Rant #2,228: Better Days

Yesterday was a difficult day for a lot of people.

Brett Kavanaugh was put through one of the most heinous displays of witch hunt hysterics during his hearing yesterday.

Anyone who believes what his accuser says, and I mean even one single word of what this liar has to say, has marbles in their head substituting for brains.

I do believe that Kavanaugh will win the battle, but lose the war.

He will become a Supreme Court judge, but because of baseless allegations supposedly taking place more than 35 years ago when he was a high school teenager, his name has been besmirched for life.

Yes, Sen. Joe McCarthy is rolling in laughter in his grave.

Now that that has been said, let me tell you about another person who had a bad day yesterday--my father.

Soon to be 87 years old at the end of November, my father--a former tough Marine during the Korean War years--stepped out of the car yesterday while taking my mother food shopping.

Evidently, he did not have good footing, because he fell, flat on his back, with the back of his head taking the most punishment from the fall.

He was rushed to the hospital, the nearest hospital from the location where they were at, in neighboring Suffolk County. The hospital is a bit of a hike from where they live, but you can't pick and choose your hospital in such a situation.

Anyway, my mother called me by about 10:30 a.m. in the morning, and I rushed over to the hospital, not returning to work for the rest of the day.

When I got there, he was in a bit of pain, and he soon went through a battery of tests to determine what the damage was.

He never lost consciousness, was cognizant throughout this ordeal, but his side and back hurt like the dickens.

After all of these tests, not only does my father have a welt on the back of his head that is the size of a silver dollar, but he has a mid-spine fracture and on top of that, pneumonia.

He will be in the hospital for at least the next few days, and he will be beginning therapy for his back and further evaluation of it while under the hospital's care. He will also begin whatever therapy is used to cure him of pneumonia, which he had two years ago and took him about six months to beat.

After years of sitting during his job as a cab driver, my father's legs aren't as strong as they used to be, and he has had some mobile issues in the recent past.

I guess that sooner or later he was going to fall again, and yesterday was the day.

My mother is doing OK considering everything, and she will be fine now that he is under the hospital's care.

I think that what happened brought her to the clear realization that while they are very active seniors, there comes a point where for some people, maybe the activity is too much.

My father is no longer 25 years old, and no longer is he the healthy, active and athletic figure that he once was.

His mind is fine, but his body is not keeping up with his mind.

I think he will make it--his strength is now more inward than outward.

So to sum up the day, well, if was a difficult one, for sure.

On top of everything, later that day, my wife and I went for our yearly physicals, and I am happy to say that we came out with glowing results.

We are doing pretty well for our age. Sure, we have some aches and pains and some other things that come with age, but we are, overall, physically fit.

Yes, that was the good news of the day, but yes, until my father is out of the hospital and back home, I will worry about him, and I will be concerned even after he is home.

He will make it, I am sure of it.

Have a good weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.

Classic Rant #880 (January 10, 2013): A Little Bit Now

Baseball's Hall of Fame voters signified with their non-vote yesterday that they at least need more time to examine those who flourished in the steroid era.

They didn't vote in anybody, steroid-tarnished or not, so they have made their priorities very clear indeed, doing "a little bit now" to show that those circumstances might not be tolerated by the voters, at least at the present time.

The perfect segueway ...

"A Little Bit Now" was one of the last U.S. charted singles by one of my favorite rock and roll groups of the 1960s, the Dave Clark Five.

It only reached No. 67 on the U.S. charts, but it always resonated with me.

I guess I like big, loud, fun music, and that is what this song is.

The Dave Clark Five (or DC5 for those who like shortened names) created the Tottenham Sound--a rocking, stomping sound--and they followed the Beatles to America.

The Beatles and the DC5 were the two top bands in the then-emerging "British Invasion" of music on our shores, where everything British was considered to be in and "mod."

Not only the Beatles and the DC5, but also Herman's Hermits, Petula Clark, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Freddy and the Dreamers, and later the Rolling Stones and the Who became popular over here, topping the charts with their music, seemingly out of nowhere.

The DC5's sound was almost like the music equivalent of the sound a DC5 jet makes when it takes off. With much of their music propelled by a saxophone, of all instruments, Dave Clark, Dennis Payton, Rick Huxley, Lenny Davidson and Mike Smith had the sound, the look, and the talent to win over our ears.

Of course, Smith's lead vocals were always a standout, too, and he is one of rock's most underrated vocalists for sure.

They had many, many hits in a short period of time: "Glad All Over," "Over and Over," "Bits and Pieces," "Catch Us If You Can," "Everybody Knows (I Still Love You)" ... the list goes on and on.

"A Little Bit Now" was really not one of them, making the lower reaches of the chart.

1967 was a great year for music. The Monkees were probably the world's top rock act, but the Beatles were not going quietly, releasing their "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" masterpiece that year.

Rumblings of new music were coming out of America's West Coast, and the music scene was changing.

The DC5 were pretty much past their prime in America, although earlier in the year, they did have their one last, great hit, "You Got What It Takes."

However, with the release of "Sgt. Pepper" in late June, popular music was about ready to change, and the DC5 were starting to be considered old hat.

"A Little Bit Now" came out in August of that year, and by that point, with "Sgt. Pepper" residing at the No. 1 spot in the album charts for two months at this time, well, the DC5 weren't going very far on the American charts.

But I loved the record, loved the picture sleeve, and really, I was a huge DC5 fan, so the record resonated with me.

It's one of those forgotten songs that no oldies station would ever play, because it didn't connect with enough people to move up the chart like their previous hits did.

The DC5 had a couple more chart hits in the U.S., but their popularity as a high-charting act was basically done here.

In England, however, for whatever reason, they picked up in popularity, and had numerous big hits there through 1970.

The DC5's good-timey, pounding music was finally recognized a few years back when they went into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame under a black cloud, but that is another story for another time.

I really liked the Dave Clark Five, and give a listen to the tune--if you haven't heard it, this song might just make you a fan, too.

Rant #2,227: Searchin'

Today, September 27, is pretty much like any other day on the calendar, with a bit of a twist.

That is because today is a day that changed all of our lives.

I don't know if it changed all of our lives for the better, but it did change our lives.

Twenty years ago today, in 1998, the Google Internet search engine was officially born.

If you are reading this blog, you have, sometime in your life, used the Google search engine to find something that you needed to know about.

Even if you prefer Yahoo, which I personally do, you cannot deny that you have used Google at least once in a while to find things on the Internet.

I don't know how many cumulative times Google has been used, but it probably goes into the trillions of times by now.

And even if you don't use Google regularly, you probably use its myriad of other services during your day.

YouTube is one of those services, and you might not know it, but the very "Blogger" service that I use for this Blog is a Google service, so right as you are reading this, you are using Google.

Heck, the name has become so associated with Internet searches that the very term of Google is not only a noun but has become sort of a slang-ish verb, such as in the sentence, "Go Google it," using the word as an action word.

As much as I prefer Yahoo--I think you get better searches and I also prefer its home page, with all the real and fake news on it--nobody says, "Go Yahoo it," so Google has itself one up on its main search competitor, at least in that regard.

And what actually does the word "Google" mean?

It is sort of a play on words.

It is derived from the word "googol," which means the digit one followed by 100 zeroes, a very high number in the grand scheme of things which is only used by scientists and mathematicians.

But even some people dispute that link between the two words--although in the past, Google has acknowledged this link--so it is really up to interpretation what the actual word "Google" means.

But the word falls off the tongue in a nice way, so whatever it means, it is easy to remember and a fun word to say and use.

And yes, today is acknowledged as its birthday, and if you go to its start-up search page, you will see "Google" spelled "G20OGLE" to honor itself on its birthday.

Yes, the Internet has changed our lives, and there are pieces of the Internet that have also changed ourselves forever, and who can deny that Google is one of those items?

So today, even if you don't use Google regularly, saunter over to the site and do a search, just to acknowledge it and its birthday.

I think that I will do that later today.

Why not?

Classic Rant #879 (January 9, 2013): Ban Rolls On

In 1991, 22 years ago today, Pete Rose was officially banned from Major League Baseball due to his gambling activities.

Baseball's all-time hits leader was banned from the game he excelled in because he bet on the game he loved, put wagers on games even while he was a manager.

Rose may not be the nicest person ever to play the game, but he certainly wasn't the worst. But betting on baseball--while in a position to affect outcomes of games--made him a pariah.

He claimed he never bet on games involving his own team, the Cincinnati Reds. But what difference did it make? He bet on baseball games as an active manager of a team.

The ban was a good one, one that has withstood more than two decades' time.

And since he was effectively banned from baseball, he was also banned from ever being voted into the Hall of Fame.

Today, baseball's erstwhile Hall of Fame will have to deal with another matter.

Steroids seeped into baseball in the 1990s, and for all intents and purposes, still ravages the game, even though MLB has a substance abuse policy in place.

Whether it is "the cream," andro, or some other foreign agent, baseball was infected with this virus starting about 20 years ago, and it affected everything having to do with the game, including personal performance.

Today, the Hall of Fame will vote on who should get into its hallowed halls, and for the first time, many prominent players from that era will be on the voters' ballot, many players who defined the era--even though they weren't convicted of doing anything illegal.

Names like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, and Mark McGwire are all on the ballot this year.

They either took performance enhancing drugs (PED) openly or were heavily suspected of taking them during at least part of their careers, leading to heroics related to offensive statistics, and in Clemens' case pitching statistics.

Bonds is the all-time home run leader, the others put up gargantuan numbers.

If you are a Hall of Fame voter, what do you do?

Do you take into account that these players may have taken steroids, may have been so ahead of the curve that they did it when it wasn't illegal to do so, or do you simply judge these players by the edge that they gained by taking these substances, and discount them totally?

Today we are a bit more enlightened about the use of steroids than we were way back when.

We know that the use of steroids for performance enhancement can damage parts of your body, make your mood swing abruptly, turn you into a walking/talking pharmaceutical chest, and ultimately, their use can kill you.

So what do you do with these players?

Not all ballplayers who took steroids excelled. For every Bonds, there were probably hundreds of players who really didn't benefit from their use.

But these guys did.

As a baseball fan since a very young age, I hate the fact that steroids tarnished the game. I hate the fact that steroids might have boosted certain players' statistics through the roof.

But they are a fact. And they are part of an era that we can't ever take back.

Certain players deserve to be in the Hall of Fame because of the cumulative wallop they made during their careers. They may have used steroids, but even prior to using them, they were absolutely gifted players who performed at a level that was almost beyond comprehension.

And that is why if I were voting for entrance into the Hall of Fame this year, I would put Bonds and Clemens on my ballot. Maybe not at No.1 and No. 2 on my ballot, but they would be on there.

They have never been convicted of anything, if they did use steroids--which is open to guess, but by all accounts they used something to boost their performance--they excelled while using them. They had long careers and very productive careers.

I won't lean to including McGwire or Sosa, because I don't think they had careers like Clemens and Bonds did. They were terrific players, but not Hall of Fame material.

Look, you can't take back that era. Every player who played during that era is, unfortunately, suspect.

But players have been using "substances" for decades to get them "up" for games. Read Jim Bouton's classic "Ball Four" and you will find that players had been using uppers and downers in the 1960s and early 1970s to get themselves ready for games, later drowning everything out with drink.

Not all players, mind you, but many players.

Again, uppers and downers are not steroids. They don't push performance. But many players, for decades, have been using things that the average weekend athlete would never think of to get read for games.

I would put Bonds and Clemens in.

And decades after Rose was banned, I might look at his story again too.

I think he has paid the ultimate price for what he did. Maybe it is time to re-examine him, or maybe the time hasn't come yet.

Whatever the case, I think baseball, and the other professional sports, must continue to attack this steroids plague, which still goes on today. New and better--and less detectable--substances are being created every year, and players are still being found out through drug tests.

I don't think this is going away anytime soon, and no, I don't think that either Clemens or Bonds will be getting in anytime soon, and the same goes for Rose.

It's just my opinion that it is time to not forgive and forget, but to take the whole ball of wax into account when judging players from that era.

Rant #2,226: Christmas in Jail

Yes, Coz got cuffed yesterday, and he will be spending Christmas--and a lot of other days--in jail in the immediate future.

Bill Cosby was sentenced from three to 10 years in jail after being found guilty earlier this year of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004.

Furthermore, Cosby will be forever listed as a "sexually violent predator," which basically means that for the rest of his life--he is 81--he will have to report his travel, work and address to the authorities, which will then be able to make that information public.

This is as sad and as upsetting a case as could possibly be, with one of the country's most famous, wealthy and beloved entertainers--yes, let's not forget that last one, because he was--falling faster than Humpty Dumpty off that proverbial wall.

"Bill Cosby sat on a wall,
Bill Cosby had a great fall,
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Cosby together again."

So for here on in, whenever we listen to one of his very funny comedy records, watch him in "I Spy" or the various Cosby shows, watch the "Fat Albert" cartoon series, or look back on his long career as a commercial spokesman, we are going to associate all the glee that he brought us with this dark side, where he evidently was canvassing Hollywood for needy women who gave up their bodies to him, actually thinking and believing that by doing so, they could advance their careers.

