1. I had hoped that the MLB.TV baseball game provided for me today might be a day game, but it wasn't. I was in the mood to watch something athletic on the television and suddenly I thought, "Even though it's not men's basketball season, Hoosiers is a movie for all seasons" and so I watched it. I'm sure I've watched Hoosiers more than a dozen times in my life and every single time I come away deeply admiring Gene Hackman's performance as Norman Dale. Hackman completely embodies Norman Dale's drive, the fire in him that can warm and motivate his players or burn out of control and cause harm, his love for his players, and Norman Dale's fierce pride in his coaching principles, his unwillingness to be bullied by the parents and citizens of Hickory.
The movie tells an implausible David and Goliath high school basketball story, it features an exaggerated music soundtrack, but I have never once cared if the story was plausible or if the script and the soundtrack laid things on a little thick because of the heart of the actors playing the team members, the relationships Norman Dale develops with his players, with the town drunk, former basketball star, Shooter (Dennis Hopper), with the townspeople of Hickory, and with the teacher and acting high school principal, Myra Fleener (Barbara Hershey), and because of the beauty of the landscape of Indiana during basketball season the movie returns to repeatedly. I love Hoosiers. It brightened my day and uplifted my heart and soul to watch it again.
2. Later in the day, my television viewing went in a different direction. I discovered that the Johnny Worricker trilogy, starring Bill Nighy, was available via Amazon Prime. I first watched these three shows back in Maryland in March 2015 and, today, I suddenly thought that I'd like to watch them again. I enjoy Bill Nighy as an actor. His style is usually very contained with occasional eruptions of intensity. He plays Johnny Worricker as an intelligence agent for Britain's M15. The stories in this trilogy, beginning with Page Eight are convoluted, with many strands of plot. Worricker's work with M15 is made complex by the internal politics of the organization and the agency's relationship to the Prime Minister, his cabinet, and members of the government on Downing Street. Further deepening Johnny Worricker's story is his relationship with his ex-wife, his lovers, past and present, and his daughter from whom he is often estranged. I didn't quite make it through Page Eight today and look forward to diving back into it on Sunday.
3. After the Deke and I savored sirloin steak topped with grilled onions and mushrooms, we vaulted into the Sube and hightailed it up to the Inland Lounge for a couple of cocktails, some yakkin' with Cas and Tracy, and some knitting (I didn't knit. The Deke did.)
Down at the far end of the bar, Lounge regular Charlie had his smartphone connected to the Lounge's wireless jukebox and Charlie turned out to be a superb Lounge dj, playing a variety of blues, jazz, and a little rock n' roll. From time to time, I glanced down at Charlie as he slapped the bar rhythmically. I was especially impressed with his John Bonham work as Led Zeppelin played "Bring it on Home". I actually had a moment myself during this tune of imagining myself being Jimmy Page, but decided not to play my air guitar. We topped off our evening at the Lounge most satisfyingly when Cas offered the Deke and me some slices of Yoke's pizza that were left over from a pie he and Tracy had purchased earlier. It will be fun to be in Nyack, NY next Friday and Saturday, but we will miss our weekend visits to and hours of relaxation at the Lounge.
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