I think I might start every post now with a Marsha quote such as the one above. She regularly just has me in stitches with the amount of accidental self harm she inflicts. She is a lovely person on her own, but God help her, she is also her own worst enemy too. While trying to retrieve her bag from the back seat while Phil drove, she managed to pull just a bit too hard, her hand slipped and WHACK!, right in the kisser! Hit herself so hard, she even busted her own lip.
Just a quick remembrance for the man that made all of this possible. Mr. Marty Eagle would have been 78 today if he were alive. He influenced so many people over so many years and gave chances to so many bands that his club was legendary. Live music every night and food until 5am, 7 days a week made Marty’s a stop for touring bands done with their sets at other bars as well as all the bar staff from around the city. We still use the same recipe of burger marinade that he made and still serve food ‘til 5am at our PM location. He changed all of us in many ways and I am forever grateful for having met him and calling him friend before he died. Cheers to you, sir!
Some of you regulars know that my mother loves to give us decorations for just about any holiday or occasion. Well she has given us quite a bit of Hallo-swag for this year too. Don’t worry, I didn’t get the spooky talking ghosts for the restrooms out of storage. Yet (maniacal laughter). You’ll know what I am talking about eventually if you don’t remember last year.
We even had a special customer (Murray) send us a card for the occasion. We always love getting mail and cards (postcards from Stacey). I decided to share this one with y’all as well as hanging it up at the bar.
Marsha also made a valid point about this week’s special; I wanted to call it a “Philly” cheesesteak but her point was that that is not the most accurate name for it. It is more of our take on a “Philly” cheesesteak. Lucky for us, our name also has two syllables and ends in a “y.” So, witness the “Marty” cheesesteak special.
I am not going to bother giving you the deets on it because I have faith that the picture and the name are enough to get you in here to try it.
Two movie reviews now…both very socially relevant but in very different ways. First: Joker. I had my reservations about Joker. I am a huge Batman fan. I have been for 30+ years. While the Joker isn’t my favorite of his villains, the Joker is definitely a mainstay and a staple of the DC universe. Most non-comic folks know the lore behind the common Joker, the one from Tim Burton’s Batman, made famous by the infamous Jack Nicholson. Until now, mainstream media and Batman fans alike were content with accepting that origin story and incarnation of Joker.
Then The Dark Knight was made and Heath Ledger died while being the Joker and the character saw itself once again thrown into the forefront of DC bad guys.
This Joker, however, has nothing to do with either of these Jokers. Add that to the fact that I do not like the actor who plays the Joker in this film and you could say that my feelings toward this movie before going in were very… tepid.
“Johnny Cash” (I refuse to type his name) did a fantastic job as the Joker in this iteration of the character. I was very surprised by how much I liked the film even though it starred “Commodus.” Everything came together in this film in such a delightful way that the only issue I really had with the movie beside its slightly bloated run time was the way they portrayed Thomas Wayne. Ask me about it in person if you’re really curious, otherwise just know that not even “Arthur Fleck” could ruin this movie for me. And that is saying something.
2nd movie is something totally different than Joker. It is a delightful movie called Jexi (https://youtu.be/EtpBbRsNr-M that is a link to the redband trailer so it is NSFW) The whole movie is pretty not safe for work now that I think about it. It is a very realistic take on society and our attachment to our pocket computers that rule and organize our lives. Our lives have been made vastly easier for sure thanks to cellphones.
I have heard all the arguments out there about how we have lost as much as we have gained in regards to situational awareness, socializing and face-to-face interaction. I agree with almost all of what they say and yet I see the side of convenience every day and find it impossible to say no to it.
The lead character in Jexi has the same issue (granted his is a lot more pronounced). It is a very funny and adult journey into the joys of unplugging for a while and doing things for ourselves without being heavy handed in its delivery. It has a funny message for sure, but the adventure of the movie is more about the hilarity that ensues between a jealous phone and it’s hapless phone owner.
Clocking in at just under an hour and a half, it won’t take up too much of your time and will leave you with jokes to quote and chuckles to relive when you tell other people about it. Some jokes will hurt because they are too real, but that is the most charming part about this film, no punches pulled.
It doesn’t add extra time to get lost in the mired reality of the story and leaves you feeling cleaner than you probably should because you all know you are just a guilty as the character in this movie of letting life go by as you scroll on your phone trying to find some info that you should remember or flip through instagram to ogle what everyone had to eat for dinner last night.
Finally, the last in the classic Berkley series, mainly because I like this best out of all the terrible ones.
I can’t tell you how happy I am that the Sadie Hawkins dance doesn’t exist as grownup event. The girl paying does not excuse the horrible things that I did and was photographed in to make them happy.
Ever your servant,
Berkley