Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 6/29 - College Bound

Yesterday I drove my sister and three of my nieces to the house of my youngest niece in Jersey. There was a big party in the backyard celebrating the high school graduation of her son Ronnie, who was wearing a University of Kentucky Wildcats T-shirt. He will begin classes there in late August. He has done so well academically the past two years that he may pursue a pre-med degree, figuring, if it proved too tough, he could fall back to the pharmaceutical option he'd originally planned. Although he has received about eight grand in scholarships, he took out a loan for $36,000 for his first year, which shows there are just as many crooks running colleges as there are in the industries that don't elude scrutiny. He worked 65 hours last week in the deli of the local Walmart, which the left believes is the most evil institution in America, perhaps because their prices are reasonable. The party was a lot of fun. The food, of course, was excellent. Robbin and Kerry brought huge hot dogs from a German deli. "Real meat, no fillers," said Kerry. They were awesome, better than the $20 frank I had at the Old Homestead about a decade ago. As usual, instruments were broken out and an impromptu bluegrass jamboree took place. Ronnie has been playing guitar only three years and is already quite accomplished. He should be right at home in the bluegrass state. It seems he has inherited the gene for musical understanding from his dad, Ron Sr., a crackerjack banjo player. I had my nieces record a couple of songs and they've been posted on Facebook, along with a picture of the cake:

Good luck, Ronnie. We're proud of you.

After the 71 mile drive home, I found the perfect vehicle to unwind. This-TV, channel 111 on Cablevision in NYC, was running an Elvis marathon, and Kid Galahad, wherein the King played a boxer, was up. I'd seen it the theater way back in 1962. It's one of the better Elvis vehicles, fun despite its predictability. Its cast is a film buff's dream: Gig Young, Charles Bronson, Ned Glass, Richard Devon and his beady eyes, Ed Asner, Bert Remsen, the Jordanaires and, of course, the requisite beauties, Lola Albright and Joan Blackman. It was directed by Phil Karlsen, who was at the helm of 66 movies, the most notable Walking Tall (1973), Hell to Eternity (1961), and two Matt Helms. At IMDb I noticed that Devon, who was ubiquitous as a villain on 60's TV, had a writing credit. He co-scripted Scorching Fury (1952), a western cited as one of the worst of the 40's. Although whoever made the comment got the decade wrong, the flick must not be very good. It has disappeared.

My thanks to the kind folks who made purchases on Bay Parkway today, and to the gentleman who donated about 50 books, most of them geared to children and young adults, a few classics as well.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx