Tag: The Sopranos

My TV Top Ten. What is Yours?

tv-showsBarb and I were almost home the other night when a familiar tune came on the car radio. “In my opinion, that’s the BEST TV SHOW EVER,” I said. And that got me thinking. What were my favorite TV shows of all time? So here, from #10 to #1 is my list. The only rule for selection is that there are no rules. It is my list, I get to say what goes on it. Feel free to disagree. I am sure you will!

#10-#7 My Early Years

10. The Dick Van Dyke Show: The classic work life-home life sitcom. Barb can still crack me up with an “Oh, Rob” or put me in my place with a “You’re no Albert Schweitzer.” I was young, Mary Tyler Moore was adorable, and Ritchie was getting attacked by birds. What was there not to like?

9. What’s My Line?: You thought Jeopardy! would be my favorite game show? Wrong again, reader. Another classic from my youth, no moderator was ever as smooth and urbane as John Charles Daley. And when the host has 3 names, I knew the celebrity panel had to be classy too, even if I had never heard of Bennett Cerf or Arlene Francis. And Dorothy Kilgallen was sort of hot to my 7-year-old eyes.

8. Saturday Night Blackhawks Hockey: Only a few Blackhawks games were televised in the ’60s. But every Saturday night during the season, I would knock on my next-door neighbor Jeff’s door at 6:30. We would play a game of table hockey (he had a great set with 3D plastic players and a ball-bearing puck) and then settle in to watch the Hawks play another “Original Six” opponent. The TV set was black and white, but there was no problem picking out the Golden Jet, as Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, and Glenn Hall did their best to bring Chicago a winner.

7. Ray Raynor and Friends and The Dick Tracy Show: Ray Raynor, playing the jumpsuited host during the morning in the former and Officer Pettibone during the afternoon in the latter, had my full attention. White Sox (and Cubs) scores, Chelveston the Duck and some decent cartoons kept me entertained.

#6-#1 Adulthood

6. Breaking Bad: After starting to watch the family drama  Parenthood in its 4th season, Barb and I decided to go back and watch the earlier seasons–our first binge-watch. Our next binge-watch:  Breaking Bad, a very different family drama. Mr. White and Jessie had special chemistry together, and not just the crystal-meth kind. We did not watch El Camino, the recent sequel. Heard it wasn’t all that good!

5. Hill Street Blues: The greatest show of the ’80s, it was the cop show that stood above all other cop shows, before and after. FOMAE (fear of missing an episode) led us to buy our first VCR. VHS of course–we didn’t want no stinkin’ BetaMax.

4. Veep: Laugh out loud funny and bitingly mean and all-around magnificent. Julia Louis Dreyfuss and the whole ensemble cast made Washington D.C. seem as miserable as it truly must be. I loved it even before there was a real dramedy in the White House.

3. Game of Thrones: Maybe I would have ranked it higher before the final season, but come on, #3 isn’t all that bad. Love and hate. Red Weddings and Walks of Shame. And battles. Lots of battles. So why isn’t Arya Stark starring in a sequel?

2. Seinfeld: Yada, Yada, Yada. And Julia Louis Dreyfuss too.

1. The music I heard in the car that day was Alabama 3 talking and singing their way through “Woke Up This Morning.” I cannot hear that song without seeing James Gandolfini, cigar smoke swirling around his head, driving past the Meadowlands and Satriale’s Pork Store. Tony Soprano on the move, inviting us to New Jersey and The Sopranos, the greatest TV series ever made.

You agree with me on all of these, right?  If not, let me hear about it.

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Isn’t This Blog Supposed To Be About Building A House?

jaxHe doesn’t look a thing like Jesus…

…but more than you’ll ever know.

The Killers, 2006

Yes, it has been awhile since we have had a lesson in Home Building 101. Weather and other assorted issues have caused a bit of a hiatus in the Big Dig. All of you who warned us that we needed to keep some flexibility in our time line were right on target. So as you have all noticed, the blogs have had to find some alternate topics*, which have made me a few new friends, and alas, some new frenemies.

But today we are back in the world of construction. The thaw last week finally allowed completion of excavation. Of course, the thaw is being followed by a brutal cold snap, so I don’t think the concrete for the foundation will be flowing for a while. But the weather is no barrier for Barb. She has been researching, reading, revising, and improving. The muntins entered limbo for a while, but are back in their rightful place on the windows. Roofing continues to be a challenge, as the pluses and minuses of a variety of products are weighed. We have discovered a new contender, a pseudo-slate, manufactured in part from recycled rubber products. Made in Canada, it is eco-friendly, and not bad looking, but not yet popular in the Chicago area. If you have used it, give us a review! Barb has also been busy evaluating all the plumbing fixtures. Sinks, toilets, tubs. So many styles, so many trends. It can be overwhelming.

Overwhelming is an understatement when talking about Abt Appliances in Glenview, Disney World® for adults. Barb and I have been shopping with them for 35 years,  through three of their locations and four of our homes. Their incredible selection is matched by wonderful service and attention to detail. I don’t know how I failed to give them one of my customer service awards. In two hours we had placed an order for everything from refrigerators to ovens to dishwashers and more. We scored a deal on a manufacturers close out oven model.  Almost a rare Abt glitch with that one though. Since the oven is a close out, the store required us to take possession now, even though it won’t be installed for months. When the delivery driver called to say he was on his way he mentioned the address he was headed to. Delivering the oven to that big hole in Riverwoods would not have been the desired outcome! Fortunately Barb was able to direct him to our current home, where a large oven crate now takes up a quarter of my garage.

When  Barb and I aren’t researching the home, we have been binge watching Sons of Anarchy, a motorcycle gang mash-up of The Godfather (a favorite movie) and The Sopranos (a favorite TV show.) It is violent and compelling, and stars a young Brit, Charlie Hunnam, that Barb thinks is cute. That is his picture at the top of the blog. I figure that between Neil Diamond on the last blog, and Charlie on this one, I should be in Barb’s good graces for at least a month. Any opinions from the ladies out there on Charlie vs. Neil?

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*Did you miss the family history post? Click here.

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