Elvis just too cool in 'Blue Hawaii'

Every once in a while I enjoy being reminded just how cool Elvis was. And in the film “Blue Hawaii,” Elvis is cooler than the other side of the pillow.
It’s always been one of my favorite movies, so seeing it again recently was a treat. In fact, while watching the movie and enjoying the music, I got online and ordered the soundtrack, which arrived in the mail a few days later.
Elvis, whose character is named Chadwick Gates, was only 26 years old when the film was made in 1961. One thing I didn’t know was that Angela Lansbury, who played his mother, Sarah Lee Gates, was only 36 years old at the time of filming. She later said the role was the worst of her career, but really, the comedy interaction between her and Fred Gates (understatedly portrayed by the brilliant actor Roland Winters, who I quite enjoyed in the role of Charlie Chan in several films) is hilarious.
Despite the wonderful Hawaiian scenery and, of course, the pretty girls that were a staple of many Elvis films, I always go back to the music in this movie.
Critics over the years have described these Elvis movies as having dull plots and mediocre songs. But I really like the CD and have been playing it in my car since I got it. I particularly like “Rock-A-Hula Baby” and “Moonlight Swim.” Of course, the Elvis hit, “Can’t Help Falling in Love” would become Elvis’ closing song for many of the concerts in the 1970s.
The album spent 20 weeks in 1961 as No. 1 on the Top Pop Albums chart, was Elvis’ biggest selling album during his lifetime and has been certified as triple platinum. The CD I have is a remastered version of the original with eight bonus tracks and was re-released in 1997.
The couple of hours I invested in watching the movie and the $10 I forked over for the CD was time and money well spent.

National Cheese Ball Day? Really?

National Cheese Ball Day was Saturday, April 17. I know, I missed it, too.
In fact, the only reason I knew anything about it at all was because there was some chatter about it amongst my Twitter friends. Twitter chitter-chatter, as it were.
Naturally, I looked it up hoping to find out how cheese balls got their own national day of recognition. I mean, there is an International Talk Like A Pirate Day (every year on Sept. 19), so why wouldn’t there be a National Cheese Ball Day?
Turns out there are cheese ball recipes out the wazoo online, but there doesn’t seem to be much information on who is responsible for this National Cheese Ball Day, even though it’s apparently been celebrated for years. I just assumed somebody in Wisconsin had come up with the idea and I liked to send that person a note of thanks because I think we could round up enough support to eventually get the day off of work for this holiday.
About the only fun fact I could find was that on July 20, 1801, a guy by the name of Elisha Brown Jr. pressed a 1,235-pound cheese ball at his farm. He reportedly was so impressed with himself that he presented huge cheese ball to President Thomas Jefferson at the White House.
How do you suppose the conversation went between Jefferson and the White House doorman?
Doorman: “Mr. President, there is some farmer at the door who says he’s got a 1,235-pound cheese ball to give you. What do you want me to tell him?”
Jefferson: “Send him to Wisconsin. Tell him to see a guy named Macaroni.”
Sometimes, I just shake my head at all the national days of tomfoolery. And then I talk like a pirate. Argh!

The sights and sounds of Opening Day

The Phillies home opener this year was what one would expect from the defending National League Champions. Lots of fun and lots of sun.
Among the sights, sounds and firsts of the 2010 baseball season were:
— My Opening Day lunch consisted of, what else, a cheese steak (Whiz witout) and crab fries.
— The first Opening Day beer was cold enough. But depending on one’s preferred brand, it cost between $7.25 and $7.75 a bottle. At this age, I just do not like beer that much at that price. My first beer of the season will likely be my last beer of the season at the ballpark.
— Adult males who wear their ballcaps backwards ought to turn them around, unless of course they are indeed catchers in real life.
— The Phillie Phanatic is just a big goof. He gets a pass, though, because “being a big goof” is actually in his job description. I am trying to think of a way to get it into my job description.
— Thanks to Managing Editor Craig Ostroff, I found a free parking space for the first time in 10 years of going to Phillies games. But I’m not telling you where it is because I want it to be available for me.
— I never get tired of hearing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame.” I was unsuccessful at getting it played at my wedding, but I have left specific instructions that it be played at my funeral, where the charge for beer will be substantially less than what it is at the ballpark.
All in all, it was a great home opener for the Phillies. The good guys won and are off to a good start.
And this was the fourth Opening Day I’ve spent at the ballpark without my dad. He wasn’t from around here and he wasn’t a Phillies fan, but I certainly got my love of baseball from him.
He would have enjoyed the Phanatic. My dad was always fond of big goofs.

A special 16th birthday in the city

For the past few years, Younger Daughter and I have celebrated her birthday with a shopping trip to South Street, dinner and a show. This year was a big one because it was her 16th birthday.
South Street, of course, is prime real estate for people watching, one of my favorite activities while on shopping trips because, well, there really isn’t anything else for me to do but sit around and watch people while Younger Daughter shops. And you can see just about everything on South Street, particular when it comes to clothes and tattoos. It’s a highlight real of humanity.
This year for dinner we ended up at one of those Japanese steakhouses where the chef cooks the food on grill right at your table. I hadn’t been to one of those places in about 30 years and had forgotten how entertaining and talented the chefs can be.
At one point, the chef flipped a bite-sized bit of zucchini with his spatula up into the air and directly into my mouth. Of course, it took him three tries to get something into my big piehole, the first attempt going wide left and hitting me in the cheek with the second try coming in high and tight and clipping the end of my beezer. I still can’t figure out how he missed a mouth as big as mine. Twice.
We capped off the evening by seeing the play “Fallen Angels” at the Walnut Street Theater. Younger Daughter is very much into theater arts and we enjoyed the show quite a bit. The Walnut Street Theater is a real landmark and a real treasure.
It was a wonderful day for father and daughter to spend some time together.