Rant #2,456: The Monster Mash

Boo!

Happy Halloween to everyone!

To me, this is just another frightful day on my calendar, marking three weeks since I lost my job.

But at least I will be home this year to see who actually comes to the door to do trick or treat.

We have the candy, we are more than willing to give it out to the kids, but few come around, and this year, with the weather predicted to be frightful in itself, let's see just how many kids come around.

I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't open up the door this year/

Anyway, thinking back to past Halloweens, well, the holiday just isn't the same anymore. I think the adults have co-opted the kids holiday as their own, what with all the adult Halloween-themed parties and costumes and such.

In addition, Halloween is not as fun any more because of the times we live in ... there are just too many things going on to allow your kids to go from house to house trick or treating. It simply might not be safe, and why take a chance?

I have spoken in past years about how the Halloweens I experienced as a kid were just so much more fun than what goes on today, and I could pontificate about that again this year.

Search back into the more than 2,400 posts here, and you will easily find where I described the fun I had as a kid on Halloween, living in a development in Queens, New York, with 20 buildings and thousands of apartments to ring the doorbells of.

I have also spoken in the past about taking my own kids trick or treating--my daughter as a child of divorce and my son who didn't have any friends to go with door to door. I didn't mind doing it, but it was sad that my kids could not experience Halloween as I did.

But this year I am going in a different direction for my Halloween Rant, because I am going to describe one of my fondest--and funniest--memories of the holiday as an adult.

Suffice it to say that I was not laughing then, but I can have a good laugh about it now.

It must have been around the year 2000 or so. I was at work, yes, the work that I just got laid off from.

We were a bustling company then, a small company of nearly 40 employees, and there was always something new to do or new to learn at my job, which at this point, I had had for about four years or so.

We had a lot of different personalities at this place of work, a lot of people who worked hard and enjoyed what they were doing.

And then we had Lucy.

Lucy was one of the most interesting characters I have ever worked with.

She came here from Central America I believe as a pre-teen or early teen, and had been in this country probably at least 10 years or so when I joined the company.

She was an administrative assistant, or a secretary, or whatever you wanted to call her, but Lucy had a different perspective on things than just about anybody I ever met.

Lucy was what she was. She was an extremely pretty girl, very short in stature but very big in ... well ... just let's say that she was not just big, but very big, and she was so big that whether you liked it or not, yes, that (those) was the first things that you saw when you met her.

The only way I can compare how she looked is that she was sort of a Hispanic Dolly Parton, much younger and prettier but that would be my recollection of her/

And she knew how she looked, was comfortable about how she looked, and she never dressed at work to accentuate that attribute, but she was just so huge that no matter what she wore, they kind of stood out.

She had told me during a conversation with her that before she came to America, her goal was not only to come here, but she used Playboy models as her guide about how American women were. Her brothers had gotten hold of the American version of the magazine, and she used to dream about coming here, using those models as a reference point.

Those who knew her better at my work said that even as a young girl, she was made fun of and taunted because of the way she looked, and as she got older, she simply went with the flow because that was how she was built, and there was little she could do about it.

Anyway, one day at work, that just happened to be Halloween, it was lunch time, and most people in the company had gone out for the hour we had to eat. I was alone on the top floor of the building that we used and where my desk was. I had to take a phone call, speaking to a spokesman from the Defense Commissary Agency, the organization that oversaw all the military commissaries (supermarkets), which was about one thing or another.

The woman I spoke to on the phone was all business, a person that was, at that point, an icon among spokespeople in this line of the business, a person who was both looked up to and feared at the same time. She took me into her confidence because I proved to her that I knew what I was doing, and she called me then to talk about one thing or another.

I had my pad out, writing down what she was saying, and then, in the corner of my eye, I see Lucy coming up the stairs and approaching my office. She was wearing a nondescript plaid shirt, which once again, didn't show anything, but because of the way she was built, couldn't help but show enough.

I am on the phone with the spokesperson, and Lucy approaches me, and I kind of wave her off, as I thought she did not see that I was on the phone. As she approached, I could see that she had other intentions.

As I am taking notes on the phone, she starts to unbutton her shirt! I am still waving her off, but as I am listening to the business matters being told to me by the spokesperson, she is taking off her plaid shirt, one button at a time.

As I am still waving her off, she comes to the last button, rips the shirt off her body, and I swear that at first I thought she was topless ... but lo and behold, she was wearing a fake female body chest underneath her shirt! It literally took me a couple of seconds to see this, but within the milliseconds of those seconds, I thought she was topless!

I tried to keep my composure on the phone as she saw that I finally got it and walked away. Somehow I got off the phone in one piece, and I later called her and said what she did was funny, "but not while I am on the phone."

Lucy obviously had a great sense of humor, but at this point in her life, at least from what I saw from her, she was like a little kid in a Dolly Parton costume, but that would soon change.

Over the next year or two she had a relationship with someone, became pregnant, and had a child that she named Robert, another nod to her need to be an All-American.

One day, she came into my office, and literally was hysterically crying, and this was no joke this time around.

She told me that the guy who was the father of their child had refused to give her any money for the then newborn baby, and based on the fact she knew about my history with Family Court as a divorced dad with a kid--I had since remarried back then, had my son, but was still going back and forth to Family Court on a regular basis related to my daughter's well-being--she wanted some advice about what to do.

I told her to go to Family Court immediately--the court was a few blocks up from our place of business--and tell them about the situation as she had just told me. She did just as I advised her to do, and yes, the father of her child did have to pay some money to her. She later thanked me for helping her out.

Lucy stayed with our company for probably another year or so, and then very abruptly, she was gone. I never found out if she had left on her own or she was fired. With her, it really could have gone either way.

I later found out that she had met and married a member of the Marine Corps, and they had moved out of the area, presumably moving down south somewhere, but that is the last I heard about her, and no one else at my company--even her close friends there--knew anything beyond that.

So that is my Halloween story of the day. When I think about it, I can laugh, laugh, laugh, and laugh some more, but at the time, I must have been turning every color inn the spectrum while she was doing her pseudo-striptease.

Have a great Halloween, and I will speak to you again tomorrow.

Boo!

Classic Rant #1,124 (January 16, 2014): Wrestling With a New TV Format

I am sure that you heard that World Wrestling Entertainment, better known as WWE, announced this week that its new network, aptly named the WWE Network, would make its debut in late February.

And I am also sure that if you aren't a wrestling fan, you shrugged your shoulders in total apathy and moved on.

My advice to you is to not move so fast.

This might actually be the first move to what future TV is going to look like, not just for wrestling fans, but for all TV viewers.

The WWE Network will, of course, be totally built around its decades of wrestling content. The WWE--or in its earlier incarnations, the WWWF and the WWF--had the inclination to archive just about everything it put on the air, or even sometimes, stuff that never was aired, which other sports leagues only got into maybe during the past 20 years. That is why there isn't a clear, concise video of the first Super Bowl, because the NFL never thought about archiving its material until fairly recently.

Anyway, there will be new programming, older programming, and reruns of current material on the channel. Some of the programming will be regularly scheduled, and some of it will be on demand.

All of the wrestling organization's pay-per-views--its biggest attractions of the year--will be on the network.

And all this for $9.95 a month. Heck, the pay-per-views individually cost nearly $50 apiece, so the savings are there immediately.

And the first pay-per-view they will be showing will be Wrestlemania, its biggest event of the year and one of the biggest sports events in the U.S.

How are they doing this?

The WWE Network will be online only. That's right, you won't be able to subscribe to the network and watch it on your TV, unless you have a Smart TV or can figure out how to hook up your computer to your television (I can't figure it out, help!).

