The face of a franchise.

 

I’m a Mets fan so I can sit back today and bask in the glory of what is another Yankee failure.

I can almost hear the grating warble that is John Sterling’s voice reciting his end of game mantra,

“The Yankees lose!

The Yankees LOSE!

THE YANKEES LOSE!”

You’ve got to love it and nothing is truly better than seeing A-Rod, the glaring symbol of Yankee excess standing at the plate and striking out to end the game. Taking a nice collar of 0 for 4 with him into the off-season, including an at bat where the bases were loaded and the Yankees walked away impotent.

Really, as Mets fans we should have all been rooting for the Yankees because their loss does nothing more than guarantee they will be active in the pursuit of Jose Reyes this off-season. But, that’s okay because truthfully as much as I love Jose, it’s time to call it a day. Nothing that can justify spending so much money over the period of so many years on a player who makes Rickie Henderson and his hammy look like the picture of health. Jose is an explosive player, he can be a game changer but, if there is anything Mets fans have learned over the last five or six years, it’s he is incredibly fragile and prone to injury.

So, watching the Yankees go down in a glorious if somewhat quiet defeat has a particular ring of satisfaction to Mets fans who have been told all season how bad their team is and how the front office (and ownership) can’t do anything right. Things won’t be getting easier for these Yankees now as C.C Sabathia will undoubtedly opt out of his contract (and leave $92 million on the table) in an attempt to squeeze even more money out of his employers.

This is a Yankee team that spent over $200 million this year only to watch it’s $31 million man swing at air when the whole season was on the line. The highest paid player on the team with the highest payroll in baseball came up short and as a baseball fan I love that because it speaks to the fact that money doesn’t buy you a World Series champion.

And of course, there will always be those great shots of Yankee fans shown throughout the game: crying, praying, looking as if their world was coming to an end. Awash with surprise and disbelief that their team was on the precipice of coming up short, contrary to what entitled Yankee fans embrace as their worldview. The same people who can’t shut up the rest of the year, the same fans who lord it over Mets fans, the same fans who for many (not all) it all comes down to following a winner, not so much being a fan of baseball.

It couldn’t have been written better, A-Rod, mighty A-Rod has struck out.

I actually feel like crying.

I imagine this underlines yet again that no one gets a guarantee on how long a ride they’ll get on the planet. In this case, I’m a bit torn because every indication I ever read was that Steve Jobs had a bit of a tendency to be something of a tyrant (and a bit of a dick) but there is no denying this man had an incredible impact on the world.

A lot of people think of Apple and immediately think of Jobs but the truth is there is another Steve and that Steve was responsible in large part for putting Apple on the map to being with.

But if I can give Jobs credit for anything, I can give him credit for returning to Apple when it was floundering, when the company was at its lowest point and for revitalizing it in a way people could have hardly believed possibly. If Apple is a success today, if Apple has come back from the brink, it is in large part to the dynamic efforts of Steve Jobs.

I wouldn’t have a job or a career today if not for Jobs so I owe him and a lot of the people I know in my professional life owe him as well. We all owe him a huge debt of gratitude for changing the landscape in both a good way and a bad way.

This is akin to losing the Edison of our generation:

In the annals of modern American entrepreneur-heroes, few careers traced a more mythic sweep. An adopted child in a working-class California home, Jobs dropped out of college and won the title “father of the computer revolution” by the age of 29. But by 30 he had been forced out of the company he had created, a bitter wound he nursed for years as his fortune shrank and he fought to regain his early eminence.

Once out of the wilderness of exile, however, he brought forth a series of innovations — unveiling them with matchless showmanship — that quickly became ubiquitous. He turned the release of a new gadget into a cultural event, with Apple acolytes lining up like pilgrims at Lourdes.

I really like this.

You’ve heard this I’m sure but it’s the kind of infectious pop that always appeals to me. It’s almost an anthem in many ways (probably one of the reasons I love TubThumping by Chumbawumba). I have a feeling this will be making an appearance at stadiums before too long but until it gets played out I really love it:

Fatty Gets A Stylist Biography

All music is innocent until proven guilty. To triangulate our sound, pick up signals from Kraftwerk, The B-52’s and Goldfrapp. Or think of a half-remembered fever dream featuring Ferris Bueller and Grace Jones.

All bands are transient. The album ‘Fatty Gets A Stylist’ was mostly written and recorded on a lap top over... several months in the different locations we found ourselves in between Australia, South East Asia and our loft which is unfashionably located in West London.

Our singer’s name is Kate Miller-Heidke. Her name may sound familiar but her voice will not. Not even her own band recognised she was Fatty’s singer because of the unusual use of her lower register. Keir Nuttall is a guy who programs and produces.

