I never got around to writing yesterday, a luxury that I have in retirement that might not be possible if I was on deadline for a publication. Nonetheless, I’m way ahead of the one-a-day goal that I established. My wife and I went for the normal weekend walk/run with the dogs after sleeping in until 7:30 a.m. After all these years, it still feels good to wake-up at 6:00 a.m. and know that you don’t have to get-up yet. I sat down at the computer when we got back to the house and thought I had discovered a branch on the family tree that I had been searching to find. “I See Dead People!” Six hours later, it turned out to be another “dead-end,” after consuming most of my day. The Cubs game was on the TV as I tediously plotted along, and the men in blue won the first of a double-header against the rival Cardinals. I also took a minute to reluctantly reserve a couple of 7:00 p.m. seats for the movie, Mama Mia – Here We Go Again. It was really the only decent option for our “Movie Night,” despite serious concerns about sequels.

“Here We Go Again” has significant meaning for me. (See Post #454). Circumstances have made the Mama Mia Broadway and theatrical productions some of the most watched in my life. It seems to be playing on stages or in movie houses everywhere we go, not to mention bits-and-pieces that I see on TV. I was somehow able to avoid it as it played on our last cruise, but even some of my former business conferences somehow incorporated it into the spouse entertainment packages. I’ve seen it in New York, Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Chicago, and points- in-between. My wife loves singing and dancing as much as I love baseball, so I often find myself monitoring scores as she sits enamored watching the performers.

Last night was no exception. Normally, even though I always have my phone on vibrate, I also turn on Cine-mode, but the Cubs and Cardinals were in the final inning of their day-night doubleheader. During the previews of coming attractions, I was keeping an eye on the scoreboard with no sound or video. We always sit in the very back row, and in this case I was seated at the very end with no one to my right. I was not distracting anyone, as even my wife did not see the light of my phone screen, otherwise she would have surely said something unkind. I put the phone away as the movie started, and prepared myself to be unhappy. The Cubs had just lost, allowing the Cardinals to tie the 5-game series, and I would have to wait until the movie was over to find out what had happened?

SPOILER ALERT!!! Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed the movie, maybe even more than the original. The Greek island scenery was phenomenal, the acting tolerable, and the singing outstanding. The producers made a wise decision in not allowing the men to sing much this time, and 72-year old Cher was a show-stopper. Granted, her dance steps were a bit shaky, but her voice is still incredible. She looked and sounded great, as did Meryl Streep in her cameo appearance. Apparently, like me, the cast members also “see dead people,” as Meryl appears as the ghostly Donna at her grand daughter’s baptism. It was at this critical moment that my phone developed a mind of its own and started to play video clips of the ballgame. I could not turn it off, as Donna continued her sad, love song. My ribs were already sore from my wife’s elbows, and I’m sure that others were giving me that evil glare for being so rude & disruptive. My wife was hoping that M&M guy would come rushing into the theater and reprimand me with “Cell Phones Ruin Movies.” Fortunately, I was in the last row on the end, so the embarrassment was somewhat contained. As if to mock me, I could hear the announcer talk about how the Cubs had blown the game, as I desperately tried to shut it off. Finally, it stopped, just before I considered running out of the theater. I still don’t understand what happened? I always keep it silent because I rarely use my phone to watch video, so it still makes no sense why this happened, especially at the very moment when the theater was in tears, as dead Donna sang her love song and then disappeared.

I promise to use Cine-mode next time, even though the incentives they offer are worthless. I just hope they don’t make a Mama Mia 3, or it will be all about ghosts. These movies have kept the music of ABBA alive. This new version, “Here We Go Again” will undoubtedly be headed “again” to Broadway and “again” to future ABBA pay-days. I think one of the reasons that I’m captivated with the somewhat-silly plot is because promiscuous Donna does not know who the father of her baby really is, and ends up settling for her child to accept three different dads; nor was she married when she gave birth like my suspected birth-mother. As an adoptee, I feel a connection since I’m searching for my birth father, while fortunate to have had the father who raised me. I feel a bit shorted since I have two fathers rather than three, and don’t have Cher as my Grandmother.