You can snub your nose at this, but the fact of the matter is that this might just be the first step into the future of television.

Right now, so many different media devices are converging, from television to smart phones to tablet computers. It is inevitable that all these devices will meet at a centerpoint, and the WWE Network might just be a tip of the iceberg when it comes to convergence, as once you subscribe for a six-month trial, you can get the network on all of your hand-held devices, and if you know what you are doing (I don't, help!), you can get it on your TV too.

I just think right now that the major TV networks are going to check out how successful the WWE network is. If it is successful--and there is no reason to think it won't be--then the networks could do the same thing, which they kind of do already by offering content on their sites. But they can go one step further, and offer archival content on their sites, which they leave to Hulu and other such providers right now.

It is another revenue stream that I am sure they are looking at, to provide their programming to the widest audience possible and thus, increase advertising revenue.

Why did the WWE go the online route? I can only guess that they couldn't secure enough interest from satellite, phone and cable networks to carry this programming 24/7, and this was the way that they could keep costs down, and thus, increase their revenue--do it themselves.

The price is right, the programming is perfect for the wrestling junkie, and being able to watch this stuff on all your digitial devices is something revolutionary.

So really, don't snub your nose at this.

Wrestling, which has been a mainstay of what you might call "alternative" programming since the dawn of television in the late 1940s, has come full circle with the medium, and the WWE Network is it.

Body slam, anyone?

Rant #2,455: Who Am I?

Nothing much to report on the job search front. I did apply for more than a dozen jobs yesterday, was rejected by a few companies that I had previously applied for positions, and all in all, I guess I really did my due diligence yesterday.

But onto another topic ...

You might remember that in the summer, I finally did something I had wanted to do for ages, and that is submit myself to one of those companies that tell you who you are through a saliva sample.

I followed the instructions to the letter, and after three times, I failed to produce the type of saliva that the company claimed they needed to discern my DNA.

I was told by some that they, too, had had the same problems, that they had to do it several times for it to hit, or also were in the process of doing it more than once.

Some people told me that it had to do with the medicines I take for cholesterol and allergies that was making my saliva unusable.

Whatever the case, my saliva simply wasn't what the company needed.

I tried it a fourth time, and for whatever reason, this time, it took, even though I did the exact same thing this time as I had done the previous three times to get the company the saliva that they could use in deciphering my DNA.

I waited patiently for the results, and they finally came back the other day, in the midst of nonsense that I am currently going through. And I have to tell you, although I am happy that I was finally able to do this, the results didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know.

According to the results, I am "100 percent European Jewish." surprise, surprise, primarily based in Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Hungary and Israel. I did not think Israel was in Europe, but the company considers Israel to be in its "European Jewish" target area.

They pretty much are on target, because I know my grandparents came from Poland, Russia, Latvia and the former Czech area, so that was pretty much on target with what I already know.

"European Jewish region is not geographically defined in the same way as most other ethnic regions. The historic dispersal of the Jewish population from its origin in the Levant on the east coast of the Mediterranean resulted in insular communities scattered throughout Europe, North Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Although some Jewish communities enjoyed positions of relative peace and prosperity, many more were segregated from mainstream society by law, custom, and prejudice, experiencing sustained persecution and discrimination. Jewish populations from northern and eastern Europe are often known as “Ashkenazi.” “Sephardic” refers to Jews who were expelled from Spain during the Inquisition and mostly settled in North Africa and southeastern Europe."

I found it interesting that they consider, in their own way, that being Jewish is an ethnicity. Jews kind of define themselves with their religion, and I think that this is reflected by how the company handles being Jewish.

Generally, I know that I define myself as being derived by Eastern European Jewish stock, so "Jewish" is not just a religion, it is thought as as an ethnicity too. Very interesting indeed.

I have a couple of what the company calls "second cousin" DNA matches in their database. One I definitely know is true: it is my aunt's son, who I probably haven't seen in decades, who is actually listed as "first-second cousin."

There is also another person in the "second cousin" group, actually listed as "second-third cousin," whose last name I definitely know. I believe his father was my family's accountant for many years, and I know that we are definitely related because he was my dad's cousin. We even referred to him as "Cousin Joe." He actually taught me to tie a tie correctly, and as you know, I hate ties.

Anyway, the other three people in the "second cousin" group I have absolutely no idea about. I will have to run their names by my parents; perhaps they will know who they are.

In the third and fourth cousin groups are dozens of people that I have never heard of, but we are supposedly possibly related.

That is pretty much it. I can go into various traits that I share with others, and I can investigate some other things, but I pretty much gained whatever knowledge I wanted to get from this test that I went through. That it took four times to get this information remains a head-shaker, but OK, I did it, it is done, and I am happy that I did it.

So, "Who am I?"

The final answer is, "I am who I am," and there really isn't much more to say about it.

Classic Rant #1,123 (January 15, 2014): TV Themes

I often "Rant and Rave" about the quality of today's television fare, especially compared to what we had in past decades.

It stinks, period. I won't change my mind on that point.

And while some people could argue with me on that point, one thing that I will never, ever get an argument about is on TV theme songs.

Either they are non-existent today, or are so in the background that they barely exist.

Being a baby boomer, being born in the late 1950s and growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, I was in the real prime time for TV theme songs.

There were just so many memorable ones--from "Peter Gunn" to "Gilligan's Island" to "The Monkees" to "The Mod Squad." Each one of them had something to them that you just had to listen to them, and you pretty much knew what was coming.

The late Sherwood Schwartz, the creator/producer of "Gilligan" and "The Brady Bunch," said that he basically sold his shows based on the theme songs that he wrote for them. And he said his greatest TV theme song was for the show in between those two memorable shows, one that did not catch on, "It's About Time," about astronauts breaking the time barrier and meeting up with cavemen.

Anyway, I want to profile today a lesser know theme song, but a tune that was hugely popular in its time.

"The Theme From Ben Casey," was by Valjean, a single-named pianist in the shadow of Liberace. Actually, his full name was Valjean Johns, and he was born in Oklahoma. That is the only thing I know about him.

In 1962, medical dramas were all the rage, and "Ben Casey" was one of the most popular of the genre. Starring Vince Edwards, the show was gritty, timely and paved the way for later medical shows, including "Medical Center" and "St. Elsewhere."

So in 1962, at the height of the show's popularity, little Carlton Records released the single version of the theme song, an instrumental which reached #28 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Released in a plain picture sleeve that simply highlighted the name of the song, the single actually featured a bonus--the "B" side featured Valjean's take on the "Dr. Kildare" theme song.

So you had two competing television medical shows' themes on a single record! Pretty ingenious, I must say.

The "Dr. Kildare" theme did not chart, but it, also, pretty much wraps itself around the show, another sort of true to life melodrama that was quite popular at the time, and which starred Richard Chamberlain.

Valjean had one more Hot 100 placement, "Till There Was You," which barely got into the chart, reaching #100 the same year.

That was it for Valjean as a hit recording artist, and I have no further information on this performer.

Getting back to TV theme songs in general, the last major, new theme song that I liked was the theme to "The Nanny," which also set the pace for the show.

And I see that the new version of "Hawaii Five-O" retains the classic theme song by the Ventures. I guess you can't have that show without that theme song!

The days of TV theme songs may be just about dead, but at least the past period was a fertile ground for these tunes.

Me, I love just about every one of them, because they set the tone for the show that follows them.

Heck, if I could whistle, I would do my own version of "The Andy Griffith Show" theme.

Maybe it's better off that I can't whistle ...