He was a moron, but these women really weren't the sharpest tools in the shed either.

And I ask this question again, because I simply don't get it: Where is his wife in all of this mess?

She must have known what was going on, she must have accepted his perversions, as long as she was taken care of.

But didn't she know that one mistake could cost her and her husband their very existences?

And yes, that mistake came evidently at the end of his run as a Hollywood casanova, and the mistake was that it didn't take place in Hollywood.

Look, for all the high and mighty talk that comes out of Tinseltown these days about moral righteousness, Hollywood has long been a bastion of perversion.

Yes, the casting couch exists, and has existed for eons, and will probably last for eons more.

Much is accepted in Hollywood that would never be accepted anywhere else, and Cosby played that into a virtually lifetime mental schism, on the one hand being the All-American hero and on the other side preying on women too weak--and too career driven--to say no to him.

The drugging was also accepted in Hollywood, so don't think that these women did not know what they were getting into when they caroused with him.

But the amazing thing is that the public was kind of shielded from all of this, and Cosby built up his reputation as a Hollywood icon because his behavior was rarely in question.

Funny, but the public did know about the various lawsuits and court cases over the years involving him and various women, some of which never got very far, some of which were ended by being paid off, and some of which were found to be unsubstantial.

But the public pretty much figured he was a target because he was such a nice guy, so well liked, so powerful and so engrained in the American framework, a black guy making it in a white society, and making it really, really big.

Funny, but all that it took was a two-bit comedian and a slip by the world famous comedian to bring this all to a head.

And while some will writhe with delight over the Cosby verdict, others of us--myself included--will be sad about the entire situation.

We were duped, maybe we wanted to be duped, but yes, we were duped into thinking that Cosby was an angel on earth, that we laughed along with him at life's little things, that we reveled at simply how popular this guy really was.

But sometimes, as the saying goes, the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and that suits Cosby to a T today.

You couldn't write this as a Hollywood script of pure fiction. Nobody would buy it.

But now, with Cosby a jailbird, it is real and it really happened.

What a shame.

Classic Rant #878 (January 8, 2013): The Weight of the World

I am overweight.

I weigh more than I should for my frame and body.

I am 5 feet, 9 inches, and I weigh over 200 pounds.

I wasn't always like this, but as I've gotten older, I have put on the weight.

Do I exercise? Yes, I do. I have been exercising since I was hit with that nasty pinched nerve in my neck that I have told you about in previous Rants. It's still there, not going away anytime soon, and I have to exercise to make it at the very least tolerable, which I have done.

I exercise about 10-12 minutes a day because of this. No, that's not much, but that was what was prescribed by my doctor, a low-impact regimen, which I do after lunch and after dinner.

Do I eat well? Yes, I do. My wife makes sure of that. We don't eat that much meat, and we have lots of pasta and fish.

Do I also eat things I shouldn't eat? You bet I do. I eat cake, and I just love cookies. I have never been a candy eater, even as a child, so I rarely have a piece of candy, but I just love cookies. And I love snacks like chips, too.

Does my job add to my weight? Yes it does. As a writer, I am sitting by my computer more than 10 hours a day, so although I try to move around, yes, my job contributes to my weight.

I am sure you heard recently that there is a study out where researchers claim that having a little extra fat is actually OK for you, and prolongs your life. That extra layer acts as something of a padding, and helps you get through times that those without such extra weight have trouble managing.

It's early in the year, and I could say that one of my New Year's resolutions is to lose weight.

I could say that, couldn't I?

But I won't. New Year's resolutions are made to be broken, designed to be sabotaged somewhere down the line.

Let's just say that although I am quite content at my current situation, and my health is very good, according to my last physical just a few weeks ago, I could stand to lose a couple of pounds.

I am not going to get crazy about it, but if I could lose just a little weight, I think that would be good.

The first thing I have to do is not eat so many cookies. I just love cookies, and what is better than cookies with a glass of milk?

I have to stop that, or at least lessen it.

Let's see where this journey takes me ... maybe nowhere, but at least I am cognizant of it.

Let's weight ... err ... wait and see what happens.

Rant #2,225: Pretty In Pink

Yes, three months from today, we will all be celebrating Christmas.

Yes, that is kind of scary--we were just swimming a few weeks ago, and now we are talking about the only day of the year that we pray for snow.

Somehow, I am going to segueway this out to our topic of conversation today, so here goes ...

Today is Cheryl Tiegs' 71st birthday today, and whatever this lady was wearing--a snow suit or a skimpy for the time bikini--she looked great in it.

Did I succeed in my segueway? Who cares! Let's get back to Tiegs!

Tiegs is often thought of as America's first supermodel, and whether that is correct or not, she was certainly the first supermodel whose method of delivery--television and magazines--put her in the upper level of her craft in the 1960s and 1970s.

Born in Minnesota, her family moved to California when Tiegs was a young child.

This became a fortuitous move, as Tiegs, while in high school, posed in a swimsuit ad for bathing suit maker Cole, and the rest is history.

She became as synonymous with the emerging California lifestyle as the Beach Boys did, and her All-American looks and figure ended up gracing probably thousands of bathing suit ads in both magazines and television during the next 20 years or so.

Whether it was for Glamour or Seventeen or Elle magazines, Tiegs was a hall of fame cover girl, turning male heads and often female heads too.

And she was the cover model for other types of magazines, including Time and People, covers she graced several times each.

She was the first model to appear twice on the cover of Sports Illustrated's annual Swimsuit issue, and was featured in this special issue in a range of bikinis, from your standard two piece to a fishnet version, which certainly turned a lot of heads.

But perhaps Tiegs became most famous for her work with Cover Girl. She may have been the first American model to get a $1 million modeling contract, and with Cover Girl being a cosmetics brand, the direction of that campaign was more on her face than on her figure.

But honestly, her figure and how she looked in a swimsuit were her calling cards, and even way past her peak years, when she was in her 50s and 60s, she continued to appear in magazines in swimsuits, breaking age barriers for such models in the process.

Tiegs was named to the "50 Most Beautiful People" list in People magazine in 2008, and has since appeared in a number of other publications, including Men's Health.

She has also designed clothing, acted in numerous TV shows and movies, and even appeared on TV's Celebrity Apprentice.

She has been married four times, and has three sons.

Tiegs' legacy is a great one. She was the true California girl that both the swimsuit and cosmetics industry wanted to promote in the 1960s, the All-American girl with a great look, top to bottom.

Later, she broke all barriers as she continued to ply her trade well into her 40s, 50s, and 60s, demonstrating that there is no age limit for beauty.

And to this day, she is probably one of the only American fashion models that people know by name.

Happy birthday to Cheryl Tiegs, who probably still looks great in a bikini into her 70s.

