Sir Elton John at PNC Park

It has occurred to me that I need to do a "catch-up" blog post, as there is much about which to talk.  However, one of those topics concerns the concert last Friday night's concert at PNC Park given by Sir Elton John, and that topic deserves its own separate post.  (Don't worry, the Catch-up post will follow in, I hope, the next 24 hours or so.)

The announcement of the Elton John concert was made in June 2021.  It would be Sir Elton's final appearance in Pittsburgh as a part of his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" retirement tour.  (Never mind that he made a similar "final appearance" in The Burgh in 2019.)  I remember telling Marilyn at the time that the concert would be on her 70th birthday, September 16, 2022.  "Get tickets" was her enthusiastic response.  What a great way to celebrate such a milestone birthday, was her feeling.  Again, we all know that that was not to be, but I am now certain that her enthusiasm at the time was for me to be there to enjoy the show and dedicate it to her memory, which is exactly what we did.

As it happens, I was the Elton John virgin among our group.  Dan and Susan had seen him in Las Vegas.  Linda had seen him three times, the first time at the Civic Arena when she was only 15 years old.  I had never seen him, and I was looking forward to it, and I was not let down.  Linda warned me that at 75, Elton can't sing like he used to, but he still sounded plenty good to me, from the opening piano chords of "Bennie and the Jets" in a darkened ball park to the encore performances of "Your Song" to his wonderful and heartfelt parting words to his Pittsburgh audience to "Farewell Yellow Brick Road".  And the 20+ songs in between and the three costume changes.  He was a consummate performer, and his show last week immediately rises to the Top Five of live concerts that I have seen in my life.

And it served, too, as a wonderful way to remember Marilyn on her birthday.

Sir Elton John earns the full Four Star accolade from The Grandstander.

A few other photos from the night.....

 

An Old Movie and An Even Older One

It's been awhile since Ive written about movies, so let's take a look at a couple of older flicks.  One from 2018 and one from 1954.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" (2018)

This was the musical biopic of the British rock band Queen and, more specifically, its lead singer, Freddie Mercury.  I skipped this movie when it came out despite all of the Academy Award buzz that it received.  The reasons?  I was not that big a fan of Queen,  and some critical voices that I respect were, at best, lukewarm about the movie.  Even when Rami Malek won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Mercury, I just shrugged it off.  Anyway, last night was a movie night here at our house, and Linda picked this one, insisting that I would like it.

Did I?  Well, yes, I did.  The acting was quite good, and so was the storytelling.  I'm sure there were liberties taken.  I don't expect that "We Will Rock You" came about as easily as it was portrayed in the movie.   The music was good.  It seems I was more familiar with Queen than I recollected.  The final scenes of Queen performing at Wembly Stadium in the 1985  Live Aid concert were simply incredible.  As for Malek's Oscar, he certainly did do a terrific job as Mercury, and when you look back at his competition* that year, it was a well deserved award.

It was quite entertaining and worth Two and One-Half Stars from The Grandstander.

*Who did Malek beat out for that Oscar, you ask?  Christian Bale, "Vice"; Bradley Cooper, "A Star Is Born"; Willen Dafoe, "At Eternity's Gate"; Viggo Mortensen, "Green Book"

"River Of No Return" (1954)

One of the places that we visited when on my Canadian Rockies vacation this summer was the Beau River Falls on the Beau River in Jasper National Park near Banff.  Like much of what we saw on that trip, it was spectacular and breathtaking to behold.

One of the interesting factoids mentioned by the tour guide was that in 1954, and American film crew travelled to Banff and the Beau River to film a movie called "River of No Return".  It was western movie that starred Robert Mitchum and, get ready for the clincher, Marilyn Monroe.   Of course, having had someone like MM spend any length of time in your vicinity was a big deal, and no wonder it is still talked about today.  

Anyway, this prompted me to seek out the movie.   I simply had to see a movie that depicted such natural wonders like Miss Monroe and the Beau River Falls.  Yep, it was all about seeing those waterfalls on film.  It wasn't easy to find.  "River of No Return" is not available on any of the streaming services to which I subscribe, so I needed to seek it out from my local library.

The movie itself was no great shakes, although the Canadian scenery was spectacular. The plot involved, well, who cares, but the climactic scene involved Monroe and Mitchum, and young Tommy Rettig (Jeff, from Lassie) riding the Beau River rapids on a raft and going over the the powerful Beau River Falls.  Yep, I spent ninety minutes watching a so-so movie just to see that one shot of the Falls.  It was cool to see a place on film, albeit a sixty-eight year old film, that you just visited, and any chance to see Miss Monroe is well worthwhile. 

Two Stars from The Grandstander.

As for the Beau River Falls, take a gander at this video that I took of the Falls this past June.