Rant #2,454: Don't Let the Rain Come Down

" ... My roof's got a hole in it and I might drown ... ."

And right now, I am basically treading water.

I had a very, very busy day yesterday, a day that was not planned, but a day where I found myself running around town as in between, I searched for a new job.

it really is supposed to be the other way around--I am searching for a job, but in between running around town, but not yesterday.

With my wife's car sidelined by an accident, and with my son needing transportation to and from work, I have become my family's designated driver. It is something I don't really mind, as I feel that I am helping my family, and it does give me a break from the four-to-six hours a day I am looking for work.

But yesterday was something else.

As I ate lunch, we got the mail, and I received some mail from Social Services related to some intense paperwork I had to fill out for my son.

You cannot imagine the chills I get when I get something for him from Social Services or from Social Security, but this thing took me a solid hour to fill out, and based on last year, when I had to do the same thing to the same form, it threw me into a slight tizzy, based on what happened last year.

As per last year, once again I was given a time for a "phone interview" to go over the facts presented on this form, but I am now going to explain to you how our government works.

Last year, I dutifully filled out the form, sent it out quickly, and prepared myself for my phone interview. It would take place while I was at work, and I brought with me all the paperwork I needed to help me answer all the questions.

Finally the appointed time came, but I did not get a call. I figured they were running late, so I gave them another 15 minutes ... and then another ... but still no call.

So I called them. Anybody who has called Social Services or Social Security knows that it is virtually impossible to get anybody on the phone in these areas even if you call at 8 a.m., and I ran into a lot of problems last year too.

Finally, I found a few alternate numbers that I had, they were the wrong numbers but at least they got me some actual people on the phone, and literally, after at least an hour of calling one number after another to no avail, I finally was put through to the person I needed to speak to.

I explained my situation, and I was told the following, "Even though the paperwork states that a phone interview would be held, it doesn't really mean that. It serves as more of a reminder that we need certain paperwork sent to us, so that is why you were not called."

Well, in my world, when it says "phone interview and it gives an exact time for the interview, it means exactly that, but in government speak, evidently "phone interview" means "certain paperwork must be sent to us."

Yes, very strange indeed, since I looked through the paperwork and I did not find any mention of an email or a person to send the material to.

Remembering all of this, I am covering myself several ways for this year's "phone interview" : I have made out the paperwork, and will send it out when I take my wife to work this morning; I found last year's email to this office, and I have replaced all of last year's information with this year's updated information, including scanning various forms, and I have sent it out to the pertinent person; and I once again await their phone call next month to discuss all of this, a phone call that I know probably won't come, because "phone interview" means "certain paperwork must be sent to us" in their world.

Well, as you can imagine, all of this took a few hours to complete including the hour it took me to physically fill out the paperwork, so when I was done with that, I went back to what I was supposed to be doing, which is prospecting and looking for a job. In between, I picked up my son from work, but when I came home, it was back on the computer for me.

With all of the interruptions, I pretty much finished what I was doing for the day at 4:30 p.m., and I shut down the computer and planned to prepare dinner for myself and my son, and pick up my wife after that.

But I received a phone call literally seconds after I shut down the computer, from my mother, who was largely incoherent on the phone. I quickly found out from another woman who took the phone from my mother that there had been a car accident, and that my mother was fine, but the two cars involved were not.

I pretty much dropped everything I had planned to do, raced down to the site of the accident, and yes, the two cars involved were in poor shape My mother's car took the brunt of it, and we are going to have to see if it even pays for fix her car. But the other car got hit, too, with its driver's side scratched, dented and damaged.

I consoled my mother--what else could I do?--the police were there, my mother and the owner of the other car exchanged information, and then the tow truck came, carting my mother's car away.

And I still had to pick up my wife from work, so I took my mother home, and then drove out to get my wife, not realizing at that moment, with all the tumult of the previous hour, that I was actually about a half hour early.

Clearly frustrated by the entire situation, I did something I should not have done. I went to the local fast food joint--world-renowned All-American Hamburgers--and I purchased my dinner there, and as I arrived at my wife's place of work a little early, I sat there waiting for her, eating my hamburgers and enjoying the music I was listening to, music that I had digitized during the past few weeks.

I need to chill out, and I did just that.

My wife finally came out of work, I took her home, and I passed out at 8:30 p.m.

What a day, what a week, what a three weeks it has been since I lost my job! I swear, there is a reason I lost my job when I did. God works in strange ways, but God has a reason, which I simply cannot figure out right now.

Today should be calmer. I still have to drive my wife and son back and forth to their jobs--we also found out yesterday approximately when her car will be ready, and she won't have it for a few weeks, so a loaner car might be in order for her--but I should be able to get my work done without any problems.

Right after I finish typing out this Rant, I will get to it--

But the wash just stopped drying, and I have to put all of that away.

Another interruption.

Nothing is "clear cut" when you are out of work, and I just hope that today, the rain does stop falling down on me, at least for a little while.

When it rains, yes, it does pour.

Classic Rant #1,122 (January 14, 2014): Pizza By the Slice

Yes, I finally got my car back. I just about feel whole now.

Anyway, I can now drive my car to the closest Pizza Hut and get a pizza.

What is new and revolutionary is that if a test program goes according to plan, I now can get pizza by the slice at the national chain.

Yes, Pizza Hut is selling pizza by the slice in order to one up its rivals, including Papa John's, Domino's and, of course, local pizzerias. It is doing this at two out-of-the-way stores, and if all goes well, the program could roll out nationally.

That is all fine and good, but remember, I am from New York, and there is only one pizza here that is worth its weight in cheese and sauce--and that is the product put out by our local, seemingly on every corner, pizzerias.

I was weaned on our local pizza outlet, which was known as King George Pizza, and when I was a kid, I learned early on what "good" pizza is. There was none better than King George, but as an adult, I have had many different pizzas from many different places, and while not all of them are top-notch, the local pizzerias have that local flavor--both inside and outside their pies--that make their offerings extra special.

The major chains' fare is OK, but it almost seems manufactured compared to the local pizzas.

Heck, if I wanted one like that, I would just go to the local supermarket and buy a frozen pizza.

I know that New York isn't everywhere, and in Idaho or Montana, your best option would probably be Pizza Hut.

But in my neck of the woods, the local pizzeria's pizza is so much better than Pizza Hut's pizza that it really isn't funny.

Pizza Hut came to my area in the 1980s, but didn't stay around long.

When you have a pizzeria on every corner, the competition is incredible, and most people here would much rather go for the local pizza than the national pizza.

They came back during the last 10 years, but usually in combination with other fast food enterprises, mainly Taco Bell on Long Island.

They don't sell the larger pizzas, just pan pizza and bread sticks.

So, while I think there are larger Pizza Huts on Long Island, most probably won't even participate in this promotion if it goes national, because they don't sell larger pizza.

But in the aforementioned Idaho and Montana, this probably is really big news. You don't have to buy a whole pizza anymore if you don't want to, and I guess Pizza Hut is falling in line with the norm in local pizzerias, that you can just buy a slice or two if you like.

Is this just another gimmick from Pizza Hut, the home of pizza gimmicks, or are they really changing their business plan, going for a more "local" style rather than their national style that has been successful around most of the country and the the world for decades?

I don't know, but to me, the pizza will taste the same, by the pie or by the slice.

This is making me hungry. Let me look up the local pizzeria's number and maybe get a pizza from them later on.

Is there any other pizza to me? No, sorry Pizza Hut, you just don't measure up, by the pie or by the slice.

Rant #2,453: Saturday Night At the Movies

Really nothing to report on the job front.