Classic Rant #877 (January 7, 2013): Saturday Night Is Not All Right

I read on Friday that Mark Simone, the host of WABC Radio's "Saturday Night" show, was moving over to radio rival WOR and that this eight-year-old show would be no more.

This was the last gasp of radio for me, the last show I really listened to on radio, and now, it's gone.

If you don't know anything about the show, let me fill you in.

About nine years ago, WCBS-FM, the No. 1 oldies station in the country, suddenly dropped that programming for something called "Jack," which was basically nameless, faceless, personality-less rock/pop radio that had worked quite well in other markets.

People who had listened to WCBS-FM were aghast at the change, and WABC saw a niche that needed to be filled.

WABC-AM was the top Top 40 radio station in the country in the 1960s through much of the 1970s, drawing in rating numbers that are hard to believe today. Millions of people in the New York area listened to the station, as well as millions of others who were able to get the station's strong signal for thousands of miles during the evening, both south and west.

The station had legendary disk jockeys like Dan Ingram, Ron Lundy and Bruce Morrow, and WABC was really the station that most others aspired to be, but never could be.

But tastes changed, and in the early 1980s, the station turned to all talk, and once again, it rose to the top of the ratings, standing today as the top talk radio station in the country.

Anyway, with a void to be filled without WCBS-FM doing oldies, they premiered a show originally called "Saturday Night Oldies," to run on Saturday nights, naturally. It was supposed to be a one-off mix of oldies music and reminiscences of the old WABC format, hosted by Mark Simone.

The one-off became so popular that it became a staple of New York radio, even when WCBS-FM finally came to its senses and returned to the oldies format just a few years after abandoning it.

Simone's show featured artists that you wouldn't hear anywhere else, people who had had their time, but people who hadn't crawled into a hole and faded away, either. Such artists as Jay Black, Gary Puckett, Micky Dolenz and the like were right at home on the show.

The show took on a life of its own, and listeners even had their own gatherings to salute the program, and to salute Simone.

Later in its existence, the show's name was changed to simply "Saturday Night," so it wouldn't be pigeon-holed into simply an oldies show.

The premise was basically the same, but the show expanded its guest list by doing this.

Heck, it even had newer performers, like Clay Aiken, as guests with this slightly changed focus.

Personally, I would record the show off the Internet, and listen to it later, so I was never caught up with the current program.

But wasn't it fun to listen to Todd Rundgren speak, or to hear what Pat Cooper had to say?

Well, it is no more.

On the show, especially for the past two years or so, you could hear in Simone's voice that he was tiring of the grind of doing a live, Saturday night show. He had other duties at the station--he certainly was WABC's top fill-in host, often subbing for Don Imus--and working six or seven days a week was not to his liking.

And then, he just picked up and left.

All good things must come to an end, and I guess that the "Saturday Night" show just ran its course.

But to many listeners like myself, we have just lost a good friend, our Saturday night companion, so to speak.

It's a sad time, because no one had a chance to say goodbye to the show. 

Simone's WABC exit seemed to be abrupt, but I had a feeling something was going on, because his podcasts weren't on the WABC website any more.

The whole thing is too bad, so this is my personal goodbye to the show and Simone.

Thank goodness I have a storehouse of these shows recorded, and can refer back to them if I wanted.

It really was radio at its best.

Rant #2,224: Christmas Party

Today is September 24, so we are just about three months away from Christmas Eve.

It is hard to believe, but the holiday season is just around the corner, and at least for me, it kind of started late last week, when a major announcement was made by the rock act that simply won't die.

Rhino Records announced that the Monkees will be releasing their very first Christmas album, called "Christmas Party," on October 12, and actually, the announcement was made by Rolling Stone Magazine, which, for whatever reason, has been very warm to the band in recent years after decades of utter disdain toward this act.

The album will follow pretty much the same formula as the one used for 2016's "Good Times!" which was certainly the surprise album of that year, finding itself on many best-of lists for the year and being the act's highest charting LP in 50 years.

So with that in mind, Michael Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork will be singing holiday themed songs written by the likes of Rivers Cuomo and Andy Partridge.

And yes, Davy Jones will appear posthumously once again, in redone tracks dating from the 1970s.

The one difference with this LP is that the threesome will also tackle some outside tunes. most notably "Jesus Christ," a song originally done more than 40 years ago by Big Star, and they will also do traditional Christmas tunes such as "Christmas Bells."

And what of the classic Christmas tunes the Monkees recorded decades ago, "Riu Chiu" and "Christmas is My Time of Year?"

Well, they will be included in an expanded edition only available from Target stores that will be released a few days after the regular release.

And for real completists, an actual vinyl LP version of the album is planned for release sometime in 2019.

Personally, I feel somewhat in the middle with Christmas releases.

I enjoy them in the moment, but once that moment is done, the album gets put away into my overall collection, and I might listen to the album--or single--once or twice and that is it.

And being Jewish, I am on the outside looking in on this whole thing, anyway, so Christmas recordings simply don't resonate with me.

I do have my favorites, though.

My favorite Christmas single is certainly "Snoopy's Christmas" by the Royal Guardsmen, which also features an excellent B side, "It Kinda Looks Like Christmas." When I hear the A side, I know the holiday season is upon us.

My favorite Christmas LP is certainly Paul Revere and the Raiders' "A Christmas Present ... And Past," a somewhat controversial album where Paul Revere, Mark Lindsay and other bandmates take on the holiday with sort of a moving target of songs and silliness.

I am sure "Christmas Party" will have something of a fun element to it, and its music will certainly turn up on numerous Christmas music playlists, but personally, I will probably listen to it once or twice and again, it will be put away for posterity.

Maybe I will be totally surprised, and with the "Mike and Micky" show ready to pick up again in the spring, who knows, maybe this album will become the keeper that "Good Times!" became.

I am ready for anything, and I am ready for "Christmas Party."

Ho, ho, ho ... !

Classci Rant #876 (January 4, 20123): WWE ... EEEEE!

A week ago, last Friday, my son and I went to another professional wrestling show at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.

We attended the WWE Raw Holiday Show, and once again, we were quite entertained.

Right before the dawn of the New Year, the WWE put on a nice show at the old arena.

The place was only about two-thirds sold out, but since the event wasn't televised--and was going smack dab against the televised WWE Smackdown program on television--you have to respect the amount of people who actually bought tickets for this thing.

Of the maybe 8,000-9,000 people were there, a huge percentage were kids, and I mean kids from about three up to pre-teens.

Thus, to me, the WWE show is more like a 21st century circus, but all the action takes place inside of one, single ring.

