The Raging Bull
Thursday, September 5th, 2013
Sometimes life can be just simply amazing. It was on February 14, 2012, that I was watching the film Raging Bull for about the third or fourth time, when I realized just how incredible it was. Yes, it was a pathetic Valentine’s Day…but it was an incredible film. This led me to do some research (okay, let’s be honest: I opened up Wikipedia) on Jake LaMotta, the subject of the film. I was quite amazed to see that this former World Middleweight Champion, who had been portrayed by my favorite actor Robert DeNiro as a self-destructive, violent man, who was his own worst enemy, was still alive! He was 90 years old at the time, but he was still alive. Read the rest of this entry »
Considering our late night the night before, Bob and I managed to get up relatively early, get ready and head out for our second day in New York City, on the morning of Tuesday, May 28, 2013. Readers of this blog will already have some idea of the types of things that were on our radars for the day. Needless to say there are lots and lots of things to do in New York City, but most of the things I was focusing on during this first visit had to do with either the entertainment industry or Presidential/historical sites. And a little bit of sports I suppose. It was just a bit after 8am as we began our day, heading from our hotel on 46th street toward the subway stop on 42nd street, Bob opting to stop at McDonalds for a quick breakfast on the way. 
My Dad always thought that The Dukes of Hazzard was the dumbest show on television. At one point I had picked up the DVDs for several seasons of the show, and I must admit, I was inclined to agree. But instead of watching it with disdain, I couldn’t help but enjoy it and its southern good ol’ boy humor. I had had the opportunity to meet the ‘replacements’ Duke cousins Coy and Vance (Byron Cherry and Christopher Mayer), who took over for Bo and Luke (John Schneider and Tom Wopat) during a contract dispute, but I bypassed them. I now regret this since Mayer since passed away unexpectedly. 
Happy Days is one of those feel-good comedies of the 1970’s, and to a lesser extent, so is its spin-off Laverne & Shirley. Having met virtually all of the principal actors and actresses of both shows (excepting Ron Howard, Scott Baio, and Michael McKean – unfortunately), it is now time to shift my attention to some of the lesser-knowns who has parts in the show. At the Hollywood Show in Burbank on April 21, 2012, I was able to add two such encounters to my repertoire.