I attended a class on Friday related to networking, which did give me some ideas, and I proceeded as I have been doing, applying for a variety of jobs left and right.

And I will continue to do that today, while I drive both my wife and my son to work, and pick them up too.

So that being said, what did I do this weekend?

Nothing much, to be honest with you.

I did my job searching, which is much less during the weekend, and when that was done, I pretty much settled in to watch some movies.

I love exploitation movies from the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the first movie I watched was pretty much a stepping stone for some of the actors who were in it, and for others, it was just another movie on their long resumes.

"Six-Pack Annie" was one of the first movies starring Lindsay Bloom, a pretty blond who went on to a fairly successful career as an actress on a number of movies and TV shows in the 1980s.

In this 1975 American International film aimed at drive-in audiences, she played Annie Bodine, a blond, bodacious, 100 percent Southern girl who believes in two things: tying up any guy who has eyes for her in knots, and in her family and friends, including her aunt, who also happens to be her employer at the roadside diner where she works as a waitress.

One of her suitors is Bobby Joe, played by Bruce Boxleitner, who like Bloom, went on to greater fame as a movie and TV actor in the 1980s.

Anyway, Annie's aunt's diner has a mortgage payment due, and if it is not paid, her mom will lose the diner, which has become a major hangout for some Grade-Z list stars, such as Doodles Weaver and Stubby Kaye.

Faced with the loss of the diner, Annie--the character might have set the tone for the "Daisy Dukes" character in the later "Dukes of Hazzard" TV show, among other elements in this film that appear to have spurred that series, including the character's interplay with the town sheriff--travels with her friend Mary Lou--played by another popular future TV/movie actress Jana Bellan--to go to Las Vegas, where Annie's sister Flora works, and is a success. The girls hope to ask Flora for a loan of the money, but Flora--played by vivacious Louisa Moritz in all stages of dress and undress--turns them down.

Flora, who has many male suitors, including one played by former "Make Room For Daddy" cast member Sid Melton, tells the two girls that they should do what she did, and find their own "sugar daddy." She gives them a few leads which never pan out, putting them in bad situations or even danger more than once.

After Annie hooks up with a very sleazy potential suitor, played by 1950s/1960s movie actor Joe Danton--who gives Annie a necklace to wear as he seduces her, the girls, completely down on their luck, return home penniless.

Ready to turn over the diner to the bank, Annie is still wearing the necklace as she sorrowfully tells those in the diner that she failed to find her "sugar daddy." But Kaye, playing a traveling salesman, eyes the necklace, asks to look at it, and says that the pendant is flawless, and he would give Annie $6,000 for it, which would more than pay off the mortgage.

Annie agrees, her aunt gets the diner for good, and everyone is happy as the movie ends on a positive note.

No, this is not "Gone With the Wind," but the film does have its moments in its PG/soft R setting, with minimal nudity and cursing. The film, directed by Graydon David and somehow written by three scribes, Norman Winski, David Kidd and Wil David, does have its moments, and certainly greatly inspired "The Dukes of Hazzard" TV show.

It also was a stepping stone kind of film for some of the actors in the cast, and I was so particularly taken by Jana Bellan as Annie's best friend--who served in a relatively smaller role in this "hicks-sploitation" flick--but was an acting standout.

The curvy brunette actress was in a couple of more exploitation movies during her short career, and I checked out another one of them, "Black Heat," to see if her acting chops were real--and they were, even in decidedly low-grade fare

This 1976 "blaxsploitation" film, certainly modeled after "Shaft," starred Former NFL star Timothy Brown as "Kicks" Carter, a with-it Los Angeles police detective who is on the trail of a gun smuggler who is using the locale as a starting point for his international business.

No character has any redeeming value in the film, including "West Side Story" star Russ Tamblyn as Ziggy, the owner of a surly. Tbe only standout is, once again, Bellan, as a girl with a gambling problem so acute that she gives up her body for a chance to win.

There is one scene, where she loses at cards and is attacked by the men she loses to, which doesn't show much but is put completely over by Bellan. She was quite a good actress, although her career faded pretty much by the mid 1980s into oblivion.

Being in this turgid piece of trash couldn't have helped.

So there you have it. Now, back to the job hunt ... .

Classic Rant #1,121 (January 13, 2014): Juiced!

Still no car, they told me maybe by the middle of this week.

I have returned the rent a car--which was costing me an arm and a leg--and will now drive my mother's jalopy until I get my own car back.

Woe is me.

I sound like Alex Rodriguez, don't I?

What can you say about what transpired over the weekend?

His suspension from baseball for PED use was reduced to 162 games from 211, but he says he never took anything and looks to go to federal court to file a stay against this ruling.

He says he never failed a drug test, and hasn't taken anything since he admitted taking PEDs earlier in his career.

An arbitrator made this ruling, and usually, federal courts do not overturn such rulings, but who knows, what has he got to lose at this point?

Yes, even as a Yankees fan, I do think the Rodriguez should go out to pasture, and take his banishment like a man. They probably had some incredible evidence against him, and he is lucky he didn't get an even loftier ban.

But I think baseball is missing the mark here.

To me, there is something so obvious that they are missing, that I cannot believe that they can be so blind to this.

It seems that just about every player who has been caught or suspected of doing PEDs--less higher profile players like Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, and Ryan Braun--is Hispanic or of Latin background.

Now, I realize that that Biogenesis clinic where Rodriquez and many of the others--including teammate Francisco Cervelli--obtained the PEDs is in Miami, and there is a huge Hispanic population there, but it just seems that the preponderance of those caught are players of Latin origin.

Even prior to Biogenesis, the majority of those caught or thought to have used these things were Hispanic players, including former Rodriguez teammate Melky Cabrera.

Biogenesis users included Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta, Everth Cabrera, Jesus Montero, Antonio Bastardo, and several other major and minor leaguers, all of Hispanic roots.

This tells me that these players must be educated at the perils of using these things--it seems almost an epidemic in these players' community.

I remember a local sportswriter went to the Dominican Republic, and was able to buy these substances right over the counter.

Who is to say that players aren't doing the same thing?

When is baseball going to take a stand on this aspect of the use of PEDs in their game?

Other than availability, why are Hispanic players drawn to use these things? It it a cultural thing, peer pressure, or what?

Sure, Major League Baseball doesn't want to single out one group, especially in this PC era. Hispanics have always embraced the game as their own, and you don't want to ruin that.

I get that part of it. But when you look at those doing this to themselves, you see that a majority of the players, including Rodriguez, are Hispanic.

There has to be a reason for this, and I just wish Major League Baseball would look into that and take action on it.

Sure Rodriguez may, in fact, be a scapegoat of sorts, but he is certainly not the only Latin player who has done this.

There has to be a set of reasons, and I wish that would be looked into as vehemently as this case was handled, because I think if you would find out some things in relation to Hispanic ballplayers, you might be on the road to eradicating this use from the sport forever.

Rant #2,452: I Can't Get Next To You, Jean, But I'm Gonna Make You Mine, Sugar Sugar and Have Some Hot Fun in the Summertime

Nothing new on the employment front, so let's push that aside for now and look at something much more fun as we sashay into the weekend ...

Let's look back at the music charts, 50 years to the day on October 25, 1969.

We listened to WMCA and WABC in my house during this period, and I believe that WMCA had already dropped its Top 40 programming by this time, so we were listening to WABC pretty much full time way back when.

And these songs on the upper regions of Billboard's Hot 100 were the songs we were listening to.

Coming in at No. 10 for the week was Lou Christie's "I'm Gonna Make You Mine," one of the biggest bubblegum hits on the Buddah Records label. Christie had a long recording career, and had major hits on a number of record labels.

