A Few of My Favorite Things

The Sound of Music is on TV tonight and I made an effort to watch it, as I promised myself I would, but I just couldn't hang in there for the whole thing. My wife is still watching it and singing along, but I'm now in another room and watching the Joe Pesci / Robert De Niro gangster movie Casino.

Casino is quite the palate-cleansing contrast to the sticky sweet Sound of Music. And yet, I can't get those Julie Andrews songs out of my head, so here's a lyrical tribute to both movies:

Gansters and goombas, card cheats and hammers,
Mafia sit-downs and deadly encounters,
Degenerate gamblers with gold pinkie rings,
These are a few of my favorite things

Dealers and hookers, and crooked pit bosses,
Cash being skimmed off and unexplained losses,
Life savings that fly out the window on wings,
These are a few of my favorite things

Holes in the desert, and bodies that fill them,
Eavesdropping coppers whose wiretaps thrill them,
Joe Dogs with his head in a vice 'till he sings,
These are a few of my favorite things

When the bat swings,
When the car blows,
When the Bosses get mad,
I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel so bad

I think I'll title this composition "It's Always Better With No Witnesses," after the line by Joe Pesci's character, Nicky Santoro, who was closely based on the real-life Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro.