issues began to take their toll, my dad was the boy wonder of
advertising. He owned several appliance stores on Long Island. He was
Crazy Eddie before Crazy Eddie. His advertising ideas were legendary.
He had Batman promotions when Batman was hot. He had Beatles
promotions when the Beatles first came to the United states. He had
lines of customers outside his store for all sorts of giveaways and
promotions. His newspaper advertising still holds up. I have countless
albums of his advertisements with him in Santa outfits, Beatles' wig,
and so many more creative and funny advertisements that are lost to my
memory.
He was great. He was "Sporty Morty." To this day, I can only come up with one reason why he
ultimately failed. It was not as a result of the big chains that came
into prominence or reckless spending behavior but for his inability to
change with the times or get out and sell his "empire" for a lot of
money and do something else. His advertising vision was enormous but
his vision of himself as a store owner never changed and that was his
undoing.
My dad always had Super Bowl parties but when the Super Bowl was in its
infancy, he had parties that have only been recreated by sports bars.
At his parties were dozens of televisions throughout the house, placed
in the bathrooms and the living room; in the bedrooms, and in the
kitchen and everywhere in between. The media was alerted and the
parties were always covered, not as advertisements but as news
stories.
My parents had a lot of friends. They all came; even the ones who could
care less about the game. In fact, although my dad was a season
Giants ticket holder and went to all the games, he barely knew how
many players there were on each side of the ball. No matter. My dad
was the most likable man I have ever known and each game, whether
home or on television, was the source of a party. He did not only have
the party, he was the party.
So many iconic movies I never saw. Time to see them is running out. Saw Billy Budd last night. So much insight and dialogue. There are so many others to see and appreciate.
Story goes that Leonard Cohen and Dylan met each other when they were
older for the first time. They sat down and did not have much to say.
Dylan asked Cohen how long it took to write "Hallelujah". Cohen
responded a couple of years which according to Cohen was an
understatement of many years. Cohen it seems, writes a lyric and works
on it forever and only then will he discard it to write another one.
That is why he is not a prolific song writer like Dylan. Cohen asked
Dylan the same question. Dylan said about 15 minutes. Geniuses have
different styles but that does not distract from their genius.
"My best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah"
Leonard Cohen
2. I watched a good documentary on Sam Cooke. He was a special talent, one of the most special talents of our era. They did not dwell on his death, which remains shrouded in mystery despite the Los Angeles police which declared t an accidental homicide. The LAPD, then as now has never been a friend to blacks especially celebrity blacks. What do you think about the investigation and the story behind his death? I'm not buying the official findings.
3. Those of you who know my wold view and those of you who do not, I can summarize my thoughts easily. I am not a patriot. I'm disappointed in the country in which I live, knowing that it, in all probability is better than all but a few. I grew up watching and being indoctrinated by great movies and ideals. America had me. I was Hers. I watched Yankee Doodle Dandy for the millionth time just now.I know the songs, the story, and the feeling it engenders by heart. It will always be a part of me. If America turned out to be the Yankee Doodle Dandy of my childhood, I would still be a believer. Of course anyone would have felt the same way. I watched the movie again tonight. Tears streamed form my eyes. It was not only the talent of Cagney and the story of Cohan but the feeling that was engendered in that story. America lost me. I did not lose America.
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