Meat Day at Mater Dei
Shopgirl, More Maryland Meals, Rod MacDonald, Jayson Tatum, Typing Toddler
Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This week’s issue includes my five favorite recordings featuring the late David Sanborn, a novella by Steve Martin, dining in the DMV, the singer/songwriter whose novel I recently featured, the hero of last night’s Celtics-Cavs game, and a budding writer. I hope you like the picks and pics.
We had a fun week with Roger and his family. On Wednesday, Barb and Cristi went with Sommer to gymnastics, while Roger, Kieran, and I attended a conference tournament baseball game. The game was exciting, but we had to leave just before Gonzaga beat Paul VI on a leadoff, walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth.
On Friday we attended Meat Day at Mater Dei School, where Roger teaches. The picture below shows just half of the overwhelming spread of meat dishes provided by the teachers and students. After indulging in too much of a good thing, we had to take food coma-induced naps.
Post-nap, we watched Sommer and Kieran at their swim lesson at the Y. They loved jumping into the pool and making the largest possible splashes.
We finished up our week in Silver Spring by celebrating Mother’s Day. Roger made sure to make the day special for both his mom, Barb, and his wife, Cristi.
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Fave Five 85: Meat Day at Mater Dei
Glove Girl (Shopgirl), More Maryland Meals (Crisfield Seafood, SOKO Butcher, Stained Glass Pub), Fast Folker (Rod MacDonald), Beantown Baller (Jayson Tatum), and a Typing Toddler.
Fave Five Lists: Five Favorite David Sanborn Appearances
David Sanborn died on Sunday. He was a sensational saxophonist, my brother David’s friend, and a fellow St. Louisan. Here are five relevant links about him:
Obituary: David Sanborn, Saxophonist Who Defied Pigeonholing, Dies at 78 - by Alex Williams of The New York Times
Here are my five favorite songs featuring David Sanborn on sax—one of his solo recordings and four guest appearances:
David Garfield: One Like You (with Smokey Robinson and Michael McDonald)
Book Best Bet
Shopgirl by Steve Martin
I previously featured Steve’s memoir Born Standing Up and this week’s book is his novella. I’m a fan of Steve’s comedy (SNL appearances and live shows with Martin Short), banjo playing (with the Steep Canyon Rangers), TV show (Only Murders in the Building), five of his movies (Roxanne, Parenthood, L.A. Story, Grand Canyon, and It’s Complicated), and his writing (Pure Drivel and Born Standing Up). We recently watched STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces.
I finished reading Table for Two at Roger’s house and didn’t have my next book with me. So I looked in the stack of books in Roger’s room and found this one, which became the second consecutive novella I read. It is short and took me only two days. It moved quickly, had interesting characters, and was touching. Now I would like to watch the movie version starring Steve Martin, Claire Danes, and Jason Schwartzman.
From Amazon: A frequent contributor to both The New Yorker and the New York Times as well as the author of the New York Times bestseller Pure Drivel, Martin is once again poised to capture the attention of readers with his debut novella, a delightful depiction of life and love.
The shopgirl is Mirabelle, a beautiful aspiring artist who pays the rent by selling gloves at the Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus. She captures the attention of Ray Porter, a wealthy, lonely businessman. As Ray and Mirabelle tentatively embark on a relationship, they both struggle to decipher the language of love—with consequences that are both comic and heartbreaking. Filled with the kind of witty, discerning observations that have brought Steve Martin incredible critical success, Shopgirl is a work of disarming tenderness.
One of the most acclaimed and beloved entertainers, Steve Martin is quickly becoming recognized as a gorgeous writer capable of being at once melancholy and tart, achingly innocent and astonishingly ironic. — Elle
From Wikipedia: Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945 in Waco, Texas) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for his work in comedy films, television, and recording, he has received many accolades, including five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and an Honorary Academy Award, in addition to nominations for two Tony Awards. He also received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2005, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007, and an AFI Life Achievement Award in 2015. In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Martin at sixth place in a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comics. The Guardian named him one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.
Martin first came to public notice as a writer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1969, and later as a frequent host on Saturday Night Live. He became one of the most popular U.S. stand-up comedians during the 1970s, performing his brand of offbeat, absurdist comedy routines before sold-out theaters on national tours. Martin went on to star in film roles, including such films as The Jerk (1979), Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), The Man with Two Brains (1983), All of Me (1984), ¡Three Amigos! (1986), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), L.A. Story (1991), Bowfinger (1999) and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). He played family patriarchs in Parenthood (1989), the Father of the Bride films (1991–1995), and the Cheaper by the Dozen films (2003–2005).