Many of the big names were there, including John Cena, the Derek Jeter of professional wrestling, who fought in a cage match against the guy who has emerged as the No. 1 villain in the WWE, Dolph Ziggler.

The match was as staged as all heck--and with so many kids in the audience, you weren't going to see anything but a staged match--but it was fun nonetheless.

There were several other bouts on the card, starring the likes of 21st century wrestling "superstars" Santino Marella, Zack Ryder, Jack Swagger and many, many others. In the WWE, every wrestler is considered a "superstar," so you have some superstars who are actually pretty good, and some who are pretty bad, pretty much depending on the character that they are playing.

Yes, professional wrestling is often not only a circus, but it is a live cartoon.

Wrestlers often seemingly get pummeled, then somehow get back on their feet and gain a victory.

Yes, wrestlers do get hurt, they do get injured. I have seen it first hand in many of the matches my son and I have seen.

But the injury often happens when a wrestler misses his cue, isn't at the right place at the right time.

Sometimes the injury just happens because of the way a wrestler falls, or jumps, or lands.

But at this show, right before the New Year and with so many kids in attendance, this wasn't going to happen, or at least they were going to do everything to prevent it from happening.

That being said, a fun night was had by all, including my son and I.

My son loves wrestling, it is his passion, and I go along for the ride each time.

I was once like him when I was a kid, and I understand it. It is almost a right of passage.

So when the WWE comes around again, we will probably be there.

It's fun, not expensive compared to other professional sports, and it is entertaining.

What more can you ask for?

Rant #2,223: It Takes Two

Here we go again ...

The Bert and Ernie debate rages on!

No, this is not akin to the Ginger vs. Mary Ann debate, but centers around the sexuality of puppets.

Yes, puppets.

The venerable Sesame Street duo--who have been around for about a half century at least, and hit the big time when Sesame Street debuted in 1969--are once again being dissected, this time by a former Sesame Street writer who happens to be gay.

He said that he injected some of his own relationship with others into the characters, meaning, of course, that the puppet duo are gay.

Yes, he politicized puppets by injecting his own agenda into their very being.

How PC of you!

Of course, I don't believe in this balderdash nonsense, and I wrote about it way back in Rant #557, August 11, 2011.

Here is what I had to say, in edited form:

"In this politically correct world we live in, nothing is sacred. People can't live well enough alone because it isn't the "right" thing to do in their minds.

Such is the latest case where people have completely lost their vision, striving to use children's characters to further their own political gain.

Bert and Ernie are among the central characters of "Sesame Street," the ground-breaking children's TV show which has delighted--and educated--generations of viewers since 1969. Sure, they have lived together for years, but their relationship seems to be more like "The Odd Couple" than anything else. Felix Unger and Oscar Madison, not anything else.

And their very characters are based on Bud Abbott and Lou Costello to begin with.

But some people believe that to push forward gay marriage, such characters must show their "true" side and get with the times.

What a load of hogwash!

To have children's characters support an adult agenda is ridiculous.

These are puppets. They aren't real, but in kids' eyes, they are icons.

But does a six year old think about his or her sexuality? Does a six year old think about such characters' sexuality?

Do they even know what that means?

The move to get Bert and Ernie to admit their "relationship" simply sexualizes characters who really don't have such thoughts.

They are puppets. They don't really exist.

The tandem of Bert and Ernie is not Ellen Degeneres, who came out on her TV series, nor are they all of the celebrities who have come out of the closet in recent years.

They are kids' characters, not people, nothing more.

It is this type of thinking about Bert and Ernie that turns so many people off of gay rights.

It's beating people over the head with your beliefs, and it is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Leave kids' stuff alone. If you want to further gay rights, make stronger anti-discrimination laws, laws that will fully integrate gays into our society.

Don't legislate Bert and Ernie. And don't sexualize them."
As usual, the latest salvo is being heralded by the PC inclusion crowd, who think that it is wonderful that such characters are part of the LGBTQ community.

Others, like me, think it is simply the pushing of an agenda, nothing more, to make what was once thought of as abhorrent behavior into something "normal."

You want to think of Bert and Ernie as gay, well, bully for you. Think what you want.

You have lost it, totally lost it ... sure, a gay writer is going to say what he said to get his 15 minutes of fame, but the basic point is that Bert and Ernie are not gay, they are not straight, they have no sexuality at all.

They are puppets.

Heck, with idiotic PC thinking, kids puppets that preceded them on TV--Kukla and Ollie--present a real fine mess.

How did Fran fit into this three-way relationship?

Please.

Speak to you on Monday. Have a good weekend.

Classic Rant #875 (January 3, 2013): World Wide Webb

Sixty-one years ago today, in 1951, the TV show "Dragnet" made its television debut, and the world of TV police drama has never been the same since.

Starring Jack Webb, its creator, as no-nonsense cop Sgt. Joe Friday, the NBC-TV show not only made Webb a star, but it changed the face of that genre forever.

Beginning its long run on radio, Webb had definite messages he wanted to bestow on the public, and he used "Dragnet" as a springboard for his anti-crime crusade, with Los Angeles as his landscape.

In black and white, of course.

Unlike Rod Serling, who used the sci-fi angle of "Twilight Zone" to push his own agenda, Webb couldn't hide behind space aliens to show you what he believed in.

He was forced to do it in an "in your face" manner, and he did it really well.

He strived for realism, and he showed that "cops and robbers" isn't all excitement.

There is lots of boredom, lots of behind the scenes work leading up to catching a criminal.

It wasn't all guns and bullets flying. Paperwork had to be done, leads had to be sorted out, every page had to be turned to weed out criminals, and you saw it all on "Dragnet."

As for Webb as Joe Friday, he had that "no-nonsense" look, and his delivery was non-stop, like a machine gun with words. Lots of close-ups were used during the show, which accentuated that in-your-face manner.

And lots of cigarette puffs too.

The actual grit of downtown Los Angeles was also shown, which made the show very realistic.

And who can forget that theme song, or at least the beginning of it?

It stays in your mind forever.

The success of the original "Dragnet" lasted through the late 1950s, and allowed Webb to do many other things, including make movies and music.

He was also married for a time to sultry singer Julie London.

Anyway, when NBC wanted a gritty police drama in the late 1960s, they once again turned to Webb, and "Dragnet" was resurrected.

In color, of course.

The crimes were different in the second show--a lot about drugs, of course--but Webb was back as Sgt. Joe Friday. He added Harry Morgan as his sidekick, Bill Gannon, and off they went throughout Los Angeles, smelling out every drug dealer and nefarious crook imaginable.

That is my touch point for the show. I watched it as a kid, and I loved it.

Once again, that no-nonsense approach to crime, and the way Webb dealt with it within the confines of a TV show, was the drawing card.

