#484 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Monday October 17)
Good morning,
SPORTS
This time of year provides the confluence of the baseball playoffs and the half-way point in the college football season. Even for the part-time fan, one can’t beat the drama, especially over this last weekend!
A number of years ago, I decided that I wasn’t going to let losses by the hapless Angels or, worse yet, the on-field accomplishments/antics of college football players affect me. While I continue to root for my favorite teams, and I certainly prefer victories over defeats, I really love individual feats of brilliance and epic nail-biters. But it’s more about entertainment than identification. This past weekend provided its share of drama and excitement.
Saturday offered a number of ups and downs in the baseball division series and in college football:
1. First off, proving there is a higher power, Alabama got beaten by Tennessee (sorry, Jason, for rooting against your beloved Crimson Tide, but it’s like rooting against Mordor at this point).
2. The Trojans were defeated by the Utes. Give credit where credit is due. Utah is a great team with a great quarterback. That said, the officiating was terrible—the roughing the passer call in the first quarter (which was anything but…) cost USC an interception and lined up Utah for scoring on the next play. Instead of being a seven point game, it would have been a 14 or 21-point game and likely a different outcome. But officiating is part of the game. If you want officiating not to be a factor, score a bunch more points than the other guys! With a final score of 43-42, there wasn’t much defense on display.
3. With a 3-0 lead going into the Seventh Inning Stretch, the Dodgers seemed to be cruising toward a series tying win when the Padres lit up the Dodger bullpen in the seventh inning. As a result, the Padres took the game and the series. The game’s highlight (lowlight?) to me was Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts pulling a starting pitcher who was on fire and pitching a shutout after five innings. He certainly had 1-2 additional innings for this “must win” game, which the Dodgers lost. At the end of the day, playing the numbers may be the right way to go over the long haul of a 162 game season, but nothing replaces the human factor in a game that really counts.
4. The Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners were scoreless for 17 innings, before the Astros scored a single run in the top of the 18th inning. The benches were bare and the bullpens depleted after what was the equivalent of two full games. This was one of the longest post-season games ever and one of the longest stretches without a score. It doesn’t get more exciting.
HISTORICAL QUOTATION OF THE DAY
We all are familiar with the paraphrasing of the Santayana quote that “those who do not learn their history are condemned to repeat it.” The actual quote, in context, is:
“Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
GOTTA DANCE!
Last month we attended a performance of The Prom at the Ahmanson downtown. While it may not have been the most memorable of musicals and whereas we didn’t come away humming the tunes, it was a thoroughly entertaining, joyful, and message-filled story. And it came with wonderful production dance numbers about—a dance! How perfect that we attended with our favorite former dancer and dance instructor!
What was perhaps most interesting was how the issues of tolerance were played out against the backdrop of a high school prom, pitting some not-so-tolerant local PTA members against jaded New York actors trying to make a statement. We are interested in watching the movie version now—starring the always entertaining James Cordon, Meryl Streep and other luminaries.
The show’s choreography was great and reminded me of how musical theatre is able to incorporate multiple art forms in the telling of a story—dramatic dialog, comedy, music, song, and dance.
There are those who say that musicals are unnatural, in that characters break into song during the drama. But that’s the whole point—characters use song and dance to express inner dialog and/or to express emotions to one another.
DANCE MOVIES
The plot about dance made me think about movies based upon dance. Here’s my informal list. Rule: I had to like it and there could be no strippers (male or female):
Chorus Line. A fantastic stage production. Amazing on so many levels. Iconic. Only an okay movie.
Flashdance. Almost didn’t include it because it’s not a great film, but it’s a phenomenon. It came out in the 80s along with many of the others on this list.
Dirty Dancing. Nobody makes Baby sit in the corner… Patrick Swayze really shows his moves. For a great self-spoof, try the Saturday Night Live “dance off audition” with Chris Farley:
Footloose. Kevin Bacon was in the original and Miles Teller in the remake from 2011. The story of a kid who violates a ban on dancing instituted by a minister. Ridiculous plot. If today we were only arguing about dancing, rather than books…
Saturday Night Fever. John Travolta (after a star turn with Olivia Newton-John in Grease, also with lots of dance moves). The BeeGees sound track makes this a must-see.
All That Jazz. The semi-autobiographical film about the great Bob Fosse. I’m stroking the rim of my baseball hat right now…
The Full Monty. Okay, so I’m breaking my “no striptease” rule, but it’s only ancillary to the plot (involving middle-aged coal miners, as I recall), but only at the end and off camera. Cute.
Singing in the Rain. Movies don’t get better than this. If you haven’t watched it in a while, catch it. Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Dennis O’Connor at their peak. O’Connor is memorable in every scene he’s in. Here’s “Make ‘Em Laugh”:
Cabaret. Dance is a big part of it; sure it’s about a cabaret (and Weimar Germany) and not technically dance. But it’s an extraordinary story on multiple levels. One of the best musicals ever.
Lightning round of other dance movies:
· The Red Shoes
· Strictly Ballroom
· Fame
· Billy Elliot
· The Turning Point
· White Nights (come on, it’s Baryshnikov!)
I’m not giving The Swan credit (ugh…didn’t like it but it certainly qualifies for the list). I’m sure some of you have other dance-based movies—I’m talking to you, Mark Greenberg and Howard Kroll!
Have a great day,
Glenn
From the archives: