Winging It

Today’s an important one as we mark the day of birth of the redoubtable Wingman. According to his Facebook profile he’s 118 years old but I think that may be an exaggeration. If it isn’t, he and I need to have a talk about how he’s doing it. He’s just back from Great Britain for another reunion tour with his band. I know he’s happy to be back squiring my daughter about and trying to keep up with the hypersonic missile that is the FBR, his daughter. My Favorite Panamanian and I tried to Facetime him this morning, but I think he is wise to our game and rightly ignored the call so he wouldn’t have our singing of Happy Birthday inflicted upon him.

Birthday Boy

At his Happiest with These Two

He’s become an important piece of our family since he arrived, so many years ago, just after turning 100 I believe. He’s an indelible part of my IT squad and always patiently explains, in the nicest way possible, why I’m a complete idiot when it comes to the electro-magnetic spectrum. Despite being kind of a big deal, celebrity wise, he’s always been one of the nicest, most personable guys you’d ever want to meet. He’s now helming a successful games-oriented restaurant in New Jersey. We love having him as part of the family and not just because of his encyclopedic knowledge of games and his IT prowess. My daughter loves him and so do we.

On Stage

Performing his Patented Keyboard Hand Stand

I’m experiencing the arcane side of physical therapy for that balky shoulder. It is definitely getting better since I started with the therapy. After this morning’s session, I went to the pool and wondered why people were staring at me. Then I remembered the therapist had done some “cupping” on the shoulder this morning. I couldn’t see them without a mirror, but I had two very defined circular bruises on the arm just below the shoulder. This was the first time I ever had that done to me and I was amazed at how big a bruise it produces because it didn’t hurt at all. I don’t care, as long as the shoulder continues to heal.

My Now Weird Upper Arm

Date night yesterday saw me taking one for the team. I have a long history of trying to get my Favorite Panamanian to see movies that I love (think lots of explosions and hopefully plenty of physical romantic interactions😊). Keene Friend laughs at my attempts to describe movies as a love story for her. An example, The Ghosts of Mars (zombie action flick) was portrayed to her as a love story set on Mars. She has never bought my descriptions, probably why it is so tough to get her to trust me on movie selections. That’s a long way to go to explain why I chose to see The Breadwinner yesterday. There wasn’t anything else that fit into my preferred aisle, so I chose this flick, something my wife would love and she did. This movie is okay and has some real funny moments. It apparently mirrors a lot of the bits from Nate Bargatz’e comedy routine. It’s the typical husband/father who is totally lost when his wife is called away from home scenario. Bargatze is funny as the house literally starts falling apart around him. The kids were another story, serving as foils for their dad’s failings, they were more annoying than funny. I still enjoyed the time-tested formula showing how inept dads can be.

The A-Z watch continued with seven movies, six keepers: Yesterday – love this British rom-com which demonstrates how many amazing songs the Beatles produced; Young Frankenstein – may be the funniest movie ever made, Gene Wilder is transcendent; Your Highness – what was I thinking about when I bought this, terrible. McBride is a great supporting character but here he just doesn’t have it as the main focus, eject; You’ve Got Mail – Hanks and Ryan together, never misses, a great rom-com; Zathura – a follow up space adventure to the original Jumanji, really well done; Zombieland – incredibly funny zombie movie, Harrelson and Eisenberg are a great buddy pair and then there’s Bill Murray; Zombieland Double Tap – ten years later sequel and it works just as well as original.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete – my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn; Czech Connection – Czech couple who’ve become good friends along with their daughter (the Czech Shadow); Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother-in-law (whom I miss more than I can ever explain); Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Upstairs Neighbors – American couple and great friends who live in condo above us in Panama; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course