Other musicians include bass player Justin Meladl-Johnsen (Air, Beck, Nine Inch Nails) and drummer Pete McNeal (Cake). Mickey Petralia (Flight of the Conchords, Back, The Eels) engineered and played percussion on much of the record.

Movie Mondays!

LOST rushes headlong to the series conclusion in Season 6 picking up immediately where we left off in Season 5 (after a bright, white flash). If there is a theme to the season it’s... PEOPLE DIE! So, if you have a favorite character or two don’t be too surprised because very few make it to the end but what an end it is! Mysteries are answered but quite a few aren’t and that’s okay because the island is a mysterious place. There are high points and low points but you will find out the story behind Richard, Jacob and The Man in Black and that is easily worth the price of admission alone. There are a few gut-wrenching, heart-breaking moments too! While any LOST fan is sorry to see the series end and there are even some who didn’t like the ending, the fact remains if you’ve watched the series up to this point you simply can’t bail on Season 6 and you’d be missing out if you did. If you haven’t watched any of LOST then treat yourself and start with Season 1 and fo all the way through - unlike the rest of us you won’t have to deal with the huge gaps between broadcast Seasons and you’ll quickly find why LOST has been so highly lauded by fans and pros alike. BY THE WAY - IF YOU’RE A LOST FAN YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THE BONUS FEATURES! THERE IS A GREAT TREAT WAITING FOR YOU!

I’m repurposing content by taking my NetFlix reviews and posting them here on the blog. If I could figure out a way to do it, I’d post some kind of link for people to connect and make me their friend on the service. Unfortunately, it isn’t altogether clear how one would do that - so if you know a way, pass it along. In the meantime, I’ve got steady content for at least a year.

And now, for something completely different...

A Woman’s Perspective on the Internet

With the thought that as a man, it’s always good to hear a woman’s viewpoint if only to try and understand them better.

Movie Mondays!

One of rock’s great albums has a remarkable backstory which comes to light in this terrific documentary featuring interviews with all the members of Pink Floyd as well as the engineer who mastered the album (Alan Parsons). As familiar as I am with Dark Side of the Moon and the songs on it, it was wonderful to peer into the secrets behind the making of this record and the music itself. And the music takes center stage as Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Richard Wright all perform songs from the record at different points in the documentary. Created long before any digital equipment was available Dark Side of the Moon was ground breaking and a seminal event in the history of rock, the work still stands the test of time and fans of the band will be pleased with this look at one of the most popular albums of all time.

I’m repurposing content by taking my NetFlix reviews and posting them here on the blog. If I could figure out a way to do it, I’d post some kind of link for people to connect and make me their friend on the service. Unfortunately, it isn’t altogether clear how one would do that - so if you know a way, pass it along. In the meantime, I’ve got steady content for at least a year.

And now, for something completely different...

A Woman’s Perspective on Testicles

With the thought that as a man, it’s always good to hear a woman’s viewpoint if only to try and understand them better.

Why this country is f&%*$d!

Because people are actually buying into the Tea Party bulls&%t. Great case in point:

In the whole discussion about raising taxes on people making more than $1,000,000 one of the Tea Party members from Louisiana made the following remarks:

When host Chris Jansing noted that Fleming has an income of more than $6 million. Fleming said he actually takes home only a fraction of that. “The amount that I have to reinvest in my business and feed my family is more like $600,000 of that $6.3 million,” Fleming said. “So by the time I feed my family I have, maybe, $400,000 left over to invest in new locations, upgrade my locations, buy more equipment.”

Wow, it must be tough to scrimp by on just $400k for the year! And mind you, we’re not talking about a place like New York where the cost of living is so damn high, we’re talking about Northwest Louisiana. This is how out of touch these morons are.

Movie Mondays!

Surprisingly entertaining. Seen recently at an outdoor venue I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but found I really enjoyed the film, an exciting and different take on the staid Holmes. Guy Ritchie manages to deftly bring the detective into a version that appeals to today’s audiences. The pair of Downey and Law as Holmes and Watson worked exceptionally well together and the movie breezed by holding my attention throughout, a real popcorn flick, lots of fun.

I’m repurposing content by taking my NetFlix reviews and posting them here on the blog. If I could figure out a way to do it, I’d post some kind of link for people to connect and make me their friend on the service. Unfortunately, it isn’t altogether clear how one would do that - so if you know a way, pass it along. In the meantime, I’ve got steady content for at least a year.

And now, for something completely different...

A Woman’s Perspective on Flowers

With the thought that as a man, it’s always good to hear a woman’s viewpoint if only to try and understand them better.

Messages from the Fringe.

You know, every once in awhile I am really surprised by my fellow Americans but then again, I really shouldn’t be.

It stems from a really simple premise that only a fool believes... any reasonably intelligent person believes the people around them are reasonably intelligent as well.

BIG MISTAKE!

If you ever had a job where you had to deal with the general public, you quickly realize the flaw in this kind of thinking. And to illustrate that fact, I ask you this simple question: remember back to the days when you were in school, maybe that wasn’t long ago, maybe that was quite a bit back but, in every class without fail there was always one, two, three, four maybe even five of your fellow classmates who may have been nice kids but to put it simply were (and not to mince words here) dummies.

I mean, where do you think grading on a curve first came from?

So, every class had a few... of... these... DUMMIES!

Now, what do you think happened? Do you think they disappeared?

Chances are, they didn’t and not only that but they bred even more dummies because dummies don’t think about what it costs to raise a kid or the impact it will have on household economics.

And smart people?

They hold off having kids because they are worried about being able to raise them and also providing a good life for them and making sure they get a good education and in a couple of generations what happens (rather quickly when you think about it) is that there are more dummies than there are smart people.

And what do we get?

We get Sarah Palin as an actual vice-presidential candidate – a former weather girl (and I keep flashing on Ted Baxter from the Mary Tyler Moore show).

And now, we have a new round of people who you just stand with your mouth agape and wonder how it is possible the people in this country can seriously consider electing them as the commander in chief. Case in point - Michelle Bachmann. Mother Jones just ran a great story about Michele Bachmann and if you are a smart person and you don’t regularly reaed Mother Jones I have to ask you why you aren’t?

So take a look at this article because really, they did a great job on the article about George W. Bush back in ’99 and no one seemed to read it and we really need for things like this to get a much wider audience.

Movie Mondays!

Very enjoyable romp for the Justice League up against their Earth 2 counterparts. Some viewers may bring the albatross of comicbook continuity through the door with them but, if you leave your assumptions behind and view this on its own merit, its a lot of fun. It’s a tight, well-paced tale that gets high marks for the quality of the animation and also for voice acting. I enjoyed it a great deal and it’s a good watch for a family night (maybe 10 and above) holding the interest of young and old alike.

I’m repurposing content by taking my NetFlix reviews and posting them here on the blog. If I could figure out a way to do it, I’d post some kind of link for people to connect and make me their friend on the service. Unfortunately, it isn’t altogether clear how one would do that - so if you know a way, pass it along. In the meantime, I’ve got steady content for at least a year.

And now, for something completely different...

A Woman’s Perspective on Threesomes

With the thought that as a man, it’s always good to hear a woman’s viewpoint if only to try and understand them better.

Some things just defy words.

Things like this music video which I came across when I was looking around to see what was on the web regarding the late, lamented Kiev.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program...

So, it’s been quiet around these parts because I’ve just been too busy, too stressed and not really inclined to write for awhile.

So, what I’m going to do is start going through the drafts queue of the blog and emptying everything out. Getting all those unfinished thoughts and bits out and into the interwebs because you know I just shit jewels baby! JEWELS! Anyway, this is from early August

Talk about a comeuppance.

Stocks posted a severe drop today, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 4.3% and the Nasdaq crumbling over 5%.

By the end of the day there were few places left to hide. Gold, silver, crude and yields on Treasuries all fell sharply as traders looked for safety and were met by nothing but falling prices. Over the last 10 trading days stocks have lost more than 10%, the traditional definition of a market correction.

Today’s selling started in Europe and picked up steam as American investors, already twitchy in the wake of the debt ceiling debacle, suddenly preferred cash over all other assets. The selling began overseas, but we have more than our share of problems in the U.S. as well.

There’s a growing realization among even the most optimistic investors that the United States is entering a new recession—a dreaded “double-dip.” Adding to the pain is the sense that the government and Federal Reserve are out of both ideas and ways to stimulate the economy.

 You know, there are people in this world who are just plain crazy. These are people you can’t even remotely reason with and there is no shortage of them on either the right or the left.

When Bush was President all the fringe people on the left were running around up in arms about everything and now we have people on the right in the form of these Tea Party idiots.

And using the term idiot in this case is appropriate because the Tea Party people believe
it’s so important to make a point about the size of government and government spending that they are more than happy to drive the bus right off a cliff to drive that point home.

Consequently, just when the economy starts to get better, just when consumer confidence is starting to return... well let’s put the brakes on all of that by making sure we can politicize and draw out the debate on government spending to the point where it looks like a very real possibility that the federal government will default on its obligations.

And that’s just what they did.

So, you know what the upshot on all of it was, do you know what the end result of their proving a point was, they cost the US taxpayer (that‘s you and I brother) so much more money as the cost of government borrowing went up because the credit rating of government debt was downgraded.

Thank the fools in the Tea Party for that.

I’ve spoken with a couple of people over the last few weeks, people whose opinion I respect but also people who are all too ready to buy into the propaganda that is being spewed forth under the guise of facts. It’s the kind of thing that would make Josef Goebbels proud. This thing about the government spending being greater than at any other time in history or of any other president combined...

D’uh!

Let’s measure things in 1776 dollars morons.

Anyway, I’ve been accused of a lot of things over the last few weeks. Today, I was accused of being a Democrat even though I’m a registered Republican. The fact that I am more moderate, the fact that I believe in compromise and working together as the only way to move the country forward simply doesn’t sit well with the ‘True Believers.’

You know the other thing that is worrying to me? What worries me is underlying all of this rhetoric, there is this veiled racism. I don’t think I’m the only one that senses it but I get this sense that it is there. Like some kind of Great White Hope the Tea Party people hold out for salvation against the President.

It’s sad.

It’s sad because there are times I can readily see some of these morons donning white sheets (and it’s not all of them but there are a couple who are really out on the fringe). And me, I’m creeped out by it. I’m creeped out by it and I’m embarrassed too – you would think better of us.

I keep thinking to myself about all the things the President has done that have gone well. He wasn’t handed a good situation by his predecessor but he managed to steer the ship of state in the right direction and the economy had begun to recover. He got the first part of health care reform pushed through Congress (which reminds me of all the people who derisively call it ObamaCare without ever having read the actual bill). They even managed to finally get Osama.

I was talking to a friend the other day and he made a good observation. He noted how there were a few detractors who wanted to try the President for treason but the interesting thing is that you have members of Congress on the extreme right who knew they were doing harm to the country but stood fast rather than compromise to prove their point.

And my friend said, ‘Shouldn’t they be the ones who are tried for treason.’

And I’ll be damned if I didn’t agree with him.

Movie Mondays!

Everything ends, even things we love - as is the case for David Tennant’s turn as Doctor Who. Why is it not a surprise the actor’s run ends on such a high note? Russell T. Davies hands off the reigns on a franchise he revived (to the delight of Who fans everywhere) and one only hopes his successors will mirror Davies’ efforts. John Simm reprises his role as The Master, who we thought we’d seen the last of but, is he quite the villain we really believed him to be? Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins) features large in this finale. Any fan of the Tenth Doctor will not want to miss this. The finale is all at once exciting, heroic, suspenseful and of course a little sad as we say our goodbyes to the characters who we have grown so fond of over the last few years. If you haven’t seen any of the Davies’ Who series, I urge you to go back and watch from the beginning of Davies run because they are entertainment for both the young and old.

I’m repurposing content by taking my NetFlix reviews and posting them here on the blog. If I could figure out a way to do it, I’d post some kind of link for people to connect and make me their friend on the service. Unfortunately, it isn’t altogether clear how one would do that - so if you know a way, pass it along. In the meantime, I’ve got steady content for at least a year.

And now, for something completely different...

A Woman’s Perspective on Murder

With the thought that as a man, it’s always good to hear a woman’s viewpoint if only to try and understand them better.

Movie Mondays!

A laughable movie which reinforces in scene after scene the dysfunction of many Middle Eastern societies. Depicting the events after a man’s death, the viewer is given a view of how his surviving family deals with that death and their daily lives in Iraq. Of course, Americans are the villains of the piece, being infidels and responsible for the world’s evils. Yet, out of the subjects’ mouths, time and time again, spew all manner of hatred, bigotry and sexism. This is a movie laden with irony and is meant to fuel the anger and passion of apologists everywhere but it I found it to be a perfect example of just how naive and ignorant the average Iraqi is. Of course, it’s not just Americans who are villains - it’s Jews, it’s Kurds, it’s non-Muslims... it’s even fellow Muslims if they belong to a different sect. Everyone is guilty but their own leaders, the same leaders who do their level best to whip the crowd into a frenzy by directing anger and dissatisfaction at external forces in the tradition of dictators and tyrants throughout history. We even are treated to a speech by Muqtada al-Sadr, more propaganda spewed under the guise of religion. It’s a very biased view of some very biased people and their daily lives in Iraq, not worth viewing unless you are suffering from a malady sometimes referred to as liberal guilt.

I’m repurposing content by taking my NetFlix reviews and posting them here on the blog. If I could figure out a way to do it, I’d post some kind of link for people to connect and make me their friend on the service. Unfortunately, it isn’t altogether clear how one would do that - so if you know a way, pass it along. In the meantime, I’ve got steady content for at least a year.

And now, for something completely different...

A Woman’s Perspective on Daddy Issues

With the thought that as a man, it’s always good to hear a woman’s viewpoint if only to try and understand them better.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program...

So, it’s been quiet around these parts because I’ve just been too busy, too stressed and not really inclined to write for awhile.

So, what I’m going to do is start going through the drafts queue of the blog and emptying everything out. Getting all those unfinished thoughts and bits out and into the interwebs because you know I just shit jewels baby! JEWELS!