Since 2015, Martin has embarked on several national comedy tours with fellow comedian Martin Short. In 2018, they released their Netflix special An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life for which they received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. In 2021, he co-created and starred in his first television show, the Hulu comedy series Only Murders in the Building, alongside Short and Selena Gomez, for which he earned three Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, a Golden Globe Award nomination, and a 2021 Peabody Award nomination. In 2022, Martin and Short co-hosted Saturday Night Live together with Gomez making an appearance.
Martin is also known for writing the books to the musical Bright Star (2016) and to the comedy Meteor Shower (2017), both of which premiered on Broadway; he co-wrote the music to the former. He has played banjo since an early age and has included music in his comedy routines from the beginning of his professional career. He has released several music albums and has performed with various bluegrass acts, including Earl Scruggs, with whom he won a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance in 2002. His first solo music album, The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo (2009) received the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album.
Restaurant Recommendations
More Maryland Meals
As promised last week, here are three more dining highlights from our week in the Old Line State.
Crisfield Seafood 8012 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910
A delicious stop for lunch for Barb and me.
Broiled Lump Crab Cake Sandwich with coleslaw
SOKO Butcher 7306 Carroll Avenue, Takoma Park, MD 20912
A to-go order that Roger and I split in the car on the way to the baseball game.
The Philly: French roll / prime rib / caramelized onions / banana peppers / cheese wiz / mayo / ketchup
Stained Glass Pub 12510 Layhill Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20906
A carryout order on Friday following the swim lesson.
Hawaiian Pizza
Marvelous Musician
I featured Rod’s novel The Open Mike in a recent issue. Now I would like to feature his music.
I first heard Rod's song "American Jerusalem" covered by Garnet Rogers and then heard Rod on two compilation albums: "The Coming of the Snow" on When October Goes (CD) and "Every Living Thing" on Folked Again: The Best of Mountain Railroad Volume One (cassette). I bought a cassette of White Buffalo and listened to it over and over on a vacation in Tampa in the early 90s. Rod was the artistic director at the 7th House music venue in Pontiac, Michigan in the mid-90s. He was our second house concert performer when we hosted him on April 1, 2004. I saw him on October 10, 2009 at the Flint Folk Music Society.
From Wikipedia: Rod MacDonald (born August 17, 1948 in Southington, Connecticut) is an American singer-songwriter, novelist, and educator. He was a big part of the 1980s folk revival in Greenwich Village clubs, performing at the Speakeasy, The Bottom Line, Folk City, and the "Songwriter's Exchange" at the Cornelia Street Cafe. He co-founded the Greenwich Village Folk Festival. He is best known for his song "American Jerusalem." He released 21 songs through the Fast Folk Musical Magazine.
American Jerusalem
Stop the War
White Buffalo
The Way to Calvary
Dallas
My Playlist
Sports Star
Jayson hails from St. Louis, the former hometown of David Sanborn, Michael McDonald, Barb, and my family. He is part of a one-two punch with Jaylen Brown that is hard for other teams to contain. His challenge this year is to finally win an NBA championship. It seems to me that he has good chance of doing so.
He is currently averaging 24.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists in the postseason:
Jayson Tatum's 33 points help Celtics down short-handed Cavaliers 109-102 to take 3-1 lead in semis
There's no better feeling than winning a playoff game on the road. Tough environment and the crowd was great. Now, it's time to go back to Boston and play well in front of our fans and give them something to cheer for. — Jayson Tatum
From Wikipedia: Jayson Christopher Tatum (born March 3, 1998 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a McDonald's All-American in high school in Missouri and played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils. Tatum attended Chaminade College Preparatory School in Creve Coeur, Missouri.
Tatum was selected with the third overall pick by the Boston Celtics in the 2017 NBA draft and voted to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2018. A five-time NBA All-Star and three-time All-NBA selection, he was named the NBA Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player in 2022 and helped the Celtics reach the NBA Finals. Tatum also won a gold medal on the 2020 U.S. Olympic team in Tokyo. He holds the record for most points scored in an NBA All-Star game, with 55, and the most points scored in a Game 7 of any NBA playoffs series, with 51.
Video: Jayson Tatum drops 33 to put Celtics on brink of ECF berth
Jayson Tatum (33 PTS) & Jaylen Brown (27 PTS) TAKEOVER Game 4! 🔥
Picture Pun
My next book, Preschool Knowledge Management, will be co-authored with my grandson Kieran.
