Everything I Consume: The Bronx Is Burning

About twenty-five years ago my father was a writer and editor for Penthouse magazine. One of his fellow writers was Reggie Jackson who wrote a column about cars. Well, Reggie didn't actually write the column, he would call in every few weeks and talk about whatever car was on his mind and one of the editors would "translate it into English" as my Dad would say.

My Dad and his fellow editors hated Reggie. They mocked him and his column endlessly and some of his descriptions of cars became catch phrases. My favorite was, "opulent but concise". One day, one of the editors called up Reggie to talk about his column and asked how he was. "Great," Reggie said. "I hit a home run last night." This was hilarious to my Dad and his friends. Reggie was like a little kid! Reggie was a show off! Reggie's self-worth was caught up in a child's game! And bear in mind, my Dad, rest in piece and a wonderful man, was a huge baseball fan. "I hit a home run last night." Who talks like that?

Well, you know what? None of those people ever hit a major league home run.

This was a great mini series and I recommend it to everyone even if you're not a baseball fan or a Yankees fan or read the excellent book it's based on. I put up with Oliver Platt and John Turturro for a summer and so can you. Daniel Sunjata was opulent but concise as Reggie Jackson.