Yet another major bubblegum hit, "Tracy" by the Cuff Links, was in at No. 9. The Cuff Links at the time were vocalized by Ron Dante, who also had big bubblegum hits with the Archies. More on that later.

As opposed to bubblegum, hard rock was beginning to emerge off of FM radio and into the AM record charts, and the band named Smith had a huge hit with its cover of "Baby It's You," which hit No. 8 this week. The lead vocalist on the song was Gayle McCormick, and certainly the visuals in the band--tall, blonde, often dressed in faux-American Indian wear--helped this band to surge up the charts with this tune.

"Wedding Bell Blues" by the 5th Dimension was in the No. 7 spot. This act--one of the most popular pop acts of its time--covered this Laura Nyro tune and made it always lifelike, as the refrain "Marry me Bill!" came to life when group members Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. actually did marry in real life--and are still together to this day. The song, written by Laura Nyro, reached the top of the heap two weeks later.

Yet another bubblegum hit was next up on the chart. At No. 6 was "Little Woman" by Bobby Sherman. The singer had kicked around since the early 1960s, always on the verge of stardom, but when he--and his hair--starred on TV's "Here Come the Brides," his popularity soared, and he had a number of hits in the bubblegum spectrum during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Elvis Presley has his final top of the chart hit with "Suspicious Minds," this week at No. 5. The song would reach No. 1 just a week later, the last of his chart topping hits.

"Jean," featured in the award-winning film "The Pride of Miss Jean Brodie," was the No. 4 hit for the week. Sung by Oliver, the song was written by poet/singer/writer/ubiquitous TV personality Rod McKuen.

The Archies' former No. 1 hit, the bubblegum anthem "Sugar Sugar," was the No. 3 song for the week. The cartoon "act," formed by Don Kirshner after his dismissal by the Monkees, was led by female singer Toni Wine and lead singer Ron Dante ... yes, the same guy who vocalized the Cuff Links' "Tracy."

Another tune moving over from the FM dial to become a major hit on AM was Sly and the Family Stone's "Hot Fun in the Summertime," which was in the No. 2 runners up spot on this week's singles chart. The song was one of Sly Stone's tunes that blended rock, soul, funk and gospel, but in this case, in a more subtle way, and even in winter, it stnads as one of the great "summer: songs in rock history.

Topping the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart this week was--

Well, you didn't think the singles chart during the 1960s wouldn't have at least one song from Motown in the Top 10, and this week was no exception.

One of the biggest hits the label ever had was "I Can't Get Next To You" by the Temptations, which enjoyed its second, and final, week at No. 1 this week. The Motown act was far from through as a hitmaker, as in the early 1970s, it carried longer-form story songs to the top of the charts, but this song remains one of the acts and the label's biggest hits.

The highest debut single on this week's Hot 100 was sort of a precursor for what was going to be popular during the early 1970s, as yet another Laura Nyro song, "Eli's Coming," entered the chart at No. 61 as performed by Three Dog Night, who would go on to have numerous hits through the mid-1970s. The song would eventually hit No. 10 in December.

Motown was also present with the biggest mover on the chart this week. The song that moved up the most places from the previous week to the current week was "Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday," by Stevie Wonder, which jumped from No. 94 in its first week to No. 59 in its second week. The song would eventually hit No. 7 in mid-December.

So there you have it. The Top 10 songs today, 50 years ago, were as elastic as bubblegum, as ferocious as hard rock, and as soulful as Motown.

But what, no Beatles?

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

Classic Rant #1,120 (January 10, 2014): Twin Peaks

Well, maybe I did indulge myself yesterday, maybe not.

You decide.

I belong to a site on Facebook where people talk about classic television, whether it is sitcoms, Westerns, dramas, cartoons, or whatever.

A fellow member of this group posted the following: "Have you ever been told that you look like a classic TV show actor or actress?"

Everybody supposedly has a twin somewhere in the world. In fact, back in my younger days, I was friendly with a guy named Jay who you would swear was related to me. We looked quite a bit alike.

Anyway, back to that post ...

The floodgates opened, and many people claimed that they looked like this actor or actress, everyone from Sally Field to Broderick Crawford!

Most people probably didn't look anything like those they thought they looked like, but it was fun reading the responses.

Anyway, I answered the question too, of course.

I said--and this is true--that when I was younger and had hair, several people said I looked like Dustin Hoffman. I never thought I did, but some people thought I did.

Sort of Dustin Hoffman plus several inches in height.

I also said that today, with my bald head in place and a bit paunchier, I look like a less verbose Richard Deacon.

But then, I also added to my post.

I said, that my wife told me many times that when she was younger, people said that she was a dead ringer for Adrienne Barbeau.

I didn't have any older photos handy of my wife when she was in her 20s. I have known her for less than 25 years, so when I met her, she was in her early to mid 30s, just like I was.

So I put together a more recent photo of her, taken about two or three years ago, with a recent photo of Barbeau, also taken that recently, and Voila!, I had my match.

I am letting you take a peak at these, and what do you think?

I didn't think that she looked like Barbeau--the heart throb of many teenage boys in the 1970s as Carol on "Maude," and honestly, the only reason(s) that I watched the show, if you know what I mean--but looking at these photos, there is something of a resemblance, top to bottom I would say.

And some people have agreed with me!

Barbeau's character was not only extremely sexy, but she was a headstrong character, a champion of women's rights and sort of a younger version of Maude, who she often clashed with about one thing or another.

She was also the sexiest lady on TV at the time, the first female character that I can remember who wore halter tops on a semi-regular basis--and filled them very well indeed.

Anyway, so I did indulge myself after all.

Did I marry the ersatz twin of a female TV star or a sexy person on her own?

After being married more than 20 years now, I would say definitely the latter.

My wife is sexy as hell, is her own person, and man, did I get lucky the second time around!

So while I will still occasionally tune into "Maude" just to see Ms. Barbeau's charming assets, I have a charmer sitting right next to me ...

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Like I said, after all is said and done, I am a really lucky guy.

Rant #2,451: I Can't Tell the Bottom From the Top

Again, I apologize that this blog has become my sounding board for my current unemployed situation, but that situation is consuming me right now.

Yesterday, things continued on a somewhat downward slope.

I was going about my job search business yesterday morning, applying for a few jobs and even getting my Linked In page more in order--yes, I put up a photo, not a great one, but at least a photo is there, and I changed some other things, although I still have questions about a few things that I cannot figure out.

Some time before I was to take my son to work, I received a call from my wife, who was involved in an auto accident maybe a mile or so away from her work. She is fine, the driver of the other car is fine, but there are some dents on his car and some scratches on her car--but her car also has some internal problems that made the car undriveable, so it has to be towed to a repair and body shop nearby.

I made sure my father could take my son to work, and then I drove to where she was, we spoke to the police, and the car was towed. I took my wife to work, where she worked part of the day until feeling so upset that I picked her up slightly early.

In between all of this, I was contacted by New York State Unemployment, which wanted me to explain any money beyond my salary that I obtained when I was let go two weeks ago today. Evidently, in my haste to get my unemployment application to them, I inadvertently did not add in any other money that I received from my former place of work when I was terminated and the company went out of business, so I had to provide documentation that I did receive extra compensation to them, which I did yesterday, attaching a pay stub to their inquiry.

I am sure this is all going to delay my receiving unemployment, so I am going to have to make due with whatever money I have until that happens.

So yes, at this point, at two weeks of unemployment, I still can't tell the bottom from the top. I thank you for sticking with me, and incredibly, the hit rates for this blog have gone up since I lost my job, even doubling on some days.

I can't attest to exactly why that has happened, but I guess people like to read about those who are worse off than themselves. Maybe I am writing stuff that is more compelling to the general audience.

I truly have no idea why more people are reading this blog now than they were two weeks ago.

But thanks for doing so. It makes me at least somewhat feel that what I am saying is beneficial.

But anyway, I see that the Washington Nationals beat the Houston Astros again in the World Series, and are up two games to none in the championship series. Funny, if I were a betting man, I would have made a lot of money this baseball season, as I said back in April that the Nats would be in the World Series (I said the New York Yankees would be their opponent, so I guess I am not that smart).

But anyway, the World Series is far from over, but it would be a great surprise is the underdog Nats would win the whole thing--and I will kick myself for not actually betting on them to do so, but then again, all bets are off when it comes to me; I learned early on that betting can be a disease.

A long time ago, as a kid, I used to have a friendly bet with a guy I knew, a bet I would make each year of 25 cents that the American League would beat the National League in baseball's annual All-Star Game. This was during the period that the National League never lost the game in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and I lost each year, except for one, if I remember correctly.

And the same guy I used to have this friendly bet with was a big poker player, even at nine, 10 and 11 years old. One year, on the camp bus, he played one guy cards, and he beat him innumerable times. The buy owed him probably $50 within days--at 25 cents a pop--and could not pay him. So the poker playing guy stalked him all summer, ended up beating him up, and I don't think any money ever exchanged hands.

But it taught me a lesson: never bet, never gamble, it simply isn't worth it.

So I never did.

The only thing I bet on today is that everything will be copacetic, I will do what I have to do to get through the day, and that I make it to home plate by the time the lights are turned off and the day is done.

During this really bad period in my life, that is the only safe bet I can make.

Classic Rant #1,119 (January 9, 2014): Indulge Myself

Since I have had such a wonderful week to this point, I thought I would read my horoscope.

I don't usually pay attention to such things, but heck, I feel I need all the help I can get here during this week in January, so what do I have to lose?

"You need to indulge yourself today -- even if you feel tapped out. In fact, a little decadence may go a long way toward recharging your batteries, so don't feel guilty about it!"

That is what the horoscope said. Not too bad, not too shabby at that.

Now, let me see what I should indulge myself with.

Perhaps waking up a little later than I normally do? Maybe 4:50 a.m. instead of 4:40 a.m.?

Sorry, I'm up already, so I can't indulge myself that way.

How about taking it easy at work?

I have a pile of stuff to be written just waiting for me, so I don't think that is going to happen.

How about having a nice, clear drive home without having to stop anywhere?

No, I can't do that today. I have to get my allergy shots--yes, four of them right in my arm.

OK horoscope, tell me how I am going to indulge myself today?

I am sure that during the course of the day, there will be something that happens that somehow fulfills what it says.

For instance, I, on rare occasions, get what we call "graft" in the mail at work.

It is a package addressed to me that contains something that the sender wants to promote, like meat snacks or snow cleats or something that I don't really need.

Again, I don't often get stuff like this, but if I do get something today, will that fulfill my horoscope?

Now that I know what the horoscope is, I will be extra cognizant about it.

The best indulgence for me today would be to get my car back from the shop, but fat chance of that actually happening.

They told me Friday--at the earliest--so I can't expect miracles, even though my insurance company has me on some type of "speed repair" plan.

I guess if I wasn't on that plan, I would get back the car on Friday--in February.

So we are back to square one again.

How am I going to fulfill the horoscope and indulge myself today?

I have no idea, but if I do indulge myself, I will get back to you with the results.

Right now, I am at the low end of the totem pole, so any indulgence would be heartily welcomed.

Rant #2,450: Chains

Yes, I am bound by chains.

I am bound by the chains that the current world order has decided that all job seekers be tied down by, and that means that I must use Linked In the try to gain a job.

I learned that yesterday, as I went to a course on the social networking/job seeking site, a three-hour course where myself and 29 other people who are out of work were told that this is the way we MUST go to find work in 2019 and into the future.

Personally, I have been on Linked In, even set up my own site several years ago, really, Just on a whim. I didn't really put too much credence in such a site; to me, it looked like a slightly elevated version of Facebook, but geared to pretty much bragging about your job and your accomplishments in that job.

I never even put a picture in my profile, or even tried very hard to talk about what I was doing and my accomplishments doing it.

Well yesterday, I found out just how important Linked In actually is. I found out that through your connections, and connections to other connections, one can electronically network to find a job.

There are also job listings on there that one can apply for. Companies are bypassing the usual job search sites and posting on Linked In, which I have to admit is interesting unto itself, and might be the best reason to get your profile up and running on Linked In.

You first write up your profile, but don't make it a carbon copy of what is on your resume. You want to engage anybody who is looking at it, so you use more conversational language, almost like what you do in your cover letter.

You tell people what you have done, what your accomplishments were and are, and then, through once connection or another, you might be able to engage someone to take even a closer look at you.

Sure, I am giving you pretty much a thumbnail sketch of what Linked In is, but honestly, that really and truly is what it is.

Unlike on Facebook, where you consciously or subconsciously try to sell a point of view, on Linked Im, you are trying to sell yourself.

I get all that.

However, the reality of the current world order was reflected in the class I attended yesterday.

There were 30 people who attended--a full class--and of the 30, each and every person was out of work after having worked anywhere from about 15 to 30 years in their last job.

And each and every one of us was over 50 years old.

I know this because we had to introduce ourselves to our fellow classmates-for-a-day before we got down to learning about Linked In.

That told me all I needed to know about the current world order. You can have the greatest resume, the greatest background, the greatest profile, but the reality is that the older worker--or what is considered to be "older" in today's millennial-obsessed world--is at a competitive disadvantage from the get go.

Even our instructor told us that there will be inborn prejudices when people look at our Linked In profile and in particular, our photo, but it is better to have a photo on your profile than not because it has been proven to get you more looks than not having one.

So I have to put up a photo on Linked In, and it has to be professional and current.

Look, we all know that this is a shell game, and like they say, you have to be in it to win it.

It has been deemed a requirement to be on Linked In by the new world order, so you have to be on it, or be damned.

The world has changed, you can't go about looking for work the same way you did it 10, 20, or 30 years ago. It just doesn't work anymore the old way. You MUST DO IT THIS WAY, or you will lose out.

So I have found that you have to play the game whether you like it or not. One on one communication has gone out the window, and electronic communication is the way to go right now.

I don't particularly embrace this way of doing things--I spoke to others there who refuse to go on any social media site because these sites are too all-encompassing--but it is what it is, and if this is the way to do it, then I have to love it, whether I really do or not.

So please, visit my Linked In page. Just type in my name, and you will find it. Maybe you can help me. Maybe you know someone who can help me. Maybe not.

Classic Rant #1,118 (January 8, 2014): The Ballad of Car vs. Car

Going to work one blustery day

I dropped my son off at school and went on my merry way.

Driving on the road like I do every day

I met up with a metal garbage pail that stood in my way.

It was "my car or the object," I said to myself

And although I swerved, the object was stealth.

It hit my car on the passenger side

I hoped that there wasn't damage, but luck was not with me on this ride.

The further I drove, the more rattling I heard

And when I stopped the car ... well, I won't repeat the word!

I drove into work and made my insurance claim

I then drove back to my area on the same road I came.

I looked for that can as hard as I could

But it wasn't to be, as I stared from the window across my hood.

I drove the car to the repair shop, and knew what they would say

I would have to leave the car, and they would repair it, by Friday.

