The "Outta Leftfield" Weblog

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Getting too old to be hip

No matter how much we try, it appears that Father Time insists on pestering us. Witness a recent date night with The Blonde Accountant.
We enjoy the talents of several musicians in the local Philadelphia scene, one of which is singer-songwriter Chris Kasper (www.myspace.com/chriskasper). On a kid-free Friday night last week, we discovered Kasper would be appearing at the Blinkin Lincoln, presented by Holy Smoke restaurant, in Roxborough. It was a new restaurant and new venue for us and we occasionally like to take chances on discovering potentially new hangouts. With Kasper as the headliner, all the stars were aligned.
And we got off to a rousing start. The atmosphere at Holy Smoke is clean and pleasant, and the house specialty is ribs, which I very much am in favor of when falling off the diet wagon. So I had the Fred Flintstone-sized plate of ribs and The Blonde Accountant had a chicken sandwich. Everything was, in technical terms, quite yummy.
We had secured what we thought was a nice table with a spot-on sight-line to the stage giving us a nice view of Chris when he appeared.
Our dinner reservations were for 8 p.m., and opener Lisa Bianco, whose music we had not yet experienced, was slated to take the stage at 9 p.m., followed by Chris at 10 p.m.
Unfortunately, through a series of unanticipated delays, Ms. Bianco did not take the stage until 10 p.m. Chris didn’t start his set until a little after 11 p.m.
Bedtime for me and The Blonde Accountant is around 11 p.m. Thus, it would have been no stretch of the imagination to have walked into the Blinkin Lincoln in Roxborough Friday night and see The Blonde Accountant and I face down on the table snoring to beat the band.
But we soldiered on the best we could because Chris is just that good. We enjoy his lyrics and his sound (we liked Ms. Bianco, too), and it appeared the rest of the crowd did as well. I could tell because nearly everybody in the place decided to stand right in front of our table to get a better look at the performers, while we got a better look at their backsides.
And in another example of how old I am getting, the table of women next to us was “chatting” so vigorously during the performance that their voices were louder than the music. The Blonde Accountant suggested they must have been teachers, who oftentimes have to talk loudly to get the attention of the students. Given the decibel level of their voices, I think a more plausible explanation was that their day jobs were as drill sergeants.
I felt so old that I briefly considered yelling at the women, “Hey! You kids get off my lawn!” in an effort to get them to shut up and listen to the music.
Nevertheless, we lasted as long as we could, but Chris was still playing when we left. We got home at 1 a.m., which is pretty late for us, and promptly fell asleep, which is not the way I would have written the final act of the script of a kid-free Friday night date night.
We tried to make it through the whole show Chris, we really did. But getting old is sometimes not much fun.

Labels: Blinkin Lincoln, Chris Kasper, Holy Smoke, Mike Morsch, Montgomery Newspapers, Outta Leftfield

What came first, the egg salad sandwich or the bank loan?