Happy Birthday, Marilyn

Tomorrow, September 16, would have been my wife Marilyn's 70th birthday.  It is yet another of those dreaded "firsts" that we all must face after the loss of a Loved One, someone who meant so much to you.  I couldn't let this occasion pass without making mention of it in this space, but what to say?

Earlier this year, I was part of a support group for people who had lost a loved one to cancer.  At the end of the ten session program, we were asked to respond to these topics for a commerative program:

• Tell us a little about your Loved One
• Favorite memory

So I did, and I thought that the best way to observe the milestone birthday that she never got to see, was to share what I wrote at the end of that group support program.

Happy Birthday, Marilyn.  We will always celebrate your birthday and you.

MARILYN SPROULE

Tell us a little about your loved one.....Marilyn was bright and lively, smart, caring, and perhaps the most compassionate person that I have ever known.  The last person that she ever wanted to talk about was herself.   When someone would ask her how she was doing or what she had been up to, she had a knack for turning the question around and asking about how HE or She was doing and what HE or SHE had been up to lately.  When she died, many people would come to me and say, "I didn't even realize that she had been ill."  She never wanted her illness to define her.  To the very end, all she cared about was making sure that everyone else who loved her would be okay after she was gone.

She was pretty, she was funny, she was a wonderful lover, and my best friend.  She lit up every room that she ever entered.   She could throw a dinner party, a 4th of July cookout, or a Christmas Brunch that would make Martha Stewart envious, and our home looked like a Pottery Barn catalog, yet it was the warmest and friendliest home that you ever visited.  She made me laugh, or at least smile broadly, every single day, and THAT may have been the very best part of our 47 years together.  I still cannot believe that she is gone.

Favorite memory....Marilyn and I met in college in 1972.  We were married in 1974.  How can you have one, single favorite memory of almost fifty years of being together?  I suppose that her vary favorite times were our annual trips to North Carolina's Outer Banks with her extended family.  We made those trips for over thirty-five years.  Due to COVID, there was no trip in 2020, but we got back there in 2021, and Marilyn was determined to be a part of that trip.  She felt good, looked good, and we had a wonderful vacation, but I suspect that she knew that this was to be her last trip with me and her family, her last trip to the ocean and the beach that she loved so much.  I am so, so grateful that we made that trip.

There were also all the trips that we made together, just the two of us:  New Jersey, Virginia, Delaware, and Hilton Head Island beaches, Hawaii and Florida, and Las Vegas for her 50th birthday, a train trip to Chicago to see "Hamilton", Cooperstown, NY and so many others.  And in later years with our friends Susan and Dan to Florida, France, Great Britain, and Las Vegas.  Baseball games and football games and basketball games, and movies and plays, and dinner dates.

Then there is a memory of building a life together.  The excitement of moving into our first house in 1979 and subsequent moves in 1986 and 2010 and making each of those houses our own and the wonderful touches of hers that made them so special, that made them a home.

My favorite memory? The long and continuous fifty year ride together.

To Absent Friends - Queen Elizabeth II

 

Queen Elizabeth II

1926-2022

Reigning Monarch 

1952-2022

Elizabeth II of England is one person who has been on the world stage and in her same position for, literally, my entire life.  She was a unifying and beloved figure not only in the British Empire, but in the entire world, for the seventy years that she sat upon the British Throne.

There is nothing that I can add to all that will be written about her in the days ahead.   It was a remarkable life of service and devotion to duty.

RIP Elizabeth II

From the speech of the Princess Elizabeth upon the occasion of her 21st birthday in 1947:

"I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong."

New York City Souvenir

When we visited New York City earlier this year, I looked to purchase something that would be a special souvenir of that special trip.   I found it when we visited the LEGO Store off of Times Square, and purchased a New York City Skyline kit.    As LEGO models go, this was a relatively simple one.  Four NYC buildings and one other prominent landmark in fewer than 1,000 pieces.  LEGO masters would sneer at something so simple, but for me, this was pretty big deal.  When I was a kid, I had neither the ability nor the patience to build model cars or airplanes, so putting together this three dimensional model of the City That Never Sleeps was a really BIG DEAL for me.

Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, 

Flatiron Building, One World Trade Center

It took me about five and one-half total hours to assemble this, and it will indeed become a special piece of memorabilia from that great trip last June.   We already have an idea as to a special spot to display this LEGO model, which I will share when things come together.

Just to give you an idea of the size of my New York City, I took this picture of NYC with a Pepsi can for scale.

The First Horse's Ass Award of the Football Season Goes To.....

It has long been a tradition here in The Grandstand to bestow "Horse's Ass" citations to various and sundry  folks in various and sundry walks of life, and there are few fields more fertile for developing Horse's Asses than college football (and, to a lesser extent, basketball) coaches.  So much so, in fact, that I have considered changing the name of the Citation to the  "Dabo Swinney Award."  Still, who would have guessed that such a citation would be awarded so quickly in Week Zero of the 2022 College Football season, but here we are, and the first - I'm sure it won't be that last - Horse's Ass Award goes to...

Florida State University Head Coach Mike Norvell

Why, you may ask?  Well, in case you missed it, FSU played their opening game of the season against none other than the Duquesne University Dukes. an FCS school that plays, and plays well, in the mighty Northeast Conference.  You know how these things go.....big time Power 5 school opens against a Patsy Small College....Big School gets a guaranteed W and a big gate at their home stadium....Patsy College gets a big payday that helps to balance the athletic department budget.

Because of my connection to Duquesne (parents and a brother who are alumni), I watched this one, and the game went pretty much according to script.  The Seminoles built up a commanding 26-0 lead, and the game wasn't even that close, before the Dukes forced them to punt with about forty seconds remaining in the first half.  Duquesne gets the ball deep in their own territory and clearly intend to run out the clock before going into the locker room at the half.  Classy Coach Norvell than proceeds to use all three of his time outs after each Duquesne play, forcing Duquesne to punt with :05 remaining and then makes an all out effort to block the punt.  The Dukes punter does get the kick off and puts it out of bounds as the clock runs out, but not before Norvell has a heated discussion with the zebras claiming that the ball went out of bounds with :01 remaining and the FSU should get to run a play before the half ended.  The refs obviously told him to stick his claim up his ass and went off into the locker room.

I didn't watch the second half of a game that ended 47-7.  I wonder if Norvell had his players out for additional two-a-days this week for having given up a touchdown to lowly Duquesne?

Congrats on being such a Horse's Ass, Mike.  You have certainly earned it, and thank you for giving us another school and coach to root against this coming season.

One more thing about that Duquesne-Florida State game.  It was televised on the ACC Network, and I am guessing that the two announcers, don't remember their names, nor do I care, had probably never even heard of Duquesne University.  However, what with Duquesne being located in Pittsburgh, the producers loaded up these two guys with all sorts of "Pittsburgh stuff" to show how smart they were.  Thus, Coach Jerry Schmitt was a "dedicated Yinzer" who was fluent in "Pittsburghese" and we were told that the team trained on Primanti Brothers sandwiches.  I missed it if they said that the Dukes brought their "lunch pails" and "blue collar work ethic" to the game, but I'm sure they threw that in there somewhere.  The only thing missing were stock film shots of open hearth furnaces producing molten steel and references to Michael Keaton.

Can we stop with this kind of stuff already?

Steelers 16 - Jaguars 15

 

Thoughts, comments, and take-aways from last night's Steelers win, which, we all need to be reminded, was a practice game.

• Mitch Trubisky started and played three series.  The Steelers didn't score while he was in there.  The most encouraging thing about his performance was his ability to get out of the pocket and move away from pressure.   That is going to be a really, really important attribute to have given how the team's offensive line performed.
• Kenny Picket played two series, went 6-for-7, and produced a TD drive in the last minute of the half that gave the Steelers a 7-6 lead at intermission.  He looked poised and calm and like a veteran NFL QB.  Again, let us all remember that this was a practice game.
• Mason Rudolph played the entire second half, went 17-21, and led a late fourth quarter drive himself that produced the winning touchdown for the Steelers.  He was also called for intentional grounding in his own end zone that resulted in a safety for Jacksonville, and undoubtedly THIS is what the talk show crowd will focus on all week.
• That said, if the Steelers are showcasing Rudolph in advance of a possible trade, last night did not hurt that cause.
• Dionte Johnson played and looked like his brief hold-in had no adverse affect on him.
• TJ Watt played, had one sack, and looks ready to defend his DPOY title.
• Najee Harris didn't play, and the running game was not as impressive as it was in the prior week against Seattle.
• The Steelers offensive line, as noted above, appears to be a cause for concern.  The Jags applied great pressure on the Pittsburgh QB's and the running backs were held pretty much in check.
• Jacksonville seemed to have success, at least when their "varsity" was playing, running up the middle against the Steelers.  Whether this is because Cam Heyward wasn't playing or because the Steelers inside linebackers aren't any good, I will leave for others to discuss.  That said, I didn't see Devin Bush make any plays of note.
• Jacksonville QB Trevor Lawrence.  He's pretty good.  For his sake, I hope that the Jags organization can build a team to take advantage of his obvious skills.  He'll be fun to watch if they do.
• Finally, they say that it is foolish to bet on NFL exhibition games.  All I can say is that last week I bet the Steelers on the point spread and last night the Steelers on the money line.  Won both bets!

As I said at the beginning, we all need to remember that these are exhibition games.  Many of the guys playing will be selling mutual funds or coaching high school football a year from now, so who really, outside of the coaches, knows what these games portend.  Still, it's better to see your team win them than lose them.