And on the heels of the last post, out of the archive I came across this unfinished thought from August 2010:

Change.

Sometimes, we are fixed in place and there is a vague sense underlying our days and minutes that hints at some dissatisfaction or ennui. In those moments, we think about how we would change our lives and change ourselves, whether it is possible and what form that change would manifest itself as.

I’ve been having those moments lately.

With them is the sense of wanting to do more, to be more, to get involved in ways there doesn’t always seem to be the time to do. The big problem more than anything is I’m an incredible time waster, left to my own devices, I can hole up and while away the hours quite comfortably very happy with my own company and taken voyages along whatever path catches my interest.

I’ve seen it happen too often and it’s something I’m starting to tire of.

Still, I wonder if we can ever truly change our nature.

There was a time I believed it was parents who had more influence than not in the adult a child becomes and while I know they do I’ve come to the realization that there is just so very much about us that is hard-wired, things that have nothing to do with external forces, things that nature put there in the womb in an amazing alchemy. These equations become readily apparent after watching so many of my friends and family have kids, raise them in the same household, only to watch how very, very different their personalities can be even though they are exposed to the same environmental forces.

I’m very lucky though. I’m lucky in ways I couldn’t even begin to pass along and I often realize that. That amazing luck is what keeps me going when things look their bleakest and time and time again it has manifested itself, even though it is...

AND THAT’S WHERE I TRAILED OFF.

But thinking about it now, I do consider myself quite lucky. I’m waiting to hear on something that will tell me in many ways just how lucky I might be. I’ve got my fingers crossed you might say.

I spend too much time worried or unhappy it seems (at least to me) and then I always flash back on that old saw about ‘counting your blessings.’ And I have to think how lucky I am in so many ways. Things I guess other people take for granted but again flashing back on my upbringing and the whole being poor thing, I consider myself very lucky indeed.

But should we settle?

Does there come a point where we should be settling for anything in life when the time we have allotted to us is so very precious?

I wonder about that a lot because as I said back in ’10, I’m a big time waster and thinking about it now I really have to fix that...

stay tuned.

Change.

I’m not a big fan of change.

Well... maybe I should qualify that. I’m a big fan of change FOR THE BETTER, it’s just change all too often doesn’t seem to fall under that heading.

And the truth of the matter is, for the earlier part of my life I had a lot more change than is good for a person. We moved around a lot, a lot more than even those so-called “military brats” and when we moved it wasn’t for good reasons because we were so very poor.

I don’t talk about how poor we were when I was growing up and really I only have a true appreciation of the situation now as I’m older but, man! Dirt was rich compared to us.

So, as I’ve racked up the years, change isn’t always something I cotton to.

And when I talk about change, it isn’t just about places, it’s about people as well. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve been steadily employed for the most part over the last year with the same client and the truth of the matter is I like that even though there are times people seem to go out of their way to make you feel like the bastard stepchild simply because you’re a freelancer.

But not everybody is like that.

And some people aren’t about lording over others just so they can feel better about themselves, some people approach the rest of the world just as people and you can deal with them on an one to one basis and that’s the fertile ground where friendships can be formed.

I’ve been lucky too because my business is a young business. The business I’m in (which it seems is not too dissimilar from most American businesses these days) favors youth and part of that is economics but another aspect is also because there is a sense that youth can be a well-spring of fertile and creative ideas (although I’m coming to the conclusion there is nothing really new, just a regurgitation of the hackneyed in a new form).

Even though I am surrounded by young people, every once in awhile I am surprised. I am surprised by the quality and calibre of their personalities, their integrity, their intelligence, their grace. I’ve been fortunate in that over the last year there have been two people who I have shared space with – what I would call office neighbors — who I have just found delightful (a descriptor that seems very uncharacteristic springing from my lips).

They are though and in each case my neighbors have gone on to greener pastures, one left a few months back and one will be leaving by the time it posts to the blog. I cheer their successes, I really do but I also have to say I miss (will miss) them because they make coming to work so much nicer for me.

You know, in many parts of life the one thing you have no power over is who your neighbors will be and this is whether we talk about work or where you live (maybe I should say the place you stay when you’re not working because so many people’s lives today are their jobs). It seems so simple but it can have a big impact on how much or how little you enjoy life and thinking about it now I have been very lucky because I have been blessed with some very good neighbors.

I hope when the new people move in they’re just as nice.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program...
So, it’s been quiet around these parts because I’ve just been too busy, too stressed and not really inclined to write for awhile.

So, what I’m going to do is start going through the drafts queue of the blog and emptying everything out. Getting all those unfinished thoughts and bits out and into the interwebs because you know I just shit jewels baby! JEWELS!

Anyway, this is from 2006 (wow five years!)