Sometimes I ask myself, “What’s that got to do with the price of egg salad in Montgomeryville?” Turns out that the price of egg salad in Montgomeryville is quite unreasonable. I didn’t know.
See, I like egg salad sandwiches. Even if they are not, egg salad sandwiches in my mind appear to be a more healthy eating choice than say, cheeseburgers or nachos. And as I continue to watch what I eat at this stage of my life – which believe me is not nearly as much fun as shoving chocolate cream pie and ice cream into my face – adding egg salad sandwiches to my healthier lifestyle menu of veggie patty sandwiches at least gives me a sense of security that I am making good choices.
So after a recent walk of five miles, which I do several times a week, I decided to treat myself . . . to an egg salad sandwich. I know, it’s not really much of a treat, but it really doesn’t do much good to put in all that hard work exercising and then go out afterwards and have a hot-fudge sundae.
So I stopped a diner, which will remain nameless, on the way home for an egg salad sandwich. In fact, I was hungry enough that I decided to order two egg salad sandwiches.
I gave the waitress my take out order not even bothering to check the menu. I had been to this diner before and had not noticed anything out of the ordinary in the egg salad department.
When my order was completed and I gave my ticket to the lady at the cash register, my bill rang up at $14.80. For two egg salad sandwiches.
“That can’t be right, $14.80 for two egg salad sandwiches?” I said to the lady, who graciously started thumbing through the menu with enthusiasm suggesting to me that even she didn’t believe that a personal loan would be required to buy two egg salad sandwiches.
Alas, the total was correct. And by the time I got to the car, I was steamed, which by the way did nothing but wilt the egg salad sandwiches. All the way home I was upset with myself for: (1) Not looking at the menu before I ordered; (2) For just stating my dismay at the ridiculousness of paying that much for two egg salad sandwiches; (3) Just leaving the take out bag on the counter and walking out in disgust.
But since I did none of those things, I figured these ought to be the two best egg salad sandwiches in the history of egg salad. Then at least I would feel that I got my money’s worth.
Well, they weren’t the best egg salad sandwiches in the history of egg salad. They were nasty. And I was even more steamed.
That’s because I could have had a hot fudge sundae for five bucks.
I hate watching what I eat. It isn’t cost effective at all.

Labels: egg salad, Mike Morsch, Montgomery Newspapers, Montgomeryville, Outta Leftfield

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Seeing 'Touchdown Jesus' a real kick

I am big on seeing things just for the sake of saying that I did. “Touchdown Jesus” is one of those things.

If one is a Notre Dame college football fan, then one knows that “Touchdown Jesus” is the nickname given to the large mural by Millard Sheets of the resurrected Jesus titled “The Word of Life” that is on the outside of the Hesburgh Library on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Ind., just north of South Bend, Ind.

The library is very visible from one end of the Fighting Irish’s football stadium and shows Jesus with raised arms, looking very much like a football referee signaling a touchdown.

So on a recent drive home from a visit with family and friends in Illinois, we found ourselves passing through the northern part of Indiana right near Notre Dame.

“Oh, we have to stop and see Touchdown Jesus,” I said to The Blonde Accountant.

“Who? What?” she responded. Although she is Catholic and is familiar with the institution that is Notre Dame, she is less of a football fan than me.

So I quickly explained what I knew about “Touchdown Jesus,” which was very little, and headed for the Notre Dame exit off the interstate.

“I want to have my picture taken with ‘Touchdown Jesus,’” I said, not pausing long enough to even ponder why, since I am a baseball guy and would likely be more interested in having my picture taken with something like a “Home Run Jesus.”

A fairly simple request I thought, except for the fact that it was the Saturday that all the students were returning to school and the campus was packed with everybody and their dog carrying boxes hither and yon. By the way, Notre Dame has a beautiful campus.

We eventually located “Touchdown Jesus,” — it’s a big mural on the side of a big building and really isn’t hard to find. I hopped out of the car and The Blonde Accountant snapped a picture of me and “Touchdown Jesus.”

At the very least, I figure it’s good karma to be in the same picture as Jesus.

Labels: Mike Morsch, Montgomery Newspapers, Outta Leftfield, Touchdown Jesus, University of Notre Dame

Honestly, visiting Abe museum worth every penny

Being a native of the Land of Lincoln, I’ve probably taken for granted the importance and impact of our country’s 16th president.

In fact, I lived in Springfield, the capital of Illinois, for 11 years and worked a only a few blocks away from the historic Abraham Lincoln Home, in which he and his family lived prior to his election as president and the family’s eventually fateful trek to Washington, D.C.
Since my move to Pennsylvania nearly 10 years ago, The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum has been built, along with a presidential library, in Springfield. Until a recent visit to Illinois to see family and friends, I had not had the opportunity to see the museum.

And it is indeed a world class museum. My favorite parts included displays on the dresses worn by Mary Todd Lincoln, and of course, the exhibit displaying one of Lincoln’s stovepipe hats — complete with two worn finger marks on the brim which were said to be caused by Lincoln frequently tipping the hat to those he passed on the street.

The museum also displays a pair of ivory gloves that Lincoln had in his pocket on that night at Ford’s Theater where John Wilkes Booth walked up behind Lincoln in the presidential box and placed a small-caliber pistol behind the president’s ear. Although it has faded over time, the gloves are still visibly stained with Lincoln’s blood.

We also visited the Lincoln Home, of which I hadn’t been inside in many years, and the tomb, which is befitting a president.

It was a pivotal time in our country’s history and we all know that Lincoln was a pivotal president for that time period.

If you find yourself in Illinois, you should see everything there is to see and learn about Abraham Lincoln.

Labels: Abraham Lincoln, Mike Morsch, Montgomery Newspapers, Outta Leftfield, presidential museum, Springfield

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Talking with Jim "Kitty" Kaat a doggone pleasure

When I was a kid, my dad used to buy me baseball cards, and oftentimes I would go out to the steps of our front porch and open those treasured cardboard pictures of my heroes, gobble down the sometimes stale bubblegum and eagerly search for the Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle cards.

Inevitably, I wouldn’t find as many of the aforementioned stars as I would have liked, but I could always count on finding plenty of cards or players like Jesse Gonder, Ed Brinkman, Gates Brown, Gus Gil, Jerry McNertney or Coco Laboy.
And Jim Kaat.

Kaat was a pitcher for the Minnesota Twins in the 1960s and early 1970s. Despite Minnesota being in relative geographic proximity to my home in Illinois, I was pretty ambivalent about the Twins. I grew up smack dab in the middle of Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals country, so I was more familiar with those teams. Even then, I didn’t follow them as closely as my pals because I was, it seemed, the only Pittsburgh Pirates fan in Illinois.

Kaat went on to have a pretty distinguished career. He pitched 25 years in the big leagues — spending 1976-1979 with the Phillies — and is the third longest-tenured pitcher in the history of the game behind Nolan Ryan with 27 years and Tommy John with 26 years.

He amassed 283 career wins as a pitcher and holds the record for pitchers by earning 16 consecutive Gold Glove Awards from 1960-1975. Kaat has long been considered in Hall of Fame discussions, but has yet to receive that call.

His nickname is Jim “Kitty” Kaat, mostly because his last name looks like it could be pronounced “cat.” In fact, it is pronounced “cot” but the nickname stuck nonetheless.

After his playing career, Kaat served many years as a television baseball broadcaster for many stations and his work in the broadcast booth earned him seven Emmy Awards for sports casting.
I got a chance to talk to Mr. Kaat last week. Turns out that growing up in Michigan, he was a big fan of Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics. Because of that connection, he has been invited by the Hatboro-based Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society to be its keynote speaker and guest at a society breakfast Oct. 4 at Williamson’s Restaurant in Horsham.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am on the board of directors for the A’s Society and my reason for speaking with Kaat was to write a story for the society’s newsletter. That story will also appear in the Public Spirit, which covers Hatboro and Horsham for Montgomery Newspapers, in an upcoming edition prior to the Oct. 4 event.

Kaat is a gentleman, told some great baseball stories and came across as a genuine fan of the game of baseball. I went home that evening and dug through all my old baseball cards to find Jim Kaat cards, of which I had plenty, just as I remembered.

Sometimes, I can’t believe how lucky I am to do what I do for a living. For a baseball guy like me, talking to a baseball guy like Jim “Kitty” Kaat was just a doggone pleasure.

It took me back to the steps of my front porch some 40 years ago. There I would sit, opening packs of baseball cards that my dad have given me, and pull out a cardboard treasure of Jim Kaat, never dreaming then that the man on the card and I would someday have a chat about a game we both love.

