Roger O Green

Movie review: Somewhere In Queens

Versailles Palace

After my wife came home from a movie she’d seen alone (Chevalier, which she liked), she thought we should see the film Somewhere In Queens, based on the trailer.

I knew next to nothing about the film except that it was the directorial debut of Ray Romano. He was the star, a writer, and a producer of the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. The show was based on his standup routine. I saw it infrequently; I watched only one episode in its entirety, though it was nominated for 69 Emmys, winning 15.

Yet I’ve seen him in subsequent projects such as The Irishman, The Big Sick, and the TV show Parenthood.

The film

Leo (Romano) and Angela Russo (Laurie Metcalf from Roseanne) are part of an extended Italian-American family. Every other week, there’s a family event at the Versailles Palace, the neighborhood banquet hall.

Leo works in the family business run by Pop/Dominic (Tony Lo Bianco), a construction company job he doesn’t love. However, his brother Frank (Sebastian Maniscalco) and his sons seemed to be born into it. Their current worksite is at the home of the young widow Pamela (Jennifer Esposito).

Leo and Angela’s very reserved son Matthew, who everyone calls ‘Sticks'(Jacob Ward), finds success on his high-school basketball team. Maybe this will be his ticket to college. And who’s that young woman, Dani (Sadie Stanley), hanging on his arm after the game?

I had concluded that the movie was about a particular storyline. Ultimately, though, it was centered on something quite universal. It’s pretty funny, but it has its serious moments. I am unwilling to reveal much more.

My wife and I liked it; most critics and the audience felt likewise. In one online poll, 31 of 32 people gave it four or five stars out of five. The one-star reviewer said they knew Italian-Americans, and they didn’t swear like that. There IS a bit of cursing, usually at other family members. Then they move on.

The movie title, though accurate, is pretty dull.

May rambling: the future

Rock ’n’ roll is a spirit

From https://readtheplaque.com/plaque/the-toronto-recursive-history-project

Clarence Thomas has been bought by the worst people. Harlan Crow is Thomas’ minder. Keep track here.

The Great Simplification: What HS Leaders Need to Know About the Future of Energy with Nate Hagens

Does the US have a spending problem? And Members of Congress, legal scholars, and even the union representing federal workers are calling on the White House to answer the GOP’s economic hostage-taking with unilateral action to prevent a default, citing the 14th Amendment.

Laboratories of Autocracy

Tucker Carlson’s Text That Alarmed Fox Leaders: ‘It’s Not How White Men Fight’

January 6 was an insurrection.

Male supremacy is at the core of the hard right’s agenda

Iowa lawmakers pass legislation to roll back child labor protections

The already poor health care outcomes in the United States and how maternal mortality rates have been made worse by abortion bans. SCOTUS’s abortion ruling disproportionately affects Black people with low incomes in the Deep South

Hospitals Close While Execs Made Millions

Biden & The Border and Cryptocurrencies II: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Guns. For the love of guns.

Florida GOP legislators agree to shield DeSantis travel records

djt wrecks himself in the E. Jean Carroll video deposition – this helps explain the verdict

MUSIC

From the New York Times, something I truly believe about Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: “Purists can debate whether or not any of these artists can be classified as ‘rock,’ but I prefer the more exciting definition Ice Cube put forth in his speech when he was inducted with the rap group N.W.A. in 2016. ‘Rock ’n’ roll is not an instrument; rock ’n’ roll is not even a style of music,’ he said. ‘Rock ’n’ roll is a spirit. Rock ’n’ roll is not conforming to the people who came before you, but creating your own path in music and in life.’”

Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor.

Gordon Lightfoot, the troubadour of Canada, is gone.

Coverville 1441: Tributes to Harry Belafonte and Gordon Lightfoot

Behind Harry Belafonte’s Artistry and Activism Was a Lonely Kid Longing for Connection

Variations on a Theme of Chopin by Rachmaninoff

4 Chord Song – Axis Of Aweesome and the Ed Sheeran verdictt

Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by George Szell.

Rachmaninoff: the many lives of Vocalise

Warsaw Concerto by Richard Addinsell

The May 7 Sunday Stealing of Songs has a lot of eclectic choices by the dozen participants.

May the 4th

Greedy (1994) kid doing Jimmy Durante

If you called me today, I would come back tomorrow – Áine Deane

Hobbit Drinking Song – Peter Hollens featuring Hank Green

Never Gonna Fall In Love Again – Eric Carmen

The value of the full-body hug

24th wedding anniversary

I am a proponent of the full-body hug.

Let me note that back at my previous church, which I left in 2000, I was known by a few as the Trinity Hugger. Which someone always liked to say was better than being the Trinity Mugger.

At my church, and also among my in-laws, there are people I like to hug and who like to be embraced. However, COVID – it’s always COVID – put the kibosh on that for a good while.

My wife was not a natural hugger, in my experience. Sometimes, she’d give me a side hug, which was better than nothing. Often, though, she d go to bed, and I wouldn’t even know until I saw the bedroom door closed – to keep out the cats, I should add.

At some point, she suggested, and I eagerly agreed, that we should hug twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Not one of those obligatory ones either, when you do it while holding something, but a full-body hug, with hands now free of everything.

This has made me very happy.

Taking care

I don’t know precisely when FBH, as we call it, started. I’m fairly sure it was after my wife’s leg trauma last fall. It wasn’t intentionally a quid pro quo, but I’ve noted that she’s better at taking care of my emotional needs after I unexpectedly had to take care of her physical needs.

As a result, I think we’re in a better place. We’re always punning each other, but historically, hers had often been groan-worthy to my ears. For whatever reason, her banter is sharper. This is situational humor, so I can’t recreate any specific examples, but it’s true.

This is our 24th wedding anniversary. There’s less than a 50/50 chance she’ll read this since she seldom reads my blog. Moreover, I’ve told her that I ALWAYS write about her on her birthday and about us on our anniversary. It used to bug me a little, but now I’m at, “Hey, it’s her choice.”

Happy anniversary, dear. We should get a newer picture.

Real mothers

Undefining Motherhood

I found this piece by Katie Phang of MSNBC: She “sounds off on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s suggesting stepmothers aren’t ‘real mothers’ during a House Subcommittee Hearing.

Phang: “MTG may try to redefine what it means to be a mother, but she’s wrong and will fail miserably because being a parent is certainly not what she thinks it is. Being a mother is more than just giving birth to a child. It’s about unconditional love, guidance, patience, listening, and understanding. With Mother’s Day around the corner, maybe MTG needs to take a moment and learn what that special day truly recognizes and honors.”

Of course, MTG used her usual scattershot rhetorical bluster, as she did when calling for a “national divorce” to split the country into two. This time it was to specifically attack Randi Weingarten, the American Federation of Teachers head.

Still, I know many mothers who became so in myriad ways. And I’m sure that, for instance, Jill Biden was a mother to Beau and Hunter after their birth mother and sister were killed.

Not that

What’s more interesting to me is an article entitled What Is a Mother? Not What You’ve Been Told. It’s on the website Undefining Motherhood.

Katy Huie Harrison, Ph.D., notes the pain of reading a book called What Are Moms Made Of? “According to this book, a mother offers ‘Full-hearted hugs from two generous arms. Grace under pressure and know-how calm.’ Sorry to break it to you, world, but a mom is not always ‘full-hearted’ and ‘generous,’ nor is she always ‘graceful’ or ‘calm.’

“Nor is she necessarily the selfless angel we want her to be. When I Googled the question, ‘What is a mother?’, the words I saw most were ‘selfless,’ ‘strong,’ ‘loving,’ ‘sacrifice,’ ‘instinct,’ and ‘never complains.’

“But let me be real with you. Do I consider myself a strong woman who loves my child with intensity and will sacrifice abundantly for him? Hell yes!

“Am I selfless, ever trusting in my supposed maternal instinct, and willing to fully sacrifice without complaining? Hell no!

“And I think I’m a great mom.

“#notjustamom exists for a reason, y’all. Moms do a lot for their children, but most of them do a lot for themselves, and I hope the rest of the world, too.

“No one can fit the outlandish definitions our society has constructed for what it means to be a mother.”

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you moms, however you came to the role.

Sunday Stealing: Kwizgiver

The Sunday Stealing this week is from Kwizgiver.

1. What is in the back seat of your car right now?

Right now? Just a blanket. But if you asked me at 1:30 Friday afternoon, it would be all the stuff my daughter brought home from college, the vehicle filled to the gills. Oh, and my daughter was back there, too.

2. When was the last time you threw up?

I have no idea. Maybe when I had the flu 15 years ago? BTW, I’ve gotten a flu shot ever since.

3. What’s your favorite word or phrase?

There are so many. I’ll go with antepenultimate. I only learned about Penultimate while reading the next-to-the-last episode of the original Elfquest comic book, created by Wendy and Richard Pini. Finding there’s a word for the third to the last pleases me.

4. Name three people who made you smile today?

My daughter’s friend helped load our vehicle with my daughter’s stuff. One of the techs who helped me get my phone working. And one of the techs who got my watch working.

5. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?

Yesterday, I ate breakfast at the hotel we stayed at the night before.

6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?

I was dealing with my new phone provider.

7. What would constitute the perfect evening for you?

Sitting around listening to music and reading the newspaper.

8. Have you ever been to a strip club?

No.

I often do that

9. What is the last thing you said aloud?

What kind of question is “Have you ever been to a strip club?”

10. What is the best ice cream flavor?

Strawberry. Oddly, I can get it in hand-packed pints at Stewart’s, the local purveyor of dairy products and other things. But f I want a half gallon, it’ll be Neapolitan (vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry).

11. What was the last thing you had to drink?

Diet Pepsi

12. What are you wearing right now?

Shirt, pants, slippers.

13. What was the last thing you ate?

A waffle with banana and strawberry for breakfast.

14. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?

No. Here is a recent JEOPARDY clue: A NEW COAT $1200: In 2019, this iconic star said a red coat she wore to protest the dangers of climate change will be the last clothing item she buys. Who is Jane Fonda?

15. When was the last time you ran?

Pre-COVID. I knew my left knee was bone-on-bone for a few years, mainly from a 1994 accident. I didn’t know my right knee was ALSO bone-on-bone until April 2023.

Author: Roger