Women I Love, Wednesdays.

Disclaimer - Everyone is supposed to have a type, at least that‘s what I’ve been told. This is a trait which is attributed to women and men alike. I have tried to figure out if I have a ‘type’ and have found myself at a loss to come up with a single distinguishing characteristic which is common to all the wonderful women I have been blessed with to have as partners. The only common factor I could think of was they were all beautiful (to my eye), intelligent and pleasant company.

Even now, though we may have gone our seperate ways, I consider myself fortunate to have enjoyed their time and attentions.

So, I was going to use this as a regular content bucket. I still might. Basically I was going to post pictures of women I found attractive and write a few lines about them or link to some stuff about them but then I got to thinking it may come across as overly pervie or sexist. The weird gray area you get into as you get older and all of a sudden you are supposed to stop having sexual thoughts.

I may still do this though, first I have to get all 241 drafts (and diminishing) out of the drafts queue.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program...

So, it’s been quiet around these parts because I’ve just been too busy, too stressed and not really inclined to write for awhile.

So, what I’m going to do is start going through the drafts queue of the blog and emptying everything out. Getting all those unfinished thoughts and bits out and into the interwebs because you know I just shit jewels baby! JEWELS!

Anyway, this is from 2006 (wow five years!)

How I spent Yom Kippur.

You notice things like a Jewish holiday in and around New York more than other places. Probably because we have a nice healthy-sized population of people of the Hebrew persuasion. It makes me wonder sometime what it is like in other cities where that is not the case.

Living in New York, you have to be acutely aware of these things in a way other Goyim are not. It’s part of the heritage of being a New Yorker and it’s a good thing. Thinking about Yom Kippur makes me think about the first Shiva call I had to make over the summer. I had never made a Shiva call before and the circumstances surrounding this one were quite sobering.

I was about 12 when I first met Jackie.

It would be around 1972 when Flo, Jackie and Laurie became a part of my life. They would be a big part of my life from 72 to around 76 or thereabouts I think. Jackie was the older daughter of a very sweet woman (Flo) my father was dating then. It was through Flo and her family I wound up meeting a wonderful group of people. People who would become important to me throughout my years as a teenager. I got exposed to a lot of things I would have otherwise missed out on and been a lesser person for it.

There was Flo, Jackie and Laurie - we wound up spending a lot of time together for a period. Me, a boy on the cusp of being a teenager, an only child to boot, it was a bit of an adjustment being exposed to this household of women. It wasn’t a problem so much as being a kid in a candy store with two very beautiful girls in close proximity to my own age.

Jackie, two years older than me and Laurie a year younger, our parents dating and as a result, all of us thrown in together because of it. We would go out with our parents and have a wonderful time. I saw Gilbert and Sullivan plays because of Flo. I remember going to see Ben Vereen in Pippin on Broadway and seeing Gigi and the Desert Song as well. Also, I can recall dinners at La Crepe and the Hawaii Kai - vaguely mind you but, with fondness nonetheless.

Laurie would have been my first girlfriend and Jackie... well Jackie was the cool, good looking, older sister young boys always dreamed about. She was that unobtainable woman because even though only seperated by two years, I was very much considered a kid.

Life through memory’s prism is a highlight film, all the best moments there for you. It’s the magical times and magical people who made a lasting impact on you. They are fixed in your memory and if you grow out of touch they remain there unchanged by time. You look back on life and it’s funny the things which stick with you. Memory is interesting. You block out a lot of the bad stuff and the past takes on a rosy tint. It’s a wonderful glow, free of the suffering and trauma that may existed when it happened.

A lot of my memories are of those people and of those times because they were good times indeed.

Flo was always considered in and around the family as the one my father let get away. She was a nice outgoing and attractive woman, people liked her, I liked her. I’ll never know what the reasons were for the rift between the two of them (my father and Flo), it was just a matter of one day my father had a new girlfriend on his arm - she was just another of many of the good partners he let slip from his grasp but, that’s a tale for another day.

As the years went on, while we all moved out of each other’s lives for the most part - we would still encounter each other in an almost comet like fashion briefly coming in and out of each other’s orbit. Jackie, while she got older and changed, was ever the very lithesome and pretty young woman of my teenage fantasies.

Earlier this year, in the maelstrom of cleaning up and dealing with the storm of the EYOC’s many affairs, I came across some old letters from Flo to him. She had obviously made her mark in his heart and he had saved those things she had written to him long after they were apart. I couldn’t throw them out and I had to admit to feeling a bit of an interloper having chanced upon them. Thing was, the letters (cards) made the passion between my father and Flo a very concrete thing.

As it was, it got me thinking how I hadn’t talked to Flo in a long time and how it might be a good thing for the EYOC to have a visit from her. So, I called and it was wonderful. I wound up meeting Flo for lunch and then accompanying her on the visit to EYOC and overall it was a very good day. ‘The girls’ would be glad to hear their mother had news of me and they were doing well.

