To Absent Friends - Diane Keaton

 

Diane Keaton

1946-2025

Sometimes the death of a prominent person, be it an athlete, show biz personality, or politician, makes you just feel really bad, even though you never actually knew the person yourself.  Such is the case with how I've felt ever since I heard the news of the death of Diane Keaton yesterday at the age of 79.

In looking at her filmography on IMDB, I can deduce that my first memory of seeing Diane Keaton would have been in the 1970 comedy movie "Lovers and Other Strangers".  She also became better known for appearing in the Woody Allen comedies "Play It Again, Sam" (1972) and "Sleeper" (1973).  What I didn't realize until I read her obituaries today was that Keaton got her first big break in 1968 when she played Allen's female lead in the Broadway stage production of "Play It Again, Sam". She won a Tony Award for her performance in that play.

At about the same time as when she was making those two comedies, Keaton landed the role of a lifetime when she was tapped to play Kay Adams, Michael Corleone's girlfriend and wife in "The Godfather" in 1972.  This put her over the top as an actress able to play anything and not just comedy roles.  It assured her of screen immortality.  She went on to play the same role in the two Godfather sequels.

There followed six more movies with Allen, including the role for which she will probably be most remembered, Kay Adams Corleone notwithstanding, that of Annie Hall in Allen's 1977 masterpiece of the same name.  "Annie Hall" won the Oscar for Best Picture, Allen for director and screenwriter, and, of course, the Best Actress Oscar for Keaton.

By the time she made her final movie with Allen, "Manhattan Murder Mystery" in 1993, and the "Godfather Part III" in 1990, Keaton was in her forties, a time when Hollywood usually spits out actresses who have attained such an "advanced" age, but Diane Keaton's career took another turn.

It started with such movies as "Baby Boom" (1987) and continued with roles in such movies as the "Father of the Bride" movies with Steve Martin, "Something's Gotta Give" (2003) with Jack Nicholson, and two really terrific holiday movies, "The Family Stone" (2005) and "Love The Coopers" (2015).  There were plenty of other movies, of course.  She has 74 acting credits in IMDB.  She was nominated for Oscars four times, and she has won two Golden Globe Awards.  In the late 1960's, before Broadway and the movies came rolling, she also made TV appearances in Mannix, The F.B.I., Night Gallery, and Love, American Style.  (I also had a memory of her doing a TV commercial for some product in which she wore a track suit, I was able to find in HERE.  It's from 1970.)

It was in this latter period of her career that I really became a fan of Diane Keaton.  She was playing leading roles, age appropriate roles, and I found her to be every bit as charming, attractive, and a terrific actress as she got older as she was in her "Annie Hall" days.

The tributes that have flooded social media in the last twenty-four hours have been incredible.  It seems that she was a genuinely good person, as charming and lovable in real life as she was on screen.

I will miss Diane Keaton, but people like her will always be with us with the legacies that they leave behind.  I probably own at least ten DVD's of movies in which she starred.  Think I'll start with "Play It Again, Sam" and "Annie Hall" and then move on to "The Godfather".  

Some photos to make you remember Diane Keaton.

I mentioned tributes from her contemporaries. This one was posted on Facebook by frequent co-star, Steve Martin.  

Steve Martin 

3h · 

This playbill is from a 1964 college production of Carousel. Diane “Hall” (Keaton) is the lead; I’m a stage hand.

As Annie Hall. Great role that caused a revolution of sorts in women's fashion, The Annie Hall Look.

With Woody Allen

"Lah-dee-dah, lah-de-dah"

Memorable scenes from "The Godfather".

"That's a true story, Kay."

That memorable final scene.

With Jack Nicholson in "Something's Gotta Give".

Fare well, Diane Keaton, and RIP.

The Wheel

 

In an effort to tie in with the release of Taylor Swift's new album, "Life of Showgirl" (unless you live in a cave, you may have heard about it), the Heinz History Center made a post on social media over the weekend about the establishment that you see pictured on the left, The Wheel Cafe, located on Forbes Street in downtown Pittsburgh between Smithfield and Wood Streets, and to tie it in with other types of "showgirls" from Pittsburgh's past.  

I'll get to that part a bit later, but seeing pictures of The Wheel brought back a lot of fond memories to The Grandstander.  I had first heard about the joint from my Dad, who lunched there often during his working career in the city. When I started going to Robert Morris College  in 1970, it was quite convenient to go there for lunch myself.  Sometimes I would meet my Dad there for lunch, and if memory serves me correctly, I courted a young RMC co-ed named Marilyn Moellenbrock there on many an occasion.  I also distinctly remember eating there with my Dad and my two brothers on the morning of December 23, 1972, and then hopping on a shuttle bus to Three Rivers Stadium  where we watched a little sporting event that came to be known as The Immaculate Reception Game.  When I came back to Pittsburgh in 1978 and worked in Gateway Center for Equitable Life, I had lunch there regularly (often times with that same now former RMC co-ed, who I had married in 1974) right up until the time The Wheel closed its doors in 1985.  I seem to recall that The Wheel tried to make a go of it at a new location on Smithfield Street, but it was just not the same, and it didn't last long.