And again, that theme just drew you in.

The show was successful, ran a few seasons, and once again allowed Webb to venture into other areas.

He was also involved with other shows, such as "Adam-12," another favorite of mine, and "Emergency," a show which I really didn't care for, but among its stars was Julie London, his former wife.

Webb passed on, but efforts to resurrect "Dragnet" and "Adam-12" continued without him in the 1990s, as two short-lived revivals appeared in syndication.

Each one was worse than the other, and without Webb's guidance, they died quick deaths.

You can still find the second "Dragnet" series on TV. I know Antenna TV runs it daily.

The original series is also available, but you will have to look a bit harder for it. It has been put out on DVD, so go to amazon.com for a search.

Sure, "Dragnet" is very dated when you watch it today, almost funny, almost camp.

But it still reverberates with me.

I watch the show, and I am brought back to another time and place, but the themes hold up even today.

Obey the law, and you will benefit from that law.

But break the law, and Sgt. Joe Friday--and his real life counterparts--will be after you.

And you will be caught and prosecuted in a court of law.

And if found guilty, you will serve time.

Simple as that.

And Webb got that point across each and every episode.

"The story you are about to see is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent ... ."

Rant #2,222: A Tonic For the Troops

Yes, I am finally back, returning to the Ranting and Raving Blog after several days of vacation, and one day to observe the holiest of the Jewish holy days, Yom Kippur.

Happy New Year to my Jewish friends, and yes, the vacation that my family and I just concluded was a tonic for the troops, so to speak.

I needed this vacation perhaps more than any vacation I have ever needed. I was completely burnt out from work, and everything revolving around work, and this short break recharged my batteries, I hope.

One thing that I am certain of is that my family and I had a great time.

If you remember, Hurricane Florence was wreaking havoc with our cruise, but happily, it did not effect it as much as it could have (and that is not minimizing the devastation that it had on the Carolinas and other areas, which was great).

Anyway, we sailed, we did finally get to Bermuda, and we had a great time while there.

This was my family's second time in Bermuda, but really the first time that we were able to get the lay of the land, so to speak.

When we went there the first time, a couple of years ago, there was an impending storm coming directly there--I don't remember exactly what storm it was--and we were only able to stay there for an hour or two, before we had to board our ship again and sail away from the rough waters that came from this storm.

This time, it was overcast, and then sunny, so on our excursion--which was a tour of Bermuda from top to bottom--we got to see the main island, learn a bit about its history, and work in a little shopping in between.

The main island of Bermuda, which includes its capital, Hamilton, is absolutely beautiful. The residents keep up their homes in a very nice, colorful way, the beaches have white sand and real blue water, and the entire island is sort of the Caribbean without being squarely in the Caribbean, getting its influences as much from the U.S. as from England.

It is definitely a nice place to visit, and we would love to go back. Maybe sometime in the future.

As for the cruise itself, we had a great time.

Whether it was swimming, playing ping pong, shopping or viewing a recent movie at the onboard IMAX theater--we saw "Predator," which was a raucous a film as I have seen in a long time, but kind of kept my interest in a "one eye in, one eye out" sort of way--we kept busy, and the sea air was good for the soul.

At dinner, we sat with some very nice people, professional water skiers who traveled the globe performing in the water. Very interesting indeed.

Anyway, If I have said it once, I will say it again: if you have never taken a cruise vacation, you should try it at least once. It is truly the ultimate vacation, where you can do a lot or do just a little, or anything in between.

We would love to cruise again sometime in the future, and maybe we will.

But now we are back to reality. The cruise is just a recent memory, and we have to go back to the rigors of work today--my son has already been back to work, but myself and my wife are going back today.

It isn't easy going back to work under normal circumstances after a week away, but for me, I am wondering what more can happen that can knock my world off its axis.

Since I got home, my cell phone finally died--it was on its deathbed for the past few months, and finally croaked while we were on the cruise--so I had to get a new one, which I did the other day.

Then yesterday, my car battery died, and I had to get a new one put in.

Are these further omens into what is going on at my place of work?

Remember, right before we left for the cruise, a colleague of mine succumbed, making him the second coworker to pass onto the great beyond during the past few months--not including a former coworker, who died in a auto accident not far from where my family and I were lucky enough to survive our own auto accident four years ago.

I look at these "deaths"--the real ones and the loss of what amount to devices--as omens, rightly or wrongly, and I wonder, what can be next?

And I will wonder that as I walk into work today for the first time in more than a week.

But at least right now, the glow of the vacation remains, and maybe that glow can protect me, at least right away, for whatever else hits the fan in the coming days.

At least I will always have this vacation to remember, to cherish, to look back on in glee.

We had such a wonderful time. I just want it to continue.

But I know that it simply can't.

Classic Rant #874 (January 2, 2013): Back To Bascs

OK, how was your New Year?

Mine was OK.

For the first time in ages, we actually went out, went to my brother in law's house for the celebration.

My wife and I were tired as heck, it is a total 80-plus mile drive back and forth, and by the time the ball dropped, I was pooped, but it went OK.

I didn't eat too much or drink too much--and I don't mean liquor, which I don't drink, I mean soft drinks--and that was the way to keep awake.

Being out, I broke my long-standing tradition of watching the ball drop and then turning right to "The Honeymooners" marathon locally on Channel 11, but when we got home, I did watch an episode and then went to sleep.

On January 1, I decided since I was off, that would be a good day to get my computer in the running order and look that I was used to.

I set about doing that, but little did I know that it would take a whole day and then some--and I am still not done.

Many, if not all, of my files were backed up onto an exterior hard drive, and transferring them over to my desktop became an almost Herculean job.

I started doing this at about 11 a.m., and I was not done with it until the wee hours of this morning.

Exactly when, I don't know, because I let the thing go while I was asleep.

So I have all my files like I had them before, but there are a lot of other things I still have to do--and figure out.

And today is back to school and back to work day, so we all have to deal with that.

Me, I am going to be late for work today, because I have a doctor's appointment.

At least it isn't like last year, when I had an appointment with jury duty in Brooklyn, and which started my year off just dandy, if you know what I mean.

As we all get back to basics, I don't look back on the past year fondly, and as I said in my previous Rant, I am so glad to be rid of 2012.

It was a horrible year, to say the least, and honestly, I don't know if 2013 will be any better ...

But I am sure hoping it will be. I can't take another year like last, and I don't know if our country can take another year like 2012.

But as we do with any new year, we go in with our eyes wide open.

Every year starts off with promise, and then we face the realities of what we are dealing with.

This year it is higher taxes, less extra money to spend, maybe even a recession.

At least we won't be paying $6 for a gallon of milk.

But again, I hope this year is better than last.

