Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Sadie Sink

I don’t enjoy reviewing blockbuster films such as Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Moreover, I believe I’ve seen EVERY Spider-Man film this century, in no small part because the webslinger is my favorite character. I even edited an issue of a magazine about it, long, long ago.

Fortunately, I can lean into my wife’s opinion. She had not seen No Way Home or most of the previous films, though she did see, at our daughter’s insistence, the Miles Morales animated Into the Spider-Verse.

So she didn’t know much of the mythology around the character, including his origin. She had no idea who Aunt May was, who Bruce Banner’s alter ego is, or the significance of the name Jean Grey.

In other words, I believe she loved the movie for the same reason I’ve always loved Peter Parker: he’s out there trying to figure it out, do the right thing.

In this case, he’s trying to go on with his life, with his besties, his love MJ and the Spidey-obsessed Ned, unable to remember who the heck he is. He’s also trying to take down the bad guys, even when it’s not entirely clear who the villains are. What’s Peter’s relationship with his frenemy Frank Castle? 

(Of course, explaining how the Marvel Cinematic Universe diverges from the comic books, and the comics change over time – well, never mind.)

MCU overload?

I read in Esquire,  “As penned by Marvel Studios vets Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna, Brand New Day comes loaded and feels burdened by an assumption you’ve been keeping up with Marvel still, that you’ve not only seen all the Spider-Mans but also, like, Thunderbolts. It’s a contradictory ask for audiences to see Spider-Man with fresh eyes but to keenly remember the trivial weaving of an overwritten saga. “

Well, maybe not. I’ve never seen Thunderbolts. My wife, as noted, has seen and read FAR less. Yet she could appreciate it for what was on the screen, even when she was surprised by a reveal. I think, reading further,  “There aren’t headache-inducing multiverse plots here, thank God, just the basic concern for other people’s well-being at the expense of one’s own.” My wife appreciated that aspect of the storyline. 

And Spider-Man fighting red-clad ninjas was cool, whether you’re a Marvel newbie or long-time fanboy. I didn’t know The Hand had been on Daredevil, and it didn’t matter.

Also, I’ve BEEN to those awkward parties where I can’t really connect with anyone.

Maybe this simplicity – well, relative simplicity – is why people have watched the film repeatedly. It’s 89% positive with critics/98% with fans on Rotten Tomatoes.

As usual, we saw the movie at the Spectrum 8 Theatre in Albany. Actually, there were TWO showings when we arrived, including a special viewing arranged by a not-for-profit for a multitude of teens and tweens usually dressed up in costume. Our theater had a more sedate constituency.   

More 1976 Easy Listening #1 hits

Sister Suzy, brother John. Martin Luther, Phil & Don. Brother Michael, Auntie Jin

Lou RawlsHere are more 1976 Easy Listening #1 hits. I split these in half because I don’t want to type 40 titles and find links. Also, I suspect that you won’t listen to 40 tracks.

These are chronological, based on when they reached #1 from May through December, all for a single week.

Tryin’ To Get The Feeling Again – Barry Manilow

Don’t Pull Your Love/Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye – Glen Campbell

*Silly Love Songs – Wings; also #1 for five weeks pop

Shop Around – The Captain & Tennille; yes, the old Miracles hit written by Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson

Save Your Kisses for Me – Brotherhood of Man

Never Gonna Fall In Love Again – Eric Carmen; written by Carmen

I Need To Be In Love – Carpenters

Movie song

I’m Easy – Keith Carridine; written by Carridine. Some time this century, I attempted to watch the acclaimed movie Nashville, directed and produced by Robert Altman, on television, from which this song was the hit. I could not. This is why I generally see films at the cinema.

You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine – Lou Rawls; written and produced by Gamble and Huff. I LOVE this golden voice.

Let ‘Em In – Wings; written by Paul and Linda. “

I’d Really Like To See You Tonight– England Dan and John Ford Coley. Dan Seals was the younger brother of Jim Seals of Seals and Crofts.

Shower The People – James Taylor; written by Taylor, harmony vocals include Carly Simon. I specifically love the harmonies at the end of this song, which I am compelled to sing along with.

Summer – War

*Don’t Go Breaking My Heart – Elton John & Kiki Dee; also #1 for four weeks pop

Don’t Stop Believin’ – Olivia Newton-John

*If You Leave Me Now – Chicago; also #1 for two weeks pop

I Can’t Hear You No More – Helen Reddy; a Gerry Goffin/Carole King composition

Like A Sad Song – John Denver; written by Denver

This One’s For You – Barry Manilow; co-written by Manilow

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word – Elton John; written by EJ and Bernie Taupin

Broadway: Buena Vista Social Club

Tony winner Natalie Venetia Belcon

My wife and I were in Times Square on August 6 to see if we could get discounted tickets from TKTS. On Wednesdays, the entity opens at 11 a.m. But by the time we arrived at 10:40 a.m., there were at least 150 people in line. Alas. So we expected to be there for a while.

But then one of the employees told us to get out of line. What did we do wrong? Nothing, as it turned out. We were put at the BEGINNING of the line because my wife’s husband was using a cane! They officially promote folks in the military and folks who saw a Broadway show in the previous week.

However, no tickets were available for the Buena Vista Social Club matinee, so we spent the time on another task. (See a subsequent post.)

We got to the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on 45th Street at about 6:30 for the 7 pm show. I really wanted to see this show because I had seen a movie in 1999 or 2000. Wim Wenders directed the film about Cuban music, “featuring the musicians who recorded the 1997 album Buena Vista Social Club,” produced by Ry Cooder, which I subsequently acquired and loved.

“Buena Vista Social Club was a musical ensemble primarily made up of Cuban musicians, formed in 1996. They named the group after the members’ club of the same name in Havana’s Buenavista quarter, a popular music venue in the 1940s. To showcase the popular styles of the time, such as son, bolero and danzón, they recruited a dozen veteran musicians, some of whom had been retired for many years.”

The story of the musical picks up the thread of the above narrative, specifically how the 1959 revolution impacted the music scene and the musicians’ lives.

Force of nature

Natalie Venetia Belcon played Omara, who had stopped singing six years earlier. Would she be swayed by an enthusiastic young man, a record producer, to return to the recording studio with a bunch of her old musical colleagues? Or would her painful past sideline her?

“Hailed as a ‘jaw-dropping, soul-stirring must-see’ (The Washington Post), the Tony® and GRAMMY® Award-winning BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB is a journey through music and memory into the beating heart of Havana. A world-class company brings the story of the iconic album to thrilling life in this tale of big dreams, second chances, and music that needs no translation.”

The show won five Tonys, including for Ms. Belcon, and was nominated for six more. Following the narrative between 1959 and 1996 was surprisingly easy.

Honestly, the plot threads in the second act were resolved relatively quickly. But it mattered little, because the opening 20 minutes or so of that act became an extraordinary concert, featuring an unbelievable guitarist, David Oquendo.

My wife said it may have been the best show she had ever seen. She may be correct. A touring show will start on September 12 in Buffalo.

Check out the CBS Sunday Morning story from 2025. Oh, it was announced that no photography was allowed DURING the show; this was taken just BEFORE the show. I understand the set was a great replica of the Havana Club.

August rambling: dowfart

Waiting for a Library Book?

Catbird: “When I viewed it again, it looked like a heart that had been run over by a tire, which reflected my yet-unrealized reaction to what doge had just started. My conscious mind didn’t know yet, but my hand did. What a revelation!”

Dowfart – Meaning: 1. A dimwit. 2. A coward.

Digital sewer socialism: Mamdani’s Public Interest Technologists are what DOGE should have been.

Talarico Explains Infamous ‘Powell Memo’ to Texas Voters. The top 1% put the American Dream behind a paywall,” said the Texas Democrat as he unveiled a framework for his economic vision.

History Wars: The Declaration of Independence

First Came the Flock Cameras. Now Local Cops Want Autonomous Drones. Hundreds of local police departments have received waivers to fly surveillance drones that navigate with AI. Also, are Flock cameras in your neighborhood?

