Rant #2,329: Back To the Past

Yes, my mom's 88th birthday was yesterday, and she received lots of "hurrahs" on Facebook and elsewhere, so it was a good birthday for her--

Except that she did lose at mah jongg, but it didn't break the bank, as she only lost 40 cents.

Prior to my mother's birthday, this past weekend on Saturday and Sunday, my family and I kind of revisited the past during those two days.

We went into Manhattan during a very nice winter's day, and our first destination was Walt Frazier's restuarant, Clyde's Wine and Dine, in the Hell's Kitchen section.

My son and I had been to the restaurant several times before seeing the Knicks play at nearby Madison Square Garden, but my wife had never been there, and we finally took her.

We had a nice, relaxing meal, and when we exited the restaurant, we hailed a cab to take us to our next destination, the Beacon Theater, to see the Monkees--or what is left of the Monkees--play the stately old theater that evening.

Taking a cab was a nostalgic ride for me, as I haven't used one for about 30 years.

And I am not talking about an Uber or Lyft. I am talking about a real, honest to goodness, yellow medallion cab like my father drove for more than 50 years.

I mentioned to the driver that my father had been a cab driver, and we had a pleasant trip to the venue as the Pakistani driver talked about the business.

We got to the theater, saw some friends there, and waited to get in. It was a nice night, and even though my wife and son were frigid, I wasn't cold at all. I wore a heavy shirt underneath my jacket, and I think that kept in the heat.

We got in, took our seats in nosebleed land, and proceeded to see a nice show, a bit subdued in spots with Peter Tork's recent passing, but a fun show nonetheless.

Micky Dolenz and Mike Nesmith certainly know what they are doing on stage, and they played all the Monkees' hits--save "Valleri," which quite frankly, can't be done without the late Davy Jones, it is his song--and they also did a few real chestnuts, including "Auntie's Municipal Court," which sounded terrific.

They also did a few songs off their newest album, the great "Good Times!" and Nesmith performed a chilling version of his own hit, "Joanne," which proved once again what a great song that is.

There was a Peter Tork tribute at intermission, which was very touching, and proved once again that the most maligned Monkee was quite the talented fellow.

All in all, it was a great show, probably the final show that the duo will ever play as Monkees in New York, so it was kind of bittersweet.

Once the show was over, we took another cab back to Penn Station to pick up our Long Island Railroad train, once again saw our friends on the train, and we had a nice ride back home.

It was a long day, but certainly worth it.

On Sunday, I attended a local record show, which I was a bit disappointed with because they didn't have much of what I was looking for, which was singles with picture sleeves.

The show leaned toward the 1970s, a great decade for music--at least the first half of the decade was, the middle was not that great, but once punk/new wave came, it was better--but my area of focus is the 1960s, so I did buy a few things, but really, nothing much.

Later in the day, I went to my local record store, and, of course, there I found what I was looking for, and I bought a few more prime singles and LPs.

So, all told, it was a great looking-back weekend, and as I have often said, you have to understand the past so you can understand the present and the future, and that was certainly true with this weekend.

This coming weekend, we will be celebrating my mom's birthday by taking her out to a nice restaurant, so it should be another great time, this time spent with family.

Yes, again, as I have said many times, I work for the weekend, and these are the reasons that I do just that.