The Wheel was a dark and somewhat dingy place, but it was clean, and it served really good lunch fare.  My favorite was "The Regular", a grilled ham and cheese sandwich served on a nice crusty roll.  It was a great place for business men and women (and college students) to stop for a quick sandwich and a beer (or soft drink) for lunch.  It was a place that had a distinct personality and character, and joints like that just aren't around anymore.

Now, as to the "showgirl" theme.  The Wheel opened in 1936 and it was located just a few doors down from the Casino Theater.  The Casino, which closed in 1965, was a burlesque house during a time when burlesque was respectable and striptease was considered an art form.  History  tells us that between and after shows at the Casino, the performers, including the, ahem, showgirls, would stop in at The Wheel for drinks and a meal.  The girls would leave autographed pictures at the place, like this one from the legendary Tempest Storm....

,,,and all of these pictures were hung above the bar.  Those old photos from the forties and fifties remained hanging above the bar in all of their faded and black and white glory right up until when the place closed down.

I was told by my father, a wise man in so many ways, that the name of the place came from the nickname for the circuit that the burlesque performers traveled as they practiced their art form, "The Peel Wheel".  I never had that confirmed, and a Google search today gives a different spin on the term "peel wheel" as it relates to burlesque, but I like my Dad's version, and I'm sticking to it.

Thanks to my friends at the Heinz History Center for stirring up some pretty cool memories for me.

Shirt Pocket Notes

Time to check the shirt pocket and catch up with some things rattling around in my cranium.  (Two Myron Cope references in one sentence!) 

The Ryder Cup

The Ryder Cup competition between teams of golfers from the USA competing against golfers from Europe began last Friday.  As we were driving home from Massachusetts all day Friday, I, of course, was unable to see any of that day's competition.  By the time I got home late that evening, all I knew was that the European golfers were kicking the collective asses of the American team, and there was talk of some ugly behavior from the American galleries which apparently consisted of a bunch of loudmouthed obnoxious New Yorkers - the matches were being staged in Bethpage on Long Island - who had had way too much to drink.

My Saturday television watching was confined to college football, but I was aware that the drubbing of the USA golfers was continuing and that, if anything, the behavior of the galleries was even worse.  Someone had thrown a cup of beer at Rory McIlroy, and the female emcee of the event, who was hired by the PGA of America for this event was engaging in organized "F**k You" cheers aimed against the European golfers.  To its credit, the PGA fired this woman, but they also must share in the lion's share of the blame for the national embarrassment that happened.  They, after all, have ginned up this event over the years as a "war" between the competing sides.

At that point, I had no interest in watching the singles matches on Sunday, which turned out to be pretty compelling and the USA turned a total drubbing into a close 15-13 loss.  So, I didn't see a single stroke of the whole shebang, and I can't say that I'm sorry, given what a total black eye this gave to the USA and its sports fans.

No less an imposing golf figure than Tom Watson said it best:

No word from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue about the events that unfolded at Bethage, but I am guessing that the POTUS was probably okay with how it all came down.

College Football

Last weekend was a great one for college football with all kinds of terrific match-ups.  It began on Friday evening when the University of Virginia upset ranked Florida State in overtime in Charlottesville.  It was a terrific game, but it was marred at the end by this truly frightening scene.

This, of course, was the storming of the field by the UVA students when Florida State's fourth down pass fell incomplete in the second overtime of the game, sealing the win for Virginia.  As the game proceeded through the fourth quarter and the possibility of an upset win by UVA looked probable, you could just see how the crowd was building in the end zone, which is apparently a hillside with no barrier between it and the playing field?, and you just KNEW what was going to happen if the Cavaliers ended up winning.  It was, as I said, frightening, and it is a miracle that no one  - that we know about - was seriously injured or even killed.

Spirit, loyalty, and joy over a Big Win are all wonderful things, but scenes like this are not.  The University of Virginia was fined $50,000 by the ACC for allowing this to happen, but what's fifty grand in today's world of big time college football?  A college football podcast that I follow suggested this week that fines, and hiring a couple of more security guys in yellow shirts aren't going to stop this, and the guys on this pod suggested that one way that would surely stop it would be having the home team forfeit the game.  

I'd be all for that.

Saturday's schedule saw Pitt take 17-0 lead over Louisville only to see them blow it and end up losing 34-27.  They are not a good team and Pat Narduzzi didn't help on successive play calls on a 3rd and 2 and a 4th and 7 in the final quarter that were positively baffling.  If he didn't have a contract with a $70 million buyout, I think that he'd be out on the streets after this season.

And speaking of Narduzzi, just what exactly does he write in that spiral top notebook on the sidelines while he is, presumably, coaching a game?

The game to which I was most looking forward came on Saturday night when 6th ranked Oregon traveled to 3rd ranked Penn State.  It was highly anticipated and it was to be Penn State's traditional "White Out Night" to really get the juices flowing in Happy Valley.   No doubt about it, the scene and the atmosphere were electric:

Then the game started.   A "meh" first half produced a 3-3 score at intermission.  Oregon then overcame a 3-10 third quarter deficit by scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter to tie the game and then winning 30-24 in two overtime periods.

James Franklin's record at Penn State against Top Ten ranked teams now falls to 4-21.  That is not a statistical aberration at this point, folks, and how hot will the seat be under his rump should (when?) the Lions lose to Ohio State again later this season?

Also, Drew Allar has now dropped off of my list of "Quarterbacks That I Would Like To See The Steelers Draft".

The NFL

At this point, I'm just resorting to bullet points:

• That was nice win for the Steelers in Ireland over the Vikings.  3-1 and in first place in the AFC North.
• D.K. Metcalf is a marvel.  Big, fast, and can really catch the ball.  That 82 yard pitch-and-catch TD from Aaron Rodgers was a marvel.  He should be targeted at least a half dozen times a game, and I am guessing that no one knows this better than Rodgers himself.
• The Ravens fall to 1-3, and appear to be a not-very-good team.  Long noted for their great defenses, they have been giving up so many points (133 in four games)  that you might even say that they "stink".  Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are distant memories at this point.  Oh, and now Lamar Jackson will probably miss a game or two due to injury.  I guess they can still turn it around, but they had better hurry.
• Those of you writing off the KayCee Chiefs who started 1-3 can put those thoughts on hold for the time being.  They still have the best QB in football, as Patrick Mahomes showed with five TD passes against the Ravens on Sunday.

I will close with one of my favorite images from the Steelers win in the Dublin Game.  DB DeShon Elliott celebrating his interception with some Irish river dancing in the end zone.

In The Dunes On The Cape

As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, I want to share a few details of the second part of our Steelers Road Trip to New England, which was a four night stay in the Cape Cod Village of Falmouth.  During those four days, we got to explore a delightful little New England town, got in some beach time, took a ferry boat ride to Martha's Vineyard and explored the towns of Oak Bluffs and Edgartown (where "Jaws" was filmed) on that Island.  Alas, while on Martha's Vineyard we did not see Carly Simon, the Obamas, or a single member of the Kennedy Family, but, hey, you can't have everything.

It was a delightful four day stay, and we very much enjoyed seeing this part of the country.

Allow me to share some photos.

Our Inn while in Falmouth

No elevator and we were on the second floor 😒

Street Scene

We had no trouble finding room to sit on the beach.

Outdoor night scene at our Inn

Great little bar on Martha's Vineyard

Did I mention that "Jaws" was filmed on Martha's Vineyard?

It rained the day we went to Martha's Vineyard.  When we stopped at bar for lunch and saw that they specialized in frozen drinks, I told the waitress that I'd have a pina colada because "I'd been caught in the rain".  I thought that she would have been too young to get the joke, but she "got it"!  Maybe she's heard it before.  Or maybe she just wanted a nice tip. (Perhaps you have already noticed that the headline of this post comes from the same Rupert Holmes song.)

2025 marked the 50th Anniversary of the release of the movie "Jaws", an event that was noted all over the island.

"Amity, as you know, means friendship."

The Island Queen, the ferry boat that took us to and from Marths's Vineyard.

On the trip home we encountered a beautiful sky 

with the sun setting and a fingernail moon visible.

"Sunburn" by Laura Lippman

I discovered "Sunburn" in one of those Kindle "Deals of the Day" emails and thought it was worth spending buck ninety-nine to try.

What a bargain.

This is a thriller of a novel, published in 2018, and written in noir style.  As I read it, I was seeing this story as a black & white 1940's movie starring Barbara Stanwyck and John Garfield.  

In the beginning of the book, we meet Polly, who has just ditched her husband and one year old daughter while on a vacation at the Delaware beaches.  She settles in an out of the way motel in a small town off the beaten path between said beaches and Baltimore.  We also meet Adam, who also finds himself at that same dump of a motel due to "car trouble".  However, we soon learn that Adam has other purposes on his agenda.  He has been hired to find and follow Polly, but who hired him, and exactly why is he following her and just what is it he supposed to find out about her?

