Beach Ball

Hello World, Happy May tidings to all! I hope that your May days have indeed been worthy of song, and all that could be hoped for, and even more yet still. Of course, Mother's Day was Sunday, and I don't know about where you are, but in this area, we could not have asked for more glorious weather, it could not have been improved upon in any way. That's saying a lot around here, where it had rained every day of the month up to then, so this was a fortuitous change in the conditions that came along at just the right moment. And while we all know that the cats certainly can't be counted on for gifts, with Bill's impeccable help, there was plenty to appreciate in the way of apparel, technology and snacks, as well as another brand new watch. Everyone knows how I go through watches like a house afire, so this was a welcome addition indeed, and not to mention, in plenty of time for camping, where a lighted watch is of utmost necessity in the wilderness. So I may get lost in the woods, but at least I'll know what time it is, by golly. The hockey playoffs have moved into the next round, as the pride of Broadway finally bested the pesky Capitals in the 7th game, which was another tight game that could have gone either way, just like the rest of the series. I'm telling you, the people who sell antacids must have been doing a land-office business through the first two rounds of the playoffs already. The divisional series is now underway with the Rangers and Devils all knotted up at one game apiece in the East, while Los Angeles has Phoenix over a 3-0 barrel in the West. Somehow the 8th place Kings have certainly been the buzz-saw of the playoffs so far, winning all of their series handily, even against the top two teams in their division. Frankly, the way things have been going, I'm not liking the Rangers' chances against them all that much, if they do meet up in the Cup finals after all. But first, I see that the local sports pundits are calling the NY-NJ match-up a "tunnel series" rather than a "subway series" like they do in baseball, presumably because there is no subway that goes from New York to New Jersey, while the Lincoln and Holland tunnels do exactly that. So score one for the wags, and let me just say that when it comes to tunnels, I'll take Manhattan. Besides just Mother's Day, this turned into quite the busy week for us, with arts and entertainment coming to the forefront on more than one occasion. On Tuesday, we caught up with the Beach Boys on their 50th anniversary tour, believe it or not, at the County Center in nearby White Plains, of all places. To our way of thinking, this is not exactly the rock and roll destination from those harmonious days of yore, like the Fillmore East or even Shea Stadium, so we figured how could we not go, when they're basically right in our backyard at a very cozy venue, which can only be described as wildly out of proportion to the band's stature as an American legend. Anyone who tells you that they're over the hill and can't put on a good show, well, don't you believe it. And if the tour gets anywhere near where you are, and you have a chance to buy seats - run, don't walk, to the nearest ticket office and snap them up as quick as you can. It was a great show, with all of the favorites that anyone could hope for, from the big hits of the oldest, moldiest early days to the more recent selections from their new album, plus a few unexpected numbers tossed in for good measure. You can believe me when I say that anybody who wasn't on their feet at the end, dancing and singing along to Help Me, Rhonda would have to be declared legally dead. I can tell you that the 3-hour show seemed to fly by, and when it was over, I was hoarse as a frog, while they still sounded as fresh as a bunch of teenagers out on a street corner from days gone by. There was toe-tapping Fun, Fun, Fun from one end to the other, and we couldn't help but be impressed by the arena's acoustics, as well as its high-tech lighting displays. They put the "Jumbotron" screen to good use throughout, with entertaining pictures and videos to accompany each song, including vintage effects like tie-dye and psychedelic designs from back in the day. Of special mention must be their endearing tributes to past band and family members Carl and Dennis Wilson, which were so sweet, and particularly appropriate during their 50th anniversary jubilee. Easily my favorite moment of the entire show came about in a most unexpected way. Obviously, with fifty years of hit records under their belts, most of the songs needed no introduction, the opening chords were all that it took to get the crowd screaming and stamping their feet. So it was out of the ordinary when Mike Love suddenly let fly this rather unconventional announcement: "We'd like to dedicate this next song to all of the men and women in uniform, who serve so gallantly and tirelessly, on behalf of people like us all over the country, who appreciate everything they do for us ... " [Applause and cheers] Then he continued, somewhat hesitantly: " ... Well, women in uniform, anyway ... " [More applause and whistles] Finally he shrugged and admitted: " ... Okay, cheerleader uniforms ... " Here they launched into Be True To Your School with its rollicking "sis-boom-bah" chorus, while the entire place dissolved into hysterics. It may be all too true that I am easily amused, but I can assure you that every single person in that room was laughing and clapping just like me. Nobody could say that they didn't get their money's worth out of the whole experience, and the entire band worked extremely hard to make 4,000 people very happy. They really weren't kidding when they said, "Catch a wave, and you're sitting on top of the world." Then on Thursday, it was the new Avengers movie, which we opted to see in the new 3-D format known as Real-D, which is digitally enhanced to provide remarkable depth and be more realistic. After all, nothing matters to me more than genuine realism when it comes to watching cartoon super heroes, by golly. Many people might find this movie extremely loud and overwhelming, but I can tell you that it certainly never lags, and nobody is going to fall asleep in the theater, believe me. The special effects are about the most spectacular you're ever going to see anywhere, especially in 3-D, and there's no time to nitpick over trivial flaws along the way, as it races from one eye-popping sequence to another. Anyone who had already seen the Iron Man or Thor movies would know what to expect from those characters - in fact, not seeing at least "Thor" would put someone at a serious disadvantage when his evil brother Loki shows up to wreak havoc on humanity, seemingly out of the blue. It has obviously been carefully assembled on a massive scale, and somehow with none of the laughably banal dialogue that plagues many action films (Star Wars chief among them) which was a refreshing surprise in this day and age. The interplay between the characters was excellent, and all of the actors were first-rate, especially Mark Ruffalo, nothing short of a revelation in the deceptively understated part of Bruce Banner. Something else that was unexpectedly successful, instead of the usual movie popcorn, we took a chance on the concession stand's new personal pizza, of all things, and found it an enjoyable change of pace. It may not exactly be the food of the gods, but frankly, the way things turned out with Loki, it's probably just as well. Elle