Five months later, I got the call that Jackie was gone...

There is a bench in the New York Botanical Garden now that has a plaque on it with Jackie’s name. I contributed to it but the bench doesn’t begin to attest to the woman she was. And since I started this five years ago, I’m older than Jackie was when she passed and her passing was so very sudden. It speaks to the nature of how there are no guarantees of tomorrows or that we will even be remembered for the time that we had here.

I miss her. I didn’t see her much as the years progressed but I still miss her. And I carry within me a whole host of memories of her time here so she lives on in that way.

A year or two back, Flo invited me over to share in her Passover Seder and I felt both privileged and honored to be extended the courtesy. Laurie was there with her husband and two children and she turned to me at one point and made note of the fact her daughter is at the age now that we were at when all of us first met. And we commiserated because, could it really have been that long ago? And seeing her daughter, were we really that young and innocent (because surely at the time we knew it all).

But that’s the way things go and the one thing that’s assured is life changes, the world changes all around us each and every day. It doesn’t stand still for any one of us so you better make use of what is allotted you.

That Jackie though... boy, she was a peach.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program...

So, it’s been quiet around these parts because I’ve just been too busy, too stressed and not really inclined to write for awhile.

So, what I’m going to do is start going through the drafts queue of the blog and emptying everything out. Getting all those unfinished thoughts and bits out and into the interwebs because you know I just shit jewels baby! JEWELS!

Anyway, this is from 2006 (wow five years!)

Apologists and you.
I try to read a healthy amount. Most of my reading isn’t what one would could attest to the most prestigious of sources but I still make the attempt nonetheless. I grew up in a family and environment where reading was encouraged and I find it is something which has served me well through time.
I like picking up both of the New York tabloids each and every day. Each comes at the world from a slightly different vantage point even if tabloids are held in the highest regard. There’s also the Village Voice which I enjoy picking up when I have the occasion. Along with these print media outlets, there are a smattering of blogs and different online news sources I read on a regular basis too. Finally, I watch the news fervently, having no allegiance to any source, it’s more about soaking up the information wherever it comes from. Oh, and NPR, let’s not forget the wealth of great shows on NPR I love too.

Aside from the NY Post and Fox News neither of which I bear a fealty to and admittedly sources I view with a bit of reservation given their editorial leanings - the news as it comes to me does not come from outlets in lockstep with the views of our current administration. Neither do they share the views of my party of record.

I don’t proscribe with blindly falling in with the party line, it never made sense to me.

One thing I have noticed and have commented on in the past (and will continue to do so) is how news, events, and rhetoric is painted in the most starkly black and white terms so as to be the most incinidery and the most divisive. Once again, I will issue my caution, if you are going to engage in any kind of dialog with me, if you even begin to want to convince me of your argument, you had better do it without falling into the easy ploy of absolutes. Once political bigotry starts spewing from your orifice, everything issuing forth thereafter lessens in impact and significance because you have already made it known you are a propagandist.

Case in point:

The perception of our country in some quarters of the world. Among all the things I read is a continuing litany of the failures of our foreign policy. Once again, people around the world seem to like us as people but hate the steps our government takes. Even if a large segment of our own population isn’t in agreement with the government’s actions, the media and populace in other countries cannot resist the urge to point out our failures, to question our judgement and to harp on our shortcomings.

Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of material coming from certain parts of the European community commenting on what failures the US has blundered through over the last half of the decade.

Why am I not surprised?

Well, I remember a time when there were these enormous protests against US policy in Europe, just gigantic. If you’re around my age you’ll remember them too - they were the protests over the US placing cruise missiles in what at the time was West Germany. You remember West Germany? The result of the Cold War where the victors of WWII split up a nation to use as a battlefield by proxy?...

You know I finished it there but the truth of the matter is in the 5 years since not much has really changed. Our foreign policy though well-intentioned is sometimes vilified by the very people it ultimately winds up benefitting.

One has to question our motives but at the same time I often get a sense the U.S. is like the clingy friend in the community of nations that will go out of its way to make sure the other nations like it. Even to the point of doing something that is self destructive.

And we really have to remember that because there are times when our own interests as a country are not served by putting another nations interest before our own.

Things are changing around us all the time but people don’t recognize trends in history until they are well past them. There have been a lot of things going on in the last year, a lot of things I truly believe are pointing to the underpinnings of our society and how weak the foundation that society is built on. You see different facets of it, different players in the conflict that will take place coming onto the stage and introducing themselves but you have to wonder where they will be positioned when the dust settles and who the victor will be.

