Sunday, November 02, 2014

Happy Birthday, Matt

Matt Levine and his other Popi
My oldest young'in, Matt, turns… another year over the drinking age today. I talk more about my other kid, Annie, because she’s now in the business. But today allow me to crow about my boy. Matt is a senior engineer at Apple Computers. If he didn’t look like me I’d want a DNA test because I have no idea how anyone even remotely related to me can be so computer savvy. CTL-ALT is too technical a concept for me to grasp. But for ten years Matt has been involved in such products as the new iMac, Apple TV, the Time Machine, and various whiz-bang wireless routers.

Matt Levine has always been a great kid, not to mention good luck charm. How much of a good luck charm? Matt was the first CHEERS baby born. The evening he came into the world I arrived home to find a message on my voicemail. It was from James Burrows. CHEERS was in its first season and doing horribly in the ratings. Cancellation was a real possibility. But the message from Jimmy was, “Congratulations. Announcing the birth of nine more episodes. We just got picked up today.” The rest is history.

More important than his many accomplishments (he’s also very funny, a terrific photographer, and a good athlete (again, not getting that gene passed down from me), is the fact that he’s such an awesome person. Great to his mom, great to his sister, his beautiful wife, his friends (many of whom flew from all over the country to be at his wedding), and he tolerates me.

Happy Birthday, Matt. You make me proud every day to be your dad. I love you, always will, and cherish the time we spend together. Sorry there’s no Red Sox parade like last year for your birthday, but at least with the time change you get an extra hour to celebrate. Have a great day and thanks for arranging the CHEERS pick up.

Here are some photographs Matt took.   Not with his iPhone however.  

17 comments :

MikeK.Pa. said...

Re: CHEERS was in its first season and doing horribly in the ratings.

If CHEERS was in production today would it make it past the dreaded 4-episode period to which current sitcoms like Manhattan Love Story, A to Z and Bad Judge (and soon Selfie) have already succumbed?

I've mentioned the Dick Van Dyke Show did poorly its first season but did well in summer re-runs and got picked up for second season based on that. What successful sitcoms Ii.e. MASH) from the past do you think might have been 86ed had they been made today?

Naten said...

sounds completely like an apple from tree situation( your son being such a nice guy) great Job to the proud "Papi" and a joyous happy birthday to Matt :) Ras.

Eduardo Jencarelli said...

Those pictures look so good they resemble paintings.

He may work at Apple, but he's my first choice for DP.

Howard Hoffman said...

Happy birthday, Matt, from the guy who answers your dad's tech questions when you don't want to.

Howard Hoffman said...

(You can't blame Matt. His dad still refers to tech as "whiz bang.")

Bob Summers said...

Ken,

Maybe you could suggest to him that Apple make a camera and maybe become the father of the iCam or something way cool.

CarolMR said...

Happy Birthday, Matt!

tb said...

Great photos!

Johnny Walker said...

Awesome photos!

Anonymous said...

Ken,

Ask your kid why Apple dropped the "Aperture" program, and left pro photographers with no replacement, except "Photo"!

Thousands of pictures I have to try to transfer to Adobe Lightroom!!!!

Morons!!

Except your son.

Unless he had something to do with it.

Sammy Davis, aka Candyman said...

Watching the Dick Van Dyke show recently, I accidentally noticed: Makeup - Tom Tuttle. Was that a factor in naming your John Candy character in Volunteers?

Barry Traylor said...

I suppose this counts as a Friday question. This past weekend I rented the 1st season of MASH and it seemed the character of Radar was slightly different from later seasons. A bit more scheming (but in nice way) and a bit more mature. In one episode is caught by a General drinking Henry Blake's brandy and I thought in later years he only drank soda pop.

norm said...

Ahh those photos....to think I walked by those views, each one.
Happy times in Italy.

Sam said...

NORM!

Stinky Pete said...

@Barry Traylor:

In the original MASH (the novel and then film) Radar O'Reilly was conceived of as a somewhat conniving and world-wise character, despite his youth. When the show went to television, the creators kept some of this aspect about him at first, but then quickly re-tooled him as a naive farm boy from Ottumwa, Iowa--virginal, never drank, gets sick from cigars, etc.

For better or for worse, this latter incarnation of Radar is the one that (most) people know and love.

Unknown said...

Remember Matt's shocking discovery of CT under Kahala beach umbrella? Congrats on both of your offspring, Beev. "Little Annie" from Northwestern also doing well.

Chicken Katsu is Alive, Alive!!!

Aloha from the places you can't pronounce :)

Barry Traylor said...

Stinky Pete said...

Thanks for that insight, I thought that might have been the reason (thought it just after I posted of course. Been decades since I saw the film so I had forgotten that.