The Manosphere and MAHA Have Merged. I Worry for My Pre-Teen Son

FDA Approves First mRNA Flu Vaccine — Approval is for people 50 years or older

 

‘The Good Maharaja’: How an Indian Prince Saved Hundreds of Polish Children During WWII. When the world looked away, Maharaja Digvijaysinhji Jadeja stepped forward to provide refuge and hope to young castaways

A High Schooler Invents a Plant-Based Plastic That Removes Microplastics From the Environment as It Biodegrades.

Waiting for a Library Book? This Man Makes Sure You Get It

Sydney Towle, who chronicled her cancer on TikTok, dies at 26

Tommy John, Dodgers pitcher and medical pioneer, dies at 83. After tearing an elbow ligament, he underwent a risky procedure and returned at his best, changing baseball and giving new hope to injured players.

Why Gen Z and millennials are embracing “grandma hobbies”

When His Church Goes Dark, They Talk to His Digital Twin

Can Robots Save an Aging Japan?

Ireland (The Words)

Memories of Goldmine

The Reality TV Show That Wasn’t Out of This World and The Driver That Can’t Give the Cops the Split and When Astronauts Smuggled Mail into Space and The Worst 2.6% of the Planet? and The Baseball Steroid Testing Loophole of 2003 and Jeopardy! is Full of Lies

FOTUS

Treasury Confirms $1.4 Trillion FY 2026 Deficit So Far, Higher Than 2025

& the DOJ: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Inside the New York court where children face deportation without access to attorneys

Draft dodger sure loves big battleships and military cosplay

Helicopter hiccup shows air traffic control is still a mess

Proposed arch could obstruct views of Washington’s historic sites

MUSIC

Funk music is as unapologetically Black as the musicians who pioneered it

The Enduring Power Of Stevie Wonder’s “As,” R&B’s Greatest Song Ever, and you could make a strong case for it being the greatest song ever recorded, period.

Claustrophobia – Bee Gees

Andy Warhol – David Bowie

Vienna — Billy Joel

Black Coffee In Bed  – Squeeze

Under A Violet Moon  -Blackmore’s Night

Radar Love – Golden Earring

That’s The Way I Always Heard It Should Be – Carly Simon

Coverville 1588: Queen’s Final 1986 Concert and 1589: The Glen Hansard Tribute

Glen Hansard edition

Grand March from the opera La reine de Saba by Charles Gounod

Sunday Stealing Plays Favorites

Sondheim

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week’s meme was stolen from Country Dew. A decade ago, she shared these “get to know you” questions she found on Facebook. Let’s use them to get to know you better.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE …? Sunday Stealing Plays Favorites

1. Flavor? Apparently, it’s strawberry. Strawberry ice cream and milkshakes, strawberry shortcake, strawberry jam, strawberry lemonade. Strawberries in my morning oatmeal. Let me take you down, ’cause I’m going to Strawberry Fields Forever. The Brothers Johnson’s version of Strawberry Letter #23. 

2. Movie? Maybe Casablanca, which I saw in the late 1970s in an outdoor venue – a park? – in Rochester, NY, with a former housemate. But I haven’t seen it in total since.

Possibly West Side Story, which I saw when I was ten. Specifically Tonight (Quintet), which just blew me away. A countermelody? I didn’t know you could do that. And I’ve seen a variety of productions of the stage musical since. I own two books by composer Stephen Sondheim; read the “words that rhyme” section. 

It may not even be my favorite musical (likely Fiddler On The Roof), but West Side Story has a deeper foundation. 

3. Piece of jewelry? Not a real jewelry guy. My wedding ring.

Lots of water

4. Place to be? Niagara Falls, which, now that I think about it, I’ve been to with my family growing up, with my work friends, with my wife, and with my wife and daughter.

5. Boy’s name? Roger. I’ve probably written about my name a number of times. 

6. Girl’s name? Isabella, which I mentioned here why it’s NOT our daughter’s name.

7. Candy? York Peppermint Patties or Mounds bar.  

8. Sports team? I was much more invested in sports teams as a kid. I have a bias for the NYC baseball and football teams. But there’s only one NFL team that plays its games in New York State: the Buffalo Bills. 

9. Color? Green, mentioned here.

10. Month? March. Yes, it’s my birth month and my daughter’s, but it also has St. Patrick’s Day, which is green (see question 9), not to mention my genealogical roots. And it’s spring. Sometimes, it’s Easter. 

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