And right not I’m speaking purposefully in the vaguest of terms because what I have to say would be better put off until another day. Needless to say there is a conflict brewing on the horizon, you are seeing it in the demonstrations that happened across the Middle East, you are seeing it in the economic calamity that is happening right now across Europe, you are seeing it in the demonstrations that recently took place in England and you are seeing it in the formation of the Tea Party. Lots of different agendas bubbling up across the globe pointing to a desire to change the status quo. It’s happening now, the signs are there but I can’t predict what will happen next.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program...

So, it’s been quiet around these parts because I’ve just been too busy, too stressed and not really inclined to write for awhile.

So, what I’m going to do is start going through the drafts queue of the blog and emptying everything out. Getting all those unfinished thoughts and bits out and into the interwebs because you know I just shit jewels baby! JEWELS!

Anyway, this is from 2006 (wow five years!) when Corey Lidle flew into a building in Manhattan with his small plane – in his defense the building must have moved.

The plane, flying north over the East River, along the usual flight corridor, came through a hazy, cloudy sky and hit The Belaire — a red-brick tower overlooking the river — with a loud bang. It touched off a raging fire that cast a pillar of black smoke over the city and sent flames shooting from four windows on two adjoining floors. Firefighters put the blaze out in less than an hour.

At least 21 people were taken to the hospital, most of them firefighters. Their conditions were not disclosed.

Large crowds gathered in the street in the largely wealthy New York neighborhood, with many people in tears and some trying to reach loved ones by cell phone.

“It wasn’t until I was halfway home that I started shaking. The whole memory of an airplane flying into a building and across the street from your home. It’s a little too close to home,” Sara Green, 40, who lives across the street from The Belaire. “It crossed my mind that it was something bigger or the start of something bigger.”

I guess I’m a bit of a sc*mbag because while I’m sorry Corey Lidle flew his plane into the side of a building, I don’t find it the earth-shaking tragedy the media is trying to make it out to be. I feel bad for the people in the building more than anything else, people who were injured and lost their lives. I feel bad for the Lidle’s family because they lost a father and a husband (and even then in a rubber neckers kind of way when you see a really bad accident alongside the road and know someone was fatally injured). Lidle as a person, doesn’t affect me that much.

Lidle was a Met a long time ago, hadn’t played for a New York team in quite a few years and only came back to play for the Yankees after a trade made at the trade deadline in late August. It’s more along the lines of Corey we hardly knew you he wasn’t a favorite player of mine or anything.

Actually, the odd and slightly ironic thing is on Monday, I was listening to Mike Francesa and Chris Russo take Lidle to task for quotes he made to the Daily News amidst the firestorm over Joe Torre and the possibility of him being fired. I’m not crazy about Mike and the Mad Dog to begin with and they were being purposefully obtuse throughout the conversation. They were being difficult to make a bigger deal out of something which was probably a fairly innocuous conversation.

Lidle: Well, that’s what I’m saying. My comment... the way you guys are taking my comments are just out of context and twisting it and you know, I... I’m sitting here trying to enjoy my day in New York and I get a... a text message from a friend of mine, says you better call and defend yourself.

Chris Russo: First off, first off, no... if I’m a Yankee... no... no Yankee fan should enjoy the day in New York, that’s number one. I mean, the Yankees just got embarassed. You got a manager whose... on... who might get fired who has been here for 11 years. If I’m a Yankee right now I’m in hiding! I’m not enjoying any day in New York! That’s number one! Yankee fans aren’t enjoying...

Lidle: Yeah... that’s, that... okay... hold on, who’s that talking?

Chris Russo: That’s Chris!

Lidle: Chris. Okay, so, I’m not allowed to enjoy this day in New York?!?

Chris Russo: Well, I don’t know many Yankee fans...

Unfortunately if you go to the link, it’s long since been removed by CBS which is a shame because it would be great to hear in retrospect.

Also, in keeping with the underlying and prevalent idea in our society that should you fuck up, it’s not your fault and someone else should be to blame (because we should never accept responsibility for our mistakes in this country and thereby never grow and learn) – Lidle’s widow tried suing the plane manufacturer:

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and a flight instructor did everything they could to save their lives after the small plane they were piloting malfunctioned, causing them to crash into a Manhattan building, a lawyer for the men’s families told a jury Wednesday at the start of a civil trial.

California attorney Todd Macaluso said he will prove that Lidle and his instructor were killed because Cirrus Design Corp., of Duluth, Minn., failed to properly design the aircraft, allowing a deficient flight control system to remain in the aircraft even though there was a better and safer alternative available at a reasonable cost.

A federal safety panel concluded that the crash occurred because Lidle and his instructor misjudged a turn.

Lidle’s wife, Melanie, and the family of Lidle’s instructor, Tyler Stanger, filed a $50 million lawsuit, blaming Cirrus for the crash.

Way to go!