Hail and Farewell!

I often think of titles for my blogs right off the top of my head, and usually my first instinct is a good one. In this case, "Hail and Farewell" is the name of the play being produced by the Marx Brothers in one of their more unique films, "Room Service."

Yes, I realize that referencing the Marx Brothers in this column will appeal to about five readers, but that's my choice and I'm sticking with it!

I've hinted in my last couple of postings (and to a few of you in person,) that I think I'm done writing this blog and that it might be time to say good-bye. Or at least to take a breather for a while.

There are a few reasons, some of which we've discussed before:

1) I truly am out of stories. Every once in a while, someone either in person or via email will remind me that I met somebody along the way that I had a 'Zelig' moment with; but these reminders have been few and far between recently. I really, honestly, have already shared the best radio/ TV/ sports stories that I can think of.

1a) Can I go on telling you all about my 'pet peeves' and complaining about things that bother me? I guess so. I've been told that I am a good enough storyteller to get away with that, but is it what you really want to read? Is it something I really want to write about? And where's the 'Zelig' angle? Where's the famous personage whose life got momentarily, but unforgettably, intertwined with mine?

2) I've been at this now for over a year, believe it or not! I was going to have the last column post exactly one year after the first, but I suddenly came up with stories about my runaway dog and my annoyance with televised sports, and that helped me squeeze out a couple more weeks. The incredible part of all this is, that except for the times when I knew in advance that I would miss a week (or two) because of vacations, holidays, etc., I cranked out a column every single Thursday...for a year!

Though half of them were just shorties, reviewing or commenting on the previous entry, it still meant I had a self-imposed deadline that had to be met every single week. And I never missed one. I think the latest I every posted was at 9 or 10:00pm one Thursday night.

Wish I could follow a diet that obsessively!

3) I seriously think the dedication and routine of sitting down and writing every week might (and I purposely use the word 'might',) get me back to try and write fiction again. As I have told people many times when discussing the subject, I really am able to write non-fiction (whether it be a baseball biography or a personal memoir like this one,) fairly easily. I dunno, it just flows.

But sitting down to create characters, describe scenes, write dialogue AND whip it all into a readable story, for me, has always been close to impossible. So maybe this time....

Other things I could do:

I've had suggestions that, considering my radio background, I should just turn this blog into a podcast. Yeah, I guess I could get all the equipment and try that. But you guys have read all these stories already...would you want to hear me actually read them now? Where would the surprises be?

I will keep uploading past columns into my Substack account, trying to get it noticed by readers who don't already know me, in the hopes that 'word-of-mouth' could get "Modern Day Zelig" some widespread attention. So yes, you will still be getting e-mail notifications about a 'new' column appearing in my Substack file, but don't get excited. It will just be me adding more, older columns to my account.

The best idea? I am seriously considering utilizing one of those self-publishing firms, picking the ten or twelve blogs that I thought were the best, and collecting them in a real old school- type book. If I do that, I will make sure you all know where to find a copy. As a matter of fact, if any of you have any posts that you think were the BEST ones, please let me know. That might help me choose which ones to publish.

But will anyone outside of Buffalo or Hartford, Connecticut care enough to read about my exploits? Not sure, but it's probably worth the investment.

Either way, I'm gonna call it quits, at least for a while. Let's just say I'm taking a break. If I happen to get hired by Donald Trump, or go drinking with with Jennifer Lawrence, I promise to write about it immediately!

In the meantime:

I have a gym on the corner that's been open for seven months now. It's beautiful and will hopefully be turning a profit in a year or two...

I will be working most Sunday and Monday nights again at the Borgata sportsbook in A.C. taking football bets, so stop by some night and say hi...

If there's a comic book show anywhere on the east coast, you'll probably find me there too...

I even started taking piano lessons!

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I need to pass this along before I leave: Not a lot of movies make me cry.

I can watch body parts flying across the screen, or entire office buildings going down in flames, but as long as no animal is harmed in the making of the film, it brings nary a sniffle.

But once in a great while, I will watch a movie that forces me to hold back tears:

The last scene in "It's a Wonderful Life" still chokes me up every time. And I've been watching it for over 50 years.

Same with the scene in "Casablanca" where Victor Laszlo leads Rick's band in playing "La Marseillaise" Perfectly performed.

The Wembley Stadium concert scene in "Bohemian Rhapsody" really affected me, until I Googled the movie and found out that most of it was total BS! That turned me from emotional to livid, and though it's still a great film, it will never feel the same as it did that first time....

But recently I watched the movie "Yesterday", a 2019 film about a failing musician who wakes up from a worldwide blackout to discover that he is the only person alive who remembers the Beatles. And he uses that knowledge and his memory of their lyrics to turn himself into an international superstar.

If I've seen you in the past few months, I've probably already talked your ear off about this film, but if you've been lucky enough to have avoided me recently, I'm going to bug you about it now: for those of us who grew up understanding exactly how important the Beatles were (and still are,) I think "Yesterday" is a must-see.

This is not a spoiler alert, but the final song in the movie, "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", is performed by the main character with an acoustic guitar for a classful of students and their teachers; the pure joy on all of their faces as they sing along, and the satisfaction of the main character as he realizes he's passing along the Beatles' genius to a whole civilization of people who would otherwise have never been able to enjoy them, turned me into jelly.

Now whenever that song, a tune that I never was really a fan of before, comes on my car radio, I literally have to hold back tears as I recall that last scene.

I guess we get more emotional as we get older...or perhaps I'm just a loon.

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And before I go, I am keeping one last promise: when I told the stories of my hosting the Hartford Whalers' hockey post-game show on local TV, I swore I would find some way to show you all at least some of it.

Well. thanks to a talented video guy I just met, and a rummage through my videotape collection, I was able to dub a complete episode of "Whalers' Wrap-Up". Its from 1987 (!) and it looks it: badly recorded commercials (that you'll probably want to fast forward through,) poorly-lit video, and a spot for The Ground Round! (Are there any more Ground Rounds??)

As for me, I do a constant 'shoulder shake' as I'm talking, the audio is tinny and only on one channel from what I can tell, and the video is a little shaky. But it's complete. Recorded highlights, live phone calls from viewers, and an overly-long interview with a local DJ, who seems to have no real tie-in with the hockey team, so don't ask me why we even invited him.

But the link is directly below. Watch as much of it as you can stand. Then email, call, or comment about anything you'd like.

I'll be listening.

IG

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aeEQMGuXG-VAoyz-yyAPI4voFOt0KAqb/view?usp=drivesdk