The Luna Park Gazette

My father was the master of the backhanded compliment. He had a hard time saying something nice and often got a little dig in there just to keep you on your toes. One of my dad’s favorite wisecracks was “you made a mistake and did the right think.” The implication is that you since screw up most of the time, when you finally do something right, it’s a fluke. I thought of that phrase today to describe something that happened at my gym, only in a slightly different context. Okay, so three days a week I hike up to Harbor Fitness Go on 87th Street for my morning torture sessions. I start off with the strength training, which includes a couple of turns on a long stretch of astroturf with the weight sled. It’s just what it sounds like—a sled where you stack barbell plates and push or pull it (ideally both) along a flat surface. And, of course, if you look on YouTube you’ll find tons of variations. Weight sleds were initially designed for specific sports, like football, an...

Go all the way with it. Do not back off. For once, go all the way with the goddamn way with what matters. ” – Ernest Hemmingway . The 1918 Broadway Oh, Look! featured a song “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows." The music is credited to Harry Carroll, but the melody is adapted from Fantaisie-Impromptu by Frédéric Chopin. The lyrics were written by Joseph McCarthy, and the song was published in 1917. The first version I heard was by Tony Bennett, but it’s been recorded by Judy Garland, Petula Clark, Frank Sinatra and so many others. Bennett starts things off by asking the musical question, “why have I always been a failure?” “I’m always chasing rainbows,” the song goes, “watching clouds drifting by. My schemes are like my dreams, always ending up in the sky.” The song ends with the singer talking about “waiting to find a little bluebird in vain.” I’ve been spending far too time lately rewriting history lately—even more so than usual—and this tune is starting to feel like the...