They gave me a loaner car, a nice Jeep that was white

I haven't driven one in a long time, so to be safe, I drove on the right.

Another driver who was in a rush blurted out through a stop sign

Barely missing the loaner car as I drove on the right side of the line.

I knew this was not my day and drove back to work

And yes, driving this loaner white Jeep made me feel like a jerk.

No accidents for decades, no problems at all.

And now I feel about two feet tall.

But I warn you that one day I will find that can

And when I do, well, I might say things to it that aren't normally part of my plan.

But will it answer back, as inanimate objects normally can't do?

My luck, this one will, and I will really feel like I'm truly without a clue.

Until that day comes, and hopefully it never will

I will have to take this experience as a bitter pill

This is my ballad of car vs. can

I just have to take it, because ultimately, I am the better man.

Rant #2,459: Nothing From Nothing

Yesterday ended up being a real "nothing" day for me.

After spending my usual time on the Internet going through the help wanted ads, I had a job fair to go to, and in late morning, that is where I was.

The problem was that no one else was there.

No, not really no one else, but few companies actually came to this event.

After doing my usual due diligence in the morning, scouring the job ads for a few hours, responding to handful of them, and seeing two or three responses that told me that the conpany I had replied to "had moved on," and were not considering me for the position I applied to, I got dressed in my suit, one I had not worn for the longest time. It still fit pretty well, and I put on my tie and prepared to get my things together to go to my first job fair that I have gone to for my own betterment in about 25 years (I have been to a few for my son during the past couple of years).

I got there, walked into the room, and there were maybe 10 companies with representatives there. I looked up and down the aisles at the companies that were there, went over to many of them, gave out my resume, but quite frankly, this was not happening for me, as they were generally looking for service people or sales people. I think that as a courtesy, some of the companies took my resume, but that is where it will end.

I left after about 15 minutes, so it actually took me longer to drive to the hotel that this was being held at than the time I actually spent at this supposed "fair," which was more a gathering of a few companies than anything else.

I asked one of the reps there if this was the only room where companies were present, and she told me that in past years, they actually had two rooms, but she wasn't sure if they had another room this time around.

I walked out of the room at the same moment a tall, well-dressed man walked out of the room, and we both saw right next door some activity, so we both thought that perhaps it was another room of companies.

We walked over, and someone told us that no, this room had nothing to do with the job fair. I don't remember what he said it was for.

I looked up at the guy, and said to him, "Very underwhelming," and he replied back to me, "And I took a day off from work for this!"

I then left. I had had enough.

So I went back home, thoroughly disgusted. And I have another job "fair" to go to next week!

Oh, I look forward to that one, because it simply cannot be as bad as this one was!

Or can it?

Yes, I do feel like I am in for the long haul during this time without a job. I was once out for 18 months, so I do know what it is like to be out of work, and after that, I was out of work for three months right after my son was born.

But those workless periods were eons ago, and today, there clearly is a new landscape that needs to be scaled to find a job. In fact, today I am going to a three-hour class related to LinkedIn, the professional connections site, which I have been told is an ultra-important tool in finding a job, because of its network connections.

After yesterday, I am just hoping that it is not a "three-hour tour," and that my job search doesn't get shipwrecked on some uncharted island, even with Mary Ann and Ginger around.

Classic Rant #1,117 (January 7, 2014): How Big Is Too Big?

I love television.

I always have.

My mother tells me that when I was a baby in the crib, when she would put on "American Bandstand," I would jump up and down like my bed was a trampoline.

TV has changed over the years, and I am not necessarily talking about the programming, which has changed drastically since the days of that show and "I Love Lucy" and all those classic shows from that time.

Where once we had televisions which were as much furniture as a couch was, we moved to portable TVs, which were smaller but more flexible in where you could position them.

Then, just in the past few years, we moved into the digital age, and TVs are now pretty garish, black, rectangular devices that have to be hooked up by wire to something to get programming.

Somewhere in the past six decades, the electronics industry came up with a measurement for TVs that is really outlandish, measuring the screen diagonally to get its size.

So you have 32-inch TVs that really aren't 32 inches, but their screens are using that rate of measurement.

Anyway, to get to my point, there are TVs of every screen size now, from the 20s into the 60s and above.

At the Consumer Electronics Show, Sharp has just debuted an 85-inch TV. It has all the bells and whistles you would expect from such a TV--such as 3D--and it is huge.

And Sharp isn't the only TV maker with such a huge TV--I believe Samsung has one too, among others.

Why anyone would want an 85-inch TV is beyond my comprehension.

First of all, who has the room for such a TV?

Even if you have a large room, a room dedicated to home theater, 85 inches is really, really huge, almost akin to watching TV in a movie theater.

Secondly, does one really need such a large TV?

The "measurement of a man," in popular terms, used to be what type of car he drove.

Today, it seems to be what size TV he has.

My family has three TVs, actually four if you count the TV we use for my son's video games, which is a dedicated TV for that purpose.

They run in size from 21 inches to 32 inches, and really, that is all we need to watch TV.

We don't have a home theater room, but even if we did, 85 inches would be a bit much.

And the price ... don't get me started on that.

Going back to what I said earlier, TVs today are highly functional, but compared to TVs of old, they are pretty garish, just being black rectangles with large screens.

They aren't furniture anymore, and they certainly aren't portable.

Sure, we don't have the ghosts and the interference that those TVs experienced, but heck, we learned to live with that, didn't we?

I don't know, 85 inches to me is a basketball player at more than 7 feet tall, not a TV size.

But I can guarantee that that basketball player will really look his full size on these TVs.

I guess such a TV is a slam dunk to some, but to me, give me a smaller TV anytime.

The question again is, "How Big Is Too Big?" and I believe this set has answered that question with its size.

Rant #2,459: Happiness Street

I am not walking on Happiness Street today ... what can you say about how the New York Yankees' season ended on Saturday night?

After finally tying the win-in-or-go-home sixth game of the American League Championship Series with the Houston Astros in the top of the inning on a two-run homer by D.J. Lemahieu, they lost the game on another homer, this one by the Astros' Jose Altuve.

This walk-off homer sent the Yankees home and the Astros to the World Series against the upstart Washington Nationals.

Admittedly, I was using the playoffs as my time to get away from my own problems, and with the Yankees out of the playoffs, I don't have that crutch to lean on anymore.

I wish the Astros well against the Nationals, I pretty much want them to win, but do I have a real rooting interest in the proceedings?

No I don't.

Now I move on to basketball, and if you know New York basketball, you know that it begins and ends with the New York Knicks, the worst run, most inept team in professional sports.

They have been so bad for so long--and show absolutely no signs of being better than the 17-65 team that somehow got through last season--that my rooting interest is there, but poisoned with the expectation and realization that they will lose just about every game that they play.

The Brooklyn Nets will certainly steal a lot of on the fence Knicks fans this season and in the coming seasons, as they signed superstars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant to monster contracts this off season, and even though Durant won't play this season as he mends from a major injury, in all likelihood, the Nets should probably triple the Knicks win total when it is all said and done, and perhaps compete for the NBA championship.

The Knicks will fill Madison Square Garden like they always do, but they won't put smiles on too many faces this season.

And if I was a football fan, I would have already cut my throat with the performance of the Jets and Giants. Thankfully, I don't have to go through that, simply because I don't care about football, nor hockey.

My sports are baseball and basketball, and the indignity of it all ... well, at least the Yankees gives fans hope. The Knicks? They give fans agita.

As for me, today is a busy day, as I have a job fair to go to.