Labels: Jim Kaat, Mike Morsch, Montgomery Newspapers, Outta Leftfield, Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Hoops, he did it again

I am not much of a basketball fan. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not a fan of Marc Zumoff.
Zumoff, of Fort Washington, is entering his 16th season as the television voice of the Philadelphia 76ers. But it’s not Zumoff’s on-court work, which is very good, that impresses me the most about him. It’s what he does off the court.

For the past 13 years, Zumoff has been the man behind “Tee Off With Zumoff,” a celebrity golf outing and dinner fundraiser featuring live and silent auctions, to benefit The Pathway School in Norristown.

The Pathway School develops and implements programs and services that enrich the lives of children and young adults with special needs. The non-profit school builds the independence of its students in a maturing and challenging environment that best prepares them for life.
There are a lot of worthwhile programs in Montgomery County that deserve our support, and this is one of them.

For the past few years, I’ve gotten the chance to talk with Marc and observe how he interacts with the Pathway students at a media day to promote the fundraiser.

It’s one of the few times I get to see him in the course of a year because of busy scheduling for both of us. He always asks me if I want to play a round of golf with him and I tell him the same thing every year. “No, I’m a baseball player. When I hit a ball, somebody else should chase after it.”

But Marc is in a high-profile job and he realizes that with that job comes the opportunity to help one’s community, and this is where Marc really shines.

You should check out the fundraiser, which this year is scheduled for Sept. 22 at RiverCrest Golf Club and Preserve in Phoenixville. Just go to www.teeoffwithzumoff.com for more information.
When it comes to his community, Marc Zumoff is nothing but net.

Labels: Marc Zumoff, Mike Morsch, Montgomery Newspapers, Outta Leftfield, Philadelphia 76ers The Pathway School, RiverCrest Golf Club and Preserve

Friday, August 7, 2009

Nyuking it up at Ambler Theater

Decades and generations later, funny is still funny.

Take The Three Stooges, for example, which a full house of fans of all ages did recently at the Ambler Theater.

For the fifth year, The Three Stooges Fan Club and its president, Gary Lassin of Gwynedd Valley, hosted a Stooges film festival at the theater.

Gary had told me in an interview to preview the event that when the Stooges filmed these “shorts” — named so because they ran from 16 to 18 minutes long as opposed to full-length feature films from the 1930s and 1940s — they were intended to be seen on the big screen rather than on television, because, well, there was no television at the time.

Television would later introduce the Stooges to another generation of fans in the 1960s and 1970s, when the short films were deemed perfect small-screen vehicles. The end result is that few baby-boomers and those younger have experienced the Stooges as they were intended to be seen — on the big screen.

So hats off to the Ambler Theater for providing local Stooges fans the opportunity to do just that.
Gary had suggested that it was a different experience to watch the Stooges with a theater full of people than it was to sit at home and nyuk it up by oneself while watching the Stooges on TV.
And he was right. The antics of the Stooges cracked up the crowd — and me, of course — especially that tried and true Stooges routine — the pie fight. People in the theater were not just giggling, but hooting, har-dee-har-har belly laughing.

Despite having seen them many times over the years, I enjoyed the five films that were shown — interspersed with comments from Gary about the history of each film and some things to watch for, like bloopers — but there was an exchange before the show started that I enjoyed even more.

While I was sitting in the first row chatting with Gary beforehand, Gary’s parents walked down to the stage to greet him.

When I asked Mrs. Lassin if she was a fan before her son got heavily involved with the Stooges — Gary also is owner and curator of the Stoogeum, a museum of his personal collection of Stooges memorabilia in Springhouse — she replied, “Oh my, no.”

“She was one of the moms that didn’t mind the eye pokes on TV but insisted I didn’t run with scissors,” said Gary.

“I didn’t care what they did to each other,” replied Mrs. Lassin without missing a beat. “I cared about what happened to you.”

Soitenly spoken like a true mom.