It almost has to be better, because looking back, it can't be any worse.

Can it?

Rant #2,221: V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

Finally, the day is nearly here.

Tomorrow, my family and I start our vacation.

We just have to get through today, and it will be here.

This has been an extremely difficult year for myself and my family, and finally, we will be able to relax and take it easy ...

We hope.

Hurricane Florence is spiraling toward a path of destruction in the Carolinas and Virginia, and will almost certain make its way up the rest of the East Coast, although it probably will not hit land past those three states.

However, it might alter our travel plans.

We are going on a cruise, and a cruise to Bermuda, one of the areas greatly impacted by this hurricane, which is expected to hit Category 5 intensity later in the week.

Its existence is already playing havoc with numerous cruises which are already out there. In fact, the cruise that my brothers-in-law are currently on--the one that my family and I were supposed to be on (another story for another time)--has already been forced to bypass Puerto Rico as one of its stops.

As for our cruise, I have checked, and everything is still on for us.

But then again, that is of yesterday. Florence is supposed to impact Bermuda today and tomorrow, and then move closer to the U.S. mainland, where it will unfortunately weave its path probably by Thursday at the latest.

We are leaving from New York, so we might just skirt whatever it is going to do here, where it is supposed to have its greatest impact on Friday and Saturday.

But if it greatly impacts Bermuda, who knows if we will ever get there?

Right now, we are slated to go to Bermuda, and that is all I know. According to the cruise line, everything is on, so we have to go with that.

Honestly, at this point, I don't care where we go as long as we go somewhere.

As I said, this has been an extremely tough year, and wherever we go will be a welcome respite for me, personally.

My wife and son also need a break from routine, and I know that we are going to enjoy this cruise.

All I can say is that I hope Florence isn't as bad as predicted, and that everyone who is in its path comes out of it OK.

And I hope our cruise can continue to its destination, and that Bermuda is relatively untouched.

I know that is probably a pipe dream, but it really and truly what I hope for.

So Bon Voyage to myself and my family, and I won't be at this perch for awhile, probably not posting a new Rant until September 20.

In that time span, it will also be Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

So to all my Jewish friends, I wish an easy fast and a great New Year.

To everyone else, I will speak to you soon, and hopefully have nothing but good things to say about our vacation.

I think it is going to be a memorable one.

Speak to you next week.

Classic Rant #873 (December 31, 2012): Happy New Year?

Today is the last day of the year, and I don't know about you, but I am happy to see 2012 go away.

This was not the greatest year for too many people, and it certainly wasn't for me.

I started off the year with a painful hemorrhoid, and ended it with a painful kick to my pocketbook.

You would think that I was into pain this year.

I had jury duty early this year, and almost got fired from my job for doing my civic duty.

In the summer, somehow I got a pinched nerve in my neck, and I am still suffering from that malady, and probably will until the day I die. It is better, much better in fact, but it isn't what it should be.

The, the final kicker was that my computer died, just flatlined, around Christmas.

I took it to a major retailer, they told me it couldn't be fixed, but charged me over $200 in the process to tell me it couldn't be fixed and to back up all my files, many of which I already have backed up.

But maybe there is hope on the horizon. I wasn't convinced, took the computer to a local guy, and VOILA!, I am typing this Rant on the previously dead computer.

Yes, I am looking for this year to end, and end quickly.

Just as a nation, we have weathered Hurricane Sandy, and we are still coming to terms with what happened in Connecticut.

We also lost lots of talent during the year, everyone from Dick Clark to Ray Bradbury to Don Grady to Davy Jones.

Can 2013 be better than 2012?

Well, some would argue that it isn't starting off very well.

We are ready to go over the fiscal cliff, and if we do, we will probably go into another recession, or worse, because everyone's taxes are going to shoot up.

Our paychecks won't be what they were in 2012, and thus, we won't spend money like we did in the prior year, a year where we generally didn't spend money anyway.

Lots of benefits will be cut, and people in Washington don't seem to feel the urgency to get this matter done as the general public does.

So, will 2013 be better than 2012?

I don't know, but one really bad sign is that it is a year ending in a 13.

I am not a superstitious person, but if things get worse in 2013, I might just become one.

Try to have a Happy New Year, and I will be back on Wednesday. I still have lots of work to make my computer comfortable to me after it was DOA the other day, so I will be mighty busy tomorrow.

I hope the New Year brings everyone the solace that they need to make 2013 a super year.

I really do.

Rant #2,220: New Year's Day

Today is the first full day of Rosh Hashanah, which signifies the beginning of the most solemn period on the Jewish calendar, and which culminates with Yom Kippur next week.

Rosh Hashanah, which actually began at sundown yesterday and ends at sundown tomorrow, is a holiday that to me, highlights renewal, peace and hopefulness that the new year, 5779 on the Jewish calendar, will be a good one, and that we will do good during this new year.

How ironic that this year, Rosh Hashanah falls on the anniversary of 9-11, one of the great tragedies of modern times, when so many innocent people lost their lives for the misdeeds of a few.

With this coincidence in hand, we can look to better ourselves, and to remember all of those who were permanently harmed and perished due to this horrible act of cowardice.

Let's look back at the holiday by going back to Rant #91, dated September 18, 2009. Here it is in edited form:

"Tonight is the start of the holiest period during the year for Jews around the world. Rosh Hashanah commences this period, starting at sundown. This holiday continues for the next two days, and is followed by Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

Although I am not a religious Jew by any stretch of the imagination, I do participate in these holidays. They are holidays that ask Jews to examine their strengths, and weaknesses, during the past year and to reflect on how they can improve themselves during the upcoming year. They are holidays of both introspection and group prayer. During Yom Kippur, observant Jews fast, to show their forgiveness to God, and also to show their strength.

It is with this understanding of what the holiday means that I have always had this conundrum with how the rest of the world should look at these holidays. Should the “outside” world recognize this holy time of year or simply ignore it?

Living in New York, where there are a large amount of Jews, has made these holidays pretty well known by the non-Jewish population. In fact, schools are generally closed during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

I once found out years ago that the reason New York City schools close on these holidays is that since such a large portion of their teachers are Jewish, it was not prudent to open when three-quarters of the teachers would be out.

This year, there are the usual myriad controversies revolving around whether certain events should be held on these holidays or not.

Professional sports leagues will go about their business during these holidays. When my son was in Little League, the league would, every year, schedule games on the first two nights of Passover. Although Passover is not one of the holiest occasions on the Jewish calendar, it is a holiday which revolves around the family, and the traditional seder, and garners wide participation even among non-observant Jews.

The league, of course, never had a game on Easter Sunday.

My workplace does not give me off for the Jewish holidays, even though the owner, who is since deceased, was Jewish himself. I have to take the day(s) off as personal days.