Adam and Polly then take jobs at low rent diner/bar.  She as waitress/barmaid, he as a short order cook, and lo and behold, they fall for each other.  Both of them, though, have reservations about just who this person with whom they are falling in love (lust?) is.  Can they trust this person?  We also meet, among others through chapters with alternating points of view, a crooked cop, an unscrupulous insurance broker, the waitress that also works at the greasy spoon, and we learn about Polly's two marriages, two children, and her, shall we say, checkered past.

In her afterward to the novel, Lippman tells us that this story is in the style of hard-boiled, noir fiction writher James M. Cain, who authored such classics as "Double Indemnity","The Postman Always Rings twice", and "Mildred Pierce", and she nails this tribute perfectly.  As you read it, you can almost visualize the dust motes swirling in the sunlight that comes through the torn window blinds of the cheap motel where Polly and Adam are shacked up.

I have to say that I loved this book, and I give it the full Four Grandstander Stars.  If only Billy Wilder were still with us to make it into a movie.

(NOTE:  Sharp eyed movie buffs will note that I mixed a metaphor in the body of this post.  I suspect that my pal David Cicotello will be all over it.)

Road Tripping With The Steelers

No, the "road trip" in question was not to Dublin, Ireland to see the much ballyhooed "Dublin Game" between the Steelers and the Vikings.  Our trip was a bit closer to home, although it did involve being in a car for close to 24 total hours, going through four states, and covering 1,330 miles in eight days.

Yep, there we were in Foxboro, MA on September 21 to see the Steelers play the Patriots and deliver a 21-14 win to Steelers Nation.  The genesis of this trip was our cruise vacation through Canada last May and perhaps one too many cocktails with our new friends, Patti and Barry Rowe, who live in Boston suburb of Melrose.  The NFL schedule was released while we were on the cruise, we saw that the Steelers were visiting New England in September, when the weather would still be nice, and the next thing you knew, we were getting in the car two Fridays ago and headed towards Boston.

After staying in Scranton, the halfway point of the trip, where we visited the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company and drove on the "President Biden Expressway", we were grateful guests of the Rowes for two nights. On Sunday morning, we piled into Patti's SUV and headed to Foxboro.

This was our first ever "road trip" to see a Steelers game, and, frankly, we weren't quite sure how we would be treated as we wore our Steelers gear and waved our Terrible Towels.  We needn't have worried, because it couldn't have been a more positive experience.  As we walked through all of the tailgating parties in the parking lots,  entered and sat in Gillette Stadium, and returned to our car through those same parking lots after the game, we could not have been treated more graciously by the New England fans.  We had countless conversations with many of them, all of them positive, and even the "derisive" comments were made with tongues in cheeks and smiles on faces.

Of course, it no doubt helped that we were far from alone in being Steelers folks in the crowd.  We have heard for years and seen on television how Steelers Nation travels, and we can now testify that it is a very real thing.  I would estimate that anywhere from twenty to thirty percent, and maybe more, of the crowd were Steelers rooters, all of them waiving Terrible Towels.  (Funny Story:  As we left the stadium after the game, a young guy and his date walked up to us and asked "Were they giving those towels away at the game today because EVERYBODY had one?"  We set him straight.)  Nobody gave us a hard time, nobody picked a fight with us or threw a beer at us.  It was just a terrific experience.

Everything you've ever heard about traffic and driving in Boston is true.  It was horrendous ("You learn to live with it" Barry told us), and this is true about getting to and from Foxboro on game day.  The logistics of how the police work the traffic patterns before and after the game are sheer genius.  It was truly amazing.

Here are some photos from our memorable weekend On The Road with the Steelers.

Tailgaters

Taking it all in

With Barry and Patti Rowe

Now THAT'S a big video board!

Bragging Rights.  

They earned them.

The only thing missing was "Renegade" being played

Post-game

I was also able to continue the tradition that I started with my Roberto Clemente jersey at Pirates games of getting photos taken with HOF jerseys from the other guys, which was pretty cool.

One photo that we didn't get was me chest bumping 

with a guy (not this guy) wearing a Jack Lambert jersey in the parking lot

At halftime of the game, Julien Edelman was inducted 

into the Patriots Hall of Fame.  That was pretty neat to see.

Like I said, it was one terrific experience.

When we decided to drive to make this trip, Linda and I made the decision to add time on to the trip and spend some beach time at Cape Cod, a place where neither of us had ever been.  I was going to write of that in this post, but it is long enough already, so that write up will take place separately within the next few days.