Month: August 2025

Movie review – Fantastic Four: First Steps

The positive buzz to the new film Fantastic Four: First Steps assuaged my resistance to seeing yet another Marvel Movie. As any member of the MMMS (Merry Marvel Marching Society) could tell you, there have been previous FF films that ranged from disappointing to pretty terrible.

An example of the latter is the unreleased Roger Corman film (1994), which I saw on YouTube a decade or so ago. It was so bad that it was mildly entertaining. I thought the 2005 film was pretty pedestrian. The 2007 follow-up has been on my DVD, unwatched for months.

The new film is “set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world.” A reliable source tells me that MARVELS, the miniseries with Alex Ross art, appears to be the primary influence here. What I know for sure is that it worked for me. I got the Earth-828 reference; August 28 is the birthday of FF co-creator Jack Kirby. Whatever the source,  the film’s aesthetic wowed me, leaning into the comics of the 1960s without feeling stuck in the past.

The team

The team’s interaction was interesting. Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) feels responsible/guilty for the team’s transformation four years earlier. Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) is the most interesting of the four. Unlike her comic book counterpart in the 1960s, this woman is fierce. She loves and is frustrated by her overthinking husband, Reed.

Sue’s brother Johnny (Joseph Quinn) is impulsive but talented. The script gave Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) short shrift, with just a hint of a potential romance. Herbie the Robot was integral to the plot. 

I wondered how the group would, or could, defend Earth from Galactus, the powerful eater of worlds (Ralph Ineson), and his mysterious herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And there’s a personal complication. It seemed like a credible solution. 

A person who is the biggest FF fan I know has seen the film twice before I’d seen it once. The Rotten Tomatoes score was 86% positive with critics, 92% with fans. I saw it on a hot Tuesday afternoon at Spectrum 8 in Albany. 

I liked the vibe, optimism, and unity of the general public in the film —well, most of the time. However, I’m not sure it was enough to make me watch the sequel. Not incidentally, at least one person in the theater left immediately when the credits started, missing the Four Years Later postlude. I liked the cartoon at the very end of the film.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Main Theme and more, music by Michael Giacchino. And if you are obsessed – I am not – 47 minutes of BREAKDOWN – Marvel Easter Eggs You Missed!

Did I play catch with my dad?

“Maybe this is Heaven.”

Did I play catch with my dad? It seems like a pretty simple question, but I don’t know.

The genesis of this process was a Facebook post from a guy in my neighborhood. He never “got ” Field of Dreams. In the movie, Ray (Kevin Costner) is in his cornfield and hears a voice saying, “If you build it, they will come.” He does, and soon, Shoeless Joe and his old teammates return to play baseball again. 

Someone opined: “At the heart of the story, it’s about a man reconciling his fraught relationship with his now deceased father. It’s about forgiveness and understanding, and the vehicle for his catharsis is baseball.” There is that. “Shoeless Joe was his dad’s favorite player and needed his redemption, along with the rest of the 1919 White Sox. The Field of Dreams allowed them all to experience that.” Okay. 

But, I said, “I don’t think you need to know the Black Sox scandal to appreciate it, though it helps to appreciate baseball.” And maybe you don’t even need that. 

I was touched when the doctor saved Ray’s daughter, abandoning his baseball dreams for the greater good. “Defying the threat of foreclosure, Ray listens to the once-cynical, worn-down Terence’s (James Earl Jones) dreamy prediction.” 

Every. Single. Time. 

When Ray plays catch with his dad, I cry every damn time. Every. Damn. Time.

Yet, I cannot remember whether my father and I played catch, yea or nay. My sisters could not give me a definitive response. 

My dad and I attended minor league baseball games in the Binghamton, NY, area, seeing the Triplets. However, he worked nights at IBM in the mid-1960s, so I tended to go to games with my grandfather, McKinley. Dad and I also saw a New York Yankees game at the old Stadium when they beat the Washington Senators, 4-3, quite possibly on July 21, 1962. (I remember the score and the opponent.)

I saw Field of Dreams when it first came out in 1989, when my dad was still alive. Since he died in 2000, I know there are questions I would have liked to have asked about his childhood, his relationship with McKinley, his time in the military, and many other things. It’s a sentimental movie; my father’s passing makes it feel more so.

Leslie Harold (Les) Green died a quarter of a century ago.

The ABCs of Sunday Stealing

Wordle

A logo from a now-defunct group I used to participate in

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

Creative Bold inspired this week’s meme. She used the alphabet to tell us a little something about herself. Now it’s your turn.

Let’s Do Our ABCs. J5. The Look of Love. Sesame Street.

A. Auto—it’s a white hybrid that looks like every other vehicle of its size. I’ve gone to the wrong car. Occasionally, so has my wife, and she bought it and drives it.

B. Bed size – Queen.

C. Cats – Stormacita

D. Dogs – I wrote about this a couple of years ago. Quoting me: In my life, I had only one dog. He was named Lucky Stubbs. I believe he was an Alaskan husky we had when I was a tween. He would nip at me, but my parents, specifically my father, seemed unconcerned. That is, until he bit one or maybe both of the minister’s daughters. THEN they got rid of him, ostensibly to a farm in the area.

E. Essential start to your day—I’m afraid it’s Wordle. My win streak is over 955; maybe when I finally blow it—I’ve had two sixes in the last 50 games—I’ll give it up. Or not.

Well, you should be able to guess one

F. Favorite color – Green. Or blue

G. Gold or silver -eh, either. Whatever.

H. Hand you favor (righty or lefty) – Right-handed

I. Instruments you play – kazoo

J. Job title – retired business librarian

K. Kids – one

L. Live (rural, suburb, city) – medium-sized city

M. Meal plans—Okay. We usually have oatmeal with blueberries and a banana for breakfast. Lunch and dinner are relatively varied. Sometimes, when my wife is busy, I buy takeout; the Indian takeout usually lasts four meals.

N. Nicknames – I’m not partial to them.

O. Overnight hospital stays. When I was five and a half, I remember having a bloody nose so severe that I was admitted to the hospital; it was great because I got to see the Hanna-Barbera cartoons, such as Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear. There was a car accident in June 1972.  Then, there was the heart thing in 2013. 

P. Pet peeves. Lots. Drivers who don’t yield to pedestrians when they have the right of way.  People who say “do your research” when they mean, “Listen to the lunatic I listen to.” But I have been less fussy over spelling errors because English is weird.

The movie quote should be about movies.

Q. Quote from a movie. My favorite quote about cinema: “That’s part of your problem: you haven’t seen enough movies. All of life’s riddles are answered in the movies.” Grand Canyon (1991), spoken by Steve Martin’s character

R. Regrets. “Regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention.” This line from the song My Way, popularized by Frank Sinatra, is a fiction in my life.

S. Siblings: Two sisters, one less than a year and a half younger, and one a little more than five years younger.  

T. There’s no T! So Television: I just got a Roku, and I’m still figuring it out.

U. Underwear. Yes.

V. Vegetable you love. Spinach

W. What makes you run late? Often, other people

X. X-rays you’ve had. Teeth, left knee, and various other parts.

Y. Yummy food – spinach lasagna, fried chicken leg, strawberry shortcake, carrot cake.

Z. Zoo animal; At The Zoo

Hot Country Hits of 1975, part 1

Merle Haggard, Conway Twitty

This is the Hot Country Hits of 1975, part 1. There are 43 songs in total, only eight of which charted for more than a week. I’ll note the ones that were also #1 on the pop charts.

Convoy—C.W. McCall, six weeks at #1. I couldn’t believe this did not hit #1 on the pop charts, as I heard it often, and it seemed to have encapsulated the CB radio craze. It even inspired a 1978 movie. Ah, it did hit #1 pop, but not until early 1976. It was chronologically the last #1 country hit of 1975.

Rhinestone Cowboy -Glen Campbell, three weeks at #1; also #1 pop for two weeks and #1 AC for a week. I really liked him.

Before The Next Teardrop Falls – Freddy Fender, two weeks at #1; also #1 pop for a week.

Always Wanting You – Merle Haggard, two weeks at #1. He had a total of four #1s in 1975. Several biographies were crafted for the Ken Burns series Country Music on the PBS website. Here’s his.

Touch The Hand – Conway Twitty, two weeks at #1. Three #1s, including a duet, in 1975.

Wasted Days and Wasted Nights – Freddy Fender, two weeks at #1. Two #1s in 1975

Daydreams About Night Things– Ronnie Milsap, two weeks at #1. Two #1s in 1975

#1 for one week

The Door – George Jones

Ruby Baby – Billy “Crash” Craddock, the Leiber-Stoller song previously recorded by, among others, the Drifters (#10 RB in 1956), Dion (#2 pop in 1963), the  Beatles, and the Beach Boys

Kentucky Gambler – Merle Haggard

(I’d Be) A Legend In My Time – Ronnie Milsap

City Lights – Mickey Gilley. Two #1s in 1975

Then Who Am I – Charlie Pride. Two #1s in 1975

Devil In The Bottle – T.G. Sheppard. Two #1s in 1975

I Care – Tom T. Hall. This appears on the album Country Songs For Children

It’s Time To Pay The Fiddler – Cal Smith

Linda On My Mind – Conway Twitty

The Bargain Store – Dolly Parton. PBS bio.

I Just Can’t Get Her Out Of My Mind – Johnny Rodriguez, yet it didn’t even make the top 100 pop. Three #1s in 1975. PBS bio. His website. He died May 9, 2025.

Always Wanting You – Merle Haggard

Blanket On The Ground – Billie Jo Spears

Stormy is 12

the last cat?

Stormy is 12. Her birthday was back in June. Apparently, I am not a good cat parent.

She received her physical in mid-July and is well for a 12-year-old feline. My wife and daughter report that, while she hates being in the cage, she didn’t fuss as much in the car. She resisted leaving the cage at the vet’s, but tilting the enclosure did the trick.

Stormy has lost about a pound since last year’s exam. The vet was slightly concerned because our other cat, Midnight, had stopped eating and started losing weight right before he died last summer. But we theorize that as Midnight ate less, Stormy ate more. So we think it’s all fine.

As I’ve noted before, she’s become much more likely to sit next to me as she is in these pictures, and she didn’t do that before when Midnight was around because he was quite possessive of me, even though he was pretty hostile to me.

Before I feed her, she can become very loud. She likes to rub her head against my leg and let me scratch her, but she also rubs her head up against the sofa, the chair leg, and a table leg. When it’s cold, she will sleep in my wife’s and my bed; when it’s warmer, she’ll sleep in the hallway.

Don’t Go Near The Water

She has the annoying habit of going into the human bathroom and drinking from the shower drippings. But she doesn’t like water on her. I wash my hands, and whatever residual water is on my fingertips, I can flick at her, and she’ll run down the stairs in about three seconds.

The vet said we shouldn’t have another cat with her because 12-year-olds tend to be quite territorial. I don’t think we’re ever gonna have another pet. We’ll probably move to a smaller place, and having an animal doesn’t seem to be a likely scenario anyway.

Ramblin' with Roger
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