Labels: Ambler Theater, Mike Morsch, Montgomery Newspapers, Outta Leftfield, Stoogeum, Three Stooges

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Musikfest 2009 Take I: Dan May

It’s good to see there are guys my age that are still cool and hip, because quite frankly, the closest I’ll ever come to hip is breaking one.
Witness Philadelphia singer-songwriter Dan May, who during his performance Saturday at Musikfest 2009 in Bethlehem, revealed to the crowd that he recently turned 50 years old.
The Blonde Accountant and I have been Dan Fans since we saw him open for Crystal Gayle a few years ago at the Sellersville Theater. One of the things we enjoy about the Philadelphia music scene is discovering an artist that we hadn’t previously known.
I really like those “Hey, this guy is pretty good” moments, the ones that make me want to buy the artist’s CD in the lobby after the performance.
Dan is one of those performers, and we’ve followed him across the area at several venues, including Steel City in Phoenixville, the Tin Angel in Philadelphia, at the Upper Merion “Concert Under the Stars” series and most recently at Musikfest 2009, our first exposure to the music festival, now in its 26th year.
As a writer, I appreciate Dan’s songwriting ability, but it’s his words combined with his sound that make him appealing to me. He is described as “a rootsy Americana singer-songwriter whose original work has appealing melodic and lyrical integrity.”
He doesn’t do covers, preferring to perform his own material, with one exception – he did do his version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road” at the Musikfest gig, pulling it off quite nicely. I’m not a big Springsteen fan, so I’d go so far as to say that I liked Dan’s version of the song better than the version of The Boss himself.
Dan and his band always put on a highly professional and entertaining show. He gets a lot of support from, and airtime on, WXPN 88.5 FM, the National Public Radio affiliate at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dan’s next local appearance is Sunday, Aug. 30, back at the Sellersville Theater 1894, where he will open for the Richie Furay Band, of Buffalo Springfield and Poco fame. Visit the theater’s Web site at www.st94.com for more information.
Check out Dan’s music at www.myspace.com/danmaycd. I think you’ll agree this guy is pretty good.

Labels: Dan May, Mike Morsch, Montgomery Newspapers, Musikfest 2009, Outta Leftfield

Musikfest 2009 Take II: Deep-fried cheesecake on a stick

There is no quibble with the fact that when one goes to a festival of any sort, chances are fairly good that there isn’t going to be much healthy food being served. Everybody knows it.
But at Musikfest 2009, which is going on now through Aug. 9 in Bethlehem, The Blonde Accountant and I encountered a new food experience: deep-fried cheesecake on a stick.
Believe me when I say it would be no surprise whatsoever to learn that in this instance, eating the stick would actually be healthier for you than this sweet treat.
“Check out this food stand,” I said to The Blonde Accountant as we passed a booth that offered, among other culinary delights, deep-fried candy bars on a stick, deep-fried Twinkies on the stick and the aforementioned deep-fried cheesecake on a stick.
Whew, talk about a heart attack . . . on a stick.
“I’ve never heard of such a thing,” I said, with the knowledge that I have a great bit of experience in the area of deep-fried goop on a stick as a regular attendee of the Illinois State Fair for many years when I lived in the Midwest.
“Oh, we have to try that,” said The Blonde Accountant.
“OK, but how close are we to the EMT booth?” I asked.
Here’s the thing: deep-fried cheesecake on a stick is really, really, really good. Not only that, but once the whole mess is finished deep frying, the vendor puts powered sugar over the entire thing, like there wasn’t already enough unhealthy elements of the dish and one more needed to be added.
We enjoyed it quite a bit, although we did have to explain what it was we were eating to a few guys who passed by our chairs while we were chowing down. When one has to explain what it is one is eating, then it can’t be good for one’s system.
Of course, I highly recommend the deep-fried cheesecake on a stick, if you ever happen across one at a festival. If you do consider it, you may was well just take the stick and jam it into your ear. That would probably do less damage to your physical well-being.

Labels: Mike Morsch, Montgomery Newspapers, Musikfest, Outta Leftfield

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