Julia Scotti, a quarter finalist  on "America's Got Talent."

It was great to see her familiar face on a screen  that was so much clearer and larger  than the one on our phones or PC, and even 'though she had just one line, (something about the "Dallas Buyers Club") she brought authenticity to the  credited part of "straight white woman."

"Bros" had its cringe-worthy moments too..is this really what dating is like in the 2020's?  Cryptic texts that remain unanswered? 

 Guessing whether one is ghosted or just biding their time?

Thinking that every time a cell phone dings, an angel gets its wings..or..at least a second date?

I guess this is what it's like for singles in these times, and I'm glad I'm not dealing with that kind of stress, but I'm REALLY glad that I'm married to Jim, who appreciates movies like this as much as I do.

Bros:  It's not just a Seinfeldesque brassiere for men.