I am not that keen on such fairs, as they are much like cattle calls, and they are even getting more so with technology. Some companies at these things actually appear, actually take the time to be represented at these gatherings, but they will not take your paper resume. They tell you to go online to fill out an application.

Talk about indignity! You are there, you are talking with them face to face, and they won't even take your resume ... what is the point of physically being there if you won't take the resume that I took the time to print out?

Hopefully, I won't run into such behavior, but I certainly did when I took my son to these things to look for work--and those gatherings were geared at challenged workers. I can only wonder what the behavior will be at a job fair like I am going to.

But I will keep an open mind, but be wary at the possible circumstances.

I do so want to be surprised. I have gone to these things in the past in my own working life, and I have found them to be not that beneficial.

But at this point, I have nothing to lose.

If nothing more, it is simply another notch on my belt, another way I have tried to look for work, another experience that maybe won't be that bad.

The phrase is, "You gotta have heart," but in my case, "You gotta have hope."

And I sure do.

Classic Rant #1,116 (January 6, 2014): Hoops!

Friday was a complete washout.

I never made it to work, my windshield wipers were frozen solid until Saturday, and I hurt my back shoveling our driveway and walk.

But things started to look up on Saturday.

My wife and I were able to do everything we needed to do on that day, and then some.

This enterprising guy purchased tickets to see the Brooklyn Nets versus the Cleveland Cavaliers months ago, and who knew that the game would be the day after a blizzard?

So we trudged into Brooklyn, and this time, it wasn't just myself and my son, but my wife also accompanied us.

She is not a basketball fan at all, but she wanted to see what the Barclays Center looked like.

We got there early, tried to eat at a major restaurant chain, but we were thwarted by the wait (two hours), and ended up eating at a packed to the brim McDonald's.

We then made our way over to the arena, which, as I said last year when I went with my son, is really a beautiful place to see a basketball game.

This year, we had center court tickets, but were in virtually the last seat in the last row.

But our vantage point was better, and I don't think I have been seated center court at a pro basketball game probably since the Nets were on Long Island and played at the Nassau Coliseum.

The Nets have been a major disappointment this year, rolling with the Knicks at the bottom of the standings. Even though the arena was officially sold out, there were numerous empty seats for this game, as the Cavaliers are as bad as the Nets are, with numerous injuries and a horrid team in their post-Lebron James era.

Anyway, the Nets won a tough game that was pretty close throughout.

And yes, my wife got into it, clapping and cheering as much as my son did.

Me, I was there for the atmosphere. I am a Knicks fan, but you can get three Nets tickets for the price of two Knicks tickets, so I don't mind going to Brooklyn, the place of my birth, to see professional basketball.

My wife has said she doesn't want to see a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, but she left open the possibility of seeing another Nets game next year.

That's good. Nothing like doing something with both my wife and son involved.

Heck, I wish I could do this more often, but ticket prices are outrageous.

Maybe we can get there again next year.

Or maybe, does anyone out there have any stray tickets out there?

Please let me know.

Rant #2,458: Feeling Better All the Time

Yes, the title is actually a goof on how I am really feeling.

I am out of work, my allergies are killing me--I can barely see out of my right eye--and the New York Yankees are on the brink if elimination in the MLB playoffs, down three to one in the best of seven American League Championship Series to the Houston Astros.

I figured that is the Yankees would do well in this series and move on to the World Series, it would at least temporarily make me feel better about my own situation, and while not ,making me stop my pursuit of a new job, it would take some of the edge off of the whole procedure.

The way it is going, all it is doing is making me even more upset at everything.

I actually spoke to a few of my former co-workers yesterday through text and email, and it is a bit rough for them too. They have never been though this, so they are really new to the torment that this creates.

They are talented people, way younger than me, in their 40s, so their need for a job is really even greater than mine is.

And yes, they are also running into brick walls at finding something because of their age.

Yes, even when you are in your 40s, in today's job environment, you can be in trouble when looking for work. With companies looking on the cheap, they would much rather take a millennial with little of no experience than even someone in their 40s to fill a position.

So you can imagine what it is for someone in their 60s, like me, trying to find work.

Improbable is the operative word, but somehow, I am trying to tell myself that it is not impossible.

Convincing myself is another story, but I plug on, hoping to get back in the saddle again.

My son, who simply doesn't understand what is going on, has asked me several times when I am going to get a new job. It pains me to tell him that I don't know when. But honestly, it is kind of a hollow answer.

So I just do what I do, and yesterday, I applied for about eight or nine positions. One of two wrote me back almost immediately and told me they were "moving on" with other candidates and were not interested, telling me that they were looking for someone probably 40 or so years younger than me.

I guess that is fine; at least they got back to me quickly.

One of the jobs was actually for a position that I applied for probably a year ago, and it was posted again. That tells me that they cannot keep someone in the position, and that speaks volumes in itself. Maybe for this particular position, I am better off not being considered.

But anyway, what else is doing in my life and around the world that I can tell you about?

I have a busy week next week with job fairs and seminars to attend, and the world is not standing still waiting for me to hit paydirt.

I look at my Yahoo homepage, and people are getting "outraged" that actress Suzanne Somers put up a nude photo of herself on her, what is it, 74th birthday?

A woman living in a van was forced to leave it after it was infested with more than 300 "pet" rats.

A 15 year old sex trafficking victim committed suicide after her return to her family, as the family said that they got her back "damaged."

Some people believe that California is almost ready to get pulverized as a fault capable of causing an 8.0 earthquake has moved for the first time.

Ron "Tarzan" ely's son kills his mother, and the police shoot him to death.

I mean, my problems seem absolutely minor when compared to what these people and families are going through.

Heck, maybe things ARE getting better all the time for me!

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

Classic Rant #1,115 (January 3, 2014): We Done Got Hit!

Yes, with snow, and a lot of it.

I have just come in from the outside, where I shoveled for about a half hour, and also tried to dig my car and my wife's car out of the muck.

And it is still snowing.

We must have a couple of inches on the ground, and more will be coming as the day goes on.

Neither my wife nor I know if we have to report to work today.

My wife works in a bank, and they have a system of checks and balances when it comes to a day like this.

My work has absolutely no system in place at all for weather disturbances, which, of course, puts me and everybody who works there in a ridiculous situation.

Do I go in or do I not go in? That is the question, Shakespeare.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, it is also about 10 degrees out now, which is making everything that much worse.

Frankly, I don't even know if I can maneuver the streets with my car.

My wife has a Jeep, so she should have no problem.

Me, I have a Kia. Yes, I might have a problem.

What to do?

Who's on first, I don't know on's second ... sorry Bud and Lou, I had to do it.

So have fun today wherever you are.

I know that I will--I have had so much fun since 4:30 this morning, the rest of the day should be snow much better!

Pun intended.

(Here is the deal, which shows more about the state of business today than anything else. My wife calls her work hotline, which tells her that her bank is open today. So she manages to get out of our driveway, and goes off to work. While she is slipping and sliding on the road, she gets a call on her cell phone that her place is not opening until 11 a.m., so she came home--in one piece, but as angry as can be. My place, well, they simply don't care about anyone. I called up at 6 a.m. because one guy sleeps over there (don't ask). I told them I am having trouble, and they should call me back about whether we are open or not. I got outside later, and not only can't I get my car out of the driveway, but my windshield wipers are frozen solid. So I call back again, telling them my predicament, and to this moment, I don't know whether we are open or not. But without the ability to get out of my driveway nor clear off my windows of the still-coming snow with my wipers, I couldn't get there if I wanted to. And yes, there is a snow emergency on the streets, so why is anybody even contemplating driving around this morning to begin with?)