Is this right? Shouldn’t everyone be given days off to celebrate their most holiest of holidays, whether it be Yom Kippur or Good Friday?

However, should business stop because a major religious holiday is being celebrated?

I don’t have an answer, and it is something that has puzzled me for years. These are religious holidays, and thus, they are more personal than say July 4 or Labor Day are.

The bottom line is this: do we suspend our usual day's activities because a major religion has one of its holiest days to celebrate?"

Years after I wrote this, I still have that question. We have been all inclusive now as a society, recognizing holidays that we didn't even know existed just a few years ago.

I think with the Jewish holidays, one must truly decided for himself how he will celebrate and honor these holidays, and to what extent.

I am working on Rosh Hashanah, almost out of necessity since we are a man down since the death of my colleague last week.

I don't think God will write me off for the new year because I am doing this ... I certainly hope not.

To my fellow Jews, have a wonderful new year.

Speak to you again tomorrow.

Classic Rant #872 (December 28, 2012): The Pledge of Allegiance

The Pledge of Allegiance has seemingly been around forever.

It certainly has been around for my entire life. I can remember reciting it in school every morning, putting my hand on my heart and saying it with the rest of my class.

It has been around forever, but Congress only officially recognized it on this date in 1945.

The Pledge has taken a beating during the past 40-odd years.

Where once it was recited with glee, since the Vietnam War era, many people look down on it as something that doesn't mean anything, something that is archaic.

I remember as a high schooler in the early to mid 1970s, in homeroom, when we were supposed to all stand and recite the pledge, about half the kids in the class not only wouldn't stand, but talked when others were reciting the pledge.

I always thought this was wrong. It demonstrated that these kids had no respect for the flag and our country, during a time when a lot of people equated patriotism with either supporting the war or being against it.

Also during this time, atheists and agnostics fought against the Pledge, because of the use of "God" in its verse.

"God" was added to the Pledge during the Eisenhower years in the 1950s, and it has spurred controversy since.

Some people claimed that the use of "God" went against their values, because they neither believed in God or religion, so they could not recite it, and some even tried to remove its recitation from our schools.

As a teacher in the early 1980s, I found that some people would not stand for the Pledge for religious reasons.

I had a girl in one of my classes who refused to stand when everyone else did. She told me she was a Jehovah's Witness, and she was not required to stand or recite the pledge. Her mother sent a note in to attest to this, so she sat--and talked through to anyone who would listen--while the Pledge was recited.

Through it all, the Pledge has somehow persevered.

Sure, there is a lot wrong with this country, and nobody says we are perfect.

But we are as close to perfect as any country is or can be.

We have freedoms here that most other countries can't even contemplate.

So, to say a couple of words to show our love for this country isn't such a big deal, is it?

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
What is the big deal about saying this?

I don't know.

People can say what they want, but for the liberties we enjoy, I don't see any reason to knock it, to deride it, to make fun of it.

The Pledge has proven its strength, and will live on way past our own lives.

It is that strong, and it represents a country which is the best in the world.

What's not to like?

Rant #2,219: Let's Do Something Cheap and Superficial

It seems that death is in the air, or at least in the air I breathe.

For instance, during the past four Friday Rants, I have written three times about people who died, including today's column.

And that doesn't even take into account what happened this past week, when a work colleague of mine passed away. His funeral is being held this weekend, by the way.

Anyhow, let's stare death in the face again, and you probably know who I am going to write about today.

Burt Reynolds, the ultimate "good old boy" actor who was perhaps America's top movie star in the 1970s and 1980s, died yesterday at age 82.

And as you can surmise, you aren't going to get the usual obituary here, because, well, you can get that anywhere.

Reynolds, who was actually born in Michigan, did not aspire to be a movie actor. He wanted to be an NFL player, and was actually quite a good high school player that colleges scouted him, but he never reached his goal, as an injury derailed his career.

He ended up in Hollywood, and he cut his teeth being a character actor on a number of TV shows, including "Flipper."

He married Judy Carne of later "Laugh-In" fame, and as her star grew, his kind of ran in motion, and the marriage did not last.

But as Hollywood was opening up in the late 1960s, Reynolds seemed the perfect person to lead the charge, or at least on television, moving up to starring roles on a few shows, including "Dan August."

He gravitated towards movies, and "Deliverance" was his breakthrough role, but he really didn't hit his stride until he cultivated his "good old boy" image in movies like "The Longest Yard" and the "Smokey and the Bandit" films.

He was also fodder for the pre-Internet gossip columns of time, linking him to everyone from Dinah Shore to Sally Field to Dolly Parton and to just about every actress who needed a jump start to their burgeoning careers.

Press releases and gossip fueled his rise as not only America's No. 1 box office attraction but also America's No. 1 male heartthrob, and he completed this turn with his nude centerfold in Cosmopolitan Magazine making him, and his mustache, universally famous.

He also knew that more people watched television than went to the movies, and his constant appearances on the small screen cemented his popularity. He was probably one of the first movie stars to constantly go back to TV, his breeding ground, for extra exposure, and he often used Johnny Carson and "The Tonight Show" as his vehicle.

One memorable appearance that I can remember happened in the mid 1970s, I do believe, when he and best buddy Dom Deluise supposedly burst unannounced onto the show one night, sporting cans of whipped cream.

They ended up spraying up the entire set with the whipped cream, but the ultimate moment was when Reynolds put the nozzle of the whip cream can down the front of his pants and sprayed himself, with his facial reaction one for the ages.

Yes, Reynolds could make fun of himself and fun of his image without any problem.

His movies became hit and miss affairs, with every "The End" punctuated with numerous misses, like "Lucky Lady" and "Rent-A-Cop," both co-starring Liza Minnelli. His "Cannonball Run" movies did keep his star shining for a brief time, too.

As his career faded, he continued to keep a high profile in the gossip columns, with his marriages--in particular to Loni Anderson--making major headlines.

After years of lesser films, he made a major comeback with "Boogie Nights"--where he received his first and only Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of a porn movie director--and also had a nice run in the TV show "Evening Shade"--where he won an Emmy Award--but that fame only lasted so long.

During this period, he was getting much negative press, with his personal life and financial well being often the focus of the gossip columns.

He continued to be a busy actor during the past 20 years or so, and was scheduled to appear in a new movie project directed by Quentin Tarrantino before he left us yesterday.

Burt Reynolds was a pre-Internet darling, but it seemed that what you saw on the screen was really what he was in real life. He could laugh at himself, not take himself seriously at all, and he had a smile that, framed with his signature mustache, engrained him in our culture.

He will be missed.

Speak to you again on Monday. Have a great weekend.